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Song Of The Day – “Paradise Girls” by Deerhoof

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45-adapter-logo2deerhooflaislabonita

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Paradise Girls” by Deerhoof

Their Breakup Songs was the album that topped my Best Albums list of 2012, and now Deerhoof return with their new album La Isla Bonita. (out Nov. 4)

Emanating from San Francisco (Greg Saunier, Ed Rodriguez & John Dieterich) by way of Japan (Satomi Matsuzaki), Deerhoof have released 13 albums over 20 years of unpredictable music with a sound that would have made Yoko Ono proud and John Lennon jump for joy.

It has finally come to pass that the dance ingredients of Yoko Ono’s recordings circa Double Fantasy coupled with the crunchy noise of her earlier albums which were championed by John Lennon have somewhat reached the mainstream with Deerhoof and their brand new album La Isla Bonita.

The album consists of rough tracks that were recorded in Rodriguez’s basement with the intent to send them to their producer before going into the studio. Upon playing the tracks back, the band realized that they already had the album they wanted to make.

Greg Saunier: “No one gave much thought to microphone placement and other technical matters, or playing the parts perfectly, or even staying in tune. It was unselfconscious, spontaneous and fun, all four musicians playing in the same tiny room at the same time.”

Satomi Matsuzaki later added her simplistic, repetitive lyrics and baby-doll vocals on top of the tracks solidifying the Deerhoof sound that fans have come to love.

Part electro-crunch, part sing-song melodies, part twee vocals and completely infectious in the dance rhythm department, “Paradise Girls” is a prime example of this band’s unique and irresistible sound.

Today in Rock History – May 29

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1965, Bob Dylan’s album Bringing It All Back Home was at number one on the UK charts, his second chart topping album. It would be displaced the following day by the soundtrack to The Sound of Music.

1965, The Beach Boys started a two week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Help Me Rhonda,” the group’s second US chart topper.

1967, The Move, Cream, Jimi Hendrix Experience, Zoot Money and Pink Floyd all appeared at the Tulip Bulb Auction Hall in Spalding, Lincs, England. Tickets cost £1 ($1.60).

1969, Crosby, Stills & Nash released their self-titled debut on Atlantic Records label. It spawned two top 40 hits, “Marrakesh Express” and “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.”

1969, The Who appeared at the Kinetic Playground in Chicago.

1970,  Pink Floyd’s soundtrack to the Michelangelo Antonioni film Zabriske Point had its UK album release. It featured previously unreleased Pink Floyd tracks “Heart Beat, Pig Meat,” “Crumbling Land,” and “Come In Number 51, You’re Time Is Up.”

1970, Jethro Tull played at the Eastown Theater in Detroit, Michigan.

1971, The Rolling Stones started a two week run at number one on the American singles chart with “Brown Sugar.” The song was purportedly about Mick Jagger’s affair with American singer Marsha Hunt. It was the band’s sixth chart topper, and a number two hit in the UK.

1971, Three dozen Grateful Dead fans were treated for hallucinations caused by LSD after they unwittingly drank spiked apple juice served at a gig at San Francisco’s Winterland. This was the first of two nights at Bill Graham’s venue. Tickets cost $2 (£ 1.25).

1972, Paul McCartney releases his bizarre interpretation of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” as Wings. It barely makes the top thirty on the charts. McCartney apparently was making a point about censorship after the BBC banned his political single “Give Ireland Back to the Irish.”

1973, Record executive Clive Davis is fired from Columbia for misappropriating $100,000. He later founded Arista Records and engineered Santana’s comeback with Supernatural.

1973, David Bowie performed at Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent, England.

1973, Mike Oldfield releases his ambient masterpiece Tubular Bells.  The opening piano solo was used briefly in the soundtrack to the William Friedkin film The Exorcist (also released in 1973), and the album gained considerable airplay because of the film’s success.

1973, Roger McGuinn performs his first solo gig at New York’s Academy of Music and confirms rumors that his band The Byrds is finished.

1975, Aerosmith were at Cobo Arena in Detroit, and Rush appeared at the Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas.

1976, Diana Ross started a two week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Love Hangover,” her fourth chart topper.

1976, ZZ Top appear at Groves Stadium, Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

1977, Fleetwood Mac, Bob Seger, Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Kenny Logins all appeared at the Tangerine Bowl, Orlando, Florida. Tickets cost $10 – $12.50.

1977, Manchester band Warsaw, (later to become Joy Division) made their live debut supporting The Buzzcocks at The Electric Circus, Manchester, England.

1979, Yes performed at the McNichols Sports Arena, Denver, Colorado.

1980, Thin Lizzy played at the Hammersmith Odeon in London.

1980, The Grateful Dead performed at the Civic Center in Des Moines, Iowa.

1981, Bruce Springsteen appeared at the Wembley Arena in London.

