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Today in Rock History – January 20

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Fairport Convention1967, Jimi Hendrix performed at Haverstock Hill Country Club in London.

1967, The Monkees TV show was shown for the first time in the UK.

1968, Fleetwood Mac, The Move, The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown and Fairport Convention  all appeared at the Roundhouse Chalk Farm in London.

1968, The Who play at Festival Hall in Brisbane, Queensland. The performances go over well with the audience but gets belittled in the next day’s press. “The Who were guilty of playing down to the yokels.” The tone of the press coverage is only to get worse. On the same day, back in England, New Musical Express reports that “Glow Girl” will be The Who’s next single. Pete Townshend mentions “Little Billy,” written for the American Cancer Society and, probably referencing “Faith In Something Bigger,” says he wants The Who to “preach” on their next album.

1968, Having been in seclusion since his 1966 motorcycle accident, Bob Dylan tries to build bridges with the folk community he left behind by going “electric.” He and the Band perform at a Carnegie Hall tribute to Woody Guthrie, sharing a bill with Pete Seeger, Judy Collins, Arlo Guthrie, Richie Havens, Odetta, and Ramblin’ Jack Elliott.

1968, One hit wonders John Fred and the Playboy Band started a two week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Judy In Disguise, (With Glasses.”) The song reached the third spot in the UK. It was inspired by The Beatles “Lucy In The Sky.”

1968, Buffalo Springfield played at Whittier High School, Whittier, California.

1968, The Grateful Dead performed at the Municipal Auditorium in Eureka, California.

1969, Bruce Springsteen had two of his poems published in the Ocean County College Literary Yearbook Seascapes. Springsteen was in his second semester at the Toms River, New Jersey College.

1969, The rumor mill states that Led Zeppelin appeared at the Wheaton Youth Center, Wheaton, during their first North American tour, and played to a tiny audience. There is no evidence of this show ever occurring. Led Zeppelin’s road manager, Richard Cole, does not recall it either. The first Baltimore area show was at the Civic Center on February 16, 1969.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band played at the University of California Riverside in Riverside, California,

1970, Led Zeppelin appeared at Leeds Town Hall, England.

1970, John Lennon and Yoko Ono both cut their hair off in Denmark and declare it to be Year One.

1971, Chicago and The Chamber Brothers appeared at The Warehouse in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1972, on the first date of a UK tour, Pink Floyd premiered their new album Dark Side Of The Moon at The Dome, Brighton, England. Due to technical problems this was abandoned after the track “Money.”

1973, Rock ‘n’ roll wild man Jerry Lee Lewis performs at the Grand Ole Opry for the first time. The Opry officials ask him to play only country music and refrain from using any obscenities. However, “The Killer” plays “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lot of Shakin’ Going On,” before exclaiming, “I am the rock ‘n’ rollin’, country and western, rhythm and blues singin’ motherfucker.”

1973, Bob Dylan begins recording in Mexico City the soundtrack to Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, a Western starring Kris Kristofferson, James Coburn, and himself.

1974, Genesis performed at the Drury Lane Theatre, London on the Selling England By The Pound tour.

1975, The US Top Five singles: number five, Stevie Wonder, “Boogie On Reggae Woman,”  number four, Ohio Players, “Fire,” number three, Barry Manilow, “Mandy,” second, Neil Sedaka, “Laughter In The Rain,” and at number one, The Carpenters with “Please Mr Postman.”

1977, Foghat appeared at the Omni Coliseum, Atlanta.

rumours1978,  The Fleetwood Mac album Rumours went to number one on the UK album chart, also a number one in the US for thirty weeks in 1977. The album went on to sell over 15 million copies world- wide, and spent over 440 weeks on the UK chart.

1980, Aerosmith played at the Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, Maine.

1981, Bruce Springsteen performed at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

1982, During an Ozzy Osbourne concert in Des Moines, Iowa, a member of the audience threw a bat onto the stage. Stunned by the light, the bat lay motionless, and thinking it was a rubber fake, the singer picked it up and attempted to bite its head off. As he did this, the bat started to flap its wings and Ozzy soon realized it wasn’t fake but in fact a living thing. After the show Ozzy was immediately rushed to the nearest hospital for rabies shots.

1983, Def Leppard released their third studio album Pyromania which featured new guitarist Phil Collen and was produced by Robert John “Mutt” Lange. The album has now sold over 10 million copies in the US.

1985, Foreigner had their only UK number one single with “I Want To Know What Love Is.” London-born Mick Jones wrote the song.

1986, Stevie Wonder and Bob Dylan appeared at a concert to celebrate the first Martin Luther King day in the US.

1988, The Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. George Harrison, Ringo Starr, and Yoko, Sean, and Julian Lennon all attend. Paul McCartney does not attend, sending instead a letter stating that continuing business differences with the other ex-Beatles was the reason for his absence.

1997, Ben and Jerry’s introduced Phish Food, a new flavor of ice cream named after the Vermont based rock group Phish. The ingredients were chocolate ice cream, marshmallows, caramel and fish-shaped fudge.

1999, Bill Albaugh drummer from the 1960’s psychedelic group The Lemon Pipers died aged 53. The Lemon Pipers scored the 1967 US number one single “Green Tambourine.”

