REO Speedwagon

Today in Rock History – May 6

May 6, 2020 by Mitch Michaels

1965, In their Clearwater, Florida hotel room, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards worked out the opening guitar riff of “Satisfaction,” following Richard’s purchase of a Gibson fuzz-box earlier that day.

1966, The Who appeared at the Top Hat Ballroom in Lisburn, Northern Ireland.

1966, Working at Abbey Road studios in London, The Beatles recorded overdubs on “I’m Only Sleeping” and worked on various mixes of the track.

1966, During a four month world tour, Bob Dylan played the first night of 11 UK dates at the ABC in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

1967, Jimi Hendrix, The Walker Brothers, Engelbert Humperdink and Cat Stevens all appeared at the Imperial Ballroom, Nelson, Lancashire, England.

1967, The Who’s Keith Moon gives an interview in which he advises, “To get your playing more forceful, hit the drums harder.”

1967, Otis Redding played at the Civic Center in Charleston, West Virginia.

1967, Pink Floyd performed at Kitson Hall in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.

1968, Pink Floyd, The Move, The Nice, and The Association played at the First European International Pop Festival, Palazzo Dello Sport, Rome, Italy.

1969, King Crimson appeared at Maida Vale Studio, London.

1970, The Grateful Dead played at Kresge Plaza on the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

1971, Ike & Tina Turner are awarded a gold disc – the only one they ever received – for their recording of “Proud Mary.”

1972, The Tyrannosaurus Rex double album Prophets, Seers And Sages And The Angels Of The Ages / My People Were Fair And Had Sky In Their Hair But Now Their Content To Wear Stars On Their Brows went to No.1 in the UK. The longest title of an album ever at the time!

1973, Paul Simon set out on his first tour without partner Art Garfunkel, using The Jesse Dixon Singers as a backup group on stage. Simon’s tour of America and Europe was recorded and released as Live Rhymin.

1975, Rush played at the Riverside Theater, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

1976, The Bee Gees announce a series of benefit concerts for UNICEF at a United Nations press conference.

1976, The Rolling Stones appeared at Forest National, Brussels, Belgium.

1977, The Boomtown Rats played their first gig in England when they appeared at Studio 51, London.

1977, REO Speedwagon performed at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1978, The soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever started an 18 week run at No.1 on the album chart, The album, which features seven Bee Gees songs, went on to sell over 30 million copies worldwide.

1979, Yes played at Spokane Arena, Spokane, Washington.

1980, Van Halen appeared at the Rochester Community War Memorial, Rochester, New York.

1981, Dire Straits performed at Rhein-Main-Hall, Wiesbaden, Germany.

1995, Oasis scored their first UK No.1 single when “Some Might Say” went to the top of the UK charts. It was the first single to be released from the Manchester bands second album (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? And the last Oasis track to feature original drummer Tony McCarroll.

2004, A sale at Christie’s in London, England became the most successful pop auction in the company’s history after Beatles memorabilia sold for a record £788,643. The auction included a leather collar worn by John Lennon which sold for £117,250. A signed copy of a management deal with The Beatles and manager Brian Epstein sold for £122,850. A Vox Kensington guitar used by Lennon and Harrison went for £100,000. Also sold, a coloured felt-pen drawing by Lennon (£10,000), a letter with his signature (£5,500), and a pen-and-ink drawing called Happy Fish (£9,500).

2006, During a UK tour, Morrissey played at The Apollo Manchester on the first of three nights at three different venues in his home city of Manchester. The singer then appeared at Manchester Opera House the following night and then at Manchester Bridgewater Hall on the 8th May.

Born on this day: Bob Seger (1945); Robbie McIntosh, Average White Band (1950); and John Flansburgh, They Might Be Giants (1960)

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Today in Rock History – March 21

March 21, 2020 by Mitch Michaels

1965, The Who appeared at the Trade Union Hall, Watford, England.

1965, After “I Want To Hold Your Hand” had held the number one position on the US singles chart for seven weeks, The Beatles started a two-week run at the top of the charts with “She Loves You.”

1967, Jimi Hendrix performed at Speakeasy in London.

1970, Pink Floyd played the last date of their March European Tour at the Tivolis Koncertsal in Copenhagen, Denmark.

1970, The Beatles “Let It Be” debuts at number six on the Billboard Hot 100, the highest ever new entry. In the UK, the Beatles’ “Let It Be” is kept from the top position by “Wand’rin’ Star,” the only single ever to feature the vocals of actor Lee Marvin.

1971, Led Zeppelin appeared at the Boat Club, Nottingham, England on their Back To The Clubs tour. This was the first tour which saw Zeppelin performing “Stairway To Heaven,” “Black Dog,” and “Going To California.” Zeppelin opened the set with “Immigrant Song” and “Heartbreaker.” This small club on the banks of the River Trent had also seen performances by Elton John, Black Sabbath, Sex Pistols and Rod Stewart.

1972, The Grateful Dead played the first of seven nights at the Academy of Music in New York City, New York.

1973, The BBC banned all teenybopper acts appearing on UK TV show, Top Of The Pops after a riot following a David Cassidy performance.

1974, Yes appeared at the Sports Arena, San Diego, California.

1975, Led Zeppelin played at the Seattle Center Coliseum in Seattle, Washington. Two people were arrested for scalping the $7.50 face value tickets for as much as $20.

1976, Iggy Pop and David Bowie were involved in a drug bust at their hotel room in Rochester, New York.

