Tommy’s Coffee Break Calendar for July 30th

The Man In Black gets it done at Sun... -- Unique situation for a classic '60's chart-topper... -- When you copy Motown, you end up paying Motown...

7/30/1955 (63 years ago today) - Johnny Cash records his first version of "Folsom Prison Blues" at Sun Studios, Memphis -- While serving in the Air Force at Landsberg, Bavaria (itself the location of a notorious prison!), Johnny was inspired to write the song after watching the 1951 documentary "Inside The Walls Of Folsom Prison". The stuff that legends are made of...

7/30/1966 (52 years ago today) - The Troggs kick off two weeks at No. 1 with the ultra-classic single "Wild Thing" -- Even a great song can use a little help: In a weird twist that would be unimaginable these days, The Troggs' 45 was available on two competing record labels due to a distribution dispute -- Both Atco and Fontana pressed and released the single from the same master recording, so the Billboard chart combined the sales for both releases, making it the only single in history to simultaneously reach No. 1 for two totally different companies!

7/30/1988 (30 years ago today) - Okay, first off, we gotta say...THIRTY YEARS AGO?!?!?!?: Steve Winwood starts four weeks at No. 1 on the singles chart with "Roll With It", and it doesn't take long for Motown lawyers to roll with it either -- The track is much-more-than-a-teeny-bit similar to Junior Walker And The All-Stars' classic "(I'm A) Roadrunner", so the legendary Motown songwriting team of Holland-Dozier-Holland end up with a co-writing credit and a boatload of much-deserved royalty checks from here on out...Go on and compare:

Share your woof-woof's with the Calendar here on our web site and on the WBLM Facebook and Twitter pages with the hashtag #TommysCoffeeBreak.

"...I know I had it comin'...", xoxo!