Year 1958 in Music History

• Jan 7 Gibson issued US patent for the Flying V Guitar

• Jan 23 "Body Beautiful" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 60 performances
• Feb 3 Royal Teens' "Short Shorts" enters Top 40 chart & peaks at #3
• Feb 4 "Oh, Captain!" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 192 performances
• Feb 21 "Portotino" opens at Adelphi Theater NYC for 3 performances
• Feb 22 "Portotino" closes at Adelphi Theater NYC after 3 performances
• Mar 12 3rd Eurovision Song Contest: Andre Claveau for France wins singing "Dors, mon amour" in Hilversum
• Mar 15 "Body Beautiful" musical closes at Broadway Theater NYC after 60 performances

• Apr 3 "Say, Darling" opens at ANTA Theater NYC for 332 performances
• Apr 23 Robert Kurka's "The Good Soldier Schweik", with libretto written by Abe Meeropol, premieres at the New York City Opera
• May 12 "Nee Nee Na Na Na Na Nu Nu" by Dicky Doo & The Don'ts hits #40
• May 19 "South Pacific" soundtrack album goes #1 & stays #1 for 31 weeks
• May 24 "New Girl in Town" closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 432 performances


• May 31 Dick Dale invents "surf music" with "Let's Go Trippin"
• Jun 9 "Purple People Eater" by Sheb Wooley hits #1
• Jun 16 "Flip Top Box" by Dicky Doo & The Don'ts hits #46

• Jun 30 "No Chemise, Please" by Gerry Grenahan peaks at #24

• Jul 12 "Li'l Abner" closes at St James Theater NYC after 693 performances

• Jul 19 "Oh, Captain!" closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 192 performances

• Aug 23 Marie Ashton completes playing piano a female record 133 hours

• Sep 29 "Summertime Blues" by Eddie Cochran peaks at #8
• Oct 2 Musical show "Valmouth" 1st produced in London
• Oct 11 "Goldilocks" opens at Lunt Fontanne Theater NYC for 161 performances

• Nov 5 "Maria Golovin" opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 5 performances
• Nov 8 "Maria Golovin" closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC after 5 performances
• Nov 11 "La Plume de Ma Tante" opens at Royale Theater NYC for 835 performances
• Dec 1 "Flower Drum Song" opens at St James Theater NYC for 602 performances
• Dec 22 "Chipmunk Song" reaches #1
• Dec 22 "Whoop-Up" opens at Shubert Theater NYC for 56 performances
• Dec 23 Musical Revue "Party with Comden & Green" opens at John Golden NYC for 38 performances
• Dec 28 Chipmunks (Alvin, Simon & Theodore with David Seville) hits #1

