Rock 'n' Roll History for
April 16


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1955 - ClassicBands.com

April 16
Elvis Presley was the headliner on The Big D Jamboree, a live radio show on KRLD in Dallas, Texas. An in-studio audience was admitted for 60 cents apiece.

1956 - ClassicBands.com

April 16
Buddy Holly's first single, "Blue Days, Black Nights" was released by Decca Records. The up-tempo, Country flavored tune proved to be a poor seller.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

April 16
The Rolling Stones' self-titled, debut album was released in Great Britain. It sold over 200,000 copies, hitting number one two weeks later and was the first non-Beatles album to reach the top in over a year. Six weeks later it would be issued in America where it would reach #11.

April 16
The Beatles filmed some chase sequences for their upcoming movie, A Hard Days Night in the Notting Hill Gate area of London. The policemen in the scenes were actors.

April 16
"Everybody Loves Somebody" by Dean Martin was recorded at United Recording in Hollywood. The song was written in 1947 by Sam Coslow, Irving Taylor and pianist Ken Lane. Released as a single in June of 1964 on Reprise Records, it went on to hit #1 in August of that year, knocking The Beatles single "A Hard Day's Night" out of the top position. It ultimately replaced "That's Amore" as Martin's signature song.

1965 - ClassicBands.com

April 16
With eight UK Top 40 singles to their credit, The Hollies began their first US tour in New York. At the time, their highest charting record stateside was "Just One Look", which had stalled at #98 on the Hot 100 in May, 1964. It wasn't until the following year that the group cracked the US Top Ten with "Bus Stop".

1969 - ClassicBands.com

April 16
Elektra Records drops Detroit's MC5 from their label after the band took out an ad in a local paper that includes the company logo and reads "Fuck Hudsons." The group was protesting the Michigan department store's refusal to carry their albums. They later signed with Atlantic Records where they recorded the LPs "Back In The USA" (Billboard #137) and "High Time" (DNC)

1971 - ClassicBands.com

April 16
The Rolling Stones release "Brown Sugar", the first single on their own label, Rolling Stones Records, which introduces the infamous licking-tongue-and-lips logo designed by John Pasche. The record will top both the UK and US singles charts and reach the Top Ten in twelve other countries. After facing criticism for years over the controversial lyrics, the band announced that the song would be removed from the setlist of their 2021 US tour.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

April 16
The Electric Light Orchestra played its first live show, promoting their debut album, "No Answer". The concert didn't get very good reviews and founding member Roy Wood split several months later, leaving Jeff Lynne to write and produce most of the band's material.

1973 - ClassicBands.com

April 16
Paul McCartney's first television special, James Paul McCartney, airs in America on the ABC network. The show, which includes performances by McCartney and Wings, would be broadcast in the UK on May 10th.

1976 - ClassicBands.com

April 16
Boz Scaggs tries to visit friend Bobby "Blue" Bland backstage at the famed Antone's in Austin, Texas, and is beaten unconscious by two bouncers who didn't recognize him.

1977 - ClassicBands.com

April 16
While riding high on the success of his hit TV show Starsky and Hutch, David Soul reached Billboard's top spot with "Don't Give Up On Us". The record had already topped the UK chart the previous January. In America this song would prove to be his only chart entry, but in Great Britain, Soul achieved four more Top 20 singles, including another #1 with "Silver Lady" and a #2 with "Going In With My Eyes Wide Open".

1993 - ClassicBands.com

April 16
Paul McCartney headlines a concert at the Hollywood Bowl to celebrate Earth Day. Other performers at the concert include Ringo Starr, Steve Miller and Don Henley.

1996 - ClassicBands.com

April 16
KISS appear in full make-up at the 38th Grammy Awards, where they announce a reunion tour. It will mark the first time all four members have appeared together in fifteen years.

1997 - ClassicBands.com

April 16
Elton John is given an honorary membership to his alma mater, the Royal Academy of Music, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school.

1999 - ClassicBands.com

April 16
Skip Spence, an original member of Jefferson Airplane and Moby Grape, died of lung cancer in a San Francisco hospital at the age of 52. He had battled schizophrenia and alcoholism and had been on a ventilator for 11 days before his death.

2003 - ClassicBands.com

April 16
67-year-old Jerry Lee Lewis files for divorce from his sixth wife, 40-year-old Kerrie McCarver, who was once the president of his fan club. They were married in 1984.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

April 16
Former Rolling Stones bassist, 78-year-old Bill Wyman, announced that he would release "Back to Basics", his first solo album in 33 years, on June 22nd on Proper Records.

April 16
Nielsen SoundScan released figures that showed vinyl album sales were up 53% during the first three months of the year, compared to last year. The top selling album during that period was The Beatles' "Abby Road", which sold 172,000 copies. Vinyl unit sales rose to 9.2 million in 2014, up from 6.1 million in 2013.

2021 - ClassicBands.com

April 16
Mike Mitchell, co-founder of The Kingsmen, who played guitar on their classic hit, "Louie Louie", died of unspecified causes at the age of 77.

2024 - ClassicBands.com

April 16
Journey's Greatest Hits album accomplished a rare feat by notching its 800th week on the Billboard 200. Only two other albums, Pink Floyd's "Dark Side Of The Moon" and Bob Marley's, "Legend" had ever achieved that milestone.



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