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Today in Rock History – June 3

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the-who-sweden-19661966, The Who arrive at a TV studio in Stockholm to appear on the Popside program for Sverige Television. Coming onstage busting through a Union Jack paper hoop, they mime performances of “Daddy Rolling Stone,” “It’s Not True,” “Bald Headed Woman,” “The Kids Are Alright,” “Substitute,” and “My Generation” while standing on a ramp. The show is directed by Peter Goldmann, later to direct the promotional films for The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane.” It airs on Swedish television on two days later.

1967, The Doors “Light My Fire” was released in the US, it went on to reach number one on the singles chart two months later.

1967 Pink Floyd, Hydrogen Jukebox, and The Sun Trolley played to the largest crowd that the UFO Club had ever held. The Tottenham Court Road club in London was an early part of the London psychedelic scene. Jimi Hendrix, Eric Burdon, and Pete Townshend were among the rock stars in attendance.

1967, Janis Joplin performed at California Hall in Berkeley, California.

1967, Aretha Franklin went to the top of he US singles charts with her version of the Otis Redding hit “Respect.” It was a top ten hit on the UK charts.

1967, Jefferson Airplane appear on American Bandstand, playing “White Rabbit” and “Somebody to Love.”

1968, Valerie Solanas shot Andy Warhol and art critic and curator Mario Amaya at Warhol’s studio in New York City. Solanas had been to see Warhol after asking for the return of a script which had apparently, been misplaced. Warhol was seriously wounded in the attack and barely survived.

1968, Pink Floyd performed at the Concertgebouw in Vissingen, The Netherlands, supported by Dragonfly.

1969, Yes appeared at the Bay Hotel, Sunderland, England.

1970, Deep Purple released their fourth studio album Deep Purple In Rock. This was the first album to feature the classic Mk II lineup of – Ritchie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover, Jon Lord and Ian Paice.

1970, The Kinks’ Ray Davies was forced to make a 6,000 mile round trip from New York to London to record one word in a song. Davies had to change the word “Coca-Cola” to “Cherry Cola” on the bands forthcoming single “Lola” due to an advertising ban at BBC Radio.

1971, The Band appeared at London’s Royal Albert Hall during a European tour.

1971, King Crimson played at Winter Gardens, Bournemouth, England.

1972, Joe Cocker, The Beach Boys, Melanie, Richie Havens and Sha Na Na all appeared at the Crystal Palace Garden Party, England.

1972, Jethro Tull started a two-week run at number one on the US album chart with Thick As A Brick.

1972, Blue Oyster Cult and Aliotta, Haynes & Jeremiah performed at The Warehouse in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1972, The Rolling Stones kicked off their seventh North American tour at the Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, Canada. The 32 date tour grossed $4 million (£2.5 m,) making it the richest rock tour in history.

1972, Family gospel group of father and three daughters The Staple Singers went to number one on the singles chart with “I’ll Take You There.”

1972, The Eagles release “Take It Easy.”

1972, Pink Floyd released the soundtrack to director Barbet Schroeder’s Obscured by Clouds in the UK. The album which was recorded in Paris, France in less than two weeks, peaked at number six on the UK chart and number 46 on the US chart.

1972, David Bowie performed at City Hall, Newcastle Upon Tyne, England.

1973, Led Zeppelin played a three hour show at The Forum, Inglewood, California. The setlist: Rock and Roll, Celebration Day, (Bring It On Home intro) Black Dog, Over the Hills and Far Away, Misty Mountain Hop, Since I’ve Been Loving You, No Quarter, The Song Remains the Same, Rain Song, Dazed and Confused (incl. San Francisco), Stairway to Heaven, Moby Dick, Heartbreaker, Whole Lotta Love (incl. Let That Boy Boogie, I’m Going Down, I’m a Man, The Hunter), The Ocean, Communication Breakdown, Organ solo ~ Thank You.

1975, Aerosmith played at Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana.

1976, The Grateful Dead played at the Paramount Theater in Portland, Oregon.

1976, Yes headlined at the Omni Coliseum, Atlanta, Georgia.

1977, Rush performed at the Odeon Theatre, Birmingham, England.

1978, Genesis appeared at the Palais Des Sports, Dijon, France.

1979, Journey performed at War Memorial Auditorium. Syracuse, New York.

1980, Roxy Music played at the Palais Des Grottes, Cambrai, France.

1983, US session drummer Jim Gordon murdered his mother by pounding her head with a hammer. A diagnosed schizophrenic, it was not until his trial in 1984 that he was properly diagnosed. Due to the fact that his attorney was unable to use the insanity defense, Gordon was sentenced to sixteen years-to-life in prison in 1984. Gordon won Grammy Award  for co-writing “Layla” with Eric Clapton. Gordon worked with The Beach Boys, John Lennon, George Harrison Frank Zappa and many other artists.

1989, The Fine Young Cannibals started a seven-week run at number one on the US album chart with The Raw & The Cooked.

1990, The Big Day, free festival took place in Glasgow, Scotland with Wet Wet Wet, Deacon Blue, Hothouse Flowers, Sheena Easton, Texas, Hue and Cry, John Martyn, Eddi Reader, The Average White Band and others.

1995, Bryan Adams started a five week run at number one on the US singles chart with”‘Have You Ever Really Loved A Woman,” Taken from the film Don Juan De Marco it became Adams third US solo chart topper, and a number four hit in the UK.

2002, Paul McCartney, Sting, Elton John, Brian Wilson, Cliff Richard, Ozzy Osbourne, The Corrs, Will Young, Atomic Kitten and S Club 7 all appeared at The Queen’s Jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace, London.

2011, American singer, songwriter Andrew Gold died in his sleep aged 59 from a heart attack. Had the 1977 US number seven single “Lonely Boy,” and the 1978 UK top five single “Never Let Her Slip Away.”

Born on June 3: Allen Ginsburg (1926); Ian Hunter (1939); Curtis Mayfield (1942); Michael Clarke, The Flying Burrito Brothers, The Byrds (1943);  Dave Alexander, bass, Iggy Pop And The Stooge (1947); Mickey Finn, T Rex (1947); Billy Powell, keyboards, Lynyrd Skynyrd (1952); David Cole, C & C Music Factory (1962); Mike Gordon, Phish (1965)

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Today in Rock History – April 27

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beatles-studio-19661966, The Beatles began recording the new John Lennon song “I’m Only Sleeping” at Abbey Road studios London, England. Recording began at 11:30 PM. The band recorded 13 takes, concluding on May 6th. The song features the then-unique sound of a reversed guitar duet played by George Harrison, partly because the tape was played backwards accidentally.  Paul McCartney wanted to see if the band could recreate the sound. George recorded two guitar parts specifically for that purpose. It was released on the album Yesterday And Today.

