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Today in Rock History – May 23

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1964, Marvin Gaye appears on American Bandstand singing “You’re a Wonderful One.”

1967, Pink Floyd performed at Town Hall in High Wycombe, England.

1967, Jimi Hendrix appeared at Klub Bongo in Malmö, Sweden.

1968, Johnny Lee Hooker, supported by The Hallucinations performed at Boston Tea Party in Boston, Massachusetts.

1968, Pink Floyd played two late shows at the Paradiso in Amsterdam.

1969, Bob Seger performed at the Hullabaloo Club in Oregon, Ohio.

1969, Sly and the Family Stone, Clarence Carter, and Rotary Connection performed the first of a two night stand at the Fillmore East in New York.

1969, Led Zeppelin played the first of two nights at the Kinetic Playground in Chicago. Admission was $5 (£3.12).

1970, Paul McCartney’s debut solo album, McCartney, started a three-week run at number one on the US album chart.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Columbia High School Auditorium, Decatur, Georgia.

1970, The Beatles album Let It Be started a three week run at number one on the UK charts.

1970, The Grateful Dead played their first gig outside the US at The Hollywood Rock Music Festival, in Newcastle under Lyme, Staffs, England.

1971, It’s the end of an era as Iron Butterfly split up.

1971, Frank Zappa appears at the Ohio Theater, Columbus, Ohio.

1973, Jefferson Airplane were prevented from giving a free concert in Golden Gate Park when San Francisco authorities passed a resolution banning electronic instruments. The group later wrote “We Built this City” about the ban.

1973, David Bowie performs at the Brighton Dome, Brighton, England.

1974, George Harrison announced the launch of his own record label, Dark Horse.

1975, Alice Cooper played at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1976, NBC tapes Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue at Colorado State University. The concert later airs under the title Hard Rain.

1977, Linda Ronstadt begins work on her Simple Dreams album at Sound Factory One in Los Angeles.

1978, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band kicked off their 117-show Darkness on the Edge of Town Tour at Shea’s Buffalo in Buffalo, New York.  Several of the shows are broadcast on radio and become instant classics.

1978, Bob Seger performed at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1979, Due to a record company dispute, Tom Petty was forced to file for bankruptcy owing $575,000. A long-running battle with his record company followed.

1980, Black Sabbath performed at the Apollo Theatre, Manchester, England.

1981, Rush played at the Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts.

1983, Eric Clapton appeared at Civic Hall, Surrey, England.

1987, Twelve former members of the Doobie Brothers reunited for a charity concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. The show raised $350,000 (£220,000) for Vietnam veterans, about two-thousand of whom attended the show for free.

1991, Photographer Michael Lavine took what would be the publicity shots for Nirvana’s Nevermind album at Jay Aaron Studios in Los Angeles. The idea for the front cover shot of the baby swimming was taken after Kurt Cobain and Dave Grohl saw a TV documentary on water babies and was taken by Kirk Weddle. Several babies were used. five-month old Spencer Eldon’s photo came out best.

1992, Iron Maiden went to number one on the UK album chart with Fear Of The Dark, their third chart topping album.

2006, The king of Sweden presented the surviving members of Led Zeppelin with the Polar Music Prize in Stockholm recognizing them as “great pioneers” of rock music. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were joined by the daughter of drummer John Bonham, who died in 1980. The Polar Music Prize was founded in 1989 by Stig Anderson, manager of Swedish pop group Abba, who named it after his record label, Polar Records.

2010, The Rolling Stones scored their first UK number one album in 16 years with the re-release of their classic 1972 double LP Exile On Main Street. The album, which was first released in 1972, had been reissued with previously unheard tracks. Their last chart topping album was 1994’s Voodoo Lounge

Born on May 23: Mac Wiesman, Foggy Mountain Boys (1925); Robert Moog, inventor (1934); Norman Johnson, Chairman of the Board (1943); Raymond Fulwood, Parliament, Funkadelic (1944); Bill Hunt, ELO (1947); Rick Fenn, 10cc (1953);  Philip James Selway, drummer, Radiohead (1967); Matt Flynn, Drummer, Maroon 5 (1970); Richard Jones, bass, Stereophonics (1974)

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Today in Rock History – April 10

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1967, Marvin Gaye recorded his version of “I Heard It Through The Grapevine.” The song was first recorded by The Miracles and had also been a million seller in 1967 for Gladys Knight and the Pips.

1967, Paul McCartney visits a Beach Boys recording session and is said to have loaned his production assistant to the track “Vegetables” for the Smile album.

1968, The Mothers of Invention appeared at the Grande Ballroom, Detroit, Michigan.

1968, Drummer Mickey Hart accepts an invitation from Bill Kreuztmann to join the Grateful Dead.

1968, Janis Joplin performed at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California.

1970, Doors singer Jim Morrison was dragged off stage by keyboardist Ray Manzarek during a concert in Boston, after Morrison asked the audience, “Would you like to see my genitals?” Theater management quickly switched off the power. Morrison had been arrested in Miami a year earlier for “lewd and lascivious behavior” during a performance.

1970, 27 year-old Paul McCartney issued a press statement, announcing that The Beatles had split, one week before the release of his solo album. McCartney said, “I have no future plans to record or appear with The Beatles again, or to write any music with John”. John Lennon, who had kept his much-earlier decision to leave The Beatles quiet for the sake of the others, was furious. When a reporter called Lennon to comment upon McCartney’s resignation, Lennon said, “Paul hasn’t left. I sacked him.”

