Unforgettable Moments In Music History That Shocked The Media

A Music Icon’s Rap Sheet

Frank Sinatra had a criminal rap sheet. Not a long sheet, but he had one. In 1938, when he was 23-years-old, Sinatra was arrested in New Jersey for the seduction of a reputable woman. Seduction was a crime back then, and an old girlfriend accused him of breach of a marriage promise to get back at him. Per FBI reports: “On the second and ninth days of November 1938 at the Borough of Lodi … under the promise of marriage [Sinatra] did then and there have sexual intercourse with the said complainant, who was then and there a single female of good repute“.

Sinatra was booked for seduction, and released on a $1500 bond. The charge was dismissed when it turned out that his supposedly single accuser had actually been married when she got it on with him. Presumably, the fact that she had broken her marital vows meant that she was not “of good repute“. However, that was not the end of Sinatra’s troubles. A month later, the charges were amended, and he was arrested again, this time for adultery. He was released on a $500 bond. Eventually, that charge, too, was dismissed, and Ole Blue Eyes was free to go on with his seductive ways.

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Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading

Beatles Bible – The Beatles Audition for Decca Records

Beatles Bible – KLUE Radio, Texas, is Struck by Lightning

Champlin, Edward – Nero (2005)

Cheat Sheet – Jimi Hendrix Got Turned Down by the Same Decca Producer Who Turned Down the Beatles

Cracked – 20 Classy (but Still Kinda Sleazy) Facts About Frank Sinatra

Crime Museum – Frank Sinatra

Daily Beast – Night Rock Fans Rioted to Kill Disco – at a Chicago Baseball Game

Daily Beast – Rick James’ Intense Rivalry With Prince Nearly Came to Blows

Encyclopedia Britannica – Disco

Encyclopedia Britannica – Jean Baptiste Lully

Far Out Magazine – The Bizarre Start of the Rivalry Between Prince and Michael Jackson

Fuchs, Jeanne, and Prigozy, Ruth – Frank Sinatra: The Man, the Music, the Legend (2007)

Hamill, Pete – Why Sinatra Matters (1998)

Hari, Johann – Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs (2016)

History Collection – This Day in History: 73 Million Americans See the Beatles Debut Live on TV

History Link – Dance Marathons of the 1920s and 1930s

Independent, The, February 12^th, 2012 – The Man Who Rejected The Beatles

James, Rick – Glow: The Autobiography of Rick James (2015)

Luft, Eric V.D. – Die at the Right Time: A Subjective Cultural History of the American Sixties (2009)

Man of Many – The Story Behind Prince and Michael Jackson’s Rivalry

McDermott, John – Hendrix: Setting the Record Straight (1992)

Mental Floss – 3 Dirty Songs by Mozart

NBC Chicago – Time Obscures Meaning of Disco Demolition

Pawlowski, Gareth L. – How They Became the Beatles: A Definitive History of the Early Years, 1960-1964 (1990)

Piano, The – Conductor Killed by Conducting Staff: The Ironic Death of Jean-Baptiste Lully

Pop Matters – Prince and Michael Jackson: The Rivalry and the Revolution

Slate – What’s Fact and What’s Fiction in ‘The United States vs Billie Holliday?

Suetonius – Lives of the Caesars: Life of Nero

Tacitus – The Annals

Taraborrelli, J. Randy – Sinatra: Behind the Legend (2015)

Ultimate Classic Rock – 50 Years Ago: ‘Beatles Bonfire’ Radio Station Struck by Lightning

Ultimate Classic Rock – Les Harvey, Electrocuted During a Concert

World History Project – Frank Sinatra is Arrested