christmas lightes on house

Christmas

100 Greatest Christmas Songs

Rank Song Artist nutsie





Apple iTunes




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Christmas CDs from:





And Winter Came
by Enya



A Winter Symphony
Sarah Brightman



Noel
Josh Groban



James Taylor
at Christmas





Animated Video
"White Christmas"

by The Drifters - 1954
1 White Christmas Bing Crosby
2 The Chipmunk Song The Chipmunks
3 Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer Gene Autry
4 I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus Jimmy Boyd
5 Jingle Bell Rock Bobby Helms
6 The Christmas Song Nat King Cole
7 Snoopy's Christmas The Royal Guardsmen
8 Here Comes Santa Claus Gene Autry
9 Little Drummer Boy Harry Simeone Chorale
10 Donde Esta Santa Claus Augie Rios
11 Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree Brenda Lee
12 You're All I Want For Christmas Brook Benton
13 Baby's First Christmas Connie Francis
14 Santa Claus Is Coming To Town Bruce Springsteen
15 Home For The Holidays Perry Como
16 Santa Claus Is Coming To Town Four Seasons
17 Do They Know It's Christmas Band Aid
18 Happy Christmas (War is Over) John Lennon and Yoko Ono
19 May You Always Harry Harrison
20 Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer Elmo and Patsy
21 Jingle Bell Rock Chubby Checker & Bobby Rydell
22 Jingle Bells Singing Dogs
23 Frosty the Snowman Gene Autry
24 Merry Christmas Darling The Carpenters
25 Little St. Nick The Beach Boys
26 Please Come Home For Christmas Charles Brown
27 It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas Perry Como & The Fontaine Sisters
28 Feliz Navidad José Feliciano
29 Santa Baby Eartha Kitt
30 Do You Hear What I Hear Bing Crosby
31 Blue Christmas Elvis Presley
32 Run Rudolph Run Chuck Berry
33 (Sleep in Heavenly Peace) Silent Night Barbra Streisand
34 Nuttin' for Christmas Barry Gordon
35 Wonderful Christmastime Paul McCartney
36 Step Into Christmas Elton John
37 The Christmas Waltz Frank Sinatra
38 All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth Spike Jones
39 Please Come Home For Christmas The Eagles
40 Amen The Impressions
41 Monsters' Holiday Bobby 'Boris' Pickett
42 Holly Jolly Christmas Burl Ives
43 Give Love on Christmas Day The Jackson Five
44 Dominick, The Italian Christmas Donkey Lou Monte
45 White Christmas The Drifters
46 It's Christmas Everywhere Paul Anka
47 Gee Whiz, It's Christmas Carla Thomas
48 Christmas Dragnet Stan Freberg & Daws Butler
49 Sleigh Ride - (Instrumental) Arthur Fiedler & The Boston Pops
50 Pretty Paper Roy Orbison
51 Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) Darlene Love
52 If It Doesn't Snow on Christmas Gene Autry
53 What Christmas Means To Me Stevie Wonder
54 Marshmallow World Dean Martin
55 Winter Wonderland Aretha Franklin
56 Merry, Merry Christmas Baby Margo Sylvia & The Tuneweavers
57 Frosty the Snowman The Ronettes
58 Christmas Auld Lang Syne Bobby Darin
59 Jingle Bells (Instrumental) Booker T and The MG's
60 Silver Bells Johnny Mathis
61 Merry Christmas All Denise Montana
62 Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer The Melodeers
63 Santa Claus is Coming To Town The Crystals
64 Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas Frank Sinatra
65 Sleigh Ride The Ventures
66 The Most Wonderful Time of The Year Andy Williams
67 Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy David Bowie and Bing Crosby
68 Winter Wonderland Darlene Love
69 Happy Holidays Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme
70 Kissin' By The Mistletoe Aretha Franklin
71 The Man With All The Toys The Beach Boys
72 The Twelve Days of Christmas Ray Conniff Singers
73 Here Comes Santa Claus Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans
74 We Need A Little Christmas Percy Faith Orchestra
75 Last Christmas George Michael & Wham
76 Silent Night The Temptations
77 We Wish You The Merriest Bing Crosby & Frank Sinatra
78 White Christmas Darlene Love
79 Santa Claus Is Watching You Ray Stevens
80 This Christmas Donny Hathaway
81 A Christmas Long Ago The Echelons
82 Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow Dean Martin
83 Sleigh Ride The Ronettes
84 Mistletoe and Holly Frank Sinatra
85 It's Christmas Once Again Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers
86 'Twas The Night Before Christmas Fred Waring & The Pennsylvanians
87 This Time of Year Brook Benton
88 Parade of The Wooden Soldiers The Crystals
89 Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree Dion
90 Chrissy, The Christmas Mouse Debbie Reynolds & Donald O'Connor
91 Marshmallow World Darlene Love
92 Christmas Serenade Johnny Maestro & The Brooklyn Bridge
93 Christmas Ain't Christmas The O'Jays
94 You're My Christmas Present Jimmy Beaumont & The Skyliners
95 I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus The Ronettes
96 I Believe in Father Christmas Greg Lake
97 Someday At Christmas Stevie Wonder
98 Merry Christmas Baby Otis Redding
99 Santa Claus Is Coming To Town Frank Sinatra & Cyndi Lauper
100 Bells of St. Mary Bob B. Soxx & The Blue Jeans

Woodstock 1969 line up

1. Richie Havens

1. The Minstrel from Gault
2. From the Prison
3. Get Together
4. From the Prison (Reprise)
5. I'm a Stranger Here
6. High Flying Bird
7. I Can't Make It Anymore
8. With a Little Help from My Friends
9. Handsome Johnny
10. Strawberry Fields Forever > Hey Jude
11. Freedom (Motherless Child)

2. Swami Satchidananda 3. Country Joe McDonald

1. Janis
2. Rockin' All Around The World
3. Flyin' High All Over The World
4. Seen A Rocket
5. Fish Cheer/I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixing-To-Die-Rag

4. John B. Sebastian

1. How Have You Been
2. Rainbows All Over Your Blues
3. I Had A Dream
4. Darlin' Be Home Soon
5. Younger Generation

5. Sweetwater

1. Motherless Child
2. Look Out (???)
3. For Pete's Sake
4. Day Song
5. What's Wrong
6. My Crystal Spider
7. Two Worlds (???)
8. Band Introduction
9. Why Oh Why

6. Incredible String Band

1. Invocation
2. The Letter
3. This Moment
4. When You Find Out Who You Are

7. Bert Sommer

1. Jennifer
2. The Road To Travel
3. I Wondered Where You Be
4. She's Gone
5. Things Are Going My Way
6. And When It's Over
7. Jeanette
8. America
9. A Note That Read
10. Smile

8. Tim Hardin

1. (How Can We) Hang on to a Dream
2. Susan
3. If I Were a Carpenter
4. Reason to Believe
5. You Upset the Grace of Living When You Lie
6. Speak Like a Child
7. Snow White Lady
8. Blues on My Ceiling
9. Simple Song of Freedom
10. Misty Roses

