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Today in Rock History – September 28

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1968, The Beatles started a nine week run at number one on the singles chart with “Hey Jude.” The Paul McCartney penned tune was about Lennon’s son Julian, and gave the Fab Four their sixteenth chart topper, and the biggest selling single of 1968.

1968, The Rascals went to number one on the album chart with Time Peace / The Rascals’ Greatest Hits.

1968, Bruce Springsteen and a local folk rock group The Founders appeared at the Off Broad Street Coffee House in Red Bank, New Jersey.

1969, Pink Floyd played at Theater 140, Brussels, Belgium.

1970, Yes appeared at the University Of South Wales, Aberystwyth, England.

1970, Pete Townshend writes out the scenario for The Who’s next project, the film Lifehouse. “OVERTURE: The farmers — Life — Beauty — Celebration, LIFEHOUSE: The City — Rock — Youth against finance — Individuals working for the whole, GLORIFICATION: They disappear — they triumph, leaving everyone behind.” He sends a copy to co-manager Chris Stamp along with details on how the members of The Who would fit into the movie and how filming might be handled. That project never came to fruition, and the songs became the basis for Who’s Next, released in 1971.

1971, Led Zeppelin played the first of two nights at the Festival Hall in Osaka, Japan.

1971, The Who open their fall U.K. tour at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, England.

1972, Hawkwind performed at the Paris Theatre, London.

1973, The Rolling Stones appear at Olympiahalle, Munich, Germany.

1974, Bad Company went to No.1 on the album chart with their self-titled debut album. Paul Rodgers and Simon Kirke had come out of Free, while Mick Ralphs had played guitar with Mott the Hoople, and Boz Burrell played bass for King Crimson before the group formed in 1973. They produced six albums together before disbanding in 1983.

1974, Canadian singer Andy Kim went to No.1 on the singles chart with “Rock Me Gently,” Kim was the co-writer of The Archies’ “Sugar Sugar.”

1976, The Grateful Dead performed at Onondaga County War Memorial in Syracuse, New York.

1976, A&M Records sued George Harrison for $6 million over non-delivery of a new album after he missed the deadline by two months.

1977, Aerosmith performed at Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky.

1978, AC/DC appeared at War Memorial Auditorium, Rochester, New York.

1979, Van Halen played at Don Barnett Arena, Rapid City, South Dakota.

1980, The Police were at No.1 on the singles chart with “Don’t Stand So Close To Me” the group’s third No.1. It appeared on their album Zenyatta Mondatta and was the best selling single of 1980.

1981, Van Halen performed at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix, Arizona.

1985, Kate Bush scored her second UK No.1 album with Hounds Of Love. The singer’s second No.1 album featured the tracks “Running Up That Hill,” “‘Cloudbusting,” “Hounds of Love,” and “The Big Sky.”

1987, U2 played the first of two nights at Madison Square Garden in New York City during their Joshua Tree world tour.

1991, American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer Miles Davis died of a stroke and pneumonia. His 1959 album Kind of Blue, was a major influence on jazz music.

1991, Guns N’ Roses released two albums, Use Your Illusion I and ‘Use Your Illusion II, which debut at number 1 and number 2 on the UK album chart. Both albums reached No.1 & No.2 in the US.

1991, On the week of their album Nevermind being released, Nirvana made an appearance at the Tower Records store in New York City and then played a show at The Marquee Club in New York. Their single “Smells Like Teen Spirit” had also entered the US Top 20 this week.

2000, As part of their UK Under A Big Top tour, Radiohead played the first of two nights at Glasgow Green in Scotland.

2008, Kings of Leon started a two week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with Only by the Night, the band’s fourth studio album.

2009, Adam Goldstein, aka DJ AM., American club DJ and musician, died of an accidental drug overdose at home in New York City aged 36. Had worked with Blink 182, Crazy Town, Madonna. Goldstein had survived a plane crash along with Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker in September 2008.

Born on September 28: Ed Sullivan (1902); Ben E. King (1938); Nick Nicholas, Steppenwolf (1943); Paul Burgess, drums, 10cc (1950); and Melody Thornton, singer, The Pussycat Dolls (1984)

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Today in Rock History – September 27

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Beach_Boys_070.jpg1964, The Beach Boys made their TV debut on The Ed Sullivan Show on US TV where they performed “I Get Around” and “Wendy.”

1966, The Who’s managers Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp  attend a Jimi Hendrix performance at the Scotch of St. James Club. Chandler has heard about their Track Records’ startup (Hendrix originally wanted to sign with Decca because The Who were on Decca in the US.) After hearing Hendrix play, Lambert and Stamp try to talk him into letting them be his managers but Chandler, naturally, refuses so they sign Hendrix as their first act for Track

1967,  The Beatles recorded various parts for the new John Lennon song “I Am The Walrus” and the new Paul McCartney song “Fool On The Hill.”

1968, The Velvet Underground performed at the Boston Tea Party in Boston.  The support act was Fire and Ice.

1968, Pink Floyd appeared at the Queens Hall in Dunoon, Scotland. Due to bad weather all the ferries to Dunoon were cancelled, so Pink Floyd hired their own boat from Gourock and risked the rough seas to make the crossing to Dunoon to appear in front of 400 fans.

