December 28, 1957 - Boston Pops Conductor Arthur Fiedler in St. Louis said rock & roll was a passing

[Sherman A1]

phase. He was here for a benefit with the St. Louis Symphony. Fiedler said a nation that survived the Charleston and the Black Bottom would survive rock and roll.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. Roll over, Leroy Anderson, and tell Henry Mancini the news. NT

[The Polack MSgt]

4. +++

Well done

[Tomconroy]

2. He later did whole albums of Beatles' songs.

[Walleye]

3. When Elvis was drafted he was asked what he would do

If rock and roll was just a passed fad when he got out of the Army. Elvis said, “I’d starve to death.”

[PJMcK]

5. Fiedler was a passing fad (n/t)

[Chipper Chat]

6. Fiedler On the Roof

And they said it was a flop.

[thucythucy]

7. "Groups with guitars are on their way out."

A Decca Records executive on rejecting the Beatles in 1962.

[ProfessorGAC]

9. I Sure Hope Decca Fired Him

Because he obviously had no read on the buying public!

[thucythucy]

10. Nope. Instead, while attending a Liverpool "battle of the bands"

with George Harrison (after Beatlemania had broken out) he asked George which group he preferred.

Harrison said, essentially, these all suck. If you want to hear a great band, there's this group playing in London you should check out. They're called The Rolling Stones and we think they're great.

So he went to hear them and signed them for Decca, after which Lennon/McCartney wrote them their first (English) hit: I Wanna Be Your Man.

But Dick Rowe, the guy who supposedly said it, never lived it down. I say "supposedly" because there is some dispute about the accuracy of the quote, but it lives on regardless.

Happy New Year!

[Cartoonist]

8. The Disco Phase