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Today in Rock History – August 4

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PInk-Floyd-Piper_at_the_Gates_of_Dawn1967, Pink Floyd released their debut album The Piper At the Gates of Dawn in the UK, on which most songs were penned by Syd Barrett.  When reviewed by the two main UK music papers, Record Mirror and NME both gave the album four stars out of five. The album was recorded at Abbey Road studios, London during the same time that The Beatles were recording Sgt Pepper’s. It peaked at number six on the UK album chart, and failed to chart in the US, when it was released on October 21st. Since that time, it has come to be regarded as a significant album in psychedelic rock.

1967, The Who performed at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska.

1967, A female Monkees fan stowed away on the band’s plane between shows in Minneapolis and St Louis. The girl’s father threatened to bring charges for transporting a minor across state lines.

1968, Jimi Hendrix performed at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston, Texas.

1968, The second day of the two day Newport Pop Festival took place in Costa Mesa, California with Blue Cheer, Eric Burdon & The Animals, Grateful Dead, Illinois Speed Press, Iron Butterfly, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service and The Byrds. Over 100,000 fans attended the festival.

1970, After falling asleep on a woman’s porch in Los Angeles, Jim Morrison is arrested for public drunkenness.

1971, Emerson Lake & Palmer appeared at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia.

1972, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Community Theater, Berkeley, California.

1974, KISS performed at the Morris Civic Auditorium, South Bend, Indiana.

1975, Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant and his wife were both badly injured when the rented car he was driving spun off the road and crashed on the Greek island of Rhodes. Plant smashed both his ankle and his elbow, and was not fully fit for the best part of two years. A forthcoming North American tour had to be cancelled.

1976, The Grateful Dead played at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, New Jersey.

1977, AC/DC played at Dubs, Gainesville, Florida.

1979, A benefit concert was held to raise money for Little Feat guitarist and singer Lowell George, featuring members of his band plus Jackson Browne, Emmylou Harris and Bonnie Raitt.

1979, Led Zeppelin play to 120,000 people at Knebworth Park in England. It was their first concert in the U.K. in four years.

1980, Blue Oyster Cult appeared at the Mary E. Sawyer Auditorium, LaCrosse, Wisconsin.

1980, John Lennon began recording what would become his final album, Double Fantasy, at The Hit Factory, New York.

1980, Pink Floyd kick off five nights of The Wall tour at London’s Earls Court. During the ambitious show, a giant wall is built across the stage between the band and the audience.

1981, Bruce Springsteen performed at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1982, Metallica played at the Whiskey A-Go-Go, Hollywood, California.

1984, Prince started a 24-week run at the top of the US album charts with Purple Rain. His sixth studio album which features the hits “When Doves Cry,” “Let’s Go Crazy,” along with the title track. It has sold over 20 million copies worldwide, becoming the seventh best-selling soundtrack album of all time.

1990, Mariah Carey’s started a four week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Vision Of Love,” her debut release. The song was nominated for three Grammy Awards at the 33rd annual ceremony, held on February 20, 1991, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, winning the latter.

1996, Oasis played two sold out nights at Balloch Castle Country Park, Loch Lomand, Scotland to over 80,000 fans.

2001, Dave Stewart married fashion photographer Anouska Fisz on a private beach on the French Riviera. Guest’s included Elton John, Mick Jagger, Oasis brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher, and his former Eurythmics partner Annie Lennox.

2002, Bruce Springsteen scored his fifth UK number one album with The Rising, also a chart topper in the US.

2005, American blues singer and guitarist Little Milton died. Milton had suffered a brain aneurysm on  July 25th and had lapsed into a coma. In 1952, while still a teenager playing in local bars, he caught the attention of Ike Turner, who at the time a talent scout for Sam Phillips’ Sun Records. He signed a contract with the label and recorded a number of singles, including the 1965 US number 25 single “We’re Gonna Make It,” and 1969’s “Grits Ain’t Groceries.”

2007, US singer, songwriter Lee Hazlewood died of cancer, in his home near Las Vegas aged 78. Hazlewood wrote and produced many of Nancy Sinatra’s most famous hits, including “These Boots Were Made For Walkin’,” “Jackson,” and “Did You Ever” as well as “Something Stupid,” the duet Nancy recorded with her father Frank in 1967. Hazelwood also produced Duane Eddy and Gram Parsons.