1969, Eric Burdon & War, along with Mountain, performed at the Eastown Theater in Detroit, Michigan.

1969, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at the Piedmont Music Festival in Atlanta, Georgia.

1970, The Rolling Stones appeared at Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria.

1970, Pink Floyd performed two shows (6 pm and 9 pm) at the Fillmore East in New York.  Setlist for both shows: Astronomy Domine, Green Is the Colour, Careful With That Axe Eugene, Fat Old Sun, Set The Controls for the Heart of the Sun,  A Saucerful of Secrets.  The encore was Atom Heart Mother with brass and choir.

1971, Led Zeppelin appeared at the Shiei Taikukan Hall in Hiroshima, Japan.

1972, Yes played at the Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, Virginia.

1972, Rory Storm, singer from the British ’60s group Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, died aged 32 after taking an overdose of sleeping pills in a suicide pact with his mother. Ringo Starr played drums with Storm before joining The Beatles.

1972, The Grateful Dead played at Stanley Theatre in Jersey City, New Jersey.

1973, Rolling Stone announces that guitarist Carlos Santana has added the name “Devadip” since becoming a disciple of Sri Chinmoy. The name means “the Lamp of the Light Supreme.”

1974, Roxy Music performs at Trentham Gardens, Stoke, England.

ZZ-Top1975,  ZZ Top plays at the Palace Theatre, Albany, New York.

1976, Hawkwind performed at Colston Hall, Bristol, England.

1977, Yes appears at the Aladdin Theater, Las Vegas.

1978, Eric Clapton sponsored a West Bromwich Albion UEFA cup-tie against Galatasarey of Turkey. After the game, Eric presented each player with a gold copy of his latest album Slowhand.

1978, Bob Dylan performed at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York.

1979, Scottish guitarist Jimmy McCullough died from a heroin overdose in his apartment in Maida Vale, London, aged 26. He was a member of Stone The Crows, Thunderclap Newman, and Wings (1974 to 1977). When “Something in the Air” by Thunderclap Newman went to number one in 1969 it made McCulloch the youngest guitarist to ever play on a chart topping single, he was sixteen years old at the time.

1980, Rush performed at the Cape Cod Coliseum, South Yarmouth, Massachusetts.

1980, David Bowie scored his fourth UK number one album with Scary Monsters And Supercreeps.

1981, The Rolling Stones played at Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York.

1982, Blue Oyster Cult appeared at the CNE Coliseum, Toronto.

1983, Black Sabbath performed at Hemmerleinhalle, Neunkirchen, Germany.

1986, Metallica bass player Cliff Burton was crushed to death after the bands tour bus crashed between Stockholm and Copenhagen. During a European tour, members from the band drew cards for the most comfortable bunk on the tour bus, Burton had won the game with an Ace of Spades and was asleep when the tour bus ran over a patch of black ice and skidded off of the road. He was thrown through the window of the bus, which fell on top of him.

1986, The Beatles’ “Twist and Shout” re-entered the US singles chart over twenty-five years after it first appeared, after the song was featured in the film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

1998, The Manic Street Preachers scored their first UK number one album with their fifth release This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours.

2000, U2 played a show from the rooftop of The Clarence Hotel in Dublin, which they own. Over 4,000 fans gathered on the streets below.

2004, Legendary record producer Phil Spector was formally charged with murder in the February 3rd, 2003 shooting of actress Lana Clarkson. He was convicted in April, 2009 and sentenced to nineteen years to life in the California State prison system.

2008, Pink Floyd’s manager Bryan Morrison died after spending over two years in a coma. Morrison suffered severe brain injuries in a polo accident at the Royal Berkshire Polo Club, England in 2006, and never recovered. He also managed The Pretty Things, and was a music publisher for Syd Barrett, The Bee Gees, Elton John, The Jam, T-Rex and Wham!

2011, Tony Bennett became the oldest living person to top the US album chart when the 85-year-old’s Duets II album went to number one. The record, which featured collaborations with Amy Winehouse and Lady Gaga, was also his first US chart topper in his 60 year career. The previous oldest performer to top the chart was Bob Dylan in 2009 with Together Through Life. At the time he was 67-years old.

Born on September 27: Randy Bachman (1943); Marvin Lee Aday, aka Meat Loaf  (1947); Greg Ham, Men At Work (1953); Robbie Shakespeare, session bass player (1953); Shaun Cassidy (1958); Stephan Jenkins, Third Eye Blind (1966); Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr., aka Lil Wayne (1982);  Avril Lavigne (1984)

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Today in Rock History – September 25

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beatles-cartoon-series1965, The Beatles cartoon series premiered on ABC TV in the US. The first story was titled I Want To Hold Your Hand and had the group exploring the ocean floor in a diving bell where they met a lovesick octopus.

1965, The Who arrive in Denmark to begin their first Danish tour with a 9 pm show at the Folkets Hus in Elsinore, then rush 20 miles to Copenhagen to play the KB Hallen at Midnight, this set with loaner equipment from the Swedish band The Lee Kings. According to a member of The Namelosers, a Swedish pop band, Roger bursts into the dressing room after the second show and headbutts Keith in the nose because Keith had been playing too loud.

