#1 R&B Song 1954: “Oh What a Dream,” Ruth Brown & Her Rhythmakers
Born: Merald “Bubba” Knight (Gladys Knight & the Pips), 1942
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1948 Sonny Til & the Orioles’ debut disc, “It’s Too Soon to Know” was released. It reached #15 pop and #1 R&B. Never before had a Black group singing Black (not pop) music hit the Top 15.
1952 Gladys and Brenda Knight, along with their brother Merald and cousins William and Eleanor Guest, performed at Merald’s tenth birthday party and decided they should become a group. They named themselves after the nickname of another cousin, James “Pip” Woods. It would be ten years before they became known as Gladys Knight & the Pips.
1954 Decca Records signed the Hollywood Flames.
1965 Otis Redding charted with “Respect,” a song he cowrote with Premiers member Speedo Simms. The 45 reached #35 pop and #4 R&B, but would be better known two years later as the defining hit of Aretha Franklin’s career.
1976 The Spinners hit the Top 100 with “The Rubberband Man” (#2 pop), which would become their sixth and final #1 R&B hit.
1996 The Fugees’ “Killing Me Softly” won the award for best R&B video at the MTV Music Awards in New York.