9. Ravi Shankar

1. Raga Puriya-Dhanashri/Gat In Sawarital
2. Tabla Solo In Jhaptal
3. Raga Manj Kmahaj
4. lap Jor
5. Dhun In Kaharwa Tal

10. Melanie

1. Close to It All
2. Momma Momma
3. Beautiful People
4. Animal Crackers
5. Mr. Tambourine Man
6. Tuning My Guitar
7. Birthday of the Sun

11. Arlo Guthrie

1. Coming into Los Angeles
2. Wheel of Fortune
3. Walking Down the Line
4. Arlo Speech: Exodus
5. Oh Mary, Don't You Weep
6. Every Hand in the Land
7. Amazing Grace

12. Joan Baez

1. Oh Happy Day
2. The Last Thing On My Mind
3. I Shall Be Released
4. Joe Hill
5. Sweet Sir Galahad
6. Hickory Wind
7. Drug Store Truck Driving Man
8. I Live One Day At A Time
9. Sweet Sunny South
10. Warm and Tender Love
11. Swing Low Sweet Chariot
12. We Shall Overcome

iconicon




Wolfgang's Vault - The Who Memorabilia
DAY TWO - August 16, 1969
1. Quill

1. Driftin'
2. They Live the Life
3. BBY
4. Waitin' For You
5. Jam

2. Keef Hartley Band

1. Spanish Fly
2. Believe In You
3. Rock Me Baby
4. Medley: Leavin' Trunk, Halfbreed, Just To Cry, Sinnin' For You

3. Santana

1. Waiting
2. You Just Don't Care
3. Savior
4. Jingo
5. Persuasion
6. Soul Sacrifice
7. Fried Neckbones

4. Canned Heat

1. I'm Her Man
2. Going Up the Country
3. A Change Is Gonna Come
4. Leaving This Town
5. The Bear Talks
6. Let's Work Together
7. Too Many Drivers at the Wheel
8. I Know My Baby
9. Woodstock Boogie
10. On the Road Again

5. Grateful Dead

1. St. Stephen
2. Mama Tried
3. Dark Star
4. High Time
5. Turn On Your Lovelight

6. Mountain

1. Blood Of The Sun
2. Stormy Monday
3. Long Red
4. Who Am I But You And The Sun
5. Beside The Sea
6. For Yasgur's Farm (then untitled)
7. You And Me
8. Theme From An Imaginary Western
9. Waiting To Take You Away
10. Dreams Of Milk And Honey
11. Blind Man
12. Blue Suede Shoes
13. Southbound Train

7. Creedence Clearwater Revival

1. Born On The Bayou
2. Green River
3. Ninety-Nine And A Half (Won't Do)
4. Commotion
5. Bootleg
6. Bad Moon Rising
7. Proud Mary
8. I Put A Spell On You
9. Night Time Is The Right Time
10. Keep On Choogin'
11. Suzy Q

8. Sly & The Family Stone

1. M'Lady
2. Sing A Simple Song
3. You Can Make It If You Try
4. Everyday People
5. Dance To The Music
6. Music Lover
7. I Want To Take You Higher
8. Love City
9. Stand!

9. Janis Joplin

1. Raise Your Hand
2. As Good As You've Been To This World
3. To Love Somebody
4. Summertime
5. Try (Just A Little Bit Harder)
6. Kosmic Blues
7. Can't Turn You Loose
8. Work Me Lord
9. Piece Of My Heart
10. Ball and Chain

10. The Who

1. Heaven And Hell
2. I Can't Explain
3. It's A Boy
4. 1921
5. Amazing Journey
6. Sparks
7. Eyesight To The Blind
8. Christmas
9. Acid Queen
10. Pinball Wizard
11. (Abbie Hoffmann Incident)
12. Do You Think It's Alright?
13. Fiddle About
14. There's A Doctor I've Found
15. Go To The Mirror Boy
16. Smash The Mirror
17. I'm Free
18. Tommy's Holiday Camp
19. We're Not Gonna Take It
20. See Me Feel Me
21. Summertime Blues
22. Shakin' All Over
23. My Generation
24. Naked Eye








Woodstock
3 Days of Peace & Music
DVD - Amazon.com



Apparel - Rock concert vintage and retro t-shirts




DAY THREE - August 17, 1969
1. Jefferson Airplane

1. The Other Side of This Life
2. Plastic Fantastic Lover
3. Volunteers
4. Won't You Try / Saturday Afternoon
5. Eskimo Blue Day
6. Uncle Sam's Blues
7. Somebody To Love
8. White Rabbit
9. 3/5 Of A Mile In 10 Seconds

2. Joe Cocker

1. Delta Lady
2. Some Things Goin' On
3. Let's Go Get Stoned
4. I Shall Be Released
5. With A Little Help From My Friends

3. Country Joe & The Fish

1. Barry's Caviar Dream
2. Not So Sweet Martha Lorraine
3. Rock And Soul Music
4. Thing Called Love
5. Love Machine
6. Fish Cheer/I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixing-To-Die-Rag

4. Ten Years After

1. Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
2. I Can't Keep From Crying Sometimes
3. I May Be Wrong, But I Won't Be Wrong Always
4. Hear Me Calling
5. I'm Going Home

5. The Band

1. Chest Fever
2. Baby Don't Do It
3. Tears Of Rage
4. We Can Talk
5. Long Black Veil
6. Don't You Tell Henry
7. Ain't No More Cane
8. Wheels On Fire
9. Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever
10. The Weight


(After midnight - Monday Morning) - August 18, 1969
6. Blood Sweat And Tears

1. More And More
2. I Love You Baby More Than You Ever Know
3. Spinning Wheel
4. I Stand Accused
5. Something Coming On
6. God Bless The Child (Order ?)

7. Johnny Winter

1. Mama, Talk To Your Daughter
2. To Tell The Truth
3. Johnny B Goode
4. Six Feet In The Ground
5. Leland Mississippi Blues/Rock Me Baby
6. Mean Mistreater
7. I Can't Stand It (With Edgar Winter)
8. Tobacco Road (With Edgar Winter)
9. Mean Town Blues

8. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

(Set One - Acoustic)
1. Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
2. Blackbird
3. Helplessly Hoping
4. Guinnevere
5. Marrakesh Express
6. 4 + 20
7. Mr Soul
8. Wonderin'
9. You Don't Have To Cry

(Set Two - Electric)
10. Pre-road Downs
11. Long Time Gone
12. Bluebird
13. Sea Of Madness
14. Wooden Ships (Encore - Acoustic)
15. Find The Cost Of Freedom
16. 49 bye-byes

9. Paul Butterfield Blues Band

1. Everything's Gonna Be Alright
2. Driftin'
3. Born Under A Bad Sign
4. All My Love Comin' Through To You
5. Love March

10. Sha-Na-Na

1. Na Na Theme
2. Jakety Jak
3. Teen Angel
4. Jailhouse Rock
5. Wipe Out
6. Who Wrote The Book Of Love
7. Duke Of Earl
8. At The Hop
9. Na Na Theme








Jimi Hendrix
Live at Woodstock
DVD - Amazon.com



11. Jimi Hendrix (The Gypsy Sun & Rainbows Band)

1. Message To Love
2. Hear My Train A Comin'
3. Spanish Castle Magic
4. Red House
5. Master Mind
6. Here Comes Your Lover Man
7. Foxy Lady
8. Beginning
9. Izabella
10. Gypsy Woman
11. Fire
12. Voodoo Child (slight return)/Stepping Stone
13. Star Spangled Banner
14. Purple Haze
15. Woodstock Improvisation/Villanova Junction
16. Hey Joe

Hendrix insisted on being the final performer and was scheduled to perform Sunday at midnight. He didn't take the stage until 9 A.M. on Monday morning and played for 2 hours to a dwindling audience.