Born on August 4: Louis Armstrong (1901); Elsberry Hobbs, The Drifters (1936); Larry Knechtel, guitar, Keyboards, Bread (1940); Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream (1947); Robbin Crosby,  guitarist, Ratt(1958); Paul Reynolds, A Flock Of Seagulls (1962); Max Cavalera,  singer, guitarist, Sepultura (1969); Tom Parker, singer, The Wanted (1988)

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Today in Rock History – August 1

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beatles-hard-days-night-single1964, “A Hard Day’s Night” went to the top of the charts giving The Beatles their fifth US number one single in seven months.

1964, Billboard Magazine reported that the harmonica was making a comeback in a big way thanks to its use by Stevie Wonder, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and Bob Dylan.

1965, During a UK tour, The Rolling Stones appeared at the London Palladium supported by The Walker Brothers, The Fourmost, Steampacket featuring Rod Stewart, and Sugar Pie Desanto with The Shevelles.

1967, The Who performed at the Mississippi State Coliseum, Jackson, Mississippi, opening for Herman’s Hermits. In honor of their location, they do a one-time-only cover of Nancy Sinatra’s hit song “Jackson.” After the show, Pete’s friend and now official band photographer, Tom Wright takes Pete to a local doctor who stitches up his finger that he had sliced to the bone doing windmills. The doctor says Pete won’t be able to play for a month. Pete replies that he’ll just glue his pick to the bandage.

1968, The Jimi Hendrix Experience played at Tad Gormley Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1968, The Who perform  at The Electric Theater in Chicago. While there The Who stay at a Holiday Inn in Rolling Meadows, Illinois and during a breat, Pete pens a new song,”Go To The Mirror!” for the forthcoming rock opera.

1969, Led Zeppelin, supported by Jethro Tull and Family of Man appeared at the Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara, California.

1969, The three day US Atlantic City Pop Festival took place at the Atlantic City race track with BB King, Janis Joplin, Santana, Three Dog Night, Dr John, Procol Harum, Arthur Brown, Iron Butterfly, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Little Richard, Tim Buckley, The Byrds, Jefferson Airplane, The Mothers Of Invention and Canned Heat. Joni Mitchell, started to cry and ran off stage in the middle of her third song because the crowd was not paying attention to her performance.

1969, Pink Floyd appeared at the Van Dike Club, Plymouth, England.

1970, The film Performance featuring Mick Jagger in his acting debut, had its UK premiere in London. The British crime drama film directed by Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg also featured James Fox.

1971, The Concert For Bangladesh, organized by George Harrison to aid victims of famine and war in Bangladesh took place at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Featuring Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, Billy Preston, Eric Clapton, Ravi Shankar, and members from Badfinger. Harrison had to shell out his own money to maintain the fund after legal problems froze all proceeds. The triple album release, the second in a row by Harrison, hit number one in the UK and number two in the US and received the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

1971, members of The Who attend the Bangladesh charity concert with George Harrison and friends at Madison Square Garden, and jam with them at the post-concert party held at Ungano’s.

1971, Black Sabbath release their album Master of Reality, which goes to number 8 on the UK charts and number 5 in the US.

1971, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour started on prime time American TV.

1971, Yes keyboardist Tony Kaye leaves the band to form Badger.

1972, A year after Tony Kaye jumped ship, drummer Bill Bruford leaves Yes to join King Crimson.

1973, The Grateful Dead celebrate Jerry Garcia’s birthday with a concert at Jersey City, N.J.’s Roosevelt Stadium. A nude woman pops out of a giant cake onstage.

1974, Pete Townshend decides to accompany Eric Clapton on his comeback concert tour of the United States to provide support for the still shaky musician. Keith Moon, also tags along. The two join Eric onstage at The Omni in Atlanta for performances of “Layla,” “Baby Don’t You Do It” and “Little Queenie.” After the show, Keith’s new girlfriend Annette Walter-Lax witnesses her first hotel room destruction as Keith remodels a room at the Omni Hotel.

1975, Hawkwind appeared at Town Hall, Torquay, England.

1976, The Who fly to Washington, DC, and check into the Watergate Hotel for the beginning of their four-date Whirlwind Tour.

1976, ZZ Top played at McNichols Sports Arena, Denver, Colorado.

1977, Yes performed at the Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, Virginia.

