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Today in Rock History – May 18

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1967, The Beatles were selected to represent the UK for the first-ever global-wide satellite broadcast. The group agreed to be shown in the studio recording a song written especially for the occasion, scheduled for June 25. John Lennon wrote “All You Need is Love” which was thought to sum up the 1967 “Summer of Love” and The Beatles’ sympathies. With the satellite broadcast being broadcast to many non-English-speaking countries, the BBC asked The Beatles to “keep it simple.”

1967, Pink Floyd started recording their forthcoming single “See Emily Play” at Sound Techniques Studios, Chelsea, London. Syd Barrett was inspired to write See Emily Play, by the “looning about” of the early Pink Floyd fan Emily Young, (who is now a renowned sculptor). Guitarist David Gilmour, playing gigs in France with his own band in that period, visited Floyd in the studio during a trip to London.

1968, Archie Bell and The Drells started a two week run at No.1 on the singles chart with ‘Tighten Up’,

1968, Grateful Dead, The Doors, The Steve Miller Band and Jefferson Airplane all appeared at The Northern California Rock Festival in Santa Clara. It took place at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds .

1972, According to today’s New York Times, the Beatles have agreed to split the fortune they accrued in their partnership. Paul McCartney says they’ve come to this arrangement to free up the $17 million that was frozen as they sued one another.

1972, Europe ’72 stop for the Grateful Dead was the Kongressaal Deutsches Museum in Muenchen, Germany.

1973, Pink Floyd plays the first of two shows at London’s Earl’s Court Exhibition Hall after the official UK release of “Dark Side of the Moon.”

1974, Ray Stevens started a three week run at No.1 on the singles chart with the novelty song ‘The Streak’ which capitalized on the then popular craze of streaking.

1975, Five times married US country singer, Tammy Wynette was at No.1 on the singles chart with ‘Stand By Your Man.’ Originally recorded by Tammy Wynette and released as a single in 1968. It proved to be the most successful record of Wynette’s career and is one of the most covered songs in the history of country music.

1977, the third Grateful Dead show on this date took place at the renown Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia.

1978, Bob Marley and The Wailers played the first night on a 19-date North American tour at the Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

1978, The Buddy Holly Story has its world premiere in Dallas. Star Gary Busey is later nominated for the Best Actor Oscar.

1980, Joy Division singer and guitarist Ian Curtis hanged himself in the kitchen of his house in Macclesfield, England at the age of 23. Curtis had the Iggy Pop album ‘The Idiot’, playing on his stereo and left a note that said, ‘At this very moment, I wish I were dead. I just can’t cope anymore.’ Joy Division released the critically acclaimed debut album Unknown Pleasures in 1979, and recorded their follow-up ‘Closer’ in 1980.

1984, Simple Minds were at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Don’t You Forget About Me’, (a No. 7 hit in the UK). Written by Keith Forsey (who won an Oscar for “Flashdance… What a Feeling”) and Steve Schiff (guitarist and songwriter from the Nina Hagen band, the track was featured in the 1985 American teen drama film The Breakfast Club.

Born on this day: Joe Turner, bluesman (1911); perry Como (1912); Albert Hammond (1942);  – Rick Wakeman (1949); and George Strait (1952)

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Today in Rock History – March 25

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1966, At a photo session with Bob Whitaker’s studio in London, The Beatles posed in white coats using sides of meat with mutilated and butchered dolls for the cover of their next American album, Yesterday and Today. After a public outcry, the album was pulled from stores and re-issued with a new cover. At the time, some of the Beatles defended the use of the Butcher photograph. Lennon said that it was “as relevant as Vietnam” and McCartney said that their critics were “soft.” However, this opinion was not shared by all band members. George Harrison said in The Beatles Anthology that he thought the whole idea “was gross, and I also thought it was stupid. Sometimes we all did stupid things thinking it was cool and hip when it was naïve and dumb; and that was one of them.”

1966, The Who play the Corn Exchange in Hertford, England.

1967, The Beatles perform “All You Need Is Love” during a global satellite broadcast.

