Aired on Treasure Island Oldies – Feb 04, 2024

Upon canvassing the various UK groups that were part of the mid-60s British Invasion of North America, their members would cite the pioneers of Rock & Roll as their influencers and motivators – singer/songwriters such as Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Haley & His Comets, and, of course, Elvis Presley. Listening to these artists via their parents’ records and tuning in to pirate radio stations like Radio Luxembourg proved to be the only exposure they needed.

In the case of the Rolling Stones, much of their early work consisted of faithful covers of American Blues artists: Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Slim Harpo, and Jimmy Reed.

However, the Stones’ owe their debut on the Billboard Hot 100 to another pioneer of Rock & Roll … Buddy Holly.

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February 3, 2024 marked the 65th anniversary of the tragic plane crash that took the lives of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens. This event has become synonymous with the phrase, “The day the music died,” a lyric from Don McLean’s 1971 tribute tune “American Pie.”

Holly was only 22 years old when he passed, yet his memory lives on. In a 15 month period leading up to his untimely death, Holly recorded three studio albums, 22 singles, and countless other tracks that would be released as singles after his death. By the time Buddy died, his group, the Crickets, had gone from an obscure garage band playing the local skating rink in Lubbock, Texas to becoming forefathers of modern Rock & Roll.

Over the years, compositions written by Holly have been covered numerous times. For example, his #1 song, “That’ll Be The Day” has been re-recorded by over 100 artists.

To date the most covered of his songs (139 artists as of this writing) was actually the B side to his third release on the Billboard pop charts, “Oh Boy!,” which made it to #10 position.

Ironically, it was this B side that the Stones debuted with on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1964. Looking back, one might say it was a bit of a testimonial to Buddy Holly whose music and memory will “Not Fade Away,” this week’s Tom Locke moment in time.

YouTube video of this song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfSAtNMc59g

This “Moments In Time” story is yet another example of a “golden oldie” or forgotten favorite that earned its place in the evolution of Rock & Roll.