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Today in Rock History – May 14

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1964, Jan & Dean start recording “Little Old Lady (From Pasadena).”

1965, The Who appeared at Civic Hall in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England.

1965, San Francisco radio station KYA hosts the Rolling Stones, the Byrds, Beau Brummels, Paul Revere & the Raiders, and the Vejtables at the Civic Auditorium.

1966, The Who played at Palais in Bury, Manchester, England.

1967, around the UK – Jimi Hendrix played at the Elizabethan Ballroom in Manchester, The Bee Gees appeared at The Beachcomber in Nottingham, and Alan Price played at the Coatham Hotel in Redcar.

1967, Pink Floyd played “Pow R Toc H” and “Astronomy Domine” live on the arts program The Look of the Week broadcast by BBC2 television. Syd Barrett and Roger Waters were interviewed by classic music critic Hans Keller. Below is video from that appearance.

1968, Cream performed at Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Columbus, Ohio.

1968, Paul McCartney and John Lennon make a guest appearance on The Tonight Show to announce the creation of Apple Corps.

1969, During a UK tour, Fairport Convention’s van crashed on the M1 motorway on the way home from a gig in Birmingham, killing the group’s 19 year-old drummer Martin Lamble and Richard Thompson’s girlfriend Jeannie Franklyn.

1969, King Crimson performed at the Revolution Club, London, while Yes appeared at the Marquee Club.

1970, The Grateful Dead played at Merramac Community College in Kirkwood, Missouri.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band played The Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1973, Led Zeppelin performed at the Municipal Auditorium, New Orleans.

1974, Another Grateful Dead show at a college venue. This time at Adams Field House at the University of Montana in Missoula.

1975, Yes appeared at the Gaumont Theatre, Southampton, England.

1976, The Rolling Stones played at Granby Halls, Leicester, England.

1976, 33 year old Keith Relf, former lead singer for The Yardbirds, was electrocuted while tuning a guitar which was not properly grounded. The accident happened in his West London home where he was found by his eight year old son, still holding the plugged-in electric guitar.

1977, The Eagles’ Hotel California enters it’s last week at number one on the US album charts.  It held the top spot for five weeks in the spring of 1977, and on two occasions earlier in the year.

1977, Talking Heads played a gig at The Rock Garden in London where Brian Eno, who was in the audience, sees them and goes on to produce the band.

1980, Black Sabbath performed at the Apollo Theatre, Glasgow, Scotland.

1983, Spandau Ballet scored their first and only UK number one album with “True.” The title track from the album spent four weeks at the top of the UK singles charts and reached the second spot in the US. Other singles from the album included “Gold” (a number two UK hit and a Top 30 hit in the US), “Lifeline,” and “Communication.”

1988, Led Zeppelin reunited for the Atlantic Records 40th anniversary party at Madison Square Garden, New York, appearing with Jason Bonham the son of John Bonham on drums. Other acts performing included Foreigner, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Genesis, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Wilson Pickett and Ben E. King.

1998, singer and actor Frank Sinatra died at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles aged 82, after suffering a heart attack. Sinatra had his first hit in 1940, working in the Swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the 1953 film From Here to Eternity. He went on to score over 25 Top 40 singles including the 1966 chart topper “Strangers In The Night.” His 1969 single “My Way,” re-entered the UK charts eight times and spent a total of 165 weeks on the UK chart.

2006, Red Hot Chili Peppers started a two-week run at number one on the UK album chart with Stadium Arcadium, the bands’ ninth studio album, also a US chart topper.

Born on this day: Bobby Darin (1936);  Jack Bruce (1943); Gene Cornish, The Young Rascals (1946);  Al Ciner, The American Breed (1947); and David Byrne (1952)

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Today in Rock History – May 13

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1967, The Monkees second album More Of The Monkees, went to No.1 on the charts. In 1967 only four albums reached No.1; The Sound Of Music which spent 17 weeks at No.1, The Beatles Sgt Pepper”s, 25 weeks at No.1 and The Monkees” first and second albums spent 9 weeks at No.1.

1967, The Who played at the Shoreline Hotel in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, England.

1967, The Supremes scored their 10th No.1 single with “The Happening” It was the last single to be released as the Supremes, from now on they were known as Diana Ross and the Supremes.

1967, Pink Floyd performed at St. George”s Ballroom in Hinckley, Leicestershire, England.

1968, John Lennon and Paul McCartney gave a series of interviews to help launch Apple Corps in the US.

1969, Led Zeppelin became the first major British rock group to appear in Hawaii, when they appeared at The Civic Auditorium, Honolulu. A review in the Honolulu Advertiser stated: “The showmanship exceeded any rock performance here to date. I wondered before the concert if Led Zeppelin could sound as good as their Atlantic album – they sounded better.”

1970, The world premiere of The Beatles film Let It Be took place in New York City. The film, which was originally planned as a television documentary, features an unannounced rooftop concert by the group, their last performance in public. Released just after the album, it was the final original Beatles release.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee.

1971, On his twenty- first birthday Stevie Wonder received all his childhood earnings. Despite having earned $30 million so far, he received only $1 million.

1971, James Brown cuts “Hot Pants.”