1967, Jimi Hendrix played at the Gliderdrome Bingo Hall in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The building was originally an open air skating rink. A roof was added just after the outbreak of World War II. The Gliderdrome was destroyed by fire on in May, 1959, but the “new” Glider was opened within a year on Wednesday, January 27 1960.

1967, The Turtles started a three week run at number one on the singles chart with “Happy Together.”

1967, The Who and Cream made their U.S. concert debut at RKO 58th Street Theatre, New York City as part of a rock and roll extravaganza promoted by DJ Murray the K.

1967, The Rolling Stones kicked off a three-week European tour in Orebro, Sweden. Arriving in Copenhagen for the tour the group were delayed after customs officers search all their luggage for drugs.

1967, Pink Floyd played three gigs in 24 hours. The appeared at the Ricky Tick Club at the Thames Hotel in Windsor, England, then headed for a late show at the New Yorker Discotheque in Swindon, with The Outer Limits as support. Lastly,  then played at the Shoreline Club at the Caribbean Hotel in Bognor Regis, as part of an Easter Weekend All-Nighter.

1968, The 58th and final episode of The Monkees TV series was broadcast in the US.

1969, John and Yoko started their week long “bed-in” in the presidential suite at The Amsterdam Hilton hotel. The couple invited the world’s press into their hotel room every day, to talk about promoting world peace.

1969, Yes appeared at Madam Toussauds Hall Of Kings, London.

1970, Led Zeppelin performed at the Denver Coliseum, Denver, Colorado.

1971, Grand Funk Railroad played at Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at the O’Shaughnessy Theater, St. Paul, Minnesota.

1972, America started a three week run at number one on the US singles chart with their debut hit “Horse With No Name.” The group scored eight other top 40 hits during the ’70s.

1972, Lindisfarne started a four-week run at number one on the UK album chart with their debut album Fog On The Tyne.

1973, King Crimson performed at Colston Hall, Bristol, England.

1973, Roxy Music appeared at Festival Hall, Torbay, England.

1974, Rolling Stone reports that concerts by Yes, Gregg Allman, and the Beach Boys have all been hit by streakers, no doubt inspired by Ray Stevens’ No. 1 hit “The Streak.” Meanwhile, Allman himself performs the last date of a solo tour. To reassure the audience that the Allman Brothers Band are not splitting up, the entire band comes out and performs a 90-minute encore.

1974, KISS performed at the Bayou Theater, Washington D.C.

1975, Aerosmith played at the War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, the first date on their 63 date North American Toys In The Attic Tour.

1976, US singer, songwriter Jackson Browne’s wife Phyllis Major committed suicide.

Elvis Costello – 1977

1977, Elvis Costello released his debut single “Less Than Zero.” It didn’t make the Top 40.

1978, 20 Golden Greats by Buddy Holly and The Crickets went to number one on the UK album chart, giving Holly his first ever chart topping, LP almost 20 years since his first release in 1959.

1978, Kansas performed at the Hammersmith Odeon, London.

1979, Van Halen played at Selland Arena, Fresno, California.

1981, Rush appeared at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto.

1982, The Police performed at Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri.Rush

1983, Motown Records celebrated its 25 anniversary with a concert in Pasadena, featuring; The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Martha Reeves, Jr. Walker, The Commodores, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and The Jackson 5.

1993, The Grateful Dead performed at the Dean Smith Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

2002, Bono from U2 made a appearance at the air rage trial of R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, telling the court “I came to court because Peter is actually famously known for being a peaceable person. I once had to twist his arm to get him to a boxing match.” Buck was later cleared of all charges. He had been accused of attacking two cabin staff and covering them in yogurt, knocking over a cart and trying to steal a knife. Buck did not deny his behavior but claimed a Zolpiden sleeping pill reacted violently with alcohol, turning him into a “non-insane automaton”.

2005, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne were forced to flee their Buckinghamshire mansion after a blaze broke out as they slept. Ozzy and his wife were roused by a fire alarm and ran to safety in the garden, rescuing their pets as they escaped.

