1956 in music

See also:

Events

• Cameo-Parkway Records formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Kal Mann & Bernie Lowe.
• Foundation of the Korean piano brand Young Chang.
• 1^st Warsaw Autumn International Festival of Contemporary Music (see http://www.culture.pl/en/culture/artykuly/os_baird_tadeusz)
• January 26 - Buddy Holly's first recording sessions for Decca Records take place in Nashville, Tennessee
• Roy Orbison signs with Sun Records
• January 28 - Elvis Presley makes his national television debut on The Dorsey Brothers Stage Show
• March 22 - Carl Perkins is injured in a car accident near Wilmington, Delaware and spends several months in the hospital. Perkins had been on his way to New York City to make an appearance on the Ed Sullivan show.
• March 31 - Elvis Presley films a screen test for Paramount Pictures.
• April 3 - Elvis Presley makes his first appearance on The Milton Berle Show
• April 6 - Paramount Pictures signs Elvis Presley to a three picture deal.
• April 7 - The first regularly scheduled nationally broadcast rock & roll show, Rock 'n Roll Dance Party, with Alan Freed as host, premieres on the CBS Radio Network.
• April 10 - Nat King Cole is severely beaten by a group of racial segregationists in Birmingham, Alabama while performing
• May 2 - For the first time in Billboard magazine history, five singles appear in both the pop and R&B Top Ten charts. They are Elvis Presley's "Heatbreak Hotel" (#1 pop, #6 R&B), Carl Perkins' "Blue Suede Shoes" (#4 pop, #3 R&B), Little Richard's "Long Tall Sally" (#9 pop, #1 R&B), the Platters' "Magic Touch" (#10 pop, #7 R&B) and Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers' "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" (#7 pop, #4 R&B). Presley's and Perkins' singles also appeared on the country and westernTop Ten chart at #1 and #2 respectively
• May 6 - Elvis Presley appears on the Milton Berle show
• May 24 - First ever Eurovision Song Contest
• June 5 - Elvis Presley introduces his new single, Hound Dog, on The Milton Berle Show, scandalizing the audience with his sugestive hip movements.
• July 1 - Elvis Presley appears on the Steve Allen show
• July 9 - Dick Clark hosts American Bandstand for the first time
• September 9 - Elvis Presley appears on The Ed Sullivan Show.
• Nat King Cole becomes the first major black performer to host a variety show on national television. The Nat King Cole Show was first broadcast on November 5, 1956
• December 4 - Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash record together at Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. The sessions are later released under the name, the "Million Dollar Quartet"
• December 19 - Breaking the record for the highest number of concurrent singles by a single artist, Elvis Presley holds 9 positions on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Presley would hold the record until 1964 when the Beatles held 14 positions on the chart.
• Elvis Presley emerges as one of the world's first rock stars.
• Aretha Franklin's musical career begins
• Gene Vincent's musical career begins
• The Coasters' musical career begins
• Charlie Rich's musical career begins
• Bobby Darin's musical career begins
• Willie Nelson's musical career begins
• Dalida's musical career begins on Barclay Records in Europe as (one of) the first biggest "world pop star" and sex symbol and she is the first artist to have her photo on a single in France. 175 000 copies of her big hits "Bambino" are sold in a few weeks.
• Chrysler Corporation provides an in-car turntable 16⅔ rpm record player with 7-inch ultramicrogroove records in its luxury model, the "Imperial". The machine was developed by Peter Goldmark — the man who invented the 33⅓ rpm long playing (LP) record format