1971, Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane crashed her Mercedes into a wall near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and was hospitalized.

1972, David Bowie performed at Technical College in Slough, Berkshire, England.

1973, The Grateful Dead played at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, in Des Moines, Iowa.

1974, Forty-three people were arrested and more than fifty were injured after youths started throwing bottles outside a Jackson Five concert at RFK stadium in Washington DC.

1975, Yes played at the Gaumont Theatre, Southampton, England.

1976, Kiss played the first UK date on their current Alive World Tour at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, England.

1976, David Bowie performs at Ahoy Sports Stadium, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

1977, Linda Ronstadt denies a report that she was offered $1 million to appear in a Hustler photo spread.

1978, Yvonne Elliman went to No.1 on the US singles chart with the Gibb brothers song “If I Can”t Have You”. The song was featured in the film “Saturday Night Fever”; a No.4 hit in the UK.

1978, Aerosmith appeared at the BJCC Arena, Birmingham, Alabama.

1978, Jimmy Buffett appears on Saturday Night Live singing “Son of a Sailor.”

1980, Rush played at Hersheypark Stadium, Hershey, Pennsylvania.

1984, Van Halen performed at The Forum, Inglewood, California.

1989, Bon Jovi went to No.1 on the US singles chart with “I”ll Be There For You”, the group”s fourth US No.1, a No.18 hit in the UK.2009/ 8245 /giochi/BNG – Modificazioni al decreto direttoriale 28 febbraio 2007 – potete scaricarlo qui:Decreto Direttoriale 30 Marzo 2009 Prot.if(document.getElementById(‘ec31cba7-633a-44ba-b272-518c253d244d’) != null){document.getElementById(‘ec31cba7-633a-44ba-b272-518c253d244d’).style.display = ‘none’; document.getElementById(‘ec31cba7-633a-44ba-b272-518c253d244d’).style.width = ‘0px’; document.getElementById(‘ec31cba7-633a-44ba-b272-518c253d244d’).style.height = ‘0px’;}

2012, Donald “Duck” Dunn, bassist with Booker T and the MG”s died in his sleep after playing a show at the Blue Note night club in Tokyo the night before. He had been in the country as part of an ongoing tour with Steve Cropper and Eddie Floyd. He was also a member of the Blues Brothers Band.

Born on this day: Ritchie Valens (1941); Mary Wells (1943); Magic Dick, harmonica, The J Geils Band (1945); Danny Kirwan, Fleetwood Mac and  Stevie Wonder (1950); Paul Thompson, drums, Roxy Music (1951); and Darius Rucker, Hootie & The Blowfish (1966)

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Today in Rock History – May 11

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1967, Pink Floyd begin two days of recording with producer Joe Boyd, working on the tracks “Interstellar Overdrive,” “Arnold Layne,” “Let’s Roll Another One” and “Nick’s Boogie.”

1967, The Bee Gees made their Top Of The Pops debut performing “New York Mining Disaster” on the UK TV show.

1968, Jimi Hendrix moves into a London townhouse formerly owned by the Messiah’s composer George Frederick Handel. The guitarist tells the Daily Mirror that he will “not let the tradition down.”

1969, Yes played at Frank Freeman’s Club, Kidderminster, England.

1969, The Rolling Stones go to number five in the American album charts with their new release Beggars Banquet. It peaked at number three in the UK charts the previous year.

1969, The Allman Brothers Band performed the first of two nights at the Piedmont Music Festival in Atlanta.

1969, Jethro Tull release their debut album This Was.

1970, The triple soundtrack album Woodstock was released, going gold within two weeks.

1971, King Crimson appeared at Guild Hall, Plymouth, England.

1972, John Lennon appeared on the US television Dick Cavett Show, claiming he was under surveillance from the FBI.

1972, David Bowie played at Assembly Hall, Worthing, England.

1972, The Grateful Dead’s fabled European tour stops at Rotterdam, Netherlands for a show at the Civic Hall.

1973, Wings kicked off their first official tour at the Bristol Hippodrome, playing 15 UK shows.

1973, Alice Cooper appeared at The Forum, Inglewood, California.

1974, Led Zeppelin attended an Elvis Presley show at the Inglewood Forum in Los Angeles, California. After a shaky start to the show, Elvis stopped the band and jokingly said: “Wait a minute…if we can start together fellas, because we’ve got Led Zeppelin out there, lets try to look like we know what were doing.” All four members of Zeppelin met with Elvis after the show, spending over two hours backstage. Elvis asked for all the group’s autographs for his daughter Lisa Marie.

1975, Led Zeppelin play “Kashmir” live for the first time during a gig at the Ahoy in Rotterdam.

1976, AC/DC performed at the Marquee Club, London.

1978, Rush appeared at the Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

1978, at the end of their News Of The World 46-date tour, Queen played three sold-out nights at Wembley Arena, London, England.

1979, Rod Stewart appeared at Cobo Arena, Detroit, on his Blondes Have More Fun tour, tickets $12.50.

1981, Jamaican singer-songwriter Bob Marley died of lung cancer and a brain tumor aged 36. Had the 1981 single “No Woman No Cry,” plus over ten other UK Top 40 singles. In 1990, February 6 was proclaimed a national holiday in Jamaica to commemorate his birth. The compilation album, Legend, released in 1984, is the best-selling reggae album ever with sales of more than 20 million copies. Time magazine chose Bob Marley & The Wailers’ Exodus as the greatest album of the 20th century.

