Rock 'n' Roll History for
December 21


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1963 - ClassicBands.com

December 21
The Ronettes' second single, "Baby I Love You" entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #100. It would eventually peak at #24 during the first week of February, 1964 and would climb to #11 on the UK charts. The only Ronette to actually perform on the track was lead singer Ronnie Bennett. Producer Phil Spector decided to keep her in California to record the song while the other two Ronettes, Estelle Bennett and Nedra Talley, went out on the tour with Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars. Ronnie's cousin, Elaine, took her place on the tour while Ronnie recorded at Gold Star studios in California. Since the other Ronettes were unavailable for the session, Spector used Darlene Love, Cher, and Sonny Bono to provide the backing vocals. The song also included Leon Russell on piano.

1966 - ClassicBands.com

December 21
The Beach Boys receive three Gold Record citations for the single "Good Vibrations" (US #1, UK #1) and the albums "Little Deuce Coupe" (US #4) and "Shut Down, Vol. 2" (US #13).

1967 - ClassicBands.com

December 21
The initial instrumental tracks for "MacArthur Park" by Richard Harris were recorded at Sound Recorders in Hollywood. The song was written, produced, and arranged by Jimmy Webb. String, woodwind, and brass overdubs would be recorded over two sessions on December 29 and 30. The tapes were then sent to London where Harris recorded his vocals. Personnel on this session were Jimmy Webb - harpsichord, Al Casey - guitar, Mike Deasy - guitar, Larry Knechtel - piano, Joe Osborn - bass, Hal Blaine - drums, Tommy Tedesco - guitar. The players on that session said that after about 6 or 8 run-throughs, they recorded all of the movements beginning to end without stops, and no edits. After being released in April, 1968, the song would rise to #2 in America and #4 in the UK.

1968 - ClassicBands.com

December 21
Glen Campbell topped the Billboard Hot 200 album chart with "Wichita Lineman". The LP would stay on the chart for forty-six weeks and would be Campbell's only number one. In 2000, the single, "Wichita Lineman" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

December 21
Diana Ross And The Supremes make their final television appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, singing "Someday We'll Be Together", which would be the last of their twelve number one singles.

December 21
One of Rock and Roll's strangest oddities happened when "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" by Marvin Gaye hit number one on the Cash Box music chart. The same song was also a number one hit for Gladys Knight And The Pips exactly one year earlier. The tune would also turn up on the chart by Creedence Clearwater Revival, who took it to #43 in 1976.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

December 21
Elvis Presley's stretch limousine pulled up outside the White House in Washington, D.C. One of his guards handed over a letter from Elvis addressed to President Nixon requesting a meeting to discuss how the King of Rock and Roll could help Nixon fight drugs, including getting credentials as a "federal agent at large." About two hours later, Elvis walked into the Oval Office wearing a flamboyant outfit, oversize sunglasses and two huge medallions. He gives Nixon a chrome-plated Colt .45 while the President agreed to give him a Narcotics Bureau badge, but only after learning that the chief of the narcotics bureau had turned down the same request earlier that day and told Presley the only person who could overrule his decision was the President. At Elvis' request, the meeting remained secret for more than a year until The Washington Post broke the story on January 27th, 1972.

December 21
The Recording Industry Association of America awards Gold Records to Traffic's "John Barleycorn Must Die", Judy Collins' "In My Life", and the original British cast recording of "Jesus Christ Superstar".

1972 - ClassicBands.com

December 21
Martha Reeves And The Vandellas play their last show together at Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan. Their recording career spanned from 1963 to 1972, charting over two dozen times. Ten of their singles reached the Top Ten of the Billboard R&B chart and twelve made it into the Top 40 of the Hot 100, including "Dancing in the Street" (#2), "Heat Wave" (#4), "Nowhere to Run" (#8), "I'm Ready For Love" (#9) and "Jimmy Mack" (#10)

1974 - ClassicBands.com

December 21
Harry Chapin enjoys his only number one single with "Cat's In The Cradle". The song's theme about a distant father and son relationship was suggested to Harry by his wife after he expressed disappointment about being on tour instead of attending his son's birth. The disc would be awarded a Gold Record by the RIAA for sales of one million copies and be inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 2011.

1979 - ClassicBands.com

December 21
The Eagles, Chicago and Linda Ronstadt perform at a benefit show for the presidential campaign for California governor Jerry Brown, who also happens to be Ronstadt's boyfriend.

1983 - ClassicBands.com

December 21
Van Halen released what would become their most successful song, "Jump", as the lead single from the album "1984". The tune would top the Billboard Hot 100 on February 25th, 1984 and stay there for five weeks. Over the years vocalist David Lee Roth has given various accounts of the meaning behind the lyrics, but he usually says they were inspired by a TV news story he saw where a man was about to commit suicide by jumping off a building.

1985 - ClassicBands.com

December 21
Lionel Richie had a number one record for the seventh time when "Say You, Say Me" reached the top of the Billboard Pop chart. He started his string with "Three Times A Lady" and "Still" while he was with The Commodores, before having solo hits with "Endless Love", "Truly", "All Night Long" and "Hello".

