Thursday, February 2, 2017

More Music History for February 2, 2017

 1955 - ClassicBands.com

February 2
Petula Clark scores her first major hit on the UK chart with a song called "Majorca". The single will kick off a string of Top Twenty hits in the UK and Europe, but it will be ten years before she gains any attention in the United States.

1956 - ClassicBands.com

February 2
The Coasters sign with Atlantic Records, where they will record ten US Top 40 hits.

1957 - ClassicBands.com

February 2
Fats Domino sings "Blueberry Hill" and "Blue Monday" on Perry Como's television show.

February 2
Actor Tab Hunter topped the Cashbox Best Sellers chart with his version of "Young Love". A month later, the record would rise to #1 on the Billboard chart where it would stay for six weeks.

1959 - ClassicBands.com

February 2
Frankie Avalon releases his biggest hit, "Venus", which will reach number one in the US and number sixteen in the UK. Somewhat surprisingly, the record also reached number ten on the Billboard R&B chart.

February 2
Former Mouseketeer Annette Funicello sees her first hit, "Tall Paul" enter the Billboard Pop chart, where it will reach #7. The record was only 1 minute and 38 seconds long. The song's writers, Robert and Richard Sherman, would go on to work for Walt Disney and won two Oscars for Mary Poppins several years later.

1963 - ClassicBands.com

February 2
The Beatles kick off their first countrywide tour of the UK, supporting headliner Helen Shapiro. John, Paul, Ringo and George will split wages of 80 Pounds ($225) a week.

1964 - ClassicBands.com

February 2
In response to a storm of controversy, Max Firetag, the publisher of The Kingsmen's hit, "Louie Louie", offers $1,000 to anyone who can find suggestive lyrics in the song. The reward is small change considering that the disc cost less than $50 to record and has sold millions of copies.

1968 - ClassicBands.com

February 2
Simon And Garfunkel record "Mrs. Robinson", which will become their second US number one and win a Grammy Award for Record Of The Year. Simon would later say that his inclusion of the phrase "coo-coo-ca-choo" is an homage to the Beatles' "I Am the Walrus".

1969 - ClassicBands.com

February 2
Yoko Ono divorced her first husband, Tony Cox, paving the way for a marriage to John Lennon six weeks later.

1973 - ClassicBands.com

February 2
The Midnight Special premieres on NBC-TV with Helen Reddy as host. Wolfman Jack would later take over for an eight-and-a-half-year run.

1974 - ClassicBands.com

February 2
Keith Emerson's hands are injured during an Emerson, Lake & Palmer performance when a rigged piano explosion goes off too soon.

February 2
Barbra Streisand's "The Way We Were" topped the Billboard hit parade, becoming her first number one. It would go on to win an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.

1979 - ClassicBands.com

February 2
While celebrating his freedom after serving seven weeks in jail for assault, Sid Vicious (born Simon Ritchie) died of a drug overdose after injecting heroin that his mother had bought for him. The 21 year old had been the bass player for one of Britain's most influential Punk-Rock bands, The Sex Pistols, which had broken up a year earlier.

1980 - ClassicBands.com

February 2
Despite controversy over the song's lyrics, which reference teen pregnancy and promote contraception, the English ska band The Specials topped the UK chart with "Too Much Too Young".

1989 - ClassicBands.com

February 2
George Michael accepts an apology and an undisclosed cash settlement from The Sun newspaper to settle a libel suit after the publication printed an article that claimed that Michael was drunk and abusive at a party hosted by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

1997 - ClassicBands.com

February 2
Boy George was roughed up by two bouncers after he tried to jump the queue outside The Ministry Of Sound in London where George had been a guest DJ.

2007 - ClassicBands.com

February 2
67 year old Billy Henderson of The Spinners passed away from complications of diabetes. The group placed 18 songs on Billboard's Top 40, including 7 Top 10 hits.

February 2
Joe Hunter of The Funk Brothers was found dead in his Detroit apartment. The 79 year old pianist had just returned five days earlier from a European tour with fellow band member Jack Ashford.

2009 - ClassicBands.com

February 2
Fifty years after Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper played their final gig at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa, the Day the Music Died became the Day the Music Went On and On. A tribute concert at the original Surf raved on for six hours with a line-up of Rock acts that included Graham Nash, Los Lobos, Los Lonely Boys, Wanda Jackson, Delbert McClinton, Joe Ely, Peter And Gordon, Dave Mason, Bobby Vee and Holly's original band mates, The Crickets.

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