1968, Simon & Garfunkel release “Mrs. Robinson” from The Graduate soundtrack.

1969, Joe Cocker makes his debut appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.

1969, The Who performed at the Kinema Ballroom, Dunfermline, England.

1969, Pink Floyd appeared at Mothers Club in Erdington, Birmingham, England. Radio 1 DJ John Peel served as the emcee,  He wrote in his weekly column for Disc & Music Echo, “At one moment they are laying surfaces of sound one upon another in symphonic thunder; at another isolated, incredibly melancholy sounds which cross another sounding like dying galaxies lost in sheer corridors of time and space.”

1970, David Bowie and The Hype, Barclay James Harvest, High Tide and The Purple Gang all appeared at Stockport Grammar School, England.

1971, The Grateful Dead performed at the Fillmore East in New York City. The Beach Boys also appeared on stage with the Dead, who together performed a short set of Beach Boys songs.

1972, Pink Floyd appeared at Ford Auditorium, Detroit, Michigan.

1973, King Crimson played at Irvine Auditorium, Philadelphia.

1974, A free afternoon event was held in the parking lot of the University of Connecticut, Ice Hockey Arena in Storrs. The four acts that appeared, Aerosmith, Bruce Springsteen, Fairport Convention, and Fat Back. Springsteen then went on to play another gig that evening at the University of Hartford in Connecticut.

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

pink-floyd-19751975, Pink Floyd played the last of a four night run at Los Angeles’ Sports Arena. A total of 511 fans were arrested over the four nights for possession of marijuana.

1976, Customs officers on a train at the Russian/Polish Border detained David Bowie, after Nazi books and mementos were found in his luggage. Bowie claimed that the material was being used for research on a movie project about Nazi propaganda leader Joseph Paul Goebbels.

1977, Eric Clapton performed at the Hammersmith Odeon, London.

1978, David Bowie appeared at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1979, Roxy Music played at the Festival Hall, Osaka, Japan.

1980, Rush performed at Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana.

1981, Ringo Starr married actress and one time “Bond Girl” Barbara Bach. The pair met while filming the movie, Caveman, with Dennis Quaid and Shelley Long. In attendance at the wedding were George Harrison and Paul McCartney.

1985, USA For Africa started a three-week run at number one on the US chart with “We Are The World.” The US artists’ answer to Band Aid had an all-star cast including Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, Daryl Hall, Huey Lewis, Cyndi Lauper, Kim Carnes, Ray Charles, Billy Joel and Paul Simon plus the composer’s of the track, Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie.

1996, Oasis played the first of two nights at Manchester’s Maine Road football ground as a ‘thank you’ to their fans, the 80,000 tickets sold out in hours.

2003, Madonna went to number one on the UK album chart with American Life, the Material Girl’s eighth chart topping album. It also reached the top spot on the US album charts.

2009, Aerosmith were to hold a free concert in Hawaii to placate angry fans who brought a legal case against them. Fans filed a class action case, which claimed the band had cancelled a sold-out show in Maui two years ago, leaving hundreds of fans out of pocket in favor of a bigger gig in Chicago. Lawyers for the would-be concert-goers said Aerosmith had now agreed to put on a new show, and would pay all expenses. Everyone who bought a ticket to the original concert would receive a free ticket.

Born on April 27: Casey Kasem (1932) Jerry Mercer, drummer, Mashmakhan, April Wine (1939); Jim Keltner, drummer, Traveling Wilburys, Plastic Ono Band, and Delaney & Bonnie and Friends (1939); Gordon Haskell, King Crimson (1947); Pete Ham, Badfinger (1947); Kate Pierson, The B-52’s (1948); Ace Frehley, Kiss (1951); Sheena Easton (1959); Will Boyd, bass, Evanescence, American Princes, and The Visitors (1979)

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Today in Rock History – March 22

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Dylan-Bringing-It-All1965, Bringing It All Back Home, Bob Dylan’s fifth studio album was released. The album reached number six on Billboard’s Pop Albums chart, the first of Dylan’s albums to break into the US top 10, and it also topped the UK charts later that Spring. The lead-off track, “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” became Dylan’s first single to chart in the US, peaking at number 39. The album’s iconic cover, photographed by Daniel Kramer, features Sally Grossman, wife of Dylan’s manager Albert Grossman, lounging in the background. The artifacts scattered around the room include vinyl LPs by The Impressions and Robert Johnson.

1965, Who manager Kit Lambert receives a letter stating that their  April 15th gig at the Locarno Ballroom, Swindon has been canceled because the promoter has had a lot of trouble lately and he feels that The Who are not the type of Group that would go well in his Ballroom. A copy of this document later appears included in the Live at Leeds album. The Who play that night at Parr Hall in Warrington, Lancashire.

1967, The Jimi Hendrix Experience appeared at The Guildhall in Southampton, England.

1967, The Who play their first American live gig at New York’s Paramount Theater.

1968, The Grateful Dead performed at the State Fairgrounds Coliseum in Detroit, Michigan.

1969, Led Zeppelin appeared at Mothers in Birmingham, West Midlands, England.

1970, Joe Cocker performed at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago.

Courtesy: LedZeppelin.com

1970, Led Zeppelin played to a sold out crowd of 6000 at the Seattle Arena in Seattle, Washington. Ticket prices ranged from $4-6 (£2.66 – 4.)

1971, US police arrested all the members from The Allman Brothers Band for heroin and marijuana possession.

1972, Yes played at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1973, King Crimson appeared at Town Hall, Leeds, England.

1974, King Crimson filmed at show at ORTF TV Studios in Paris.

1975, Frankie Valli went to the top of the US singles chart with “My Eyes Adored You,” his first solo number one.

1975, Led Zeppelin started a six-week run at number one on the US album chart with Physical Graffiti, the group’s fourth US chart topping album. On its first day of release in the US, the album shipped a million copies. No other album in the history of Atlantic records had generated so many sales. Physical Graffiti has now been certified 16 times Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for US sales in excess of 16 million copies.

