Rock 'n' Roll History for
March 3


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1956 - ClassicBands.com

March 3
Elvis Presley makes his first appearance on the Billboard charts when "Heartbreak Hotel" debuts at #68. Although many staff members at RCA Victor believed that the release was a mistake, the song would rise to #1 on the US Pop chart for 8 weeks and spend 17 weeks at the top of the Country chart. "Heartbreak Hotel" would later be ranked #45 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

March 3
21-year-old Elvis Presley purchases his first house, a four bedroom, two bathroom rancher at 1034 Audubon Drive, Memphis, Tennessee. He would live there with his parents, Gladys and Vernon, until March, 1957, when he would buy Graceland.

1957 - ClassicBands.com

March 3
The head of the Catholic archdiocese of Chicago, Samuel Cardinal Strich, bans Rock 'n' Roll from Catholic schools in his district, saying "When our schools and centers stoop to such things as Rock And Roll tribal rhythms, they are failing seriously in their duty." A week after his remarks, a survey of record retailers, distributors and disc jockeys revealed that the Cardinal's words had no affect on Rock record sales in the area.

1958 - ClassicBands.com

March 3
As a follow-up to their number one hit, "At The Hop", Danny And The Juniors' "Rock And Roll Is Here To Stay" enters the Billboard Top 50, on its way to #19. The song was written by group member David White, who went on to a successful career writing for other artists, including Chubby Checker ("The Fly" #7 in 1961) and Lesley Gore ("You Don't Own Me" #2 in 1964).

1959 - ClassicBands.com

March 3
The Drifters, with new lead vocalist Ben E. King, record their breakthrough hit, "There Goes My Baby", at Atlantic's studios in New York. The song will become the group's first of 16 Billboard Top 40 hits.

1966 - ClassicBands.com

March 3
Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Richie Furay, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin created the group, Buffalo Springfield. Their stay on the Rock music scene would only last a couple of years before the group would fragment. Stills teamed up with David Crosby of The Byrds and Graham Nash of The Hollies to form Crosby, Stills and Nash, while Young released several solo projects before joining them. Furay got together with Jim Messina and Randy Meisner to create Poco in 1968. Palmer dropped out of the lime light while Martin toured as Buffalo Springfield with fill-in musicians.

March 3
Fans at Ottawa, Ontario's Coliseum riot after waiting an hour for The Animals to perform. The band however, refuses to play unless they are paid in advance. The concert is eventually canceled.

March 3
The Jeff Beck group, featuring a virtually unknown singer named Rod Stewart, along with bass player Ron Wood and drummer Aynsley Dunbar, make their debut in London, England.

1971 - ClassicBands.com

March 3
South African radio lifts its five-year ban on Beatles' music.

March 3
Elton John and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra perform for a packed house at London's Royal Festival Hall.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

March 3
Harry Nilsson receives a Gold record for his seventh album, "Nilsson Schmilsson", which features three of his best known US hits, "Without You" (#1), "Jump Into The Fire" (#27), and "Coconut" (#8). The LP was nominated for Album Of The Year at the 1973 Grammy Awards, but lost to George Harrison's "The Concert for Bangladesh".

1973 - ClassicBands.com

March 3
"The Concert For Bangla Desh" is awarded Album Of The Year and Roberta Flack's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" is named Record Of The Year as well as Song Of The Year for its writer, Ewan MacColl at the 15th annual Grammy Awards. Helen Reddy wins Best Pop, Rock and Folk Vocal Performance for "I Am Woman" and thanks God by saying "She makes everything possible."

March 3
Jimi Hendrix's personal manager, Michael Jeffrey, was one of 68 people killed in a plane crash in France. Jeffery was en route to a court appearance in London related to Hendrix.

March 3
At the 15th Annual Grammy Awards held at the Tennessee Theatre, Nashville, Tennessee, some notable winners were:
Helen Reddy - Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for "I Am Woman",
Harry Nilsson - Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male for "Without You",
Donny Hathaway & Roberta Flack - Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus for "Where Is the Love"
Joel Dorn (producer) & Roberta Flack - Record of the Year for "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"
America - Best New Artist
George Carlin - Best Comedy Recording for "FM And AM"

1980 - ClassicBands.com

March 3
London auction house Sotheby's holds its first ever auction of Rock memorabilia. Among the notable items sold were four US dollar bills signed by The Beatles that went for 220 Pounds ($528).

