Tommy’s Coffee Break Calendar for July 10th
Chart action for two of the best-ever summertime singles of the Sixties, and a tragic turn for the drummer of Derek & The Dominoes...
7/10/1961 (56 years ago today) - Party-time!!!: Bobby Lewis starts seven weeks at No. 1 with the can't-help-but-dance-to-it classic "Tossin' And Turnin'", selling over one million copies on its way to ending up as the longest running No. 1 single of the year -- It also got a second-round of fame as a feature track in the movie "Animal House", and has been covered by a slightly weird assortment of artists (who probably have nothing else in common) including Peter Criss of Kiss, folk legend Steve Goodman, alt-punk icons The Replacements and The Guess Who...
7/10/1965 (52 years ago today) - It was their first U.S. chart-topping single: The Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" kicks off four weeks at No. 1 -- Legend has it Keith Richards woke up in the middle of the night with the riff in his head, so he decided to get it down on his portable tape recorder -- When he played it back for the band, the now-ultra-classic guitar lick was followed by the sounds of Keith snoring!!! Too good not to be true...
7/10/1984 (33 years ago today) - Session drummer and former member of Derek & The Dominoes, Jim Gordon, was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison after being found guilty of murdering his mother -- You'll find his name on many classic rock albums: Joe Cocker's "Mad Dogs And Englishmen", Traffic's "Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys", Frank Zappa's "Apostrophe", George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass", Steely Dan's "Pretzel Logic" and Harry Nilsson's "Nilsson Schmilsson" (that's Jim playing the wicked drum solo on "Jump Into The Fire"), but, sadly, his mental issues were misdiagnosed -- While doctors treated him for alcohol abuse, it wasn't until after his conviction that it was learned he was suffering from acute schizophrenia (Jim claimed to have been hearing voices which compelled him to starve himself and prevented him from sleeping, relaxing or playing the drums) -- On June 3, 1983, he attacked his 72-year-old mother, Osa Marie, with a hammer before fatally stabbing her with a butcher knife; after being denied parole multiple times, he is currently serving out his sentence at a medical and psychiatric prison in Vacaville, California.
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"I couldn't sleep at all last night...", xoxo!