This Day in Music History: The Who’s Tommy and The Man Who Fell to Earth starring David Bowie both premiere

1939 – Frank Sinatra makes his first recording, a song called “Our Love,” with the Frank Mane band.

1958 – Jerry Lee Lewis becomes the first artist to sing three songs on “American Bandstand.”

1960 – The Everly Brothers record “Cathy’s Clown.”

1965 – On Moosic Street in Scranton, Pennsylvania, a tractor-trailer carrying 15 tons of bananas loses control and crashes into cars, telephone poles, and houses on its way down the hill, injuring many people and killing the driver.
Singer/songwriter Harry Chapin tells the story of the tragic event in his song “30,000 Pounds Of Bananas.”

1967 – Steve Winwood announces plans to form Traffic.

1967 – Pink Floyd sign their first recording contract, with EMI.

1975 – The movie version of The Who’s rock opera Tommy premieres in New York.

1976 – The Man Who Fell To Earth, starring David Bowie, premieres in London. The film is based on Walter Tevis’ novel of the same name about an alien who visits Earth in search of water for his planet, which is suffering from a drought.

1977 – The Clash release their debut single, “White Riot.”

1982 – Teddy Pendergrass of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes is partially paralyzed following a car accident in Philadelphia, where his Rolls Royce skids off a road and crashes.

1996 – The Sex Pistols announce that they are reuniting for a 20th anniversary tour, which they call the Filthy Lucre Tour. They would tour again in 2002 and 2007.

1997 – The second full-length album from Ben Folds Five, Whatever and Ever Amen, is released. The album obtains platinum certification in the US and spawns the group’s biggest hit, “Brick.”

2000 – The U.S. Postal Service issues a 20-cent stamped postcard that features the historic Ryman Auditorium, the home of the Grand Ole Opry for more than 30 years.

2002 – Ramones are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Eddie Vedder, lead singer of Pearl Jam and close friend of the band. Other artists inducted on this day are Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Talking Heads, Brenda Lee, Gene Pitney, and Isaac Hayes.

2013 – David Bowie’s first album in a decade becomes the fastest-selling of the year, hitting the #1 spot in the UK in its first week of release. The Next Day was the 66-year-old’s first #1 since 1993’s Black Tie White Noise and sold 94,000 copies in the first week.

2016 – Legacy Recordings release Elvis Presley: The Album Collection. The 60 CD box set includes all of the albums Elvis recorded that RCA released in his lifetime.

Birthdays

1947 : Barrie James “B.J.” Wilson (Procol Harum)

1950 : John Hartman (The Doobie Brothers)

1959 : Irene Cara

1963 : Jeff LeBar (Cinderella)

1966 : Jerry Cantrell (Alice In Chains)

1974 : Stuart Zender (Jamiroquai)

Information for this post was gathered from This Day in Music, The Music History Calendar, On This Day, and Wikipedia.