The Recording Industry Association of America awards first Gold Record to Perry Como for Catch A Falling Star
For as long as most people have been buying popular music on records tapes and compact disks the records tapes and disks theyve bought have carried labels like Certified Gold and Double Platinum Those labels have been in use since the early days of the rock-and-roll era when a young trade organization called the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) created and trademarked its precious-metals-based scale for measuring music sales.On March 14 1958 the RIAA awarded its first official Gold Recordit had gifted an unofficial gold-sprayed record to Glen Miller in 1942record to to Perry Como for his smash-hit single Catch A Falling Star.Those whove been conditioned to believe that rock and roll wiped out everything in its path on its way toward dominating late-20th-century pop music may be surprised to hear that Perry Como was such a viable commercial artist fully two years after the arrival of Elvis Presley.Como a 50-something holdover in a cozy cardigan sweater stood for everything that youthful rock and roll did not after all.
Where rock and roll promised sex excitement and social change Comos act evoked much more staid pursuits.Yet Catch A Falling Star was not the only hit record for Perry Como in the early years of the rock-and-roll revolution.Songs like Hot Diggity and Round And Round more than held their own against more rebellious fare and while they might not have been cool they didnt need to be in order to find an audience in late 1950s America.It is certainly worth noting however that the RIAA waited until Elvis Presleys string of pre-Army hits was over before codifying what was formerly a loose PR-driven process and creating an objective standard (500000 sales) for the Gold Record.
After the first Gold Record was awarded to Perry Como for Catch A Falling Star the RIAAs next honoree was Laurie London for Hes Got the Whole World In His Hands.And while Elvis Presley was the third artist to receive such an honor (for Hard Headed Woman in August 1958) his single Gold Record through the end of 1961 had him tied on the RIAAs list with Lawrence Welk (whose Calcutta was certified Gold in February 1961).