2006, Buck Owens Jr. American singer and guitarist died. Pioneered the Bakersfield sound a reference to Bakersfield, California. He scored twenty No.1 hits on the Billboard country music charts.

2007, The Notorious B.I.G. was at number one on the US album charts with Greatest Hits. It was the rapper’s fourth album release after being killed by an unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, California on March 9, 1997.

Born on March 25: Johnny Burnette, American singer-songwriter, The Rock and Roll Trio (1934); Hoyt Axton (1938); Aretha Franklin (1942); Elton John (1947); Jack Hall, Charlie Daniels Band (1947); Chuck Greenberg, American saxophonist, songwriter, producer, Shadowfax (1960); Steve Norman, guitar, sax, Spandau Ballet (1960); Jeff Healy (1966); Frank Ferrer, American drummer, Guns N’ Roses, The Psychedelic Furs, Love Spit Love (1966); Ryan Lewis, American DJ,  producer, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (1988)

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Today in Rock History – February 3

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buddy-holly-big-bopper-ritchie-valens1959, 22 year old Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens, aged 17, died in a crash shortly after take-off from Clear Lake, Iowa, the pilot of the single-engined Beechcraft Bonanza plane was also killed. Holly hired the plane after heating problems developed on his tourbus. All three were traveling to Fargo, North Dakota, for the next show on their Winter Dance Party Tour which Holly had set – covering 24 cities in three weeks, to make money after the break-up of his band, The Crickets, last year.

1966, Beach Boy Carl Wilson married his girlfriend Annie Hinsche in LA.

1966, Paul McCartney attends a performance of Stevie Wonder at Scotch of St. James’ Clubin London and has a backstage meeting with the 15-year-old performer.

1967, Otis Redding, The Marvelettes, Aaron Neville, James and Bobby Purify and The Drifters all appeared at The Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, Tennessee. Tickets cost $2.50–3.50.

1967, Pink Floyd performed at Queens Hall in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.

1967, producer Joe Meek shot his landlady Violet Shenton and then shot himself at his flat in London, Meek produced The Tornadoes’ “Telstar,”  the first number one in the US by a British group.

1968, Jimi Hendrix played at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco.

1968, One hit wonders The Lemon Pipers went to number one on the singles chart with “Green Tambourine” the song was a number seven hit in the UK.

1968, The Beatles started work on their new single “Lady Madonna” at Abbey Road studios in London. Recording three piano and drum takes with overdub bass, fuzz guitars, drums, and vocals.

1970, Led Zeppelin II was in the Top 20 on both the UK & US album charts after peaking at the number one spot. The album went on to spend 138 weeks on the UK chart.

1971, Pink Floyd appeared at the Great Hall, Devonshire House, University of Exeter in Exeter, England.

1973, Elton John started a three-week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Crocodile Rock.” Elton’s first of five US chart topping singles.

1974, Black Sabbath played at the International Amphitheater, Chicago.

1975, Led Zeppelin appeared at Madison Square Garden, New York.

1976, David Bowie performed at the Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle, Washington.

1978, Emerson, Lake & Palmer played at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto.

bules-bros-briefcase-blues1979, Blondie had their first of five UK number one singles, with “Heart Of Glass,” taken from the band’s third studio album, Parallel Lines. “Heart of Glass” was originally recorded in 1975 under the name “Once I Had a Love.”

1979, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, The Blues Brothers went to number one on the US album chart with Briefcase Full Of Blues.

1981, The Who play two nights at the Rainbow Theatre in London. The two hastily scheduled shows are a benefit for Erin Pizzey’s Chiswick Family Rescue Organization and were requested by Pete’s wife Karen. At the first show, Pete drinks four bottles of brandy on stage, improvises songs and long guitar solos without informing the other band members and stops the show to harangue the crowd.