Birthdays 1 - 100 of 191

• Jan 1 Grandmaster Flash [Joseph Saddler], American rocker (Message), born in NYC, New York
• Jan 2 Vladimir Ovchinnikov, Russian concert pianist (Tchaikovsky Prize, 1982; Leeds, 1987), born in Belebey, Bashkir ASSR (now Bashkortostan)
• Jan 11 Vicki Peterson, rock guitarist/vocalist (Bangles), born in Los Angeles, California
• Jan 13 Sandy Stewart, American songwriter, singer, and keyboardist (Cat Dancer), born in Houston, Texas
• Jan 17 Jez Strode, British rock drummer (Kajagoogoo), born in London, United Kingdom
• Jan 24 Jools Holland, British rock keyboardist (Squeeze), and TV presenter (Later...), born in Blackheath, London
• Jan 25 Gary Brian Tibbs, English rock bassist (Adam & The Ants; Roxy Music), born in London, England
• Jan 26 Anita Baker, American jazz and soul singer ("Giving You the Best That I Got"; "Sweet Love"), born in Toledo, Ohio
• Jan 26 B. James Lowry, American country session guitarist and producer (The Boys Band), born in Pensacola, Florida
• Jan 26 Norman Hassan, British reggae percussionist, and trombone player (UB40 - "Red Red Wine"; "I Got You Babe"), born in Birmingham, England
• Jan 27 Charles Waltz, rocker (Shooting Star)
• Jan 30 Rob van Zandvoort, Dutch rock vocalist & keyboardist (Jack of Hearts), born in Kerkrade, Netherlands
• Jan 31 Tom Schuman, American pianist (Spyro Gyra - "Morning Dance"), born in Buffalo, New York
• Feb 3 Lee Crystal [Sackett], American drummer (Joan Jett & The Blackhearts - "I Love Rock'n'Roll"), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2013)
• Feb 7 (Manuel) Mijares, Mexican Latin-pop, folk, and Mariachi vocalist (Maria Bonita), born in Mexico City, Mexico
• Feb 10 Michael Weiss, American musician, born in NYC, New York
• Feb 12 Grant McLennan, Australian musician (The Go-Betweens), born in Rockhampton, Australia (d. 2006)
• Feb 13 Marc Fox, British percussionist (Haircut 100-Nobody's Fool)
• Feb 13 Derek Riggs, British artist (Iron Maiden album covers), born in Portsmouth, England
• Feb 16 Ice-T [Tracy Marrow], American rapper and actor (New Jack City, Tank Girl, Crazy Six), born in Newark, New Jersey
• Feb 18 Gar Samuelson, American drummer (Megadeth), born in Dunkirk, New York (d. 1999)
• Feb 21 Mary-Chapin Carpenter, American country-pop singer-songwriter ("This Shirt"; "Shut Up And Kiss Me"), born in Princeton, New Jersey
• Feb 21 Steve Nieve [Nason], British session and touring keyboard player and composer (Elvis Costello), born in Bishop’s Stortford, England
• Feb 23 David Sylvian, British vocalist, and guitarist (Japan), born in Beckenham, England
• Feb 23 Ria Brieffies, Dutch pop vocalist (Dolly Dots), born in Lutjebroek, Netherlands (d. 2009)
• Feb 24 Sammy Kershaw, American country vocalist (Cadillac Style), born in Kaplan, Louisiana
• Feb 28 Jeanne Mas, French pop singer ("Toute première fois"), and actress, born in Alicante, Spain
• Mar 1 Nik Kershaw, singer/songwriter (Wouldn't it be Good)
• Mar 1 Chosei Komatsu, Japanese conductor

• Mar 8 Gary Numan [Gary Webb], Hammersmith England, vocalist (Replicas)
• Mar 9 Martin Fry, English pop singer and rock vocalist (ABC-All of My Heart), born in Stretford, Lancashire
• Mar 14 Zbigniew Karkowski, Polish composer and experimental musician (Sensorband), born in Krakow, Poland (d. 2013)
• Mar 21 [Jonathan] Butch Norton, American drummer (Eels), born in Inglewood, California
• Mar 22 Pete Wylie, rocker (Sinful), born in Liverpool, England
• Mar 23 El Duce [Eldon Wayne Hoke], American singer and drummer (The Mentors), born in Seattle, Washington (d. 1997)
• Mar 28 Oran "Juice" Jones, American rocker (Curiosity, Here I Go Again), born in Houston, Texas
• Mar 31 Pat McGlynn, Edinburgh, rock guitarist (Bay City Rollers)
• Apr 1 D. Boon, American musician d. (1985)
• Apr 4 Cazuza, Brazilian poet, singer and composer, born in Rio de Janeiro (d. 1990)
• Apr 7 Tony Aire, rocker (Adventures-Sea of Love)
• Apr 10 Yefim Bronfman, Russian-born Israeli-American pianist, born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan
• Apr 11 Stuart Adamson, Scottish rock vocalist and guitarist (Big Country-Wonderland), born in Manchester, England (d. 2001)
• Apr 12 Will Sergeant, English rock guitarist (Echo & Bunnymen - Killing Moon), born in Liverpool
• Apr 13 Randy Piper, American heavy metal rocker (Wasp-Wildchild), born in San Antonio, Texas
• Apr 15 Matt Reid, American rock keyboardist (Berlin-Take My Breath Away)
• Apr 18 Lee Pattinson, English rock bassist (Echo & Bunnymen - Heaven Up Here), born in Ormskirk,
• Apr 21 Mike Barson, rock keyboardist (Madness)
• Apr 23 Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, Icelandic music composer, born in Reykjavík, Iceland
• Apr 24 Valery Lantratov, Russian ballet dancer, born in Moscow
• Apr 25 Fish [Derek William Dick], Scottish vocalist (Marillion-Sugar Mice), born in Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland
• Apr 29 Simon Edwards, rocker (Fairground Attraction-Find My Love)
• May 6 Lolita Flores, Spanish singer and actress
• May 12 Eric Singer [Mensinger], American hard rock drummer (Kiss), born in Cleveland, Ohio
• May 16 Glenn Gregory, English rock vocalist (Heaven 17), born in Sheffield, England
• May 17 Vincent Henar, Surinam bassist (Fra Fra Sound), born in Surinam
• May 18 Toyah Wilcox, rocker (I Want to Be Free), born in Birmingham, England
• May 20 Jane Wiedlin, Wisc, singer, guitarist (GoGos, Fur, Rush Hour)
• May 23 Shelly West, country singer (Red Hot, West by West), born in Cleveland, Ohio
• May 23 François Feldman, French singer
• May 25 Paul Weller, English guitarist (Jam-This is Modern World, Style Council), born in Woking, Surrey, England
• May 27 Neil Finn, New Zealand musician (Split Enz, Crowded House), born in Te Awamutu, New Zealand
• May 30 Marie Fredriksson, Swedish singer (Roxette - Must Have Been Love), born in Össjö, Sweden (d. 2019)
• Jun 1 Michael Landau, American session musician, engineer, and record producer, born in Los Angeles, California

