Rock 'n' Roll History for
September 9


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1955 - ClassicBands.com

September 9
The J.P. Seeburg Corporation introduces its new Dual Music System Jukebox, the first ever equipped to hold a hundred singles and two song per side Extended Play discs.

1956 - ClassicBands.com

September 9
Elvis Presley made his first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in front of 54 million TV viewers, which gave the program an 82.6 rating. Elvis sang "Don't Be Cruel", "Love Me Tender", "Hound Dog" and "Ready Teddy" for host Charles Laughton who was filling in for Sullivan who was recovering from a recent car accident. Laughton mistakenly introduced the singer as "Elvin" Presley. The next day, record stores were swamped with requests for "Love Me Tender", although its release date was weeks away. There were also well organized letter writing campaigns and petitions against Presley, but it was later brought to light that many of the signatures were fictitious or of deceased people.

September 9
The Johnny Burnette Trio appear on Ted Mack's Amateur Hour TV show. With Johnny on lead vocals and guitar, his brother Dorsey on stand-up bass, and Paul Burlison on lead guitar, they won three weeks in a row, earning them a string of tour dates. It would take Johnny four more years to reach the US charts with "Dreamin" (#8) and "You're Sixteen" (#11).

1957 - ClassicBands.com

September 9
A 16-year-old Canadian lad named Paul Anka had the number one song in America with "Diana". A story circulated that Paul had a crush on his younger brother and sister's babysitter who wanted nothing to do with him. He then supposedly wrote a poem for her and later set it to music. Anka himself later refuted the story. The record became an international hit that stayed at the top of the UK chart for nine weeks.

September 9
Jerry Lee Lewis' "Whole Lot Of Shakin' Going On" peaks at #3 on the Billboard Top 100. The record would not only top the R&B and Country charts, but it would go on to be ranked #61 on Rolling Stone magazine's Greatest Songs Of All Time, and in 2005 be added to the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress. That's not bad for a song that Jerry Lee, along with drummer J.M. Van Eaton and guitarist Roland Janes, had recorded in just one take because Sun Records' producer Jack Clement didn't have enough tape left for any other attempts.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

September 9
Sam And Dave's classic, "Soul Man" is released in the US, where it will rise to #4 by the end of November. The song would be given the 1968 Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Group Performance, Vocal or Instrumental.

September 9
After reaching #34 earlier in the year with "The Oogum Boogum Song", Brenton Wood re-entered the Billboard chart with what would prove to be his only US Top Ten hit, "Gimme Little Sign". He would crack the Top 40 once more with "Baby You Got It" early the following year.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

September 9
Elvis Presley kicks off a nine-city tour at a show in Phoenix, Arizona. MGM films portions of the first performance for use in Elvis - That's the Way It Is.

1971 - ClassicBands.com

September 9
John Lennon's "Imagine" LP is released by Apple Records. It would reach #1 on the Billboard 200 chart just three weeks later. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine named "Imagine" as #76 on its list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Since then, it has been certified 2X Platinum by the RIAA for sales of two million copies in the US.

1972 - ClassicBands.com

September 9
The Eagles' "Witchy Woman" is released. It will crack the Billboard Hot 100 by the end of September and rise to #9. Drummer Don Henley would later say, "I had a very high fever and became semi-delirious at times, and that's when I wrote most of the lyrics."

1975 - ClassicBands.com

September 9
Wings begins a thirteen month world tour where they will play in front of over two million people.

September 9
ABC-TV premiers the comedy Welcome Back Kotter. The show not only provides actor John Travolta with his breakthrough role, it also gives former Lovin' Spoonful leader John Sebastian his only solo, US Top 40 hit, "Welcome Back". The song, used as the opening theme to the program, would top the Billboard Hot 100 in May, 1976 for one week.

1978 - ClassicBands.com

September 9
The Rolling Stones' "Beast Of Burden" is released in the US where it will reach #8. In 2004 Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song #435 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

September 9
"Boogie Oogie Oogie" by the Los Angeles quartet A Taste Of Honey tops the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of three weeks. The song was Capitol Record's 40th number one hit. At next year's Grammy Awards, A Taste Of Honey was named Best New Artist, although they would reach the Top 40 only once more with a cover of Kyu Sakamoto's "Sukiyaki" in 1981.

1992 - ClassicBands.com

September 9
Eric Clapton's "Tears in Heaven" was named Best Male Video at the ninth annual MTV Video Music Awards. The song had reached #2 in the US, #5 in the UK, and made the Top Ten in fourteen other countries around the globe.

1996 - ClassicBands.com

September 9
Tom Petty's wife of twenty-two years, Jane, files for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences.

1998 - ClassicBands.com

September 9
An episode of the American TV show Judge Judy airs in which Sex Pistol Johnny Rotten (nee Lydon) appears as the defendant in a case involving drummer Robbie Williams, who sues Rotten for wrongful termination from a recent tour. Williams had claimed that the Sex Pistols owed him $7,000. Rotten said Williams quit and was owed nothing. Judge Judy apparently found Rotten was most credible and ruled in his favor.

2002 - ClassicBands.com

September 9
Peter Tetteroo, vocalist for Tee-Set, died of cancer at the age of 55. The Dutch band reached number five on the Hot 100 in 1970 with the million selling tune, "Ma Belle Amie". They also enjoyed a number one song in their home country called "She Likes Weeds", which got little attention in the US because of its alleged reference to drug use.

2007 - ClassicBands.com

September 9
Hughie Thomasson, guitarist for The Outlaws on their 1975 hit "There Goes Another Love Song" died of a heart attack at the age of 55.

2008 - ClassicBands.com

September 9
Raspberries lead singer Eric Carmen was arrested after he crashed his 2008 Range Rover into a fire hydrant in Bedford, Ohio. His blood-alcohol level was .234 percent, almost three times the legal limit of .08 percent. He would be sentenced to thirty days in jail and fined $1,000, plus $362 in court costs. The band placed four songs on the Billboard Top 40, including the #5 hit "Go All The Way" in 1972.

September 9
Donny And Marie Osmond kick off what is supposed to be a six-week residency at the Flamingo hotel and casino in Las Vegas. The show proved so popular, their run continued for the next eleven years, coming to an end in November, 2019.

2010 - ClassicBands.com

September 9
Singer Al Jarreau laughed off reports of his death after he suffered a heart arrhythmia on July 26. "There's a tabloid thing that happens for people who are... big celebrities, and I got some of that so I figured, Yeah, maybe I have arrived."

2015 - ClassicBands.com

September 9
Former music mogul Jonathan King was released on bail after being arrested in Surrey, England on suspicion of historical child sex offenses. King reached #4 in the UK and #17 in America in 1965 with "Everyone's Gone To The Moon" before going on to work with Genesis and The Bay City Rollers.

September 9
71-year-old Diana Ross gave one of her rare performances at a fund raiser for the Toronto International Film Festival.

2020 - ClassicBands.com

September 9
Ronald Bell, a founding member of Kool & The Gang, passed away at the age of 68. The singer-saxophonist co-wrote the band's biggest hits, including "Jungle Boogie" (US #4), "Ladies' Night" (US #8) and "Celebration" (US #1).



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