Moondog Coronation Ball
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The Moondog Coronation Ball was a
concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...
held at the
Cleveland Arena Cleveland Arena was an arena in Cleveland, Ohio. It was built and privately financed by local businessman Albert C. Sutphin during the height of the Great Depression in 1937 as a playing site for Sutphin's AHL team, the Cleveland Barons. The aren ...
in
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
,
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, on March 21, 1952. It is generally accepted as the first major
rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
concert.


Background

Alan Freed Albert James "Alan" Freed (December 15, 1921 – January 20, 1965) was an American disc jockey. He also produced and promoted large traveling concerts with various acts, helping to spread the importance of rock and roll music throughout Nor ...
"had joined WJW Radioin 1951 as the host of a classical-music program, but he took up a different kind of music at the suggestion of Cleveland record-store owner
Leo Mintz Leo M. Mintz (10 October 1911 – 4 November 1976) was a record store owner in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, who was instrumental in the early establishment, marketing and promotion of rock and roll music. He was born in Cleveland. In 1938, ...
, who had noted with great interest the growing popularity, among young customers of all races, of rhythm-and-blues records by black musicians", according to the "History" website. Mintz decided to sponsor Freed's three hours of late-night programming. Once they saw the popularity of the program increase, they decided on holding a live dance event featuring some of the artists whose records were appearing on Freed's show.


Concert

The concert was organized by Freed (a
disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...
and considered to have popularized the term "
Rock and Roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
" at WJW-Radio), along with Lew Platt, a local concert promoter, and Freed's sponsors, including Mintz, owner of the Record Rendezvous store. The concert featured Paul Williams and the Hucklebuckers, and
Tiny Grimes Lloyd "Tiny" Grimes (July 7, 1916 – March 4, 1989) was an American jazz and R&B guitarist. He was a member of the Art Tatum Trio from 1943 to 1944, was a backing musician on recording sessions, and later led his own bands, including a rec ...
and the Rocking Highlanders (an African American instrumental group that appeared in kilts). Also on the bill were the Dominoes,
Varetta Dillard Varetta Mamie Dillard (February 3, 1933 – October 4, 1993) was an American rhythm and blues singer in the 1950s whose biggest hit was "Mercy, Mr. Percy". Life and career She was born in Harlem, New York, and spent much of her childhood in hos ...
and Danny Cobb. The concert was held on March 21, 1952. More tickets were printed than the arena's actual capacity, in part due to
counterfeit To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...
ing and a printing error. With an estimated 20,000 individuals trying to crowd into an arena that held slightly more than half that — and worries that a riot might break out as people tried to crowd in — the fire authorities shut down the concert after the first song by opening act
Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams (July 13, 1915 – September 14, 2002) was an American jazz and blues saxophonist, bandleader, and songwriter. His record "The Huckle-Buck", recorded in December 1948, was one of the most successful R&B records of ...
ended. Freed made a public apology on WJW the next day; he referred to the event as the "ball" or "dance," not as a "concert." Accounts in the contemporary Cleveland newspapers are at odds with lore that circulates today about the event, scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. “The frustrated gathered outside, unable to buy a ticket at $1.75, their number increasing until it amounted to about 6,000” as estimated by Cleveland Police captain William Zimmerman.“Moondog Ball is Halted as Crowds Crash Arena Gate.” Cleveland Plain Dealer, 22 March 1952. “About 9:30 they stormed the Arena, knocking down four panel doors, brushing police away and storming inside. Some two hours and 30 policemen later, Captain Zimmerman called it a night…. After ordering the ball ended, Capt. Zimmerman asked the crowd to leave. Police stood by as they slowly and reluctantly filed out.” This indicates that the event was not halted after Paul Williams’ opening song, and that Cleveland's police rather than fire department ended the Ball. Journalist Valena Williams’ first-person report also confirms that the musical performances lasted for some time: “Paul Williams and his Hucklebuckers left the stage and Tiny Grimes and his Highlanders took over. I thought the acoustics were poor because I couldn’t hear the music. But then I realized that the din was drowning out the orchestra. I looked back at the dance floor and more than three-quarters of it was filled so tightly that you couldn’t see anything of the floor itself.”Williams, Valena Minor. “Call & Post Women’s Editor Caught in Wild Melee as Moon Doggers ‘Break it Up’.” Cleveland Call and Post, 29 March 1952. Williams described sharing her concerns about the boisterous crowd with promoter Lewis Platt, who “laughed”; she noted that “ en the Arena bar was ordered shut down at 10:30 I knew the crowd was disturbing police authority, too.” The “Coronation Ball” aspect of the event referred to scheduled intermission festivities, as Williams explained: “When I got home I was not surprised to hear the live broadcast from the Arena cut off the air. I learned later the dance had at that time been stopped. The midnight coronation of the two most popular teenagers was never held.” Williams’ eyewitness writeup includes her colorful descriptions of the youthful crowd, “most of them teensters.” Though Alan Freed is rightfully heralded for bringing black rhythm-and-blues to an integrated audience on Cleveland's airwaves and elsewhere, the crowd at the Moondog Coronation Ball in Cleveland's Arena was notably different. Williams chronicled for posterity the racial makeup of the dance's attendees: “less than one per cent of them were white.”


Contemporary revival

Cleveland rock radio station
WMMS WMMS (100.7 FM) – branded ''100.7 WMMS: The Buzzard'' – is a commercial radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio. Widely regarded as one of the most influential rock s ...
(100.7 FM) attempted to stage a revival of the concert in 1986 under the name "Moondog Coronation Ball II"; then-program director
John Gorman John Gorman may refer to: * John Gorman (director) (1884–1936), American movie director *John Gorman (entertainer) (born 1936), English vocalist and musician *John Gorman (politician) (1923–2014), Northern Ireland politician *John Gorman (footb ...
had intended for the event to serve as an oldies rock and roll tribute concert – part of the campaign to bring the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and othe ...
to Cleveland. For legal reasons, the event never materialized. A few years later in 1992, Gorman, then at local oldies radio station
WMJI WMJI (105.7 MHz) – branded ''Majic 105.7'' – is a commercial FM radio station licensed to Cleveland, Ohio, serving Greater Cleveland and much of surrounding Northeast Ohio. It is owned by iHeartMedia and broadcasts a classic hits r ...
(105.7 FM), successfully organized a 40th anniversary concert called "Moondog Coronation Ball '92". The concert has been held every year since, featuring oldies rock and roll acts, and sponsored by WMJI. In recent years, the event has been held at
Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse is a multi-purpose arena in Cleveland, Ohio. The building is the home of the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League (AHL). It also serv ...
.


References


Further reading

* {{cite book, last=Wolff, first=Carlo, year=2006, title=Cleveland Rock and Roll Memories: True and Tall Tales of the Glory Days, Told by Musicians, DJs, Promoters, and Fans Who Made the Scene in the '60s, '70s, and '80s, location=
Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
,
Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
, publisher=Gray & Company, Publishers, isbn=978-1-886228-99-3


External links


FiftiesWeb.com: Moondog Coronation Ball

WMJI.com: 2014 Moondog Coronation Ball

WMJI.com: 2016 Moondog Coronation Ball
History of Cleveland Concerts in the United States 1952 in American music 1952 in Ohio Music of Cleveland March 1952 events in the United States Rock and roll