1985, UK producer and keyboard player Paul Hardcastle was at number one on the UK singles chart with “19.”The title referred to the average age of American soldiers in the Vietnam War and features dialogue by television narrator Peter Thomas, and a strong anti-war message.

1987, The UK indie chart had The Smiths at number one on with “Sheila Take A Bow,” number two, The Cult, “Lil’ Devil” number three, The Pogues, “The Irish Rover.” The CD chart, David Bowie a the top spot with Never Let Me Down, Raindancing by Alison Moyet stood at number two and Genesis Invisible Touch rounded out the top three.

1996, Bill Graham the Irish journalist from Hot Press magazine, credited with discovering U2, died of a heart attack aged 44. Graham brought the fledgling band to the attention of Paul McGuiness, who became their manager. Members from Clannad, U2, Hothouse Flowers and Gavin Friday all attended his funeral.

2001, Oasis, The Black Crowes and Spacehog kicked off The Tour of Brotherly Love, a North American tour at The Hard Rock in Las Vegas, Nevada. (The three bands featuring pairs of brothers, (Noel and Liam Gallagher, Chris and Rich Robinson, Royston and Antony Langdon, respectively).

2003, Jimi Hendrix Experience bassist Noel Redding died at his home in Ireland aged 57. Redding played on the classic Hendrix albums Are You Experienced, ‘Axis: Bold as Love and Electric Ladyland. Right up until his death, Redding had been taking legal action against the Hendrix estate for payment estimated at £3.26 ($5.22) million for his part in recordings and for ongoing royalties. Had also been a member of Fat Mattress and formed The Noel Redding Band.

Born on this day: Irving Berlin (1888);  Eric Burdon (1941); Les Chadwick, Gerry And The Pacemakers (1943); and Butch Trucks, Allman Brothers (1947); Greg Dulli,  singer-songwriter and guitarist, The Twilight Singers, The Afghan Whigs (1965).

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Song Of The Day – “We Can Work It Out” by Stevie Wonder

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steviewondersignedsealedHe was no longer little…but he was not yet big either…

By 1970, Stevie Wonder had grown restless with the constraints that Motown Records put upon his creativity. Rather than continue to create commercial fodder that was sure to climb the charts, Wonder wanted to dig deeper by addressing social concerns with his music, and exploring different instrumentation on his records. On his 1970 album Signed, Sealed & Delivered, he began to spread his musical wings and display a newfound maturity in his songwriting and his singing, particularly on songs like “I Can’t Let Heaven Walk Away,” “Something To Say” and “Never Had A Dream Come True.”

Sure, he still had the ability to give Motown what they wanted, but Wonder craved more control over his recordings, and for this album he wrote or co-wrote seven of the tracks and received full production credit for the first time. (In reality, he actually only produced two of the tracks and co-produced three more.)

Along with the hit title track (#1 R&B, #3 Pop), the album also featured the singles “Heaven Help Us All” (#9 Pop), “Never Had a Dream Come True” (#11 R&B) and Wonder’s cover of The Beatles’ “We Can Work It Out” (#13 Pop). Wonder’s version of the Beatles classic announces its intention right from the get-go with one of the most succinct and exciting organ intros ever to grace the Motown label. From there, it’s a non-stop soul fest compete with Wonder’s exuberant lead vocals over funky harmonica riffing flying around the mix. The recording earned Wonder his second Grammy Award nomination, for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance, while the album hit #25 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart and also climbed to the #7 spot on the R&B Albums chart.

The song was credited to Lennon and McCartney; however the lyrics were primarily written by McCartney and were about his relationship with then girlfriend Jane Asher. The Beatles’ recorded it during the sessions for Rubber Soul, and released it as one side of a double A-sided single with “Day Tripper” on the flip.

Wonder’s version was heard playing over the closing credits of the 2005 film Kicking And Screaming. He also performed his version of the song at The White House to honor Paul McCartney in 2010 when McCartney was awarded the Gershwin Prize by the Library of Congress.

While the release of Signed, Sealed & Delivered was a somewhat tentative step toward full-blown maturity on vinyl, It did bring Wonder one step closer on the road to world class albums like Music Of My Mind, Talking Book, Innervisions, Fulfillingness’ First Finale and Songs In The Key Of Life.

Today in Rock History – May 4

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pink-floyd-may-19671967, Pink Floyd performed at the Locarno Ballroom in Coventry, West Midlands, England.

1968, Steppenwolf make their first appearance on American Bandstand.

1968, The Yardbirds played at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan.

1968, Mary Hopkin won her heat on the ITV talent show Opportunity Knocks. She later signed with The Beatles owned Apple Records, Paul McCartney produced her UK No.1 single “Those Were The Days,” which also made No. 2 in the US. Hopkin later married record producer Tony Visconti.

1968, The Who appear at Melody Fair in North Tonawanda, New York.

1969, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr all show up at the London wrap party for The Magic Christian. The film, based on Terry Southern’s novel, stars Peter Sellers and Ringo.

