Month: February 2022

February 5, 1957 – Bill Haley arrives in London for his first British tour. He’s the first American rock star to tour there and is met by about 4,000 fans at Heathrow Airport, mostly thanks to promoters who hyped his coming as “the second battle of Waterloo.” #ROCkabillyHop @billhaleymusic #BillHaley #RocHop
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February 5, 1956 – Elvis scores his first national Number One hit, not with an RCA release but his last Sun single, “Mystery Train” b/w “I Forgot to Remember to Forget,” which reaches the top spot on Billboard’s country singles chart. #ROCkabillyHop #MysteryTrain @ElvisPresley #Elvis #theKing #MysteryTrain #IForgotToRememberToForget #RocHop
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February 4, 1977 – American Bandstand gets a primetime special in honor of the show’s 25th anniversary. The show features one of the first “all-star jams,” as Chuck Berry is joined by Greg Allman, Junior Walker, The Pointer Sisters, Charlie Daniels and several others on a performance of “Roll Over Beethoven.” @ChuckBerry #ROCkabillyHop @dickclarkprod #DickClark #AmericanBandstand #RollOverBeethoven #RocHop
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February 4, 1959 – A day after the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and The Big Bopper, the Winter Dance Party tour continues in Sioux City, Iowa, with Fabian, Frankie Avalon and Jimmy Clanton as the new headliners and Waylon Jennings singing Holly’s songs. @buddyholly @BuddyHollyCtr #ROCkabillyHop #buddyholly #TheCrickets #RocHop
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February 4, 1956 – Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti” reaches its US chart peak of #17, giving him his first hit. Pat Boone’s version of the song outcharts him, making #12 two weeks later. @littlerichard_ #ROCkabillyHop #TuttiFrutti #RocHop
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February 3, 1979 – 20 years after the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Del Shannon, The Drifters, Jimmy Clanton, The Whitesidewalls and original Cricket Nikki Sullivan perform a tribute show in Clear Lake, Iowa, where Holly’s last concert took place. The event went $4000 in the red, but started an annual tradition. @buddyholly @BuddyHollyCtr #ROCkabillyHop #buddyholly #TheCrickets #RocHop
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February 3, 1973 – Elton John’s reptile rocker “Crocodile Rock” hits #1 for the first of three weeks. This retro rocker blends sounds of the 1950s with 1970s Glam to create one of Elton John’s most enduring hits. #ROCkabillyHop #RocHop #EltonJohn #CrocodileRock
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February 3, 1959, 22-year-old Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper (Jiles Perry Richardson Jr., 28) and Ritchie Valens (17) died in a crash shortly after take-off from Clear Lake, Iowa, the pilot of the single-engined Beechcraft Bonanza plane was also killed. Holly hired the plane after heating problems developed on his tour bus. All three were travelling to Fargo, North Dakota, for the next show on their Winter Dance Party Tour which Holly had set – covering 24 cities in three weeks, to make money after the break-up of his band, The Crickets. @buddyholly @BuddyHollyCtr #ROCkabillyHop #buddyholly #TheCrickets #RocHop

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February 2, 1957 – Dale Hawkins records “Susie Q.” Hawkins co-authored the song with bandmate Robert Chaisson. James Burton, known for his work with Ricky Nelson and later with Elvis Presley, played guitar on the cut. #ROCkabillyHop #DaleHawkins #SusieQ #RocHop
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February 1, 1959 – The Winter Dance Party is stranded en route to Appleton, Wisconsin, when the bus breaks down. With temperatures at 30 degrees below zero and no source of heat, the passengers burn newspapers in the aisles to keep warm. Sheriffs’ cars pick up the freezing entertainers and drummer Carl Bunch is admitted to the hospital suffering from frostbite. Buddy Holly and Ritchie Valens take turns filling in on drums for the next shows. With the Cinderella Ballroom performance canceled, the Winter Dance Party continues and performs at the Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Source: The Buddy Holly Center, 1801 Crickets Ave., Lubbock. @buddyholly @BuddyHollyCtr #ROCkabillyHop #buddyholly #TheCrickets #WinterDanceParty #RocHop