2001, A memorial service was held for Kirsty MacColl who was killed in a boating accident off the coast of Mexico in December 2000. Bono from U2 and Billy Bragg were among friends and fans that packed St Martin-in-the-fields church in London.

2002, George Harrison had the posthumous UK number one single with the re-release of the 1971 former chart topper “My Sweet Lord.” Harrison’s single replaced Aaliyah’s “More Than A Woman,” the only time in chart history that one deceased artist had taken over from another at the top spot.

2012, Etta James, most often remembered for her signature song “At Last,” which reached the second spot on the Billboard R&B chart, died from complications of leukemia at the age of 73. She also placed nine other songs in the American Top 40, won three Grammy Awards, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

Born on January 20: Leadbelly (1889); Slim Whitman, country singer (1924); Ron Townson, The Fifth Dimension (1933); Billy Powell, vocals, The O’Jays, (1942); Rick Evans, Zager & Evans (1943); Eric Stewart, Mindenders, Hotlegs, 10cc (1946); Paul Stanley, guitar, vocals, KISS (1950); Ian Hill, bass, Judas Priest (1952); Greg Kreisel, aka Greg K, bass, The Offspring (1965); Nicholas Allen Jones, Manic Street Preachers (1969); Gary Barlow, vocals, piano, songwriter, Take That (1971); Questlove, drummer, DJ, and producer The Roots, Soulquarians (1971); Rob Bourdon, drums, Linkin Park (1979); Nathan Connolly, Snow Patrol (1981)

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Today in Rock History – December 18

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1965, U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler records “Ballad of the Green Berets.”

1965, The Beatles are number one in the British singles chart with “Day Tripper.”

1966, Tara Browne was killed when driving at high speed in his Lotus Elan after it collided with a parked truck in South Kensington, London. A close friend of The Rolling Stones Mick Jagger and Brian Jones, his death was immortalized in The Beatles’s song “A Day In The Life” after John Lennon read a report on the coroner’s verdict into Browne’s death.

1968,  In San Francisco Mike Bloomfield and Nick Gravenites assemble and rehearse the Janis Joplin’s new band. A long list of names proposed (Janis Joplin & the Joplinaires, the Janis Joplin Review, etc. ) but band eventually becomes the Kozmic Blues band.

1968, On the occasion of the Underground Art Movement’s Christmas party in London, John Lennon and Yoko Ono hold a press conference from the inside of a white bag. Ono calls it “Bag-ism.”

1969, In this morning’s New York Times, an article claims that American youth’s expenditure make up 75% of the $1 billion spent on recorded music. The issue also contains one of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s full-page advertisements reading, “War is Over! If You Want It.” While staying on Ronnie Hawkins’ farm outside Toronto, John Lennon signs 3000 lithographs from his collection Bag One.

1969, On The Tonight Show this evening, novelty singer Tiny Tim marries the 17-year-old Miss Vicki in one of the greatest stunts ever televised.

1970, Pink Floyd played at Town Hall in Birmingham, England. The set list included: Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast / Fat Old Sun / A Saucerful of Secrets // second set: Atom Heart Mother (with brass and choir conducted by John Aldiss) /encore: Atom Heart Mother (reprise.)

1970, The Allman Brothers Band performed at The Forum in Inglewood, California.

1971, Jerry Lee Lewis and his wife Myra who he married when she was 13 divorced, as he prepared to marry 29-year old Karen Elizabeth Gunn Pate.

1971, Sly and the Family Stone went to No.1 on the singles album chart with ‘There’s A Riot Going On’.

1972, Bob Dylan starting filming his role in the film ‘Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid.’

1973, The Who played at Edmonton Sundown, London.

1974, Genesis appeared at the Century Theatre, Buffalo, New York.

1975, The Ramones performed at CBGB in New York.

1976, AC/DC played at Festival Hall, Brisbane, Australia.

1977, Cheap Trick appeared at the Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina.

1978,  Led Zeppelin finish recording their last studio album In Through the Out Door.

1982, Hall and Oates started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with “Maneater”, the duo’s fifth US chart topper, and biggest hit in the UK making it to number six.

1982, Variety reports that a Cincinnati judge has ruled that punitive damages could not be awarded to the plaintiffs in the Riverfront Coliseum tragedy. Variety also reports that a court decision has cleared the city of Cincinnati of all responsibility in the eleven deaths at The Who concert held on December 3rd, 1979.

2004, A guitar played by George Harrison and John Lennon sold for £294,000 ($570,000) at auction in New York. The Gibson SG guitar was used by Harrison from 1966 to 1969, including the recording of Revolver, and by Lennon during White Album sessions. Other items sold in the Christie’s auction included a letter by Kurt Cobain, which fetched £10,000 ($19,400), and a school book report by Britney Spears (£1,000).

Born on this day: Chas Chandler (1938); Keith Richards (1943); Elliot Easton, The Cars (1953); and Christina Aguilera (1980)

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Today in Rock History – December 7

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1964, Beach Boy Brian Wilson married Marilyn Rovell in Los Angeles. The couple divorced in 1979. Marilyn and her sister and cousin were in a group, The Honeys, who were produced by Brian Wilson. Marilyn and Brian had two daughters, Carnie and Wendy, who became members of Wilson Phillips.