1986, Dire Straits were at number one on the UK album charts with their fifth studio album Brothers in Arms. With ten weeks at the top chart spot, the album is the seventh best-selling album in UK chart history. It  won two Grammy Awards in 1986, and also won Best British Album at the 1987 Brit Awards. Brothers in Arms also spent nine weeks at number one on the Billboard 200 in the US, and thirty-four weeks at number one on the Australian Album Chart.

1992, On their first Europe tour Pearl Jam played at The Esplanade Club in Southend, England to 300 people, the band’s first ever UK show. The tour also took Pearl Jam to Norway, Sweden, Holland, France, Spain and Italy.

Born on February 3: Johnny “Guitar” Watson (1935); Dennis Edwards, singer, The Temptations (1943);  Dave Davies, The Kinks (1947); Arthur ‘Killer’ Kane, bass guitarist, The New York Dolls (1949);  Lol Tolhurst, keyboards, The Cure (1959)

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Song Of The Day – “Chantilly Lace” by The Big Bopper

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bigbopperJiles “Jape” “JP” Richardson became a radio D.J. in 1952 and worked for ten years (with a two year break in the middle for army duty) at Texas radio station KTRM where he ultimately became their music director. While working at a sock hop, he decided to change his name to The Big Bopper after he witnessed teenagers dancing to a new dance called The Bop.

Richardson wanted to get into the performing side of the business because he saw it as a way to earn enough money to buy his own radio station. So when a promo man from Mercury Records gave him the opportunity to become a recording artist, he jumped. But while his first single release flopped, his second struck gold.

Today, The Big Bopper is mistakenly remembered as a one-hit-wonder for his 1958 top-ten hit and today’s Song Of The Day, “Chantilly Lace.” Yet most people don’t realize that he scored several other hits including “The Big Bopper’s Wedding,” “Purple People Eater Meets The Witch Doctor” and “Little Red Riding Hood.” He was also a successful songwriter who penned “White Lightning,” a number one hit for George Jones, “Beggar To A King,” a number five hit for Hank Snow and “Running Bear,” another chart-topper for Johnny Preston.

But if you’re going to be remembered for one song, then “Chantilly Lace” is a great one to be known for!  Richardson had great shtick and the song perfectly captures The Big Bopper’s larger-than-life personality with its rolling piano, rollicking backbeat, wailing saxophone and Richardson’s exuberant basso voice gleefully exclaiming “Oh baby, that’s a-what I like!”  It is also one heck of a rambunctious novelty record, to boot!

Richardson was the first recording artist to make music videos. He was convinced that video was going to be the future of recorded music and he coined the term “rock video.” In 1958 he made videos for the songs: “Chantilly Lace,” “The Big Bopper’s Wedding” and “Little Red Riding Hood,” that are now a cherished part of his legacy.

And then came “The Day The Music Died…”

After the success of “Chantilly Lace,” Richardson took to the road with fellow musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and Dion & The Belmonts on “The Winter Dance Party Tour.” His wife Adrianne, was unhappy about his decision to tour in support of the single because by now the couple had a young daughter and she was six months pregnant at the time with their second child.

After the eleventh stop on the tour, Holly chartered a plane to fly a few of the “luckier” tour members to their next stop in Moorehead, Minnesota. (Their flight was actually headed to Fargo, North Dakota where the entourage could catch a flight on to Moorehead.) The plan was for Holly and the lucky few who would get seats on the plane, would fly ahead and be able to do laundry for the rest of the musicians on the tour who had already spent weeks on a tour bus on the road.

Waylon Jennings was one of the lucky few who was supposed to take the flight, but he gave his seat up to The Big Bopper at the last minute because Richardson was suffering from the flu. Buddy Holly’s guitarist Tommy Allsup flipped a coin for the last seat with Ritchie Valens and lost, giving Valens the last available seat on the plane.

Nobody knows exactly what went down (other than the plane) on the night of February 3, 1959, but they took off during a blizzard and it is believed that Roger Peterson, the 20 year old pilot, lost his frame of reference and flew the plane down when he should have gone up, resulting in a nose dive to the ground at 200mph that ejected the three musicians out of the plane on impact. It took more than 10 hours for rescuers to find the accident site.

