December 30, 1950: The Dominoes Record "Sixty Minute Man"

December 30, 1950: The Dominoes, an all-black vocal group specializing in rhythm & blues songs, record "Sixty Minute Man" on Federal Records, National Studios, at 460 West 42nd Street in New York City.

At the time, The Dominoes consisted of singer, pianist, manager and songwriter Billy Ward; tenor Clyde McPhatter; baritones Charlie White, Joe Lamont; and bass singer Bill Brown. Ward had teamed up with white songwriter Rose Marks to write "Sixty Minute Man," in which a man brags about how he's a great lover:

Look-a-here, girls, I'm telling you now:
They call me Lovin' Dan.
I rock 'em, roll 'em, all night long.
I'm a sixty-minute man.

If you don't believe I'm all I say
come up and take my hand.
When I let you go, you'll cry, "Oh, yes:

He's a sixty-minute man!"

There'll be fifteen minutes of kissin'.
Then you'll holler, "Please, don't stop!"
There'll be fifteen minutes of teasin'
and fifteen minutes of pleasin'
and fifteen minutes of blowin' my top!

If your man ain't treatin' you right
come up and see ol' Dan.
I rock 'em, roll 'em, all night long.
I'm a sixty-minute man.

The record was released in May 1951, and within a month, it reached Number 1 on Billboard magazine's R&B chart, holding that top spot for 14 weeks, a record at the time. It actually crossed over onto Billboard's Popular Music chart -- in other words, white people's music -- reaching Number 17. Black singers had done better than that, but they were pop singers like Nat King Cole and Billy Eckstine, not R&B groups or soloists.

If you're asking, "How did a line like 'Fifteen minutes of blowin' my top' get past the censors in 1951?" I don't have an answer. 

Unusual for single records, then as now, the bass singer takes the lead, Bill Brown. There is guitar playing from René Hall, and the drumming is on the 2nd and 4th beats. By a certain definition -- and not just because the words "rock" and "roll" are used together -- this is the very first rock and roll record. 

Another candidate, "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston & His Delta Cats -- actually Ike Turner and the band he was using at the time -- was recorded in March 1951 (after "Sixty Minute Man"), released in April (before "Sixty Minute Man"), but didn't debut on the charts until June (after "Sixty Minute Man"). It also has the drumming on the 1st and 3rd beats, which tends to disqualify it from the strict definition of "rock and roll." But then, rock and roll has always been about challenging boundaries, and thus strict definitions don't always apply. So either one of these songs could be claimed as the first.

(What was a "Rocket 88"? An Oldsmobile Delta 88. Where did the number come from? Naming conventions used by General Motors since the 1910s for all divisions used alphanumeric designations that changed every year. Starting after World War II, the Oldsmobile division changed their designations and standardized them, so that the first number signified the chassis platform, while the second number signified how many cylinders: 8 and 8. The Delta 88 was sold from 1949 until 1999. GM phased out the Oldsmobile name in 2004.) 

With his own name on the group, Ward took in most of the group's income, despite the fact that McPhatter was the lead singer on most songs. Ward even had Clyde billed as "Clyde Ward," to make it seem like Clyde was his brother. In 1953, Clyde decided he'd had enough, and left to form a new group, The Drifters, arguably inventing "doo-wop."

In 1955, after 2 years of great success on the R&B charts, Clyde was drafted into the U.S. Army. After serving a year, he started a solo career, while The Drifters built an entirely new lineup led by Ben E. King. After years of hard drinking and drug use, Clyde McPhatter died in 1972, not quite 40 years old.

But back in 1953, Ward was ready for Clyde's departure, as he already had a replacement lined up: Jackie Wilson. Eventually, he got sick of Ward, too, and launched a solo career in 1957. He became known as "Mr. Excitement," and had a bunch of hits.

In 1975, performing for a Dick Clark-sponsored oldies show at the Latin Casino in Camden, New Jersey, across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Jackie suffered a heart attack -- just as he was singing the opening line of his 1st big solo hit, from 1959, "Lonely Teardrops": "My heart is cryin', cryin'... "

Since throwing his body all over the stage was a part of his act, it took about 30 seconds for people to realize that this collapse wasn't, and it cost his brain precious oxygen. It also didn't help that he was already sweating like crazy, as that was part of his act, too, so that didn't seem like a sign that anything was wrong. He was told that women liked that, and that taking salt tablets would make him sweat more. Those tablets are probably the reason he had a heart attack at the age of 41. He spent the rest of his life in and out of hospitals and nursing homes, dying in 1984.

Bill Brown was even unluckier than McPhatter and Wilson: He got sick of Ward's military-style discipline, left in 1952, joined The Clovers in 1953, and didn't even live to see their success, as he died in 1956. (I've looked for a cause, but I can't find one: Not an illness, not drugs, not an accident, not a murder.) He didn't live to see how his lead vocal would affect rock and roll, inspiring such basses as Fred Johnson of The Marcels (who hit Number 1 in 1961 with a doo-wop version of "Blue Moon") and Melvin Franklin of The Temptations.