1978, Jimmy Buffett appeared at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1978, an exhibition of Who memorabilia assembled by fans Steve Margo, Peter Johns and “Irish” Jack Lyons opens at the Institute of Contemporary Arts on the Mall in London. Pete Townshend and Keith Moon mingle with the fans looking at the exhibits.

1980, Def Leppard made their US live debut when they appeared at the New York City concert opening for AC/DC. It was also Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott’s 21st birthday.

1980, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Henry J. Kaiser Auditorium, Oakland, California

1980, George Harrison forms Handmade Films, his own movie studio. Among its productions are Withnail & I  and Shanghai Surprise.

1981, “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles is the first music video played on the brand new MTV Network.

1987, Bob Seger scored his first US number one single with the Harold Faltermeyer penned “Shakedown,”which was taken from the film Beverly Hills Cop II. The song was nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Original Song and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song, but it lost both awards to Dirty Dancing’s “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life.”

1987, Los Lobos were at number one on the UK singles chart with their version of the Ritchie Valens song “La Bamba,” which was also a number one hit in the US. The song was the title track from the film based on Ritchie Valens who died in the same plane crash the killed Buddy Holly.

2000, AC/DC kicked off their 140 date Stiff Upper World Lip Tour at the Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

2001, the Who CD Quadrophenia 1996 is released in Japan featuring fourteen groups covering Who songs related to Quadrophenia.

2007, Prince kicked off a series of 21 sold out UK shows at London’s O2 arena. Tickets for the events cost £31.21 – the same figure used by the singer to name his album, website and perfume. After completing the 21 nights the Jehovah’s Witness was planning to take time out to study the Bible.

2007, The Police played the first of two sold out nights at Madison Square Garden, New York City on their Reunion Tour.

2015, English singer, actress and entertainer Cilla Black died at her holiday home near Marbella, Spain, aged 72. Along with a successful recording career in the 1960s and early 1970s, Black hosted her own eponymous variety show, Cilla, for the BBC between 1968 and 1976.

Born on August 1: Ramblin Jack Elliot (1931); Jerry Garcia (1943); Boz Burrell, Bad Company (1946);  Rick Coonce, American drummer, The Grass Roots (1946); Rick Anderson bass, The Tubes (1947); Tim Bachman, Canadian singer, guitarist, Bachman–Turner Overdrive, Brave Belt (1951); Tommy Bolin, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, Deep Purple, Zephyr,  James Gang (1951); Robert Cray (1953);  Joe Elliott, vocals, Def Leppard (1959); Carlton Douglas Ridenhour, aka Chuck D, American rapper, producer, Public Enemy, The Bomb Squad, Confrontation Camp (1960); Richard Griffin, aka Professor Griff, American rapper, Public Enemy, Confrontation Camp (1960); Artis Leon Ivey Jr., aka Coolio, rapper (1963); Adam Duritz, American singer-songwriter, producer, Counting Crows and The Himalayans (1964);

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Today in Rock History – July 29

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1966, Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker made their unofficial live debut as Cream at The Twisted Wheel, Manchester, England. The official unveiling came two nights later at the Sixth Annual Windsor Jazz & Blues Festival.

1966, Bob Dylan was injured when his Triumph motorcycle crashed near his home in Woodstock, New York. Though the extent of his injuries was never disclosed, Dylan said that he broke several vertebrae in his neck. During his recovery, Dylan withdrew from public and, other than a few select appearances, did not tour again for almost eight years.

1966, Datebook published Maureen Cleave’s interview with John Lennon in which he said ‘We’re bigger than Jesus now.” American Christians reacted with outrage, organizing bonfires and burning the group’s records.

1966, The Grateful Dead played their first ever show outside the US when they appeared in Vancouver.

1967, The Doors started a three week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Light My Fire.” The song only reached number 49 in the UK.

1967, Pink Floyd played two shows. First, an early show supported by The Void at The Wellington Club, The Dereham Exchange in East Dereham.  Then, they appeared at the Love in Festival at Alexandra Palace, Muswell Hill in London. Also on the bill were Eric Burdon & The Animals, Brian Auger, Julie Driscoll & The Treinity, Crazy World of Arthur Brown, The Creation, Blossom Trees, Sam Gopal’s Dream, and Apostolic Intervention.

