Rock 'n' Roll History for
August 22


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1906 - ClassicBands.com

August 22
The Victor Talking Machine Company of Camden, New Jersey began to manufacture a record player they called the Victrola. The hand-cranked unit with horn cabinet retailed for $200. Records were purchased separately, usually in the appliance stores that sold the machines, at a cost of between $1 and $7. Famed conductor John Philip Sousa predicted "a marked deterioration in American music" and said that generations of amateur musicians would give way to "canned music."

1956 - ClassicBands.com

August 22
Three days after signing with Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis Presley begins filming his first movie The Reno Brothers, later renamed Love Me Tender just as his double sided hit "Don't Be Cruel" / "Hound Dog", reaches number one in the US.

August 22
The Five Satins make their debut on the Billboard R&B chart with a song they recorded in a New Haven, Connecticut church basement, "In The Still of the Night". Originally issued as a "B" side on the tiny Standard label, the song was re-released by Ember Records after some strong local sales. The 45 would rise to #3 on the Billboard R&B chart and #24 on the Pop chart, selling over a million copies.

1960 - ClassicBands.com

August 22
Elvis Presley's "It's Now Or Never" is released in the UK following a wait to obtain a copyright clearance. The song is really just a re-worded version of Enrico Caruso's 1916 hit, "O Sole Mio". It would top the chart and go on to be awarded a Silver Record for sales of over 200,000 in the United Kingdom.

1962 - ClassicBands.com

August 22
An early form of karaoke is introduced at the Radio Show at Earl's Court in London, England. A new machine allows the integration of voice to guitars, tapes and even radio, making it possible to sing and play along with records.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

August 22
After releasing a half dozen singles that either stalled in the upper reaches of Billboard's Hot 100 or failed to make the list at all, The Supremes scored the first of their twelve number one hits when "Where Did Our Love Go" topped the chart for the first of two weeks. The record made it to #3 in the UK. The song was first offered to The Marvelettes, who disliked the tune and refused to record it.

August 22
Liberty Records reports that the album "The Chipmunks Sing The Beatles" is selling 25,000 copies a day. The LP would peak at #14 on the Billboard 200, and enjoy a chart run of over five months. Chipmunks' creator, Ross Bagdasarian had actually spoken to The Beatles before beginning the project and later said that the group was "very supportive."

1965 - ClassicBands.com

August 22
Security guards at Granada Television's studio in Manchester turn fire hoses on about two hundred screaming teenagers after they broke through barriers in anticipation of the arrival of The Rolling Stones.

1968 - ClassicBands.com

August 22
Cynthia Lennon files for divorce from John on the grounds of adultery on the day before their sixth anniversary. She had come back from a vacation in Greece to find Yoko Ono living in the Lennon's London home. A decree nisi would be granted on November 8th, 1968.

August 22
The initial instrumental tracks for "Dizzy" by Tommy Roe were recorded at Western Recorders in Hollywood. The song was written by Roe and Freddy Weller, and the record was produced by Steve Barri. The single was released on November 13th, 1968 on ABC Records and was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks in March, 1969, for one week on the UK singles chart in June, 1969, and in Canada in March, 1969. Personnel on the record included Tommy Roe – vocals, Hal Blaine – drums, Joe Osborn – bass, Ben Benay – guitar, Michael Deasy – guitar and Don Randi – piano.

August 22
Ringo Starr walks out of a Beatles' recording session to take a vacation to Sardinia. He would later say, "I felt I wasn't playing great, and I also felt that the other three were really happy and I was an outsider." Paul McCartney ended up playing drums on "Back In The U.S.S.R.", with many saying the results were not up to par with Ringo's usual steady performance.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

August 22
The Beatles are photographed together for the last time on the grounds of John and Yoko's Tittenhurst Park home. The photographers were Ethan Russell and Monte Fresco, with additional pictures taken by The Beatles' assistant, Mal Evans.

August 22
Columbia Records releases Santana's self-titled, debut album. It will rise to #4 on the Billboard 200 chart and #34 in the UK, and featured the single "Evil Ways". That song would peak at #9 in America and feature keyboard player Gregg Rolie on lead vocals.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

August 22
Four former session musicians who called themselves Bread, topped the Hot 100 with "Make It With You", a song written by their lead singer, David Gates. It made #5 in the UK.

August 22
Anne Murray's "Snowbird" enters Billboard's Hot 100, where it would rise to #8. The record became a million seller, marking the first time in history that an American Gold record was awarded to a solo Canadian female. The song's writer, Gene MacLellan would later say that he wrote "Snowbird" in twenty minutes after seeing a flock of snow buntings on a beach in Prince Edward Island.

August 22
After leaving The Animals the year before, Eric Burdon made a return to the charts when his new band, War, scored a number 3 hit with "Spill The Wine". Although Burdon would split from War in 1971, the rest of the group would have many more hits without him, including "The World is a Ghetto" (#9), "The Cisco Kid" (#12), "Gypsy Man" (#8), "Why Can't We Be Friends?" (#6), "Low Rider" (#7) and "Summer" (#7).