1967, The Beatles began recording the new Paul McCartney song “The Fool on the Hill” at Abbey Road, London. John and George played harmonicas, Paul played a recorder and recorded his lead vocal and Ringo played drums.

1967, Pink Floyd performed at the Playhouse Theatre in London.

1968, Welsh singer Mary Hopkin was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with “Those Were The Days.” Hopkins had signed to The Beatles Apple label after appearing on UK TV talent show Opportunity Knocks.

1969, John Lennon recorded the track “Cold Turkey” with Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Klaus Voorman and Yoko Ono.

1970, The first episode of The Partridge Family was shown on US TV, featuring Shirley Jones, David Cassidy, Susan Dey and Danny Bonaduce.

1971, David Bowie and America both appeared at Friars in Aylesbury, England.

1971, The production master for The Who’s next album, Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy, is compiled at Apple Studios. Also, in Melody Maker, Pete calls for the audience to become more involved with the performers. He also believes that although the equipment may change, rock will stay pretty much the same. In the same issue a fan attacks The Who for their high ticket prices calling them capitalists hiding behind a banner of anti-materialism. The letter is sparked by the outrageous ticket prices for The Who’s upcoming tour, some as high as £3.50 ($5.25.)

deep-purple-fireball1971, Deep Purple went to No.1 on the chart with their sixth album Fireball.

1972, Black Sabbath released their fourth studio album, Black Sabbath Vol. 4. The album, which features a monochrome photograph of Ozzy Osbourne with hands raised, taken during a Black Sabbath concert, was originally to be titled Snowblind, after one of several songs referring to the band’s cocaine use.

1973, The Allman Brothers Band played at Henry J. Kaiser Auditorium, Oakland, California.

1975, Jackie Wilson had a heart attack while performing live on stage at the Latin Casino, New Jersey. Wilson collapsed into a coma suffering severe brain damage. Ironically, he was in the middle of singing one of his biggest hits, “Lonely Teardrops” and was two words into the line, “….my heart is crying” when he collapsed to the stage, striking his head heavily. Wilson died on 21st January 1984. Van Morrison wrote the song “Jackie Wilson Said,” covered by Dexy’s Midnight Runners.

1975, Aerosmith appeared at the Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1976, Wings played a charity concert in St Marks Square, Venice to raise funds for the historic city. The night was a success but the weight of the equipment used by the group caused more damage to the square.

1977, Yes performed at the Sports Arena, San Diego, California.

1980, John Bonham, drummer with Led Zeppelin, died aged 32 after a heavy drinking session. “Bonzo” was found dead at guitarists Jimmy Page’s house of what was described as asphyxiation, from inhaling his own vomit after excessive vodka consumption, (40 shots in 4 hours). During live sets his drum solo, “Moby Dick,” would often last for half an hour and regularly featured his use of his bare hands. In 2007, Ludwig issued a limited edition drum kit in Bonham’s memory.

1980, The Grateful Dead played the first of fifteen nights at the Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, California.

1981, The Rolling Stones kicked off a 50-date North American tour at the JFK Stadium, Philadelphia.

1982, Queen made a guest appearance on US TV’s Saturday Night Live, where they performed “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and “Under Pressure.”

1990, Drummer Dave Grohl auditioned for Nirvana and was instantly given the job. Grohl’s last band Scream had recently split-up.

1993, Nirvana went to No.1 on the UK album chart with In Utero the bands first UK No.1 album.

1999, Stephen Canaday of The Ozark Mountain Daredevils was killed when the vintage WW II plane he was flying in, rolled, inverted and crashed into a tree. The pilot failed to maintain speed which resulted in a stall.

2000, Ozzy Osbourne formally requested that Black Sabbath be removed from the nomination list for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Calling the inclusion “meaningless”, Osbourne went on to say “Let’s face it. Black Sabbath have never been media darlings. We’re a people’s band and that suits us just fine.”

Born on September 25:  Gary Alexander guitar, vocals, The Association and John Locke, Spirit (1943); Onnie Mcintyre, Average White Band (1945); Bryan MacLean, guitar, vocals, Love (1946); and Will Smith, actor, rapper (1968)

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Today in Rock History – September 23

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rolling-stones-19661966, The Rolling Stones 66 12-date UK tour kicked off at the Royal Albert Hall London. Supported by The Yardbirds, Ike and Tina Turner, and Peter Jay and the New Jaywalkers. Both Keith Moon and John Entwistle from The Who were in the audience.

1967,  The Mothers Of Invention appeared at the Royal Albert Hall London making their UK live debut

1967, The Box Tops started a four week run at No.1 on the singles chart with “The Letter.” The record went on to sell over four million copies and receive two Grammy nominations. It was also a Top Ten hit for Joe Cocker in 1970.

1967, Pink Floyd appeared at the Corn Exchange in Chelmsford, Essex, England.

1968, Working on new songs for their forthcoming White Album, The Beatles recorded a new John Lennon song “Happiness Is A Warm Gun In Your Hand”,  theworking title of “Happiness Is A Warm Gun.” The title came from the cover of a gun magazine that producer George Martin showed Lennon. Jim Morrison from The Doors came to visit The Beatles in the studio and watched them recording.