1968, Gram Parsons left The Byrds on the eve of a tour of South Africa, refusing to play to segregated audiences.

1968, Rehearsals and the first recording session of The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” took place at Abbey Road studios London. Paul was on piano and vocals, George on guitar, John played acoustic guitar, and Ringo was on drums. The McCartney song was written about John Lennon’s son Julian.  They would complete the recording at Trident Studios, which had eight-track recording facilities. Abbey Road still was a four-track studio.

1970, The Rolling Stones’ contract with Decca ends. The band informs manager Allen Klein that “neither he nor ABKCO Industries have any authority to negotiate recording contracts on their behalf.” They begin to consider starting their own label.

1971, The Who appear at the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in New York.

1972, Gilbert O’Sullivan started the first four of a six-week run at number one on the singles chart with “Alone Again, (Naturally.)” It’s reign was briefly interrupted for a week by “Brandy” from The Looking Glass. O’Sullivan’s only chart topper was the follow up to “Clair,” which peaked in the second spot.

1972, Roxy Music performed at the Crystal Palace in London.

1973, Led Zeppelin lost $203,000 in cash when a thief made off with their safe deposit box from two Madison Square Garden concerts in New York City. The theft took place at The Drake Hotel in New York where the group were staying. Tour manager Richard Cole who discovered the theft was arrested as a suspect and questioned by police but was later released.

1974, Mamas And The Papas singer Cass Elliot died in her sleep from a heart attack after playing a sold out show in London, England. She was staying at Harry Nilson’s London flat when she died. Her only solo hit was “Dream a Little Dream of Me,” which also featured the rest of The Mamas and The Papas.

1974, Grateful Dead played at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1975, Kansas appeared at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1976, Eric Clapton kicked off a 12-date UK tour at The Pavilion, Hemel Hempsted, London.

1978, Prince appeared on the US charts for the first time with “Soft and Wet.”

1978, Genesis plays at Madison Square Garden in New York.

1978, The Allman Brothers Band performed at the Convention Center, Dallas, Texas.

1978, The film soundtrack to Grease featuring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John went to number one on the US album chart.

1980, Van Halen played at the International Amphitheater, Chicago.

1981, Blue Oyster Cult appeared at the Salt Palace, Salt Lake City, Utah.

1986, English songwriter, producer and manager Gordon Mills died of stomach cancer. Worked with Engelbert Humperdinck, Tom Jones and Gilbert O’Sullivan. Wrote the 1963 number four UK hit “I’ll Never Get Over You,” for Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, and “I’m The Lonely One” a hit for Cliff Richard.

1991, During their Use Your Illusion Tour, Guns n’ Roses played the first of four nights at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California.

2004, Keyboard player Huby Heard died from heart problems. He was a member of Billy Preston’s The God Squad, and worked with Teddy Pendergrass, Ray Charles, Little Bootsy Collins, The Brothers Johnson, The Rolling Stones and Bill Wyman.

2006, Pamela Anderson married for the second time to US rapper Kid Rock, on a yacht off the French resort of St Tropez. The 39-year-old former Baywatch star divorced from rock star Tommy Lee in 1998, had recently got back together with Kid Rock, after a brief engagement ended in 2003. Anderson and Rock split after four months of marriage.

Born on July 29: Neal Doughty, keyboards, REO Speedwagon (1946); Geddy Lee, Rush (1953); Patty Scialfa, singer, guitar, E-Street Band (1953); John Sykes, Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake (1959); Woody Weatherman, guitarist, songwriter, Corrosion of Conformity (1965); Wanya Morris, singer, Boyz II Men (1973); Danger Mouse, American keyboard player, drummer, producer, Gnarls Barkley, Broken Bells, Danger Doom (1977); Ben Koller, American drummer, Converge, United Nations, All Pigs Must Die (1980)

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Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Shhh” by O(+> (Prince)

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Editor’s note: We have culled many of Eric’s Prince selections from his “Song of the Day”

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Shhh” by  – Second day in a row for a Prince song, however this one’s technically by “The Artist Formerly Known As Prince” or . Here we have a live version of some deep soul from one of his most underrated albums, “The Gold Experience.” The album was originally supposed to be released in conjunction with Prince’s album “Come” in 1994, but Warner Bros. records in all their infinite wisdom feared a glut of Prince product on the market would be a bad thing and declined to release it. As a result, “ ” began to wear the word “slave” on his face. The music from both albums was from a projected musical he was working on called “Glam Slam Ulysses” which never saw the light of day. By the time “The Gold Experience” was released, it lost some of its best tracks including “Days Of Wild,” “Interactive,” “Ripopgodazippa” and “Acknowledge Me.” This song also saw its debut not on a Prince record, but on a record by Tevin Campbell who originally recorded the song in 1993. As for Prince on stage, having seen him several times over the years, the guy’s one of the greatest live performers ever!