1964, Jerry Lee Lewis, on his first tour of the UK, appeared at The Town Hall In Birmingham with The Yardbirds, Twinkle, and The Quite Five.

1967, Otis Redding went into the studio to record “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay.” The song went on to be his biggest hit. Redding never saw its release. He was killed just three days later in a plane crash.

1967, The Beatles Apple boutique on 94 Baker Street, London, opened its doors. The store closed seven months later when it fell foul of council objections over the psychedelic mural painted on the outside. All the goods from the shop were given away free to passers by and to people who had queued throughout the night for a chance of getting a free item.

1968, The Grateful Dead perform at Bellarmine College in Louisville, Kentucky.

1968, Pink Floyd are part of an all day festival billed as Kaleidoscope ’68 at Liverpool Stadium, in Liverpool England.  Starting at noon and continuing until 1:30 am, the bill also included The Move, Cliff Bennett, The Perfumed Garden, The BJ’s, Reason Why, The Klubs, The Mumbles, The New Mojo Band, The Curiosity Shoppe, The Pattern People, The Chapter Six, Mick Burns, and The Humphrey Lyttleton Band.

1969, King Crimson played at the Whiskey A-Go-Go, Hollywood, California.

1971, Alice Cooper appears at Park Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

1971, Paul McCartney’s band Wings released their debut, Wild Life. It was  recorded in just over a week with the mindset that it had to be instant and raw in order to capture the freshness and vitality of a live studio recording. Five of the eight songs were recorded in one take. Paul McCartney later cited the quick recording schedule of Bob Dylan as inspiration.

1972, Roxy Music performed at the Ohio University Convocation Center, Athens, Ohio.

1973, Humble Pie played at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1974, Barry White was at number one on the singles chart with “You’re The First, The Last, My Everything,” the singer’s first chart topper. It was originally written in the 1950’s as a country song with the title “You’re My First, You’re My Last, My In-Between.”

1974, Carl Douglas started a two-week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Kung Fu Fighting.” The song was recorded in ten minutes, had started out as a B-side.  It eventually went on to sell eleven million records worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time.

1976, AC/DC appeared at the Civic Centre, Shepparton, Australia.

1978, Aerosmith performed at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi.

1979, The Police had their second number one single with “Walking on the Moon,” taken from their second album Reggatta De Blanc. The video for the song was filmed at Kennedy Space Center interspersed with NASA footage.

1980, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Pershing Memorial Auditorium, Lincoln, Nebraska.  The Outlaws were the opening act.

1981, The Rolling Stones played at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1985, Mr Mister started a two week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Broken Wings,” a number four hit in the UK.

1991, George Michael and Elton John were at number one in the UK with a live version of “Don’t Let The Sun Go down On Me.” The song was a number two US hit for Elton in 1974. All proceeds went to AIDS charities.

1991, U2 went to number one on the US album charts with Achtung Baby,  featuring “One,” “Zoo Station,” “The Fly,” and “Even Better Than The Real Thing.”

1993, Manic Street Preachers co-manager Phillip Hall died from cancer. Hall was a former Record Mirror journalist and had also worked in PR for Stiff Records. He represented many acts including The Stone Roses, The Pogues, James, The Waterboys, The Beautiful South and Radiohead.

2005, The MBE medal that John Lennon returned to the Queen was found in a royal vault at St James’ Palace. Lennon returned his medal in November, 1969 with a letter accompanying saying, “Your Majesty, I am returning my MBE as a protest against Britain’s involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against Cold Turkey slipping down the charts. With Love, John Lennon.” Historians were calling for the medal to be put on public display.

Born on December 7: Harry Chapin (1942); Tom Waits (1949);  Tim Butler, bass, Psychedelic Furs (1958); Barbara Weathers, Atlantic Starr (1963); Brian Futter, guitar, Catherine Wheel (1965); Winston Marshall, banjo, Mumford & Sons (1988)

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Today in Rock History – November 23

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rolling-stones-19641964, The Rolling Stones are banned from the BBC for unprofessionalism after showing up late for appearances on the radio shows Top Gear and Saturday Club.

1965, Dave Clark Five perform at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

1965, Marc Bolan appeared live on the UK TV show Five O’Clock Funfair, performing “The Wizard.”

1967, The Who appeared at The New Barn, Lions Delaware County Fairgrounds, Muncie, Indiana.

1968, Led Zeppelin plays at Sheffield University in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England.

1968, Pink Floyd appeared at the The Large Hall, Regent Street Polytechnic, London, England.

1968, It’s reported that San Francisco’s Family Dog collective has lost its license to hold its famed marathon Grateful Dead concerts at the Avalon Ballroom.

1969, The Allman Brothers Band headlines the second night of the “Turkey Trip” at Duke Tire Company in Atlanta, Georgia. Other performers included Hampton Grease Band, Brick Wall, and Sweet Young ‘Uns Booger Band.

1971,  Yes performed at the Baltimore Arena, Baltimore, Maryland.