1983, Styx played at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi.

nirvana-nevermind1991, After just completing the recording of the Nevermind album, Nirvana played a last-minute show at the Jabberjaw in Los Angeles. In the audience was Iggy Pop, Dave Grohl’s girlfriend and L7 bassist Jennifer Finch who brought along her best friend Courtney Love.

1997, Singer songwriter Jeff Buckley disappeared after talking a swim in the Mississippi River, his body was found on six days later, after being spotted by a passenger on a tourist riverboat.

1997, The Manic Street Preachers won the best song award for “A Design For Life” at the 42nd Ivor Novello awards. Other winners included The Spice Girls for Hit of the year with “Wannabe,” Elvis Costello for Outstanding contribution to music. George Michael won Songwriter Of The Year and Most Performed work for “Fastlove.”

1999, Skeletal remains were found by photographers looking for old car wrecks to shoot at the bottom of Decker Canyon near Malibu, California. Based on forensic evidence the remains were Philip Kramer, former bassist with rock group Iron Butterfly, who had disappeared on his way home from work on February 12, 1995. His death was ruled as a probable suicide.

2007, A piano used by John Lennon on the night he died was put up for sale for $375,000 (£189,000) on The Moments in Time memorabilia website. The upright grand piano was part of the Record Plant Recording Studios in New York where the former Beatle recorded his 1971 Imagine album. Lennon was said to be so fond of the instrument that he had it moved to whichever studio he was working in and had used the piano hours before being shot on December 8, 1980.

2009, Phil Spector was jailed for at least 19 years for murdering an actress in 2003. The producer, 69, famed for his Wall of Sound recording technique, was  found guilty of shooting Lana Clarkson at his California home. Spector had pleaded not guilty to the second-degree murder during the five-month retrial in Los Angeles. His lawyers said he would appeal. Spector was given a sentence of 15 years to life for second-degree murder and an additional four years for personal use of a gun.

2015, Michael Jackson’s Neverland ranch went up for sale with a price tag of $100m (£65m). Jackson bought the Santa Barbara development in 1987 for $19.5 million, but struggled to pay for it, until an investment company stepped in to help him save it from auction.

Born on May 29:  Gary Brooker, Procol Harum (1945); Mike Porcaro, Toto (1955); La Toya Jackson (1956); Mel Gaynor, drums, Simple Minds (1959); Noel Gallagher, Oasis (1967)

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Today in Rock History – May 23

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1964, Marvin Gaye appears on American Bandstand singing “You’re a Wonderful One.”

1967, Pink Floyd performed at Town Hall in High Wycombe, England.

1967, Jimi Hendrix appeared at Klub Bongo in Malmö, Sweden.

1968, Johnny Lee Hooker, supported by The Hallucinations performed at Boston Tea Party in Boston, Massachusetts.

1968, Pink Floyd played two late shows at the Paradiso in Amsterdam.

1969, Bob Seger performed at the Hullabaloo Club in Oregon, Ohio.

1969, Sly and the Family Stone, Clarence Carter, and Rotary Connection performed the first of a two night stand at the Fillmore East in New York.

1969, Led Zeppelin played the first of two nights at the Kinetic Playground in Chicago. Admission was $5 (£3.12).

1970, Paul McCartney’s debut solo album, McCartney, started a three-week run at number one on the US album chart.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Columbia High School Auditorium, Decatur, Georgia.

1970, The Beatles album Let It Be started a three week run at number one on the UK charts.

1970, The Grateful Dead played their first gig outside the US at The Hollywood Rock Music Festival, in Newcastle under Lyme, Staffs, England.

1971, It’s the end of an era as Iron Butterfly split up.

1971, Frank Zappa appears at the Ohio Theater, Columbus, Ohio.

1973, Jefferson Airplane were prevented from giving a free concert in Golden Gate Park when San Francisco authorities passed a resolution banning electronic instruments. The group later wrote “We Built this City” about the ban.

1973, David Bowie performs at the Brighton Dome, Brighton, England.

1974, George Harrison announced the launch of his own record label, Dark Horse.

1975, Alice Cooper played at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1976, NBC tapes Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue at Colorado State University. The concert later airs under the title Hard Rain.

1977, Linda Ronstadt begins work on her Simple Dreams album at Sound Factory One in Los Angeles.

1978, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band kicked off their 117-show Darkness on the Edge of Town Tour at Shea’s Buffalo in Buffalo, New York.  Several of the shows are broadcast on radio and become instant classics.

1978, Bob Seger performed at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1979, Due to a record company dispute, Tom Petty was forced to file for bankruptcy owing $575,000. A long-running battle with his record company followed.

1980, Black Sabbath performed at the Apollo Theatre, Manchester, England.

1981, Rush played at the Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts.

1983, Eric Clapton appeared at Civic Hall, Surrey, England.

