Tommy’s Coffee Break Calendar for April 12th

The '50's single that caused teens to riot!!! -- Bowie in Playboy!!! -- A wild '60's rocker birthday...

4/12/1954 (63 years ago today) - At New York City's Pythian Temple Studios, Bill Haley & His Comets recorded "Rock Around The Clock", which pretty much is the one that put 'Rock 'N Roll' on the map all around the world -- Consider the facts: before "R.A.T.C.", the No. 1 singles all belonged to artists like The Fontane Sisters and Les Baxter; Haley's 45 not only topped the charts in North America, the U.K. and Europe, but by the end of the year, was Number One in Billboard's Best Sellers In Stores, Most Played By Disc Jockeys and Most Played In Juke Boxes categories. Did you know?....: the song was first recorded by Italian-American outfit Sonny Dae & His Knights, but it was The Comets version that racked up sales of over 25 million!!! And the song itself was only 2 minutes and 8 seconds long. Unbelievable.

4/12/1975 (47 years ago today) - In an interview with Playboy Magazine, David Bowie announced he was retiring -- again! -- saying, "I've rocked my roll. It's a boring dead end. There will be no more rock 'n' roll records from me. The last thing I want to be is some useless f---ing rock singer".

4/12/1944 - Still with us, still cool: Happy Birthday to Steppenwolf lead vocalist/front-man John Kay, 73 years old today. You really need to have "Steppenwolf: 16 Greatest Hits" in your collection; it's quite possibly one of the most perfect 'Hits' albums in the history of classic rock, there's not a bum track on here...

Share your hopes and dreams and snack treats with the Calendar here on our web site and on the WBLM Facebook and Twitter pages with the hashtag #TommysCoffeeBreak.

"If the band slows down/We'll yell for more...", xoxo!