1971, Led Zeppelin played at Public Hall, in Preston, England. Admission was £1.

1971, during a European tour The Mothers Of Invention appeared at The Rheinhalle in Dusseldorf.

1972, Pink Floyd performed the second of five shows at the Salle Valliers in Marseille, France. The shows were a collaboration with the Ballets de Marseille and Maia Plissetskaia, from the Bolshoi Theatre.  The band’s portion of the program was the third portion of the presentation which consisted of a ballet in four movements based on the following set list: One of These Days / Careful With That Axe, Eugene / Obscured By Clouds / When You’re In / Echoes.

1973, The Grateful Dead appeared at County Coliseum in El Paso, Texas.

1974, Elton John started an 11-week run at number one on the UK chart with his Greatest Hits, album. It also enjoyed a 10-week run as the US chart topper.

1974, One hit wonder Billy Swan started a two week run at number one on the US singles chart with “I Can Help.”  It made it to number six in the UK.

1974, The Rolling Stones scored their fifth US No.1 album with It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll.queen-Bohemian-Rhapsody

1975, Queen started a nine-week run at number one on the UK singles chart with “Bohemian Rhapsody.” The promotional video that accompanied the song is generally acknowledged as being the first pop video.  When the band wanted to release the single various record executives suggested to them that, at 5:55, it was too long and would never be a hit.

1976, Ten hours after his last arrest, Jerry Lee Lewis was nicked again after brandishing a Derringer pistol outside Elvis Presley’s Graceland’s home in Memphis, demanding to see “The King.” When police arrived they found Lewis sat in his car with the loaded Derringer pistol resting on his knee.

1977, Aerosmith played at the  San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California.

1978, Billy Joel appeared at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1979, Keith Richard’s girlfriend Anita Pallenburg was cleared by a court of shooting a man found dead at her home.

1979, Marianne Faithfull is arrested at Norway’s Oslo Airport on charges of marijuana possession. She signs a confession and is allowed to carry on with her tour of the country.

1980, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at the Fox Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia.

1981, The Moody Blues played at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto.

1983, ZZ Top appeared at City Hall, Newcastle, England.

1984, Eric Clapton performed at the Sports and Entertainment Center, Melbourne, Australia.

1985, American blues artist Big Joe Turner died of a heart attack aged 75. He wrote “Shake Rattle and Roll,” a hit for Bill Haley and His Comets, and “Sweet Sixteen.”

1989, During a 104-date world tour, Paul McCartney played the first of five nights at the Los Angeles Forum, California, his first appearances in North America in thirteen years.

1991, Michael Jackson had his fourth UK number one single with “Black or White,” which featured Slash on guitar.  It was also a number one hit in the US.

1991, Genesis scored their fifth UK number one album with We Can’t Dance, featuring the singles “Jesus He Knows Me,”  and “I Can’t Dance.”

1992, American country music singer Roy Acuff died aged 89. Known as the “King of Country Music,” he was the first living artist elected to the Country Music Hall Of Fame. Acuff started his career in 1932 working for Dr. Hauer’s medicine show, hired as one of its entertainers to draw a crowd to whom Hauer could sell medicines.

1994, Tommy Boyce, singer, songwriter, committed suicide. He had the 1968 US number 8 single with Bobby Hart, “I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonite.” Boyce also wrote “Last Train To Clarksville,” “I’m Not Your Stepping Stone,” and “Scooby- Doo Where Are You?” He sold over 40 million records.

1995, American soul singer and saxophonist Junior Walker died of cancer aged 64. He had the 1966 US and UK Top 20 single “How Sweet It Is,” and the 1969 US number four single “What Does It Take, To Win Your Love.”  Walker also played sax on Foreigner’s 1981 hit “Urgent.”

2007, Bono and The Edge from U2 made a surprise appearance at a charity gig, playing four songs before 250 people. The London gig at the Union Chapel was held as part of the Mencap’s Little Noise Sessions.

2008, Leona Lewis was at number one on the UK album chart with her debut album Spirit. The album held the record for the biggest digital album sales in a week ever for a new artist and was the 6th biggest selling of 2008 in the world. It has gone on to sell over seven million copies worldwide.

2012, According to a new list of the 200 rarest records published in Record Collector magazine, the original acetate of the pre-Beatles demo by the Quarrymen of “That’ll Be The Day” was worth £200,000 ($320,630). Several other Beatles records figured in the top 20. Low-numbered copies of The Beatles (White Album) were said to be worth £7,000 ($11,222 USD), though a copy of a mono White Album #0000005 sold for £19,201 ($30,782 USD) in 2009.

Born on November 23:  Betty Everett, soul singer (1934); Sandra Stevens, Brotherhood Of Man (1949); Bruce Hornsby (1954); and Miley Cyrus (1992)

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Today in Rock History – September 29

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1967, The Beatles were in Studio Two at Abbey Road in London, mixing the new John Lennon song “I Am the Walrus.” Ringo Starr began tuning a radio, while John inserted a number of random extracts, including  portions of a BBC broadcast of William Shakespeare’s “King Lear.”  Next, they completed work on “Your Mother Should Know,” with John adding organ, and Paul playing bass to a recording made back in August.