1975, The Bay City Rollers were at number one on the UK singles chart with “Bye Bye Baby,” the group’s first of two UK chart toppers.

1975, Genesis played at the Salle d’Exposition, Annecy, France.

1976, David Bowie performed at the Coliseum, New Haven, Connecticut.

1977, The Eagles appeared at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1978, The Police signed to A&M Records. The band would go on to notch more than fifteen UK Top 40 hits with the label.

rutles-all-u-need-is-cash1978, The Rutles’ All You Need Is Cash, an affectionate spoof of the Beatles’ career, was broadcast for the first time in the US.

1980, Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick In The Wall, (Part 2”) started a four week run at number one on the US singles chart. The song, which was the group’s only US chart topper, was also a chart topper in the UK, Germany, Australia, Italy and in many other countries around the world. Pink Floyd received a Grammy nomination for Best Performance by a Rock Duo or Group for the song, but lost to Bob Seger’s “Against The Wind.”

1980, The Jam had their first UK number one with their tenth release, “Going Underground / Dreams Of Children” the first single of the 80s to debut at number one.

1994, Singer, songwriter, producer Dan Hartman died of a brain tumor in Westport, Connecticut. Was a member of the Edgar Winter Group and wrote the band’s hit ‘Free Ride.’ Had the 1978 No.1 dance hit ‘Instant Replay,’ wrote ‘Relight My Fire’ a UK No.1 for Take That and Lulu, collaborated with Tina Turner, Dusty Springfield, Joe Cocker, Bonnie Tyler, Paul Young, James Brown, Holly Johnson and Steve Winwood.

2005, Rod Price, former member of Black Cat Bones and a founding member of Foghat died after falling down a stairway at his home after suffering a heart attack. The 57 year old English guitarist played on Foghat’s highest charting US single “Slow Ride,” a 1976 hit.

Born on this Marach 22:  Jeremy Clyde, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor, Chad & Jeremy (1941); George Benson (1943); Keith Relf, The Yardbirds (1943); Harry Vanda, The Easybeats (1947); Randy Hobbs, The McCoys, Johnny Winter Group, Montrose (1948); Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948);  Jay Dee Daugherty, American drummer, songwriter, The Church (1952);  Susan Ann Sulley, British singer, The Human League (1963); John Otto, Canadian-American, drummer Limp Bizkit (1977); Aaron Wright North, guitarist, Nine Inch Nails (1979)

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Today in Rock History – January 22

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yardbirds-19641964, The Yardbirds, featuring Eric Clapton appeared at The Cavern Club, Liverpool, England.

1965, The Rolling Stones began a 16-date tour of Australia and New Zealand at the Agricultural Hall at Manufacturers Auditorium in Sydney with Roy Orbison, The Newbeats and Ray Columbus and the Invaders.

1965, The Who pre-tape their first appearance on Radio Luxembourg’s Ready Steady Radio! at the Marquee Club. The show is broadcast on January 31st.

1966, The Beach Boys went into the studio to record “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” which would be the opening track on their forthcoming album Pet Sounds.

1966, The Grateful Dead, the Loading Zone and Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters all perform at the Trips Festival, held in San Francisco’s Longshoremen’s Hall.  Also on the bill, Big Brother, who plays their first official gig. Aided by Donald Buchla’s synthesizer, their repertoire consists of freak jazz – Sun Ra, Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders – R&B, music of the Mystic East and fuzz tone/feedback distortion.

1967, The Rolling Stones appear on the British TV program Sunday Night at the London Palladium, performing “Let’s Spend the Night Together,” “Ruby Tuesday,” “It’s All Over Now,” and “Connection.” However, they refuse to join the rest of the line-up for the closing credits, during which the band were supposed to wave to the audience from a revolving stage. Press outrage follows.

1967, Janis Joplin and her band, Big Brother and the Holding Company, appeared at the Matrix in San Francisco.

1967, The Monkees performed live for the very first time at The Cow Palace, San Francisco to a sell-out crowd.

1968, during the band’s first Australian tour, The Who played the first of two nights at Sydney Stadium, with The Small Faces and Paul Jones.

1968, The Beatles’ business venture Apple Corps. opens its first London headquarters at 95 Wigmore Street.

1969, Jimi Hendrix performed at Konzerthaus in Vienna, Austria.

1969, The Beatles moved from Twickenham Film Studios to Apple studios in London to start recording the Get Back LP. Billy Preston was brought into the sessions. John, Paul, and George knew Preston from 1962, when he was a member of Little Richard’s backing group. The Beatles were determined to record the album “live,” flaws and all.

1970, Steel Mill, featuring Bruce Springsteen opened for The Elvin Bishop Band at The Matrix in San Francisco, California. Steel Mill were paid only $5 for the gig, The Elvin Bishop Band received $90 as headliner.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Whisky A Go-Go in Los Angeles.

1971, Mad Dogs & Englishmen, a documentary about Joe Cocker’s infamous tour across America where he was accompanied by Leon Russell and an orchestra, premieres at London’s Festival Palace.

1972, David Bowie came out as bisexual during an interview in the British music weekly Melody Maker.

1972, Don McLean’s album American Pie started a seven week run at number one in the album chart.

1973, Led Zeppelin performed at Southampton University, Southampton, England. A popular Zeppelin bootleg show.

1975, Genesis appeared at the Community Theater in Berkeley, California.

mccartney-wings-over-america1977, Wings went to number one on the album chart with Wings Over America, Paul McCartney’s sixth US chart topper after The Beatles.

1977, Rush appeared at the Civic Center in Amarillo, Texas.

1977, Stevie Wonder went to number one on the US singles chart with “I Wish,” from Songs In The Key of Life. It was his 5th US chart topper. It reached number five in the UK.

1978, Ted Nugent played at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1983, The new 24-hour music video network MTV started broadcasting to the West Coast of America after being picked up by Group W Cable, Los Angeles.

1984, ZZ Top performed at the Kansas Coliseum, Wichita, Kansas.

1988, Faith No More made their live UK debut at Dingwalls, London at the start of a 13-date tour.

1993, Metallica kicked off their 77-date Nowhere Else To Roam world tour at Wings Stadium, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

1994, American actor and singer Telly Savalas died of prostate cancer aged 72. He scored the 1975 UK number one single “If.” Savalas played Lt. Theo Kojak, a bald New York City detective, in the television series Kojak, with a fondness for lollipops, and whose trademark line was “Who loves ya, baby?”

