Rock 'n' Roll History for
June 9


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1958 - ClassicBands.com

June 9
Jerry Lee Lewis and his producer Sam Phillips take out a full page ad in Billboard magazine to explain his second divorce and third marriage to his 14-year-old second cousin Myra. "This whole thing started because I tried and did tell the truth. I hope that if I am washed up as an entertainer it won't be because of this bad publicity because I can cry and wish all I want to but I can't control the press or the sensationalism that these people will go to to get a scandal started to sell newspapers."

June 9
Sheb Wooley hit the top of the Billboard chart with a novelty song called "The Purple People Eater". When he first sang the tune for MGM executives, Sheb said he was scraping "the bottom of the barrel", but the brass loved the song and wanted to release it. Three weeks after it hit store shelves it was the number one record in the US and would start a merchandising craze that included hats, T-shirts and even ice cream.

1963 - ClassicBands.com

June 9
Andy Williams is the mystery guest on CBS-TV's What's My Line?. Despite Andy using a fake, falsetto voice, it takes the panel of Dorothy Kilgallen, Maurice Edelman, Phyllis Newman and Bennett Cerf just eight questions to determine his identity.

1966 - ClassicBands.com

June 9
Elvis Presley's musical comedy Paradise, Hawaiian Style is released. The film received the usual mixed reviews, but earned $2.5 million in theaters. A soundtrack album was issued the next day, but sales were under 250,000, a new low for a Presley LP. One single from the collection, "Love Letters" was released, and climbed to #19 on the Hot 100 and #6 on the UK's Official Chart.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

June 9
The Rolling Stones announce that Mick Taylor of John Mayall's Bluebreakers has been selected to replace the recently departed Brian Jones.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

June 9
Bob Dylan accepts an honorary Doctorate in Music by Princeton University from University President Robert F. Goheen.

1971 - ClassicBands.com

June 9
Paul McCartney's "Ram" LP goes Gold in the US, where it would reach #2 and spend over five months in the Top Ten, eventually going Platinum. The album topped the chart in the UK.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

June 9
After several years of playing the New Jersey bar scene and building up a loyal following in Asbury Park, Bruce Springsteen signs with Columbia Records. Between 1973 and 2022, The Boss would release twenty-two studio albums and seven live albums for the label.

June 9
Elvis Presley performed for the first time in New York City. He was reported to have offered the press a chance to interview him for a fee of $120,000. There were no takers.

1973 - ClassicBands.com

June 9
Sylvia Robinson, who had teamed with Micky Baker to score a #11 US hit in 1957 with "Love Is Strange", reaches #3 as a solo artist with "Pillow Talk". Three years earlier she had found success as a songwriter when The Moments took her composition "Love On A Two Way Street" to #3.

1975 - ClassicBands.com

June 9
Tony Orlando And Dawn received a Gold record for "He Don't Love You (Like I Love You)". The song was number one in the US for three weeks and was one of five, million-selling records for the trio. The tune was originally a #7 hit for Jerry Butler in 1960 under the title, "He Will Break Your Heart".

1979 - ClassicBands.com

June 9
The Bee Gees reached number one in the US for the ninth time with their sixth straight chart topper, "Love You Inside Out", a #13 hit in the UK.

1990 - ClassicBands.com

June 9
Twenty-five years after Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys reached number one with "Help Me Rhonda", his daughters Carnie and Wendy, along with John Phillips' daughter Chynna, had the top tune in the US with "Hold On". The song would be awarded a Gold Record by the RIAA and went on to win the Billboard Music Award for Hot 100 Single of the Year.

1993 - ClassicBands.com

June 9
What's Love Got to Do With It?, a film about singer Tina Turner and how she rose to Rock stardom with her husband Ike Turner, opened in US theatres. The film was well received and the stars, Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne, were both nominated for Oscars. Bassett won a Best Actress Golden Globe for her performance as Tina.

June 9
Arthur Alexander, a Rhythm And Blues singer-songwriter who reached #24 on the Billboard Pop chart in 1962 with "You Better Move On", died of a heart attack at the age of 53. Alexander had his tunes recorded by The Beatles ("Anna"), The Rolling Stones ("You Better Move On"), Steve Alaimo ("Every Day I Have To Cry") and Bob Dylan ("Sally Sue Brown").

1998 - ClassicBands.com

June 9
The Ronettes finally got their day in court as a judge in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York heard arguments in their lawsuit against Phil Spector. The Ronettes, whose hits included "Be My Baby" and "Walking In The Rain", charged that the producer breached the group's 34-year-old contract by paying the members no royalties since 1963. The suit asked for $12 million in damages, rescission of the contract, the return of the masters and recoupment of all monies received by the defendants from the sale of Ronettes masters. Although The Ronettes would win this case, a five-judge panel of the New York State Court of Appeals would overturn the decision in October, 2002, saying that the contract the Ronettes signed with Spector in 1963 was still binding.

2009 - ClassicBands.com

June 9
The Librarian of Congress announced that twenty-five culturally significant recordings, including "Tom Dooley" by The Kingston Trio, "Rumble" by Link Wray and "My Generation" by The Who, would be preserved in a special sound archive in the National Recording Registry.

2011 - ClassicBands.com

June 9
Google honored guitar legend Les Paul with a special stylized logo on their web site in memory of his passing on June 13th, 2009.

2013 - ClassicBands.com

June 9
Elton John was targeted by anti-gay campaigners in Russia who demanded that he tone down his colorful wardrobe and wear "more respectable" clothing for his concert there next month.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

June 9
A Toronto-based company called Nutritional High announced that they had secured the licensing rights to manufacture and distribute marijuana and hemp-based products using the song titles and bearing the likeness of iconic guitarist Jimi Hendrix.

June 9
Band leader James Last, who led his orchestra to #28 on the Billboard Hot 100 with "The Seduction" in 1980, passed away at the age of 86. The song was featured in the film American Gigolo.

June 9
A copy of The Beatles' White Album, signed by convicted murderer Charles Manson, went up for auction on the website iOffer. You could also skip the auction and just buy the LP for $50,000.

2016 - ClassicBands.com

June 9
Lionel Richie was given the prestigious Johnny Mercer Award by the Songwriters Hall Of Fame during a ceremony in New York City. During his acceptance speech Richie told the audience, "All the songs that I created were the songs that they told me would ruin my career."

2017 - ClassicBands.com

June 9
Gene Simmons of KISS applied to trademark his "horns hand gesture", described as "the index and small fingers extended upward and the thumb extended perpendicular." Simmons noted in his application that the gesture was first used on November 14, 1974 as part of KISS' Hotter Than Hell tour.

2018 - ClassicBands.com

June 9
John McElrath, the keyboard player for The Swingin' Medallions on their 1966 hit, "Double Shot Of My Baby's Love", died of Parkinson's Disease at the age of 77.

2019 - ClassicBands.com

June 9
Jim Pike, co-founder of the L.A. based vocal group, The Lettermen, passed away at the age of 82. The trio achieved six Billboard Top 40 hits between 1961 and 1969, including the Top Ten hits, "When I Fall In Love" in 1962 and "Goin' Out Of My Head/Can't Take My Eyes Off You" in 1968.



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