1982 - ClassicBands.com

March 3
A re-formed version of The Mamas And The Papas, with original members John Phillips and Denny Doherty, joined by Phillips' daughter Mackenzie and Spanky McFarlane of Spanky and Our Gang, play the first show of their brief reunion tour.

1983 - ClassicBands.com

March 3
A member of a motorcycle gang tells a US Senate Judiciary hearing that his friends have a contract out on The Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger and that two assassination attempts have already failed.

1984 - ClassicBands.com

March 3
Michael Jackson's "Thriller" LP becomes the first album to reap seven Billboard Top Ten hits when the title track reaches #4. The others were "The Girl Is Mine" (#2), "Billie Jean" (#1), "Beat It" (#1), "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" (#5), and "Human Nature" (#7).

1985 - ClassicBands.com

March 3
Michael Jackson visited Madame Tussaud Waxworks in London to unveil his wax look-alike.

1995 - ClassicBands.com

March 3
A stalker was arrested after trying to elude the doorman at Roberta Flack's New York apartment. 49-year-old Tennyson Charles was detained after shouting, "Shooting is not good enough for her. Ripping her heart out like Jack the Ripper would be better. I'll kill her if I see her." Charles had been stalking Flack since 1982 after she tried to hail a cab he was riding in.

2000 - ClassicBands.com

March 3
Former Bay City Rollers drummer Derek Longmuir was released on bail after being charged with downloading child pornography from the internet and keeping indecent videos in his home. He was later sentenced to 300 hours of community service by an Edinburgh court.

2006 - ClassicBands.com

March 3
61-year-old Gary Glitter was jailed for three years after a Vietnamese court found him guilty of sexually abusing two young girls aged 11 and 12 at his home in the resort town of Vung Tau, in southern Vietnam.

2013 - ClassicBands.com

March 3
Bobby Rogers, a founding member of the Motown group The Miracles, died at the age of 73 following a long illness. His voice can be heard on the group's hits "Shop Around", "You've Really Got a Hold on Me", "The Tracks of My Tears", "Going to a Go-Go", "I Second That Emotion" and "The Tears of a Clown".

2015 - ClassicBands.com

March 3
British singer Rolf Harris had his CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) revoked by Queen Elizabeth II after he was jailed in 2014 and charged with 12 indecent assaults of four school girls. Harris enjoyed a string of UK hits including the #1 single "Two Little Boys" and "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport", which reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1963.

March 3
The National Transportation Safety Board confirmed that they were currently reviewing a petition asking them to consider reopening the investigation into the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper on February 3rd, 1959. The petition, submitted by New England pilot L.J. Coon, asked the NTSB to consider factors other than pilot error when determining what caused the crash.

2017 - ClassicBands.com

March 3
During his show at New York's Madison Square Garden, Billy Joel brought two members of The Young Rascals, Felix Cavaliere and Gene Cornish on stage. The pair proceeded to play their biggest hit, "Good Lovin'", with Cavaliere reprising his famous Hammond B-3 organ solo.

March 3
Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch was listed for sale again after being renamed Sycamore Valley Ranch. The property near Santa Barbara, California, had a new $67 million asking price, a big difference from the $100 million it hit the market at in 2016.

March 3
Jim Fuller, a co-founding member of The Surfaris whose lead guitar work is heard on the band's signature hit "Wipe Out", died at the age of 69 after a long illness.

2018 - ClassicBands.com

March 3
Journey's "Greatest Hits" became just the third album to spend 500 weeks on the Billboard 200 in the chart's 61-year history. It joined Bob Marley And The Wailers' "Legend: The Best Of Bob Marley And The Wailers" (510 weeks) and the longevity all-time leader, Pink Floyd's "The Dark Side of the Moon" (937 weeks). The disc debuted in December, 1988 and peaked at #10 the following year. Between October 1990 and December 2009 it disappeared from the chart, but after a change in eligibility rules it returned and has stayed there pretty much ever since.



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