René Hall died in 1988, Joe Lamont in 1998, Billy Ward in 2002, and Charlie White was the last survivor, living until 2005. I can find no record of when Rose Marks died, but a photograph of her suggests that she was already middle-aged in 1950, so she has likely been dead for a long time.

Fats Domino, one of the founding fathers of rock and roll, did not name himself for the group: His real name was Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. However, later singer Ernest Evans did take the name "Chubby Checker" as a play on the name "Fats Domino." Still later, in 1970, Van Morrison released the song "Domino," and Eric Clapton formed a group named Derek & The Dominos (no E on the end). Both were tributes to Fats, not Billy Ward's group. (Morrison recorded another song with a tenuous connection to the Dominoes, "Jackie Wilson Said.")

The debate over "the first rock and roll record" continues, but I'm satisfied that it's "Sixty Minute Man" by The Dominoes.

*

December 30, 1950 was a Saturday. Baseball was out of season. There were no college football games played. The NFL season had ended 6 days earlier, with the Cleveland Browns beating the Los Angeles Rams in the NFL Championship Game.

There were 3 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Boston Celtics, 77-60 at the old Madison Square Garden.

* The Syracuse Nationals beat the Baltimore Bullets, 90-80 in overtime at the Baltimore Coliseum.

* And the Rochester Royals beat the Washington Capitols, 91-77 at the Edgerton Park Arena in Rochester, New York. The teams were going in opposite directions: At the end of the year, the Royals won the NBA Championship, while the Caps folded. The Royals became the Cincinnati Royals in 1957, the Kansas City Kings in 1972, and the Sacramento Kings in 1985.

There were 2 games in the NHL. The Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 4-3 at the Montreal Forum. And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. The New York Rangers and the Boston Bruins were not scheduled.

And in English soccer, North London team Arsenal beat Sheffield Wednesday, 2-0 at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, Yorkshire.

September 1, 1984: The Comeback of Tina Turner

September 1, 1984: "What's Love Got to Do With It" is listed at Number 1 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100, their list of the 100 biggest hit songs in America. It is the biggest hit ever for Tina Turner, making one of the most amazing comebacks in the history of show business.

Anna Mae Bullock was born on November 26, 1939 in Brownsville, Tennessee, and grew up in nearby Nutbush. As a teenager, she worked as a maid and a nurse's aide. By 1956, she was singing in music clubs in St. Louis, Missouri and East St. Louis, Illinois, on the other side of the Mississippi River.

One of these clubs was the Club Manhattan in East St. Louis, where she saw Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm. He heard her sing, and hired her for his band, first billing her as Little Ann, then, because she reminded him of the fictional character Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, he gave her the alliterative stage name Tina Turner.

In 1960, they had their 1st hit song, "A Fool In Love" -- and their 1st child together, a son named Ronnie. Tina already had a son with Raymond Hill, Ike's saxophonist, and Ike adopted him, renaming him Craig Raymond Turner.

They were big stars among black fans, but it took until 1966 for them to become familiar to white audiences, when Tina had a hit with "River Deep -- Mountain High," written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector, and produced by Spector with his full "Wall of Sound." As it turned out, Phil was every bit as monstrous as Ike, including with his wife, Veronica Bennett, a.k.a. Ronnie Spector of The Ronettes.

"The Ike & Tina Turner Revue," with Ike leading the band on guitar, and The Ikettes backing Tina's lead vocals, appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show on January 11, 1970, including performing their version of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary." The following year, they became the opening act for Johnny Mathis in his stand at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. They had become bigger than ever, allowing white audiences to see what Darlene Love, another Spector singer, would later say: "While Fred Astaire changed the way dancers sing, Tina Turner changed the way singers dance." In 1975, she was cast as the Acid Queen in the film version of The Who's rock opera Tommy.

But Ike was abusive, and it got worse as his cocaine addiction got out of control. On July 1, 1976, the Ike & Tina Turner Revue flew from Los Angeles to Dallas, where they had a gig at the Dallas Statler Hilton. While en route to the hotel, the Turners got into a physical altercation in the car. Shortly after their arrival, Tina fled from Ike with only 36 cents and a Mobil gas card, to the nearby Ramada Inn across the freeway. Despite this being the South, and the manager being white, he took her in, and comped her for as long as she needed.

Following her divorce, Tina headlined in Las Vegas. On New Year's Eve, 1982 into 1983, she appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and tore the roof off the Burbank studio. I was just old enough to start appreciating her both as a singer and as a woman. My father, never a rock and roll fan in spite of his age, said, "That's some dress she almost has on."

In 1983, John Carter signed her to Capitol Records, and steered her next album away from traditional rhythm & blues to traditional pop, rock, and even jazz. Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits wrote "Private Dancer," which became the title track, and Jeff Beck played guitar on it. The 1st single was a cover of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together," which became her biggest hit single in years. It was followed by "What's Love Got to Do With It?" which soared to Number 1. She also covered David Bowie's "1984," and Holly Knight's "Better Be Good to Me."

Film director George Miller offered her the role of Aunty Entity, the villain of the Mel Gibson film Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. She was intrigued by the idea of playing a villain, but insisted that the character still be alive at the end. She got her wish.

