Music History Events: Performance Debuts
February 28, 1978 The Village People play their first concert, performing at 2001 Odyssey in New York City, the setting for Saturday Night Fever.
June 17, 1977 At the Civic Center in Amarillo, Texas, Judas Priest play their first show in America, opening for REO Speedwagon. The British metal band is looking to make headway in the US, where they're released their album Sin After Sin; they get a better pairing at the end of the tour when they open two shows for Led Zeppelin.
December 31, 1973 Journey, formed by ex-Santana members Gregg Rolie and Neal Schon, make their live debut at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. Rolie handles the lead vocals; Steve Perry doesn't join the group until 1977.
September 13, 1971 Deep Purple write "Highway Star" on the way to show in Portsmouth, UK, where they play it that night.
June 14, 1968 The Jeff Beck Group, with lead singer Rod Stewart, make their US concert debut, opening for the Grateful Dead at the Fillmore East in New York City. Stewart has stage fright, which is cured when he takes some swigs of rum from a bottle he shares with guitarist Ron Wood.
November 7, 1967 Pink Floyd appear on US TV for the first time, performing "Apples And Oranges" on American Bandstand.
October 9, 1965 The Ohio State University marching band plays "Hang On Sloopy" for the first time when their football team takes on Illinois. It soon becomes an OSU favorite, and in 1985 is designated the state song of Ohio.
May 20, 1965 The Rolling Stones debut "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" on the American variety show Shindig! They make sure one of their musical heroes, Howlin' Wolf, is also on the show and introduce his performance of "How Many More Years."
March 18, 1965 The Supremes debut "Stop In The Name Of Love" on the BBC special The Sound of Motown, performing the traffic cop choreography that becomes forever associated with the song.
March 17, 1962 Deke Leonard makes his debut in a talent contest at the Car Bay Club in Wales with Lucifer And The Corncrackers. According to his book Maybe I Should've Stayed In Bed... the band is introduced as Ivor And The Prawn Crackers.
April 29, 1961 The renown tenor Luciano Pavarotti makes his opera début in the role of Rodolfo in La Bohème by Puccini in the Italian town of Reggio Emilia.
January 28, 1959 Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin perform together in Vegas for the first time, joining forces at the Sands hotel. They become regular performers at the venue, often joined by fellow "rat pack" members Sammy Davis, Jr., Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford.
November 24, 1944 At the the Last Frontier hotel, Liberace makes his Las Vegas debut, complete with his signature candelabra on his piano. He goes on to become a mainstay of Vegas entertainment.
March 12, 1943 The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra debuts Aaron Copland's "Fanfare For The Common Man," a stirring anthem with rousing percussion and solemn horns composed in response to the US entrance into World War II.
February 2, 1900 The opera Louise by Gustave Charpentiers (his most famous composition) premieres in Paris.
March 29, 1795 Beethoven makes his Vienna public debut at the city's Burgtheater when he is the soloist at the premiere of his Piano Concerto No. 2. Prior to that, the German composer had performed only in the private salons of the Viennese nobility.
April 27, 1749 George Frederick Handel's "Music For The Royal Fireworks" debuts in London's Green Park.
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