1985 - ClassicBands.com

August 22
Rick Nelson and Fats Domino filmed the PBS-TV special Rockin' With Rick And Fats, recorded live at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles. First up was Nelson, together with his old friends The Jordinares, performing some of his top hits. For the second half, Fats laid down a few of his classic tunes. The finale saw both men perform an amazing duet of "I'm Walkin'" which Domino had taken to #4 in 1957, and Nelson had exactly the same success with the same year. Unfortunately, it turned out to be Nelson's last TV appearance before his premature death in a plane crash on December 31st, 1985 at the age of 45.

1998 - ClassicBands.com

August 22
Elton John, playing the second of two shows at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, is joined on stage by comedian Jim Carrey. They perform "Rocket Man" as a duet.

2004 - ClassicBands.com

August 22
81-year-old Al Dvorin, the announcer who became synonymous with the phrase "Elvis has left the building," was killed in a car crash on the way home from an Elvis convention in California. He had been asked to announce his now famous words by Colonel Tom Parker, who wanted to inform concert goers that Elvis would not return for an encore.

2006 - ClassicBands.com

August 22
Bruce Gary, drummer for The Knack on their multi-million selling hit" My Sharona", died of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma at the age of 55.

2007 - ClassicBands.com

August 22
Judge Rodney Melville ruled that a lawsuit filed by the family of a woman who died at a hospital soon after she was moved to make room for Michael Jackson cannot continue as filed. The suit claimed that 73-year-old Manuela Gomez Ruiz was kept from critical care after she had a heart attack on the same day Jackson was brought in with flu-like symptoms during his 2005 child-molestation trial.

August 22
Queen's guitarist Brian May was awarded a doctorate in Astronomy, thirty-six years after starting his thesis. May, who abandoned his studies to pursue a career in music, was told of his success after taking a three-hour exam to discuss his work. The 60-year-old, who handed in his 48,000-word tome earlier in the month, said: "You can call me Dr. May!"

2008 - ClassicBands.com

August 22
Disgraced pop star Gary Glitter (real name: Paul Francis Gadd) arrived back in Britain after being thrown out of Vietnam after serving two years and three months for abusing two girls aged 10 and 11. In an attempt to escape repatriation, Glitter flew 2,661 miles from Vietnam to Bangkok, then to Hong Kong, then back to Bangkok. Each country denied him entry. He spent three days in Asian airports desperately searching for another country willing to take him after at least nineteen turned him down, but was left with no option but to return to Britain. Glitter had to sign the sex offenders register and his movements in Britain were restricted to keep him from approaching children.

2009 - ClassicBands.com

August 22
John Carter, a member of both The Dells and The Flamingos, died of lung cancer at the age of 75. He is one of the few artists to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with two different acts.

2010 - ClassicBands.com

August 22
Plans were announced to auction the toilet from John Lennon's Tittenhurst Park luxury mansion in Berkshire, England. The device was expected to fetch $1,500.

2011 - ClassicBands.com

August 22
Legendary songwriter Nickolas Ashford passed away at the age of 70. Along with his wife Valerie Simpson, Ashford wrote some of Motown's most memorable hits, including "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", "Reach Out And Touch Somebody's Hand" and "You're All I Need To Get By".

August 22
Jerry Leiber, of the songwriting team Leiber and Stoller, died of cardio-pulmonary failure in Los Angeles, California at the age of 78. The duo's hits included "Kansas City", "Hound Dog", "Jailhouse Rock", "Yakety Yak", "Charlie Brown", "Love Potion Number Nine", "Stand By Me", "On Broadway", and many more. Leiber and Stoller were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame two years later.

2014 - ClassicBands.com

August 22
John Lennon's killer, 59-year-old Mark David Chapman, was denied parole by New York State officials for the eighth time. In handing down their decision, the parole board said, "Your release would be incompatible with the welfare of society and would so deprecate the serious nature of the crime as to undermine respect for the law."

2018 - ClassicBands.com

August 22
Guitarist Ed King passed away at the age of 68. He had played with Strawberry Alarm Clock on their 1967 hit "Incense And Peppermints" and with Lynyrd Skynyrd on 1974's "Sweet Home Alabama". He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Skynyrd in 2006.

2022 - ClassicBands.com

August 22
Jerry Allison, drummer for Buddy Holly And The Crickets, died at the age of 82. He was given credit for co-writing the band's hits, "That'll Be the Day" and "Peggy Sue". After Holly's death in 1959, Allison retained control of the band's name and toured and recorded with bassist Joe B. Mauldin and guitarist Sonny Curtis in a group known as The Crickets.

2024 - ClassicBands.com

August 22
Reports began to surface that former Beatles drummer Pete Best had turned his mother's one-time home at 8 Haymans Green in Liverpool into an AirBnB short term rental property. The basement of the house was once known as The Casbah Coffee Club, where the early Beatles played nearly forty times. Best, who was fired by group manager Brian Epstein on August 16th, 1962, still insists that he is not angry or bitter about the dismissal, saying "I still don't know the reason today, but it doesn't worry me one iota. As far as I'm concerned, it happened 60-odd years ago, and I've lived my life. I've had a great life. It did cause me initial heartache and resentment, but that's show business."

August 22
Madonna's 1989 UK #1 hit, "Like A Prayer" returned to the British Top 30 thanks to its inclusion in the hit movie Deadpool & Wolverine. The song had topped the chart in twenty countries around the world when it was originally released.



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