Tommy’s Coffee Break Calendar for November 19th

That little ol' studio in Memphis makes history again -- Maybe the best girl group of all time is tops -- A terrible tragedy for a young talent gone too soon...

11/19/1955 (60 years ago today) - We humbly suggest that this date become a National Holiday: Carl Perkins records "Blue Suede Shoes" at Sun Studios in Memphis. When Perkins was playing a dance, he noticed a couple dancing near the stage and in between songs he heard a stern voice saying "Uh-oh, don't step on my suedes!" Carl looked down and saw that the young gentleman was wearing blue suede shoes and one had a little scuff mark on it. Good gracious, thought Perkins, a pretty little thing like that and all he can think about is his blue suede shoes. Ta-daaaaah!!!

11/19/1966 (49 years ago today) - By now you've noticed we have a fixation about this group. And proud of it, by the way: The Supremes start a two-week run at No. 1 with the truly-totally-amazingly-fantastic "You Keep Me Hangin' On". It's their seventh Number One single on the U.S. chart. Vanilla Fudge notoriously psychedelized it with their cover a year later; Kim Wilde hit No. 1 with her version in 1987. It's also been done by Rod Stewart, Wilson Pickett, The Box Tops, Madness and Reba McIntire. We like The Supremes original best, but you already guessed that didn't you?

11/19/1983 (32 years ago today) - Really sad and a terrible shame it came to this: singer/songwriter Tom Evans from Badfinger committed suicide by hanging himself from a willow tree in his back yard. Back in 1975, Evans band mate Pete Ham had killed himself by hanging; Tom even saw his friend's body after it happened when Ham's wife called him to tell him the news. Slowly and tragically, Evans drifted into a melancholy from which he never recovered. Badfinger was just one of those bands that never ever got the credit they were due -- their albums "No Dice" (1970), "Straight Up" (1971), and especially "Wish You Were Here" (1974) are all rock/power-pop-production masterpieces. Check 'em out for happier memories.

Let us know what you think about the Calendar here on our web site and on the WBLM Facebook and Twitter pages with the hashtag #TommysCoffeeBreak.

"I will always be with you/Doesn't matter what you do, girl...", xoxo!