Rock 'n' Roll History for
August 31


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1955 - ClassicBands.com

August 31
A London judge fined Sidney Turner three pounds, ten shillings for "creating an abominable noise" after Turner threatened his neighbors by saying, "I will drive you mad." Turner played Bill Haley And His Comets' "Shake Rattle & Roll" as loud as possible from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

1957 - ClassicBands.com

August 31
Elvis Presley appeared in concert outside of the United States for the last time when he performed at Empire Stadium in Vancouver, Canada in front of 26,000 fans. Ticket prices ranged between $1.50, $2.50 and $3.50. During the twenty-five minute show, Presley, backed by Scotty Moore, Bill Black, D.J. Fontana and The Jordanaires, sang some of his biggest hits, including "Heartbreak Hotel", "Don't Be Cruel", "That's When Your Heartaches Begin", and "Hound Dog". After the performance, Elvis gave his gold jacket to a crew member to wear while getting into a car, so fans would think it was him leaving. The fans followed the man in the gold jacket, and Elvis was allowed to calmly leave the stadium unharmed.

1958 - ClassicBands.com

August 31
Ricky Nelson kicks off his musical concert career by appearing at Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he sets an all time attendance record for the venue by performing in front of 44,221 people, spread out over two days. His fee for the gig was $10,000 and his supporting acts were comedian Henny Youngman and The Four Preps.

1963 - ClassicBands.com

August 31
The Angels become the first White girl group to have a US number one hit when "My Boyfriend's Back" topped the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of three weeks. The track was originally intended as a demo for The Shirelles, but ended up being released by Smash Records just as it was recorded. Folks felt differently about the song in the UK where the record could only climb as high as #50.

1968 - ClassicBands.com

August 31
Decca Records releases what has been called The Rolling Stones most political song, "Street Fighting Man". The number was written after Mick Jagger attended a March, 1968 anti-war rally at London's US embassy, during which mounted police attempted to control a crowd of 25,000. The single proved to be very popular, but was kept out of the US Top 40 (reaching #48) because many radio stations refused to play it based on what were perceived as subversive lyrics.

August 31
Cream's "Fresh Cream" enters the Billboard LP chart where it would climb to #39. It fared much better in the UK, reaching #6. In 2012, the album was ranked #102 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of all time, the band's highest-ranking LP on the list.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

August 31
Bob Dylan makes his first paid appearance since his motorcycle accident three years earlier at England's Isle of Wight Pop Festival. He's backed by The Band and pockets £38,000 for the one hour show.

August 31
31-year-old Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul And Mary is involved in an incident at the Shoreham Hotel in New York City that would severely damage his reputation. After a 14-year-old girl and her 17-year-old sister went to Yarrow's hotel room seeking an autograph, he was accused of making sexual advances toward the younger girl. Six months later he would plead guilty and would serve three months of a one to three year prison sentence. In 1981, Yarrow received a Presidential Pardon from Jimmy Carter, but would later acknowledge the deed as "the most terrible mistake I have ever made."

1970 - ClassicBands.com

August 31
The Beach Boys release their album, "Sunflower", which, despite enthusiastic critical reception, would stall at #151 on the Billboard 200 LP chart during a brief four week stay. With record buyers focusing on the likes of Black Sabbath, Neil Young, Simon And Garfunkel, Creedence Clearwater Revival and others, the effort would become their poorest performing album up to that time.

1973 - ClassicBands.com

August 31
Paul McCartney receives a Gold record for "Live and Let Die", the theme song to the 1973 James Bond film of the same name. The record had reached #2 in America and #9 in the UK. Following the 9/11 terror attacks, the tune was placed on Clear Channel's list of inappropriate song titles.

August 31
The Rolling Stones release the LP "Goats Head Soup" on their own Rolling Stones label. The album, which climbed to the peak of the charts in both America and England, features the single, "Angie" which topped the Billboard Hot 100 and went to #5 on the UK's Official Chart.

1974 - ClassicBands.com

August 31
In a US federal court, John Lennon testifies that he believes the Nixon administration tried to have him deported because of his involvement with the anti-war demonstrations at the 1972 Republican convention in Miami. He also suspected his phones were tapped and that he was under surveillance by government agents.

August 31
The final episode of The Partridge Family airs on ABC. Ninety-six installments of the show were produced, which was loosely based on the real-life musical family The Cowsills.

1976 - ClassicBands.com

August 31
George Harrison is found guilty of subconscious plagiarism of the song "He's So Fine" in writing his hit, "My Sweet Lord". He would eventually pay the copyright holder, Bright Tunes, $587,000 in damages.

1980 - ClassicBands.com

August 31
30-year-old Karen Carpenter married 39-year-old real-estate developer Thomas James Burris in the Crystal Room of the Beverly Hills Hotel. Amid accusations of both physical and mental cruelty by Burris, Karen would file for divorce in November, 1981 after just fourteen months of marriage.

1985 - ClassicBands.com

August 31
Twenty years after it originally topped the UK chart for Sonny And Cher, "I Got You Babe" was a number one hit all over again for UB40 and Chrissie Hynde.

1987 - ClassicBands.com

August 31
The largest pre-order of albums in the history of CBS Records occurred as 2.25 million copies of Michael Jackson's "Bad" album were shipped to record stores. The LP followed the Jackson album, "Thriller", the biggest Jackson-seller of all time. The "Bad" album went on to sell 13 million copies.

1990 - ClassicBands.com

August 31
At a memorial service for guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and Stevie Wonder sing "Amazing Grace".

2004 - ClassicBands.com

August 31
Carl Wayne, the lead singer of the influential 1960s Pop group, The Move, died of esophageal cancer at the age of 61.

2010 - ClassicBands.com

August 31
Elton John and Leon Russell issued the first single from their upcoming collaborative album, "The Union". Titled "If It Wasn't For Bad", the song features vocals from both artists as well as Sir Elton on piano and guest appearances by Brian Wilson and Neil Young on vocal harmonies, and Booker T on the Hammond B-3. The single would later be nominated for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards.

2014 - ClassicBands.com

August 31
Jimi Jamison, the lead vocalist for Survivor, suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 63. He joined the band in 1983 after they had released their hit "Eye of the Tiger" and went on to contribute vocals on songs such as "High on You", "I Can`t Hold Back" and "The Moment of Truth" from The Karate Kid.

2016 - ClassicBands.com

August 31
News reports began to surface that said Mick Jagger had agreed to pay his pregnant girlfriend, Melanie Hamrick, an estimated $15,000 a month until their child turns 18. The deal, which was worth about $3.3 million, also included a home in New York City. In 1999, Jagger reached a similar agreement with Brazilian companion Luciana Gimenez.

2018 - ClassicBands.com

August 31
A funeral service for Aretha Franklin was held at Detroit's Greater Grace Temple. Several of the nation's top recording artists performed, including Chaka Khan, Stevie Wonder, Ronald Isley, Jennifer Hudson, Faith Hill, Fantasia and Yolanda Adams.



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