NOVEMBER 20th - The Power of Bo Diddley's "Bo Diddley."

Rock and Roll has had many champions. Chuck Berry. Buddy Holly. Elvis Presley. The Beatles. The Stones. Nickleback. (I kid, I kid). Bo Diddley is right there with them and not just because he picked a nom de plume that is amazingly fun to say and perfect for the fratboy lexicon. Be honest, you’ve called a buddy Bro Diddley at least once. You haven’t? Well I bet you will have by tomorrow. So damn catchy. Anyway, on November 20th, 1955, Bo Diddley appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, becoming one of the first artists to expose the world to rock n’ roll. Supposedly, Ed thought Bo Diddley was going to open with a cover of Tennessee Ernie Ford’s “Sixteen Tons.” But Bo Diddley was Bo Diddley. So he opened with “Bo Diddley” (seen above) because that was what Bo Diddley wanted to do. Seems pretty tame by today’s standards, but Ed Sullivan wasn’t pleased by all this Bo Diddleyness and banned Bo Diddley from appearing in the future. But Bo Diddley had taken hold. The “Bo Diddley Beat” would become famous and would influence songs by Buddy Holly and The Strangeloves. Elvis had his Sullivan appearance five months later and blew the doors off the rock n’ roll thing. But Bo Diddley had paved the way with “Bo Diddley.” Rock n’ Roll took hold and music went down a whole new avenue. Just look at Bo Diddley Bo-Diddleying “Bo Diddley” ten years later (seen below). Sullivan would have had a stroke. Because that is the power of Bo Diddley.

Bo Diddley.



This day has been Marked.

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