• Jun 11 Kevin Wilkinson, English drummer (The Waterboys), born in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire (d. 1999)
• Jun 12 Rebecca Holden, American actress and singer (Knight Rider), born in Dallas, Texas
• Jun 14 Brian David Willis, rock drummer (Quarterflash)
• Jun 16 Jóhannes Helgason, Icelandic guitarist (Þeyr)
• Jun 17 Jello Biafra [Eric Reed Boucher], American musician and activist (Dead Kennedys), born in Boulder, Colorado
• Jun 17 Derek Lee Ragin, American countertenor, born in West Point, New York
• Jun 20 Kelly Johnson [Bernadette], Edmonton, London, guitarist (Girlschool), (d. 2007)
• Jun 22 Ruby Turner, Jamacaian-British rock singer (No Where to Run), born in Montego Bay, Jamaica
• Jun 27 Jeffrey Lee Pierce, American singer and songwriter (The Gun Club), born in Montebello, California (d. 1996)
• Jun 27 Magnus Lindberg, Finnish composer, born in Helsinki, Finland
• Jun 27 Lisa Germano, American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist (Geek the Girl), born in Mishawaka, Indiana
• Jun 29 Leslie Browne, American ballerina (Turning Point), born in NYC, New York
• Jun 30 Esa-Pekka Salonen, Finnish orchestral conductor (Giro), born in Helsinki, Finland
• Jul 3 Aaron Tippin, American singer (You've Got to Stand for Something), born in Pensacola, Florida
• Jul 4 Kirk Pengilly, Australian rocker (Inxs-Kiss the Dirt), born in Sydney, New South Wales
• Jul 5 Paul Daniel, British opera and symphony conductor, born in Birmingham
• Jul 8 Carlos Cavazo, rocker (Quiet Riot - Metal Health)
• Jul 8 Fred Young, singer (Kentucky Headhunters-Davy Crockett), born in Glasgow, Kentucky
• Jul 10 Béla Fleck, American banjo player, born in NYC, New York
• Jul 10 Fiona Shaw, Irish actress and theatre and opera director, born in County Cork, Munster, Ireland
• Jul 11 Ray Dodds, rocker (Fairground Attraction-You Send Me)

• Jul 18 Nigel Twist, British rock drummer (Alarm-In the Summertime), born in Manchester
• Jul 19 David Robertson, American symphony orchestra conductor, born in Malibu, California
• Jul 20 Mick MacNeil, Scottish keyboardist (Simple Minds - "Don't You Forget About Me"), born on the Isle of Barra
• Jul 24 Mick Karn [Andonis Michaelides], English musician (Japan), born in Nicosia, Cyprus (d. 2011)
• Jul 25 Henk Wanders, Dutch bassist (Frank Boeijen Group), born in Nijmegen, Netherlands
• Jul 25 Thurston Moore, American guitarist and songwriter (Sonic Youth), born in Coral Gables, Florida
• Jul 26 Angela Hewitt, Canadian classical pianist, born in Ottawa, Canada
• Jul 30 Kate Bush, English singer-songwriter (Running Up That Hill, Wuthering Heights), born in Bexleyheath, Kent, England
• Jul 30 Kevin Mahogany, American jazz vocalist (Double Rainbow), born in Kansas City, Missouri (d. 2017)
• Jul 31 Bill Berry, American drummer (R.E.M.), born in Duluth, Minnesota
• Aug 1 Rob Buck, American musician (10,000 Maniacs), born in Jamestown, New York (d. 2000)
• Aug 1 "Michael Penn, American singer, songwriter, and composer (No Myth), born in Greenwich Village, New York City
• Aug 3 Cindy Nixon, American singer (Girls Next Door-Don't Be Cruel), born in Nashville, Tennessee

