Pick a Day

Music History Events: TV Appearances

November 18, 1956 Fats Domino sings "Blueberry Hill" on The Ed Sullivan Show.

October 28, 1956 Elvis Presley makes his second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. Unlike the first appearance, Sullivan himself is hosting. Elvis sings "Don't Be Cruel," "Love Me Tender," "Hound Dog" and "Love Me," and Ed presents Presley with a Gold record for "Love Me Tender."

September 23, 1956 Micky Dolenz of The Monkees begins his television career as a child actor with the premiere of NBC's Circus Boy series.

September 9, 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.

July 28, 1956 Gene Vincent makes his first national TV appearance, singing "Be-Bop-a-Lula" on NBC's The Perry Como Show.

June 5, 1956 Elvis Presley appears on The Milton Berle Show where the pair do a comedy bit performing Elvis' "Hound Dog" and "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You." It marks the first TV appearance of The Jordanaires backing up Elvis, and the last Milton Berle show for 10 years.

April 8, 1956 The Johnny Burnette Trio (with brother Dorsey) make the first of three appearances on Ted Mack's Amateur Hour on ABC-TV.

April 7, 1956 Network TV premiere: Rock & Roll Dance Party with Alan Freed, on CBS.

April 7, 1956 The Platters make their national television debut on Tommy & Jimmy Dorsey's Stage Show on CBS.

April 3, 1956 Elvis Presley performs "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Blue Suede Shoes" onboard the aircraft carrier USS Hancock in San Diego. It's broadcast live on The Milton Berle Show.

March 31, 1956 Brenda Lee makes her US television debut, singing an unrehearsed version of Hank Williams' "Jambalaya (On The Bayou)" on ABC's Ozark Jubilee.

March 17, 1956 Carl Perkins makes his first TV appearance, on the Ozark Jamboree.

March 10, 1956 Bobby Darin makes his first television appearance, singing "Rock Island Line" on the Dorsey Brothers Stage Show. The budding entertainer is clearly nervous - he keeps glancing at his palms where he's written the song's lyrics.

January 28, 1956 Elvis Presley makes his TV debut on the Dorsey Brothers Stage Show, where he sings "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Heartbreak Hotel."

November 20, 1955 After agreeing to perform Tennessee Ernie Ford's hit "Sixteen Tons" on CBS-TV's Ed Sullivan Show, Bo Diddley instead plays the song he was actually there to promote, his own hit "Bo Diddley." A furious Sullivan blackballs Bo from ever appearing on the show again. The singer has claimed he was never paid for the performance.

September 24, 1955 Judy Garland makes her television debut on the CBS variety show Ford Star Jubilee.

July 2, 1955 The Lawrence Welk Show premieres on ABC.

May 28, 1955 Elvis Presley makes his first appearance on the Big D Jamboree radio program, broadcast from the Dallas Sportatorium by KRLD.

March 14, 1955 Popular country star Jimmy Dean interviews Elvis Presley on Dean's Washington, DC television show Town and Country Time. A nervous Elvis answers every question with "yep" and "nope."

March 5, 1955 Elvis Presley makes yet another appearance on the Shreveport radio show Louisiana Hayride, which is this time also carried over the TV airwaves by local station KWKH, making this Presley's first television appearance.

November 15, 1954 Joan Weber sings "Let Me Go, Lover" on the CBS Studio One variety show, sending the song up the charts to #1 in America.

November 6, 1954 Elvis Presley, who has been playing a radio concert show called the Louisiana Hayride, records a radio commercial for Southern Maid Doughnuts, who sponsors the show. It was the only commercial he ever recorded and was not false advertising: He really did love those hot donuts.

September 27, 1954 The first national Tonight Show with Steve Allen is telecast.

September 8, 1954 The DJ Alan Freed makes his move from Cleveland to New York, where he begins broadcasting his "Alan Freed Rock 'n' Roll Show" on WINS. The first white DJ to play black music, Freed brings R&B music to a wider audience in New York, and the sound quickly goes mainstream with the rise of Elvis and the popularization of rock music.

July 28, 1954 Elvis Presley gets his first interview through an article published in his hometown paper, the Memphis Press-Scimitar.

July 15, 1952 Popular singer Patti Page begins her summer replacement series on CBS, attempting to hold the audience in Perry Como's usual timeslot three times a week for 15 minutes.

July 15, 1952 Eight-year-old prodigy Gladys Knight appears on the TV show Ted Mack's Amateur Hour, a precursor to shows like Star Search and American Idol. She wins the top prize of $2,000 for her performance of Nat King Cole's "Too Young."

July 10, 1950 The nation's favorite popular music countdown, "Your Hit Parade," gets its own home on NBC TV to match its longtime radio counterpart.

September 24, 1942 Bandleader Glenn Miller makes his last radio broadcast on CBS' Moonlight Serenade program before leaving to enlist in the Army.

September 27, 1938 Comedian Bob Hope premieres a new song, "Thanks For The Memory," on his eponymous NBC radio show.