1987, Twelve former members of the Doobie Brothers reunited for a charity concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. The show raised $350,000 (£220,000) for Vietnam veterans, about two-thousand of whom attended the show for free.

1991, Photographer Michael Lavine took what would be the publicity shots for Nirvana’s Nevermind album at Jay Aaron Studios in Los Angeles. The idea for the front cover shot of the baby swimming was taken after Kurt Cobain and Dave Grohl saw a TV documentary on water babies and was taken by Kirk Weddle. Several babies were used. five-month old Spencer Eldon’s photo came out best.

1992, Iron Maiden went to number one on the UK album chart with Fear Of The Dark, their third chart topping album.

2006, The king of Sweden presented the surviving members of Led Zeppelin with the Polar Music Prize in Stockholm recognizing them as “great pioneers” of rock music. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were joined by the daughter of drummer John Bonham, who died in 1980. The Polar Music Prize was founded in 1989 by Stig Anderson, manager of Swedish pop group Abba, who named it after his record label, Polar Records.

2010, The Rolling Stones scored their first UK number one album in 16 years with the re-release of their classic 1972 double LP Exile On Main Street. The album, which was first released in 1972, had been reissued with previously unheard tracks. Their last chart topping album was 1994’s Voodoo Lounge

Born on May 23: Mac Wiesman, Foggy Mountain Boys (1925); Robert Moog, inventor (1934); Norman Johnson, Chairman of the Board (1943); Raymond Fulwood, Parliament, Funkadelic (1944); Bill Hunt, ELO (1947); Rick Fenn, 10cc (1953);  Philip James Selway, drummer, Radiohead (1967); Matt Flynn, Drummer, Maroon 5 (1970); Richard Jones, bass, Stereophonics (1974)

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Today in Rock History – May 2

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1965, Although he swore he would never allow the band to appear on his show again, Ed Sullivan plays host to the Rolling Stones for a second time. To prevent any disturbances among the group’s fans, the Stones are locked in the Ed Sullivan Show studios for the entire day. They perform “The Last Time,” “Little Red Rooster,” “Everybody Needs Somebody,” and “2120 South Michigan Avenue.”

1967, Capitol Records announces that the Beach Boys have abandoned their sessions for the album Smile. It becomes one of the most fetishized lost albums in pop history.

1969, The Who gave a press preview of their new rock opera Tommy at Ronnie Scott’s in London, England.

1969, The Allman Brothers Band played at College Discotheque, Macon, Georgia.

1969, The Beatles recorded a re-make of the new George Harrison song “Something” at Abbey Road Studios in London. They recoded 36 takes of the song, which included Billy Preston on piano.

1969, Jimi Hendrix appears at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1969, Pink Floyd appeared at Manchester Chamber Of Commerce, England. The show was recorded for the forthcoming album Ummagumma.

1970, One hit wonder Norman Greenbaum was at number one on the singles chart with “Spirit In The Sky.”

1971, Hawkwind played at The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, London.

1972, Bruce Springsteen auditioned for CBS Records A&R man John Hammond in New York. Springsteen played a short set for him in his office. Hammond was so impressed that he arranged a real audition that night at the Gaslight Club in New York for other Columbia executives.

1973, King Crimson played at Alpine Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1974, Genesis performed at Massey Hall, Toronto.

1975, Alice Cooper appears at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto.

1977, Eric Clapton records “Wonderful Tonight.”

1978, David Bowie performed at the Civic Centre Arena, Ottawa, Canada.

1978, Kate Bush was on the UK charts with her debut album The Kick Inside. The album which featured the singer’s number one hit “Wuthering Heights” and peaked at number three.

1979, Roxy Music played at De Montfort Hall, Leicester, England.

1980, Joy Division played what would be their last gig with singer Ian Curtis when they appeared at Birmingham University, England. Curtis committed suicide two weeks later.

1980, The Grateful Dead performed at the Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia.

1991, Nirvana booked time at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California for 16 days. With a modest budget of $65,000 and Butch Vig producing, the band started recording what would become the Nevermind album

Born on this day: Bing Crosby (1904); Engelbert Humperdinck (1936); Lesley Gore (1942); Lou Gramm, Foreigner (1950); Lilly Allen (1985)

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Today in Rock History – April 30

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1966, The Rolling Stones fourth album Aftermath went to number one on the UK charts.  It was the group’s third chart topping album.

1966, The Young Rascals went to number one on the American singles chart with “Good Lovin.” The song had been a hit for The Olympics the year before.

1967, Pink Floyd appeared at the Plaza Teen Club in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England.

1967, Jimi Hendrix and Chas Chandler are interviewed at their shared flat in London, by Ray Jones for the May edition of Beat Instrumental magazine.