2001, The Strokes released their first record The Modern Age EP on Rough Trade records in the UK.

2005, One of the biggest charity concerts since Live Aid raised £1.25 million ($2 million) for victims of the tsunami disaster in Asia. The concert held at The Millennium Stadium, Cardiff featured Eric Clapton, Manic Street Preachers, Keane, Charlotte Church, Snow Patrol, Embrace, Feeder, Craig David and Liberty X, who appeared before 60,000 fans at the sold-out concert.

2006, Arctic Monkeys scored their second UK number one single with “When The Sun Goes Down,” from their debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not. The song contains the line, “and he told Roxanne to put on her red light,” a reference to The Police song, “Roxanne.”

2012, Adele broke an American chart record that has stood for years after being set by The Beatles and Pink Floyd. The singers second album 21 clocked up 16 weeks at number one on the US chart matching the success of the Titanic original soundtrack. 21, released in January 2011 had now beaten The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s and Pink Floyd’s The Wall, both which had runs of 15 weeks at the top of the charts.

Born on January 22: Sam Cooke (1931); Malcolm McLaren, manager of the Sex Pistols (1947); Nigel Pegrum, Steeleye Span (1949); Steve Perry, Journey (1949); Michael Hutchence, INXS (1960); Steven Adler, drums, Guns N’ Roses (1965)

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Today in Rock History – December 31

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the-monkees-im-a-believer-19661966, The Monkees started a seven-week run at number one on the singles charts with the Neil Diamond song “I’m A Believer.”

1966, Ray Charles appeared at the City Center Arena in Seattle Washington.  The tickets cost $4.50 at the door.

1966, The Move, Pink Floyd, and The Who appeared at the New Year’s Eve All Night Rave, at The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm Road, London.

1967, Songwriter and producer Bert Berns died of heart failure aged 38. He wrote many classic songs including “Twist And Shout,” “Hang On Sloopy,” “Here Comes the Night,” “I Want Candy,” and “Brown Eyed Girl.”

1968, Joe Cocker, Amen Corner, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, The Small Faces, Free and Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band all appeared at Alexandra Palace, London.

1969,  Jimi Hendrix unveils his new group Band of Gypsys at New York’s Fillmore East. The concert, featuring the rhythm section of Billy Cox and Buddy Miles backing Hendrix, later appears on the album Band of Gypsys.

1969, The Allman Brothers Band performed at the UNC-Charlotte Cafeteria in Charlotte, North Carolina.

1969, BBC television broadcast the program Man of the Decade, who is … John Lennon! Rolling Stone names Lennon its Man of the Year, while Lennon himself admits to the New Musical Express that he’s considering leaving the Beatles.

1970, Paul McCartney filed a suit against the rest of The Beatles to dissolve their partnership.

1971, Bob Dylan makes a special appearance at the Band’s New Year’s Eve concert at the New York Academy of Music, performing “Down In The Flood,” “When I Paint My Masterpiece,” “Like A Rolling Stone,” and “Don’t Ya Tell Henry” with them.

1971, Queen played at the Rugby Club, Twickenham, England.

1972, Roxy Music performed at the Kinetic Playground, Chicago.

1973, Australian band AC/DC made their live debut when they appeared at Chequers Bar in Sydney.

1974,  Ron Wood denies reports that he will join the Rolling Stones as a replacement for the recently departed Mick Taylor.

1975, KISS plays at the Coliseum, Evansville, Indiana.

1975, JJ Cale appears at Ebbets Field, Denver, Colorado.

1976, The Cars give their debut performance at Pease Air Force Base in Portsmouth, N.H.

1978, San Francisco’s Winterland Theater closes its doors after a farewell performance by the Grateful Dead and the Blues Brothers.

1978,  Bauhaus gives its debut performance in Wellingborough, England. Bauhaus are an English rock band formed in Northampton in 1978 by Peter Murphy (vocals), Daniel Ash (guitar), Kevin Haskins (drums) and David J (bass). The band took their name from the German Bauhaus art movement, originally going by the name Bauhaus 1919, dropping the latter portion within a year of the band’s formation

debbie-harry-blondie-19791979, Blondie’s gig at The Apollo Theatre, Glasgow, Scotland was broadcast live on BBC 2’s Old Grey Whistle Test.

1979, David Bowie performed an acoustic version of ‘Space Oddity’ on the UK TV Kenny Everett New Year’s Show.

1979, The Grateful Dead played a New Year’s Eve show at the Oakland Auditorium. John Cipollina of Quicksilver Messenger Service sat in with the band on three songs in the second set.

1980, Blue Oyster Cult played at Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1981, The Grateful Dead performed at the Oakland Auditorium. Joan Baez joined them for the first set.

1982, Max’s Kansas City in New York City closed down. The venue had been a launching pad for such artists as The New York Dolls, Bruce Springsteen and The Velvet Underground.

1982, The Grateful Dead returned to the Oakland Auditorium for a three-set show, which included guests John Cipollina, Etta James, and the Tower of Power horns.

1984, Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen, crashed his Corvette on a highway outside Sheffield, England. Allen lost his left arm in the accident.

1985, Ricky Nelson was killed along with six others, when his charted light aircraft crashed in Texas.  Nelson had played himself on his parent’s US TV The Adventures Of Ozzie and Harriet.

1991, Pearl Jam, Nirvana and the Red Hot Chili Peppers all appeared on the same bill at the Cow Palace, San Francisco, California.

1999, The Manic Street Preachers performed to 57,000 fans at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff. The Guinness Book of Records confirmed that the concert set a new record as the biggest indoor show ever staged in Europe, tickets £30.

2000, Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson married actress Kate Hudson the daughter of actress Goldie Hawn. The couple separated in 2006.

2004, Pete Waterman was awarded an OBE for his services to music. Once part of the Stock, Aitken & Waterman team he also booked the first ever tour for The Bay City Rollers, signed Musical Youth and Nik Kershaw during the 70’s and was promotion consultant for John Travolta. Waterman had written and produced more than 200 hit singles in 25 years for acts from Kylie Minogue to Steps.

