Radio Corporation of America

This Day in Music History — October 17

1919 : The Radio Corporation of America, soon to be simply known as RCA, is founded by General Electric as a publicly held monopoly, much the same way “the phone company” was originally envisioned.

1962 : “Monster Mash” by Bobby Pickett & the Crypt-Kickers hits #1 on its way to becoming the most famous Halloween song of all time. Pickett’s vocals were his impression of Boris Karloff, who was known for his role as Frankenstein’s monster.

1967 : Hair, the world’s first hippie rock musical, makes its public debut at the New York Shakespeare Festival.

1968 : Reggae musician Ziggy Marley is born David Nesta Marley in Kingston, Jamaica.

2005 : Fats Domino returns to his Ninth Ward home for the first time since Hurricane Katrina to find it utterly destroyed, with his piano and several of his gold records among the ruined items.

This Day in Music History — September 9

1926 : The Radio Corporation of America, later known as RCA, launches its new radio network, the National Broadcasting Company (later known as NBC).

1956 : Elvis Presley makes the first of three contracted appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show. Sullivan had previously announced he would never have such an act on, but ratings prevailed and Sullivan offered Elvis a record $50,000 for the three shows. Charles Laughton hosts, filling in for an ailing Sullivan as Elvis performs “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Love Me Tender,” “Ready Teddy” and “Hound Dog” but is shot from the waist up only to avoid scandal. The show draws a staggering 54 million viewers.

1975 : Paul McCartney and Wings begin their historic 13-month world tour. US performances will be recorded as the double LP Wings Over America. The group plays to over two million fans total during the course of the tour.

1994 : Green Day play a free concert at the Hatch Shell in Boston. A few songs into their set, many in the crowd cross the line from moshing to rioting, and police order an end to the show. With their album Dookie climbing the charts, the band was playing to exuberant crowds, which caused problems when casual fans found themselves engulfed in mosh pits.

2003 : Simon & Garfunkel make it official, announcing plans to reunite and tour for the first time in 20 years. They get more per ticket than any other tour that year: $136.90. They donate $1 million to The Children’s Health Fund at the end.