Tommy’s Coffee Break Calendar for February 1st

Next up: jukeboxes! -- 1960's single chart-topper does it again! -- B'day for a guitarist who has played with just about everybody who matters...

2/1/1949 (68 years ago today) - We gotta say "Thank You!!!": RCA Records issued the first ever 45 rpm single, and here's the best part: the invention of this size record is what made jukeboxes possible! One of the best ideas in the history of man...

2/1/1969 (48 years ago today) - Tommy James & The Shondells start two weeks at No. 1 with the classic single "Crimson And Clover"; it's their second chart-topper ("Hanky Panky" was first, back in July of '66), but they also charted twelve other Top 40 hits, including five in the Hot 100's Top Ten: "I Think We're Alone Now", "Mirage", "Sweet Cherry Wine", the psychedelic masterwork "Crystal Blue Persuasion" and "Mony Mony", which turned into a monster No. 1 dance hit for Billy Idol in 1987. Their heyday was between 1964--'69, when they were (just about) constantly on the radio, literally selling millions of singles in the process. Time for a re-think: 1969's "The Best Of Tommy James and The Shondells" is essential, kids...

2/1/1950 - Happy Birthday to Mike Campbell, lead guitarist for Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, 67 years old today -- Mike's got co-songwriting credits for many of Petty's best known classics, including "Refugee", "Runnin' Down A Dream", "Stop Dragggin' My Heart Around" (with Stevie Nicks), "You Wreck Me", "Jammin' Me", "You Got Lucky", and while we're at it, let's throw in the fact that the also co-wrote Don Henley's "The Boys Of Summer", so, WOW! then --  Has also worked with Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Fleetwood Mac, Roger McGuinn, Tracy Chapman, Warren Zevon and George Harrison and that's barely a partial list! 

Share your cred with the Calendar here on our web site and on the WBLM Facebook and Twitter pages with the hashtag #TommysCoffeeBreak.

"Just look to your soul/And open your mind...", xoxo!