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Today in Rock History – April 25

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1964, The Beatles have an incredible 14 singles on the American chart.

1965, During a North American tour, The Rolling Stones played at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto to over 16,000 fans.

1965, The Who performed at Trade Union Hall in Watford, Hertfordshire, England.

1967, Just days after the completion of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles embark upon their next project, recording the theme to Magical Mystery Tour at Abbey Road studios in London.

1967, Pink Floyd headlined at the Stage Club in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England. The opening act was The Vibratones.

1967, Jimi Hendrix played  at Colston Hall in Bristol, England.

1967, Janis Joplin and Big Brother appeared at The Matrix in San Francisco.

1968, Procol Harum, supported by The Halluciantions, played at Boston Tea Party in Boston, Massachusetts.

1969, Led Zeppelin performed at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco

1970, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Sullivan County Community College in Fallsburg, New York.

1970, The Jackson Five started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “ABC.” It was the group’s second chart topper.

1970, Pink Floyd performed at the Eastown Theatre in Detroit, Michigan. On the bill were The Frost and The Up.

1971, The Grateful Dead and the New Riders of the Purple Sage played the Fillmore East in New York City.

1971, Yes appeared at the Chalk Farm Roundhouse, London.

1972, Pink Floyd performed at the Allen Theater, Cleveland, Ohio.

1973, Johnny Winter played at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto.

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’ chart topping 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, Grand Funk Railroad played at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1974, Pamela Courson the long-term companion of the late Jim Morrison, died of a drug overdose. It was Courson who found the Doors singer dead on July 3, 1971 in the bathtub of their apartment in Paris, France.

1976, Fleetwood Mac appeared at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California.

1977, Elvis Presley made the last recordings of his life during a concert at the Saginaw, Michigan Civic Centre. Three songs from the show appeared on the posthumously released Presley album Moody Blue.

1979, The Police made their debut on BBC TV’s Top Of The Pops performing “Roxanne.”

1980, Cheap Trick played at Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkston, Michigan.

1980, Pete Townshend’s first totally solo album, Empty Glass, is released in the UK. The US release follows on the 21st. Reviews are rave, with Sounds magazine giving the album its highest rating and Paul Morley in New Musical Express saying the album shows Pete is still an important musician. The album peaks at number 11 in the UK, the highest chart position for a Pete solo record in that country. In the US, it goes all the way to number five.

1981, Wings break up after Denny Laine leaves the band. Paul McCartney says he will carry on as a solo artist.

1982, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder were at number one on the UK singles chart with “Ebony And Ivory.” This was McCartney’s 24th number one hit single as a songwriter. The title was inspired by McCartney hearing Spike Milligan say “black notes, white notes, and you need to play the two to make harmony folks!” It was later named as the tenth worst song of all time by Blender magazine and in 2007 was named the worst duet in history by BBC 6 Music listeners.

1987, U2 started a five-week run at number one on the US album chart with their fifth studio album The Joshua Tree. Inspired by American tour experiences, literature, and politics, the album topped the charts in over 20 countries, and is one of the world’s all-time best-selling albums, with over 25 million copies sold. The album which won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year produced the hit singles “With or Without You,” “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” and “Where the Streets Have No Name.”

1987, Madonna went to number one on the UK singles chart with “La Isla Bonita.” It was the fifth and final single from her third studio album, True Blue, making her the only female artist to score four UK chart topping singles. The song had been offered to Michael Jackson for his Bad album.

1988, Bon Jovi’s manager Doc McGee was convicted on drug charges arising from the 1982 seizure of 40,000 pounds of marijuana smuggled into North Carolina from Colombia. McGee was sentenced to a five year suspended prison term and a $15,000 (£10,000) fine.

1990, The Fender Stratocaster that Jimi Hendrix played at the Woodstock festival was auctioned off for a record $295,000 (£196,000). His two-hour set at the 1969 festival became the longest of his career.

1994, The Eagles played the first of two shows where they recorded their Hell Freezes Over album. Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh, Don Felder and Timothy B. Schmit first got back together the previous December for the making of a Travis Tritt video of their song, “Take It Easy.” The name of the album was taken from an earlier quote by Glen Frey, who responded to the question “When will the Eagles get back together?”