2012, A draft of a letter John Lennon written to Eric Clapton on September 29, 1971 asking him to collaborate on a musical project sold for $35,000 (£21,875) at an auction. Still in pristine condition, the latter was originally estimated to fetch somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000

Born on this day: Andy Summers, The Police (1942); John Denver (1943); Burton Cummings, Guess Who (1947); Donna Summer (1948); Tom Hamilton, bass, Aerosmith (1951); Paul Westerberg, guitar, vocals, The Replacements (1960); Scott Ian, Anthrax (1963)

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Today in Rock History – December 9

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cream-fresh-cream1966, Supergroup Cream released their debut studio album Fresh Cream in the UK. The power trio of Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker also released their second single “I Feel Free” on the same day.

1967, The Doors appeared at the New Haven Arena, New Haven, Connecticut. Before the show, a policeman found singer Jim Morrison making out with an 18 year-old girl in a backstage shower and after an argument the policeman sprayed mace in Morrison’s face. Once on stage Morrison told the story of the backstage episode, and began taunting the police, who drag him off the stage and arrest him. The crowd riots, leaving the venue in disarray and many are arrested. Later over a hundred protesters gathered at the police station in demonstration, and more arrests were made.

1968, Free appeared at the Marquee Club in London England. Other acts appearing at the club that month included Joe Cocker, The Who, and Led Zeppelin.

1969, The Allman Brothers Band appears at Ungano’s, New York.

1970, Yes performs at Hull University, Hull, England.

1971, Richie Havens receives a role in the orchestral stage version of the Who’s rock opera Tommy.

1972,  The Moody Blues started a five-week run at number one on the US album chart with Seventh Sojourn.

1972, Tommy is presented with the London Symphony Orchestra in two live performances at the Rainbow Theatre in London. The production was originally planned for the LSO’s regular venue at the Royal Albert Hall, but the Hall’s management refuses because rock stars would be involved and because they consider Tommy to be “unsavory.” Roger performs the title role, John is Cousin Kevin, Keith is Uncle Ernie and Pete sings the narrator. Rod Stewart, Peter Sellers, Stevie Winwood, Richie Havens, Sandy Denny and Merry Clayton round out the cast. An album of the show, recorded at London’s Rainbow Theatre, is released and reaches number five in Britain the following year.

1972, Pink Floyd performs at Hallenstadion in Zurich, Switzerland.  The set list: Dark Side of the Moon // second set: One of These Days / Careful With That Axe, Eugene // encore: Echoes

1973, Yes played at City Hall, Newcastle, England.

george-harrison-darkhorse1974, George Harrison releases Dark Horse, his first album on the label of the same name. His cover of the Everly Brothers’ “Bye Bye Love” is a backhanded farewell to wife Patti Boyd, who began a relationship with his friend Eric Clapton. Strangely enough, Boyd and Clapton join Harrison on the track. Rolling Stone is perplexed enough to decide, “Dark Horse is ultimately something more than an embarrassingly bad record.”

1974, On ABC’s Monday Night Football, John Lennon stops by booth during a game between Los Angeles Rams and Washington Redskins. Guest Ronald Reagan explains the rules of football to him.

1975, The Sex Pistols appeared at Ravensbourne College, Chistlehurst, London.

1976, Black Sabbath performed at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1978, Chic started a seven week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Le Freak.” Nile Rodgers later stated that the song was devised during New Years Eve of 1977, as a result of him and bassist Bernard Edwards being refused entrance to Studio 54, in New York City, where they had been invited by Grace Jones. However, Jones failed to notify the nightclub’s staff. He said the lyrics of the refrain were originally “Fuck off!” rather than “Freak out!”

1979, Marshall Tucker Band played at the Civic Center, Lakeland, Florida.

1979, The Grateful Dead performed at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

1981, King Crimson appeared at the Shibuya Kokaido, Tokyo.

1984, Blue Oyster Cult performed at The Bacchanal, San Diego, California.

1988, According to a poll, the music of Neil Diamond was chosen as the best background music for sex, Beethoven was the second choice and Luther Vandross was voted third.

1989, Billy Joel started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “We Didn”t Start The Fire.” Its lyrics are made up from rapid-fire brief allusions to over a hundred headline events between 1949 (Joel was born on May 9 of that year) and 1989, when the song was released on his album Storm Front.

1991, During their Use Your Illusion Tour, Guns N’ Roses played the first of three nights at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

1997, Oasis played the first of three sold out nights at Wembley Arena, London, supported by Supergrass.

2000, U2 made their first-ever appearance on Saturday Night Live. The band played “Beautiful Day” and “Elevation.”

2010, Eric Clapton announced he was to sell off part of his extensive guitar collection to raise money for his Crossroads rehab Centre in Antigua. Highlights of the sale would include a guitar Clapton played at the Cream reunion shows in 2005, estimated to sell for more than £13,000 ($20,800). The sale to be held by Bonhams in New York would also feature a vast collection of amps and speakers, including a pair of Marshall speaker cabinets.

Born on December 9: Junior Wells (1932); Dan Hicks,  singer-songwriter, guitarist, The Charlatans, The Acoustic Warriors (1941); John Traynor, Jay and the Americans (1943); Neil Innes, Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band, The Rutles (1944); Dennis Dunaway, songwriter, bass, the Alice Cooper Band (1946); Joan Armatrading, singer, songwriter (1950); Donny Osmond (1957); Nick Seymour, bass, Crowded House (1958); Rikk Agnew, guitarist, Adolescents, Social Distortion, Christian Death (1958); Paul Landers, guitarist, Rammstein (1964); Brian Bell, Weezer (1968); and Jakob Dylan (1969); Geoff Barrow, drummer, DJ, composer, producer Portishead (1971); Frank Wright III, aka Tre Cool, drums, Green Day (1972);  Chris Wolstenholme, bass, Muse (1978)

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Today in Rock History – November 6

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1965, The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane played at the opening night of San Francisco”s Fillmore West.

1965, The Rolling Stones started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “Get Off Of My Cloud,” the group’s second chart topper. The song knocked The Beatles “Yesterday” from the top spot.

1966, The Who play the Kongresshalle in Cologne, Germany.

1967, The Beatles mixed four songs at Abbey Road studio in London, “Hello Goodbye,” “Your Mother Should Know,” “Magical Mystery Tour,” and “I Am the Walrus.” Due to the radio feed used in “I Am the Walrus” being recorded in mono, the song changes from stereo to mono at the line “Sitting in an English garden.”

1967, During a three hour session Bob Dylan recorded “All Along The Watchtower” and “John Wesley Harding” at Columbia Recording Studios in Nashville, Tennessee.

1968, Joe Cocker was at No.1 in the singles chart with his version of The Beatles song “With A Little Help From My Friends”. The song was also a UK No.1 for Wet Wet Wet in 1988.