Cancelled Acts

1. Jeff Beck Group (The band broke up in July, forcing cancellation)
2. Iron Butterfly (Stuck at the airport, their manager demanded helicopters and special arrangements just for them. Were wired back and told, as impolitely as Western Union would allow, "to get lost", but in other 'words'.)
3. Joni Mitchell (Joni's agent put her on "The Dick Cavett Show" instead)
4. Lighthouse (Feared that it would be a "bad scene".)
5. Ethan Brown (Arrested for LSD three days before the event.)
Declined Invitations

1. The Beatles (John Lennon said he couldn't get them together)
2. Led Zeppelin (Got a higher paying gig at the Asbury Park Convention Hall in New Jersey that weekend)
3. Bob Dylan (Turned it down because of his disgust of the hippies hanging around his house)
4. The Byrds (Turned it down because of a melee during their performance at the first Atlanta International Pop Festival, held at the Atlanta International Raceway on July 4 and July 5, 1969)
5. Tommy James & the Shondells (Turned it down because of being misinformed about the size and scope of the event)
6. Jethro Tull (Turned it down because they thought it wouldn't be a big deal.)
7. The Moody Blues were included in the original posters as performers, but backed out after taking a gig in Paris on the same weekend.
8. Spirit (they had other shows planned and did not want to back out of their commitments; not knowing how big that Woodstock would ultimately become)
9. Mind Garage (Declined because they thought it wouldn't be a big deal and had a higher paying gig elsewhere)

Rap Timeline

1970

* The Last Poets release their eponymous debut album. It's combination of spare funk and aggressive, socially-conscious spoken word will be an early brick in the foundation of what would come to be hip-hop.

* James Brown releases 'The Big Payback', an early funk gem that emphasizes the groove rather than melody over his aggressively spoken vocals.

* A young immigrant from Kingston, Jamaica named Clive Campbell begins deejaying at local parties. As DJ Kool Herc, he invents a new technique of deejaying that would cut two of the same records and extend the middle instrumental, or 'break,' of the popular funk and disco songs of the day.

1972

* DJ Hollywood, a club DJ from Manhattan; begins rhyming over popular disco hits at his trendy night spots. It is alleged that Hollywood coins the term 'hip-hop' though some say his partner, Lovebug Starski, came up with the term.

1974

* A former gang member-turned-DJ named Afrika Bambaataa meets a young grafitti artist named Fab 5 Freddy; a regular on the burgeoning hip-hop scene. Soon after, Bambaataa forms the Zulu Nation and catagorizes what he calls the 'Four Elements' of hip-hop: DJing, Breaking, Graf Artists and MCing

1975

* DJ Kool Herc coins the term break-boy to describe dancers that would dance during his extended breaks in the music. Soon, the term is shortened to b-boy and the style is called 'breakdancing.' Herc also takes an up-and-coming DJ named Grandmaster Flash under his wings.

* Grandmaster Flash begins working on a new, revolutionary technique of DJing: In addition to extending the break of a song, he begins mixing bits of two different songs together. Using headphones, he's able to get the songs to overlap and connect. His new 'mixing' technique would be adopted by every hip-hop DJ to follow.

* Flash's partner, Mean Gene, has a thirteen-year-old-brother named Theodore that is also beginning to DJ at local parties. After accidently sliding the record under the needle; a young Grand Wizard Theodore takes DJing a step forward by pushing the record back and forth lightly under the needle during breaks. He calls his new technique 'scratching.'

1976

* A group of party promoters called the Force stumble across a young DJ named Kool DJ Kurt. One particularly bold and aggressive member of the Force is a young man named Russell Simmons.

1977

* The legendary Rock Steady Crew of breakdancers is founded in the Bronx.

* The Crash Crew, one of the first recorded MC crews, forms in Harlem.

* Russell "Rush" Simmons moves the Force to Queens and convinces Kool DJ Kurt to begin rapping. Simmons decides to change Kurt's name to Kurtis Blow and enlists his kid brother, Joey, to be Kurt's DJ. Joey changes his name to 'DJ Run.'

1978

* DJing, up to this point the primary force in hip-hop, begins to take a backseat to MCing.

1979

* The Cold Crush Brothers form after Almight KG meets DJ Charlie Chase.

* Wendy Clark aka 'Lady B' begins spinning hip-hop records on WHAT 1340 AM in Philadelphia;furthering hip-hop's expansion outside of New York. Later that year, she also becomes one of hip-hop's first female artists when she releases "To the Beat Y'all."

* The Funky Four+One is forms with one of hip-hop's first female MCs, Sha Rock.

* The funk band Fatback releases 'King Tim III (Personality Jock).' Though it doesn't gain much attention, it is the first mainstream rap single.

* Under manager Russell Simmons, Kurtis Blow becomes the first rapper to sign a record deal with a major label.

* Sylvia Robinson founds Sugarhill Records and, after hearing a bootleg of The Cold Crush Brothers, decides to put together a rap group called 'The Sugarhill Gang.'

* The Sugarhill Gang releases 'Rapper's Delight.' Built on a sample of Chic's disco hit 'Good Times' and written by Grandmaster Caz of the Cold Crush Brothers, it goes on to become hip-hop's first hit and mainstream America's first exposure to rap music.

* In order to capitalize on the growth of MCing in hip-hop, Grandmaster Flash recruits three of his friends, Keith "Cowboy" Wiggins, Melvin "Melle Mel" and Nathaniel "Kid Creole" Glover, who perform as The 3 MCs. Soon, they add Guy "Raheim" Williams and Eddie "Scorpio" Morris and change their name to Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.

1980

* The new wave band Blondie releases the single 'Rapture'. It features a rapping vocal by lead singer Debbie Harry and mentions Fab 5 Freddy and Grandmaster Flash, furthering hip-hop's push into the mainstream.

* With "Rapper's Delight" still riding the charts, Kurtis Blow releases his first single, "Christmas Rappin'". Blow's second single, "The Breaks," is a hit; and becomes hip-hop's first gold single. In his shows, Blow now sometimes allows DJ Run to rhyme with him.

* At a DJ battle in Two-Fifths Park in Hollis, Queens; DJ Run and his friend, Darryl "Easy Dee" McDaniels, meet a young DJ named Jason "Jazzy Jase" Mizell.

* Treacherous Three release "The New Rap Language" as a single. It incorporates a new style of rapping, dubbed "speed-rapping."