She appeared at the U.S. edition of Live Aid in 1985, including a duet with Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones. From then on, no mere sports arena could hold her: She sold out stadiums all over the world. She eventually moved to Switzerland, and married German music executive Erwin Bach.

In 1996, Ed Bradley of the CBS News show 60 Minutes was going to interview her for a segment, but came down with the flu. With everything set, the network couldn't back out, so a replacement had to be found, and main anchor Mike Wallace was selected. Wallace was 78 years old, and introduced the segment by admitting that he'd never been to a rock concert before, but he knew who Tina was and what she and her story represented. As a journalist, he could not resist, and said, "I jumped at the chance." He followed Tina to stadium concerts in Europe, where she was always more popular than at home.

Interviewing Tina and Erwin together, he pointed out, "You're 56, he's 40." She said, "But he's really 56, and I'm really 16." Wallace also commented on how youthful she looked, including her most famous feature, her powerful dancer's legs. She admitted that she'd had her nose fixed, after Ike had broken it, but that was all the plastic surgery she'd had.

Ike and Tina, as a single act, were elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. Tina showed up to the award ceremony. Ike did not. He couldn't: He was in a California prison on drug charges. Tina was elected again for her solo work in 2021.

Ike died on December 12, 2007. By that point, Tina had sold more records, and more concert tickets, than any female musical performer, ever, in any genre. That wouldn't have been possible if he hadn't given her a chance. But it also might not have been possible if he had observed the title of one of Tina's comeback songs: "You Better Be Good to Me."

In 1986, Tina published a memoir, I, Tina. In 1993, it was made into a film, What's Love Got to Do With It? Angela Bassett played Tina, and Laurence Fishburne played Ike. As of September 1, 2022, Tina is 82 years old, and Angela is 64. It appears that the secret to eternal youth is to either be Tina Turner, or to play her.

In 2018, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, a "jukebox musical," debuted in London's West End, and made its Broadway debut the following year. Adrienne Warren, an actress from Virginia, won an Emmy Award for playing Tina. She's 35, the same age Angela was when she played Tina. Hopefully, she'll enjoy the same kind of career and youthful appearance as her subject and her forebear.

UPDATE: Tina Turner died on May 24, 2023, at the age of 83. She had outlived both of her biological children.

*

September 1, 1984 was a Saturday. Hockey player Rod Pelley was born.

These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the California Angels, 11-6 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). The Yankees led 5-4 at the 7th inning stretch, thanks in part to a home run by Don Mattingly and a decent start by Phil Niekro. But Niekro, 45 years old, lost control of his knuckleball in the bottom of the 7th, and Dave Righetti, in his 1st season as a relief pitcher, fell apart. Fred Lynn homered for the Halos, and former Yankee Reggie Jackson went 1-for-4.

* The New York Mets swept a doubleheader from the San Diego Padres, 7-4 and 10-6 at Shea Stadium. Dwight Gooden won the opener, striking out 10. Over the 2 games, Strawberry went 4-for-8 with a home run in each game, a walk and 6 RBIs. Keith Hernandez went 3-for-4 with 2 RBIs, Hubie Brooks went 5-for-9 with 5 RBIs, Wally Backman went 4-for-10 with an RBI, Ray Knight went 3-for-6 with 3 walks, and Tony Gwynn went 1-for-7 with a walk.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Montreal Expos, 4-3 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-2 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Mike Schmidt did not play.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-1 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins, 12-4 at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 4-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-5 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Each having returned to the Reds after some time away, player-manager Pete Rose went 3-for-5, and Tony Pérez won the game with a home run in the bottom of the 11th inning.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 6-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. George Brett did not play in this game.

* The Houston Astros beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-4 at  Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-4 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Robin Yount went 1-for-4 with a walk. Paul Molitor was injured and did not play.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-5 at the Oakland Coliseum. Despite the Tigers being the best team in baseball all season long, starting 35-5, winning 104 games, and winning the World Series by going 7-2 in the postseason, in this one, the A's scored 6 runs in the 1st inning, and never looked back. Rickey Henderson went 0-for-3, but drew 2 walks, and stole 2nd each time.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Baltimore Orioles, 10-9 at the Kingdome in Seattle. The M's scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th to beat the O's. Jim Presley hit 2 home runs. Eddie Murray went 1-for-2 with 2 walks. Cal Ripken went 2-for-3 with a home run, 2 walks and 2 RBIs.

The college football season began that day. Among the games played were these: 

* Number 3 University of Pittsburgh were upset by Brigham Young University. BYU beat Pitt, 20-14 at Pitt Stadium.

* Number 4 Clemson beat Appalachian State, 40-7 at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.

* Number 10 Miami, defending their surprise National Championship, beat arch-rival Florida, 32-20 at Tampa Stadium.

* Only one of the service academies was in action: Air Force beat San Diego State, 34-16 at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

* And one rivalry game was played, one that tends to be played early in the season rather than late: Illinois beat Northwestern, 24-16 at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois.

 

And in English soccer, North London team Arsenal beat Watford F.C., 4-3 at Vicarage Road in Watford, Hertfordshire.