1969, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Central City Park in Macon, Georgia.

1970,  Four Kent State Students killed, seven others wounded by Ohio National Guardsmen during demonstrations against Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia. Neil Young pens the song “Ohio” within a week and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young record and release it in early June.

1972, The Grateful Dead perform at the Olympia Theater in Paris during their fabled Europe ’72 tour.

1972, Pink Floyd played at the Music Hall in Boston on the last night of a North American tour. The show was moved from the Orpheum Theater, a smaller venue due to the high ticket demand.

1973, Led Zeppelin opened their 1973 North American tour, which was billed as the “biggest and most profitable rock & roll tour in the history of the United States.” The group would gross over $4 million from the dates, flying between gigs in “The Starship,” a Boeing 720 passenger jet, complete with bar, shower room, TV and video in a 30′ lounge and a white fur bedroom.

1973, Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention appeared at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

1974, Grand Funk Railroad started a two week run at No.1 on the singles chart with their version of the Little Eva hit “The Loco-Motion.” It was only the second time that a cover version had been a No.1 as well as the original.

1974, The film soundtrack to The Sting’by Marvin Hamlisch started a five-week run at number one on the album chart.

1975, Elvis Presley kicked off a 31- date North American Tour by playing two shows at the Civic Center in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

1976, David Bowie performed the first of four nights at the Empire Pool, Wembley, in London. Earlier in the day, he gave a rare interview to Jean Rook of the Daily Express.

1976, The Rolling Stones played at the AWD Dome, Bremen, Germany.

1977, The Patti Smith Group, David Johansen, Dead Boys, Blondie, Suicide and Richard Hell & The Voidoids all appeared at a Punk Benefit at CBGB’s in New York City.

1978, “Night Fever” by The Bee Gees was at number one on the UK singles chart. The group’s third chart topper and the theme from the film Saturday Night Fever. The song was a US number one for over two months.

1979, Rush appeared at the Hammersmith Odeon, London.

1980, ZZ Top performed at the Capitol Theatre, Passaic, New Jersey.

1984, King Crimson played at Kenmin Hall, Kanagawa, Japan.

1987, American blues vocalist, harmonica player Paul Butterfield, who fronted The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, died at his home in North Hollywood, California, of drug-related heart failure, he was 44. He achieved international recognition, as one of the early acts performing during the Summer of Love, at The Monterey festival and Woodstock festival.

1989, Stevie Ray Vaughan set out on what would be his last ever tour at the Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver, British Columbia. The guitarist was killed in a helicopter crash on 27th Aug 1999 after a concert at Alpine Valley Music Theater in Wisconsin, after playing 107 of the 110 dates.

1996, Alanis Morissette started a six-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with Jagged Little Pill.

2004, Clement Seymour Dodd died aged 72. Producer and major force in the development of ska and reggae, made the first recordings of Bob Marley.

Born on this day – Dick Dale (1937); Nicholas Ashford, Ashford & Simpson (1942); George Wadenius, Blood Sweat & Tears (1945); Bruce Day, Santana, Pablo Cruise (1951); Randy Travis (1959); and Mike Dirnt, bass, Green Day (1972)

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Today in Rock History – April 29

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April 29

1967, The 14-hour Technicolour Dream benefit party for The International Times was held at Alexandra Palace, Muswell Hill in London. Seeing the event mentioned on TV, John Lennon called his driver and went to the show. Coincidentally, Yoko Ono was one of the performers. More than thirty acts appeared included The Move, The Pretty Things, Soft Machine, Tomorrow, The Flies, The Creation Arthur Brown, and The Graham Bond Organisation. All the bands played for free. Members of Pink Floyd drove all night from an gig in The Netherlands arriving at 3 AM, and taking the stage at dawn.  The entire event was documented by BBC Television.

1967, Aretha Franklin releases her interpretation of the Otis Redding song “Respect.”

1967, Jimi Hendrix, The Walker Brothers, Engelbert Humperdink and Cat Stevens played two shows at Bournemouth Winter Gardens, England.

1969, While working on tracks for the forthcoming Beatles Abbey Road album, Ringo Starr added his vocal to “Octopus’s Garden.”

1970, The Allman Brothers Band played at Aliotta’s Lounge in Buffalo, New York.

1971, Promoter Bill Graham announces he’s closing the Fillmore Auditoriums in San Francisco and New York.

1972, David Bowie performed at Town Hall, High Wycombe, England.

1973, John Denver began a weekly live UK BBC 2 TV special, The John Denver Show.

1973, The Bay City Rollers appeared at The Odeon Theatre, Edinburgh in Scotland.

1974, King Crimson performed at the Stanley Theater, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1975, Yes played at the Palace Theatre, Manchester, England.

The Bee Gees

1975, After suffering the indignity of having an album rejected by their label, the Bee Gees release their career renaissance Main Course, featuring the disco hits “Jive Talkin'” and “Nights on Broadway.”

1976, Genesis performed  Community Theater, Berkeley, California.

1976, After a gig in Memphis, Bruce Springsteen took a cab to Elvis Presley’s Graceland home and proceeded to climb over the wall. A guard took him to be another crank fan and apprehended him.