1969, The Who performed “Tommy” at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

1969, The Doors appeared at Lincoln Center’s 7th New York Film Festival, in New York City.

1970, The Rolling Stones played at Pala Lottomatica in Rome.

1971, On the last night of their first ever Japanese tour Led Zeppelin appeared at Osaka Festival Hall. Near the end of the set the group played a medley of songs during an extended version of “Whole Lotta Love,” including “Let That Boy Boogie,” “I Gotta Know,” “Twist and Shout,” “Fortune Teller,” “Good Times Bad Times,” and “You Shook Me.”

1972, Yes performed at Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans. The historic venue suffered extensive damage in 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, and has been unusable since then.

1973, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at the International Center Arena, Honolulu, Hawaii.

1973, Grand Funk Railroad went to number one on the singles chart with “We’re An American Band,” the group’s first of two chart toppers.

1974, Roxy Music played at the Odeon, Birmingham, England.

1976, Enjoying his own birthday celebrations singer Jerry Lee Lewis accidentally shot his bass player Norman Owens in the chest. Lewis had been blasting holes in an office door. Owens survived but sued his boss.

1977, The Grateful Dead performed at the Paramount Northwest Theater in Seattle, Washington.

1977, Frank Zappa played at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto.

1978, Bob Dylan performed at Madison Square Garden, New York.

1979, The Police had their first number one single with “Message In A Bottle,” the group’s third Top 20 hit.

1980, Elvis Costello supported by The Stray Cats appeared at the Rainbow, London, England.

1980, Black Sabbath performed at Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri.

1981, Van Halen appeared at the San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California.

1984, Prince and the Revolution started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “Let’s Go Crazy”, his second US chart topper.

1987, Pink Floyd’s thirteenth studio album, A Momentary Lapse Of Reason was on the UK chart. The shoot for the album cover involved dragging 800 hospital beds onto Saunton Sands in Devon, but rain interrupted the session and they had to repeat the exercise two weeks later. A hang glider can be seen in the sky, a possible reference to the track “Learning to Fly.” Photographer Robert Dowling won a gold award at the Association of Photographers‘ Awards for the image, which took about two weeks to create.

1989, While traveling on his motorcycle from Los Angeles, Bruce Springsteen stopped in at Matt’s Saloon in Prescott, Arizona and jammed with the house band. Bruce played a bunch of rock and roll classics, including Elvis Presley’s “Don’t Be Cruel,” and Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen,”‘ and “Route 66.” Bruce also donated $100,000 to a barmaid’s hospital bill.

1991, Metallica kicked off their 138 date Wherever We May Roam world tour at the Civic Center in Peoria, Illinois.

1992, American singer, songwriter Paul Jabara died from lymphoma related to AIDS at the age of 44. He wrote Donna Summer’s Oscar and Grammy Award-winning hit “Last Dance” and Barbra Streisand’s “The Main Event/Fight” and co-wrote the Weather Girls hit, “It’s Raining Men” with Paul Shaffer.

2004, Keith Moon’s five-piece drum kit, custom-made for The Who drummer in 1968, sold for £120,000 pounds ($215,772) in London to an American collector, setting a world auction record for a set of drums.

2007, US rapper 50 Cent was beaten by rival rap star Kanye West in the stand-off to claim the best-selling album in the US. West’s Graduation shipped 957,000 copies in its first week of sales while 50 Cent’s album, Curtis, only sold 691,000. Before the albums went on sale, 50 Cent vowed he would retire from making solo albums if he was outsold by West. 50 Cent axed his forthcoming European tour and a performance at London Mobo Awards, the Vodafone Live Music Awards in London, as well as at an MTV show in Germany.

Born on September 29: Gene Autry (1904); Jerry Lee Lewis (1935) Tommy Boyce (1939);  Jean-Luc Ponty,  violinist, composer Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return to Forever (1942); Ian Wallace, Yes, King Crimson, Big Sound (1946); Mike Pinera, Blues Image, (1948); Mark Farner, Grand Funk (1948); Andrew Dice Clay (1957); Mick Harvey, Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds (1958); Les Claypool, Primus (1963); Ian Baker, keyboards,  Jesus Jones (1965); Jon Auer, The Posies, Big Star (1969)

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Today in Rock History – September 17th

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1967, The Doors were banned from The Ed Sullivan Show after Jim Morrison broke his agreement with the show’s producers. Morrison said before the performance that he wouldn’t sing the words, “Girl, we couldn’t get much higher,” from “Light My Fire” but did anyway. The Doors also performed their new single “People Are Strange.”

1967, Pink Floyd played at the Arcadia Ballroom in Cork, on the last night of an Irish tour.

1967, Fleetwood Mac, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Chicken Shack and Long John Baldry all appeared at the Saville Theatre in London, England.

1968, Jerry Lee Lewis performed at the Civic Center in Charleston, West Virginia.

1969, Media on both sides of the Atlantic were running stories that said Paul McCartney was dead. He was supposedly killed in a car accident in Scotland on November 9th, 1966 and that a double had been taking his place for public appearances. In fact, Paul and his girlfriend Jane Asher were on vacation in Kenya at the time.

