Song of the Day: Heartbreak Hotel

On this day in 1956, the city of Santa Cruz, California banned rock n roll music at all public gatherings because they declared the music “detrimental to the health and morals of our youth and community.” A dance party of over 200 teenagers the night before at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium featuring rock n roll music is what led the city authorities to enact the ban. So in taking a look back at the year 1956, the number one song on the U.S. Billboard End of Year chart is rock n roller Elvis Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel.” Number 2 was Elvis’s “Don’t Be Cruel,” while The King’s hit “Hound Dog” was #8. It’s crazy to imagine music such as this making such a negative impact on so many people at the time that they would ban rock n roll music altogether (it wasn’t just Santa Cruz that enacted such a law; other cities around America did as well). Just imagine if those same people that got bent out of shape over Elvis’s music heard some of the music of today.

Garett