On This Date In Music

1940 - Broadcasting from the Empire State Building in New York City, radio station W2XDG, the first FM station licensed by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, became the first to broadcast with the new Frequency Modulation technology.

In 1940, the first commercial FM station appeared on the Empire, RCA / NBC’s W2XWG, (later WNBC-FM and today’s WQHT)

1956 - Bill Haley's 'Rock Around the Clock' went to No. 1 on the singles chart for the second time. The single is often cited as the biggest-selling vinyl rock and roll single of all time with sales over 25m.

1956 - Carl Perkins releases "Blue Suede Shoes."

1959 - Johnny Cash played a free concert for the inmates of San Quentin Prison, California. One of the audience members was 19 year-old Merle Haggard, who was in the midst of a 15 year sentence (he served three years) for grand theft auto and armed robbery.

1966 - Simon And Garfunkel started a two week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart with 'The Sounds Of Silence’.

1967 - The Doors made their first live television appearance lip-synching their first single 'Break on Through' on Shebang, KTLA-TV Channel 5 in Los Angeles. The single peaked No. 126 on the US chart mainly due to lack of airplay after censors objected to the drug use implied by the line "she gets high", which is repeated in the middle section of the song.

1968 - The Berkeley, California, swamp-rockers The Golliwogs change their name to Creedence Clearwater Revival.

 The Golliwogs before they became Creedence Clearwater Revival

1990 - The Clearwater, Florida, radio station WKRL becomes the first "All Led Zeppelin" station, kicking off the format flip with 24 straight hours of "Stairway To Heaven." The all-Zep rotation lasts two weeks, after which they become more of a traditional Classic Rock station and they also switch their call letters to WXTB.