1981

* Grandmaster Flash releases "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash On the Wheels of Steel", the first record to only showcase turntablism.

* Russell Simmons helps his little brother, Run, record a song called "Street Kid." It goes nowhere, but Run still wants to record. After hearing Run's friend, Darryl (now calling himself "D"), Russell begrudgingly makes Run and D a duo.

* Whodini becomes the first rap group to shoot an official video for their song "Magic's Wand."

1982

* The film "Wild Style" is released. Showcasing DJs, graf artists, breakdancing and MC battles, it is Hollywood's first foray into hip-hop culture and begins a small "rapsploitation" period on film.

* After Run and D graduate from high school, they enlist Jazzy Jase, their DJ friend from Hollis; who now calls himself 'Jam Master Jay'. Russell Simmons decides to change the group's name to Run DMC and begins work on a single. Simmons also lands the group a deal with Profile Records.

1983

* Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five release 'The Message.' Moving away from hip-hop's party-oriented singles and focusing on the realities of inner-city poverty; it is a landmark moment for hip-hop.

* Run-D.M.C. release their first single, "Sucker MCs/It's Like That." With it's spare beats and hard, aggressive rhymes, it signals the beginning of the end for "Old School" hip-hop artists.

* A New York post-punk band called the Beastie Boys decides to switch their sound from punk to rap after attending a party thrown by Fab 5 Freddy.

* Run DMC release their eponymous debut on Profile Records. It becomes a hit and introduces the 'new school' approach to hip-hop music: Hardcore, aggressive street rhymes over spare, funky beats with a heavy metal twist. Run DMC also become the first rap group to get consistent airplay on MTV and Top 40 rock radio.

1984

* The film "Breakin" is released; with "Beat Street" coming soon after; continuing the hip-hop push into Hollywood." Beat Street" also showcases a young performer named Doug E. Fresh, who has the uncanny ability to 'beatbox' - mimic musical effects using only his mouth.

* Russell Simmons meets a young college kid named Rick Rubin, an avid fan of rap music. Together, Simmons and Rubin found a small record label and run it out of Rubin's college dormroom at NYU. They name their new label Def Jam.

* U.T.F.O.; (formerly the backup dancers for Whodini), release "Roxanne, Roxanne." It goes on to become one of the most popular rap songs of all-time and spawns more than two dozen 'response' songs, including "Roxanne, You're Through," "The Real Roxanne," "Roxanne's Mother," and most notably, "Roxanne's Revenge" by 13-year-old Roxanne Shante.

* After hearing an underground single called "Public Enemy #1" by a college radio DJ named Chuck D.; Rick Rubin tries to recruit the reluctant rapper for his new label.

* Def Jam issues it's first single, "It's Yours," by T La Rock and Jazzy Jay.

1985

* A young former delinquint-turned-rap-hopeful named Kris Parker meets social worker-and-sometimes-DJ Scott Sterling (aka Scott La Rock) at a Bronx homeless shelter. The two decide to form a rap group called Boogie Down Productions.

* Doug E. Fresh records his classic single, "The Show," with the Get Fresh Crew and his new partner, MC Ricky D (aka Slick Rick.)

* Run DMC release their second album, 'King of Rock.' Like their debut, it is a hit; and furthers the combination of rap and hard rock.

* A 16-year-old LL Cool J releases his debut album, "Radio." It is the first album to be released by up-and-coming rap label, Def Jam.

* Def Jam finances and releases it's own rap movie, "Krush Groove". Based on Russell Simmons life and starring Blair Underwood (as Russell), Run DMC, Kurtis Blow, the Fat Boys and the newly-signed Beastie Boys; the film becomes a hit.

1986

* Queens native MC Shan and his superproducer cousin, Marley Marl, release the single 'The Bridge.' Though virtually unnoticed by the mainstream press, the song is an instant classic in hip-hop circles. Featuring steller 'new-school' production from Marl and clever lyrics in which Shan arrogantly announts his home, the Queensbridge Projects, hip-hop's new homebase; the song raised the ire of the newly-formed, South Bronx-based Boogie Down Productions. BDP's KRS-One disses Shan, Marl and Queens equally in the hard-hitting single, 'The Bridge Is Over;' igniting hip-hop's first major rivalry and leaving fans eagerly awaiting Boogie Down Production's first full-length album.

* Run DMC release their third album, "Raising Hell." Sparked by the Aerosmith collaboration, "Walk This Way," it is an instant hit. It is a cultural milestone for hip-hop, spawning four hit singles and becoming the first multi-platinum rap album. "Raising Hell" cements Run-D.M.C.'s place as the kings of the rap world, and kick-starts hip-hop's 'Golden Age,' bringing the final curtain down on the 'Old School.'

* Hip-hop's first White rap group, the Beastie Boys, release their debut album, "Licensed to Ill," on Def Jam Records. It goes on to become the best-selling rap album of the decade.

* LL Cool J's debut, "Radio," becomes certified platinum as Def Jam Records becomes the premiere label in hip-hop.

* A new hip-hop duo named Eric B. & Rakim release their first single, "Eric B. Is President." It is another benchmark moment in hip-hop; as Rakim's clever wordplay and complex rhyme schemes usher in a new era of MCing as an artform.

* Run-D.M.C. becomes the first rap group nominated for a Grammy; for best "R&B Vocal Performance."

* Salt-N-Pepa; a new female rap group; release their debut album, "Hot, Cool & Vicious." It becomes a moderate hit.

* Rick Rubin signs Chuck D. and his newly-formed group, Public Enemy, to Def Jam.

1987

* Boogie Down Productions releases their debut album, "Criminal Minded." Building on Run-D.M.C.'s hardcore, minimalist approach and focusing more on the harsh realities of ghetto life; it becomes an instant classic among hip-hop fans. Lead MC, KRS-One; becomes an especially respected rapper among culture aficionados.

* Public Enemy release their debut album, "Yo! Bum Rush the Show," on Def Jam. While it is praised by critics, it fails to make an impression on the charts.

* Cameron Paul, a San Francisco DJ; remixes 'Push It,' a tune from Salt-N-Pepa's (year-old) album, "Hot, Cool & Vicious." The single is released nationally and becomes a hit; hitting number 19 on the pop charts and is nominated for a Grammy.

* A former L.A. drug dealer named Eazy-E (born Eric Wright) uses his money to finance a small indie rap label called Ruthless Records. He signs a local group called H.B.O. as his first act. He also recruits Andre 'Dr. Dre' Young-- a DJ/Producer from the R&B group World Class Wreckin' Cru; and Oshea Jackson, an up-and-coming MC who calls himself Ice Cube.

* Eric B. & Rakim release their debut album, "Paid In Full," kick-starting hip-hop's love affair with James Brown samples. The emergence of Rakim, in particular, heralds the dawn of the modern MC.

* L.A. rapper, Ice-T, releases his debut album, "Rhyme Pays," and becomes one of the first West Coast MCs to garner national attention. His single, 'Six In the Morning," is groundbreaking in it's harsh and explicit depiction of street hustling and the criminal lifestyle.