1968, The Monkees’ $750,000 (£468,750) feature film, Head opened in New York City. Instead of being aimed at their target audience of teeny boppers, the film contained a dark theme about the manipulation of the group with walk-on appearances by inappropriate guests and scenes of Vietnam War atrocities. Reviews were harsh and the picture was a box office disaster.

1970, Pink Floyd performed at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.

1970, Aerosmith performed their first ever gig when they played at Nipmuc Regional High School in Mendon, Massachusetts.

1971, The soundtrack to “Shaft” by Isaac Hayes went to number one on the album chart.

1971, In Melody Maker, Pete Townshend writes another defense of The Who’s higher ticket prices but apparently runs out of patience and says sarcastically that he only pretends to believe in what he says and is only doing it for the money. The Who play the Rainbow Theatre in London.

1972, Rolling Stone Bill Wyman lost his driving license and was fined £20 ($32) by Chelmsford Magistrates court after being caught speeding in his Mercedes on the A12.

1972, Queen played at the Pheasantry Club, London.

1973, Roxy Music performed at Winter Gardens, Bournemouth, England.

1973, Michael Martin and Phil Kaufman were charged and fined $300 (£187.50) each for the theft of a coffin containing Gram Parsons body. The court heard that the two men were merely carrying out Parsons’ wishes to be cremated in the desert.

1973, Grand Funk Railroad performed at The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1974, David Bowie appeared at the Public Auditorium in Cleveland, Ohio during the Philly Dogs tour. After the show, Bowie stayed up all night in the hotel bar dancing and miming.

1975, The Sex Pistols made their live debut at St Martin’s School Of Art in central London, supporting a band called Bazooka Joe, which included Stuart Goddard (the future Adam Ant). The Pistols’ performance lasts ten minutes.

1976, The Steve Miller Band went to number one on the singles chart with “Rock ‘n’ Me,” the group’s second number one.

1977, Yes played at The Apollo, Glasgow, Scotland.

1978, Eric Clapton performed at Palau d’Esports Juventud de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

1979, Bob Dylan appeared at the Fox Warfield Theatre, San Fransisco.

1980, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Saenger Theatre, New Orleans, Louisiana.

1981, Blue Oyster Cult performed at Lake View Arena, Marquette, Michigan.

1982, Jennifer Warnes and Joe Cocker started a three week run at number one on the US charts with “Up Where We Belong,” a song taken from the film An Officer And A Gentleman’,

1982, Soft Cell’s ‘Tainted Love’ achieved the longest unbroken run on the UK charts when it logged its 43rd week in the Top 100. 

1993, Meat Loaf started a five week run at number one on the US singles chart with “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That.”) It was also a chart topper in the UK.

1993, Pearl Jam went to number one on the US album chart with Vs’ selling 950,378 copies making it the highest sales in US album history in one week.

2003, Metallica kicked off their 137-date Madly in Anger with the World Tour at Yoyogi Taiikukanin Tokyo, Japan. The Madly in Anger with the World tour was the fourth-highest grossing tour of 2004, reaping $60,500,000 (£37,812,500) in ticket sales.

Born on November 6: Guy Clark, singer, songwriter, (1941); Doug Sahm, Sir Douglas Quintet (1942); George Young, The Easybeats (1947); Glenn Frey (1948); and Corey Glover, Living Colour (1964);

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Today in Rock History – September 3

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donovan-19661966, Donovan went to number one on the US singles chart with “Sunshine Superman,” a number two hit in the UK. The track featured then Yardbird and future Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page.

1967, During a 10-date tour of Sweden, The Jimi Hendrix Experience appeared at the Liseburg in Gothenburg, Sweden.

1968, After a two week absence, Ringo Starr rejoined The Beatles. Upon Ringo’s return to the studio, he found his drum kit covered with flowers to welcome him back.

1969, King Crimson appear at Toby Jug pub in Tolwort, in Southwest London.

1970, Freddie King and Johnny Winter performed at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, California.

1970, Alan Wilson, guitar player with Canned Heat, was found dead at fellow band-member Bob Hite’s garden in Topanga Canyon, Los Angeles aged 27. Canned Heat had the 1970 UK number two and US number 26 single “Let’s Work Together.”

1970, Led Zeppelin performed at the Sports Arena in San Diego, California. A critic for the local newspaper, the Union-Tribune wrote, “The performance was old-time religion without a message and without a moral, although there was plenty that was physical for the congregation of young people. There was the hand clapping, the shouting, the parading in the aisles – and finally there was the self-induced frenzy that was once the trademark of some evangelical religious sects.”

1970, It was reported that the Bob Dylan bootleg album Great White Wonder had sold over 350,000 copies worldwide.

1970, Arthur Brown was arrested at the Palermo Pop ’70 Festival in Italy, after he set fire to his helmet during the performance of his hit “Fire,” and stripped naked on stage.

1971, Led Zeppelin play one night at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Top ticket price was $7.50 (£4.69).

1971, The Allman Brothers band appeared at the Place de Nations in Montreal, Quebec.

1972, David Bowie performed at the Hardrock Concert Theatre, Stretford, in Manchester, England.  The 3000-seat venue hosted some of the biggest names in England during its brief three year existence.

1973, The Rolling Stones appeared at Eisstadion, in Mannheim, Germany.

1974, David Bowie performed at the Gibson Amphitheatre, Universal City, California.

1975, An all-star jam session took place at a party in Los Angeles for actor Peter Sellers’ 50th Birthday. The line-up for the group who named themselves the Trading Faces, Bill Wyman on bass, Ronnie Wood, Jesse Ed Davis, and Danny Kortchmar on guitars, Keith Moon, organ and drums, Joe Cocker, vocals, Nigel Olsson, drums, and David Bowie and Bobby Keys on sax.

1976, Marshall Tucker Band played the Omni Coliseum, Atlanta, Georgia.

1977, The month after his death, Elvis Presley had 27 albums and 9 singles in the Top 100 charts in the UK. Moody Blue was the number one album while “Way Down” was on top of the singles chart, equaling The Beatles, with each amassing 17 number one hits.

