#1 R&B Song 1955: “Ain’t That A Shame,” Fats Domino
Born: Clarence “Pine Top” Smith, 1901; James “Pookie” Hudson (the Spaniels), 1934; Wilma Burgess, 1939
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1949 Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan charted with their duet, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” reaching #6 R&B and #9 pop. It was from the film Neptune’s Daughter, starring ’40s swimming star Esther Williams.
1954 The Spaniels made their debut appearance at the Apollo Theater.
1955 Fats Domino’s “Ain’t That A Shame” reached #1 R&B and stayed there for eleven weeks while becoming his first single to cross over to pop at #10. It took him five years and fourteen singles to make the pop charts.
1977 The Spinners performed at San Diego’s Kool Jazz Festival.
1988 Chubby Checker performed at Nelson Mandela’s seventieth-birthday concert at Wembley Stadium in England. Also performing were Natalie Cole (in a rare live performance), Al Green, Ashford & Simpson, Tracey Chapman, and the artist she emulated, Joan Armatrading. Stevie Wonder’s synthesizer programs were stolen before the event yet he performed as well.
1994 Seal charted with “Prayer For the Dying,” reaching #21 pop. The song must have been a reflection of his time in Los Angeles the previous year, during which he was a witness to a shooting in a Hollywood pool hall, almost died in a rollover in his Range Rover, and contracted pneumonia.
1996 Barry White performed at the Harborlights Pavillion near Boston. Droning overhed was a plane pulling a banner that said, “Barry, call the two chicks at WRKO.” No, it wasn’t an elaborate pickup attempt. The “two chicks” were Laurie Kramer and Leslie Gold, who had a talk show called Two Chicks Dishing, and who had just spent $1,800 of their station’s money to get Barry’s attention. Surprisingly, the personable performer called them and did an interview.
Ann
