Rock 'n' Roll History for
August 6


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1959 - ClassicBands.com

August 6
On a blistering hot day in California, Dean Martin enters Capitol Records' studio at 1750 North Vine Street in Hollywood to record his rendition of "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow". The song was written by lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer Jule Styne on a similarly warm day in July, 1945, and despite the lyrics making no mention of any holiday, it has come to be accepted as a Christmas song due to its winter theme. Martin's rendition would enter the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in 2018, peaking at #8.

1960 - ClassicBands.com

August 6
Chubby Checker performs "The Twist" for the first time on TV when he appears on Dick Clark's Saturday Night Beechnut Show. The song would go on to top the Billboard Hot 100 next September, reach #2 in Canada, but did not chart in the UK.

1966 - ClassicBands.com

August 6
Sam The Sham And The Pharaohs top the Cashbox Best Sellers list with "Lil' Red Riding Hood", a #2 hit on the Billboard chart. A week later, the RIAA will certify it as a Gold Record, with sales exceeding one million copies.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

August 6
Steppenwolf, Janis Joplin, Paul Simon, Poco and Johnny Winter perform at the Concert For Peace at New York's Shea Stadium. The concert date coincided with the 25th anniversary of dropping an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan.

1973 - ClassicBands.com

August 6
23-year-old Stevie Wonder is seriously injured when the rented car he is riding in slams into the back of a small logging truck on I-85 near Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He suffers multiple head injuries and will remain in a coma for four days.

1981 - ClassicBands.com

August 6
Stevie Nicks released her first solo album, "Bella Donna", which contained the singles, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" with Tom Petty (US #3) and "Leather and Lace" with Don Henley (US #6).

1988 - ClassicBands.com

August 6
Thanks to its inclusion on the soundtrack to the film Dirty Dancing, The Contours' 1962 hit "Do You Love Me" reappears on the Billboard Hot 100, where it will peak at #11. It reached #3 on that list and #1 on the R&B chart when it was first issued.

1994 - ClassicBands.com

August 6
Domenico Modugno, the Italian singer whose recording of "Volare" topped the North American charts in 1958, died of a heart attack near his home on the island of Lampedusa, south of Sicily,. He was 66. Along with several European hits, Modugno also appeared in forty-four movies.

2004 - ClassicBands.com

August 6
Rick James, most often remembered for the 1981 #16 hit "Super Freak", died of natural causes at the age of 56. He was also given writing credit on MC Hammer's 1990, #8 hit, "U Can't Touch This", which heavily sampled "Super Freak".

2009 - ClassicBands.com

August 6
Aerosmith lead singer, 61-year-old Steven Tyler, was airlifted to Rapid City Regional Hospital after falling from the stage during a concert at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Rapid City, S.D.

2012 - ClassicBands.com

August 6
Composer and conductor Marvin Hamlisch, who had a US #3 hit in 1974 with an instrumental called "The Entertainer", died at the age of 68 after suffering respiratory arrest. He is one of a handful of people to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award. His first hit record as a songwriter came when he was just 21 years old with Lesley Gore's "Sunshine, Lollipops and Rainbows", which reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1965. He also co-wrote her 1967, US #16 hit, "California Nights".

2013 - ClassicBands.com

August 6
Elvis Presley's recording sessions at Stax Records in Memphis were released together for the first time. Titled "Elvis at Stax: Deluxe Edition", the three-CD box set also featured out-takes and rare photos from the July and December 1973 sessions, which originally produced three separate albums. The collection did not crack the Billboard 200 or achieve any significant sales in America, although it did reach #70 on the UK album chart.

2016 - ClassicBands.com

August 6
Swedish music streaming service Spotify reported that "The Girl From Ipanema" was streamed more than 40,000 times after it was played while super model Gisele Bundchen walked onstage during the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The song first became a hit for Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz in 1964 when it peaked at #5 on the Hot 100.

2020 - ClassicBands.com

August 6
Wayne Fontana, who led The Mindbenders to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in April, 1965 with "Game Of Love", died at the age of 74. Born Glyn Geoffrey Ellis in the Levenshulme area of Manchester, England, Fontana took his stage name from Elvis Presley's drummer DJ Fontana. He left the band in October, 1965 and had some success in England as a solo act, including "Pamela, Pamela", which reached #11 on the UK charts in 1966, but further recording success eluded him.



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