1971, The Grateful Dead played at East Hall, Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

1971,  John Denver makes his first appearance on the pop charts with “Take Me Home Country Roads.”

1975, Pink Floyd performed at the Seattle Center Coliseum, the first US date of their North American tour.

1976, Peter Frampton went to number one on the album chart with Frampton Comes Alive, the biggest selling live album in rock history.

1976, UK music weekly The Melody Maker reviewed a Sex Pistols gig with the words, “I hope we shall hear no more of them.”

1982, Iron Maiden scored their first UK number one album with The Number Of The Beast.

1985, Madonna kicked off her very first North American tour by playing the first of three nights at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, Washington. The Beastie Boys opened for Madonna on this 40-date Virgin Tour.

1993, Depeche Mode entered the US album chart at number one with Songs Of Faith And Devotion.

1994, Over 5,000 fans attended a US public memorial service for Kurt Cobain at Seattle Flag Pavilion.

2003, American singer Little Eva died in Kinston, North Carolina, aged 59. She had the 1962 US number one and UK number two single “The Loco-Motion.” Eva was working as a babysitter for songwriters Carole King and Gerry Goffin who asked her to record the song they’d just written. “The Loco-Motion” was also a UK number one hit for Grand Funk Railroad in 1974, and for Kylie Minogue in 1988.

2013, Kate Bush received her CBE for services to music from the Queen at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle, England. The singer-songwriter, who was catapulted to fame in 1978 when Wuthering Heights topped the charts, said she was “incredibly thrilled”.

Born on April 10: Nate Nelson, The Flamingos (1932); Bunny Livingston, The Wailers (1947); Fred Smith, bass, Television (1948); Dave Pevertt, Savoy Brown, Forghat (1950); Brian Setzer (1959); Katrina Leskanich, Katrina And The Waves (1959); Mark Everett, eels (1963);  Andrew Dost, Fun (1983).

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Today in Rock History – April 5

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1967, Monkees fans walked from London’s Marble Arch to the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square to protest Davy Jones’ planned call-up to the army. Jones was exempted because he was deemed responsible for supporting his father.

1968, The first date of a twice-nightly UK tour featuring, Amen Corner, Gene Pitney, Status Quo, Simon Dupree & The Big Sound, and Don Partridge kicked off at The Odeon Theatre, Lewisham, London.

1968, Vanilla Fudge played at Tad Gormley Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1969, Led Zeppelin appeared at the Roundhouse in Dagenham in East London.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Ludlow Garage, Cincinnati, Ohio.

1971, Rolling Stones Leave England and become tax-exiles. In an interview with Mick Jagger and Roy Carter of the NME shortly before the release of Exile on Main Street, Mick said, “So after working for eight years I discovered at the end that nobody had ever paid my taxes and I owed a fortune. So then you have to leave the country. So I said fuck it, and left the country.”

1971, Keith Moon performs again as part of an All-Star Jam Session at the Bumpers Club in London.

1971, The Grateful Dead performed at the Manhattan Center in New York City.

1972, Elvis Presley kicked of a 15-date US tour at the Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York.

1973, Yes appeared at The Forum, Inglewood, California.

1974, Genesis performed at the Embassy Theatre, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

1975, Minnie Riperton went to number one on the singles chart with the Stevie Wonder produced song “Loving You.” It was the singer’s only chart hit. Riperton died of cancer in July 1979.

1975, Lynyrd Skynyrd played at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1977, David Bowie plays keyboards and sings backing vocals on Iggy Pop’s US tour. This night’s stop is at the Paramount Theater in Seattle, Washington.

1977, Black Sabbath appeared at the Pavillion de Paris, Paris.

1978, Duran Duran made their live debut at The Lecture Theatre, Birmingham Polytechnic.

1979, Roxy Music played at the Masonic Auditorium, Detroit, Michigan.

1980, The Grateful Dead were the musical guests on Saturday Night Live. They performed “Alabama Getaway” and “Saint of Circumstance.”

1980, Genesis scored their first number one album when Duke went to the top of the charts.

R.E.M., circa 1980

1980, R.E.M. played their first ever gig when they appeared at St Mary’s Episcopal Church, Athens, Georgia.

1981, Canned Heat singer Bob “The Bear” Hite died of a heart attack aged 36. He played at both the 1967 Monterrey Pop Festival and the 1969 Woodstock Festival.

1983, Danny Rapp, leader of 50’s group Danny and the Juniors committed suicide in a hotel in Arizona by shooting himself.

1984, Marvin Gaye’s funeral took place at The Forest Lawn Cemetery, Los Angeles. Smokey Robinson, Stevie Wonder, Quincy Jones, Berry Gordy, and other Motown singers, writers and producers, attended the service.

1985, At 3:50pm GMT, over 5,000 radio stations worldwide aired the charity single by USA for Africa ‘We Are The World’. The single went on to be a number one hit in the US and the UK, and most Western territories.

1994, Kurt Cobain committed suicide by shooting himself in the head at his home in Seattle. Cobain’s body wasn’t discovered until April 8, by an electrician who had arrived to install a security system, who initially believed that Cobain was asleep, until he saw the shotgun pointing at his chin. A suicide note was found that said, “I haven’t felt the excitement of listening to as well as creating music, along with really writing . . . for too many years now.” A high concentration of heroin and traces of Valium were found in Cobain’s body. His death was officially ruled as suicide by a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head.

