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N0KFQ > TODAY 14.03.16 16:31l 50 Lines 2356 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 87627_N0KFQ
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Subj: Today in History - Mar 14
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<F1OYP<ON0AR<GB7CIP<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ
Sent: 160314/1430Z 87627@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.65
1958
The Recording Industry Association of America awards first Gold
Record to Perry Como for "Catch A Falling Star"
For as long as most people have been buying popular music on
records, tapes and compact disks, the records, tapes and disks
they've bought have carried labels like "Certified Gold!" and
"Double Platinum!!" Those labels have been in use since the early
days of the rock-and-roll era, when a young trade organization
called the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)
created and trademarked its precious-metals-based scale for
measuring music sales. On March 14, 1958, the RIAA awarded its
first official Gold Record to Perry Como for his smash-hit single
"Catch A Falling Star."
Those who've been conditioned to believe that rock and roll wiped
out everything in its path on its way toward dominating
late-20th-century pop music may be surprised to hear that Perry
Como was such a viable commercial artist fully two years after
the arrival of Elvis Presley. Como, a 50-something holdover in a
cozy cardigan sweater, stood for everything that youthful rock
and roll did not, after all. Where rock and roll promised sex,
excitement and social change, Como's act evoked much more staid
pursuits. Yet "Catch A Falling Star" was not the only hit record
for Perry Como in the early years of the rock-and-roll
"revolution." Songs like "Hot Diggity" and "Round And Round" more
than held their own against more rebellious fare, and while they
might not have been "cool," they didn't need to be in order to
find an audience in late 1950s America.
It is certainly worth noting, however, that the RIAA waited until
Elvis Presley's string of pre-Army hits was over before codifying
what was formerly a loose, PR-driven process and creating an
objective standard (500,000 sales) for the Gold Record. After the
first Gold Record was awarded to Perry Como for "Catch A Falling
Star," the RIAA's next honoree was Laurie London for "He's Got
the Whole World In His Hands." And while Elvis Presley was the
third artist to receive such an honor (for "Hard Headed Woman" in
August 1958), his single Gold Record through the end of 1961 had
him tied on the RIAA's list with Lawrence Welk (whose "Calcutta"
was certified Gold in February 1961).
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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