(Saturday, March 19, 1955) — “Mambo Rock” by Bill Haley & His Comets was the #18 song on today’s Billboard Best Sellers in Stores chart for one week.
Category Archives: Popular Music 1950s
Charlie Parker, jazz master, dies 60 years ago this hour (Mar 12 1955)
Image: 'Charlie Parker - Charlie Parker Story'
(Saturday, March 12, 1955, 8:15 p.m. EST) — Legendary jazz musician Charlie “Bird” Parker died tonight in New York City of heart failure. Known as the inventor of bebop, Parker was 34.
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‘Peter Pan’ Broadway production airs live on NBC-TV in color 60 years ago this hour (Mar 7 1955)
Video: '"Producers' Showcase" Peter Pan (7 March 1955)' (4 videos)
(Monday, March 7, 1955, 7:30-9:00 p.m. EST) — NBC-TV presented the full-length Broadway production of Peter Pan live tonight in color (only a black-and-white kinescope recording survived) as part of Producers’ Showcase, with nearly all of the show’s original cast.
The show attracted a then-record audience of 65-million viewers, the highest ever up to that time for a single television program.
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Elvis Presley makes his television debut 60 years ago this hour (Mar 5 1955)
Image: 'Elvis Presley - Complete Louisiana Hayride performance (March 5, 1955)'
(Saturday, March 5, 1955, 8:00 p.m. local time) — Singer Elvis Presley made his television debut tonight on the regional show Louisiana Hayride carried by KSLA-TV Shreveport (although audio recordings exist, there is no known video footage of this appearance).
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‘Sincerely’ by The McGuire Sisters peaks at #1 in USA 60 years ago today (Feb 12 1955)
(Saturday, February 12, 1955) — “Sincerely” by The McGuire Sisters was the #1 song on today’s Billboard Best Sellers in Stores chart for six consecutive weeks (Feb. 12/19/26, Mar. 5/12/19, 1955).
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‘Hearts of Stone’ by The Fontane Sisters peaks at #1 in USA 60 years ago today (Feb 5 1955)
(Saturday, February 5, 1955) — “Hearts of Stone” by The Fontane Sisters was the #1 song on today’s Billboard Best Sellers in Stores chart for one week.
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‘Earth Angel’ by The Penguins peaks at #8 in USA 60 years ago today (Feb 5 1955)
(Saturday, February 5, 1955) — “Earth Angel” by The Penguins was the #8 song on today’s Billboard Best Sellers in Stores chart for three weeks. Rolling Stone placed it at number 152 on their list of the “500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”
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ABC bans Rosemary Clooney’s ‘Mambo Italiano’ 60 years ago today (Nov 18 1954)
Video: 'Rosemary Clooney - Mambo Italiano - 1954 originals'
(Thursday, November 18, 1954) — ABC radio and TV today banned “Mambo Italiano,” a hit by Rosemary Clooney, for so-called “offensive lyrics,” most likely due to the exaggerated Italian vernacular, including the words “goombah” and “gidrool.”
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Elvis Presley makes professional debut in Memphis 60 years ago this hour (July 30 1954)
Image: 'Elvis Presley - Backstage at the Overton Park Shell, Friday, July 30, 1954'
(Friday, July 30, 1954, 8:00 p.m. local time) — Elvis Presley made his professional debut in Memphis. It was his first concert to be advertised.
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Bill Haley’s ‘Rock Around the Clock’ released 60 years ago today (May 20 1954)
(Thursday, May 20, 1954) — Bill Haley & His Comets’s “Rock Around the Clock,” considered the first rock and roll song to top the charts, was released today, but it didn’t catch on until it appeared on the soundtrack of Blackboard Jungle the following year.
