Today In Oldies Music History: March 23

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Births

1952: Dave Bartram (Showaddywaddy)
1953: Chaka Khan

Deaths

2008: Neil Aspinall

Events

1955: The juvenile-delinquent flick The Blackboard Jungle premieres in US theaters. While it is a solid and even daring drama, it's remembered mainly for prominently featuring Bill Haley and His Comets' "Rock Around The Clock." The single, which had been released a full year earlier to little fanfare, rockets back into the charts and straight to #1, kicking off the rock and roll era in earnest.

1955: Elvis Presley, along with bandmates Scotty Moore and Bill Black, audition for Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts show in New York with a surprisingly tepid version of "Milkcow Blues Boogie." They are subsequently rejected.
1956: At a Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers concert in Hartford, CT, eleven audience members are arrested for allegedly inciting a riot.
1960: Songwriter and future superstar Carole King gives birth to her first child, a daughter named Louise, with husband and writing partner Gerry Goffin.
1964: John Lennon's first whimsical, Lewis Carroll-like book of prose and poetry, In His Own Write, is published.
1969: In response to the Doors' infamous recent concert there (at which lead singer Jim Morrison allegedly exposed himself), a "Rally For Decency" is held in Miami featuring Jackie Gleason, The Lettermen, Kate Smith, and Anita Bryant and promising that the crowd of 30,000 will contain no "longhairs and weird dressers."
1970: Phil Spector takes the tapes for the aborted Beatles project "Get Back" into Abbey Road Studios to begin reshaping them into the album that would eventually be called Let It Be.

Meanwhile, in the next room over, Paul McCartney works on his first solo album.
1977: Elvis Presley begins what will be his last tour with a concert at Arizona State University.
1985: John Fogerty engineers an amazing comeback when his LP Centerfield becomes a Number 1 hit 15 years after the breakup of Creedence Clearwater Revival.
1985: Billy Joel marries supermodel Christie Brinkley on a boat in New York Harbor, near the Statue of Liberty. The marriage will last ten years.

Releases

1957: Elvis Presley, "All Shook Up"
1959: Bobby Darin, That's All
1973: Paul McCartney and Wings, "My Love"

Recording

1959: Ray Peterson, "The Wonder Of You"
1961: Elvis Presley: "Aloha-Oe," "Can't Help Falling In Love," "Beach Boy Blues," "Rock-A-Hula Baby"
1963: Johnny Cash, "Ring Of Fire"
1967: The Beatles, "Getting Better"

Charts

1959: The Skyliners' "Since I Don't Have You" enters the charts
1963: Ruby and the Romantics' "Our Day Will Come" hits #1
1974: Cher's "Dark Lady" hits #1

Certifications

none