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Dead On It” by Prince

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The follow up album to “Sign Of The Times” was to be Prince’s darkest and funkiest album to date. It was called “The Black Album” and was scheduled to come out in late 1987. At the last minute, and after a few promo copies had leaked out, Prince got cold feet and recalled the album replacing it with the far more positive “Lovesexy” album. Both albums had one song in common, the romantic ballad “When Two Are In Love,” otherwise the records were like night and day…or more to the point, good and evil.  Prince saw the album as too negative which is why it was shelved.. When Prince released the first single and video from the “Lovesexy” album,  “Alphabet St.,” it featured a hidden banner within the video that said “Don’t buy the Black Album, sorry.” When it finally got its contractual obligation, limited edition official release on CD in 1994, it was packaged in black with no credits on the cover and just a list of songs printed on the disc. The original title for the album was to be “The Funk Bible.” The album’s darkest song was called “Bob George” whose title was an amalgam of his manager Bob Cavallo and the critic, Nelson George who became very critical of his output at the time. The song stands out in Prince’s catalog for its gangster overtones and the line “That skinny m.f. with the high voice,” one of the few self-references in his work. This song pokes fun at the then-burgeoning hip-hop scene that threatened to make Prince passé. I’ve gotta get me a hat like the kid in this homemade video!

Song Of The Day – “Joy In Repetition” by Prince

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Editor’s note: this originally ran on January 18, 2012

There are guitarist who can play from the head, but rarer are the guitarists who play from the heart….you know, the ones whose emotions are left out hangin’ to dry with each note. Jimi Hendrix did…so did Jerry Garcia and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Derek Trucks sure does and so does Neil Young. Here we have the dynamo known as Prince who is perhaps the greatest living performer we have today. He is certainly one of the best performers I’ve ever seen. His guitar chops are on full display in this live 2002 version of a track that was originally on the 1990 “Graffiti Bridge” soundtrack album. “Bridge” was a crap movie, but it was a great Prince album recorded right before things began to go bad for Prince at Warner Bros. Records. The version of “Joy” heard here was from his “One Nite Alone…Live” box set he self-released in 2002 and was recorded in April of 2002 in New York City.

Today in Rock History – February 4th

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bob-dylan-19661966, Bob Dylan and The Band played at the Convention Center in Louisville, Kentucky. This was the first date on a world tour which would become noted as Dylan’s first that used electric instruments, after he had ‘gone electric’ at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.

1967,  The Rolling Stones’ Between the Buttons enters the U.K. chart at No. 3.

1967, The Monkees self-titled debut album started a seven-week run at No.1 on the album chart.

1968, Billed as ‘Tour 60 cities in 66 Days’ The Jimi Hendrix Experience appeared at the Winterland in San Francisco.

1968, Working at Abbey Road studios, London, The Beatles recorded ‘Across The Universe’. John and Paul decided the song needed some falsetto harmonies so they invited two girl fans into the studio to sing on the song. The two were Lizzie Bravo, a 16-year-old Brazilian living near Abbey Road and 17-year-old Londoner Gayleen Pease.

1970, John Lennon and Yoko Ono donated their hair for an auction in aid of the Black Power movement.

1972, Genesis appeared at the Hippodrome in Bristol, England.

1973, Pink Floyd played at the Palais des Sports de la Porte de Versailles, Paris.

1972, In a memo to Attorney General John Mitchell, South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond suggests that John Lennon be deported.

1974,  Pink Floyd release “Time” b/w “Us and Them” as a 7-inch single in the US.

1975, Led Zeppelin performs at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.

1975, American jazz, blues, songwriter and saxophonist Louis Jordon died aged 66. Known as “The King of the Jukebox,” between 1942-1950 he scored eighteen No.1 singles and fifty-four Top Ten hits on the US R&B chart.

