Month: April 2022

April 25, 1954 – Johnnie Ray was at #1 on the UK singles chart with “Such A Night.” The singer’s first of three UK #1s. He became deaf in his right ear aged 13 after an accident and would later perform wearing a hearing aid. Dexys Midnight Runners’ 1982 music video for “Come On Eileen,” used footage of Ray from 1954. The lyrics of the song say, “Poor old Johnnie Ray sounded sad upon the radio / he moved a million hearts in mono.” #ROCkabillyHop #RocHop #JohnnieRay #SuchANight
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April 25, 1933 – Jerry Leiber, of Leiber and Stoller, was born Jerome Leiber in Baltimore, Maryland. Leiber was a songwriter and producer for Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, The Monkees, and Cliff Richard. Among Leiber’s and Stoller’s hit songs: “Hound Dog,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “King Creole,” “Don’t,” “There Goes My Baby,” “Searchin’,” “Yakety Yak,” and “Kansas City.” @buddyholly @BuddyHollyCtr #ROCkabillyHop #buddyholly #TheCrickets #HappyBirthday #RocHop #HoundDog #JailhouseRock #KingCreole #Dont #ThereGoesMyBaby #Searchin #YaketyYak #KansasCity
https://amzn.to/3LhM3Zq

April 24, 1963 – Peggy March makes her national television debut on NBC-TV’s “The Perry Como Show” singing “I Will Follow Him” #ROCkabillyHop #RocHop #IWillFollowHim #LittlePeggyMarch #PeggyMarch
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April 24, 1963 – Eighteen-year-old Brenda Lee marries nineteen-year-old Ronnie Shacklett in Nashville. Shacklett is the son of Nashville City Councilman Earl Shacklett. The wedding takes place at Radnor Church of Christ and the couple will honeymoon in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. #ROCkabillyHop #RocHop #BrendaLee #JumpTheBroomstick #LittleMissDynamite
https://amzn.to/3qBceCi

April 24, 1961 – “Runaway” by Del Shannon hit #1 in the US and made itself at home there for 4 weeks. #ROCkabillyHop #RocHop @dickclarkprod #DickClark #AmericanBandstand #DelShannon #Runaway
https://amzn.to/3uwMxUv

April 24, 1959 – Buddy Holly’s “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” (written by Paul Anka) goes to #1 for three weeks in the UK nearly three months after his death. It’s his only UK #1 and the first posthumous #1 hit in UK chart history. In the US it would reach #13 and was Holly’s last US top 20 hit. @buddyholly @BuddyHollyCtr #ROCkabillyHop #buddyholly #TheCrickets #ItDoesntMatterAnymore #PaulAnka
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April 23, 1960 – Paul Anka headlines “The Dick Clark Show” performing “I Miss You So.” Also appearing are Billy Bland, and Billy and Lilly. #ROCkabillyHop #RocHop #IMissYouSo #PaulAnka #TheDickClarkShow @dickclarkprod #DickClark
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April 23, 1956 – Capitol records auditions for “the next Elvis Presley.” Out of more than 200 auditions, they signed 21-year-old Gene Vincent from Norfolk, Virginia. #ROCkabillyHop #RocHop @CLaceVIncent #GeneVincent #TheNextElvis
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April 23, 1956 – Elvis, with Scotty Moore and Bill Black, begins a disastrous concert stint at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas at the insistence of Colonel Tom Parker. The audience, miles removed from Elvis’s teen fanbase, is completely indifferent to him, and his contract is soon torn up. However, while there, Presley witnesses a band called Freddie Bell and the Bellboys doing a wild rave-up version of Big Mama Thorton’s blues hit “Hound Dog.” He soon works it into the live act. #ROCkabillyHop @ElvisPresley #Elvis #theKing #HoundDog #FreddieBell
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April 21, 1956 – “Heartbreak Hotel” by Elvis Presley booked a room at #1 for eight weeks. The song spent a total of twenty-seven weeks in the top 100, also topping the Cashbox and the Country and Western charts. #ROCkabillyHop @ElvisPresley #Elvis #theKing #HeartbreakHotel
https://amzn.to/3uhMThI