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Gold Star Oldies Radio

Your front-row seat to retro music events, legendary artist birthdays, tributes, and timeless rock 'n' roll stories powered by our cutting-edge AI DJs.

Celebrating the golden age of rock 'n' roll

At Gold Star Oldies USA, we live and breathe the best eras in music history. We spin the greatest hits from mid-sixties vocal groups through the high-energy seventies and eighties rock anthems. Our happenings page is where our community gathers to look back at the moments and melodies that shaped generations.

Happenings  The Week Of October 23th - 28th 

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October 23, 1954  — Elvis Presley's second Sun single, "Blue Moon Of Kentucky," breaks out in Nashville and New Orleans, becoming his first chart hit outside of his native Memphis.


October 24, 1942
 — Louis Jordan ushers in a new era in music when he enters the charts with his innovative and irreverent debut disc "I'm Gonna Leave You On The Outskirts of Town," reaching #3 R&B. As the father of rhythm and blues, he would go on to have 56 more hits in only nine years, influencing many rock and roll stars, including Chuck Berry, whose "Johnny B Goode" opening guitar riff is borrowed from the 1946 Jordan recording "Ain't That Just Like A Woman."
                    1979 — The Guinness Book of World Records names Paul McCartney the best-selling songwriter in the history of recorded music, having composed 43 platinum songs and sold over 100 million records.

 

October 25, 1961 — Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, who haven't seen each other since primary school, run into each other at the Dartford train station in England. Keith is on his way to Sidcup Art College; Mick is headed to the London School of Economics. Noticing the Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry albums Mick is carrying, Keith strikes up a conversation.
                     1995 — Cliff Richard (nee Harry Webb), is invested as Sir Cliff Richard, becoming the first pop star to receive a knighthood. In the ceremony, Queen Elizabeth thanks him for his contributions to charity and music.


October 26, 1958 — Germany's first rock concert is held in Berlin and ends in a riot as teens from the eastern and western sectors of the city skirmish during a performance by Bill Haley and His Comets. By the time police clear the concert, five policemen and six audience members are seriously injured. East Germany's official Communist newspaper denounces Haley in a front-page editorial for "turning the youth of the land of Bach and Beethoven into raging beasts."

October 28, 1958 — Buddy Holly (center) makes his last major television appearance, lip-syncing on ABC's American Bandstand to "It's So Easy" and "Heartbeat" just months before the plane crash that ends his life. It is also his final performance with Crickets Jerry Allison (top) and Joe Mauldin (bottom) before he splits with their producer, Norman Petty, and moves to New York while they stay in Texas. Holly assembles a new group for his ill-fated tour,  but Allison and Mauldin have hopes to get back with Buddy after the tour ends.  







Sources:
Eight Days a Week (Ron Smith)
Eight Days a Week (Kenneth Best)
On This Day in Black Music History (Jay Warner)

Chronology of American Popular Music, 1900-2000 (Frank Hoffman)
calendar.songfacts.com
onthisday.com/music

 

Latest music happenings and tributes Birthdays, Those Lost But Not Forgotten

 

rockabilly singer Bonnie Lou in 1924

Pianist Floyd Cramer (“Last Date”) in 1933

Lee Greenwood (“God Bless the USA”) in 1941

Dick Dodd of the Standells (“Dirty Water”) in 1943

Judas Priest guitarist K.K. Downing in 1951

 

 

People we have lost but not forgotten 

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Steven Took of T. Rex in 1980

Bandleader Xavier Cougat in 1990

Funk Brothers guitarist Robert White in 1994

Actor/arranger/composer Frank DeVol in 1999

Tom Dowd, American recording engineer (innovator of multitrack recording) and producer [Coasters, Spinners, Bee Gees, Eric Clapton, Diana Ross, The Eagles] in 2002

Lou Reed (Velvet Underground) (“Walk On the Wild Side”) in 2013

Herb Goins of Alexis Korner Band in 2015

John Zacherle (“Dinner with Drac”) in 2016

Freddie Hart (“Easy Lovin'”) in 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Honoring the musical icons Present and Past 

From sixties harmony groups to the powerhouse rock bands of the seventies and eighties, we pay tribute to the performers who gave us timeless soundtracks. Check out our photo spotlight celebrating classic recording artists.