1967, The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s first UK Tour comes to a close following two final performances at Granada theatre in Tooting, London. Once again the evening includes performances by The Walker Brothers, Cat Stevens, Engelbert Humperdinck, The Californians, The Quotations, and MC Nick Jones.

1968, Pink Floyd played for a recording of the music program Moef Ga Go at Nederland 1 TV Studios in Zaandam, The Netherlands. Two concerts scheduled for later the same day had to be cancelled due to a problem with work permits.

1968, BBC TV launched The Cilla Black Show making Cilla the first British female performer to have her own TV show. The theme song, “Step Inside Love” was written by Paul McCartney.

1968, Al Kooper announces he is leaving Blood, Sweat & Tears.

1970, Twiggs Lyndon, the road manager for the Allman Brothers Band, was arrested for murder after he stabbed a club manager during an argument over a contract. At the ensuing trial, Lyndon’s lawyers argued that he had been temporarily insane at the time of the incident and that touring with the Allman Brothers would drive anyone insane. Lyndon was acquitted.

1971, Three Dog Night performed at the Civic Center in Charleston, West Virginia.

DavidBowieFiveYears1972, David Bowie played at Guildhall, Plymouth, England.

1973, King Crimson appeared at the State Fair Coliseum, Syracuse, New York.

1973, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York.

1974, King Crimson played at the Civic Theatre, Akron, Ohio.

1975, Genesis headlined at Colston Hall, Bristol, England.

1976, The Who’s drummer Keith Moon paid nine cab drivers to block-off both ends of a New York street so he could throw the contents of his hotel room out of the window.

1976, The Rolling Stones played at Halle Münsterland, Muenster, Germany.

1976, Lynyrd Skynyrd appeared at the Lakeland Civic Center, Lakeland, Florida.

1977, The Grateful Dead perform at The Palladium in New York City.

1977, Glen Campbell went to number one on the US singles chart with “Southern Nights,” his second chart topper.

1977, Led Zeppelin broke a new world attendance record at a concert when they played to 76,229 people at a gig at the Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan. The Who held the previous record at the same venue with 75,962 people.

1977, Pink Floyd performed at Jeppesen Stadium, in Houston, Texas during their In The Flesh North American tour. The set list consisted of the albums Animals and Wish You Were Here, with an encore of “Money” and “Us and Them” from Dark Side of the Moon. General admission tickets cost $10 (£6.67.)

1978, Bob Seger appeared at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1979, Rush played at the Manchester Apollo, Manchester, England.

1980, McVicar, starring Roger Daltrey, premieres.

1982, American music journalist, author and musician Lester Bangs died of a heart attack aged 33. Bangs worked for Rolling Stone, Creem, and The Village Voice.

1983, Muddy Waters dies from a heart attack in Westmont, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. He was 68. Muddy Waters grew up on Stovall Plantation, near Clarksdale, Mississippi, and by age seventeen was playing the guitar at parties, emulating local blues artists Son House and Robert Johnson. He was recorded in Mississippi by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress in 1941. Two years later, he moved to Chicago with the hope of becoming a full-time professional musician, eventually recording, in 1946, first for Columbia Records, and then for Aristocrat Records, a newly formed label run by the brothers Leonard and Phil Chess.

1983, Michael Jackson started a three week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Beat It,” his fifth solo US chart topper. The third single from the singer’s Thriller album featured Eddie Van Halen on the song’s distinctive overdriven guitar solo, but Van Halen was prevented by his record label from appearing in the music video.

1990, Prince played a concert at Rupert’s Night-club, Minneapolis. The $100 a head ticket proceeds all went to the family of his former bodyguard Charles “Big Chick” Huntsberry, who had died from a heart attack.

1991, Nirvana signed a recording contract with Geffen’s DGC label for $290,000 (£193,333.)

1999, Nazareth drummer Darrell Sweet died aged 52, after suffering a fatal heart attack before a show in New Albany, Indiana. Nazareth had the 1973 UK number nine single “Broken Down Angel,” and the 1976 US top eight single “Love Hurts.”

2005, The Dave Matthews Band agreed to pay $200,000 (£105,000) after their tour bus dumped human waste on a boatload of tourists in Chicago in August 2004. Bus driver Stefan Wohl who was alone on board the bus at the time the sewage was dumped was fined $10,000 (£5,200.) The band had already donated $100,000 (£54,252) to two groups that protect the Chicago River and its surrounding area. The Dave Matthews Band offered their “deepest apologies” to more than 100 boat passengers who were on an architectural tour.

2008, Gail Renard, who was given the hand written lyrics to “Give Peace A Chance” by John Lennon in 1969, announced plans to sell the lyric sheet at a Christie’s auction. At the time, Lennon told Renard to hang on to the piece of paper, saying “It will be worth something someday.” The piece of music history was expected to fetch around $400,000 (£266,667.)  When it was actually sold in July later that year, it went for $790,000 (£400,000.)

