09/09/09, a musical date

As this date is on the news today because it may mean good luck for the Chinese culture or it may sound evilly if you look at it reverse, I bring it in my memories for two reasons.

First, that same date in 1956 it was the first TV appearance of Elvis Presley which was followed by millions of people then.
Elvis Presley had already appeared on other national television shows (such as on Stage Show, The Milton Berle Show, and on the popular The Steve Allen Show) when Ed Sullivan booked Elvis for three shows. Elvis' pelvic gyrations during his appearances on these other shows had caused much discussion and concern about the suitability of airing such provocative and sensual movements on television.

Although at first Ed Sullivan said he would never want Elvis on his show, Sullivan changed his mind when The Steve Allen Show with Elvis as a guest had about twice as many viewers as Sullivan's show that night (they were competing for the same audience since they were in the same time slot). After negotiating with Elvis' manager, Ed Sullivan paid Elvis the huge sum of $50,000 for appearing on three of his shows: September 9, 1956, October 28, 1956, and then on January 6, 1957.

For Elvis' first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show on Sunday night at 8 p.m. on September 9, 1956, Ed Sullivan himself was not able to host since he had recently been in a very serious car accident that left him in the hospital. In his place, Oscar-winning actor Charles Laughton hosted the show. Elvis was also not on location in New York for the show since he was in Los Angeles for the filming of Love Me Tender. Laughton hosted from New York and then when it came time for Elvis' appearance, Laughton introduced him and then cut to the stage in Hollywood with Elvis.

Elvis appeared on a stage with large, artistic guitars as decoration. Wearing a plaid jacket and holding his guitar, Elvis thanked Mr. Laughton and then said, "This is probably the greatest honor that I've ever had in my life." Elvis then sang, "Don't Be Cruel" with his four back-up singers (the Jordanaires) followed by "Love Me Tender," which was the not-yet-released title track from his new movie.

Although the cameras stayed mostly from the waist up on Elvis' first appearance on the show, the second time he appeared that night, the camera widened out and the TV audience was able to see Elvis' gyrations. During this second set, Elvis sang "Ready Teddy" and then ended with a portion of "Hound Dog."

Elvis' appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show was a major success. Over 60 million people, both young and old, watched the show and many people believe it helped bridge the generation gap for Elvis' acceptance into the mainstream.

text extracted from http://history1900s.about.com/od/1950s/qt/elvissullivan.htm

Second, today it is released the complete discography from one of the best pop groups of all times: THE BEATLES. Beatles fans have long awaited today’s releases of both the remastered albums and The Beatles: Rock Band video game.


The new versions retain the track listings and artwork as it was originally released in the U.K. As added bonuses, however, the remastered versions contain expanded booklets, liner notes, and photos. For a limited time, CDs will also be embedded with short documentaries about the albums.

Reportedly engineers spent four years perfecting the tracks using new and vintage equipment in order to preserve “the authenticity and integrity of the original analogue recordings.”

In addition to the remastered albums, The Beatles: Rock Band is available in stores today.

The date 9-9-09 has particular significance to Beatles fans. The band’s self-titled “White Album” contains a song called “Revolution 9,” which highlights a repetition of the phrase “number nine, number nine, number nine.” John Lennon once called the experimental track “the music of the future.”

In Rolling Stone magazine, Lennon discussed how the track was made, stating:

“All the thing was made with loops. I had about thirty loops going, fed them onto one basic track … one thing was an engineer’s testing tape and it would come on with a voice saying ‘This is EMI Test Series number nine.’ I just cut up whatever he said and I’d number nine it. Nine turned out to be my birthday and my lucky number and everything. I didn’t realize it. It was just so funny the voice saying ‘number nine.’ It was like a joke.”

Ironically Lennon's son, Sean, shares in the number nine saga. Sean was born on Lennon's birthday, Oct. 9.

Whether the releases are a nod to the 9-9-9 mystique or simply a cute marketing scheme remains to be seen.