Rock 'n' Roll History for
August 7


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1954 - ClassicBands.com

August 7
Billboard magazine runs an article about Elvis Presley, calling him "a potent new chanter who can rock a tune for either the Country or the R&B markets."

1957 - ClassicBands.com

August 7
The Quarry Men, minus Paul McCartney who is away at camp, make their first appearance at Liverpool's Cavern Club, which at the time was mostly a Jazz club. After a few numbers, the club's owner Alan Sytner tells them, "Cut out the bloody Rock!"

August 7
Paul Anka makes his first network TV appearance on American Bandstand where he performs his current hit, "Diana" (US #2, UK #1). He would go on to place a total of thirty-one songs on the Billboard Hot 100 and appear in thirty TV shows and movies.

1961 - ClassicBands.com

August 7
Patsy Cline reaches number one on the Billboard Country chart and number twelve on the Hot 100 with "I Fall To Pieces". It was one of the slowest ascending records in music history, taking over six months to peak from when it was first released on January 30th. Although it was a tune that Patsy initially wanted no part of, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it at #238 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004.

1963 - ClassicBands.com

August 7
The film, Beach Party with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, opens in American theatres. Music is provided by Dick Dale And The Del Tones. Although the movie received mixed reviews, it still earned $1.2 million by the end of 1963.

1965 - ClassicBands.com

August 7
The Turtles' version of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" is released. It will become the first of the band's nine chart singles, rising to #8 by mid-month.

August 7
Vocalist and keyboard player Mike Smith of The Dave Clark 5 is pulled off the stage by overzealous fans during a show in Chicago and breaks two ribs.

August 7
Although it failed to chart at all in the UK, Herman's Hermits reached number one in the US with a silly little song called "I'm Henry VIII, I Am". The tune was actually written in 1910 and had been popularized by Cockney comedian Harry Champion the following year. Unlike the Hermits' version, which simply repeats the chorus three times, the original song was written with three different verses. The Hermits pushed The Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" to the number two spot.

August 7
Wilson Pickett tops the Billboard R&B chart for the first time when "In The Midnight Hour" reaches #1. The song will climb to #21 on the Pop chart, followed by fifteen more hits over the next seven years.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

August 7
Frank Zappa's debut solo album "Lumpy Gravy" is released by Capitol Records. He conducted a group of session musicians, but did not actually perform on any of the tracks. The LP would be quickly withdrawn from circulation due to a lawsuit from MGM Records, who claimed that the album violated Zappa's contract with their subsidiary, Verve Records. After it was significantly edited, it was re-released on May 13th, 1968, and rose to #159 on the Billboard 200 chart.

August 7
The LP "Revolution!" by Paul Revere And The Raiders was released on Columbia Records. It would peak at #25 on the Billboard chart and contained the single "Him or Me – What's It Gonna Be?", which had already climbed to #5. Because of the band's tight schedule, Wrecking Crew session musicians (specifically Hal Blaine, Ry Cooder, Jerry Cole and Glen Campbell) were used to do the instrumental tracks.

1971 - ClassicBands.com

August 7
Frank Zappa's "Just Another Band from L.A." is released. It's the last Zappa album to include former Turtles Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman. The two would leave to record on their own as Flo and Eddie.

August 7
After having half-a-dozen Top 20 hits in the US, The Bee Gees finally scored their first Billboard number one with "How Can You Mend A Broken Heart". Barry and Robin Gibb had written the song for crooner Andy Williams, but he turned it down.

August 7
James Taylor had the best selling single in America, according to the Cashbox chart, with the Carole King written "You've Got A Friend." The song reached #4 in the UK and was actually recorded simultaneously with King's version with shared musicians.

1974 - ClassicBands.com

August 7
Peter Wolf of The J. Geils Band married actress Faye Dunaway in a Beverly Hills courtroom. They would last five years.

1976 - ClassicBands.com

August 7
Elton John and Kiki Dee combined their talents for a US number one smash, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart". The song was written by Elton and his song writing partner Bernie Taupin under the assumed names of Ann Orson and Carte Blanche.

August 7
The Beach Boys' cover of Chuck Berry's "Rock And Roll Music" peaks at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming their first Top Ten hit since "Good Vibrations" in 1966. Berry's original reached #6 in the Fall of 1957.