* Philadelphia duo DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince debut with "Rock the House." With their fun, good-natured rhymes and humorous videos; the twosome become a favorite on MTV and the album goes gold.

* After H.B.O. fails to make an impression on the L.A. rap scene; Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and DJ Yella, (also from the World Class Wreckin' Cru), form a new group called N.W.A (Niggaz With Attitudes). They rush-release an EP for fledgling Ruthless Records called "N.W.A. and the Posse." It goes nowhere. Eazy then recruits Lorenzo 'M.C. Ren' Wright, a young rapper from South Central, to join them as they go back into the studio to revamp their sound.

* MC Hammer, an Oakland-based dancer-turned-rapper releases his debut album, "Let's Get It Started." It generates a few moderate hits, and Hammer gains attention for his exuberant dance moves and simple party raps.

* After their show in Los Angeles ends in violence, Run-D.M.C. is blamed in the press for inciting the riot. The group calls a press conference to defend itself, and hip-hop is immediately thrust under a microscope by moral watchdogs and right-wing politicians.

1988

* Erick Sermon and Parish Smith, collectively known as EPMD, release their debut album, "Strictly Business." The pair become one of the most celebrated duos in the hip-hop underground and shun the spotlight in the wake of rap music's exploding popularity.

* As Boogie Down Productions begins production on their second album; DJ Scott La Rock is gunned down following an altercation. Stunned by the sudden death of his partner, KRS-One soldiers on, and as 'The Teacha,' promotes a more educated and socially aware approach to hardcore hip-hop.

* MC Lyte; a brash, young 'female' MC, becomes the first female hardcore rapper signed to a major label and releases her debut album, "Lyte As A Rock."

* Public Enemy release their second album, "It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back." With it's use of dense, layered sampling, hard funk, and politically incendiary rhymes; it is hailed by rap and rock critics alike as a landmark recording. Public Enemy skyrockets toward the forefront of popular music.

* Ice-T's second album, "Power," becomes the first rap album to carry a Parental Advisory warning label.

* Afrika Bambaataa froms the Native Tongues crew and, (after hearing an underground single called 'Wrath of My Madness'); recruits a young female MC from New Jersey named Queen Latifah.

* N.W.A. releases their first full-fledged album, "Straight Outta Compton." Taking the hardcore sonic attack of Public Enemy and merging it with brutally explicit tales of the crime-ridden streets of South Central Los Angeles; it becomes a watershed moment for 'gangsta rap' and fully opens the door for West Coast rappers to gain national attention.

* Run D.M.C. finally release their follow-up to 'Raising Hell;' called 'Tougher Than Leather,' and star in a movie of the same name. The movie bombs at the box office and though the album goes platinum and is praised by critics; it is considered a commercial disappointment for the group.

* DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince release their second album, a double-set called "He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper." Boosted by the immensely popular single, 'Parents Just Don't Understand;' the album is a smash--selling 2.5 million copies.

* N.W.A.'s song, 'Fuck the Police,' incites controversy for it's lyrics and leads the F.B.I. to issue a formal warning to the group, Ruthless Records, and it's parent-label, Priority. This starts a long-standing battle between the powers-that-be and gangsta rap.

* A trio of friends from Harlem NY, the Jungle Brothers, release their debut album, 'Straight Out The Jungle' on the small Idler label. Though the album doesn't gain much attention, it does provide a new slant on hip-hop that is neither 'gangsta' nor overtly political. Joining up with Afrika Bambaataa's "Native Tongues' crew, and incorporating elements of jazz and house music and using Afrocentric themes, the Jungles Brothers introduce a new subgenre that would later be dubbed 'alternative' rap.

1989

* Public Enemy release their much-anticipated third album, "Fear of A Black Planet" to strong sales and reviews despite controversy over anti-Semitic remarks made by group member Professor Griff in an interview. Chuck D formally dismisses Griff from group.

* The Grammy committee announces that rap will be given it's own official Grammy catagory. The news is bittersweet, however, after it is announced that the presentation will not be televised. As a result, many of the most prominent rappers, (including Salt-N-Pepa, Public Enemy, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, Ice-T and more), host a Boycott-The-Grammys Party on MTV the night of the broadcast. DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince go on to win the award.

* After a year of buzz surrounding her underground singles, Queen Latifah releases her debut album, "All Hail the Queen." It is praised immensely by the hip-hop community for it's positive outlook and strong feminist overtones.

* In an effort to quell the surge of Black-On-Black crime in New York (and as tribute to Scott La Rock); KRS-One organizes the Stop the Violence movement with several New York rappers. Soon, the Movement goes national as West Coast MCs get involved as well. The result is two public-service singles denouncing violence, 'Self Destruction' in New York, and 'We're All In the Same Gang' in Los Angeles.

* Doug E. Fresh's former partner, MC Ricky D--now calling himself 'Slick Rick'--releases his solo debut, "The Great Adventures of Slick Rick" on Def Jam Records. With a gift for clever, laid-back rhymes and vivid storytelling, Rick is immediately elevated to the top-tier of MCs.

* After a controversial tour promoting 'Straight Outta Compton' with N.W.A, Ice Cube announces he's leaving the group after a financial dispute with Eazy-E and manager, Jerry Heller.

* De La Soul, a young rap group from Long Island, New York (and also affiliated with the Native Tongues collective), release their debut, "3 Feet High & Rising" on Tommy Boy Records. Building on quirky samples from rock, funk, folk, country and soul and using wordplay that ranged from psychadelic musings to outright jibberish, the group is immediately hailed as the 'future of hip-hop music.'

* MC Hammer releases his sophomore effort, "Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em." The album is bashed by critics and scoffed at by hip-hop purists, but becomes a mammoth hit. Spurred by the wildly popular single, 'U Can't Touch This,' and heavy video rotation on MTV, the album sells ten million copies- and with his flashy dancing and trademark baggy pants, MC Hammer becomes an international superstar.

* The Beastie Boys, after a long and bitter exit from Def Jam Records, finally release their second album, "Paul's Boutique." Trading the frat-boy humor of their debut in favor of dense samples, sprawling sound collages and abstract lyrical themes, the album flops as most fans and critics don't know what to make of the record.

* 2 Live Crew, a Florida-based party-rap group, releases their third album, "As Nasty As They Wanna Be." It is an extremely explicit and sexually provocative--(with the lyrics reaching near-pornographic proportions), and is banned from sale in the state of Florida. The group themselves are arrested for lewdness after performing a concert in Miami. After going to court for the right to perform and write music as they want to, the group is found not guilty in what becomes a heated debate over decency and the First Amendment.

* Rick Rubin leaves Def Jam and forms a new label, dubbed Def American.

* Yo! MTV Raps makes it's debut, with host Fab 5 Freddy. For the first time, the entire country has a platform to watch the latest music videos by all of the top rap artists.