1994, Adam Horovitz of the Beastie Boys was sentenced to 200 hours of community service for attacking a TV cameraman during the memorial services for actor River Phoenix the previous November.

1997, U2’s Pop Mart world tour kicked off at San Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas before 35,000 fans. The tour featured the largest video screen in the world and would visit 80 cities around the planet.

2002, TLC member Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes was killed in a car accident in La Ceiba, Honduras, aged 30. Seven other people, including Lopes’ brother and sister, who were in the Mitsubishi Montero sports utility vehicle when the crash happened, were taken to a hospital. Lopes who was driving the car when it crashed had spent the past month in Honduras working on various projects including a clothing line, a new solo project and a book. She contributed background vocals and her self-written raps to many of TLC’s hit singles, including “Ain’t 2 Proud 2 Beg,” “What About Your Friends,” “Hat 2 da Back,” “No Scrubs,” “Waterfalls,” “I’m Good at Being Bad,” and “Girl Talk.” She won four Grammy Awards for her work with TLC.

2005, Bruce Springsteen played the opening show on his Devils & Dust Tour North American Tour at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, Michigan.

2007, American singer Bobby “Boris” Pickett died of leukemia at the age of 69. He is know for the Halloween song “The Monster Mash” in 1962. The song had been banned by The BBC in the UK, deemed offensive and wasn’t a hit until 1973. It was a spoof on the dance crazes popular at the time, including the Twist and the Mashed Potato.

2009, Rascal Flatts went to number one on the US album charts with Unstoppable, the American country/rock crossover group’s sixth studio album.

Born on April 25: Ella Fitzgerald (1918); Albert King, blues guitarist (1923); Jerry Lieber, songwriter (1933); Tony Christie, UK singer (1943); Bjorn Ulvaeus,  Abba (1945);  Stu Cook, Creedence Clearwater Revival (1945); Michael Kogel, Los Bravos (1945); Ronnie Gilbert, The Blues Magoos (1946);  Michael Brown, Left Banke, The Stories (1949); Steve Ferrone, Average White Band, Brian Auger’s Oblivion Express, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers (1950); Derek Dick, aka Fish, Scottish singer-songwriter, actor, Marillion (1958); Andy Bell, Erasure (1964); Eric Avery, American bass player, songwriter, Jane’s Addiction, Deconstruction,  Polar Bear (1965)

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Today in Rock History – March 28

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beatles-sgtpeppers-inside1967, Working on sessions for the new Beatles album Sgt. Pepper’s at Abbey Road studios in London, John Lennon recorded his lead vocal for “Good Morning Good Morning,” and Paul McCartney added a lead guitar solo to the track. Lennon had decided he wanted to end the song with animal sound effects, and asked that they be sequenced in such a way that each successive animal was capable of scaring or eating the preceding one.

1967, Pink Floyd performed at the Chinese R&B Jazz Club, Corn Exchange, Bristol, England.

1968, Steppenwolf appeared at the Terrace Ballroom in Salt Lake City, Utah.

1968, Pink Floyd recorded a performance of “Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun” for the BBC 2 TV Omnibus – The Sound of Change show at the Abbey Mills Pumping Station, East Stratford, in London. The special, which was produced by Tony Palmer, also featured performances by The Who, Cream and Jimi Hendrix focused on the “socio-political context of rock music.” The show was later broadcast in black and white on November 3rd and repeated (in color) in May of the following year.

1969, Led Zeppelin played at the Marquee Club, London.

1970, Grand Funk Railroad and Illinois Speed Press played at The Warehouse in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1970, Simon and Garfunkel were in the fifth of six consecutive weeks at number one on the US singles chart with “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

1971, Yes appeared at Deutschlandhalle Berlin Arts Festival, Berlin, Germany.

1972, King Crimson played at the Orpheum, Hampton Roads, Virginia.

1973, The Grateful Dead appeared at the Civic Center Arena in Springfield, Massachusetts.

1973, Led Zeppelin released Houses Of The Holy in the UK. The album title was a dedication by the band to their fans who appeared at venues they dubbed “Houses of the Holy.”

