ON THIS DAY IN BLACK MUSIC HISTORY: APRIL 26

#1 R&B Song 1969:   “It’s Your Thing,” the Isley Brothers

 

Born:   “Ma” Rainey (Gertrude Pridgett),  1886; Blues guitarist Joseph Benjamin “J.B.” Hutto, 1926; Maurice Williams (the Zodiacs), 1938; Claudine Clark, 1941

 

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1957   Harry Belafonte signed for the then-unheard-of sum of $1 million with RCA Records. Known as the King of Calypso, Belafonte was actually from the Bronx.

 

1969   Dorothy Morrison & the Edwin Hawkins Singers hit the pop charts with the pure gospel song “Oh Happy Day,” which broke all barriers on its way to #4 pop and million-seling status.

 

 

1975   Gladys Knight & the Pips’ “The Way We Were” charted, becoming their thirty-third of forty-two Top 100 singles. The same day, the quintessential disco hit “The Hustle,” the massive international hit, which is still played on dance floors and radio today, nearly 30 years after his death, by late, great Van McCoy, entered the hit list, rising to #1 pop and R&B.

 

 

 

Ah….”Do the Hustle.” It brings back such fond memories. They don’t make ’em like that anymore. The thrill is gone.

 

1075   Ben E. King peaked at #5 pop (#1 R&B) with “Supernatural Thing,” his first Top 5 solo pop hit in almost fourteen years. Ben had been without a label when Atlantic Records President Ahmet Ertegun saw him performing at a Miami nightclub and asked him to re-sign with the organization. All of the ex-Drifters hits had been with Atlantic’s subsidiary Atco Records from 1961 through 1969.

 

 

I can picture it right now with the image of Don Cornelius in my mind:  ““… and you can bet your last money, it’s all gonna be a stone gas, honey! I’m Don Cornelius, and as always in parting, we wish you love, peace and soul!“

 

Soul Train logo.

 

1990   Aretha Franklin, who failed to appear in the show Sing Mahalia, Sing was ordered by a New York judge to pay restitution in the amount of $209,364.

 

1991   Three former Temptations lead singers (Eddie Kendricks, David Ruffin, and Dennis Edwards) banded together to go on tour in England, performing tonight at the Newport Center, Newport, Gwent, Wales.

 

1993   Bobby Brown and a young dancer were fined $850 for public lewdness while simulating a sex act at Augusta-Richmond’s County Civic Center on January 13.

 

1994   R. Kelly and Salt-N-Pepa performed at the James L. Knight Center in Miami, FL.