The demo that sealed the deal...
This date in Elvis Presley history ranks at least top 5 for legions of Elvis fans. It's the date that 19-year old Elvis recorded the demo that led to a recording contract with Sun Records...
On January 4th, 1954 Elvis pays the receptionist at Sun Records $4 to record 2 songs for his mother's birthday. The tunes were "Casual Love Affair" and "I'll Never Stand in Your Way". An office assistant was so blown away by what she heard that she takes a copy of the demo to Sun executive Sam Phillips who sets up an audition with Elvis and then signs him to a recording contract. After some tweaking by Phillips, Elvis records "That's All Right" in July and the rest is history and part of Elvis Presley folklore forever...
The first clue that there was a "King" in the making was when Elvis won a talent contest singing "Old Shep" at the age of 10 in 1945 but it was on this date 9 years later that the first steps were taken for the coronation that the world would soon see...
More January 4 Memories...
1754) Columbia University is founded as Kings College...
1885) Dr. William Grant performs the 1st successful appendectomy on Mary Gartside (unfortunately Mary needed an operation on her gall bladder at the time -- just kidding)...
1935) Bob Hope debuts on network radio in "The Intimate Revue"...
1936) Billboard Magazine publishes its 1st music chart based on record sales. The 1st chart topper (on 78 RPM) is "Stop! Look! Listen!" by jazz violinist Joe Venuti...
1950) RCA Victor follows Columbia Records lead and starts manufacturing LP records (Columbia led the way in 1948)...
1954) Elvis records his famous demo (feature story)...
1957) "Blondie" premieres on NBC-TV (and will later switch to CBS)...
1957) After publishing for 69 years, Collier's Magazine folds...
1962) Gene McDaniels records "Point of No Return"...
1965) The Fender Guitar Company is sold to CBS for $13 million...
1965) In his State of the Union address, President Lyndon Johnson refers to the building of the "Great Society"...
1967) The Monkees top the charts with "I'm a Believer" (at 7 weeks, this becomes the longest running #1 hit since "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by the Beatles)...
1974) President Nixon refuses to turn over Watergate tapes and documents...
1974) NBC-TV presents hockey in prime time, airing an NHL game between the Bruins and Rangers...
1979) The Bee Gees top the charts with "Too Much Heaven" (the group donates all proceeds from sales of the singles to UNICEF)...
1982) It's another anniversary for Bryant Gumble as he becomes co-host of NBCs "Today Show" (yesterday we noted that Gumble left the show in 1997)...
1984) "Night Court" starring Harry Anderson (who was always referred to as "Sir" in his role as a judge on the show) premieres on NBC-TV (Markie Post makes her debut on the show)...
1999) Former pro-wrestler Jesse Ventura is sworn in as Minnesota's 37th governor...
2000) On the heels of a defeat by Florida State at the hands of Penn State last night, on this date in 2000 Coach Bobby Bowden completes an undefeated season as top-ranked Florida State beats previously undefeated Virginia Tech 46-29 for their 2nd national title in a decade...
2001) Orchestra leader Les Brown (and his "Band of Renown") dies at 88...
To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...
Happy Birthday To...
1914) Jane Wyman...
1930) Don Shula...
1935) Floyd Patterson...
1937) Dyan Cannon...
1957) Country singer Patty Loveless...
1960) R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe.
Commentary...
As a follow-up to my feature on "Dragnet" yesterday, Paul Power reminds us that orchestra leader Billy May also had a version of the TV show theme song. Rich Appel also adds that Stan Freberg recorded "Christmas Dragnet" which nearly cracked the top 10. Thanks for the feedback guys...
Stop me if you've heard this but did you hear about the 2 fish that swam into a concrete wall ? One turns to the other and says "Dam!"...This is the 4th day of 2006, only 361 remain in the year...
