Bebop, Rebop, DooWop, Hip Hop, Boogie Woogie, Hillbilly, Rockabilly...trying saying all of these fast and there is no way to avoid getting into the rhythm! After all, they are the stepping stones to the ever classic, very much alive Rock 'n' Roll.
Today in Music History: May 4 (may be April 9 or June 2)...
Sometimes sources just can't seem to agree on the same date but the spotlight is definitely on the right artist, right song and right year!
Welcome into the spotlight...
Gene Vincent was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rock 'n' roll and rockabilly. Along with His Blue Caps, they soon gained a reputation playing in various country bars in Vincent's native Norfolk, Virginia. There, they won a talent contest organized by local radio DJ "Sheriff Tex" Davis, who became his manager.
In July 1955, Vincent, who had planned to re-enlist in the Navy, injured his left leg in a motorcycle crash in Norfolk. His injury was quite serious, but he refused to have his leg amputated. Later in his career, Vincent would claim that he had injured the leg while serving in the Navy in Korea, either when he stepped on a mine or was shot in the leg. No matter how his leg was injured, he left the Navy, and, at the suggestion of his mother, he began to pursue his musical interests. [Source: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]
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Gene Vincent - "Be-Bop-A-Lula" - Capital, 19561956 Gene Vincent recorded the classic rock 'n' roll song 'Bebop-A-Lula'. |
Vincent himself sometimes claimed that he wrote the words inspired by the comic strip, "Little Lulu".
Two things for sure...one the song was released and two it was a HIT! Within twenty-one days it sold over two hundred thousand records, stayed at the top of national pop and country charts for twenty weeks, and sold more than a million copies. These same musicians, Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps, would have two more releases in 1956, followed by another in January 1957.The phrase "Be-Bop-A-Lula" is similar to "Be-Baba-Leba", the title of a # 3 R&B chart hit for Helen Humes in 1945, which became a bigger hit when recorded by Lionel Hampton as "Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop." This phrase, or something very similar, was widely used in jazz circles in the 1940s, giving its name to the bebop style, and possibly being ultimately derived from the shout of "Arriba! Arriba!" used by Latin American bandleaders to encourage band members. [Source: en.wikipedia.org]
Makes you wanna dance!
Bop-bop-bop bop-bop ba dada dada
Bop-bop-bop bop-bop ba dada dada
Bop-bop-bop bop-bop ba dada dada
Da bada bada bada
Bop-bop-bop bop-bop ba dada dada
Dance, Dance, Dance!
Also, at No.1 on May 4...
1976 The Young Rascals started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Groovin'.' Atlantic Records head Jerry Wexler did not want to release the song. US disc jockey Murray the K heard the track and encouraged Atlantic to release it.
1974 ABBA were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Waterloo', the group's first of nine UK No.1 singles was the 1974 Eurovision song contest winner for Sweden. The song was first called 'Honey Pie'.
1974 Grand Funk Railroad started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with their version of the Little Eva hit 'The Loco-Motion.' It was only the second time that a cover version had been a No.1 as well as the original.
1974 The film soundtrack to 'The Sting' by Marvin Hamlisch started a five-week run at No.1 on the US album chart.
1996 Mariah Carey started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Always Be My Baby', her 11th US No.1, a No.3 hit in the UK.
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