1997, The Chemical Brothers went to number one on the UK singles chart with “Block Rockin Beats.” The song was taken from their second album Dig Your Own Hole, and won a Grammy award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

1998, British drummer Cozy Powell (Colin Flooks) was killed when his car smashed into crash barriers on the M4 motorway near Bristol, England. Powell had worked with the Jeff Beck Group, Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Brian May, Peter Green, and the ELP spin-off Emerson, Lake, and Powell.

2003, Paul McCartney kicked off the UK leg of his Back In The World Tour at Hallam FM Arena in Sheffield, England, a year after it began in America. The set included 22 Beatles songs.

2006, Gene Pitney was found dead aged 65 in his bed in a Cardiff hotel. The American singer was on a UK tour and had shown no signs of illness. Pitney helped the Rolling Stones break the American market with his endorsement of the band. Jagger and Richards wrote his hit “That Girl Belongs to Yesterday,” which became the Stones duo’s first composition to reach the American charts. He scored the 1962 US No.4 single “Only Love Can Break A Heart.” and 1967 solo UK No.5 & 1989 UK No.1 single with Marc Almond “Something’s Gotten Hold Of My Heart,” plus over 15 other US & UK Top 40 hits.

2007, Former KISS guitarist Mark St. John died from an apparent brain hemorrhage at the age of 51. St. John was KISS’ third official guitarist, having replaced Vinnie Vincent in 1984. He appeared on the album Animalize.

2011, A statue in tribute to Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain was unveiled in his hometown of Aberdeen, Washington, The unveiling marked the 17th anniversary of Cobain’s death. The statue designed by local artists Kim and Lora Malakoff was of his signature Fender Jag-Stang guitar. The concrete guitar was eight and a half feet tall and also featured a ribbon with lyrics written on it from Nirvana’s “On a Plain.” It reads: “One more special message to go and then I’m done and I can go home.”

Born on April 5: Tony Williams, The Platters (1928); Peter Grant, manager, Led Zeppelin (1935); Ronny White, The Miracles (1939); Dave Swarbick, Fairport Convention (1941); Alan Clarke, The Hollies (1942); – Les Binks, Irish drummer and songwriter, Judas Priest, Lionheart, Tytan (1948); Dave Holland, Judas Priest (1948); Agnetha Fältskog, Swedish singer-songwriter, producer ABBA (1950); Stan Ridgway, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, Wall of Voodoo, Drywall (1952); Mike McCready, Pearl Jam (1966); Paula Cole, American singer-songwriter, pianist (1968); Pharrell Williams (1973)

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Today in Rock History – April 1

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1966, The Troggs recorded “Wild Thing” at Regent Sound Studio in London. The song went on to be a chart topping US and number two UK hit in June the following year.

1966, The Who and The Yardbirds appear together in a live French edition of Ready, Steady GO! called, appropriately, Ready, Steady, Allez! According to producer Vicki Wickham, both groups run out of the studio and into the alley at the end of the show. The cameras chase them only to catch the bands urinating against a wall. The same night The Who perform at La Locomotive Club in Paris, compèred by Ronnie Bird who will soon release “Ne t’en fais pas pour Ronnie,” a French-language re-write of “A Legal Matter.” The show is broadcast on Radio Luxembourg.

1966, Pye Records released David Bowie’s first solo single, “Do Anything You Say.” Bowie had previously recorded as David Jones and The Lower Third.

1966, John Lennon bought a copy of Timothy Leary’s The Psychedelic Experience and The Tibetan Book Of The Dead, where he read near the beginning of the book’s introduction; “When in doubt, relax, turn off your mind, float downstream,” which captured Lennon’s imagination and became the first line of “Tomorrow Never Knows,” which he recorded 5 days later.

1967, The Kinks appeared in concert at Kelvin Hall, Glasgow, Scotland.

1967, Janis Joplin performed at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco.

1967, Pink Floyd played at the Birdcage Club in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England.

1968, Dick Clark appears at a San Francisco concert headlined by the Siegel Schwall Band. He is shilling his new movie, Psych-Out, which features Jack Nicholson rocking at the Fillmore West.

1969, The Beach Boys announced they were suing their record label Capitol for $2 million in unpaid royalties.

1970, The Moody Blues appeared at the Terrace Ballroom in Salt Lake City, Utah.

1970, 50 musicians recorded the orchestral scores for The Beatles tracks “The Long And Winding Road” and “Across The Universe” for the Phil Spector produced sessions. The bill for the 50 musicians was £1,126 and 5 shillings, ($1914).

1970, Earls Court in London received over one million postal ticket applications for The Rolling Stones forthcoming six concerts as part of the group’s European tour.

1971, John Entwistle releases his and The Who’s first commercial solo record “I Believe In Everything” backed with “My Size.” To promote it he hires a stagecoach with livery to deliver the single to Harlequin Records in London. The stagecoach ends up getting a parking ticket.

1971, Led Zeppelin perform a concert for the BBC Radio program Rock Hour at London’s Paris Theater. Featuring a bevy of material from their forthcoming fourth album, the concert becomes one of their most-bootlegged performances.

1972, The three-day Mar Y Sol festival in Puerto Rico took place, featuring Rod Stewart, Dr John, The Allman Brothers, Osibisa, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Alice Cooper, The Mahavishnu Orchestra. Security was simple as the event took place on an island accessible by ticket only.

