Rock 'n' Roll History for
March 20


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1957 - ClassicBands.com

March 20
Bobby Helms saw his biggest single, "Fraulein" enter the US Country chart. The record eventually hit number 1, spending 52 weeks on that list, longer than any other song of the 1950s. At the same time that disc was on the Billboard Top 100, his recording of "My Special Angel" would rise to #7. Bobby released "Jingle Bell Rock" the following November, which would go on to become a Christmas standard.

1959 - ClassicBands.com

March 20
Still an unknown local singer, 16-year-old Bobby Rydell makes his first TV appearance on American Bandstand. Bobby will record his breakthrough hit, "Kissin' Time" next June, and go on to place a total of nineteen songs on Billboard's Top 40 chart.

1960 - ClassicBands.com

March 20
Elvis Presley enters a Nashville recording studio for the first time since being discharged from the US Army. A twelve hour session will produce his next single, "Stuck On You", which will top the Billboard chart a month later. Scotty Moore and Bill Black, who had quit Presley's touring band in 1957, are in the studio with him for the last time.

1961 - ClassicBands.com

March 20
Ricky Nelson records "Hello Mary Lou", which would climb to #9 in the US by early May.

March 20
The top tune in the US was Elvis Presley's "Surrender", which used updated lyrics put to a melody that was written in 1911 as "Come Back To Sorrento". The song would also reach #1 in the UK.

1963 - ClassicBands.com

March 20
The group of studio musicians known as The Wrecking Crew lay down the instrumental tracks for Jan And Dean's "Surf City". Personnel on this session included: Hal Blaine on drums, Earl Palmer on drums, Ray Pohlman on bass, Bill Pitman on guitar, Glen Campbell on guitar and Billy Strange on guitar. On July 20th, the record would top the Billboard Hot 100, where it would stay for two weeks.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

March 20
The British TV show Ready Steady Go! gained its highest ratings ever when The Beatles appear and lip-synch "It Won't Be Long", "You Can't Do That" and "Can't Buy Me Love".

1968 - ClassicBands.com

March 20
Eric Clapton, Neil Young, Richie Furay and Jim Mesina are arrested at Stephen Stills' house in Los Angeles for "being at a place where it is suspected marijuana is being used." It's a misdemeanor for which Clapton will be found innocent while the others paid small fines.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

March 20
David Bowie marries American-born model Angela Barnett. Bowie would later say, "I married her because she was one of the few women that I was capable of living with for more than a week." Although it has often been rumored that she was the subject of The Rolling Stones' song, "Angie", both Mick Jagger and Keith Richards have denied it.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

March 20
"Border Song", from Elton John's debut, self-titled album is released. The song fails to chart in the UK and only reaches #92 during a short, two-week stay on the Hot 100. His breakthrough hit, "Your Song" would crack the chart the following November, peak at #8, and start a string of 58 Billboard Top 40 entries over the next thirty years.

1971 - ClassicBands.com

March 20
Janis Joplin's recording of Kris Kristofferson's tune, "Me And Bobby McGee" reaches #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, nearly six months after she had passed away. The song became the second posthumously released record to reach the top of the chart, after "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding did so in 1968.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

March 20
Ringo Starr records "Back Off, Boogaloo", which will become the second of his seven US Top 10 singles. The session was produced by George Harrison.

1976 - ClassicBands.com

March 20
Vincent Furnier, a.k.a. Alice Cooper, marries 19-year-old dance instructor Sheryl Goddard, a woman he met in 1975 when he was auditioning dancers for the tour in support of "Welcome to My Nightmare" Despite some ups and downs, the couple stayed married and had three children, daughter Calico in 1981, son Dash in 1985, and daughter Sonora in 1993.

March 20
Boz Scaggs' biggest album, "Silk Degrees" makes its first appearance on the Billboard chart, where it will climb to #2. It's his seventh solo album, but the first to go Platinum. Among the accompanying studio musicians were David Paich, Jeff Porcaro, Steve Porcaro and David Hungate, who would go on to form the band Toto.

1977 - ClassicBands.com

March 20
T-Rex played their farewell gig when they appeared at The Locarno in Portsmouth, England. As pioneers of Glam Rock, the band placed eleven singles in the British Top Ten between 1970 and 1973.

1980 - ClassicBands.com

March 20
28-year-old Joseph Riviera took over the Asylum Records office in New York and demanded to see either Jackson Browne or the Eagles, wanting them to finance his trucking operation. When informed that they lived in California, Riviera pockets his pistol and leaves the building, later surrendering to police.

1982 - ClassicBands.com

March 20
Joan Jett And The Blackhearts started a seven week run at #1 on the US singles chart with "I Love Rock 'n' Roll". It was a #4 hit in the UK.

1989 - ClassicBands.com

March 20
Dick Clark announces his retirement from American Bandstand. On April 8th, comedian David Hirsch would take over, but the show was never the same and came to an end on October 7th. It continued to tape live at the Harrah's Club and Casino in Reno, Nevada, and aired locally until the mid-1990s.

1991 - ClassicBands.com

March 20
Michael Jackson inks the most lucrative deal in recording history when Sony signed him to a $1 billion contract.

March 20
Eric Clapton's four year old son, Conor, fell to his death from the 53rd story of a New York City apartment window. The boy was in the custody of his mother, Italian actress, Lori Del Santo and the pair were visiting a friend's apartment. The housekeeper had just cleaned a room and opened the window to air it out. Eric was staying in a nearby hotel after taking his son to the circus the previous evening. The tragedy inspired his song "Tears in Heaven".

1994 - ClassicBands.com

March 20
Madonna is named Worst Actress at the 14th Golden Raspberry Awards, for her work in the film Body of Evidence. This was her third time being given that title, with her first coming in 1987 for Shanghai Surprise, and the second in 1988 for Who's That Girl.

2013 - ClassicBands.com

March 20
On what would have been their 44th wedding anniversary, Yoko Ono tweeted an image of John Lennon's bloodstained glasses overlaid with the message: "Over 1,057,000 people have been killed by guns in the USA since John Lennon was shot and killed on December 8, 1980."

2015 - ClassicBands.com

March 20
Ken Gorka, bassist for The Critters on their 1966 Billboard #17 hit, "Mr. Dieingly Sad", passed away suddenly at the age of 68. At the time of his death, Gorka was a co-owner of the Greenwich Village club The Bitter End.

March 20
Former Twisted Sister drummer A.J. Pero died of an apparent heart attack at the age of 55. He had played with the band for four years before leaving in 1986. He participated in the band's 1997 reunion and continued to perform with them until his death.

2018 - ClassicBands.com

March 20
Former Beatles drummer, 77-year-old Ringo Starr received knighthood from Prince William at Buckingham Palace in London, England. The honor came 21 years after fellow Beatle Paul McCartney was knighted. When asked what it meant to him, Starr replied "It means recognition for the things we've done. I was really pleased to accept this."

2020 - ClassicBands.com

March 20
Kenny Rogers, the Country / Pop superstar who placed 28 songs on the Billboard Top 40 chart between 1968 and 2000, died of natural causes at the age of 81. During the course of his career, Rogers achieved 30 number one singles on the Pop, Country and Adult Contemporary charts. He also won three Grammys, six CMA awards, and eight ACM awards, along with inclusion in the Country Music Hall of Fame.



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