XBOM celebrates the birthday of American rock and roll musician Ray Edward Cochran (October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960 BTB) who made the charts in the mid-1950s and early 1960s with songs such as “Twenty Flight Rock”, “Summertime Blues”, “C’mon Everybody” and “Somethin’ Else”.
His breakout success came when he performed the song “Twenty Flight Rock” in the film The Girl Can’t Help It, starring Jayne Mansfield. After that, he signed a recording contract with Liberty Records and his first record for the label, “Sittin’ in the Balcony”, made it to number 18 on the Billboard charts.
Cochran died tragically in a car accident at age 21, at the end of his British tour in April 1960. He had just performed at the Bristol Hippodrome. Cochran was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.