On this day in music history . . . .  

Largely just because I feel like being cheered up . . . . . Jackie Wilson will do that
 . . . . . as may Rita Hayworth and Fred Astaire . . . . . Rita said the only way she could keep up with Astaire was by having had dance lessons south of the border at age 13!

On this day in music history: December 15, 1958 - “Lonely Teardrops” by Jackie Wilson hits #1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart for 5 weeks, also peaking at #7 on the Hot 100 on February 9, 1959. Written by Berry Gordy, Jr., Tyran Carlo and Gwen Gordy, it is the first chart topping single for the R&B vocal icon from Detroit, MI. Having first established himself as the lead singer of Billy Ward & The Dominoes following the departure of Clyde McPhatter to join The Drifters in 1953, Jackie Wilson enjoys some success with the group before leaving for a solo career in 1957. Signing with Chicago based Brunswick Records, Wilson has hits right out of the box with the single “Reet Petite” and the follow up “To Be Loved”, both written by fellow Detroit natives Berry Gordy, Jr. and Roquel Billy Davis (aka “Tyran Carlo”). Friends since childhood, Gordy and Davis write “Lonely Teardrops” with Berry’s older sister Gwen. While coming up with song ideas for Wilson, Berry writes down the phrase “my eyes are crying”. Feeling that the line is “too common”, he changes it to “my heart is crying…”, after that, the rest of the song quickly falls into place. Recording a demo of the finished song, Gordy flies to New York City, and plays it for Jackie’s producer and arranger Dick Jacobs, who senses it’s a hit immediately. The track is cut live in the studio with Wilson singing with the orchestra, and is completed in a few takes. Released as a single on November 17, 1958, “Lonely Teardrops” is an instant smash, racing to the top of the R&B singles chart within a months time, then crossing over and hitting the top ten on the pop chart shortly after. “Teardrops” gives Jackie Wilson his first million selling single, becoming his signature song. Berry Gordy takes part of his earnings from the song to start his own label Motown Records in January of 1959. “Lonely Teardrops” also entails some sad irony when it becomes the last song Wilson ever performs on stage. While performing on Dick Clark’s “Good Ol’ Rock and Roll Revue” at The Latin Casino in Cherry Hill, NJ on September 29, 1975, the singer suffers a heart attack and collapses after singing the lyric “my heart is crying”. People initially think it is part of the act until the band leader notices Wilson is not breathing. Paramedics are able to revive him, but the singer slips into a coma, and remains in a semi comatose state for the last nine years of his life. Committed to a nursing home full time, Dick Clark pays for Wilson’s medical care until the singer’s passing in January of 1984. A month later at the 26th Annual Grammy Awards, pop music superstar Michael Jackson acknowledges Jackie Wilson as a major influence, and dedicates one of his Grammy wins that evening to the late singer. Wilson’s original recording of “Lonely Teardrops” is inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 1999.