Check Out The Who Before They Were The Who, Plus…

Soon to be classic rock band gets good news and then changes their name! -- More popular than The Beatles? Yeah, well, kinda sorta, and props for an overlooked British songwriter -- We love today's Thursday Rocktober 22nd Coffee Break Calendar so much, we actually read it three times! Once will do for you, though, so no worries...

10/22/1964 (56 years ago today) - After auditioning for the prestigious EMI Records label, the band known as The High Numbers receive a letter on this date asking them for original material and another chance at a recording contract -- Two weeks later they change their name to....The Who! Trust us, you want to see some amazing pre-Who footage:

10/22/1966 (54 years ago today) - They were way more popular than you might remember, and quite freakin' good, too: The Supremes became the first female group to score a Number One album on the U.S. chart, replacing The Beatles' "Revolver" for the coveted top spot with "The Supremes A Go-Go", their ninth studio LP -- It will remain on the Billboard Top 100 for an uncanny nine consecutive months, while racking up sales of nearly 4 million -- Having smash hits like "You Can't Hurry Love" and "Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart" sure helped, along with some choice picks for covers like "Get Ready", "Hang On Sloopy" and "These Boots Were Made For Walking" -- A wicked fun time piece, excellent for spinning at your next socially distanced get-together and yes, we've said it before, we really do love The Supremes...

10/22/1969 (51 years ago today) - English folk-singer-songwriter-poet/political activist/record producer Ewan MacColl passed away from complications following heart surgery; he was 74 -- Known mostly here in the U.S. as the composer of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" (a No. 1 hit for Roberta Flack in 1972 that still sounds beautiful) and "Dirty Old Town" (a folk revival staple famously covered by Donovan, Rod Stewart, The Spinners, The Clancy Brothers, David Byrne and Simple Minds to name but a few) -- Pete Seeger was a huge fan, as were Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley and they know more about this kinda thing than we ever will -- Ewan is the father of singer/songwriter Kirsty MacColl and was definitely one of those artists that time has somehow forgotten about, but he left behind a real good bunch of songs while speaking out over the years for workers' rights causes...

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

"How long must I wait/How much more must I take...", xoxo!