1969, Pink Floyd played at the fabled Concertgebow in Amsterdam. This performance was part of “The Man and the Journey” tour. This was a concept piece comprised of early Floyd songs, as well as material that would be included in the upcoming releases More and Ummagumma. It also featured performance art, such as the band being served tea onstage during the performance.  It is a widely available, and popular bootleg.  Also on the bill were Dream, and the Khapholous Light Show.

1970, The Who comes to the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam. They gave a performance of Tommy plus some of their early hits, as encores.

1971, Led Zeppelin played the last of two nights at the Civic Center Auditorium in Honolulu, Hawaii, before heading off to Japan for five concert dates.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band performed at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1972, Yes appears at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Jacksonville, Florida.

1973, The Grateful Dead played at Onondaga County War Memorial in Syracuse, New York.

1973, Neil Diamond’s Hot August Night continued it’s second run at number one, as part of a total of 29 weeks at the top.

1974, The Ramones played at CBGB in New York.

1975, Kraftwerk performs at The Dome, Brighton, England.

1976, The Sex Pistols played a gig for the inmates at Chelmsford Prison, Essex in England.

1977, Rush appeared at the Seattle Center Coliseum, Seattle, Washington.

1978, The video for Queen’s single “Bicycle Race” was filmed at Wimbledon Stadium, Wimbledon, UK. It featured 65 naked female professional models racing around the stadium’s track on bicycles, which had been hired for the day. The rental company was reported to have requested payment for all the saddles when they found out how their bikes had been used.

1978,  AC/DC appear at Lehigh College, Allentown, Pennsylvania.

1979, The Who returned to Madison Square Garden in New York.

1980, Black Sabbath performs at the Prairie Capital Convention Civic Center, Springfield, Illinois.

1981, Blue Oyster Cult appeared at the Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1982, The Grateful Dead played at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine.

1983, Paul Young scored his first number one album with his debut release No Parlez. The album returned to the top of the charts on four other occasions, spending a total of 119 weeks on the chart.

1983, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Eddie Money and Uriah Heep all appeared at Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, California.

1991, Rob Tyner, lead singer with the American hard rock band MC5, died after he suffered a heart attack in the seat of his parked car in his hometown of Berkley, Michigan. MC5, shortened from the Motor City Five, formed in Detroit, in 1965, they released their first album, Kick Out the Jams in 1969.

1991, Over 4 million copies of Guns N’ Roses albums, Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II were simultaneously released for retail sale, making it the largest ship-out in pop history in the US.

2000, Paula Yates was found dead in bed from a suspected drug overdose. Yates had presented the UK music TV show The Tube during the 80’s, married Bob Geldof, and was the girlfriend of INXS singer Michael Hutchence.

2006, Justin Timberlake went to number one on the UK album chart with Futuresex / Lovesounds the singers second solo album and second chart topper.

2011, Adele went to number one on the US singles chart with “Someone Like You.” The track was also a chart topper in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Finland, France, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, the United Kingdom.

2011, The estate of Jimi Hendrix gave the go-ahead for another round of archival releases nearly 41 years to the day after the singer’s death. The four new products included an expanded version of his landmark Winterland concerts in 1968, a revamp of a 1972 live compilation, an upgraded DVD of his final UK festival gig, and a DVD reissue of some old talk-show appearances.

Born on this day: Hank Williams (1923); Bill Black, bass player, Elvis Presley (1926); Lamonte McLemore, The 5th Dimension (1939); Les Emmerson, singer-songwriter, guitarist Five Man Electrical Band (1944); Jim Hodder, drums, Steely Dan (1947); Fee Waybill, The Tubes (1950); John Penney, vocals, Neds Atomic Dustbin (1968); Jon Walker, singer-songwriter, guitarist Panic! at the Disco (1985)

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Today in Rock History – August 9

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1967, The Small Faces entered the singles chart with “Itchycoo Park.” The song, written by Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane, was released on August 4th, and peaked at number three in the UK and at number 16 in the US the following year.

1967, The Who play Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

1967, Scott McKenzie was at number one on the Record Retailer UK singles chart with “San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair.)” The singer’s only UK Top 40 charting hit was written by John Philips of Mamas & Papas.

1968, Janis Joplin performs at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri.

1968, At 2 o’ clock in the morning, after the other Beatles had gone home for the evening, Paul McCartney stayed behind and recorded “Mother Nature’s Son,” in 25 takes at Abbey Road studios. The song was included on the White Album.

1968, Pink Floyd played the first of three nights at Eagles Auditorium in Seattle, Washington. They were supported by Blue Cheer, with lights by the Retinea Circus Light Company.

1968, James Brown & the Famous Flames appeared at Balboa Stadium, San Diego, California.

1968, Jerry Lee Lewis, Marmalade, Taste, The Herd, and Timebox performed on the first day of the three-day National Jazz & Blues Festival, Kempton Park Racecourse, Sunbury On Thames, England. The festival was the precursor to the Reading Rock Festival and was the created by Harold Pendleton, the manager of the prestigious Marquee Club in Soho.

1969, During a North American tour Led Zeppelin appeared at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. Jethro Tull, who opened for the band, were at number one on the UK album chart with their second release, Stand Up.