Rock and Roll Timeline

1877

* Thomas Edison invents the phonograph. It had two diaphragm-and-needle units, one for recording, & one for playback. When he spoke into the mouthpiece, the sound vibrations were indented onto a metal cylinder with tin foil wrapped around it by the recording needle in a vertical groove pattern. The first words recorded and played back were "Mary had a little lamb...", spoken by Edison. He filed for the patent on December 24, 1877.

1915

* The 'Chicago Automatic Machine & Tool Company' invents the jukebox.

1922

* The words "rock" and "roll", which were black slang for sexual intercourse, appear on record for the first time, Trixie Smith's "My Baby Rocks Me With One Steady Roll".

1929

* The 78 rpm record is introduced.

1931

* 'Adolph Rickenbacker' invents the electric guitar. Known as the Frying Pan, it was a lap-steel guitar with an electromagnetic pickup, created by Adolph Rickenbacker and George Beauchamp, in which a current passed through a coil of wire wrapped around a magnet. This created a field that amplified the strings' vibrations.

1937

* 'Count Basie' releases "One O'Clock Jump", a cross of swing and R&B.

1938

* John Hammond stages the "Spirituals To Swing" concert in New York City to highlight black musical styles. The stars of the show are the duo of singer Big Joe Turner and pianist Pete Johnson who kick off a national "boogie woogie" craze.

* Saxophonist Louis Jordan leaves Chick Webb's band to form the Tympany Five, a slimmed down group that begins the rhythm & blues revolution.

1939

* Leo Mintz opens The Record Rendezvous in Cleveland, Ohio, a store specializing in race music. 12 years later he will convince DJ Alan Freed to start playing those records on the air which launches the rock 'n' roll era.

1942

* Billboard magazine debuts the Harlem Hit Parade to chart the top singles in the "race" field, a precursor to rhythm & blues.

* Herman Lubinsky and Savoy Records begin operations in Newark, New Jersey, focusing on recording black artists.

* Illinois Jacquet kicks off the tenor sax as a primary R&B instrument with his wild solo on Lionel Hampton's "Flying Home".

* The onset of World War Two results in limited record production, particularly non-pop records, slowing the growth of rhythm & blues music until war's end in 1945.

1943

* King Records run by Syd Nathan opens in Cincinnati, Ohio to record hillbilly music. In 1946 they begin recording rhythm & blues, becoming one of the most prominent independent labels of the next decade as a result.

1945

* "The Honeydripper" by Joe Liggins is #1 on the black music charts for a record 18 weeks. The sexually suggestive term is an early indicator for the new direction of R&B music.

* The Bihari family forms Modern Records in Los Angeles, one of the most successful and groundbreaking R&B labels in the country.

* Cecil Gant's "I Wonder" becomes the first massive R&B hit to be significantly covered for other markets.

* Les Paul invents echo-delay, multi-track recording and many other techniques that further expand recording possibilities.

* Lew Chudd forms Imperial Records and the following year Art Rupe forms Specialty Records, both in Los Angeles, to record rhythm & blues. Each label will also make significant recordings of New Orleans R&B over the next decade and a half.

1946

* "Choo Choo Ch'Boogie" by Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five becomes the biggest hit ever in the increasingly popular jump blues style that later leads to rock 'n' roll.

1947

* The Ravens introduce a new form of harmony singing featuring bass vocalist Jimmy Ricks out front with tenor Maithe Marshall floating on top of the melody. Their radical reworking of "Old Man River" is the prototype for the new style of R&B group singing on the horizon.

* "Open The Door Richard" becomes the smash of the year with five different artists hitting the Top Three on the R&B Charts with a version, including its writer Dusty Fletcher. The comical song about a drunk trying to get into his apartment while his roommate is there with a woman signal a loosening of sexual mores, which become an R&B hallmark.

* Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson starts Atlantic Records which will become the biggest R&B label in history.

1948

* The term "rhythm & blues" is coined by young Billboard reporter and future Atlantic Records producer Jerry Wexler. It will replace the negative "Race Records" chart a year later which signifies the new shift in black music.

* The Orioles, led by Sonny Til, become the first of the young black vocal groups to appeal to a teenage audience, scoring a #1 R&B hit with their debut, "It's Too Soon To Know", the first rock ballad.

* Wynonie Harris's version of "Good Rockin' Tonight" tops the R&B Charts and gives rise to the popularization of that word in connotation with the music.

* Saxophonist Wild Bill Moore releases "We're Gonna Rock, We're Gonna Roll".

* The raciness in R&B becomes prevalent with such artists and songs as Julia Lee's "King Size Papa" and Bull Moose Jackson's "I Want A Bowlegged Woman" which further connect this music to a young, wild audience bent on moving away from past styles.

* June 1948 - Columbia launched the vinyl 12-inch 33-1/3 rpm album.

1949

* The saxophone becomes the centerpiece sound of R&B and is used for its suggestiveness and its ability to incite a crowd into a frenzy as evidenced by Big Jay McNeely's smash "The Deacon's Hop" and the slowed down sultriness of Paul Williams "Hucklebuck".

* The electric guitar takes hold with the blues recordings of T-Bone Walker, John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters and will soon become a centerpiece in R&B.

* Atlantic Records starts its run as R&B's biggest label with Stick McGee's "Drinkin Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee".

* The Orioles continue their dominance of the market with 8 Top Ten hits during the year and frequently cause riots at their performances.

* A failing white Memphis' radio station WDIA hires Nat Williams, the first black disc jockey and changes its format to rhythm & blues which promptly turns the station's fortunes around. They also hire future singing stars B.B. King and Rufus Thomas as DJs.

* March 31, 1949 RCA Victor introduces the 45 RPM Record which is easier to produce, smaller and cheaper than the delicate 78's, which makes it more practical for younger audiences who will soon become music's primary customer. RCA Victor also offered a small inexpensive record player for $12.95 to play the new size and speed.

* Louis Jordan's massive hit "Saturday Night Fish Fry" marks the end of the jump blues dominance of the 40's, while Jimmy Preston's raucous "Rock The Joint" points towards a new horizon of rock 'n' roll for the 50's.

* Related Link: Greatest "Roots of Rock" Songs of the 1940s

1950

* Fats Domino's first record "The Fat Man" ushers in the full-fledged rock sound.

* The Johnny Otis Rhythm & Blues Caravan takes the R&B show on the road scoring ten Top Ten hits that year, three of them chart toppers, with such vocalists as 14 year old Little Esther, Mel Walker and the Robins.

* The R&B ballad takes shape with huge smashes in that style by Ivory Joe Hunter, Percy Mayfield and Laurie Tate which bring about a much needed versatility in the emerging music.

* Arkie Shibley & His Mountain Dew Boys record "Hot Rod Race" sets the stage for white country music to meet rhythm & blues in a term to be known as rockabilly in the future.

* Atlantic Records scores its first #1 record in the decade it would come to define musically with Ruth Brown's "Teardrops From My Eyes", the biggest R&B hit for a female artist for the next 40 years.