1974, During a UK tour, Queen appeared at Aberystwyth University in Wales.

1974, Delta blues singer and guitarist Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup died of a stroke at the age of 69. He wrote “That’s All Right (Mama,”) covered by Elvis Presley, and “My Baby Left Me.”

1975, ZZ Top performed at the Toledo Sports Arena, Toledo, Ohio.

1976, Genesis began their first North American tour since Peter Gabriel left the band, appearing in Buffalo, New York, with Phil Collins taking over as lead singer.

kiss-19771977, Kiss played the first of five sold-out nights on their Alive II world Tour at the Budokan in Tokyo, Japan.

1977, During a UK tour, Pink Floyd played the first of four sold out nights at New Bingley Hall, Staffordshire County Showground, Stafford.

1978, Aerosmith appeared at the Orpheum Theatre in their hometown of Boston.

1981, Blondie started a two week run at number one on the US singles chart with”Rapture,” the group’s fourth chart topper.

1981, Elton John’s version of The Beatles “I Saw Her Standing There” was released as a tribute to John Lennon.

1982, David Crosby was arrested after crashing his car on the San Diego Highway. Police also found cocaine and a pistol in the Crosby Stills & Nash stars car. When the police asked Crosby why he carried the gun, his reply was, “John Lennon.”

1986, The Grateful Dead performed at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine.

1992, Over a $100,000 (£58,800) worth of damage was caused at The Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, California, when Ozzy Osbourne invited the first two rows of the audience on stage. Several others took up the offer and the band was forced to exit the stage.

2005, After playing a warm-up date the night before at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, U2 kicked off their Vertigo tour at the iPay One Center in San Diego, California. The 131-date world tour would see the band playing in North America, Europe, South America and Japan. By the time it finished, the Vertigo Tour had sold 4,619,021 tickets, grossing $389 million. It was the second-highest figure ever for a world tour.

Born on March 28: Chuck Portz, The Turtles (1944); Milan Williams, The Commodores (1948); John Evans, Jethro Tull (1948); Reba McEntire (1954); Steve Turner, guitar, Mudhoney (1965); Dave Keuning, guitarist, The Killers (1976); Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, aka Lady Gaga (1986)

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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 16

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beatles-ed-sullivan-miami1964, The Beatles made their second live appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, exactly one week after the first. Before an audience of 3,500 at the Deauville Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida.

1965, The Who perform at the Marquee Club where they are filmed for French television performing “Heatwave,” “Tell Me More,” “Shout and Shimmy,” and “Smokestack Lightning.” The footage is later broadcast on the ORTF TV 2 program Seize Millions De Jeunes on March 18th. Pete and manager Kit Lambert are both interviewed, the latter in French. Sticking to English, Pete expresses his doubts about marriage and mocks religious belief.

1967, Pink Floyd played at Guildhall in Southampton, Hampshire, England.

1967, Petula Clark was at number one on the singles chart with the Charlie Chaplin penned “This Is My Song,” the singers second and last chart topper.

1968, Jimi Hendrix played back to back shows during his US tour at the Music Hall at Fair Park, as well as at McFarlin Memorial Auditorium in Dallas, Texas.

1972, Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watt’s wife Shirley was arrested after an incident at Nice Airport for swearing and hitting customs officials.

1972, Genesis played at Greens Playhouse, Glasgow, Scotland.

1972, Led Zeppelin made their Australian live debut when they kicked off a six-date tour at the Subiaco Oval, Perth. Police battled with over 500 fans who rammed locked gates trying to get into the concert. Over 4,000 fans stood outside the venue without tickets and local residents jammed police phone lines to complain about the noise.

1973, Grand Funk Railroad played at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee.

bob-dylan-Planet-Waves1974, Bob Dylan started a four week run at number one on the album chart with Planet Waves. The album was originally set to be titled Ceremonies Of The Horsemen, a reference to the song “Love Minus Zero / No Limit,” from the 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home. When Dylan decided to change the title at the last minute, the release was delayed for two weeks.

1974, During a tour of America the members of Emerson, Lake & Palmer were arrested in Salt Lake City after swimming naked in the hotel pool.