1970, New Musical Express prints Roger’s rebuttal to Pete’s remarks in his interview of May 31st. Roger doesn’t hold back: “I never read such a load of bullshit in all my life.” He also adds that Pete, “talked himself up his own ass.” To Pete’s charge that Roger thought rock ‘n roll was just “making records, pulling birds, getting pissed and having a good time,” Roger counters that the last few bad gigs The Who had done was because Pete, John and Keith had been “…out boozing and balling all night and by the time it got to the show at night they were physically incapable of doing a good show.” The interview later appears in Creem magazine in the US.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Drive-In Theater in Collinsville, Virginia. About 200 fans were in attendance on a rainy night.

1971, King Crimson performed at the Marquee Club, London.

1971, The Who play the War Memorial Auditorium in Rochester, New York.

1973, Guitarist Henry McCullough and drummer Denny Seiwell leave Wings.

1975, The Bee Gees started a two week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Jive Talkin’,” the group’s second chart topper.

1975, Major Promoter Don Kirshner, holds the first Rock Music Award Show in Santa Monica, Calif.  Among the winners include the Eagles, Bad Company, and Stevie Wonder.

1976, Aerosmith appeared at the Springfield Civic Center, Springfield, Massachusetts.

1978, Bruce Springsteen played the Agora Theater in Cleveland on his Darkness tour. A well known show, and bootlegged extensively.

1980, Abba scored their eighth number one single with “The Winner Takes It All.” Taken from their Super Trouper album. By this time, both couples were divorced.

1980, AC/DC scored their first number one album with Back In Black. It was the first AC/DC album recorded without former lead singer Bon Scott, who died on February 19, 1980 at the age of 33, and was dedicated to him. Scott, passed out after a night of heavy drinking in a London and was left to sleep in a car owned by an acquaintance.  The album has sold an estimated 50 million copies worldwide to date, making it the second highest selling album of all time, and the best selling hard rock or heavy metal album, as well as the best selling album ever released by a band.

1986, Queen ended their Magic European tour at Knebworth Park, Stevenage, England, with over 120,000 fans witnessing what would be Queen’s last ever live performance. On this, their final tour, Queen played to legions of established fans, plus many new ones gained as a result of their show-stealing performance at Live Aid the previous year. The support acts were Belouis Some, Big Country and Status Quo.

1995,  Jerry Garcia guitarist and singer from The Grateful Dead dies at the Serenity Knolls rehabilitation clinic in San Francisco aged 53. Garcia was found dead in his room at the clinic. The cause of death was a heart attack. Garcia had long struggled with drug addiction, weight problems, sleep apnea, heavy smoking, and diabetes, all of which took a toll on his physical condition.

2007, Amy Winehouse cancelled a series of European shows after being admitted to hospital suffering from “severe exhaustion.” The 23-year-old singer was taken to University College London Hospital and later discharged.

2007, Baltimore’s mayor Sheila Dixon proclaimed today as the city’s official Frank Zappa Day, citing Zappa’s musical accomplishments as well as his defense of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution

Born on August 9:  Billy Henderson, American singer, The Spinners (1939); Vic Prince, Pretty Things (1944); John Parry, Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (1946); Pete Thomas, English drummer, Elvis Costello and The Attractions (1954);  Whitney Houston (1963); Sam Fogarino, American drummer, Interpol and Magnetic Morning (1968); Yekaterina Samutsevich, Russian singer and activist, Pussy Riot (1982)

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Today in Rock History – July 20

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1965, Bob Dylan releases “Like a Rolling Stone.” The single becomes his first major hit, reaching number two on the US charts. The song remained on the charts for twelve weeks. It was recorded on June 15th and 16th at Columbia Studio A, on Seventh Avenue in New York. Then session musician Al Kooper improvised the organ riff for which the track is known.

1967, Jerry Lee Lewis kicks off his first English tour since he was hounded out of the country for being married to his 13-year-old cousin in May 1958.

1968, Cream started a four-week run at number one on the US album chart with Wheels On Fire. It reached the third spot in the UK.

1968, The Who and The Troggs played at the Virginia Beach Dome in Virginia Beach, Virginia

1968, Paul McCartney’s girlfriend Jane Asher announces on British TV that her engagement had been broken off. McCartney met future spouse Linda Eastman on a business trip earlier in June.

1968, Big Brother and the Holding Company and Blue Cheer performed at Patio Gardens in Farmington, Utah.The

1968, Hugh Masekela started a two week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Grazing In The Grass.”

1968, Iron Butterfly’s second album, In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, entered the album chart for the first time. The album contained the 17-minute title track that filled the second side of the LP which went on sell over four million copies in the US alone.

1968, Jane Asher announced on the national British TV show, Dee Time, that her engagement to Paul McCartney was off. Paul reportedly was watching at a friend’s home and was surprised by the news. She was said to have inspired many of McCartney’s songs, such as “All My Loving,” “And I Love Her,” and “We Can Work It Out.” Jane went on to have a career in films and television as well as becoming a successful author and business woman.

1969, Led Zeppelin performed in front of 2500 fans at Musicarnival in Warrensville Heights, Ohio.

