Rock 'n' Roll History for
May 23


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1953 - ClassicBands.com

May 23
Bill Haley with Haley's Comets saw their first release for Essex Records, "Crazy Man, Crazy" enter the Billboard Juke Box chart, where it will top out at #12. The song would later be recognized by the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame as "the first rock and roll record to register on Billboard's pop chart." In a 1972 interview, Haley would claim that the record sold a million copies, but that has never been verified.

1960 - ClassicBands.com

May 23
The Everly Brothers' "Cathy's Clown" hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of a five week stay. The song was a worldwide success, becoming the best-selling single of the Everly's career, with sales of over twelve million copies. It also topped the UK singles chart for seven weeks.

1963 - ClassicBands.com

May 23
Paul Revere And The Raiders sign with Columbia Records where they will have fourteen Billboard Top 40 singles between 1965 and 1971.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

May 23
Millie Small's "My Boy Lollipop", already a hit in the UK, enters the Hot 100 where it will stay for twelve weeks, climbing to #2.

1966 - ClassicBands.com

May 23
The Beatles "Paperback Writer" is released in the US, where it will go on to become the band's twelfth Billboard #1 hit. The song also topped the charts in the United Kingdom, West Germany, Australia, New Zealand and Norway.

May 23
The Doors begin their run as the house band at The Whisky a Go Go, opening for every group to play there from May 23 to August 21, 1966. For most dates, they performed two sets per night.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

May 23
The Grateful Dead played their first British concert at the Hollywood Rock Festival. The Dead's four hour set is preceded by a performance by Mungo Jerry, playing their big hit "In the Summertime".

May 23
Paul McCartney's debut solo album, "McCartney" started a three-week run at the top of the Billboard Hot 200, while The Beatles' LP "Let It Be" was #1 on the UK album chart.

1973 - ClassicBands.com

May 23
Clive Davis is fired as president of Columbia Records. He was allegedly using company funds for private use, including $53,700 worth of alterations to his apartment and $20,000 for his son's bar mitzvah.

1975 - ClassicBands.com

May 23
Comedian Moms Mabley (born Loretta Mary Aiken), the vaudeville star and stand-up comedian who appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, died of heart failure at the age of 81. In 1969, when she was 75, she became the oldest living person to have a Billboard Top 40 hit when her cover of Dion's "Abraham, Martin and John" reached #35 during a two week stay on the chart. 63-year-old Louis Armstrong was the oldest to ever top the list when he had a number one hit with "Hello Dolly!" in May, 1964.

1977 - ClassicBands.com

May 23
Jefferson Airplane are barred from giving a free concert at Golden Gate Park when San Francisco authorities pass a resolution banning electronic instruments. The group later wrote "We Built this City" about the ban. That song topped the Billboard Hot 100 on November 16th, 1985.

1979 - ClassicBands.com

May 23
The Third Barry Manilow Special airs on ABC-TV. Guest star John Denver joins him, and they chat briefly about some unkind words from critics who have called their music "saccharine" and "corny."

May 23
Sister Sledge's "We Are Family" goes Platinum. The album's title track, a #2 hit last month, is the rallying call for baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates, who will go on to win the 1979 World Series in October.

1982 - ClassicBands.com

May 23
The Central London chapter of the British Musicians Union puts forth a resolution to ban synthesizers and rhythm machines from all recording sessions and live engagements. The proposal was defeated.

1985 - ClassicBands.com

May 23
Daryl Hall And John Oates perform at the re-opened Apollo Theatre in Harlem. They are joined by The Temptations' Eddie Kendrick and David Ruffin, and the resulting performances are released as "Live At The Apollo" the following September. That album would rise to #21 on the Billboard 200 and #32 on the UK's Official Albums Chart.

May 23
Michigan Governor James Blanchard declares Aretha Franklin Appreciation Day in the state, saying the singer is "One of Michigan's natural resources."

1987 - ClassicBands.com

May 23
Twelve former members of The Doobie Brothers reunited for a charity concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. The show raised $350,000 for Vietnam veterans, about two-thousand of whom attended the show for free.

1999 - ClassicBands.com

May 23
The UK's Royal Mail issued a 19p stamp featuring Freddie Mercury to mark his contribution to the Live Aid charity concert in 1985. The late Queen front man was an avid philatelist whose collection was bought by the Post Office in 1993.

2012 - ClassicBands.com

May 23
Billboard reports that the sales of Donna Summer's albums increased by over 3000% in the week following her death on May 17th after a battle with cancer.

2013 - ClassicBands.com

May 23
During court proceedings for Michael Jackson's wrongful death trial, a stage manager testified that he warned an AEG executive just five days before the star's passing that he was in a physical and mental decline.

2021 - ClassicBands.com

May 23
The UK's Sunday Times published a Rich Musician's List that had Paul McCartney at the top of the heap. The Top Ten was rounded out by U2, Lord Lloyd-Webber, Sir Elton John, Sir Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Olivia and Dhani Harrison, Sir Ringo Starr, Calvin Harris, Ed Sheeran and Sting.

2023 - ClassicBands.com

May 23
The Ford Motor Company announced that it was reversing its decision to eliminate AM radio from several of its new vehicles. Any new cars and trucks that were sold without AM capabilities would have the band restored via a software update. The move came after US lawmakers voiced their concerns that rural customers may not be able to receive emergency alerts from FM or satellite radio.



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