1973, Roxy Music performed at the Rainbow Theatre, London.

1973, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Hara Arena in Dayton, Ohio.

1974, KISS played at The Agora, Cleveland, Ohio.

1975, Genesis appeared at Friedrich Ebert Halle, Ludwigshafen, Germany.

1976, The Who return to Boston Garden to make up for the show of March 9th they didn’t finish because of Keith Moon’s collapse. Keith runs around the stage to show he’s in fine shape and Roger Daltrey adds “thanks for waiting for the encore!” John Entwistle, however, has a rougher time. After numerous requests by Roger to “turn down,” John throws his bass onto the stage and tells Roger he can play it. This show is later bootlegged as Behind Blind Eyes.

1976, AC/DC made their live debut in the UK, playing at The Red Cow in Hammersmith, London.

1976, Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour’s house was broken into with thieves taking guitars valued at over £7,000.

1976, Rush perform at the Civic Centre Arena, Ottawa, Canada.

1976, The Buzzcocks played their debut live gig when the appeared at Bolton Institute Of Technology. The power was turned off after three numbers.

1977, Elvis Presley is admitted to Memphis’ Baptist Memorial Hospital. He is found to be suffering from fatigue and intestinal flu.

1978, Elvis Costello and The Attractions appeared at The Bracknell Sports Centre, Berkshire, England.

1980, ZZ Top played at Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York.

1984, Marvin Gaye was shot dead by his father at his parent’s home in Los Angeles, California. The argument started after his parents squabbled over misplaced business documents, Gaye attempted to intervene, and was killed by his father using a gun he had given him four months before. Marvin Sr. was sentenced to six years of probation after pleading guilty to manslaughter. Charges of first-degree murder were dropped after doctors discovered Marvin Sr. had a brain tumor.

1985, David Lee Roth quit Van Halen shortly after releasing his version of The Beach Boys’ “California Girls,” (which featured Carl Wilson on background vocals). He was replaced by Sammy Hagar later in the year.

1999,  Rock ‘n’ roll pioneer and Rhythm & Blues Hall of Famer Jesse Stone dies in Altamonte Springs, Fla. He is 97. Stone, one of the founders of Atlantic Records, helped define the rock sound through his work as writer and arranger of such seminal hits as Big Joe Turner’s “Shake, Rattle & Roll.”

2004, Paul Atkinson guitarist with The Zombies died aged 58 due to liver and kidney disease. They scored the 1964 US number two and UK  number 12 single “She’s Not There.” He later became an artist and repertoire executive, working for Columbia and RCA discovering and signing such bands as ABBA, Bruce Hornsby, Mr. Mister, Judas Priest, and Michael Penn.

2013, A signed copy of The Beatles’ album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band sold at Dallas-based Heritage Auctions for $290,500 (£191,000). The selling price far exceeded the $30,000 (£19,700) originally estimated for the rare LP record. The UK Parlophone copy of the album included a high gloss cover and vinyl gatefold sleeve.

Born on April 1: Rudolph Isley, The Isley Brothers (1939); Phil Margo, The Tokens (1942); John Barbata, The Turtles, Jefferson Starship (1945); Ronnie Lane, The Small Faces (1946); Jimmy Cliff (1948); Simon Cowe, guitar, Lindisfarne (1948); Jeff Porcaro, Toto (1954); Stan Ridgeway, Wall of Voodoo (1955);  Leslie Langston, bass, Throwing Muses (1964)

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Today in Rock History – March 26

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Rolling-Stones-19651965, Mick Jagger, Brian Jones and Bill Wyman all received electric shocks from a faulty microphone on stage during a Rolling Stones show in Denmark. Bill Wyman was knocked unconscious for several minutes.

1966, The Who performed at St. George’s Ballroom in Hinckley, Leicestershire, England.

1967, Jimi Hendrix appeared at the Tabernacle Club in Stockport, Manchester, England.

1968, Pink Floyd performed live for the program Late Night Line Up at BBC Lime Grove Studios in London. It was broadcast on September 10th by BBC2 TV.

1969, Marvin Gaye was at number one on the singles chart, with “I Heard It Through The Grapevine.” The song was first recorded by The Miracles and had also been a million seller in 1967 for Gladys Knight and the Pips, reaching the number two spot. It has been covered by numerous artists, including the song has been covered by a range of musicians including Creedence Clearwater Revival, who recorded an eleven-minute version for their 1970 album, Cosmo’s Factory, that was released as a single, reaching 43 on Billboard‘s chart.

1970, Canned Heat and the MC5 played at the Varsity Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Alumni Hall in Atlanta, Georgia.

1970, Peter Yarrow of Peter Paul and Mary pleaded guilty to “taking immoral liberties” with a 14 year old girl in Washington D.C. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three months in jail. Just days earlier, the trio had won a Grammy Award for Best Recording for Children for their album, Peter, Paul and Mommy.

1971, Black Sabbath appeared at Memorial Coliseum in Dallas, Texas.

1972, Yes played at Lakeland Community College, Mentor, Ohio.

1973, The Grateful Dead played at the Civic Center in Baltimore, Maryland.

1974, Queen appeared at Douglas Palace Lido, Isle Of Man, England.

1976, the final US show of David Bowie’s World Tour.was held at Madison Square Garden in New York.  Afterwards, a small party was held at the Penn Plaza Club for Bowie and the crew.

