Rock 'n' Roll History for
May 8


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1954 - ClassicBands.com

May 8
Britain's BBC bans the song "Such a Night" by Johnnie Ray after listeners complain about its suggestiveness. Ray's animated stage persona included pounding on his piano, writhing on the floor and even crying, which earned him the nicknames Mr. Emotion, The Nabob of Sob, and The Prince of Wails.

1965 - ClassicBands.com

May 8
Eight spots in the Billboard Top Ten were occupied by British acts, setting an all-time record: #1 - "Mrs. Brown You've Got a Lovely Daughter" by Herman's Hermits, #3 - "Ticket to Ride" by The Beatles, #4 - "Game of Love" by Wayne Fontana And The Mindbenders, #6 - "I Know a Place" by Petula Clark, #7 - "Silhouettes" by Herman's Hermits, #8 - "I'm Telling You Now" by Freddie And The Dreamers, #9 - "The Last Time" by The Rolling Stones and #10 - "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" by Sounds Orchestral.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

May 8
Gerry And The Pacemakers announced that they were splitting up, recognizing that they could "no longer keep pace with the rapidly changing UK Rock scene." At the time of their decision, they had amassed nine Top 40 hits in the UK and seven in the US.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

May 8
The Beatles released "Let It Be", their last album of original studio material, although it was actually recorded before the previously released "Abbey Road". It would top the charts in both the US and the UK and was still ranked as high as #342 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2020.

May 8
The Doors perform at Detroit's Cobo Arena where John Sebastian of The Lovin' Spoonful joins them for half a dozen songs. Unfortunately the show ran past its twelve o'clock curfew, contrary to the guidelines set out by the American Federation Of Musicians, and The Doors would be banned from returning to Cobo. A recording of the concert would be released in 2000 as "Live In Detroit".

1972 - ClassicBands.com

May 8
Keyboardist and singer Billy Preston becomes the first Rock performer to headline at Radio City Music Hall. Others to soon follow will include David Bowie and Mountain.

1976 - ClassicBands.com

May 8
John Sebastian, who had left The Lovin' Spoonful for a solo career in 1968, hit the top of Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart with the theme to the TV show, Welcome Back Kotter. John would later say that he wrote the song in fifteen minutes. Oddly enough, it even reached #93 on the Billboard Country Chart.

May 8
The Steve Miller Band's "Take The Money And Run" is released. It will climb to #11 in the US.

May 8
Willie Nelson visited Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Review when it played Houston, Texas, and joined him for a duet on "Will the Circle Be Unbroken". The concert was a benefit for former boxer Rubin 'Hurricane' Carter, who had been wrongfully jailed for murder.

May 8
BBC Radio 1 DJ Johnny Walker announced he was quitting the station after being told he must pretend to like The Bay City Rollers.

1978 - ClassicBands.com

May 8
21-year-old Donny Osmond marries Debra Glenn in Salt Lake City, Utah. The union is a happy one that produces five children.

1979 - ClassicBands.com

May 8
Supertramp's album, "Breakfast in America" turns Platinum as it continues its rise to #1 in the US. The group would enjoy three Top 15 singles: "The Logical Song" (#6 in 1979), "Goodbye Stranger" (#15 in 1979) and "Take the Long Way Home" (#10 in 1979).

1982 - ClassicBands.com

May 8
64-year-old Dean Martin is arrested when police find a loaded .38 pistol in the trunk of his Rolls Royce. He pleads guilty to carrying a concealed weapon and is sentenced to a year's probation.

May 8
A group of seasoned L.A. studio musicians calling themselves Toto, enter the Billboard Pop chart with "Roseanna". The record will climb from #81 all the way to the top and be named Record of the Year at the 1983 Grammy Awards.

1998 - ClassicBands.com

May 8
The three surviving Beatles and John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, won a legal battle to block the CD release of a Beatles recording made at the Star Club in Hamburg in 1962.

2006 - ClassicBands.com

May 8
Michael Davis, the former bassist for Detroit's MC5, was involved in a motorcycle accident in which he suffered a fractured spine, bruised ribs, and several abrasions. He was expected to make a full recovery.

2008 - ClassicBands.com

May 8
Eddy Arnold, a Country artist who reached the Billboard Pop chart four times, including the 1965, #4 hit, "Make The World Go Away", died of natural causes one week before his 90th birthday.

2009 - ClassicBands.com

May 8
Bob Dylan led the Billboard Hot 200 album chart for the fifth time when "Together Through Life" debuted in the number one spot. It gave the Rock 'n' Roll icon back-to-back chart toppers as 2006's "Modern Times" also started in the penthouse.

2010 - ClassicBands.com

May 8
Norm Ezell, guitarist for The Five Americans on their 1967 hit "Western Union", died of cancer at the age of 68.

2013 - ClassicBands.com

May 8
Michael Jackson's lawyers called a lawsuit filed last week against the late singer's estate "sad and less than credible." New allegations were made by a man who testified in court in 2005 that Jackson did not molest him during several sleepovers.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

May 8
Rutger Gunnarsson, the bass player on every ABBA album and tour, died suddenly at his home in Stockholm, Sweden. He was 69.

2024 - ClassicBands.com

May 8
John Barbata, drummer for The Turtles from 1966 to 1969, passed away at the age of 79. During his time with the band he recorded the hits "Happy Together", "She'd Rather Be with Me", "You Showed Me", "She's My Girl", and "Elenore". From 1970 to 1972 he played drums for Crosby, Stills, Nash And Young before touring and recording with Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship from 1972 to 1978.

May 8
Dennis "Machine Gun" Thompson, drummer and last surviving original member of Detroit's MC5, passed away at the age of 75. The band's biggest hit was the controversial "Kick Out The Jams", which reached #82 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969, while the album from which it came peaked at #30.



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