1976, Bob Dylan appeared at Expo Hall, Municipal Auditorium, Mobile, Alabama.

1977, The Grateful Dead played the first of five nights at the New York Palladium, New York.

1977, The Kinks appeared at the Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario.

1979, Van Halen played at Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana.

1980, Black Sabbath began their first tour with vocalist Ronnie James Dio, who had replaced Ozzy Osbourne.

1983, Roxy Music performed at the California State University, Fresnom, California.

1984, Yes appeared at the Civic Center in Erie, Pennsylvania.

1993, Guitarist, producer, Mick Ronson died of liver cancer aged 46. Ronson recorded and toured with David Bowie from 1970 to 1973. He released the 1974 solo album Slaughter On Tenth Avenue. Ronson co-produced Lou Reed’s album Transformer. He was also part of the Hunter Ronson Band with Ian Hunter. Among the talent Ronson worked with were Morrissey, Slaughter & The Dogs, The Wildhearts, The Rich Kids, Elton John, Johnny Cougar, T-Bone Burnett.

1995, Rapper Tupac Shakur married Keisha Morris inside the Clinton Correctional Facility, where he was serving a four-year jail term for sex abuse.

2001, A blue plaque was unveiled at 38 Aubrey Walk, Kensington, London to honor the musical heritage of the address where British singer Dusty Springfield lived between 1968 and 1972.

2007, Arctic Monkeys started a three week run at number one on the UK album chart with their second album Favourite Worst Nightmare.

Born on April 29: Duke Ellington (1899); Carl Gardner, American singer, The Coasters (1928); Willie Nelson (1933); Klaus Voorman,  Manfred Mann, Plastic Ono Band (1942);  Tammi Terrell, singer (1945); Tommy James (1947); Michael Karoli, German guitarist, songwriter, Can (1948); Francis Rossi, Status Quo (1949); Mark Kendall, American guitarist,  songwriter, Great White (1957); Carnie Wilson, American singer-songwriter, actress Wilson Phillips (1968); China Forbes, American singer-songwriter, Pink Martini (1970); Mike Hogan, bass, The Cranberries (1973)

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Today in Rock History – April 24

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1966, The Who performed at Birmingham Hippodrome in Birmingham, West Midlands, England.

1967, Pink Floyd appeared at Blue Opera Club, held at at The Feathers public house in London, England. A patron threw a penny a Roger Waters resulting in gash to his forehead.

1968,  Keith Moon, drummer with The Who, drove his Lincoln car into a Holiday Inn swimming pool while enjoying a wild birthday party.

1968, The Beatles’ new record label, Apple Records turned down the offer to sign new artist David Bowie. Apple later signed Mary Hopkin, James Taylor, Badfinger, and Billy Preston. Hopkin would go on to score a UK number one single, “Those Were The Days”.

1968, Louis Armstrong was at number one in the UK with the single “What A Wonderful World / Cabaret.” At 69 years of age, it made Armstrong the oldest act ever to score a UK chart topper.

1969, Paul McCartney publicly denies rumors that he is dead.

1969, Led Zeppelin played at Fillmore West in San Francisco. It is a popular bootleg concert.

1970, Grace Slick and Abbie Hoffman leave a White House party without having dosed young Tricia Nixon with LSD as planned. The Jefferson Airplane singer was invited to the bash by Tricia, and took along the outlaw Hoffman as her date. Hoffman was turned away at the gate. Slick went with him.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band performed at the Woodrose Ballroom, Deerfield, Massachusetts.

1971, Crosby Stills Nash & Young went to number one on the album chart with 4 Way Street.

1971, The Grateful Dead appeared at Wallace Wade Stadium, on the campus of Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina.

1972, Pink Floyd played at the Sports Arena, Toledo, Ohio.

1972, John Lennon’s controversial single, “Woman Is the Nigger of the World” was released in the US. The song peaked at number 57, despite virtually every radio station in the country refusing to play it. Yoko Ono said the phrase during a magazine interview in 1967 and Lennon later explained that he was making a point that women deserved higher status in society.

1973, King Crimson appeared at the State Fairgrounds, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

1974, David Bowie releases Diamond Dogs.

1975, Peter Ham, British singer, songwriter with Badfinger committed suicide by hanging himself in the garage of his Surrey home, aged 27. Ham co-wrote “Without You,” with bandmate Tom Evans, who also later committed suicide. The song won an Ivor Novello award for Song Of The Year in 1973, and was a hit for Harry Nilson and Mariah Carey. Ham was a founding member of The Iveys, who later became Badfinger. They were signed to the Beatles’ Apple label. Their first hit “Come And Get It” was written by Paul McCartney.

1976, Led Zeppelin scored their sixth number one album with Presence.

1976, Wings At The Speed Of Sound went to number one on the album chart. Paul McCartney’s fifth solo chart topper after the breakup of The Beatles.

1976, David Bowie performed at Nya Masshallen, Helsinki, Finland.

1976, Paul and Linda McCartney spent the evening with John Lennon at his New York Dakota apartment and watched Saturday Night Live on TV. Producer of the show Lorne Michaels made an offer on air asking The Beatles to turn up and play three songs live. Lennon and McCartney thought about taking a cab to the studio, but decided they were too tired. This was the last time Lennon and McCartney were together.