Richardson was survived by his wife, Adrianne and four year old daughter. His son was born two months later. Although “Chantilly Lace” went gold during his lifetime, Richardson had less than $100 in his bank account at the time of his death, and he never got the chance to pick up his gold record. His death was immortalized in the Don McLean hit “American Pie.”

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – "Party Doll" by Buddy Knox

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Song Of The Day – “Party Doll” by Buddy Knox

Buddy Holly wasn’t the only rockabilly artist to come out of Texas in the late ’50s. Buddy Knox and his Rhythm Orchids featuring Jimmy Bowen on bass also sprang forth from the Lone Star State with this classic in 1957. Like Holly, Knox also wrote his own material…and like Holly, Knox’s early recordings including this one were produced by Norman Petty. Knox also scored hits with “Hula Love,” “Devil Woman,” “Swingin’ Daddy” and “Rock Your Little Baby To Sleep.”

Today in Rock History – February 29th

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1968, The Beatles Sgt. Pepper won album of the year, best cover and best-engineered and recorded album at the 10th annual Grammy Awards. Producers Johnny Rivers and Marc Gordon won for The 5th Dimension song for “Up, Up and Away,” while Jimmy Webb won Song of the Year as it’s composer.  Bobbie Gentry took home a Grammy for Best New Artist.

1972, On the last date of an Australian tour Led Zeppelin played at the Festival Hall in Brisbane.

1972, Yes appeared at the Ritz Theater, New York.

1976, David Bowie performed at the Olympia in Detroit, Michigan.

1976, 10cc kicked off a 30-date UK tour at the Fairfield Hall, Croydon promoting their new album How Dare You.

1976, A Special “Leap Year” concert with The Stranglers, Nasty Pop, Deaf School and Jive Bombers, at London’s Roundhouse.
1980, The glasses that Buddy Holly had been wearing when he died were discovered in a police file in Mason, Iowa after being there for over 21 years.

1988, Robert Plant released his fourth solo album, Now And Zen. The album peaked at number ten on the UK chart. The tracks “Heaven Knows” and “Tall Cool One” featured guitarist Jimmy Page.

1992, Mr Big started a three week run at number one on the US singles chart with “To Be With You.” It was a top three hit in the UK.

1992, U2 kicked off their north American leg of the Zoo TV Tour, at The Lakeland Civic Centre Arena, Florida. Many acts have appeared here, including Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, Rush and Bob Dylan. It was here where KISS guitarist Ace Frehley was nearly electrocuted, during a concert on December 11, 1976.

1996, The Allman Brothers Band performed “Jessica”on The Late Show with David Letterman. Paul Shaffer accompanied the group on Greg Allman’s B3 Hammond organ.

1996, Pete Townshend’s 1980 solo album Empty Glass is certified platinum by the RIAA.

1996, American musician, songwriter and record producer, Wes Farrell died aged 56. He was one of the writers behind The Partridge Family American TV show and also wrote “Hang On Sloopy” the 1965 hit for The McCoys.

2000, Dennis Danell, the founding guitarist for the Southern California punk rock band Social Distortion died from an apparent heart condition at his home in Costa Mesa, California. He was 38.

2008, Mike Smith, the lead singer of 1960s British group The Dave Clark Five, died from pneumonia at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire, England at the age of 64. The Dave Clark Five had 19 UK Top 40 hits, including ‘Bits and Pieces’ and the number one single ‘Glad All Over’. The band, which broke up in the 1970s, sold more than 100 million records and recorded 23 albums.

2012, Davy Jones, the Manchester, UK – born lead singer with The Monkees, died aged 66, in his sleep at his home in Florida after suffering a massive heart attack.

Born on February 29th: Jimmy Dorsey (1904); Dinah Shore (1916); Dave Williams, American singer-songwriter, Drowning Pool (1972);  Chris Conley, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, Saves the Day, Two Tongues (1980);  Mark Foster, American singer-songwriter, Foster the People( 1984);

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