1974, Winners in the UK music weekly Disc Readers Awards Poll included: Slade for Top UK group. Top musician, Roy Wood; David Bowie won UK and World male singer, as well as Top single with “Jean Genie,” and album with Aladdin Sane. Top female singer was Lynsey De Paul, and Brightest hope was won by David Essex.

1975, Cher started her own weekly hour of a music and comedy show on CBS-TV. The singer had co-hosted The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour with her former husband. Cher’s new show featured a female guest each week.

1976, David Bowie appeared at the  Civic Auditorium, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

1977, ZZ Top performed at the Dane County Coliseum, Madison, Wisconsin.

1978, Santana played at  Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto.

1980, Rush appeared at the University Of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio.

1982, The Grateful Dead performed at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco.

springsteen-born_in_the_USA1985, Bruce Springsteen went to number one on the album chart with Born In The USA, The singer’s seventh studio album. It was the best-selling album of 1985 in the United States, and Springsteen’s most successful album ever. The album produced a record-tying string of seven top ten singles.

 1991, The Simpsons were at number one on the UK singles chart with “Do The Bartman.” The song was written by Michael Jackson and Bryan Lorenand. The Simpsons became the first cartoon characters to reach number one since the Archies hit “Sugar Sugar” in 1969. Jackson was a massive fan of The Simpsons and had called the producers one night offering to write Bart a number one single and do a guest spot on the show.

2004, Singer Doris Troy died. She had been a session singer with Dionne Warwick, sang on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon, and released an album on The Beatles’ Apple label. She had also had a 1964 UK  number 37 single with “Whatcha Gonna Do About It” and a 1963 US number ten hit “Just One Look.”

2005, Yusuf Islam, the former Cat Stevens, was awarded substantial damages from The Sunday Times and The Sun, after they had printed articles alleging he was involved in terrorism. Both newspapers apologized to the 56 year-old musician for the “false and highly defamatory allegations.” The papers also paid his legal bills and pledged not to repeat the allegations. The money awarded was given to Tsunami relief projects.

Born on this day: Otis Blackwell,  songwriter (1932); Sony Bono (1935); Lynn Paul, singer, The New Seekers (1949); Tracy Morrow, aka Ice-T, rapper, actor (1959); Andy Taylor, Duran, Duran (1961)

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Today in Rock History – December 14

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1967, Rolling Stones guitarist Brian Jones was rushed to St Georges hospital in London after collapsing. A doctor reported Jones was tired and suffering from over strain and was also recovering from having some teeth out.

1968, Deep Purple played at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan.

1968, Marvin Gaye scored his first number one single when “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” started a five-week run at the top. It was Marvin’s 15th solo hit. The song was written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong in 1966, the single was first recorded by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, as well as Gladys Knight & the Pips.

1969, The Jackson Five made their first network television appearance when they appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show.

1970, Grand Funk Railroad performed at Park Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

1971, The Grateful Dead were in Ann Arbor, Michigan where they played at Hill Auditorium.

1972, Born To Boogie,  the Ringo Starr directed movie premiered in London. The film was based around a concert at Wembley Empire Pool, London, England starring Ringo Starr, Marc Bolan and T. Rex, and was released on The Beatles’ Apple Films label.

1972, Fleetwood Mac appeared at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1973, Bruce Springsteen appeared at the Pinecrest Country Club, Shelton, Connecticut. Only 200 tickets were sold for the show.

1973, Roger Daltrey of The Who performs the second of two nights as Tommy in the second all-star concert version of the orchestral Tommy at the Rainbow Theatre in London.

1974, Pink Floyd played the last show of the 1974 British Winter Tour at the Hippodrome in Bristol. These shows were notable for the concert debut of “You Gotta Be Crazy,” an early version of “Dogs” that would subsequently appear on the Animals album.

1975, The Allman Brothers Band performed at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1976, AC/DC played at the Civic Centre, Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia.

1978, Rush appeared at the International Amphitheater, Chicago.

1979, ZZ Top performed at Freedom Hall Civic Center, Johnson City, Tennessee.

1980, Yoko Ono called on fans to observe ten minutes of silence in memory of John Lennon. 30,000 gathered outside St George’s Hall in Liverpool, while nearly 100,000 attend a memorial in New York’s Central Park.