1969, King Crimson played at the Marquee Club, London.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band appear at Century’s Huntington Theater, Huntington, New York.

1971, The Carpenters show Make Your Own Kind Of Music started a six week run on NBC-TV.

1972, The Rolling Stones performed at The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1973, Led Zeppelin appeared at the Boston Garden, Boston. Tickets were $4.50 – $6.50.

1974, David Bowie appeared live at Madison Square Garden, New York City.

1974, The Ramones decide to make their drummer Joey Ramone the lead vocalist.

1974, Tim Buckley, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Van Morrison, The Doobie Brothers and The Allman Brothers all appeared at Knebworth Park, England.

1975, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played the opening night on their Born To Run Tour at The Palace Theatre, Providence, Rhode Island. This also saw the live debut of “Miami” Steven Van Zandt as a member of The E Street Band.

1975, The Summerfest concert lineup at Rich Stadium in Buffalo, New York was Judy Collins, Dan Fogelberg, Seals & Crofts, with The Eagles as headliners.

1975, Yes played at Rynearson Stadium, Ypsilanti, Michigan.

1976, Buzzcocks made their live debut supporting The Sex Pistols and Slaughter & The Dogs at The Lesser Free Trade Hall, Manchester. In the audience was, Morrissey, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook (soon to form Joy Division) and Mark E Smith, (The Fall) and Mick Hucknall. Tickets cost £1.

1977, Led Zeppelin appeared at the Arizona State University Activities Center, Tempe, Arizona.

1979, Van Halen played at the Convention Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

1980, Blue Oyster Cult performed at the Salem Fairgrounds, Salem, Oregon.

1983, ZZ Top played at Richfield Coliseum, Cleveland, Ohio.

1986, Carlos Santana celebrated his 39th birthday, and 20th anniversary in the music business, with a concert in San Francisco. Previous group members were assembled for the event, as 17 of them performed together on stage.

1990, Madonna played the first of three sold out nights at Wembley Stadium, London, England, on her 57-date Blond Ambition World Tour.

1994, The Grateful Dead’s only performance on this date in history took place at Deer Creek Music Center, just outside of Indianapolis, Indiana.

1999, The Rolling Stones reported a gross income of $337 million, (£168m), from almost two years of touring from their Bridges to Babylon and No Security tours. The Stones had played to over 5.6 million people, selling out all but 20 shows.

2000, The Evergreen Ballroom in Lacey, Washington was destroyed by a fire. During the ballroom’s heyday in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, many of music’s greats played there: Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Duke Ellington, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Ike & Tina Turner and Fats Domino. Glen Campbell had lived in the kitchen at the venue for a while before he became famous.

2009, Jackson Browne settled his lawsuit against US Senator John McCain and the Republican Party after his 1977 hit “Running On Empty” was used without permission in a 2008 McCain presidential campaign ad that aired on TV and the Internet. McCain and the Republican Party apologized for using the song in the ad, and said that McCain himself “had no knowledge of, or involvement in, the creation or distribution of the video.”

2011, Pictures of The Beatles’ first US concert in Washington DC on February 11th, 1964, taken by a then 18-year-old Mike Mitchell, sold at Christie’s auction house for $361,938. Security in those days was very casual and Mitchell was just feet from the band as he snapped the black and white photos which he stored for years in a box in his basement.

2015, American country musician, songwriter and record producer Wayne Carson died at the age of 72 after suffering congestive heart failure. He co-wrote “Always on My Mind,” a hit for Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson and others. He also penned “The Letter,” recorded by The Box Tops, Joe Cocker and Leon Russell, and “Soul Deep.”

Born on July 20: Buddy Knox, singer, songwriter (1933); Kim Carnes, singer; and John Lodge, The Moody Blues (1945); Carlos Santana (1947); Jay Jay French, guitar, Twisted Sister (1952); Paul Cook, drums, Sex Pistols (1956); Michael McNeil, keyboards, Simple Minds (1958); Chris Cornell, vocals, guitar, Soundgarden (1962); and Stone Gossard, guitar, Pearl Jam (1966)

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We Found The Music on The 3D RadioActivity

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Found has a lot of different meanings.
From Middle English founden, from Old French fonder, from Latin fundre, from fundus, bottom.
The first known Use of the word found was in 1793.
Not only that,
it is an aircraft manufacturer based in Ontario,
a SciFi novel,
a band from Canada,
and an unfinished oil painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
It could be a transitive verb – To establish the foundation or basis of;
Base: found a theory on firm evidence;
It could reference the process of using hot liquid metals to mold objects;
It is the past tense and past participle of find;
It can also be an adjective, as in found – to come upon unexpectedly…
Like our search for “found art” in a musical format for you, and that’s just what we did this time, on The Award Winning 3D RadioActivity.

We will be looking at letters and numbers over the next two weeks, and then we’ll play give and take around Halloween, so if you have any suggestions for the playlist, be sure to let me know by visiting and liking The 3D RadioActivity on Facebook or click on my name below to send an email to me!

…Uncle Marty

“It’s not true I had nothing on, I had the radio on.”
— Marilyn Monroe