1976, One-man blues band Duster Bennett was killed in a car accident. 1970 album Smiling Like I’m Happy.  Heworked with Alexis Korner, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Fleetwood Mac and B.B. King.

1976, Anita Pallenberg the girlfriend of Rolling Stone Keith Richards gave birth to a baby boy, Tara, (he died ten weeks later from pneumonia).

1977, Hall and Oates started a three week run at No.1 on the singles chart with ‘Rich Girl’, the duo’s first number one.

1978, Aerosmith performed at the Tower Theater, Upper Darby, Pennsylvania.

police-19801980, The Police became the first Western pop group to play in Bombay, India for over ten years when they played a one-off gig in the city.

1985, Radio stations in South Africa banned all of Stevie Wonder’s records after he dedicated the Oscar he had won the night before at The Academy Awards to Nelson Mandela.

1988, Morrissey went to No.1 on the UK album chart with his debut solo LP Viva Hate.

2000, Santana started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with Supernatural. The album went on to win eight Grammy Awards including Album Of The Year, Record Of The Year, and Song Of The Year.

2004, Jan Berry of Jan and Dean, died at the age of 62, after being in poor health sustained in a 1966 car crash. Had the 1963 US No.1 & UK No.26 single “Surf City,” (co written by Beach Boy Brian Wilson). At the height of their fame, Jan and Dean hosted and performed at The T.A.M.I. Show, the film also featured The Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes and Smokey Robinson & The Miracles.

Born on March 26: Diana Ross (1944);  Richard Tandy, ELO  and Steven Tyler, Aerosmith (1948); Teddy Pendergrass (1950); James Iha, Smashing Pumpkins (1968)

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Today in Rock History – March 25

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1966, At a photo session with Bob Whitaker’s studio in London, The Beatles posed in white coats using sides of meat with mutilated and butchered dolls for the cover of their next American album, Yesterday and Today. After a public outcry, the album was pulled from stores and re-issued with a new cover. At the time, some of the Beatles defended the use of the Butcher photograph. Lennon said that it was “as relevant as Vietnam” and McCartney said that their critics were “soft.” However, this opinion was not shared by all band members. George Harrison said in The Beatles Anthology that he thought the whole idea “was gross, and I also thought it was stupid. Sometimes we all did stupid things thinking it was cool and hip when it was naïve and dumb; and that was one of them.”

1966, The Who play the Corn Exchange in Hertford, England.

1967, The Beatles perform “All You Need Is Love” during a global satellite broadcast.

1967, Jimi Hendrix played at the Gliderdrome Bingo Hall in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The building was originally an open air skating rink. A roof was added just after the outbreak of World War II. The Gliderdrome was destroyed by fire on in May, 1959, but the “new” Glider was opened within a year on Wednesday, January 27 1960.

1967, The Turtles started a three week run at number one on the singles chart with “Happy Together.”

1967, The Who and Cream made their U.S. concert debut at RKO 58th Street Theatre, New York City as part of a rock and roll extravaganza promoted by DJ Murray the K.

1967, The Rolling Stones kicked off a three-week European tour in Orebro, Sweden. Arriving in Copenhagen for the tour the group were delayed after customs officers search all their luggage for drugs.

1967, Pink Floyd played three gigs in 24 hours. The appeared at the Ricky Tick Club at the Thames Hotel in Windsor, England, then headed for a late show at the New Yorker Discotheque in Swindon, with The Outer Limits as support. Lastly,  then played at the Shoreline Club at the Caribbean Hotel in Bognor Regis, as part of an Easter Weekend All-Nighter.

1968, The 58th and final episode of The Monkees TV series was broadcast in the US.

1969, John and Yoko started their week long “bed-in” in the presidential suite at The Amsterdam Hilton hotel. The couple invited the world’s press into their hotel room every day, to talk about promoting world peace.

1969, Yes appeared at Madam Toussauds Hall Of Kings, London.

1970, Led Zeppelin performed at the Denver Coliseum, Denver, Colorado.

1971, Grand Funk Railroad played at Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at the O’Shaughnessy Theater, St. Paul, Minnesota.

1972, America started a three week run at number one on the US singles chart with their debut hit “Horse With No Name.” The group scored eight other top 40 hits during the ’70s.

1972, Lindisfarne started a four-week run at number one on the UK album chart with their debut album Fog On The Tyne.

1973, King Crimson performed at Colston Hall, Bristol, England.

1973, Roxy Music appeared at Festival Hall, Torbay, England.

1974, Rolling Stone reports that concerts by Yes, Gregg Allman, and the Beach Boys have all been hit by streakers, no doubt inspired by Ray Stevens’ No. 1 hit “The Streak.” Meanwhile, Allman himself performs the last date of a solo tour. To reassure the audience that the Allman Brothers Band are not splitting up, the entire band comes out and performs a 90-minute encore.

1974, KISS performed at the Bayou Theater, Washington D.C.

1975, Aerosmith played at the War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, the first date on their 63 date North American Toys In The Attic Tour.

1976, US singer, songwriter Jackson Browne’s wife Phyllis Major committed suicide.

Elvis Costello – 1977

1977, Elvis Costello released his debut single “Less Than Zero.” It didn’t make the Top 40.

1978, 20 Golden Greats by Buddy Holly and The Crickets went to number one on the UK album chart, giving Holly his first ever chart topping, LP almost 20 years since his first release in 1959.

1978, Kansas performed at the Hammersmith Odeon, London.

