September 30, 1987: Roy Orbison's Black and White Night

Left to right: Roy Orbison, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello

September 30, 1987: A rock concert is held in the Coconut Grove nightclub at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. This was the same room where Robert F. Kennedy gave his last speech before being assassinated.

Earlier in the year, Orbison had been among the 2nd class of inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Giving his induction speech was Bruce Springsteen. At that time, he said, "In '75, we got together to make Born to Run. I wanted lyrics like Bob Dylan that sounded like Phil Spector. But, most of all, I wanted to sing like Roy Orbison. Now, everybody knows that nobody sings like Roy Orbison."

A celebration of him was held at the Ambassador. Having gotten his start at Sun Records, like Elvis Presley, he was backed on this night by members of Elvis' Las Vegas band: Guitarists James Burton and John Wilkinson, bass guitarist Jerry Scheff, drummer Ronnie Tutt, and pianist Glen Hardin.

Among those also joining him, and singing backup, were Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits, Elvis Costello, Jackson Brown, k.d. lang, Jennifer Warnes and Bonnie Raitt. As Orbison sang songs like "Only the Lonely," "Running Scared," "In Dreams," "Crying" and "It's Over," Springsteen, sitting on the stage, and already pretty accomplished himself, could be seen looking up, with a look on his face that said, "Oh my God, I'm backing up Roy Orbison!"

The show was closed with an extended version of Roy's biggest hit, the 1964 Number 1 hit "Oh, Pretty Woman." It was a reminder that Roy wasn't just a truly great singer, he was also a really good songwriter and a really good guitarist. (On an earlier song, "Candy Man," he also showed that he was a really good harmonica player.)

Orbison died on December 6, 1988, a little over a year after the concert. It has since been regularly broadcast, as Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night, on PBS, during the networks' pledge drives.

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September 30, 1987 was a Wednesday. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to their arch-rivals, the Boston Red Sox, 7-0 at Yankee Stadium. The Sox scored 6 runs in the top of the 4th, knocking Al Leiter out of the box. Roger Clemens went the distance for Boston, striking out 13. Wade Boggs did not play.

The Yankees were limping to a frustrating end of a season where they were in 1st place as late as August 8, going 23-28 the rest of the way and finishing 9 games behind Detroit in the American League Eastern Division. Injuries to Willie Randolph and Dave Winfield proved key.

* The Mets lost to the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. The Mets got home runs from Darryl Strawberry and Tim Teufel, but Luis Aguayo hit a home run to win the game in the bottom of the 10th. Jesse Orosco gave it up, ruining a good 9-inning performance by Dwight Gooden. Mike Schmidt also homered for the Phils, the 530th of his career.

Despite the close margin, the Mets' loss was even worse than the Yankees', because they entered the game 3 1/2 games behind St. Louis in the National League Eastern Division, with 4 games to play, so they still had a chance. The defending World Champions hadn't been in 1st place since April 24, but had stayed close the whole way. Just 2 days earlier, they were only 2 games behind the Cards.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Eddie Murray went 0-for-4, but the O's got home runs from Cal Ripken Jr., Fred Lynn and Terry Kennedy.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-2 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. Robin Yount went 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Paul Molitor went 0-for-2 with 3 walks.

* A doubleheader was split at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Pirates won the opener, 5-3. The Chicago Cubs won the nightcap, 10-8.

This was part of a 7-game losing streak, including the last 4 to the Tigers, that would give the Tigers the AL East title, earning Toronto the nickname "The Blow Jays." Despite Division titles in 1989 and 1991, it would take until 1992 to get rid of the nickname.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the California Angels, 5-2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

* The Montreal Expos beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium. Despite the Mets' loss, the Cards couldn't finish the job. The next game, they would, beating the Expos the next day to clinch the NL East.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Seattle Mariners, 7-3 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City. (It was renamed Kauffman Stadium in 1993.) George Brett went 2-for-5 with 3 RBIs.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins, 2-1 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros, 3-1 at the Astrodome in Houston. The Braves scored 3 runs in the top of the 9th, as Dave Smith blew a save for Mike Scott, who had allowed just 3 hits in 8 innings.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Diego Padres, 3-1 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Tony Gwynn went 2-for-4.

* The San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Mike Krukow (the future Giants broadcasting pitching 6 innings) and Joe Price combined on a 6hit shutout.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-3 at the Oakland Coliseum.