December 21
Bruce Springsteen's album, "Born in the USA" passed Michael Jackson's "Thriller" to become the second longest-lasting LP on the Billboard Top 100. It stayed there for 79 weeks. Only "The Sound of Music" with Julie Andrews lasted longer at 109 weeks.

1990 - ClassicBands.com

December 21
A concert in memory of John Lennon is held at Japan's Tokyo Dome, featuring Sean Lennon, Hall And Oates, Natalie Cole and Linda Ronstadt.

1991 - ClassicBands.com

December 21
As music fans in Great Britain mourned Freddie Mercury's death on November 24th, Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" topped the UK Official Chart for the second time. The song first attained that height in November, 1975.

1992 - ClassicBands.com

December 21
Albert King, the Blues guitarist famed for his rendition of "Crosscut Saw", suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 69. His tune reached #34 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1966.

2005 - ClassicBands.com

December 21
Elton John became one of the first Britons to take advantage of his country's new Civil Partnership Act. The 58-year-old Pop star and his longtime friend, Canadian filmmaker David Furnish, 43, tied the knot in a civil ceremony at the Guildhall in Windsor, on the first day that the new law took effect.

2006 - ClassicBands.com

December 21
The Beatles' LP "Love" sat at #1 on the European Top 100 Albums chart. The collection was produced by George Martin and his son Giles Martin and features music compiled and remixed for the Cirque du Soleil show of the same name. The disc would quickly be certified Platinum and won Grammys in two categories, Best Compilation Soundtrack Album and Best Surround Sound Album at the 50th annual Grammy awards on February 10th, 2008.

December 21
Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, performed on stage before a live US audience for the first time in nearly thirty years as he promoted his first Pop album since leaving the music world for life as a devout Muslim. Mixing new songs with such old hits as "Oh Very Young" and "Peace Train", he sang with a gentle voice that had changed little from his heyday in the 1970s.

2009 - ClassicBands.com

December 21
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), released its listing of 2009's most played holiday songs, tracked by radio air play monitoring service, Mediaguide, from over 2,500 radio stations nationwide.

The Top 10 most-played holiday songs in the ASCAP repertory for this holiday season are:

1. "Sleigh Ride" (Leroy Anderson, Mitchell Parish) - played 118,918 times
2."Jingle Bell Rock" (Joseph Carleton Beal, James Roth Boothe) - played 118,601 times
3."It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" (Edward Pola, George Wyle) - played 101,614 times
4. "White Christmas" (Irving Berlin) - played 89,348 times
5. "Winter Wonderland" (Felix Bernard, Richard B. Smith) - played 77,599 times
6. "The Christmas Song" (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) (Mel Tormé, Robert Wells) - played 74,360 times.
7. "A Holly Jolly Christmas" (Johnny Marks) - played 57,948 times
8. "Little Drummer Boy" (Katherine K. Davis, Henry V. Onorati, Harry Simeone) - played 55,617 times.
9. "Feliz Navidad" (José Feliciano) - played 51,072 times
10. "Frosty the Snowman" (Steve Nelson, Walter E. Rollins) - played 51,068 times

Note: The above list represents an aggregation of all different artist versions of each cited holiday song.

2010 - ClassicBands.com

December 21
The Recording Academy that organizes the Grammys announced seven artists to be honored with lifetime achievement awards next February. The list included The Kingston Trio, Dolly Parton and The Ramones.

2011 - ClassicBands.com

December 21
Felice Catena, the sister of The Knack's late drummer, Bruce Gary, launched a lawsuit against Capitol Records in Los Angeles Superior Court, claiming the label failed to pay the correct royalty rate when licensing the band's music to digital download services.

2012 - ClassicBands.com

December 21
Rolling Stones guitarist, 65-year-old Ronnie Wood, exchanged wedding vows with his 34-year-old finance Sally Humphreys during a private ceremony in London. Keith Richards and Rod Stewart were his groomsmen. Paul McCartney and his wife Nancy Shevell were also in attendance, as were Wood's two sons, Tyrone and Jesse.

December 21
Lee Dorman, bassist for the Psychedelic Rock band Iron Butterfly on their landmark 1968 album, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", passed away at the age of 70.

2014 - ClassicBands.com

December 21
Elton John and his longtime partner David Furnish were married in London, England on the ninth anniversary of the day they entered into a civil partnership. After the ceremony, the pair held a celebration at their estate near Windsor Castle.

2017 - ClassicBands.com

December 21
Google Trends showed that searches for "The Beatles" declined by 70% between January 2004 and December 2017, which seemed to indicated that the Fab Four were decidedly less popular than they were just over a decade ago.

December 21
Billboard published their Top Ten Most Popular Holiday Songs for 2017.
#10 - "Last Christmas" by Wham
#9 - "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby
#8 - "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)" by Trans-Siberian Orchestra
#7 - "It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year" by Andy Williams
#6 - "A Holly Jolly Christmas" by Burl Ives
#5 - "Feliz Navidad" by Jose Feliciano
#4 - "Jingle Bell Rock" by Bobby Helms
#3 - "The Christmas Song" by Nat 'King' Cole
#2 - "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" by Brenda Lee
#1 - "All I Want For Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey



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