Category: On This Day…

February 19, 1952 – Seventeen-year-old Gene Vincent, still known by his real name Vincent Craddock, enters the US Navy. He planned a career in the Navy and, in 1955, used his $612 reenlistment bonus to buy a new Triumph motorcycle. On July 4, 1955, while he was in Norfolk, his left leg was shattered when he was hit by a car. The leg was saved, but the injury left him with a limp and pain. Medically discharged from the Navy, he went on to become one of the greats of rockabilly. #ROCkabillyHop @ClaceVincent #genevincent #USNavy #RocHop
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February 18, 1962 – On weekend leave from marine training, The Everly Brothers appeared on the US Ed Sullivan show, in full uniform and with regulation cropped hair, singing their new single, ‘Crying In The Rain’ and Jezebel.” #ROCkabillyHop #EverlyBrothers @EdSullivanShow #USMC @EverlyBrosInt #RocHop
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February 17, 1975 – John Lennon’s ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’ album was released in the US. ‘Rock ‘n’ Roll’ is an album of late 1950s and early 1960s songs as covered by Lennon and was his last solo album released in his lifetime. #ROCkabillyHop @JohnLennon #RockNRoll #JohnLennon
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February 17, 1960 – After a string of hits on Cadence Records, The Everly Brothers sign a 10-year contract with Warner Bros. Records which is reported at $1 million, a number likely inflated for publicity purposes. #ROCkabillyHop #EverlyBrothers @EverlyBrosInt #RocHop
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February 17, 1960 – Elvis Presley won his first Gold record for his second studio album ‘Elvis’. It spent four weeks at #1 on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart, making Presley the first recording artist to have two albums go straight to #1 in the same year. #ROCkabillyHop @ElvisPresley #Elvis #theKing #RocHop
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February 17, 1933 – Rock ‘n Roll singer Bobby Lewis, known for his hit “Tossin’ And Turnin’,” was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. #ROCkabillyHop #BobbyLewis #TossinAndTurnin #RocHop
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February 16, 1972 – John Lennon performs with Chuck Berry on The Mike Douglas Show. Lennon and Yoko Ono are hosts of the afternoon talk show all this week. @ChuckBerry #ROCkabillyHop #JohnLennon #MikeDouglas @JohnLennon #ChuckBerry #RocHop
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February 16, 1957 – Disc jockey Pete Murray began hosting BBC television’s first Rock ‘n’ Roll music program The Six-Five Special, named for the time the show began, five minutes after six. The show was given airtime immediately after the abolition of what was called the Toddlers’ Truce, which had seen television stop between 6 and 7pm so children could be put to bed. #ROCkabillyHop #SixFiveSpecial #RocHop
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February 16, 1955 – Elvis Presley plays at the Odessa Senior High School in Odessa, Texas. A young Roy Orbison is in the audience. @ElvisPresley #ROCkabillyHop @ROYORBISON @Royorbisonjr #RoyOrbison #RocHop
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February 15, 1958 – Jerry Lee Lewis performs “Great Balls of Fire” and “Breathless” on American Bandstand. #ROCkabillyHop @jerryleelewis @dickclarkprod #DickClark #AmericanBandstand #GreatBallsOfFire #Breathless #RocHop
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