Music History

It’s impossible to point to an exact moment or song when what became known as Rock n’ Roll emerged, but it happened in the early to mid-1950s in the United States and was a fusion of genres including rhythm and blues, gospel, and country music. Dr. Clay Motley received his PhD in the history of American Literature but over time found himself drawn to music and its history, particularly Blues and early Rock n’ Roll. Last week he gave a talk at FGCU on the ‘The History of Rock n’ Roll’ so we brought him by the studio to chat about music and how this artform that took over the world came to be.

Without the Industrial Revolution and some newly formed medical ideas, there would be no Beach Boys, beach movies, beach bums or National Beach Day, which is today, August 30.

Linda Ronstadt was plenty good. She had the voice of an angel and a face to match. On August 23, 2013, in an interview with AARP she said that she had Parkinson’s Disease. The diagnosis was later corrected to progressive supranuclear palsy, another degenerative brain disease.

Elvis Presley died August 16,1977 at the age of 42. To this day, he remains the king of rock ‘n’ roll. "Can't Help Falling in Love" was the last song he sang in concert before his death.

Some say the 1960s died in the overnight hours of August 9, 1969, when the Manson Family forced their way into the home of actress Sharon Tate, killing her, her unborn baby, and four others. They left the words "Helter Skelter" on the walls.

Enrico Caruso is considered the greatest tenor ever, even 103 years after his death. Caruso died August 2, 1921, in Naples, Italy. He was 48.

Happy birthday to Mick Jagger. He turns 81 today, though his body acts 50 years younger. He was born July 26, 1943.

If our Song of the Day, “You Don’t Own Me,” had existed in 1848, it would have been the perfect rallying cry for the women attending the first women’s convention held in the U.S.It was during that convention on July 19, that the Declaration of Sentiments and Grievances was adopted.

On July 12, 1979, the Chicago White Sox drew 50,000 people to their stadium to watch a local DJ blow up disco LPs. The promotion worked a little too well.

The world got its first glimpse of the bikini in Paris on July 5th, 1946, but it would take a couple of decades before it was a common site on America’s beaches. Our Song of the Day shows the mindset in 1960.