1981, During their Ghost In The Machine World Tour, The Police played the first of three sold out nights at Wembley Arena, London, England.

1985, Whitney Houston scored her first UK number one single with “Saving All My Love For You.” The song, which was written by Michael Masser and Gerry Goffin, had been a minor hit for Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. in 1978, and was also a US chart topper for Houston.

1991, Michael Jackson started a four-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with his eighth studio album Dangerous. The album has sold over 32 million copies worldwide making it one of the best selling albums of all time. Nine singles were released from the album spanning two years (1991–1993).

1999, Sir Paul McCartney appeared at The Cavern Club Liverpool, where his last gig at the venue was in 1963. The show was filmed for TV and also went out live on the Internet.

2003, Ozzy & Kelly Osbourne went to number one on the UK singles chart with “Changes,” a remake of a track first sung by Ozzy on the Black Sabbath album Volume IV in 1972. It was the first father and daughter chart topper since Frank & Nancy Sinatra in 1967.

2004, The funeral took place in Arlington, Texas for Damageplan and Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell, Eddie Van Halen, placed Darrell’s original black and yellow stripes guitar into the Kiss Kasket he was buried in. Several thousand fans and friends gathered at the Arlington Convention Center in Arlington, to mourn the guitarist’s death. Darrell was shot five times in the back of the head during a gig at the Alrosa Villa Club in Columbus on 8th Dec 04 by a mentally ill former US Marine. Damageplan’s drum technician, John Brooks, and tour manager, Chris Paluska, were both injured in the incident.

Born on this day:  Charlie Rich (1932); Frank Allen, The Searchers (1943); Jackie McAuley, Them (1946);  Mike Scott, singer, songwriter, The Waterboys (1958); Tim Skold, bass, Marilyn Manson (1966)

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Today in Rock History – November 2

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who-1965-marquee1965, The Who perform at The Marquee in London where they break box office records for the venue.

1966, “Mississippi” John Hurt, country blues singer and guitarist, died of a heart attack in his home state of Mississippi. Material recorded by him has been re-released by many record labels over the years and his songs have been recorded by Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, Beck, Doc Watson, John McCutcheon, Taj Mahal, Bruce Cockburn, and David Johansen, among other notable musicians.

1967, The Beatles completed recording their next single “Hello Goodbye” at Abbey Road studios London with a second Paul McCartney bass line. The McCartney song had been selected for the A-side for The Beatles next single, the flip side to be Lennon’s “I Am the Walrus.”

1967, Tom Jones kicked off a 22-date UK tour at Finsbury Park, Astoria with Kathy Kirby and The Ted Heath Orchestra.

1968, The Doors played two shows at the Veterans Memorial Hall, Columbus, Ohio.

1968, The Jeff Beck Group appeared at the Grande Ballroom, Detroit, Michigan.

1969, “Sugar Sugar” by The Archies was at number one on the singles chart. The single became the longest running one hit wonder in the UK with eight week’s at the top of the charts.

1969, The Who play McDonough Gymnasium at Georgetown University in Washington D.C. 800 people crash the gate and there is much brawling between the audience and security. Pete screams at them “We know our job and we do our job and we do it right so why don’t you fucking sit down?”  The Washington Post reviewer calls The Who’s show the most electrifying performance he had ever seen. It later appears as the bootleg Higher Education.

1970, Grand Funk Railroad and Black Sabbath appeared at the San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California.

1971, Pink Floyd performed at McCarter Theater, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey.

1972, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York.

1973, Queen played at Imperial College, London.

1974, Crosby Stills Nash & Young went to number one on the album chart with So Far, the group’s third US chart topper.  It included material from CSN’s debut, Deja Vu, and the single release “Ohio.”

1974, George Harrison became the first Beatle to undertake a solo world tour when he played the first show of a 30-night tour in Vancouver, Canada.

1974, Stevie Wonder went to number one on the US singles chart with “You Haven’t Done Nothin,” the singers fourth US char topper. It featured The Jackson Five on backing vocals.

1975, The Who’s European Continental tour continues with two nights at the Messehalle in Sindelfingen, Germany.