2015, Ben E. King,  born Benjamin Earl Nelson, soul and R&B singer with The Drifters, died at the Hackensack University Medical Center at the age of 76. The Drifters had the 1960 US number one and UK number two single “Save The Last Dance For Me,” and King scored the the 1987 UK number one solo single “Stand By Me,”  which was first released in 1961.

Born on April 30: Percy Heath, American bassist, Heath Brothers, Modern Jazz Quartet (1923);  Johnny Horton, American singer-songwriter, guitarist (1925); Johnny Farina, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, Santo & Johnny (1941); Bobby Vee (1943);  Wayne Kramer, MC5 (1948); Merrill Osmond, American singer, bass player, actor,The Osmonds (1953); Chris Henderson, guitarist, 3 Doors Down (1971); J. R. Richards, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, Dishwalla (1972)

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Song Of The Day – “Hey Hey My My (Into The Black)” by Devo w/Neil Young

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HumanHighwayQ: Where do the worlds of The Kingston Trio, Devo and Neil Young all collide?

A: In the film Human Highway, of course!

Human Highway was a dreadful film released by Bernard Shakey (aka Neil Young) in 1982. The move was filmed between 1978 and 1981 and it starred Neil Young, Dean Stockwell, Dennis Hopper, Russ Tamblyn and Devo. It was briefly shown in movie theaters upon its release and was never to be seen again until its home video release in 1995 on VHS. It is currently out of print.

While the movie is quirky and mostly incoherent, it is also very funny and somewhat entertaining in places. Devo were cast as Nuclear “Garbagepersons,” but getting into the convoluted plot that deals with a nuclear power plant and the last day on earth would be as convoluted as watching the film again.

Devo can be seen performing the Kingston Trio classic “Worried Man Blues” on the back of a truck and “Hey Hey My My (Into The Black)” with Mark Mothersbaugh in his “Booji Boy” guise on the vocals and Neil Young on guitar. In fact, it was in this performance that Mothersbaugh first uttered the words “rust never sleeps” that gave Young the title to his next record.

Song Of The Day – “Punk Prayer” by Pussy Riot

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pussyriot1PussyRiot2Pussy Riot – what they lack in musical aptitude, they surely make up with unbridled punk rock spirit. The merits of their talent or lack thereof, are totally beside the point anyway. Pussy Riot return punk rock to its purest essence: protest, entertainment and fashion.

Pussy Riot formed in Moscow in 2011 with an ever-changing lineup of young women numbering up to twenty different members. In essence, Pussy Riot is more movement than musical outfit, and the aforementioned style comes down to the brightly colored balaclavas they wear during performance to obscure their real identities.

Pussy Riot’s brand of entertainment is known as guerilla performance, where the group members show up to perform in places specifically chosen to create outrage, in order to gain media attention and make a statement. Today’s Song Of The Day, “Punk Prayer,” is the performance that landed three Pussy Riot members in jail for the punk protest they staged in Moscow’s very conservative Cathedral Of Christ The Savior on February 12, 2012. The video mixes raw footage of the actual protest with their studio recording called “Punk Prayer – Mother of God, Chase Putin Away!”

The performance and publicity that followed didn’t play well in Putin’s Russia and landed two of the group members, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, in jail in March of 2012, charged with the crime of hooliganism. A third member, Yekaterina Samutsevich, was also arrested several days later in March. The young women were denied bail and held in custody until their trial began in late July.

Pussy Riot said their protest was a political statement, but prosecutors argued that the band was trying to “incite religious hatred” against the Orthodox Church. On August 17, 2012, the three members were convicted of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, and each was sentenced to two years imprisonment.

Samutsevich was released from prison a few months later (in October of 2012) after her lawyer successfully argued that she didn’t actually participate in the demonstration because security did not permit her to enter the church. Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova remain in prison where they have been met with a fair amount of disdain by the prison population. (Two other Pussy Riot members managed to escape prosecution and left the country.)

Russian political rights activists see Pussy Riot’s imprisonment as politically motivated, and sentiment within Russia, and indeed the rest of the world, has been met with equal amounts of disdain for Putin’s Russia.

While in jail, members of Pussy Riot continue to stage guerilla performances and  most recently released a video called Like A Red Prison (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOM_3QH3bBw) filmed at a Russian oil refinery, although both Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova have denied that the video was an official Pussy Riot performance.

For more information on Pussy Riot, check out the excellent HBO documentary Pussy Riot; A Punk Prayer, directed by Mike Lerner and Maksim Pozdorovkin, or go to http://freepussyriot.org/about on line.

Today in Rock History – April 5

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1967, Monkees fans walked from London’s Marble Arch to the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square to protest Davy Jones’ planned call-up to the army. Jones was exempted because he was deemed responsible for supporting his father.