1969, The Northern Star newspaper of Northern Illinois University ran a story claiming that Paul McCartney had been killed in a car crash in 1966 and had been replaced by a look-a-like. Russell Gibb of WKNR-FM in Detroit picked up on the claim and the story went worldwide. By late October 1969 the hoax was so well entrenched, that McCartney came out of seclusion at his Scottish farm to deny the story. When McCartney was asked to comment by a reporter, he replied, “Do I look dead? I’m as fit as a fiddle.”

1970, Mick Jagger met Bianca Macias for the first time after a Stones concert at the Paris Olympia. The couple later married.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Fillmore East, New York.

Led-Zeppelin-19711971, Led Zeppelin played the first of two nights at The Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan.

1972, Mott the Hoople performed at Liverpool Stadium in Liverpool, Merseyside, England.

1973, Genesis played at Stadttheater, Osnabrück, Germany.

1974, Robbie McIntosh, a founding member of the Average White Band, died of a heroin overdose at a Hollywood party. He inhaled a white powder thought to be cocaine but was actually pure heroin. AWB scored the No.1 single “Pick up the Pieces,” which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1975.

1975, Hawkwind appeared at the Opera, Reims, France.

1976, AC/DC played at the Musikhalle, Hamburg, Germany.

1976, The Grateful Dead performed at Cameron Indoor Stadium, on the campus of Duke University, a gym better known for the basketball played there, than as a music venue.

1977, Yes played at The Forum, Inglewood, California.

1978, 10cc had their third and final UK No.1 single with “Dreadlock Holiday.” The lyrics, about a white man lost in Jamaica, were based on a true event that happened to Moody Blues vocalist Justin Hayward and Eric Stewart from 10cc in Barbados.

1978, AC/DC played at the Uptown Theater, Kansas City, Missouri.

1978, Black Sabbath appeared at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena, Anaheim, California.

1979, Van Halen performed at the Convention Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

1980, Bob Marley collapsed on stage during a concert at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Marley had collapsed in New York’s Central Park while jogging, two days before and was told to immediately cancel the US leg, but flew to Pittsburgh to perform one final performance. This was the last time Marley ever appeared on stage performing, Marley died of cancer in May of 1981.

1981, Blue Oyster Cult played at the Onondaga County War Memorial, Syracuse, New York.

1982, Roxy Music appeared at Wembley Arena, London.

1983, Rush performed Radio City Music Hall, New York

1997, The Rolling Stones kicked off the North American leg of their Bridges To Babylon tour playing the first of two nights at Soldier Field in Chicago.

2006, Neil Young was named artist of the year at the Americana Honors and Awards at the fifth annual event in Nashville, Tennessee. The 60-year-old singer-songwriter released the protest album Living With War that year.

Born on September 23: John Coltrane (1926); Mighty Joe Young (1927); Ray Charles (1930); Hilly Cristal, owner CBGB’s (1931); Roy Buchanan (1939); Julio Iglesias (1943); John Banks, The Merseybeats, (1943); and Steve Boone, The Lovin’ Spoonful (1943); Ron Bushy, drums, Iron Butterfly (1945); Dan Toler, Great Southern, Allman Brothers (1948); and Bruce Springsteen (1949)

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Today in Rock History – September 21

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1968, Deep Purple reached the number four spot on the US singles chart with their debut single “Hush.”‘

1968, Jeannie C Riley went to number one on the singles chart with “Harper Valley PTA.” Jeannie won a Grammy for the best female country singer of 1968.

1968, Madame Tussaud’s Waxworks in London gave The Beatles their fifth image change of clothes and hair in four years.

1969, Pink Floyd appeared at Het Kolpinghuis, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.

1969, The James Gang played at the Ingman Room, in the Student Union at the University of Toledo in Toledo, Ohio.

1970, Freda Payne was at number one on the UK singles chart with “Band Of Gold.”

1970, The Who performed at Vejlby-Risskov Hallen, Aarhus, Denmark.

1971, The first edition of the new BBC TV music show The Old Grey Whistle Test was aired. Presented by Richard Williams, the show included film clips of Jimi Hendrix from the Monterrey Pop Festival playing “Wild Thing,” Bob Dylan playing “Maggies Farm,” plus America and Lesley Duncan live in the studio.

1971  Peter Frampton quits Humble Pie to start his solo career. His debut album, Wind of Change, follows the next year.

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

1973, The Grateful Dead appeared at The Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1973, Neil Young played at the Roxy Theater in Los Angeles.

1974, Barry White went to number one on the singles chart with “Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love Baby,” the singers first and only solo chart topper

1974, Carl Douglas was at number one on the singles chart with “Kung Fu Fighting.” The song was recorded in 10 minutes, had started out as a B-side and went on to sell over 10 million copies and made Douglas a one-hit wonder.

1975, Kraftwerk performed at Fairfield Halls, Croyden, England.

1975, The Allman Brothers Band performed at the Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts.

1976, ZZ Top appeared at the Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

1977, Rush played at the Paramount Theatre, Portland, Oregon.

