Rock 'n' Roll History for
February 23


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1957 - ClassicBands.com

February 23
Actor Tab Hunter had the top tune on the UK chart with "Young Love" for the first of a three week stay. A week later, the song would climb to #1 on the Billboard Top 100 and was later awarded a gold disc by the RIAA for selling more than two million copies in America.

1959 - ClassicBands.com

February 23
The Soundtrack LP "The Music From Peter Gunn" by Henry Mancini hit #1 on Billboard's Best-Selling Pop Albums chert, where it would stay for ten consecutive weeks. It would become the first album ever to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1959.

1961 - ClassicBands.com

February 23
Petula Clark had her first UK #1 single with a song called "Sailor". During her career she achieved a total of 20 UK Top 40 hits as well as 15 Top 40 hits in the US.

1963 - ClassicBands.com

February 23
Ruby And The Romantics' "Our Day Will Come" enters the Billboard charts. It will hit #1 on both the Pop and R&B list in March and will be the group's biggest hit, although they would reach the Hot 100 seven more times and the R&B chart three more times.

February 23
The Chiffons' "He's So Fine" enters the Hot 100. The song had been rejected by ten different record companies before Laurie Records decided to take a chance on it. By the end of March, it will top both the Billboard Pop and R&B charts and reach #16 in the UK.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

February 23
The Beatles appear on The Ed Sullivan Show for the third consecutive week. The taped segment showed The Fab Four performing "Twist and Shout", "Please Please Me" and "I Want To Hold Your Hand". Sullivan tells his audience that the group are "fine professional singers."

1968 - ClassicBands.com

February 23
The Association had their final Top 10 hit in the US when "Everything That Touches You" made it to number ten. The song reached number 22 on the Billboard Easy Listening chart and number 11 on the Cash Box chart.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

February 23
The Doors' LP "Morrison Hotel" becomes the group's fifth album in a row to go Gold for selling 500,000 copies. Even though the accompanying single, "You Make Me Real" / "Roadhouse Blues" stalled at #50, the LP climbed to #4 on the Hot 200 chart and #12 in the UK. It has since been awarded a Platinum disc by the RIAA for sales of over one million copies in the US.

February 23
The first annual Juno Awards, Canada's version of the Grammys, was held in Toronto. The awards had existed since 1964 under the name The RPM Gold Leaf Awards, which were established by Walt Grealis, editor and publisher of RPM magazine.

February 23
While in Los Angeles to promote his film The Magic Christian, Ringo Starr guests on the NBC comedy show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. Ringo made several cameo appearances throughout the program alongside other guest stars and the regular cast.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

February 23
After nearly five years of marriage, Priscilla Presley moves out of Elvis' California home and into a two bedroom apartment near the Pacific Ocean. Their divorce would be finalized on October 9, 1973, with Priscilla being awarded an outright cash payment of $725,000 as well as spousal support, child support, 5% of Elvis' new publishing companies and half the income from the sale of their Beverly Hills home.

1978 - ClassicBands.com

February 23
At the 20th annual Grammy awards The Eagles win Record of the Year for "Hotel California" and Best Arrangement for Voices for "New Kid in Town". Fleetwood Mac win Album of the Year for "Rumours". Song of the Year was tied between "Love Theme from A Star is Born" by Paul Williams And Barbra Streisand and Joe Brooks' "You Light Up My Life."

1979 - ClassicBands.com

February 23
On the strength of their hit, "Sultans Of Swing", England's Dire Straits kick off their first US tour, selling out every one of their 51 scheduled shows.

1980 - ClassicBands.com

February 23
Queen had Billboard's top tune with "Crazy Little Thing Called Love", a song that Freddie Mercury later revealed came to him while he was taking a bath. The song remained at #1 in America for four consecutive weeks and was later awarded a Platinum record for sale of one million copies.

