Rock History: September 18
Notable rock and roll releases, performances, chart milestones, and events that happened on September 18 throughout history.
Three days after a Navy–Marine brawl at a Fats Domino show, Newport’s naval base banned rock and roll. Domino jokingly suggested the services’ rivalry, not his music, caused the trouble.
Patti Page hosted the color CBS record-hop series The Big Record with Sal Mineo, Billy Ward and His Dominoes, and Tony Bennett; it lasted until June 1958.
On turning twenty-one, Frankie Avalon received $600,000 earned as a minor after eleven Top 40 hits, including 1959 No. 1s “Venus” and “Why.”
NBC premiered The Tab Hunter Show about a cartoonist’s romances. Competition from Ed Sullivan ended the sitcom in April 1961.
Bobby Vee earned his only U.S. No. 1 with Goffin-King’s “Take Good Care of My Baby,” his third Top 10 and a No. 3 UK hit.
Fifteen-year-old Hayley Mills’s “Let’s Get Together” entered the Top 40 and reached No. 8; film remained her focus and only one more single charted.
The Beach Boys released Smiley Smile to poor reviews and No. 41 U.S., though it reached No. 9 UK and contained hits “Good Vibrations” and “Heroes and Villains.”
Paul McCartney devised “Birthday” during a White Album session; the band arranged and recorded it that night, though John Lennon later dismissed it.
Jimi Hendrix died at 27 in London from barbiturate toxicity and asphyxiation after sleeping pills. The coroner returned an open verdict, and a 1993 police review found no new evidence.
ABC premiered Bobby Sherman’s Partridge Family spin-off Getting Together opposite All in the Family; the unfavorable slot helped limit it to fourteen episodes.
Wild Cherry’s “Play That Funky Music” topped Billboard, the first of five Hot 100 entries by the band named for cough drops.
Boston released “More Than a Feeling,” later No. 5 U.S. and No. 22 UK and included on major Rock Hall and Rolling Stone song lists.
Amboy Dukes bassist Greg Arama died in a motorcycle crash at 29. After “Journey to the Center of the Mind,” he left Ted Nugent’s group and joined Dick Wagner’s Ursa Major.
The Eagles released “Heartache Tonight,” their fifth U.S. No. 1, a No. 40 UK single, Platinum seller, and Grammy winner for group rock performance.
The Doors’ Greatest Hits went Platinum ten years after Morrison’s death, boosted by Apocalypse Now and No One Here Gets Out Alive; U.S. sales later exceeded seven million.
Kiss appeared without makeup publicly for the first time on MTV to promote Lick It Up. The album went Platinum; its title single reached No. 31 UK and No. 66 U.S.
MC5 singer Rob Tyner died from a heart attack in his parked car at 46. The Detroit band’s “Kick Out the Jams” reached No. 82 in 1969.
Julian Lennon paid more than $39,000 for Paul McCartney’s “Hey Jude” recording notes, written for him during his parents’ divorce; John Lennon’s “Mr. Kite!” lyric sold for $103,500 at the same auction.
Charlie Foxx of sibling duo Inez and Charlie Foxx died from leukemia at 64. “Mockingbird” reached No. 7, while two later singles made the lower Hot 100.
Tennessee observed its first Carl Perkins Day on what would have been his sixty-seventh birthday, honoring the “Blue Suede Shoes” creator and country-chart veteran.
Paul McCartney and Brian Wilson played separate Adopt-A-Minefield benefit sets in Los Angeles, then united on “God Only Knows,” which McCartney called the greatest song written.
A 160,000-reader NME poll named John Lennon rock’s ultimate icon, followed by Liam Gallagher, David Bowie, Alex Turner, and Kurt Cobain.
The Who postponed all fifty anniversary-tour dates after Roger Daltrey contracted viral meningitis, rescheduling for spring 2016.
Climate-benefit single “Love Song to the Earth,” credited to Paul McCartney and sixteen artists including Bon Jovi and Sheryl Crow, debuted No. 36 in digital pop sales with 11,000 downloads.
Jann Wenner offered his 51-percent Rolling Stone stake for sale after fifty years, shifting planning to son Gus before Penske acquired the publication.
Marvelettes co-founder and “Please Mr. Postman” co-writer Georgia Dobbins died from cardiac arrest at 78. Family obligations made her leave before Motown recorded its first Hot 100 No. 1.