1975, Bob Dylan appeared at Technical University, Lowell, Massachusetts.

1976, Black Sabbath played at Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino, California.

1977, Yes performed at New Bingley Hall, Stafford, England.

1978, Aerosmith appeared at the Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1979, AC/DC played the second of three sold out nights at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, England, with Def Leppard supporting.

1979, Grateful Dead performed at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York.

1981, Rush played at Brighton Centre, Brighton, England.

1984, The Reverend Marvin Gaye Sr. was sentenced to five years in prison for the manslaughter of his son, Marvin Gaye.

1991, U2 scored their second number one single with “The Fly,” taken from their album Achtung Baby. The song was also a showcase for a persona Bono had invented called “The Fly.”

1996, Counting Crows went to number one on the US album chart with Recovering From Satellites. The album peaked at number four in the UK.

1999, Foo Fighters released their third studio album There Is Nothing Left to Lose, the album marks the first appearance of drummer Taylor Hawkins. Early pressings of the disc included a temporary tattoo, similar to the one featured on the album cover.

2004, Guitarist Eric Clapton collected his CBE from Buckingham Palace for his services to music.

2007, Led Zeppelin’s eagerly-awaited reunion concert in London was postponed for two weeks after guitarist Jimmy Page broke a finger. The tribute concert in honor of late Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun scheduled for November 26th would now take place on December 10th. More than a million fans applied for the 20,000 tickets available, which cost £125 ($200) each. Profits from the show would go towards scholarships in Ertegun’s name in the UK, USA, and the country of his birth, Turkey.

Born on November 2: Jay Black, singer, Jay and the Americans (1938); Keith Emerson (1944); JD Souther (1945); Dave Pegg, Fairport Convention (1947); Carter Beauford, drummer, Dave Matthews Band (1957); kd Lang (1961); Ron McGovney, bass, Metallica (1963); Reginald Arvizu, bass, Korn (1969); Chris Walla, guitarist, Death Cab for Cutie (1975)

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Today in Rock History – August 29

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1966, The Beatles played their last concert before a paying audience, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California to a sold-out crowd of 25,000. John and Paul, knowing what the fans do not, bring cameras on stage and take pictures between songs. Songs performed at the show were “Rock and Roll Music”, “She’s a Woman”, “If I Needed Someone”, “Day Tripper”, “Baby’s in Black”, “I Feel Fine”, “Yesterday”, “I Wanna Be Your Man”, “Nowhere Man”, “Paperback Writer”, and “Long Tall Sally.” Much of the existing film footage of the concert was captured in color by a 15-year-old Beatles fan, Barry Hood.

1967, The Who performed at Municipal Auditorium, Atlanta, Georgia.

1969, During a North American tour Led Zeppelin played the first of two nights at the Singer Bowl Music Festival in Flushing Meadow Park.

1970, Edwin Starr started a three-week run at number one on the US singles chart with “War,” his only number one.

1970, Led Zeppelin, The Youngbloods, Iron Butterfly and The Ides of March all appeared at the Man Pop Festival, Winnipeg, in Canada.

1970, Grand Funk Railroad, David Allan Coe, The Third Power played at The Warehouse in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1973, John McLaughlin appeared at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto.

1975, ZZ Top performed at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City

1976, Jimmy Reed died in San Francisco following an epileptic seizure just before his 51st birthday. Reed influenced artists such as Elvis Presley, Eric Clapton, Billy Gibbons, Hank Williams, Jr, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jerry Garcia and the Rolling Stones.

1976, The Sex Pistols supported by The Clash and The Buzzcocks appeared at The Screen On The Green, London, England.

1977, AC/DC appeared at the fabled Whisky A Go-Go in Los Angeles.

1977, Three people were arrested in Memphis after trying to steal Elvis’ body. As a result, his remains would be later moved to Graceland.

1980, The Grateful Dead played the first of two nights at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1981, The two day Rock on the Tyne festival began in Gateshead, England, featuring Ian Dury, Elvis Costello, U2, Rory Gallagher, Doll By Doll, Wang Chung, Becket, Dr Feelgood, The Gingers Nutters (featuring Ginger Baker), Trimmer and Jenkins and Lindisfarne.