1979, Van Halen played at Selland Arena, Fresno, California.

1981, Rush appeared at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto.

1982, The Police performed at Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri.Rush

1983, Motown Records celebrated its 25 anniversary with a concert in Pasadena, featuring; The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Martha Reeves, Jr. Walker, The Commodores, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and The Jackson 5.

1993, The Grateful Dead performed at the Dean Smith Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

2002, Bono from U2 made a appearance at the air rage trial of R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, telling the court “I came to court because Peter is actually famously known for being a peaceable person. I once had to twist his arm to get him to a boxing match.” Buck was later cleared of all charges. He had been accused of attacking two cabin staff and covering them in yogurt, knocking over a cart and trying to steal a knife. Buck did not deny his behavior but claimed a Zolpiden sleeping pill reacted violently with alcohol, turning him into a “non-insane automaton”.

2005, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne were forced to flee their Buckinghamshire mansion after a blaze broke out as they slept. Ozzy and his wife were roused by a fire alarm and ran to safety in the garden, rescuing their pets as they escaped.

2006, Buck Owens Jr. American singer and guitarist died. Pioneered the Bakersfield sound a reference to Bakersfield, California. He scored twenty No.1 hits on the Billboard country music charts.

2007, The Notorious B.I.G. was at number one on the US album charts with Greatest Hits. It was the rapper’s fourth album release after being killed by an unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles, California on March 9, 1997.

Born on March 25: Johnny Burnette, American singer-songwriter, The Rock and Roll Trio (1934); Hoyt Axton (1938); Aretha Franklin (1942); Elton John (1947); Jack Hall, Charlie Daniels Band (1947); Chuck Greenberg, American saxophonist, songwriter, producer, Shadowfax (1960); Steve Norman, guitar, sax, Spandau Ballet (1960); Jeff Healy (1966); Frank Ferrer, American drummer, Guns N’ Roses, The Psychedelic Furs, Love Spit Love (1966); Ryan Lewis, American DJ,  producer, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (1988)

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Today in Rock History – March 23

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pink-floyd-1967b&w1966, The Who perform at the Tower Ballroom in Great Yarmouth, England. The band’s road manager, Neville Chesters, joins The Who onstage to sing “You Were On My Mind.”

1967, Pink Floyd performed at Clifton Hall at the Rotherham College of Technical Dance, South Yorkshire, England.

1967, At a ceremony held at the Playhouse Theatre in London, The Beatles were awarded three Ivor Novello awards for 1966: Best-selling British single “Yellow Submarine,” most-performed song “Michelle,” and next-most-performed song “Yesterday.” None of the Beatles attended and the winning songs were played by Joe Loss and his Orchestra. The lead vocal for “Michelle” was sung by Ross MacManus, whose son would go on to become the professional musician Elvis Costello.

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

1969, During a UK tour Stevie Wonder played two shows at the Coventry Theatre in the West Midlands. Also on the bill, The Foundations, The Flirtations and Emperor Rosko.

1970, Although the Beatles had abandoned the tracks originally cut for Let It Be, their business manager, Allen Klein, invites Phil Spector to remix the recordings. Spector’s tampering with the original recordings further alienates Paul McCartney from the band.

1970, Led Zeppelin played at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon. The next day’s Oregon News reported, “Led Zeppelin, the four-man demolition squad disguised as a rock group, pushed aside a series of boring solos Monday night and laid out Portland music fans with some good old rock and roll. Playing to an estimated 7,000 people in the Memorial Coliseum, they plodded along with excessive instrumental solos, repeatedly asking the crowd to loosen up until they heard what they came to hear – loud, driving rock music.”

1971, Soft Machine appeared at the  Gondel FilmKunstTheater, Bremen, Germany.

1971, Led Zeppelin performed the last of the Back to the clubs tour dates at the Marquee in London.

1972, The film of The Concert For Bangladesh featuring George Harrison, Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton premiered in New York. The event was the first benefit concert of this magnitude in history. The concert raised almost $250,000 (£166,667) for Bangladesh relief, which was administered by UNICEF. Sales of the album and DVD continue to benefit the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF. By 1985, through revenue raised from the Concert for Bangladesh live album and film, an estimated $12 million had been sent to Bangladesh in relief. It would be the inspiration for LiveAid and future relief based mega-events.

David Gilmour with Pink Floyd at Pompeii

1972, Pink Floyd spend the first of eight days recording performances at Pompeii, Italy’s Roman amphitheater.

1973, John Lennon was ordered to leave the US within 60 days by the immigration authorities; he began a long fight to win his “Green” card which he was given on July 27, 1976. Yoko Ono is granted permanent residency in the US.

1974, Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross entered the UK singles chart with “You Are Everything” which was originally recorded by the Philadelphia soul group The Stylistics. Released as the second UK single from the Diana & Marvin album, the song reached numbrer five in the UK Singles Chart.

1974, Queen played at the Links Pavilion, Cromer, England.

1974, Cher went to number one on the US singles chart with “Dark Lady,” the singer’s third solo chart topper. It reached number 36 in the UK.

1975, Neil Young, as well as Bob Dylan and the Band, performed at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.

1976, David Bowie appeared at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York.

1977, Elvis Presley appeared at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. This was the first date of 49-date US tour over three months and Presley’s last ever tour. His final live performance was on  June 26, 1977 at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana.

1980, The Psychedelic Furs and The Teardrop Explodes appeared at The Lyceum Ballroom, London.