1968, The first date of a twice-nightly UK tour featuring, Amen Corner, Gene Pitney, Status Quo, Simon Dupree & The Big Sound, and Don Partridge kicked off at The Odeon Theatre, Lewisham, London.

1968, Vanilla Fudge played at Tad Gormley Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1969, Led Zeppelin appeared at the Roundhouse in Dagenham in East London.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Ludlow Garage, Cincinnati, Ohio.

1971, Rolling Stones Leave England and become tax-exiles. In an interview with Mick Jagger and Roy Carter of the NME shortly before the release of Exile on Main Street, Mick said, “So after working for eight years I discovered at the end that nobody had ever paid my taxes and I owed a fortune. So then you have to leave the country. So I said fuck it, and left the country.”

1971, Keith Moon performs again as part of an All-Star Jam Session at the Bumpers Club in London.

1971, The Grateful Dead performed at the Manhattan Center in New York City.

1972, Elvis Presley kicked of a 15-date US tour at the Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York.

1973, Yes appeared at The Forum, Inglewood, California.

1974, Genesis performed at the Embassy Theatre, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

1975, Minnie Riperton went to number one on the singles chart with the Stevie Wonder produced song “Loving You.” It was the singer’s only chart hit. Riperton died of cancer in July 1979.

1975, Lynyrd Skynyrd played at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1977, David Bowie plays keyboards and sings backing vocals on Iggy Pop’s US tour. This night’s stop is at the Paramount Theater in Seattle, Washington.

1977, Black Sabbath appeared at the Pavillion de Paris, Paris.

1978, Duran Duran made their live debut at The Lecture Theatre, Birmingham Polytechnic.

1979, Roxy Music played at the Masonic Auditorium, Detroit, Michigan.

1980, The Grateful Dead were the musical guests on Saturday Night Live. They performed “Alabama Getaway” and “Saint of Circumstance.”

1980, Genesis scored their first number one album when Duke went to the top of the charts.

R.E.M., circa 1980

1980, R.E.M. played their first ever gig when they appeared at St Mary’s Episcopal Church, Athens, Georgia.

1981, Canned Heat singer Bob “The Bear” Hite died of a heart attack aged 36. He played at both the 1967 Monterrey Pop Festival and the 1969 Woodstock Festival.

1983, Danny Rapp, leader of 50’s group Danny and the Juniors committed suicide in a hotel in Arizona by shooting himself.

1984, Marvin Gaye’s funeral took place at The Forest Lawn Cemetery, Los Angeles. Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Berry Gordy, and other Motown singers, writers and producers, attended the service.

1985, At 3:50pm GMT, over 5,000 radio stations worldwide aired the charity single by USA for Africa ‘We Are The World’. The single went on to be a number one hit in the US and the UK, and most Western territories.

1994, Kurt Cobain committed suicide by shooting himself in the head at his home in Seattle. Cobain’s body wasn’t discovered until April 8, by an electrician who had arrived to install a security system, who initially believed that Cobain was asleep, until he saw the shotgun pointing at his chin. A suicide note was found that said, “I haven’t felt the excitement of listening to as well as creating music, along with really writing . . . for too many years now.” A high concentration of heroin and traces of Valium were found in Cobain’s body. His death was officially ruled as suicide by a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head.

1997, The Chemical Brothers went to number one on the UK singles chart with “Block Rockin Beats.” The song was taken from their second album Dig Your Own Hole, and won a Grammy award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

1998, British drummer Cozy Powell (Colin Flooks) was killed when his car smashed into crash barriers on the M4 motorway near Bristol, England. Powell had worked with the Jeff Beck Group, Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Brian May, Peter Green, and the ELP spin-off Emerson, Lake, and Powell.

2003, Paul McCartney kicked off the UK leg of his Back In The World Tour at Hallam FM Arena in Sheffield, England, a year after it began in America. The set included 22 Beatles songs.

2006, Gene Pitney was found dead aged 65 in his bed in a Cardiff hotel. The American singer was on a UK tour and had shown no signs of illness. Pitney helped the Rolling Stones break the American market with his endorsement of the band. Jagger and Richards wrote his hit “That Girl Belongs to Yesterday,” which became the Stones duo’s first composition to reach the American charts. He scored the 1962 US No.4 single “Only Love Can Break A Heart.” and 1967 solo UK No.5 & 1989 UK No.1 single with Marc Almond “Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart,” plus over 15 other US & UK Top 40 hits.

2007, Former KISS guitarist Mark St. John died from an apparent brain hemorrhage at the age of 51. St. John was KISS’ third official guitarist, having replaced Vinnie Vincent in 1984. He appeared on the album Animalize.