1981, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Missouri.

1982, The Charlie Daniels Band appeared at Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland.

1984, U2 kicked off their Unforgettable Fire World Tour at Christchurch Town Hall in New Zealand, the first of 19 shows in Australia and New Zealand.

1987, Def Leppard scored their first UK number one album with Hysteria, which also became a chart topper in the US  in July the following year, after spending forty-nine weeks working its way to the top.

1987, Los Lobos started a three week run at number one on the US singles chart with “La Bamba.”  It was also a number one hit in the UK. The song came from film of the same name, a biopic of singer , songwriter, guitarist Ritchie Valens, who died in the 1959 plane crash that also claimed the lives of fellow musicians Buddy Holly and J. P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson, as well as pilot Roger Peterson.

1991, DJ Kurt St. Thomas from radio station WFNX in Boston gave Nirvana’s album Nevermind its world premiere by playing the album from start to finish.

1994, Oasis released their debut album Definitely Maybe, which went straight to number one in the UK Albums Charts on initial release. It was the fastest selling debut album of all time in the UK when it was released and went on to be certified 7x Platinum (2.1 million+ sales) by the BPI. Definitely Maybe marked the beginning of Oasis’ success in America, selling over one million copies there, despite only peaking at 58 on the Billboard 200. The album went on to sell over 10 million copies worldwide and brought widespread critical acclaim.

2005, 77-year-old Fats Domino was rescued from the flooding in New Orleans caused by Hurricane Katrina. He had earlier told his agent that he planned to remain in his home despite the order to evacuate.

Born on August 29: Dick Halligan Keyboards, flute, vocals, Blood Sweat & Tears (1943); Chris Copping, Procol Harum (1945);  Dave Malone, singer-songwriter , guitarist, The Radiators (1952); Rick Downey, Blue Oyster Cult (1953); Elizabeth Fraser, vocals, Cocteau Twins(1958); Michael Jackson (1958); Anton Newcombe,  singer-songwriter, guitarist, The Brian Jonestown Massacre (1967); Alex Griffin, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin (1971); Kyle Cook,  singer-songwriter, guitarist, Matchbox 20 (1973)

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Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Bad Time” by Grand Funk Railroad

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45-adapter-logo2GrandFunk

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Bad Time” by Grand Funk Railroad

This is not exactly the “Footstompin’ Music” that Grand Funk Railroad were known for in the late ’60s and early ’70s.

But once they lost the Railroad in their name and came under the aegis of Todd Rundgren and Jimmy Ienner, the hits started to come fast and furious including “We’re An American Band,” “The Loco-Motion,” “Shinin’ On,” “Walk Like A Man,” “Some Kind Of Wonderful” and today’s Song Of The Day which climbed to #4 on the pop charts in 1975!

The song was on the group’s ninth album All The Girls In The World Beware!!! and was the follow-up single to their huge hit “Some Kind Of Wonderful.”

Pair this song with “Go All The Way” by The Raspberries and you’ve got pure pop nirvana!

The 3D Wonders of The World

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On this episode of The Award Winning 3D RadioActivity, we are playing Wonderous music. Various lists of the Wonders of the World have been compiled from way back when to the present day, to catalog the world’s most spectacular natural wonders and man made structures. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World is the first known list of the most remarkable creations of classical antiquity, and was based on guide-books popular among Hellenic sight-seers and only includes works located around the Mediterranean rim. The number seven was chosen because the Greeks believed it to be the representation of perfection and plenty. More recent lists include The American Society of Civil Engineers who compiled a list of wonders of the modern world, Seven Natural Wonders of the World, and The New Seven Wonders. Typically these include a variety of items ranging from The Internet to the Great Migration of The Serengeti, The Aurora Borealis, The Polar ice caps and a few structures like Stonehenge, Rome’s Colosseum, The Great Wall of China, The Leaning Tower of Pisa, The great Pyramids, San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge, Panama’s Canal, and The Taj Mahal, the mausoleum in India, not the musician with that name.

The 3D Wonders of The World

 

Be sure to tune in next week, when we will feature “One Hit Wonders”!