1978, Yes performed at Olympia Stadium, Detroit, Michigan.

1979, Cheap Trick released Dream Police.  It was the group’s fourth studio album. Featured the hit title track, plus “The House Is Rocking (With Domestic Problem”, “Gonna Raise Hell”, and  “Need Your Love.”

1980, Blue Oyster Cult played at the Springfield Civic Center, Springfield, Massachusetts.

Bob Marley, courtesy Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (rockhall.com)

1980, Bob Marley collapsed while jogging in New York’s Central Park. After hospital tests, he was diagnosed as having cancer. Marley played his last ever concert two nights later at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1982, The Go-Go’s played at Lakeland Civic Center, Lakeland, Florida.

1983, Rush appeared at Radio City Music Hall, New York.

1984, Bruce Springsteen performed at the Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1985, With the help of heavy MTV exposure,  “Money For Nothing” gave Dire Straits their first number one single.

1987, American jazz bassist Jaco Pastorius died from injuries sustained in a fight. Pastorius was trying to enter the Midnight Bottle Club in Wilton Manors, Florida, where he’d been banned, and became involved in a fight with a bouncer, Pastorius fell into a coma, and was put on life support. In 2006, Pastorius was voted “The Greatest Bass Player Who Has Ever Lived” by readers in Bass Guitar magazine. He was a member of Weather Report and worked with various acts including Joni Mitchell and Herbie Hancock.

1992, Parlophone Records released “Creep” by Radiohead. The single didn’t chart but featured in the majority of critics lists at the end of the year.

1996, The Fugees scored their second UK number one single with “Ready Or Not.” The chorus in the song is based on “Ready or Not Here I Come (Can’t Hide from Love”) by The Delfonics. The Fugees previous single “Killing Me Softly” was so successful that the track was deleted and no longer supplied to retailers while still in the Top 20 to make way for the new single.

2011, John Du Cann, guitarist for Atomic Rooster died after a heart attack. As he died without heirs, the bulk of his personal collection of 75 guitars, 30 amplifiers, records and CDs was auctioned in January 2012.

2011, A contract revealing that The Beatles refused to perform in front of a segregated audience at the Cow Palace in Daly City, California on August 31st, 1965, sold for $23,033 (£14,395) at an auction in Los Angeles. In addition to the desegregation clause, the contract guaranteed the band $40,000 (£25,000) and at least 150 police officers to provide security at the show.

2012, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones hold a press conference in London, to launch the Celebration Day concert film of the 2007 O2 Arena reunion show.

Born on September 21: Jimmy Young (1923); Leonard Cohen (1934) Don Felder, The Eagles (1942) David Hood, bassist  Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (1943); Bobby Tench, Jeff Beck Group, Ginger Baker, Freddie King (1944); GC Cameron, The Spiners (1945); Dave Gregory, XTC (1952); Tyler Stewart, drummer Barenaked Ladies (1967); Faith Hill (1967); David Silveria, Korn (1972); and Liam Gallagher, Oasis (1972)

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Today in Rock History – September 17th

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1974, The Ramones played at CBGB in New York.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Today in Rock History – September 16th

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are you experienced1967, Jimi Hendrix’s debut LP, Are You Experienced? entered the Billboard Hot 200 album chart, where it stayed for 106 weeks, including 77 weeks in the Top 40. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it number 15 on their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and two years later it was selected for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress in the United States.

1967, Working at Abbey Road studios in London The Beatles recorded 11 takes of “Your Mother Should Know,” giving the song a stronger beat, but this version of the song was discarded in favor of the original recording.

1969, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Mercer University, Macon, Georgia.

1970, Led Zeppelin won “Best Group” in the Melody Maker readers Poll. This was the first time in eight years that The Beatles hadn’t won in that category.

1970, Jimi Hendrix joined Eric Burdon & War onstage to jam with them at Ronnie Scott’s Club in London which would be Hendrix’s final public appearance.

1971, During a North American tour Led Zeppelin played the first of two nights at Honolulu Civic Auditorium. Tickets cost $5.00. The Honolulu Star Bulletin wrote, “The real irony of Led Zeppelin’s two hour performance last night was that they played their own review in their last number, “Communication Breakdown.” The show itself was marred by a generally sloppy performance on the part of the group, rather noisy behavior on the part of some of the 4,000 people in attendance, and a hot and sweaty atmosphere on the part of the good old poorly ventilated Civic Auditorium. The music was limp and uneven during all but a small part of the evening.”

1972, Rod Stewart had his second UK No.1 album with Never A Dull Moment.

1972, The Grateful Dead performed at the Music Hall in Boston, Massachusetts.

1972, Three Dog Night scored their third No.1 single with “Black and White.”

1972, Wishbone Ash, Family, Steppenwolf, John Kay Band, Slade, Uriah Heep, Roy Wood and Wizzard, Wild Angels, Glencoe, Sunshine and Cold Comfort Farm all appeared at the Buxton Festival in Derbyshire, England.

1973, Genesis performed at Colston Hall, Bristol, England.

1974, Blue Oyster Cult played at the Paramount Theatre in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Supporting acts were KISS and Rush.