1983 - ClassicBands.com

February 23
A collection of former studio musicians who call themselves Toto win Album Of The Year for "Toto IV" and Record Of The Year for "Rosanna", at the 25th Grammy Awards. Willie Nelson's "Always On My Mind" wins Song Of The Year and Marvin Gaye takes home his first two statues when "Sexual Healing" is named Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Instrumental Performance.

1985 - ClassicBands.com

February 23
The L.A. quartet Autograph enter the Billboard Hot 100 with "Turn Up The Radio", which will peak at #39. The single, taken from their Platinum selling album "Sign In Please", was later featured in an episode of Miami Vice and numerous other films.

1989 - ClassicBands.com

February 23
Roy Orbison's voice was heard on two of the top albums in the US, two months after his death. His solo LP, "Mystery Girl" featured the hit "You Got It" and The Traveling Wilburys first album contained "Handle With Care" and "End of the Line".

February 23
50-year-old Isaac Hayes was jailed in Atlanta for failure to pay child support and alimony. He owed more than $346,000 to one of his three ex-wives. Hayes told the judge he was financially strapped and had not been able to schedule enough live shows to make the amount of money he needed to meet the $2,500 monthly, court-ordered payments. Hayes called his incarceration, "harassment."

1994 - ClassicBands.com

February 23
US Senator Carol Moseley-Braun presides over a Judiciary Juvenile Justice Subcommittee hearing in Washington, DC, where the issue of the day is Rap lyrics. Dionne Warwick called it "pornography", while others said it is merely poetry. No one called it music.

1995 - ClassicBands.com

February 23
Original Temptations singer Melvin Franklin died after suffering a seizure. He was only 52. His deep vocals became one of the group's signature trademarks and were heard most notably when he sang "and the band played on" from The Temps' 1970 hit single, "Ball of Confusion".

2000 - ClassicBands.com

February 23
At the Grammy Awards, Santana ties Michael Jackson's record of eight Grammys in one night, including ones for Album of the Year and Record of the Year for "Supernatural". The single "Smooth" wins Song of the Year. Sting wins Best Pop Album for "Brand New Day", Phil Collins wins Best Soundtrack for "Tarzan" and Jimi Hendrix wins his first Grammy for Best Long Form Music Video for "Band of Gypsys - Live at Fillmore East". Elton John is honored with the Living Legend Award.

2002 - ClassicBands.com

February 23
The Bee Gees made their final concert appearance when they performed at the Love and Hope Ball in Miami Beach, Florida. Maurice Gibb would die unexpectedly on January 12th, 2003, at age 53, following a heart attack while awaiting emergency surgery to repair a strangulated intestine.

2003 - ClassicBands.com

February 23
Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel sang together for the first time in ten years as they receive a Grammy Award for Lifetime Achievement.

February 23
Ravi Shankar's daughter Nora Jones was five-for-five at the Grammy Awards, as she took honors for Album of the Year, Record of the Year (for "Don't Know Why"), Best New Artist, Best Pop Vocal Album, and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female (also for "Don't Know Why"). Shankar is the man who taught Beatle George Harrison to play the sitar.

February 23
The News Of The World reported that Michael Jackson had undergone several painful operations to strip his body of dark skin until he appeared white. The article said that he had so many treatments that surgeons at a Santa Monica clinic eventually refused to give him any more.

February 23
Howie Epstein, who played bass for Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers for 20 years and 12 albums, died at the age of 47.

2007 - ClassicBands.com

February 23
Donnie Brooks, who sang the 1960 Billboard Top 40 hits "Mission Bell" and "Doll House", died of congestive heart failure. He was 71.

2010 - ClassicBands.com

February 23
A week after EMI Records announced that the iconic Abbey Road Studios was for sale, the British culture ministry stepped in to declare the recording facility a historic site. The building "acts as a modern day monument to the history of recorded sound and music," English Heritage chief executive Simon Thurley said in a statement. With its new designation, changes can still be made to the villa's interior, but "care must be taken to ensure that any alterations with respect to its character and interest are fully considered," the government said.



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