2011, A statue in tribute to Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain was unveiled in his hometown of Aberdeen, Washington, The unveiling marked the 17th anniversary of Cobain’s death. The statue designed by local artists Kim and Lora Malakoff was of his signature Fender Jag-Stang guitar. The concrete guitar was eight and a half feet tall and also featured a ribbon with lyrics written on it from Nirvana’s “On a Plain.” It reads: “One more special message to go and then I’m done and I can go home.”

Born on April 5: Tony Williams, The Platters (1928); Peter Grant, manager, Led Zeppelin (1935); Ronny White, The Miracles (1939); Dave Swarbick, Fairport Convention (1941); Alan Clarke, The Hollies (1942); – Les Binks, Irish drummer and songwriter, Judas Priest, Lionheart, Tytan (1948); Dave Holland, Judas Priest (1948); Agnetha Fältskog, Swedish singer-songwriter, producer ABBA (1950); Stan Ridgway, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, Wall of Voodoo, Drywall (1952); Mike McCready, Pearl Jam (1966); Paula Cole, American singer-songwriter, pianist (1968); Pharrell Williams (1973)

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Today in Rock History – April 2

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The Beach Boys, 1964

1964, The Beach Boys recorded their next single “I Get Around,” which became their first US number one in the summer of ’64.

1965, The Who made their first radio appearance on the UK BBC’s Joe Loss Pop Show.

1966, a charity concert at The Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, California, took place featuring, Jan and Dean, Sonny & Cher, The Mamas And The Papas, The Turtles, Otis Redding, Donovan, and Bob Lind.

1967, 154 Austrian Rolling Stones fans were arrested when a riot broke out at a 14,000-seated Town Hall gig; a smoke bomb was thrown on the stage.

1967, Steve Winwood leaves the Spencer Davis Group to form his own band, Traffic.

1968, Janis Joplin and Big Brother & the Holding Company, as her band was being billed, performed at The New Generation in New York.

1968, Jimi Hendrix appeared at the Paul Suave Arena, Montreal, Canada.

1969, Bruce Springsteen’s new group Child made their live debut at the Pandemonium Club in Wanamassa, New Jersey.

1970, Phil Spector completed final editing and mixing for The Beatles Let It Be album, 16 months after the “Get Back” project had begun.

1970, Janis Joplin decides to get a tattoo on her wrist and another over her heart reading “One for the Boys.”

1971, Janis Joplin was posthumously at number one on the album charts with Pearl.

1971, Ringo Starr releases his debut single, “It Don’t Come Easy.”

1973, The Grateful Dead performed at the Boston Garden.

1973, Led Zeppelin played at the Centre Sportif on the Ile de Vannes, in Paris. The setlist: Rock and Roll, Over the Hills and Far Away, Black Dog, Misty Mountain Hop, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Dancing Days, Bron-Y-Aur Stomp, The Song Remains the Same, Rain Song, Dazed and Confused (incl. San Francisco), Stairway to Heaven, Whole Lotta Love (medley including Everybody Needs Someone To Love, Let That Boy Boogie, I’m Going Down, (You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care, Let’s Have a Party, I Can’t Quit You Baby), Heartbreaker.

1974, Queen performed at Barbarella’s, Birmingham, England.

1975, Genesis appeared at Killesberghalle, Stuttgart, Germany.

1976, Robin Trower played at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1977, Abba were at number one on the UK singles chart with their fifth chart topper, “Knowing Me, Knowing You.” The song was also a Top ten hit in over 15 countries.

1977, Fleetwood Mac went to number one on the US album chart with Rumours. Also on this day Fleetwood Mac kicked off a 7-date UK tour at the Odeon, Birmingham, England.

1983, Pink Floyd release the US version of The Final Cut, their last album with Roger Waters. The UK release took place on March 21st.

1987, U2 kicked off their 29-date North American Joshua Tree tour at Arizona State Activity Centre in Phoenix.

1987, One of the greatest jazz drummers of all time, Buddy Rich died aged 69 due to complications caused by a brain tumor. Rich worked with many acts including, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey’s band, Dizzy Gillespie and Oscar Peterson. Rush’s Neil Peart organized a pair of 90s tribute albums (titled Burning for Buddy), which also featured the work of Kenny Aronoff, Dave Weckl, Steve Gadd, Max Roach, Steve Smith and Matt Sorum.

1990, Nirvana went into Smart Studios in Madison, Wisconsin and started work on demo versions of “In Bloom,” “Dive,” “Lithium,” “Pay To Play,” “Imodium,” “Sappy,” and “Polly,” with Butch Vig producing.

1998, Rob Pilatus, one half of pop duo Milli Vanilli was found dead in a Frankfurt Hotel room after taking a lethal combination of drugs and alcohol. Milli Vanilli won the 1989 best new artist Grammy after hits like “Blame it on the Rain” and “Girl, You Know It’s True,” selling 30 million singles and 14 million albums. But in late 1990, the performers were stripped of the award after it was revealed that neither actually sang on the Milli Vanilli album.