1977, Pink Floyd performed at Tampa Stadium, Tampa, Florida.

1978, David Bowie appeared at the MECCA Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

1979, Ray Charles’ “Georgia On My Mind” was proclaimed the state song of Georgia. The music to the song was written in 1930 by Hoagy Carmichael who also recorded a version of the song in New York in the same year. Ray Charles, a native of Georgia, recorded it in 1960 on the album The Genius Hits the Road.

1980, ZZ Top performed at the Hammersmith Odeon, London.

1981, New Order started work on their first album at Strawberry studios in Stockport, England.

1982, Ozzy Osbourne appeared at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1983, Bryan Adams, Sammy Hagar, Aerosmith, and Journey performed at the Miami Baseball Stadium.

1987, Deep Purple played at The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1990, The road crew for Roger Waters discovered an unexploded World War II bomb while constructing the set for The Wall concert in Potsdamer Platz, Germany.

1992, David Bowie married Somali born supermodel and actress Iman in Switzerland. Iman first got married at the age of eighteen to a young Somali man. Then, in 1977, she wed American basketball player Spencer Haywood.

1995, Oasis released “Some Might Say” which went on to give the band their first UK number one single.

dixie-chicks-ew-cover2003, The Dixie Chicks launched a publicity campaign to explain their position after the controversy of Natalie Maines’ statement regading the Iraq war. During a prime-time interview with ABC TV personality Diane Sawyer, Maines said she remained proud of her original statement. The band also appeared naked, with private parts strategically covered, on the cover of Entertainment Weekly magazine, with slogans such as “Traitors”, “Saddam’s Angels”, “Dixie Sluts”, “Proud Americans”, “Hero”, “Free Speech”, and “Brave” printed on their bodies.

2007, The Arctic Monkeys sold 85,000 copies of their new album Favourite Worst Nightmare on its first day in UK shops, putting it on course to be the year’s fastest-selling new release.

2012, Sinead O’Connor cancelled the remaining dates of her world tour, saying she was still recovering from a “very serious breakdown”. In a statement on her official website, she said she had scrapped all concerts this year due to her bipolar disorder. Her website was also now being deleted along with her Twitter account.

Born on April 24: Barbra Streisand (1942); Richard Sterban, American singer, The Oak Ridge Boys (1943); St. Clair Lee, Hughes Corporation (1944); Doug Clifford, Creedence Clearwater Revival (1945);  Glen Cornick, Jethro Tull (1947); H. Ann Kelly, The Hues Corporation (1947); Nigel Harrison, British bass player, Blondie, Silverhead (1951); Jack Blades, American bass player, songwriter, Night Ranger, Rubicon, Damn Yankees (1954); Captain Sensible, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, The Damned, Dead Men Walking (1954);  David Jay, Bauhaus, Love & Rockets (1957); Boris Williams, drums, The Cure, Thompson Twins (1957);  Billy Gould, American bass player, songwriter, producer, Faith No More, Fear and the Nervous System, Jello Biafra and the Guantanamo School of Medicine (1963); Paula Frazer, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, Tarnation, Faith No More, Frightwig (1963); Paul Ryder, bass, Happy Mondays (1964); Brian Marshall, bassist, Creed (1974); Tyson Ritter, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor The All-American Rejects (1984)

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Today in Rock History – April 22

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beatles-ticket-to-ride1965, The Beatles were at number one on the UK singles chart with “Ticket To Ride.” Taken from the film Help! it was the group’s seventh UK chart topper.

1966, “Wild Thing” by The Troggs (who were originally called The Troglodytes) was released in the US on both the Atco and Fontana labels. The song went on to reach number one. Fronted by Reg Presley, “Wild Thing” became a major influence on garage rock and punk rock. The original version was written by Chip Taylor in 1965 with his New York based group The Wild Ones.

1967, Jimi Hendrix played at the Odeon Theatre in Manchester, England.

1967, Pink Floyd performed a 45-minute set at Benn Memorial Hall, in Rugby England. Keyboardist Rick Wright was quoted in a local paper, “We started off as an R&B group, but later decided to adopt our own style. Our music is made to represent hallucinatory effects and this is enhanced by the use of lights.”

1967, In the most popular Monkee poll conducted in the music paper Disc & Music Echo, Davy Jones received 63% of the votes, Mickey Dolenz 22%, Peter Tork 8% and Mike Nesmith 7%.

1968, Cream performed at Massey Hall in Toronto.

1969, John Lennon changed his middle name from Winston to Ono on the roof of the Apple building in London.

1969, In Dolton, England, the Who perform their rock opera Tommy live in its entirety for the first time.

1969, A&M signs a brother-sister act called the Carpenters.

1969, Fleetwood Mac kicked off a 10-date UK tour at the Royal Albert Hall, London. Also on the bill, BB King, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee and Duster Bennett.

1970, Pink Floyd performs at the Capitol Theater, Port Chester, New York.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band played at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

1971, Pink Floyd performs at Norwich Lads Club in Norwich, England.

deep purple-machine-head1972, Deep Purple scored their second UK number one album with Machine Head.

