Rock 'n' Roll History for
December 23


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1957 - ClassicBands.com

December 23
The title song to his movie April Love becomes Pat Boone's fifth US number one hit. The record will stay at the top for six weeks and be nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song, but lost out to Frank Sinatra's "All the Way".

December 23
Bobby Helms' "Jingle Bell Rock" enters the Billboard Pop chart for the first time, where it will reach #6. It will make the chart again in December 1958, 1960, 1961 and 1962. In 2016 the song would once again make the Hot 100 and return in 2017, 2019 and 2020. In total, the record has sold nearly 900,000 copies.

1959 - ClassicBands.com

December 23
Chuck Berry is arrested for transporting a minor across a state line for an immoral purpose. Berry claims he was only giving a young lady a ride to her job as a hat-check girl at his St. Louis nightclub. Unbeknown to Berry, 14-year-old Janice Norine was working as a prostitute. Although he will be convicted and given a five year sentence, the charges are eventually dropped after the judge allegedly made racist remarks.

December 23
The Drifters record "This Magic Moment" at Bell Sound in New York City. The song will peak at #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 next April 2nd and spend a total of eleven weeks on the chart. Jay And The Americans would take their version of the tune to #6 in March, 1969.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

December 23
Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys suffered a breakdown while on a flight from Los Angeles to Houston. Wilson decided to retire from performing live, even though their "Beach Boys Concert" album was number 1 on the LP chart at the time. Glen Campbell became a temporary replacement before Bruce Johnston joined the group.

1966 - ClassicBands.com

December 23
BBC-TV broadcast Ready, Steady Go! for the last time after the Musicians Union enforces a ban on miming. The weekly program was the UK's most popular Pop music television show, helping many of Britain's finest musical acts get their start. The special guests for the farewell show are Mick Jagger, The Who, Eric Burdon, The Spencer Davis Group, Donovan and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

December 23
After not seeing him for years, John Lennon makes contact with his biological father, Alf, after learning that he has taken ill. John sends a get well note and a car so that the senior Lennon can visit his famous son.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

December 23
Joni Mitchell earns her first Gold record with her third album, "Ladies of the Canyon". On October 13th, 1986, the LP would go Platinum for sales of one million copies.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

December 23
The former manager of Grand Funk Railroad, Terry Knight, showed up at a benefit concert staged by the group, along with two deputy sheriffs and a moving van. Knight has a court order that gives him the right to seize and hold $1 million in money or assets pending settlement of several lawsuits between the him and the band. However, since the show can't go on without the equipment, Knight is not allowed to touch the amps or drums until after the concert.

December 23
Little Jimmy Osmond started a five week run at the top of the UK singles chart with "Long Haired Lover From Liverpool". At nine years of age, he was the youngest person to have a UK #1 record.

1977 - ClassicBands.com

December 23
Cat Stevens announces that he has converted to Islam and now wants to be known as Yuself Islam. His given name was Steven Demetre Georgiou.

1978 - ClassicBands.com

December 23
Rod Stewart gets in on the Disco craze when "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" enters Billboard's Top 40. It would rise to the top of the chart next February 10th for a four week stay during an eighteen week chart run. Royalties from the song were donated to the United Nations Children's Fund. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the tune at #301 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time.

1979 - ClassicBands.com

December 23
New records making their first appearance on the US record charts include: Rod Stewart's "I Don't Want to Talk About It", Anne Murray's "Daydream Believer", Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", Pat Benatar's "Heartbreaker" and Neil Diamond's "September Morn".

1991 - ClassicBands.com

December 23
James Brown launches a lawsuit against the producers of the movie The Commitments, claiming one of the characters too closely resembles him. Five years later, the courts rule against the singer.

1992 - ClassicBands.com

December 23
Eddie Hazel, who played lead guitar with Parliament-Funkadelic, died at the age of 42 from internal bleeding and liver failure. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997.

1994 - ClassicBands.com

December 23
48-year-old Dan Hamilton, of Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds, suffered a stroke and died in Los Angeles. He had earlier been diagnosed as suffering from Cushing's syndrome, a hormone disorder caused by high levels of cortisol in the blood. The group reached #4 in 1971 with "Don't Pull Your Love" and #1 in 1975 with "Fallin' In Love".

1997 - ClassicBands.com

December 23
Jackie Landry of The Chantels died of cancer at the age of 56. The group placed four songs on the Billboard Top 40 between 1958 and 1961, including "Maybe" (#15) and "Look In My Eyes" (#14), as well as an answer to Ray Charles' "Hit The Road Jack" called "Well, I Told You" (#29).

1999 - ClassicBands.com

December 23
George Harrison's home in Maui was broken into by a woman named Cristin Keleher, who had enough time to cook a frozen pizza, drink a root beer, start some laundry and phone her mother in New Jersey. Keleher was arrested and charged with burglary and theft. The incident was minor compared to what happened in George's home in England, exactly one week later.

2002 - ClassicBands.com

December 23
Sir Paul McCartney was granted his own coat of arms by the College of Arms, the English heraldic body formed in 1484. The crest features a bird that appears to be holding a guitar in its claw. Four curved emblems resembling beetles' backs reflect his career with John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. The motto is "Ecce Cor Meum", Latin for "Behold My Heart", which is the title of an oratorio he composed. McCartney applied for the crest in 1997, the year he was knighted for his contribution to British music and society, but the death of his first wife Linda in 1998 delayed its design and approval.

2007 - ClassicBands.com

December 23
The Police were the highest earning touring group for the past year, bringing in nearly $132 million (£66.5m) The band's fifty-four gig North American trek generated almost double the total of the second-placed act, Country star Kenny Chesney.

2011 - ClassicBands.com

December 23
Just as she has every year since 1986, Darlene Love appeared on The Late Show With David Letterman where she sang "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)", backed by Paul Shaffer And The CBS Orchestra. The song was originally recorded for the landmark 1963 holiday album "A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector", which rose to #13 on Billboard's Christmas Albums sales chart.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

December 23
Brenda Lee's iconic 1960 hit, "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree" topped the Billboard Country Streaming Chart and the Billboard Holiday Airplay Chart. The song also re-entered the Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100, giving Little Miss Dynamite her first Top 40 hit since 1967's "Ride, Ride, Ride" which rose to #37 during a two week stay.

December 23
Billboard.com reported that John Lippman, the owner of the legendary mail-order company Columbia House, was interested in reviving the service with vinyl records. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, vinyl sales were up over 50 percent in the first half of 2015.

December 23
Paul Anka became the latest artist to announce that he was pulling out of a planned European tour following the November 13th terror attacks in Paris.

2018 - ClassicBands.com

December 23
Billboard reported that the first leg of Elton John's Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour topped their Hot Tours list. The legendary musician's twenty-two shows grossed $42.5 million, selling 321,984 tickets.

December 23
Honey Lantree, drummer for The Honeycombs on their 1964, Billboard #5 hit, "Have I The Right", died of breast cancer at her home in Great Bardfield, Essex, England. She was 75 years old.

2019 - ClassicBands.com

December 23
Four holiday songs made it into the Billboard Hot 100 for only the second time in the chart's history. Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You" led the list, followed by Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" at #2, Burl Ives' "A Holly Jolly Christmas" at #6, and Bobby Helms' "Jingle Bell Rock" at #9.

2020 - ClassicBands.com

December 23
Leslie West, vocalist and lead guitarist for the band Mountain, suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 75. Their only Top 40 single, "Mississippi Queen" reached #21 on the Hot 100 in 1970.



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