1977, Studio engineer Keith Harwood was killed in a car crash shortly after he left a recording session with The Rolling Stones. Harwood was noted for his work at Olympic Studios with David Bowie, Diamond Dogs, and The Rolling Stones albums It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll and Black And Blue. He also engineered a number of Led Zeppelin albums, including Houses Of The Holy, Physical Graffiti and Presence. The Rolling Stones dedicated their album Love You Live to the memory of Harwood.

zappa-19781978, Frank Zappa, Scorpions, Brand X, John McLaughlin, Ten Years After, Joan Baez, and Genesis appear at  Ludwigsparkstadion in Saarbrücken, Germany.

1979, Van Halen appeared at Kaikan Hall, Kyoto, Japan.

1980, Blue Oyster Cult played at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix, Arizona.

1981, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, Colorado.

1982, The three day US Festival in San Bernardino, California took place featuring, Tom Petty, Fleetwood Mac, The Police, The Cars, Talking Heads, The Kinks, Ramones, B52’s, The English Beat, Gang Of Four, The Grateful Dead, Pat Benatar, Jackson Browne. Apple Computer co-founder Steven Wozniak bankrolled the festival.

 1983, The Eurythmics went to number one on the singles chart with “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This”).

 1988, UB40 had their first number one single with “Red Red Wine.” The song, taken from their album Labour of Love, was a cover of the 1968 Neil Diamond hit song.

1990, R.E.M. started recording sessions for their Out Of Time album at Bearsville Studios, Woodstock, New York.

1991, During a European tour, Nirvana recorded “Dumb,” “Drain You,” and “Endless Nameless” at Maida Vale studios in London for the BBC Radio 1 John Peel show.

2002, The Rolling Stones 40th anniversary Licks tour kicked off at the Fleet Centre Boston. Tickets for the best seats cost $224 (£140). The world tour would see the band playing to over two and a half million fans during over a hundred shows.

2004, Songwriter and producer Billy Davis died in New York after a long illness. He co-wrote Jackie Wilson’s, “Reet Petite” and the jingle “I’d Like To Buy The World A Coke.” Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes and Gladys Knight all recorded his songs.

2010, Mike Edwards, a founding member of ELO, was killed in a freak accident when a giant bale of hay tumbled down a hill and crashed into his van. The 62 year-old cellist died after the 600 kg (1,323 lb) bale rolled down a steep field in Devon, southern England, smashed through a hedge and careered on to the road. Edwards played cello with ELO from their first live gig in 1972 until he left in January 1975. He quit the band in 1975 to become a Buddhist, changing his name to Deva Pramada and making his living by teaching the cello.

Born on this day: Freddie King (1934); Al Jardine, Beach Boys (1942); George Biondi,  Steppenwolf (1945); Eric Bell, Thin Lizzy (1947); Donald Brewer, drummer, Grand Funk Railroad (1948);  Steve Jones, Sex Pistols (1955); Stefan Kendal Gordy, aka DJ Redfoo, LMFAO (1975)

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Today in Rock History – August 30

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The-Who-1966-B1966, The Who begin two days of recording at IBC Studios and Pye No. 2 Studio in London. During the sessions the group records The Regent’s “Barbara Ann,” The Everly Brothers’ “Man with Money,” Martha and the Vandellas’ “Heatwave,” and the theme to the then smash hit TV show Batman. The tracks are intended for a new album tentatively titled Jigsaw Puzzle. Kit Lambert produces and Paul Clay engineers.

1968, Janis Joplin plays the first of two nights at The Palace of Fine Arts Festival in San Francisco.

1968, Howlin’ Wolf appeared at the Grande Ballroom, Detroit, Michigan.

1968, Yes played at the Civic Centre, Welwyn, Hertfordshire, England.

1969, Two weeks after the Woodstock festival, the second Isle of Wight festival took place. Over 150,000 turned up over the two days to see Bob Dylan make his first official public appearance since his 1966 motorcycle accident. Also on the bill were The Band, Blodwyn Pig, Blonde On Blonde, Bonzo Dog Dooh Dah Band, Edgar Broughton Band, Joe Cocker, Aynsley Dunbar, Family, Fat Mattress, Julie Felix, Free, Gypsy, Richie Havens, The Moody Blues, The Nice, Tom Paxton, Pentangle, The Pretty Things, Third Ear Band and The Who. Tickets 25 shillings, ($3.00). Celebrities who attended include Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, John & Yoko, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Jane Fonda, Liz Taylor and Richard Burton.

1969, One hit wonders Zager and Evans started a three week run at number one on the UK singles chart with “In The Year 2525.” The song was written by Rick Evens in 1964.

1969, The three day Texas Pop Festival took place featuring Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Sam & Dave, Santana, Johnny Winter, Grand Funk Railroad, Delaney & Bonnie, Nazz, Spirit, BB King, Canned Heat and Chicago. Over 120,000 fans attended the festival.

1970, The Rolling Stones kicked off a 20-date European tour in Malmo Sweden.

1972, John Lennon and Yoko Ono played Madison Square Gardens to raise money for the One to One charity. Stevie Wonder, Sha Na Na and Roberta Flack also appeared at the event. Lennon personally bought $60,000 worth of tickets which were given to volunteer fund-raisers. Several of the performances were later included on Lennon’s, Live in New York City album.

1972, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Municipal Auditorium, Atlanta, Georgia.

1972, David Bowie performed at the Rainbow Theatre in London.

1974, The Ramones made one of their many appearances at CBGB in New York City.

1975, KC and the Sunshine Band went to number one on the US singles chart with, “Get Down Tonight.”

1975, Eric Clapton played at the Scope, in Norfolk, Virginia.

1975, Rod Stewart had his fifth UK number one album when Atlantic Crossing started a five-week run at the top of the charts.

1976, Aerosmith played at the International Center Arena, Honolulu, Hawaii.

1978, Patti Smith appeared at The Odeon, Edinburgh, Scotland.

1978, The Grateful Dead appeared at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado.

1982, During a North American tour, Queen appeared at McNichols Arena, Denver, Colorado.

1986, Steve Winwood went to number one on the US singles chart with “Higher Love,” a number 13 hit in the UK.

1992, Appering at this year’s Reading Festival, England, Suede, Ride, Pavement, Public Enemy, Manic Street Preachers, (bassist Nicky Wire smashed his guitar in two and hurled it into the crowd, hitting a security guard who needed 16 stitches). This was one of the most famous in the festival’s history. Nirvana played what was to become their last UK concert, and one of their most famous. Kurt Cobain took to the stage in a wheelchair pushed by music journalist Everett True, parodying speculations about his mental health.