* Related Links: Top 100 Recordings of 1950
More about Fats Domino
Billboard Top Songs by Year (1950 - 1959)

1951

* A wave of young black vocal groups spring up with variations of the style popularized by the Orioles. The Five Keys smooth harmonies hit with "The Glory Of Love"... the Clovers combine tougher harmonies with southern-inflected blues and hit with "Don't You Know I Love You" and "Fool, Fool, Fool", kicking off a string of 15 straight Top Ten hits... the Dominoes gospel-based singing and racy lyrics land them the biggest hit of the decade with "Sixty Minute Man" which sells in such high numbers that it makes #17 on the Pop Charts as well.

* The first jukebox that plays 45 RPM records is introduced.

* In Memphis Sam Phillips records Ike Turner's band with Jackie Brenston on lead for "Rocket 88", leasing it to Chess Records of Chicago where the alcohol fueled rocker tops the charts and further cements rock's future as a raucous, exciting and dangerous style of music.

* Les Paul's dazzling electric guitar work on the #1 Pop Hit "How High The Moon" with Mary Ford allows the song to cross over onto the R&B Charts bringing together the diverse influences that would help form rock 'n' roll.

* In July, Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed begins his "Moondog Show" on WJW, broadcasting nothing but rhythm & blues, quickly becoming a hit with young black audiences.

* Related Link: Top 100 Recordings of 1951

1952

* Renegade white country & western swing band Bill Haley & The Saddlemen record "Rock The Joint", the first white rock song of note.

* White pop vocalist Johnnie Ray records the two-sided smash "Cry" b/w "The Little White Cloud That Cried" and his emotional wailing leads many to believe he is both black and a female as the song tops the R&B charts.

* Johnny Ace, a former piano player with the Beale Streeters, a group that included blues legends B.B. King and Bobby "Blue" Bland, records his first record in Memphis and watches it hit #1 launching him as a major R&B star.

* In New Orleans the rock 'n' roll beat is furthered by Lloyd Price's massive hit "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" with Fats Domino on piano.

* Domino's own "Goin' Home" hits #1 on the R&B Charts and becomes one of the first rock songs to scrape the Pop Charts as well, reaching #30.

* Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, still in their late teens, write their first hit "Hard Times" for R&B star Charles Brown, as well as the rock classic "Kansas City". Their work as writers and producers over the next decade will result in countless hits for dozens of musical legends.

* Sam Phillips starts his own label, Sun Records in Memphis, recording mostly blues musicians its first two years in business. Their first release is Johnny London's moody R&B sax instrumental "Drivin' Slow".

* On the night of March 21st, DJ Alan Freed puts on the ever rock 'n' roll show - "The Moondog Coronation Ball" in Cleveland starring The Dominoes, Veretta Dillard, Tiny Grimes & His Rockin' Highlanders featuring Screamin' Jay Hawkins, and Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams. The overflow crowds break down the doors, storming the arena where a full scale riot ensues bringing the newly coined "rock 'n' roll" music its first widespread headlines and scrutiny.

* Related Link: Top 100 Recordings of 1952
More about Johnny Ace

1953

* Clyde McPhatter leaves the Dominoes after three years and 9 huge hits to form the Drifters for Atlantic Records who will hit #1 out of the box with "Money Honey" that summer.

* The first clear evidence of soul music shows up with the "5" Royales, an ex-gospel group that turned to racy R&B and in Faye Adams who's spiritual plea in a secular realm, "Shake A Hand" becomes an immediate R&B standard.

* Bill Haley changes his group's name to the more youthful Comets and writes the first white rock hit, "Crazy Man Crazy", reaching #13 on the Pop Charts in May, the highest position for a rock song to date.

* In June the first major integrated rock 'n' roll show is staged in Cleveland with headlining co-stars The Dominoes and Bill Haley & His Comets.

* The Orioles "Crying In The Chapel" becomes the first R&B hit to approach the Top Ten on the Pop Charts, stalling just short at #11 late that summer.

* The Rhythm & Blues Charts begin to reflect the overwhelming dominance of emerging rock 'n' roll with such hits as Big Joe Turner's "Honey Hush", Johnny Ace's "The Clock" and Ruth Brown's "Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean". Only one pure blues record tops the chart the entire year, a significant shift from past years when blues had a steady presence on those charts.

* 15 million rhythm & blues records are bought in 1953, while that accounts for just 5% of all records sold it begins to draw notice in the industry which fails to note the growing interest among young white audiences that will soon have a major impact on society as a whole.

* Related Links: Top 100 Recordings of 1953
More about Clyde McPhatter

1954

* R&B music explodes into the mainstream with black vocal groups leading the crossover thanks to such records such as the Crows "Gee", The Chords "Sh-Boom", The Charms "Hearts Of Stone" and The Penguins "Earth Angel". The often crude recording techniques, amateurish vocals and sometimes nonsensical lyrics give the indication the music is just a novelty.

* Pop record companies try desperately to capitalize on the perceived fad by having white artists cover black vocal group records and the increased distribution and radio play assures many of those versions of becoming the bigger hits.

* The Midnighters cause waves when their off-color "Work With Me Annie" and its equally suggestive sequels become the most popular R&B records of the year resulting in many communities calling for complete bans on rock 'n' roll.

* Among those records targeted for widespread bans are Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters explicit "Honey Love" and "Such A Night" and the Midnighters "Sexy Ways". Despite this they all become massive R&B hits.

* 10,000 fans attend Alan Freed's first east coast Rock 'n' Roll Show held in Newark New Jersey, featuring the Clovers and Harptones. The success of it outside Freed's base of operations in Cleveland is further proof that rock 'n' roll has national appeal.

* Freed moves to New York's WINS in September and quickly becomes the city's most famous DJ, attracting massive audiences to his newly named "Rock 'n' Roll Party".

* Big Joe Turner and Bill Haley each record "Shake Rattle & Roll" and have dueling hits that stay on the charts for months on end.

* In Memphis, Elvis Presley records his first commercial record "That's All Right, Mama" July 5th at Sun Studios.

* Rock 'n' roll suffers its first tragedy as one of its biggest stars Johnny Ace accidentally shoots and kills himself playing Russian Roulette backstage at a Houston Auditorium in between shows on Christmas Night.

* Related Link: Top 100 Recordings of 1954

1955

* After being used in the hit film about juvenile delinquency "The Blackboard Jungle", Bill Haley & The Comets "Rock Around The Clock" becomes the first rock record to top the Pop Charts, holding the #1 position for two months and remaining in the Top 100 for a then-record 38 weeks. It would be 39 years before that mark was broken.

* Crossover records start appearing on the Pop Charts led by Johnny Ace's posthumous smash "Pledging My Love". Others by Fats Domino, The Moonglows, The Platters and the first hits by Chuck Berry and Little Richard follow.

* Berry's "Maybellene" cracks the Top Five on the Pop Charts and ushers in descending pentatonic double-stops which becomes the essence of rock guitar.

* Bo Diddley's self-titled debut record tops the R&B Charts and introduces the tribal "Bo Diddley" beat to rock.

* In May the first Rock LP is released by Bill Haley & His Comets, but full-length albums with their higher prices that limit their appeal for teenagers, remain largely the realm of adult pop singers for another decade.