1979 - ClassicBands.com

August 7
At a Marshall Tucker Band show in Long Beach, CA, a disgruntled fan steals a car and drives it through two banks of metal exit doors and a concrete wall.

1983 - ClassicBands.com

August 7
Harold Melvin and three members of his band, The Blue Notes, were arrested for cocaine, marijuana, and meth possession at Caesars Boardwalk Regency Hotel Casino in Atlantic City.

1987 - ClassicBands.com

August 7
Twenty-four years after the movie Beach Party was released, Back to the Beach opened at theatres across America. The film reunited Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello, who this time played middle-aged parents with rebellious kids. It would earn $13 million at the box office and receive "Two thumbs up" from movie critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert.

August 7
Madonna did not endear herself to residents of her hometown, Bay City, Michigan, when she referred to it as a "smelly little town" on NBC-TV's Today show.

1996 - ClassicBands.com

August 7
ZZ Top's album "Eliminator" is certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America. Three singles from the LP had hit the Billboard Hot 100, Gimme All Your Lovin'" (#37), "Sharp Dressed Man" (#56), and "Legs" (#8).

2000 - ClassicBands.com

August 7
The family of Jimi Hendrix won a case at an international panel to evict the holder of the Internet address www.jimihendrix.com. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Center in Geneva, Switzerland ruled that Denny Hammerton of Minneola, Florida had no legitimate rights or interests in the domain name and had registered and used the URL in bad faith.

2002 - ClassicBands.com

August 7
The Progressive Rock band Yes were given a day in their honor in the city of Philadelphia. At the time, the group had charted with twenty-two albums and eighteen singles in the US.

2003 - ClassicBands.com

August 7
The Osmonds received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. As a group, Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay and Donny placed ten songs on the Billboard Top 40 chart. Donny had sixteen solo hits, his sister Marie had three and together the pair had six more. The youngest member of the family, nine year old Jimmy, also cracked the Top 40 with "Long Haired Lover From Liverpool" in 1972.

2008 - ClassicBands.com

August 7
Elvis Presley's favorite performance costume, the peacock jump suit, was sold by auctioneer Gotta Have It for $300,000, making it the most expensive piece of Elvis memorabilia ever sold at an auction. The white outfit with a plunging V-neck and high collar features a blue-and-gold peacock design, hand-embroidered on the front and back and along the pant legs. It had cost Elvis $10,000 in 1974.

2011 - ClassicBands.com

August 7
Marshall Grant, who played bass for Johnny Cash from 1954 to 1980, passed away at the age of 83. After his time with The Man In Black, Grant managed The Statler Brothers until they retired in 2002 and later wrote an autobiography entitled I Was There When It Happened.

2014 - ClassicBands.com

August 7
Billy Joel sang "Uptown Girl" to his ex-wife Christie Brinkley at New York City's Madison Square Garden. Joel wrote the song for Brinkley and enjoyed a US #3 with it in 1983.

2021 - ClassicBands.com

August 7
Bruce Springsteen's daughter, 29-year-old Jessica Springsteen, helped the US equestrian jumping team win a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

August 7
Dennis 'Dee Tee' Thomas, a co-founder of the Soul-Funk outfit Kool & the Gang, died in his sleep just hours after performing with the band. He was 70. Playing alto saxophone, flute and percussion, Thomas helped the band place twenty-two songs on the Billboard Top 40 between 1973 and 1987, including the chart topping "Celebration" in 1980. Over the course of their career, they earned two Grammy Awards and sold over seventy million records world-wide.

2022 - ClassicBands.com

August 7
Christie's auction house in England sold an acetate of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' In The Wind" to an un-named buyer for $1,769,508. The 2021 recording of the 1962 Folk classic was produced by T Bone Burnett in Los Angeles and was recorded directly onto an acetate record, called an Ionic Recording, which uses a coating that protects it from wear. The disc can be played on any typical record player.

2024 - ClassicBands.com

August 7
Jack Russell, the former frontman of the Glam Rock band Great White, passed away at the age of 63. The singer had been suffering from Lewy body dementia and muscular system atrophy. Great White placed six songs on the Billboard Hot 100 in the late '80s and early '90s, including "Once Bitten Twice Shy", which peaked at #5 in 1989.



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