2003,  soul singer Edwin Starr died at his British home in Nottingham aged 61. Formed The Future Tones in 1957, had the 1970 US number one and UK number three anti-Vietnam War protest song “War.” According to Starr, the song was recorded in one take.

2006, A John Lennon schoolbook containing the 12-year-old’s drawing of Lewis Carroll’s poem The Walrus and the Carpenter was sold at auction for £126,500, ($239,733). The poem inspired Lennon to write The Beatles’ 1967 song “I Am the Walrus.” Also sold for £12,000, ($22,741) was a ship’s log book written by Lennon during a stormy trip to Bermuda in 1980, and a letter from Paul McCartney to his bandmates Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr failed to reach its £50,000, ($94,742) reserve price

2006, Gnarls Barkley started an eight-week run at number one on the UK singles chart with “Crazy.” The American duo made chart history by becoming the first act ever to reach the top of the charts through computer downloads only. The single was not available to buy in shops until the following week.

2013, A grand piano used in the Motown Records studios was fully restored and put on display at a museum dedicated to the legendary record label in Detroit. Sir Paul McCartney helped fund the restoration of the 1877 Steinway, which was originally in Motown’s Studio B. and was used to create hits for names including Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Edwin Starr.

Born on April 2: Serge Gainsbourg, (1928); Marvin Gaye (1939); Leon Russell (1941); Emmylou Harris (1947); Leon Wilkeson, bass, Lynyrd Skynyrd (1952); David Robinson, The Cars (1953);  Greg Camp, Smash Mouth (1967)

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Song Of The Day – “Do You Know Who I Am? I’m F**kin’ Snooki!!” by The Jeffrey Lewis & Peter Stampfel Band

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jeffreylewispeterstampfelIt’s a joke…and it’s completely for real…Hey Hey…It’s The  Jeffrey Lewis & Peter Stampfel Band is also one of the most refreshing, rough ‘n’ tumble spins you’re likely to hear all year.

Jeffrey Lewis is a comic book artist and historian who is known for his successful series of Fuff (aka Guff ) comic books. He’s also a guitarist who writes sardonic ramshackle anti-folk songs and has self-released numerous records since 1997. His series of illustrated low budget documentaries complete with fully illustrated historical songs can be found on The History Channel website. (http://www.history.com/search?q=jeffrey+lewis&x=0&y=0) His latest record is a collaboration with Peter Stampfel called Hey Hey It’s…The Jeffrey Lewis & Peter Stampfel Band. It is their second record together.

Peter Stampfel is probably best known as one of the founding members of the 1960s psychedelic folk band The Holy Modal Rounders. He was also briefly a member of The Fugs and has recorded records with The Bottlecaps and if that isn’t enough of a resume, he also contributed to the liner notes for Harry Smith’s Anthology of Folk Music.

Together, the 72 year old Stampfel and the 37 year old Lewis have created a motley collection of shambolic songs that are about as off-the-cuff as they come. If you like your music messy, this is the record for you. The band consists of Peter Stampfel on banjo and fiddle, Jeffrey Lewis on guitar, Isabel Martin o bass, Heather Wagner on drums and Spencer Chakedis on mandolin.

Today’s Song Of The Day (shown here in performance from The Mercury Lounge in New York City) is about everyone’s favorite Jersey Shore character, Snooki. Neither Stampfel nor Lewis claim to have ever seen the show, but Stampfel says that he’s been reading about Snooki since the show’s inception. Apparently, Snooki was heard screaming all the words to the refrain in the song (except for one line – “All you creeps are gonna be real sorry”) when she was arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct.

The album’s opener, “More Fun Than Anyone” originally came from Stampfel’s secret archive of unfinished songs. He says that the only person he thinks is really more fun than anyone is Little Richard. Several other songs on the album have their genesis in Stampfel’s archive including “All The Time In The World” which was finished up with Lewis for this record.

Other highlights on this delicious platter include “Isn’t Summer Fun,” which pays homage to The Beach Boys circa 1963 (Stampfel has said that he doesn’t have it in him to write a Beach Boys tune from  ‘64/’65, his favorite Beach Boys era), “Moscow Nights,” written by the late Fugs member Tuli Kupferberg and making its recorded debut here, “Indie Bands On Tour” which perfectly captures life on the road for an independent touring band, “Money Marbles And Chalk,” a cover of Patti Page’s 1949 hit and “Duke Of The Beatniks” (aka “Dook Of The Beatniks”) which Stampfel has recorded several times before.

The album is self-released and can, and should, be purchased from the Jeffrey Lewis Band website. (http://jeffreylewis.bandcamp.com/album/hey-hey-its-the-jeffrey-lewis-peter-stampfel-band-10)