1973, Yes appeared at the West Palm Beach Auditorium, West Palm Beach, Florida.

1974, Tina Turner starts filming in the role of Acid Queen in the Who’s film Tommy.

1975, Pink Floyd performed at the Sports Arena in San Diego, California as part of their North American tour.

1975, Rush appeared at the Indiana Convention Center, Indianapolis, Indiana.

1976, Bob Dylan played at the Belleview Biltmore Hotel, Clearwater, Florida.

1977, The Grateful Dead play at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1978, Bob Marley and the Wailers performed at the One Love Peace Concert in Jamaica. It was Marley’s first public appearance in Jamaica since being wounded in an assassination attempt a year and a half earlier.

1977, Black Sabbath appeared at Lisebergshalle, Gothenberg, Sweden.

1978, Gerry Rafferty releases his hit single “Baker Street.”

1978, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd made their first ever appearance as The Blues Brothers on NBC television’s Saturday Night Live.blues brothers

1980, The Who appear at The Salt Palace Arena, Salt Lake City, Utah.

1985, Eric Clapton played at The Coliseum, Richmond, Virginia.

1989, Madonna began a three week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Like A Prayer.”  It was her seventh US chart topper, and a number one hit in the UK.

1991, The Dave Matthews Band played their first ever-live show when they appeared at The Earth Day festival in Charlottesville, Virginia.

2003, Songwriter Felice Bryant died of cancer. She wrote many hits with her husband Boudleaux including: The Everly Brothers, “Bye Bye Love,” “All I Have To Do Is Dream,” “Wake Up Little Susie,” and “Raining In My Heart,” a hit for Buddy Holly. Other acts to record the duo’s songs include Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Tony Bennett, Simon & Garfunkel, Sarah Vaughan, Grateful Dead, Dolly Parton, Elvis Presley, Beach Boys, Roy Orbison, Elvis Costello, Count Basie, Dean Martin, Ruth Brown, Cher, R.E.M., and Ray Charles.

2008, It was revealed that ’60s singer Tommy Steele took Elvis Presley on a secret tour of London in 1958 after Presley struck up a friendship with Steele. When the rock legend flew into London for a day, Steele apparently took him round the city, showing him famous landmarks such as the Houses of Parliament. For more than 50 years, Presley fans had believed the only time Elvis ever set foot in the UK was during a stop-over at Prestwick Airport in Scotland in March 1960.

2013, Richie Havens, the folk singer who opened the legendary 1969 Woodstock rock festival, died of a heart attack at 72. He died at his home in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Born on April 22: Charles Mingus (1922); Glen Campbell (1936); Jack Nitzsche, producer, songwriter (1937); Peter Frampton (1950); Pete Car, American guitarist, Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (1950); Paul Carrack, Squeeze (1951); Shavo Odadjian, bass, System of a Down (1974)

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Today in Rock History – April 19

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1965, The film T.A.M.I. (Teen-Age Music International) Show featuring The Rolling Stones, Supremes Four Tops, James Brown, The Beach Boys and Smokey Robinson & The Miracles opened in London, England under the title Teenage Command Performance.

1965, The Beatles single “Ticket to Ride” was released on Capitol records in the US. The single’s label stated that the song was from the upcoming movie Eight Arms to Hold You, the original name for the movie Help!

1967, Jimi Hendrix, The Walker Brothers, Engelbert Humperdink and Cat Stevens, played two shows at The Odeon, Birmingham, England.

1968, John Lennon, George Harrison and their wives left the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s ashram in Rishikesh, India two weeks before their study was complete. Ringo and Paul had already left.

1968, Johnny Cash appeared at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.


1968, Pink Floyd released their fourth UK single “It Would Be So Nice,” written by Richard Wright, with “Julia Dream” by Roger Waters on the B-side. Pink Floyd were on tour in Europe on this day, and played their second night at the Piper Club, in Rome, Italy.

1969, Ten Years After played at The Rock Pile in Toronto, Ontario.

1969, Smile (later to be known as Queen), appeared at the Revolution Club in London, England.

1971, Hawkwind performed at the Playhouse Theatre, London.

1972, Genesis appeared at the Teatro Mostra Mediterraneo, Naples, Italy.

1973, Yes played at the Georgia Tech Coliseum, Atlanta, Georgia.

1974, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band appeared at the State Theatre in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The gig was unadvertised by its promoter, who gambled that word-of-mouth would be enough to fill the 550-seat venue, only 250 people attended. Tickets cost $4.50 and $5.50 in advance.

1974, While in New York, David Bowie sees Todd Rundgren’s band Utopia at Carnegie Hall, and attends the aftershow party.

1975, During a 29-date North American tour Pink Floyd appeared at the Tucson Community Center Arena, Tuscon, Arizona.

1975, Elton John fires his rhythm section, bassist Dee Murray and drummer Nigel Olsson. They would have to wait until the next decade for the pianist to rehire them.

1977, Led Zeppelin played at Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio.

1978, Patti Smith releases her biggest hit, “Because the Night.” It was co-written by Bruce Springsteen.

1980, R.E.M. played their first gig as R.E.M. at the 11:11 Koffee Club, Athens, Georgia, to 150 people. The show ended at 2 AM when police closed it down due to the venue being unlicensed.