1995, Sterling Morrison, a founding member of the Velvet Underground died of cancer at his home in New York City two days after his 53rd birthday. The guitarist left the group in August 1971 and re-joined in 1992 for a European tour.

1995, Carly Simon and James Taylor performed live together in front of 10,000 fans on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. It was the first time they appeared live on the same stage since 1979. The former couple played their own solo sets before combining their efforts in raising money for the local agricultural society.

2013, A signed copy of John Lennon’s whimsical 1964 book In His Own Write sold for more than $5,600 on eBay. The book featured short stories, poems and drawings.

2014, Kate Bush followed her stage comeback by becoming the first woman to have eight albums in the UK charts at the same time. Two of the singer’s albums were in the top 10, and eight overall in the top 40. It came after she returned for her first live concerts for 35 years.

Born on August 30: Johnny Mann, American singer-songwriter, conductor (1928); John Phillips, The Mamas & the Papas (1935); John Peel, BBC Radio (1939); John McNally, English guitarist, vocalist, The Searchers (1941); Charles Colbert, American Breed (1944); Micky Moody guitar, Juicy Lucy, Whitesnake (1950);

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Today in Rock History – August 17

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today in rock history
The Byrds circa 1965

1965, The Byrds were forced to cancel a concert during their UK tour at The Guildhall, Portsmouth when only 250 of the 4,000 tickets had been sold.

1966, During a North American tour The Beatles played two shows at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Canada. The attendance for each show was 18,000.

1967, The Who’s manager Kit Lambert was at Columbia Recording Studio in Hollywood, California mixing the mono masters for “Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand” (U.S. single version,) “Summertime Blues,” “Someone’s Coming,” and “Relax.

1967, Herman’s Hermits, Neil Diamond, and The Who performed at Memorial Auditorium in Chatanooga, Tennessee.

1968, Wheels of Fire by Cream enters its second week at number one on the US album charts.

1968, The Who perform at Phoenix Municipal Stadium in Phoenix, Arizona.

1968, The Rascals (formally the Young Rascals), started a five week run at number one on the singles chart with “People Got To Be Free.” The group had thirteen top 40 hits.

1969, The final day of the three day Woodstock festival took place at Max Yasgur’s farm in Bethel, New York. Acts who appeared included Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Ten Years After, John Sebastian, Sha Na Na, Joe Cocker, Country Joe and the Fish, The Band, Ten Years After, Johnny Winter and Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Over 186,000 tickets had been sold but on the first day the flimsy fences and ticket barriers had come down. Organizers announced the concert would be a free event, prompting thousands more to head for the concert. There were two deaths, a teenager was killed by a tractor as he lay in his sleeping bag and another died from a drug overdose.

1969, During a North American tour Led Zeppelin appeared at Oakland Musical Theatre in Wallingford, Connecticut.

1970, Led Zeppelin performed at the Hampton Roads Coliseum, Hampton, Virginia. The concert was rescheduled from August 10th.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Boston Commons in Boston, Massachusetts. Duane played “Soul Serenade” on slide guitar in tribute to King Curtis, who died four days earlier.  J. Geils played on “Stormy Monday.” Wet Willie opened.

1972, Deep Purple performs the last of three shows at the Nippon Budokan arena in Tokyo. These recordings were used in the Made in Japan live album.

1973, Former Temptations singer Paul Williams was found dead in his car, after shooting himself. He owed $80,000 in taxes and his celebrity boutique business had failed.

1973, KISS appeared at The Daisy, Amityville, New York.

1974, Eric Clapton started a four-week run at number one on the album chart with 461 Ocean Boulevard

1974, UK group Paper Lace scored their only US number one single with “The Night Chicago Died.” It climbed to the third spot in the UK.

1974, Aerosmith played at the Civic Center, Charleston, West Virginia.

1975, Blue Oyster Cult appeared at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1976, Yes performed at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1977, Rush headlined at RKO Orpheum Theatre, Davenport, Iowa.

1979, The New York Post reported that Anita Pallenberg, the wife of Keith Richards, was linked to a witches coven in South Salem, New York where Richards owned a house. A policeman claimed he was attacked by a flock of black-hooded, caped people and a local youth claimed he had been invited by Pallenburg to take part in “pot smoking sex orgies.” Locals also claimed they found “ritualistic stakes” and small animals that had been sacrificed near the house.

1980, The Grateful Dead appeared at Municipal Auditorium Arena in Kansas City, Missouri.

1982, ZZ Top played at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario.

1983, David Bowie performed at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix, Arizona.

1984, Bruce Springsteen appeared at Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey.

1987, Session drummer Gary Chester died of cancer. He had been a member of The Coasters and played on many major hits for other acts including “Brown Eyed Girl,” “Under The Boardwalk,” “Walk On By,” “It’s My Party.”

1991, Nirvana shot the video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit” at GMT Studios in Culver City, California, costing less than $50,000 (£31,250) to make, the shoot features real Nirvana fans as the audience. The video won Nirvana the Best New Artist and Best Alternative Group awards at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards.

1999, Led Zeppelin topped a chart of Britain’s most bootlegged musicians, compiled by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), after identifying 384 bootleg titles featuring Led Zeppelin performances. The bootleg chart was complied from the BPI’s archive of some 10,000 recordings seized over the past 25 years. The Beatles, came in second with 320 entries, other acts listed included The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Pink Floyd.

2002, Nelly featuring Kelly Rowland held the number one position on the US singles chart with “Dilemma.” The UK number one album was By The Way by The Red Hot Chili Peppers and the US chart topping album was The Rising by Bruce Springsteen.

2008, Jackson Browne was suing US Republican presidential candidate John McCain for using one of his songs without permission. Browne claimed the use of his song “Running on Empty” in an ad was an infringement of copyright and would lead people to conclude he endorses McCain. Browne was seeking more than $75,000 (£40,000) in damages.

2012, Three members of the Russian feminist punk rock protest group Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years imprisonment after they had staged a performance on the soleas of Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior in a protest directed at the Orthodox Church leader’s support for President Putin during his election campaign.

Born on August 17: John Seiter, Spanky And Our Gang (1944); Gary Talley guitar, The Box Tops (1947); Sib Hashian, drums, Boston (1949); Kevin Rowland, singer, Dexy’s Midnight Runners (1953); Colin Moulding, XTC (1955); Belinda Carlisle (1958); and Steve Gorman, drums, The Black Crowes (1965)

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