1976, AC/DC appeared at Rhein-Ruhr-Halle, Duisburg, Germany.

Marc Bolan of T. Rex

1977, 29-year-old former T Rex singer Marc Bolan was killed instantly when the car driven by his girlfriend, Gloria Jones, left the road and hit a tree in Barnes, London. Miss Jones broke her jaw in the accident. The couple were on the way to Bolan’s home in Richmond after a night out at a Mayfair restaurant. A local man who witnessed the crash said, “When I arrived a girl was lying on the hood and a man with long dark curly hair was stretched out in the road. There was a hell of a mess.”

1978, Boston went to No.1 on the album chart with Don’t Look Back.

1978, During a UK tour Blondie played two shows at London’s Hammersmith Odeon, with guests The Boyfriends.

1979, The Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” was released. While it was not the first single to feature rapping, it is generally considered to be the song that first popularized hip hop in the United States and around the world. The song’s opening lyric “I said a hip, hop, the hippie, the hippie to the hip hip hop,” is world-renowned.

1979, The Who played at Madison Square Garden in New York.

1980, Van Halen appeared at McKale Memorial Center, Tucson, Arizona.

1981, The Kinks performed at Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkston, Michigan.

1989, U2 jammed with B.B. King on a boat rented for the blues legends 64th birthday in Sydney Harbour, Sydney, Australia.

1996, Pearl Jam played the first night on their No Code tour at the Key Arena in Seattle, Washington. Because of the band’s refusal to play in Ticketmaster’s venue areas, they were forced to use alternate ticketing companies for the shows, which fans complained were to be out-of-the-way and hard to get to.

1998, At a Sotheby’s auction a notebook belonging to former Beatles roadie Mal Evans containing the lyrics to “Hey Jude” sold for £111,500 $178,400,) a two-tone denim jacket belonging to John Lennon went for £9,200 ($14720,) and the Union Jack dress worn by Spice Girl Ginger Spice sold for £41,320 ($66,110.)

2006, Bob Dylan was at No.1 on the US album chart with Modern Times. Entering the U.S. charts at No.1, making it Dylan’s first album to reach that position since 1976’s Desire, 30 years prior. At 65, Dylan became the oldest living musician to top the Billboard albums chart. (85 year-old Tony Bennett broke this record in 2011 with his Duets album). The record also reached number one in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland.

2008, Norman Whitfield died in Los Angeles, California from diabetes and other illnesses. The Motown songwriter and producer collaborated with Barrett Strong on such hits as “I Heard It through the Grapevine,” “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg,” “(I Know) I’m Losing You,” “Cloud Nine,” “War,” “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” and “Car Wash.”

2009, Mary Travers from Folk trio Peter, Paul And Mary, passed away after suffering from leukemia for several years. She was 72.

2013, A souvenir booklet from the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival signed by Jimi Hendrix fetched $6,500 (£4060) on eBay. The artifact also included autographs from three members of the Mamas and Papas.

Born on this day: B.B. King (1925); Joe Butler, The Lovin Spoonful (1941);  Kenny Jones, Small Faces,  The Who (1941); Bernie Calvert, bass, The Hollies (1942); David Bellamy, Bellamy Brothers (1950); Ron Blair, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (1952); Richard Marx, singer, songwriter (1963); and Tramar Lacel Dillard, aka Flo Rida (1979)

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Today in Rock History – September 15

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1965, The Ford Motor Company became the first automaker to offer an 8-track tape player as an option for their entire line of vehicles on sale in the US. Tapes were initially only available at auto parts stores. Home 8-track equipment was still a year away.

1966, The Who played at Gaumont Theatre in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England.

1966, The Small Faces were at number one on the UK singles chart with “All Or Nothing,” their only chart topping hit. According to Kay Marriott, Steve Marriott’s mother, Steve wrote the song about his split with ex-fiancee Sue Oliver, though first wife Jenny Rylance states that Marriott told her he wrote the song for her, as a result of her split with Rod Stewart.

1967, During a UK tour, Pink Floyd appeared at the Starlight Room in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

1967, Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead played at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California. Big Brother and the Holding Company were also on the bill, but failed to show up.

1967, Filming continued for The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour. Lunch was at James and Amy Smedley’s fish and chip shop in Taunton, Somerset with The Beatles being filmed and photographed eating their fish and chips.

1968, The Doors were forced to perform as a trio at a concert in Amsterdam after singer Jim Morrison collapsed while dancing during the Jefferson Airplane’s performance.

1968, Procol Harum performed at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan.

1969, King Crimson played at the Pavillion, Bath, England.

1970, Black Sabbath and The Dog That Bit People appeared at The Marquee, London.

1970, US Vice-President Spiro Agnew said in a speech that the youth of America were being “brainwashed into a drug culture” by rock music, movies, books, and underground newspapers.

1972, Yes appeared at the Hollywood Sportatorium, Pembroke Pines, Florida.

1973, Hawkwind played at the Scandinavium, Götheborg, Sweden.

