Today in Music History for Oct. 3: In 1938, '50s rock 'n' roller Eddie Cochran was born in Oklahoma City. His career was brief, lasting just over three years from his first hit "Sittin' in the Balcony" in 1957 to his death in a car crash near London on April 17, 1960.
But Cochran made a lasting imprint on rock with the classic "Summertime Blues," a worldwide hit in 1958. In 1941, Chubby Checker, the world's foremost exponent of The Twist, was born in Philadelphia. Checker didn't originate "The Twist.
" That honour belongs to Hank Ballard, who recorded the song on the B-side of one of his records in 1958. But it was Checker who made "The Twist" the dance sensation of the early 1960s. In fact, Checker's recording of "The Twist" topped the Billboard chart twice -- in 1960 and again in '62.
Checker had a whole slew of other dance hits, such as "Limbo Rock," "Pony Time" and "Popeye the Hitchhiker," but nothing to quite rival "The Twist." In 1945, a 10-year-old Elvis Presley made his first public performance. He entered a singing contest at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show and finished in second place.
He received $5. In 1947, Lindsey Buckingham, guitarist and vocalist with "Fleetwood Mac," was born in Palo Alto, Calif. He joined "Fleetwood Mac" in 1974, along with Stevie Nicks.
He and Nicks had recorded an album together, and had also performed as part of a San Francisco rock group called "Fritz." Buckingham was a craftsman in the recording studio and Nicks became "Fleet.