March 29

 2026 

d

1949 - RCA Victor

RCA Victor introduced the 45rpm single record, which had been in development since 1940. The 7-inch disc was designed to compete with the Long-Playing record introduced by Columbia a year earlier. Both formats offered better fidelity and longer playing time than the 78rpm record that was currently in use. Advertisements for new record players boasted that with 45rpm records, the listener could hear up to ten records with speedy, silent, hardly noticeable changes.

Gold Star Oldies USA pays tribute to Phillies Records in April the Wall of Sound  Phil Spector 

🎙️ What Was the Wall of Sound?

The Wall of Sound was a groundbreaking music‑production technique created by Phil Spector in the early 1960s at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood. It used large ensembles, dense layering, natural echo, and mono mixing to create a massive, emotional, orchestral pop sound that jumped out of AM radios.

The Life of Phil Spector 

1996 - Phil Spector

Two former members of the 1950s group, The Teddy Bears filed suit in Los Angeles, California, against producer Phil Spector and several labels. Carol Connors and Marshall Lieb alleged they had not received royalties from re-issues of their 1958 No.1 hit 'To Know Him Is To Love Him'.

Broadcast Bulletin (Daily Updates)

Album Showcase

Birthdays 

Vault Vinyl's

Beatles and Elvis 

Legacy and Lore 

Visual Archives 

Gold Star Oldies Radio  Steaming Directories 

Legends Remembered & Celebrated — Gold Star Oldies  Tributes

March 27, 1982 — Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder release their single "Ebony & Ivory" in the U.K. Written by McCartney, the lyrics use the black and white keys of a piano as a metaphor for potential racial harmony. The record reached the top of the U.K. and U.S music charts, but the South African Broadcasting company banned it when Wonder dedicated his 1984 Academy Award for Best Original Song to Nelson Mandela.

March 28, 1953 — 26-year-old Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton charts with the original version of "Hound Dog." It reaches #1 for seven weeks on Billboard magazine's R&B chart, her only hit record.

March 28, 1964 — Heavyweight boxing champion Cassius Clay (later Muhammad Ali) reaches #102 on the Billboard Hot 100 with his cover version of "Stand By Me."
                                        — Radio Caroline, the U.K.'s first all-day English-language "pirate" radio station, begins broadcasting from the North Sea aboard  Fredericia, a former Danish ferry.

                         1970 — Ringo Starr releases his first solo album, Sentimental Journey, a collection of pre-rock standards.


March 30, 1953 — The Harlem, New York doo wop group The Crows record their monumental hit "Gee" at the city's Beltone Studios. It heralds the new wave in music the following year when becomes the first rock 'n' roll record to appear on the U.S. pop music charts, reaching #14.

March 31, 1956 — Elvis Presley's first smash hit, "Heartbreak Hotel," debuts. It reaches #1 on Billboard's pop chart and #3 rhythm and blues, the first of his 35 R&B chart appearances, making him the most successful white R&B performer.
                                  —  Brenda Lee ("Little Miss Dynamite") makes her U.S. network television debut when she sings the Hank Williams hit "Jambalaya" on ABC-TV's Ozark Jubilee.

April 1, 1956 — Elvis takes a Hollywood screen test for producer Hal Wallis anbd receives a three-year film contract for $450,000.
                  1977 — Presley is admitted for a six-day stay at a hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, suffering from exhaustion and intestinal flu. He dies 4½ months later.

April 1, 1984 — During a violent dispute, Marvin Gaye is shot to death the day before his 45th birthday by his minister father, Marvin Gay, Sr., in their Los Angeles home. An investigation reveals that the son had beaten his father, who ends up serving five years probation for voluntary manslaughter.

April 2, 1964 — The Beach Boys record their first #1 hit, "I Get Around." They also fire manager Murry Wilson, the father of three group members, including leader Brian Wilson who feels his dad is hindering their progress with unwelcome critiques at their recording sessions.

Sources:
Eight Days a Week (Ron Smith)
On This Day in Black Music History (Jay Warner)
Chronology of American Popular Music, 1900-2000 (Frank Hoffman)

Birthdays Singers and Song Writers 

1934 - Shirley Jones

American singer and actress Shirley Jones who appeared in the well-known musical films Oklahoma! (1955), Carousel (1956). She played the lead role of Shirley Partridge, the widowed mother of five children, in the musical situation-comedy TV series The Partridge Family (1970–74), which co-starred her real-life stepson David Cassidy. The Partridge Family had the 1970 US No.1 single 'I Think I Love You', and the 1972 UK No.3 single 'Breaking Up Is Hard To Do'.

Early Beatles News