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• Jan 1 David Broekman, Dutch musician (Think Fast), dies at 55
• Jan 11 Alec Rowley, English composer, dies at 65
• Jan 12 Arthur Shepherd, composer, dies at 77
• Mar 14 Eugeen Van de Velde, Flemish musicologist and composer (In Tempore Belli), dies at 64
• Mar 25 Emerson Whithorne, American composer, dies at 73
• Mar 25 Tom Brown, American dixieland jazz trombonist, dies at 69

• Apr 7 Judge Jackson, composer, dies at 75
• Apr 7 Klimenty Arkad'yevich Korchmaryov, Ukrainian composer, dies at 58
• Apr 10 Chuck Willis, rocker, dies at 30
• May 19 Bruno Stürmer, German conductor, composer and educator dies at 65
• May 28 Mikuláš Schneider-Trnavský, Slovak composer, dies at 77
• Jun 6 Lily Strickland, American composer and artist, dies at 71
• Jun 16 José Pablo Moncayo, Mexican composer (Huapango), dies at 45
• Jun 23 Edvard Armas Jarnefeldt, composer, dies at 88
• Jul 1 Rudolf von Laban, Czech-German choreographer (modern dance), dies at 78
• Jul 13 Karl Erb, German tenor, dies on 81st birthday
• Jul 14 René Guillou, French organist and composer (L'Autre mère), dies at 55
• Jul 15 Julia Lennon, mother of Beatle John, dies in an auto accident
• Jul 30 Alexander Albrecht, composer, dies at 72
• Aug 5 Joseph Holbrooke, English pianist, conductor and composer (3 Blind Mice), dies at 80
• Aug 9 Felipe Boero, Argentine composer, dies at 74
• Aug 14 Big Bill Broonzy, American blues singer and guitarist (Blues by Broonzy), dies of cancer at 65
• Aug 17 Florent Schmitt, French composer and critic (Jardin Secret), dies at 87
• Aug 21 Stevan Hristić, Serbian composer, dies at 73
• Aug 21 Walter Schumann, American choral director (Ford Show) and film and television composer (Night Of The Hunter; Dragnet theme), dies at 44
• Aug 24 Kenneth Leighton, British pianist and composer, dies at 28
• Aug 24 Leo Blech, German composer and conductor, dies at 87
• Aug 26 Ralph Vaughan Williams, English composer (Hugh the Drover), dies at 85
• Aug 28 Nikolay Golovanov, Soviet composer, dies at 67
• Sep 11 Robert Lach, Austrian composer, dies at 84
• Sep 29 Aarre Merikanto, Finnish composer (12-tones music), dies at 65
• Oct 13 Alexander Moiseyevich Veprik, Russian composer, dies at 59 (b. 1899)
• Oct 14 Jean Poveigh, composer, dies at 82
• Oct 24 Martin Shaw, English composer, dies at 83
• Nov 2 Adam von Ahn Carse, composer, dies at 80
• Nov 3 Harry Revel, movie composer (Sitting Pretty, Gay Divorcee), dies
• Nov 6 Francis George Scott, Scottish composer, dies at 78
• Nov 27 Artur Rodzinski, Polish conductor and composer, dies at 66
• Dec 1 Patricia "Boots" Mallory, American dancer and actress (Handle With Care), dies from chronic throat disease at 45
• Dec 6 Erwin Bodky, German-American composer, dies at 62
• Dec 26 Harry Redman, American composer, writer, and artist, dies on 89th birthday
• Dec 29 Doris Humphrey, US dancer/choreographer (Dances of Women), dies at 63
• Dec 31 Gustav Hermann Unger, German composer, dies at 72