1976, David Bowie appeared at Memorial Coliseum, Portland, Oregon.

1977, The 25th anniversary show of TV’s “American Bandstand,” which began as a local program on WFIL-TV, Channel 6 in Philadelphia on October 7, 1952.

1977, Aerosmith played at the Kyoden-Taiiku-Kan, Fukuoka, Japan.

1977, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours is released. The album shoots to the top of US album charts, staying there for 31 weeks. More than 17 million copies have been sold in the U.S.

Saturday-Night-Fever1978, The Bee Gees started a four week run at No.1 on the singles chart with ‘Staying Alive’. From the film soundtrack Saturday Night Fever, it gave the brothers their fifth No.1.

1979, The Grateful Dead appeared at the Dane County Coliseum in Madison, Wisconsin.

1981, The Who performed at the Rainbow Theatre in London.

1982, Scottish singer Alex Harvey died of a heart attack while waiting to take a ferry back to shore after performing a concert with his new band, the Electric Cowboys. In an ambulance on the way to the hospital, he suffered a second heart attack, this one fatal. It occurred on the day before his 47th birthday, in Zeebrugen, Belgium. Formed Alex Harvey Big Soul Band in 1959 and then mid 1960’s band Tear Gas. Had the 1975 UK No.7 single with Sensational Alex Harvey Band ‘Delilah’ and 1975 album ‘Next’.

1983, Karen Carpenter died aged 32 of a cardiac arrest at her parent’s house in Downey, California; the coroner’s report gave the cause of death of imbalances associated with anorexia nervosa. The Carpenters 1970 album Close to You, featured two hit singles: ‘(They Long to Be) Close to You’ and ‘We’ve Only Just Begun.’ They peaked at No.1 and No.2, on the singles chart. In 1975 – In Playboy’s annual opinion poll; its readers voted Karen Carpenter the Best Rock Drummer of the year.

1984, Culture Club started a three-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with “Karma Chameleon” the group’s 5th US Top 10 hit, also a No.1 in the UK.

1984, Eurythmics scored their first UK No.1 album with their second release Touch, featuring the singles “Here Comes The Rain Again,” “Who’s That Girl” and “Right By Your Side.”

1984, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble kicked off their 114-date Couldn’t Stand the Weather tour at the War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.

1985, Prince performed at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1992, Pearl Jam appeared at The Borderline in London, England, tickets cost £5 ($8.50.)

1999, In a daring move, Rykodisc becomes the first music label to give its stamp of approval to the MP3 music format.

2001, Jimmy Buffett is thrown out of a New York Knicks – Miami Heat basketball game after verbally abusing a referee.

Born on this day: John Steel, The Animals (1942);  Florence Larue, The 5th Dimension (1944); Margie and Mary Ann Ganser, vocalists, The Shangri-Las (1947); Vincent Furnier, aka Alice Cooper (1948);  Phil Ehart, Kansas (1950); Jerry Shirley, Humble Pie (1951); and Clint Black, country singer (1962)

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Best and Worst of Super Bowl Halftime Shows

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Up With People at Super Bowl XIV

Most people don’t remember that the halftime show was not really a rock/pop/hip showcase until the early nineties, when producer The Walt Disney company trotted out New Kids on the Block.

Early incarnations of the halftime event consisted of marching bands, drill teams, and “Up WIth People,” a group of singer made of young adults from around the world. They graced the halftime stage on four occasions.

None of those performances provided anything you couldn’t see at a New Year’s Day bowl game.

That all changed in 1993 at the Rose Bowl when Michael Jackson made his Super Bowl debut, and turned the half time show into must see TV.

Since then audiences have been treated to the likes of Diana Ross, ZZ Top, the Blues Brothers, a Motown review, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Prince and the Who.

Also included there is the infamous wardrobe malfunction set with Janet Jackson and Justin Timerberlake.

For my money the best show ever was Prince in 2007, and the worst ever- don’t perform live period was The Who in 2010.  Pete and Roger were just flat out awful.

The 2012 show with Madonna and Cee Lo Green was eye-popping but hardly memorable.

On the other hand, and perhaps because I was there in person, his purple majesty put on a set for the ages.  Despite the rain that was definitely not purple, the show was electric, the dark stadium with the flashlights was dazzling, and  the atmosphere was flat out electric.

See for yourself.