February 1, 1969
The debut disc,
“Worst That Could Happen”
Brooklyn Bridge’s
peaked at #3. The lead singer
was Johnny Maestro, formerly
of The Crests, while the
backup vocals were done by
former members of The
Del-Satins, the un-credited
group on Dion’s 11 hits
from “Runaround Sue” thru
“Come Go With Me”
(1961-1963).

1964 – The quintessential
party record “Louis, Louis”
by The Kingsmen was declared pornographic by the Governor
of Indiana but an FCC
investigation concluded
“the record to be unintelligible
at any speed we played it”.

Top Single:
“Where Or When”
Dion & The Belmonts
#4 1960
“Rum & Coca Cola”
The Andrews Sisters #1 1945

Birthday:
Bob Shane
(The Kingston Trio) 1934 
Tommy Duffy
(The Echoes) 1944

 ________

February 2, 1956
The Coasters signed Atco Records and went on to have 19 hits in 15 years.

Top Single:
“Smoke Get’s In Your Eyes”
The Platters #1 1959

 ________


February 3, 1958
The Collegians Doo Wop classic,
“Zoom, Zoom, Zoom” was issued.
1959 – “This day the music died”.
Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and
The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson)
died in a plane crash after their
last tour date in Clear Lake, Iowa.

 ________

Top Single:
“Baby It’s You”
The Shirelles #8 1962
“Green Tambourine”
The Lemon Pipers #1 1968

Birthday:
David Lerchey
(The Dell-Vikings) 1937
Charlie James
(The Cleftones) 1939
Angelo D’Aleo
(The Belmonts) 1940
Dennis Edwards
(The Temptations) 1943

 ________

February 4, 1954
The Drifters recorded
“Honey Love”
(#1 R&B, #21 Pop),
their first single at Fulton
Recording Studio in N.Y.C.
along with their legendary
versions of
“White Christmas”,
“Bells Of St. Mary’s”
and the forerunner of
“The Twist”
“Whatcha Gonna Do”
(#2 R&B).

1962 – Gene Pitney’s first British tour opened with an appearance on ITV’s “Thank You Lucky Stars”.

Top Single:
“Speedo”
The Cadillacs #4 R&B 1956
“Stayin’ Alive”
The Bee Gees #1 1978

Birthday:
Bernie West
(The Five Keys) 1930
John Gambale
(The Classics) 1942
Florence LaRue
(The 5th Dimension) 1944

 ________

February 5, 1954
The McGuire Sisters fourth single
“Pine Tree, Pine For Me”
was released becoming
their first charter.

Top Single: 
“Earth Angel”
The Penguins #8 1955

Birthday:
Cory Wells
(Three Dog Night) 1942

 ________ 

February 6, 1965
Little Anthony & The Imperials classic “Hurt So Bad” charted en route to #10.
1971 – Marvin Gaye’s critically acclaimed “What’s Goin’ On” Was released.
It reached #2 Pop and #1 R&B.

Top Single:
“You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’”
The Righteous Brothers
and The Ronettes #1 1965

  ________

February 7, 1953
The Buccaneers “Dear Ruth”
was issued by two students
working out of a store front
in Philadelphia.

1964 – The Beatles first U.S.
visit started in New York.

Top Single: 
“Walking In The Rain”
Jay & The Americans #19 1970
“50 Ways To Leave Your Lover”
Paul Simon #1 1976

Birthday: 
Harvey Herskowitz
(The Quotations) 1943

 ________

February 8, 1962
The Beach Boys (with Jaguars
member Val Poliuto in for Al Jardine) recorded six demo’s including what
would become the basic tracks and
vocals for their first two singles
“Surfin’” and “Surfin’ Safari”.
1967 – Peter & Gordon
(of “World Without Love” fame)
broke up. Peter Ashers went on
to manage Linda Ronstadt
among others.   

Top Single: 
“I Started A Joke”
The Bee Gees #6 1969
“Teen Angel” Mark dinning #1 1960

 ________

February 9, 1964
The Beatles first appearance
on The Ed Sullivan Show.

Top Single: 
“Hey Paula”
Paul  & Paula #1 1963

 ________

February 10, 1958
The Chesters debut
“The Fires Burn No More” was released. The group went on to become
Little Anthony & The Imperials. 
1973 – After composing the song
“The Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia” bobby Russell offered
the tune to Cher, who turned it down. Russell then gave it to his wife Vickie Lawrence who had the #1 hit.

Top Single:
“Do Something For Me”
#6 R&B 1951
“Don’t”
Elvis Presley #1 1958

Birthday:
Jimmy Merchant
(Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers) 1940

Nathaniel Mayer
(The Fabulous Twilights) 1944

 ________