1983,  The Smiths played their first ever London show at The Rock Garden, London, England.

1985, Former Creedence Clearwater Revival front man John Fogerty went to number one on the US album chart with Centerfield.

1990, Fleetwood Mac kicked off their Behind The Mask world tour with 14 dates in Australian starting at the Boondall Entertainment Centre in Brisbane, Australia.

1991, R.E.M. scored their first UK chart topping album with their seventh LP, Out Of Time, featuring the singles “Losing My Religion” (which became R.E.M.’s highest-charting hit in the US, reaching number four,) and “Shiny Happy People.” The video for “Losing My Religion” won two Grammy Awards and six MTV Awards.

2008, Neil Aspinall, who ran the Apple Corps music empire for the Beatles from 1970 – 2007 died at a hospital in New York from cancer aged 66. A school friend of Sir Paul McCartney and George Harrison, he was regarded by some of the band as the “fifth Beatle” becoming the Beatles’ road manager in 1961 before becoming their personal assistant. He led the legal battle with Apple computers over the use of the Apple name and a royalties dispute between the Beatles and record label EMI. Aspinall had also played background instruments on Beatles tracks including “Magical Mystery Tour,” “Within You Without You” and “Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite.”

Born on March 23: Jimmy Miller, producer, Rolling Stones (1942); David Grisman, American mandolin player, composer (1945); Ric Ocasek, The Cars (1949); Phil Lanzon, English keyboard player, songwriter Uriah Heep (1950); Chaka Khan (1953); – Eldon Hoke, American drummer, singer The Mentors, The Screamers (1958); Marti Pellow, Scottish singer-songwriter, Wet Wet Wet (1965); Damon Albarn, Blur (1968)

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Today in Rock History – January 28

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Moody-Blues-Go-Now1965, The Moody Blues were at number one on the UK singles chart with “Go Now!”

1965, The Who made their first appearance on UK TV show Ready Steady Go! To project the desired image, the hand-picked audience consisted only of teens dressed in the current “Mod” fashion.

1966, The Cavern Club in Liverpool closes, having run up debts of 10,000 pounds. The club became world famous as one of The Beatles’ earliest venues.

1967, The Four Tops appeared at The Royal Albert Hall, London. Also on the bill, The Dakotas, Madeline Bell, The Remo Four and Johnny Watson.

1968, Jim Morrison of The Doors was arrested and charged with public drunkenness after harassing a security guard at a Las Vegas adult movie theater.

1969, After the Beatles cut versions of “Get Back” and “Don”t Let Me Down” for single release, John Lennon and Yoko Ono meet Allen Klein for the first time at London’s Dorchester Hotel.

1969, Marmalade were at number one on the UK singles chart with their version of The Beatles song “Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da.”

1970, Jimi Hendrix performed at Madison Square Garden, New York.

1970, The Who played at the Theater des Westens in Berlin, Germany.

1971, Genesis appeared at St. George’s Hall, Bradford, England.

1972, Pink Floyd played at Town Hall in Leeds, England.

1972, Deep Purple performed at Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino, California.

1973, Bruce Springsteen appeared at Villanova University appearing to an audience of 25 people.

1974, Hawkwind took the stage at Civic Hall, Wolverhampton, England.

1975, Genesis performed at Civic Hall, Phoenix, Arizona.

1977, Pink Floyd’s tenth studio album Animals entered the UK charts at number two. The sleeve concept was that of Roger Waters, who lived at the time near Clapham Common, and regularly drove past Battersea Power Station. A view of the imposing, but disused former power station building was chosen for the cover image, complete with massive inflatable pig suspended between two of the towers.

1978, The Fleetwood Mac album Rumours went to number one on the album chart.  The album sold over 15 million copies worldwide and spent over 440 weeks on the album chart.

1982, AC/DC appeared at the Lakeland Civic Center, Lakeland, Florida.

1983, The first Narara Music Festival was held near Somersby, New South Wales over the Australia Day weekend, the line-up included Men At Work, The Church, The Choirboys, Cold Chisel and INXS.

1984, Frankie Goes To Hollywood started a five-week run at number one on the UK singles chart with “Relax!”

1985, The recording took place for “We Are The World,” the US equivalent of “Band Aid” at A&M Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, the all star cast included Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Bruce Springsteen, Diana Ross, Bob Dylan, (who contributed four lines to the charity single), Ray Charles, Daryl Hall, John Oates, Cyndi Lauper, Steve Perry and Bob Geldof. The session was produced by Quincy Jones.

1987, The Grateful Dead played at the Civic Center in San Francisco.

1988, Eleven years after it was released, The Sex Pistols album Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols went Gold in the US with sales over 500,000.

1994, Paul and Linda McCartney attended the premiere of Wayne’s World II in London. The couple then went on to Hard Rock Cafe, where the film star Mike Myers presented them with a check for LIPA (the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts) for £25,000 ($42,500) from the sale of Linda’s vegetarian burgers.

1998, Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher played a 20-minute solo gig at the King Head, an English pub in Santa Monica in front of 250 fans.

2000, Saxophonist and bandleader Thomas “Beans” Bowles died of prostate cancer aged 73. He played on many Motown sessions including Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On,” Martha and the Vandellas’ “Heat Wave,” and The Supremes “Baby Love.” Bowles wrote the melody on Stevie Wonder’s “Fingertips Pt. 2.”

