Tommy’s Coffee Break Calendar for May 1st

Proof there was a time we'd fall for anything that was British... -- Lookit this wicked cool TV show (though we have to admit we didn't know it back then)... --  Another Numero Uno for the mighty Zep...

5/01/1965 (55 years ago today) - Just how badly did Beatlemania effect our heads here America? You wanna know just how insane the British Invasion was and what it did to us? How about Herman's Hermits kicking off a three week run at Number One on the singles chart with the fingernails-on-the-chalkboard mind-numbing ditty sing-along known as "Mrs. Brown, You've Got A Lovely Daughter" --  Yup, you bought it, along with "I'm Henry The XVIII, I Am" too, right? Fess up: if it was from England at this point in time, well, we were all over it. The hands of fate were giggling...

5/01/1969 (51 years ago today) - Thank God you can now get these on DVD or streaming because back in '69, we just didn't get it: The first taping of "The Johnny Cash Show" gets underway at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville with special guest Bob Dylan -- After Bob plays a couple of solo numbers, Johnny comes out and joins him for a stupendous classic version of "The Girl From The North Country" (which will later appear on Bob's much-misunderstood-at-the-time LP "Nashville Skyline"). Johnny loved booking "contemporary rockers" as guests on his show: he was obviously well into it, with Neil Young, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Linda Ronstadt, Ray Charles and Eric Clapton (as Derek & The Dominoes) all making appearances on forthcoming shows. Remember now, this is back in '69 and 1970! Fantastic stuff, you gotta look 'em up...

5/01/1976 (44 years ago today) - Somewhat maligned at the time, it has really held up extremely well as the years have passed: "Presence" starts a two week run at Number One in America, making it Led Zeppelin's fifth LP chart-topper here in the U.S. -- The reviews were mixed on this one, however; it was their weakest-selling LP (excluding the out-takes-only "Coda" release). It was also the band's first attempt at making an album following Robert Plant's recuperating from a serious car accident 12 months earlier -- Jimmy Page himself has described it as, just maybe, the most important record in the Zeppelin catalog because it was proof they could continue despite all the turmoil. With ferocious tracks like "Achilles Last Stand", "Nobody's Fault But Mine" and "For Your Life", they still didn't sound like any other band around...

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

"Do it, do it, do it, do it, do it/Do it when you wanna...", xoxo!