1974, Aerosmith performed at Market Square Arena, Indianapolis, Indiana

1975, Pink Floyd released their ninth studio album, Wish You Were Here.  The album explored themes of absence, the music business, and former band-mate Syd Barrett’s mental decline. It went to number one in the US and the UK, and went on to spend a total of 84 weeks on the chart.

1975, Bob Dylan released Slow Train Coming, an album of religious songs, including the Grammy Award winning single, “Gotta Serve Somebody.” The album alienated many of his long time fans.

1975, Johnny Cash played at Deutschlandhalle, Berlin, Germany.

1976, AC/DC performed at Fabrik, in Hamburg, Germany.

1978, Bob Dylan kicked off his longest and most continuous US tour of his career in Augusta, Maine, playing the first of sixty-five gigs in sixty-two cities.

1978, Black Sabbath appeared at the Richfield Coliseum, Cleveland, Ohio.

1979, Led Zeppelin’s In Through The Out Door began a seven-week run at number one on the US album charts, the band’s sixth chart topper.

1980, Van Halen played at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix, Arizona.

1981, Blue Oyster Cult performed at Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York.

1984, Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s “Relax” became the longest running chart hit since Engelbert Humperdink’s “Release Me,” after spending 43 weeks on the UK singles chart.

1990, The Steve Miller Band had a UK number one hit with “The Joker,” 16 years after it’s first release. The song topped the US Billboard Hot 100 in early 1974. More than 16 years later, it reached number one in the UK Singles Chart after being used in Great Deal, a television advertisement for Levi’s, thus holding the record for the longest gap between transatlantic chart-toppers.

1994, A reel to reel tape of The Quarry Men, John Lennon’s first band, appearing at St Peter’s Parish Church garden party Liverpool in July, 1957, sold for £69,000, ($125,000) at a Sotheby’s auction.

2004, Ramones guitarist Johnny Ramone (John Cummings) died in Los Angeles after a five-year battle with prostate cancer. He was a founding member of The Ramones, a major influence on many punk and ’90s bands.

2008, Pink Floyd keyboard player and founding member Rick Wright died aged 65 from cancer. David Gilmour who joined the band at the start of 1968 said, “He was such a lovely, gentle, genuine man and will be missed terribly by so many who loved him.” In 2005, the full band reunited, for the first time in 24 years, for the Live 8 concert in London’s Hyde Park. Wright had also contributed vocals and keyboards to Gilmour’s 2006 solo album On An Island.

Born on this day: Kid Sheik, trumpet, Preservation Hall Jazz Band (1906); Al Casey, American guitarist, composer (1915); Bobby Short (1924); Cannonball Adderley, American saxophonist, bandleader (1928); Signe Anderson, Jefferson Airplane, KBC Band (1941); Lee Dorman, Iron Butterfly, Captain Beyond (1942);  Ola Brunkert, session drummer, Abba (1946); Kelly Keagy, Night Ranger (1952); Maggie Reilly, Scottish singer-songwriter, Michael Oldfield Band (1956); Michael Dorge, Crash Test Dummies (1960); Huw Bunford, Super Furry Animals (1967); Paul Thomson, Scottish drummer, Franz Ferdinand (1976)

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Today in Rock History – September 14

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1967, The Jimi Hendrix Experience appeared on UK music show Top Of The Pops.

1967, Filming continued for The Beatles Magical Mystery Tour in South West England. The Beatles searched for a quiet, secluded field in which they could conduct filming, but once they’d disembarked from the bus and set up for shooting, scores of onlookers began to crowd around, causing a traffic jam that required the police to step in.

1968, Roy Orbison’s house in Nashville burnt down, his two eldest sons both died in the blaze. Orbison was on tour in the UK at the time of the accident.

1968, Led Zeppelin performed as The Yardbirds at Angby Park in Knivsta, a small Swedish town 48 km (30 miles) north of Stockholm.

1968, The first episode of the animated series The Archies was aired on US TV. The recording group had contributions from Ron Dante, Andy Kim, Jeff Barry and others. Rock mogul, Don Kirshner, who also brought us The Monkees), was put in charge of the studio group. The following year The Archies started a eight-week run at No.1 on the singles chart with ‘Sugar Sugar’, becoming the longest running one hit wonder.

1970, Stevie Wonder married Syreeta Wright a former secretary at Motown Records.

1971, During a US tour Led Zeppelin appeared at Berkley Community Theatre, Berkley, California. The set list included Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, Since I’ve Been Loving You, Black Dog, Dazed and Confused, Stairway to Heaven, That’s the Way, Going to California, What Is and What Should Never Be and Whole Lotta Love.

1974, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Joni Mitchell, The Band, Jesse Colin Young and Joe Walsh all appeared at Wembley Stadium, London, England.

1974, Eric Clapton scored a No.1 with his version of the Bob Marley song “I Shot The Sheriff.”

1974, Stevie Wonder started a two-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with Fulfillingness First Finale his second US No.1.

1979, The film Quadrophenia was released. Based on The Who’s 1973 rock opera the film featured Phil Daniels, Toyah Willcox, Ray Winstone, Michael Elphick and Sting.

