Rock 'n' Roll History for
March 31


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1949 - ClassicBands.com

March 31
RCA Victor introduces the 45 rpm single record, which had been in development since 1940. The 7 inch disc was designed to compete with the 33 1/3 LP introduced by Columbia a year earlier. Both formats offered better fidelity and longer playing time than the 78 rpm platter that was currently in use. Advertisements for new record players boasted that with 45 rpm records, the listener could hear up to ten records with speedy, silent, hardly noticeable changes.

1956 - ClassicBands.com

March 31
Brenda Lee made her first network television appearance on ABC's Ozark Jamboree, where she sang an unrehearsed version of Hank Williams' "Jambalaya (On The Bayou)".

1957 - ClassicBands.com

March 31
Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Obie Wheeler, Carl Perkins and Glen Douglas open a tour of the South in Little Rock, Arkansas.

1958 - ClassicBands.com

March 31
Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode" is released. It would enter the Billboard charts six weeks later and rise to number eight on the Hot 100 and number two on the R&B chart. The song's original lyrics referred to Johnny as a "colored boy", but Berry later acknowledged that he changed it to "country boy" to ensure radio play. Berry got the name "Johnny" from Johnnie Johnson, a piano player who collaborated with Berry on many songs, including "Maybellene", "Roll Over Beethoven" and "Sweet Little 16". He took the name "Goode" from the street in St. Louis where he grew up. The song has been ranked seventh on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

1960 - ClassicBands.com

March 31
Lonnie Donegan becomes the first British artist to enter the UK chart at number one when "My Old Man's A Dustman" debuts at the top. The only previous artist to achieve this feat was Elvis Presley. The song also reached number one in Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, selling over a million copies in total.

1962 - ClassicBands.com

March 31
The Shirelles' "Soldier Boy" is released in the US on Sceptor Records. The tune becomes the group's biggest hit, reaching number one, selling over a million copies and earning a Gold record.

March 31
Connie Francis has her third and final Billboard number one record when "Don't Break The Heart That Loves You" rises to the top. In the UK it stalled at #39, becoming her first release to miss the Top 30.

1966 - ClassicBands.com

March 31
The American Western-Musical film, Frankie and Johnny , starring Elvis Presley, is released by United Artists. Presley was paid $700,000 plus 50% of the profits for his work. The movie's director, Fred De Cordova, would go on to become the director and producer of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1970.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

March 31
Jimi Hendrix suffered minor burns after he set fire to his guitar for the first time at The Astoria Theatre in London, England. That night, he shared the stage with The Walker Brothers, Cat Stevens and, believe it or not, Engelbert Humperdinck. Looking for a way to increase exposure for The Experience, it was journalist Keith Altham who first suggested Jimi set his guitar ablaze. In the wake of the stunt, members of London's press labeled Hendrix the "Black Elvis" and the "Wild Man of Borneo." After the show, Tony Garland, Hendrix's press agent, scooped up the remains of the Stratocaster, took them home and placed them in the garage of his parent's home. Years later, Garland's nephew found the remains of the guitar, did a little research and the burnt axe was auctioned off in 2007 for $575,000.

1969 - ClassicBands.com

March 31
George Harrison and his wife Pattie appear in court in Surrey, England, to answer charges of marijuana resin possession. They were both found guilty and are fined £250 and were put on probation for a year.

1971 - ClassicBands.com

March 31
ABC airs the final edition of The Johnny Cash Show after a run of 58 episodes. At its peak of popularity in 1970, the show reached #17 in the Nielsen ratings. Series regulars included members of Johnny's touring troupe, June Carter Cash and the Carter Family, The Statler Brothers, Carl Perkins, and The Tennessee Three. Cash closed the show with thanks to the cast and fans before moving into a rendition of "I Walk the Line".

1973 - ClassicBands.com

March 31
Elton John appears on the front page of Melody Maker magazine, with the caption, "Now Elton's A Teen Idol!"

1977 - ClassicBands.com

March 31
Elvis Presley's concert in Baton Rouge, Louisiana is postponed during intermission when he is too ill to go onstage. The next day, he is admitted to a Memphis hospital for a six day stay, suffering from fatigue and intestinal flu.

1981 - ClassicBands.com

March 31
At the very first Golden Raspberry Awards, Neil Diamond is awarded the prize for Worst Actor for his performance as Yussel Rabinovitch in The Jazz Singer. Although the film was a critical and commercial disappointment, it did make a substantial profit, doubling its $13 million budget by taking in $27.1 million at the box office.

1982 - ClassicBands.com

March 31
The Doobie Brothers announced that they were splitting up. The band started in the '70s with the #11 hit "Listen to the Music" and would re-unite for 1989's Top Ten smash, "The Doctor".

1986 - ClassicBands.com

March 31
Kenny Loggins enjoyed his only chart topping record when "Footloose" rises to the lead spot on the Hot 100 for the first of three weeks. The tune was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 1985 ceremony, losing to Stevie Wonder's "I Just Called to Say I Love You" from The Woman in Red. In 2018, "Footloose" was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the US Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant."

1986 - ClassicBands.com

March 31
O'Kelly Isley of The Isley Brothers died of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 48. As a trio, the Isleys started as a Gospel group in the early 1950s, switching to R&B in the latter half of the decade. Their first big hit was "Shout" in 1959, followed in 1962 by the original version of "Twist and Shout", later covered by the Beatles. The Isley Brothers' biggest hit came in 1969 with the million-selling "It's Your Thing."

1994 - ClassicBands.com

March 31
Madonna caused trouble on the set of The Late Show With David Letterman. The network had to delete thirteen offending words from the audio track before the show aired. An obviously annoyed Letterman told the singer, "People don't want language like that coming into their living room." Madonna also handed Letterman a pair of her panties and told him to sniff them. He declined and stuffed them into his desk drawer. Robin Williams later described the segment as a "battle of wits with an unarmed woman."

1995 - ClassicBands.com

March 31
Jimmy Page escaped injury when a fan rushed the stage at a Page And Plant concert at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan. The fan was stopped by two security guards, who he stabbed instead. After he was arrested, the offender told police that he wanted to kill Jimmy Page because of the Satanic music he was playing.

2006 - ClassicBands.com

March 31
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry announced that digital music sales almost tripled around the world in 2005, reaching $1.1 billion in value.

2010 - ClassicBands.com

March 31
A private detective's search for Olivia Newton-John's former boyfriend, Patrick McDermott, was called off when McDermott sent photos and voice recordings to prove that he was alive and well. McDermott vanished at sea in 2005 and was believed to have drowned after a boating mishap, but has since been traced to the Mexican fishing village of Sayulita, where he was working as a deckhand. Newton-John split from McDermott the day before he disappeared and she went on to wed millionaire herb entrepreneur John Easterling in 2008.

March 31
Cher's first child, Chaz Bono, asked a judge to formally change his name and gender following the sex change surgery he had last year. The 41-year-old, who was born Chastity Sun Bono, wanted to be known as Chaz Salvatore according to a petition filed in Los Angeles. Salvatore was his father, Sonny Bono's real first name.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

March 31
Boz Scaggs releases his eighteenth studio album, "A Fool To Care". The collection is a mix of Rock and Blues tunes done in the classic Scaggs style. It would reach #54 on the Billboard 200 chart.



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