* The increased attention to R&B has negative impacts as well with The Midnighters facing the toughest scrutiny resulting in their final hits of any kind for four years due to radio blackballing.

* In May a Rock 'n' Roll Show in Connecticut to be headlined by Fats Domino is cancelled for fear it will lead to rioting. State police subsequently ban all further rock concerts in the state.

* Boston follows suit by assembling a record censorship board to prevent dirty rock records from being played on the air.

* With censorship prevalent, white cover records still hold the slight edge in radio play but not in sales, with Pat Boone having the biggest impact with his watered down versions of R&B hits.

* In November Elvis Presley's contract is bought by RCA for an unheard of price of $35,000.

* Rock 'n' roll music warrants a mention in the year end Encyclopedia Britannica music review, which derogatorily refers to it in racist terms as "jungle music".

* Related Links: Top 100 Recordings of 1955
More about Chuck Berry
More about Little Richard

1956

* The Platters open the year on top of both the R&B and Pop Charts with "The Great Pretender" making it the second rock record to accomplish the latter.

* Pop vocalist Kay Starr has a huge smash that winter with "The Rock & Roll Waltz" a song that attempts to cash in on the term "rock 'n' roll" while appealing to adults rather than kids, proving the industry feels the music is a novelty.

* By spring the white cover craze peters out as Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally" bests Pat Boone's version, Fats Domino's "I'm In Love Again" destroys the Fontane Sisters tepid remake and by years end white pop singers virtually give up covering R&B hits as a result.

* Elvis Presley makes his national television debut on "The Dorsey Brothers Stage Show" in late January and a month later his first RCA record "Heartbreak Hotel" races up the charts neck and neck with his former Sun Records cohort Carl Perkins "Blue Suede Shoes" as they claim the #1 and 2 spots on the charts.

* Presley scores five #1 hits in a seven month span, causes a sensation with his explosive performance of "Hound Dog" on the Milton Berle Show, appears twice on The Ed Sullivan Show in the fall to enormous ratings and releases his first film that November.

* Rock 'n' Roll enters the movies with cheaply made "rockploitation" films with limited plots and numerous cameos by rockers singing their latest hits. The biggest and best of which is "The Girl Can't Help It" starring blonde sexpot Jayne Mansfield and featuring performances by Little Richard, Fats Domino and Eddie Cochran.

* Feedback is invented by The Johnny Burnette Rock 'n' Roll Trio on their record "The Train Kept A Rollin".

* Gene Vincent is convicted of public obscenity and fined $10,000 by the state of Virginia for singing the erotic "Woman Love" on stage.

* "I Put A Spell On You" by Screamin' Jay Hawkins sells over a million copies but faces a complete radio ban due to its "cannibalistic nature", thus becoming rock's first underground hit.

* Related Link: Top 100 Recordings of 1956

1957

* On his final Ed Sullivan appearance Elvis Presley is filmed from the waist up though the screams from the studio audience only makes what the home viewer was missing even more suggestive.

* "Jailhouse Rock", considered the best rock film, starring Elvis Presley introduces a precursor to the rock video, as the title song has an elaborate setting in a jail cell choreographed by Presley himself.

* Bill Haley & The Comets tour Europe setting off riots and bringing rock 'n' roll to that continent for the first time.

* An Australian tour featuring Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly follows making rock a worldwide phenomenon. Lewis's performance of "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" that July on The Steve Allen Show brings rock music more reprimands as Lewis kicks over his piano stool and plays the keyboards with disturbing wild-eyed intensity. The ratings however beat the top-ranked Ed Sullivan Show for the first time that year.

* The stroll becomes the first dance associated with rock.

* Alan Freed has his short-lived televised rock 'n' roll show canceled when complaints pour in over seeing black teenage singer Frankie Lymon dancing on screen with a white girl.

* In the first move to tame down rock 'n' roll by society ABC television launches the national version of a Philadelphia program called "American Bandstand" which winds up promoting the more wholesome side of rock.

* The Everly Brothers hit "Wake Up Little Susie" is banned from the airwaves in Boston for lyrical content.

* On a tour of Australia in the fall, Little Richard sees the Russian satellite "Sputnik" descending to earth and takes it as a sign from God to quit rock 'n' roll and join the ministry.

* Related Links: Top 100 Recordings of 1957
More about Jerry Lee Lewis
More about Buddy Holly

1958

* Elvis Presley is inducted into the Army in March for a two-year hitch overseas.

* In April singer/songwriter Chuck Willis dies of a perforated ulcer at age 30.

* In May Alan Freed is indicted by Boston authorities for inciting a riot at a recent rock 'n' roll show he promoted where the audience stormed the stage during both Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry's closing sets.

* In June, Jerry Lee Lewis's first English tour results in scandal when it is learned his 3rd wife is his 13 year old second cousin. He cuts the tour short and is blackballed by American radio and television upon his return.

* Billboard magazine begins the Hot 100, expanding the Pop Charts to allow more records to become certified hits.

* Rock's songwriting connection to its audience becomes more apparent with the hits "Summertime Blues" by Eddie Cochran, "Sweet Little Sixteen" by Chuck Berry and Leiber & Stoller's #1 hit for the Coasters "Yakety Yak", all focusing on teenagers struggles with parental demands.

* Chuck Willis's double-sided posthumous hit "What Am I Living For"/"Hang Up My Rock 'n' Roll Shoes" is the first rock record released in stereo, engineered by Tom Dowd of Atlantic Records.

* The power chord first appears in records by guitarists Link Wray and Eddie Cochran.

* Distortion for electric guitar is first used by Lowman Pauling of The "5" Royales and a primitive form of fuzz bass is found on some of their records of this time as well.

* "Hard Headed Woman" by Elvis Presley becomes the first Rock Record to go "Gold", a new designation for singles established earlier in the year.

* Related Link: Top 100 Recordings of 1958

1959

* Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper die in a plane crash while on tour in Clearlake, Iowa on February 3rd. It will become known as "The Day The Music Died" and memorialized in Don McLean's 1972 hit, "American Pie".

* Congress opens the payola hearings designed to squash rock 'n' roll DJ's who receive money from record distributors in exchange for airplay, a common practice in all forms of radio for years. Alan Freed is its main target and becomes its biggest casualty, as he is found guilty and taken off the air as a result.

* Radio stations respond by voluntarily putting severe restrictions on what they will play, including widely adopting the Top 40 format which limits how many songs are given approval for airing.

* Dick Clark acts quickly to distance himself from rock 'n' roll's bad image as he increasingly showcases the talentless "teen idols" on "American Bandstand".

* The rock instrumental has its biggest year ever in response to rock music facing bans for lyrical content.

* Ray Charles bursts into the mainstream after years as an R&B star with "What'd I Say".

* A new version of the Drifters are produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller who become the first to use strings and introduce Latin rhythms to rock with the hit "There Goes My Baby".






* Berry Gordy starts Tamla-Motown Records. It will eventually become the most successful black-owned and operated company in American history, not just in music, with 600 million records sold.

* Since 1955 the market share for rock 'n' roll has increased from 15.7% to 42.7% making it the fastest growing style of music ever.