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March 21
Moondog Coronation Ball
The Moondog Coronation Ball, a landmark rhythm and blues event, takes place on this night in 1952.
White disk jockey Alan Freed, a.k.a. Moondog, had developed a loyal following among Cleveland's black teenagers with his late-night rhythm and blues show, The Moondog House, which began airing in 1951.
In 1952, Freed booked a hockey rink with room for 10,000 for an R&B concert called the Moondog Coronation Ball, but he massively oversold tickets. Newspapers reported that some 6,000 fans that had purchased tickets were denied entry. The crowd rioted, broke into the rink, and police ended the concert. Cleveland was outraged, but Freed's radio show only became more popular. In 1953, Freed threw the Biggest Rhythm and Blues Show tour, featuring Ruth Brown and Wynonie Harris. The tour drew a largely black audience and became the largest grossing R&B revue to date.
Within just a few years, rhythm and blues crossed over to become the dominant mainstream music form. In 1955, Freed threw the Rock and Roll Ball, featuring the Drifters, Fats Domino, Joe Turner, and others. All the musicians were black, but at least half the audience packing the arena was white.
Freed actually tried to copyright the term "rock and roll," which wasn't widely used at the time. In 1954, he'd been forced to stop using his DJ name, "Moondog," after a lawsuit was filed by a blind New York City street musician who had recorded a song called the "Moondog Symphony." Freed renamed his show "Alan Freed's Rock and Roll Party" and took out a copyright on the term "rock and roll," in partnership with black music legend Morris Levy, veteran promoter Lew Platt, and radio station WINS. But soon, the tidal wave of rock and roll music made the term common parlance, and Freed's copyright became virtually useless. Nevertheless, in 1955, Cleveland was selected as the site for construction of the Rock and Roll Museum partly because Freed popularized the term there.
Moondog Coronation Ball
The Moondog Coronation Ball, a landmark rhythm and blues event, takes place on this night in 1952.
White disk jockey Alan Freed, a.k.a. Moondog, had developed a loyal following among Cleveland's black teenagers with his late-night rhythm and blues show, The Moondog House, which began airing in 1951.
In 1952, Freed booked a hockey rink with room for 10,000 for an R&B concert called the Moondog Coronation Ball, but he massively oversold tickets. Newspapers reported that some 6,000 fans that had purchased tickets were denied entry. The crowd rioted, broke into the rink, and police ended the concert. Cleveland was outraged, but Freed's radio show only became more popular. In 1953, Freed threw the Biggest Rhythm and Blues Show tour, featuring Ruth Brown and Wynonie Harris. The tour drew a largely black audience and became the largest grossing R&B revue to date.
Within just a few years, rhythm and blues crossed over to become the dominant mainstream music form. In 1955, Freed threw the Rock and Roll Ball, featuring the Drifters, Fats Domino, Joe Turner, and others. All the musicians were black, but at least half the audience packing the arena was white.
Freed actually tried to copyright the term "rock and roll," which wasn't widely used at the time. In 1954, he'd been forced to stop using his DJ name, "Moondog," after a lawsuit was filed by a blind New York City street musician who had recorded a song called the "Moondog Symphony." Freed renamed his show "Alan Freed's Rock and Roll Party" and took out a copyright on the term "rock and roll," in partnership with black music legend Morris Levy, veteran promoter Lew Platt, and radio station WINS. But soon, the tidal wave of rock and roll music made the term common parlance, and Freed's copyright became virtually useless. Nevertheless, in 1955, Cleveland was selected as the site for construction of the Rock and Roll Museum partly because Freed popularized the term there.