2001, Limp Bizkit started a two-week run at number one on the UK album chart with Chocolate Starfish.

2005, English drummer and singer songwriter Jim Capaldi died of stomach cancer aged 60. He was a member of Traffic,  and had the solo 1975 UK number four single “Love Hurts.” Capaldi also worked with Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and George Harrison.

2009, Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboard player Billy Powell died at the age of 56 of a suspected heart attack in Florida. Powell called police saying he was having trouble breathing and emergency services tried to resuscitate him, but he was pronounced dead an hour later.

2015, Sly Stone was awarded $5m (£3.3m) in missed royalties by a Los Angeles court. The singer claimed his former manager, Gerald Goldstein, and lawyer, Glenn Stone, had cheated him out of earnings dating back more than 20 years. In 2011, it was reported he was homeless and living in a camper van after falling on hard times, and fighting drug addiction problems.

Born on January 28: Ronnie Scott, jazz musician London club owner (1927); Dick Taylor, The Pretty Things (1943); Robert Wyatt, Soft Machine (1945); William Nelson, Funkadelic (1951); Dave Sharpe, guitarist and singer, The Alarm (1959)

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Today in Rock History – December 25

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beatles-xmas-19641964, The Beatles Christmas Day Concert took place at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. The evening’s events opened with The Mike Cotton Sound’s performance of Georgie Fame’s current single “Yeh Yeh,” before singer Michael Haslam joined them to sing “Scarlet Ribbons.” Next, The Yardbirds took to the stage followed by a pantomime sketch featuring The Beatles dressed as Antarctic explorers, searching for the Abominable Snowman. The opening frame closed with Freddie And The Dreamers performing “Rip It Up,” “Bachelor Boy,” and “Cut Across Shorty.”  Elkie Brooks opened the second half, followed by a short set from Sounds Incorporated. Jimmy Savile then introduced The Beatles, who closed the show with performances of 11 songs: Twist And Shout, I’m A Loser, Baby’s In Black, Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby, Can’t Buy Me Love, Honey Don’t, I Feel Fine, She’s A Woman, A Hard Day’s Night, Rock And Roll Music and Long Tall Sally.

1964, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations, The Miracles, Stevie Wonder and The Marvelettes all appeared at The Fox Theatre, Brooklyn, New York.

1965, Dave Clark Five went to number one on the singles chart with “Over And Over.” They became the 7th UK act of 1965 to score a chart topping single.

1965, The Beatles sixth album Rubber Soul started a nine-week run at number one on the album chart. It spent a total of 42 weeks on the chart.

1967, MC5 appeared at the Grande Ballroom, Detroit, Michigan.

1968, Led Zeppelin arrived in the United States for the very first time in preparation of their debut North American tour. The group were paid an average of $1,500 (£937.50) for each show.

1971, Melanie started a three week run at number one on the singles chart with “Brand New Key.”

1974, Rush played at The Agora, Cleveland, Ohio.

1976, The Eagles started a eight-week run at number one on the album chart with Hotel California.

1976, Johnny Mathis was at number one on the UK singles chart with “When A Child Is Born,”  the singer’s only UK chart topper and the Christmas hit of 1976.

1978, John Lydon’s new group Public Image Ltd played their first live gig at the Rainbow Theatre, London.

1981, The J. Geils Band performed a Christmas Day concert at the Norfolk Correctional Center outside of Boston. During the concert, singer Peter Wolf told the inmates “We wanna be the first to buy you all a free drink on the outside.”

1981, Michael Jackson phoned Paul McCartney and suggested they write and record together, with the first result being “The Girl Is Mine.”

1982, David Bowie had a number three UK hit  dueting with Bing Crosby on “Peace On Earth – Little Drummer Boy.”

1982, The Who’s “Eminence Front” backed with “One At A Time” hits the U.S. charts. Despite heavy play on MTV, the single peaks at number 68 in Billboard and number 77 in Cash Box. It is the last Who single to appear on either chart.

1995, Singer, actor and TV host Dean Martin died. He had the 1956 UK & US number one single “Memories Are Made Of This” plus over 15 other Top 40 singles including “That’s Amore,” “Everybody Loves Somebody,” and “Mambo Italiano.” In 1965, Martin launched his weekly NBC comedy-variety series, The Dean Martin Show.

1998, Bryan MacLean, guitarist with Love, died of a heart attack aged 62 while having Christmas dinner with a young fan who was researching a book about the band. Love had the 1966 US number 33 single “7 And 7 Is,” and the 1968 album Forever Changes.

2006, James Brown, the “Godfather of Soul,” died at the age of 73 after being diagnosed with severe pneumonia. Brown went to his dentist in Atlanta the previous day who told him something was wrong, and sent him to a doctor immediately.

2008, American actress, singer, and cabaret star Eartha Kitt died from colon cancer at her Weston, Connecticut home at the age of 81. Best known for her 1953 Christmas song “Santa Baby.”

Born on December 25: O’Kelly Isley, The Isley Brothers (1937); Phil Spector (1940); Trevor Lucas, Fairport Convention (1943); Henry Vestine, guitar, Canned Heat (1944); Noel Redding, The Jimi Hendrix Experience (1945); Jimmy Buffett (1946); Annie Lennox,  The Tourists,  Eurythmics; Robin Campbell, UB40 (1954); and Noel Hogan, guitar, The Cranberries (1971)

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Today in Rock History – December 14

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1978, Rush appeared at the International Amphitheater, Chicago.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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