1981, The Rolling Stones played a secret pre-tour warm-up show at the Sir Morgan’s Cove club in Worcester, Massachusetts, USA. Billed as Little Boy Blue & The Cockroaches, a local radio station announced that the Stones were in town, resulting in the club being besieged by over 4,000 fans attempted to get into the 350-person venue. Police were drafted in to control the crowds, which resulted in eleven fans being arrested.

Born on this day: Pete Agnew, Nazareth (1946);Paul Kassoff, Free (1950); Steve Berlin, Los Lobos (1955); and Amy Winehouse (1983)

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Today in Rock History – September 12

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1968, During their first ever tour Led Zeppelin appeared at the Stora Scenen at the Gröna Lund Amusement Park, in Stockholm, Sweden.

1969, King Crimson appeared at the Lyceum Ballroom, London

1970, Creedence Clearwater Revival scored their first chart topping album with Cosmo’s Factory. It enjoyed a nine-week run at number one and sold over three million copies.

1970, The Who begin a European tour at the Münsterland Halle in Muenster, West Germany. Also, Record Mirror reports that 1.3 million copies of Tommy have been sold in 8-track format.

1970, Pink Floyd performed at the Fete de L’Humanite, Bois de Vincennes, Paris. Over 500,000 people reportedly saw the show, making it their largest concert crowd ever.

1970, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles were at number one on the singles chart with “The Tears Of A Clown.”

1970, Bob Dylan joined Joan Baez, Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie at the Woody Guthrie Memorial Concert held at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band plaued at the Hieges Field House, Shippensburg State College, Shippensburg, Pennsylvania.

1972, The Faces appeared at Madison Square Garden, New York City.

1972, Pink Floyd played at the Civic Center Music Hall in Oklahoma City.

1973, The Rolling Stones performed at Kings Hall (Belle Vue), Manchester, England.

1974, Rush appeared at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore.

1975, Pink Floyd released their ninth studio album, Wish You Were Here.  The album explored themes of absence, the music business, and former band-mate Syd Barrett’s mental decline. It went to number one in the US and the UK, and went on to spend a total of 84 weeks on the chart.

1975, Aerosmith performed at the Metropolitan Sports Center, Bloomington, Minnesota. The building was demolished in 1994, and an IKEA now sits on part of the property.

zztop-19761976, ZZ Top played at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1980, During a North American tour Queen appeared at Kemper Arena, Kansas City in Missouri.

1981, The Grateful Dead performed at the Greek Theatre on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley.

1986, Public Image Ltd guitarist John McGeoch needed 40 stitches in his face after a two-liter wine bottle was thrown at the stage during a gig in Vienna.

1986, Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues was hospitalized after collapsing from exhaustion in Los Angeles.

1987, The soundtrack album La Bamba featuring Los Lobos started a two-week run at number one on the US album chart.

1987, Michael Jackson kicked of his Bad World Tour by playing the first of three sold-out nights at Korakuen Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. By the end of the 123-date tour, Jackson had played to over four million fans across fifteen countries.

1989, Aerosmith released Pump, their tenth studio album, which featured the hit singles “Love In An Elevator,” “The Other Side,” and “Janie’s Got a Gun.” Aerosmith found themselves in law school textbooks after a small rock band named Pump sued Aerosmith’s management company for service mark infringement. Aerosmith won the case.

1990, Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie from Fleetwood Mac announced they were leaving the band at the end of their current tour.

1997, Founder of the Polar Music record label, songwriter, producer and Abba’s manager Stig Anderson died of a heart attack. Anderson co-wrote some of Abba’s biggest hits, such as “Waterloo,” “Mamma Mia,” “S.O.S,” “Fernando,” “Dancing Queen,” “Knowing Me, Knowing You,” and “The Name of the Game.” His funeral was broadcast live on Swedish television an honor otherwise only reserved for distinguished statesmen or royalty.

2003, Johnny Cash, US singer songwriter died of respiratory failure aged 71. One of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, known as “The Man in Black.” He traditionally started his concerts by saying, “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash.” He had the 1969 number two single “A Boy Named Sue,” plus 11 other Top 40 singles. Cash also had his own program on US Television in late 60’s early 70’s.

2004, American drummer and arranger Kenny Buttrey died in Nashville, Tennessee, Worked with Neil Young, (Harvest, and After the Gold Rush), Bob Dylan (Blonde on Blonde, Nashville Skyline, and John Wesley Harding), as well as Bob Seger, Elvis Presley, Donovan, George Harrison, Joan Baez, Dan Fogelberg, Kris Kristofferson, Jimmy Buffett, and Chuck Berry.

2007, The surviving members of Led Zeppelin announced they would reform for a star-studded tribute concert in London. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones would play at a show to remember the late Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun. The place of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, who died in 1980, would be taken by his son Jason. The one-off concert, the trio’s first performance for 19 years, would take place at the O2 arena in London on  the 26th of November, with tickets costing £125 ($200). All profits from the show would go towards scholarships in Ertegun’s name in UK, the USA and Turkey, the country of his birth.

Born on this day: George Jones (1931); Maria Maldaur (1943); Barry White (1944); Gerry Beckley, America (1952);  Neal Pert, Rush (1952); Pat Dinizio, The Smithereens (1957); Ben Folds (1966); Jennifer Hudson (1981)

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