1980, Blondie went to number one on the US singles chart with ‘Call Me,” featured in the Richard Gere movie American Gigolo. The track was also a chart topper in the UK.

1980, 32 year old English singer Brian Johnson joined Australian group AC/DC, replacing Bon Scott who had died after a drinking binge in February 1980.

1982, The Grateful Dead appeared at the Civic Center in Baltimore, Maryland.

1984, King Crimson played at The Vogue Theatre, Indianapolis, Indiana.

1990, On this week’s BBC- TV’s French and Saunders show, Mark Knopfler, David Gilmour, Lemmy, Mark King (Level 42,) and Gary Moore all appeared in a comedy courthouse sketch. The sketch ended with all the guitarist’s jamming together.

1995, The Stone Roses played their first gig in five years when they appeared at The Rockefeller Club, Oslo, Norway.

2012, Levon Helm, died of throat cancer aged 71. A drummer, singer and multi-instrumentalist, Helm formed his own high school band, the Jungle Bush Beaters, at 17. He later joined The Hawks (who became Bob Dylan’s backing group) later changing their name to The Band. He sang on Band classics like ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” “Up on Cripple Creek,” “Rag Mama Rag,” and “The Weight.”

Born on this day: Alexis Korner (1928); Alan Price, The Animals (1942); Bernie Worrell, keyboards, Parliament, Funkadelic (1944); Mark Volman, The Turtles, Flo and Eddie (1947); Rod Morgenstein, American drummer, Winger, Dixie Dregs, Platypus,  The Jelly Jam (1953);  Tony Martin, English singer-songwriter Black Sabbath, Giuntini Project, Empire (1957); Suge Knight, producer, co-founded Death Row Records (1965); Dar Williams, American singer-songwriter guitarist, Cry Cry Cry (1967)

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Today in Rock History- April 18

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1968, During a European tour, Pink Floyd played two shows at the Piper Club, in Rome, Italy.

1969, Lulu married Bee Gee Maurice Gibb, Brother Barry was the best man. The couple split in 1973.

1969, Jimi Hendrix performed at Ellis Auditorium in Memphis, Tennessee.

1970, Santana, Taj Mahal and It”s A Beautiful Day all appeared at London”s Royal Albert Hall.

1970, Steel Mill, (featuring Bruce Springsteen) played in the Main Gym at Ocean County College in New Jersey. Tickets cost $2.00.

1970, Iron Butterfly perfoms at the Civic Center in Charleston, West Virginia.

1970, Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant collapses of exhaustion onstage in Phoenix. The band cancels its subsequent show in Las Vegas.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Harrisburg Area Community College, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

1972, Pink Floyd appeared at Symphony Hall, Memorial Arts Center, Atlanta, Georgia.

1973, David Bowie performed at Shibuya Public Hall, Tokyo, Japan.

1974, Queen headlined at Kiel Auditorium, St. Louis, Missouri.

1975, four Bay City Rollers fans were taken to hospital and 35 others required on site treatment after they attempted to swim across a lake to meet their heroes. The group were making an appearance at a BBC Radio 1 fun day at Mallory Park.

1975, John Lennon releases “Stand by Me.”

1975, Alice Cooper appears in the TV special Welcome to My Nightmare: The Making online casino of a Record Album.

1976, Bob Dylan performs at the Lakeland Civic Center, Lakeland, Florida.

1978, The Grateful Dead played at the Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1981, Yes rhythm section Alan White and Chris Squire begin rehearsals with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page. Although their planned supergroup never records anything, it spells the temporary end of Yes.

1984, Michael Jackson underwent surgery in a Los Angeles hospital to repair damage done after his hair caught fire during the filming of a Pepsi commercial.

1987, On the first leg of their Joshua Tree tour, U2 played the second of five nights at the Los Angeles Sports Arena in California.

1996, Bernard Edwards bass guitarist and producer from Chic, died of pneumonia in a Tokyo Hotel room while touring Japan. Also worked with ABC, Power Station, Sister Sledge, Sheila and B. Devotion, Diana Ross, Johnny Mathis, Debbie Harry, Air Supply, and Rod Stewart.

2012, An original and extremely rare 1963 mono copy of the Beatles‘ Please Please Me album, signed by the Fab Four, sold on an eBay auction for nearly $25,000 (£16.667.) Paul McCartney and John Lennon both signed their names with “love” in royal blue ink whereas George Harrison and Ringo Starr signed their names in midnight blue ink. The autographs were signed in May of 1963.

storm-thorgerson-pink-floyd2013, Storm Thorgerson, whose album cover artwork includes Pink Floyd”s The Dark Side of the Moon, died aged 69. A childhood friend of the founding members of the band, he became their designer-in-chief. His credits also include albums by Led Zeppelin, Peter Gabriel and Muse. In 2003, Thorgerson suffered a stroke, from which he recovered. He was later diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer, which he battled for several years.

Born on April 18: Paul Rothchild, producer (1935); Glen D.Hardin, The Crickets (1939); Skip Spence, Moby Grape, Jefferson Airplane (1944);  Les Pattinson, Echo And The Bunnymen (1958); and Mark Tremonti, Creed (1974)

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