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

1978, Dire Straits played at The Marquee Club in London, England. Tickets priced at 70p.

1980, Hugh Cornwell of The Stranglers was sent to Pentonville Prison after losing his appeal against a drug conviction.

1981, REO Speedwagon went to number one on the US singles chart with “Keep On Loving You.” It was the group’s first top forty hit and first chart topper. In the UK, it climbed to the seventh spot in the charts.

1983, Pink Floyd release The Final Cut in the UK, their last album with Roger Waters. The US release is slated for April 2nd.

1984, Strawberry Fields, an area in Central Park bought by Yoko Ono in memory of her late husband was opened.

1985, Bruce Springsteen kicked off the second leg of his Born in the USA world tour at the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney, Australia.

1987, U2 scored their third UK number one album with The Joshua Tree, featuring the singles “Where The Streets Have No Name,” and “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” The album became the fastest selling in UK history and the first album to sell over a million CDs, spending a total of 156 weeks on the UK chart. Also a US number one.

2006, Three South African women whose father, Solomon Linda, wrote “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” in 1939, won a six-year court battle that gave them 25 per cent of all past and future royalties from the song. Linda who was a cleaner at a Johannesburg record company when he wrote the song, received virtually nothing for his work and died in 1962 with $25 in his bank account. The song had been recorded by Pete Seeger (as “Wimoweh,”) The Kingston Trio, The Tokens, Karl Denver and R.E.M. and was featured in the Disney film The Lion King. It was estimated that the song had earned $15 million for its use in The Lion King alone.

Born on March 21: Viv Stanshall, Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (1943); Rosemary Stone, Sly & the Family Stone (1945); Roger Hodgson, Supertramp (1950); and Conrad Lozano, Los Lobos; Russell Thompkins Jr, vocals, The Stylistics (1951); Sean Dickson, The Soup Dragons (1967)

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Today in Rock History – February 19

February 19, 2020 by Mitch Michaels

1965, Working at Abbey Road studios in London, The Beatles recorded the rhythm track “You’re Going To Lose That Girl” in two takes. On his new song, John Lennon sang, and accompanied himself on acoustic guitar, backed by Paul and George. The band lip-synched to the recording for the movie Help! The final album mix was made four days later.

1965, The Who learn by letter that J.E. Grant has given them the go-ahead to appear on the BBC Light Programme after they pass their audition of the 12th with four votes out of seven. The same day is more good news as “I Can’t Explain” makes its first appearance on a British chart, popping up at #45 in Record Mirror.

1966, Lou Christie went to number one on the US singles chart with “Lightnin’ Strikes.”

1966, The Who performed at Memorial Hall in Norwich, England.

1966, Bob Dylan appeared at Ottawa Auditorium in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

1967, Jimi Hendrix performed at Brady’s Club in London.

1967, Janis Joplin and Jefferson Airplane performed at the Fillmore in San Francisco.

1969, Yes appeared at the Marquee Club, London.

1970, Neil Young played an acoustic show at KQED-TV Studios, San Francisco. Back in the day, KQED was responsible for spotting the best new music via their live sessions. The song selection was from the Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere era. The setlist reportedly was: Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, Everybody’s Alone, Dance Dance Dance, On The Way Home, Wonderin #1, Wonderin #2, Instrumental Noodling (including – Out On The Weekend I – Don’t Want To Talk About It – Helpless – Country Girl – Do I Have To Come Right Out And Say It,) Sugar Mountain.

1971, REO Speedwagon and Mountain played Robertson Memorial Fieldhouse at Bradley University, in Peoria, Illinois.

1972, Harry Nilsson started a four week run at number one on the US singles chart with his version of the Badfinger song “Without You.” It won a Grammy in 1973 for Best Male Pop Vocal.

1972, Led Zeppelin appeared at the Memorial Drive, Adelaide in Australia. A local paper who reviewed the show printed: Singer Robin Plant (sic) overcame an “Australian bug” in his throat and broke into his own in “Black Dog” and “Stairway To The Stars” (sic.)

1973, The Grateful Dead performed at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois.

1974, At the first American Music Awards, Al Green’s Livin’ for You wins the Favorite Album, Soul/R&B award. The hosts were Roger Miller, Helen Reddy, and Smokey Robinson.

1974, KISS make their television debut on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert.

1974, Black Sabbath appeared at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1976, Former lead singer with Tower Of Power, Rich Stevens was arrested in connection with the drug related murders of three men in San Jose, California. Stevens was found guilty of the charges in November 1976.

1976, Cat Stevens performed at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1977, Leo Sayer had his only number one single with the Albert Hammond and Carole Bayer Sager song “When I Need You.”

1977, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band scored a number one single in the with their version of the Bruce Springsteen song “Blinded By The Light.” The track was the first single from Bruce Springsteen’s 1973 debut album Greetings from Asbury Park N.J. The Earth Band’s version features several changed lyrics. The most prominent change is in the chorus, where Springsteen’s “cut loose like a deuce” is replaced with “revved up like a deuce.” Springsteen himself has said that it was not until Manfred Mann rewrote the song to be about a “feminine hygiene product” that it became popular.

1977, ZZ Top played at Chicago Stadium in Chicago.

1979, Frank Zappa performed at the Hammersmith Odeon, London.

1982, Ozzy Osbourne was arrested in San Antonio, Texas for urinating on the Alamo. Osbourne was wearing a dress at the time of his arrest, (due to his wife Sharon hiding all his clothes so he couldn’t go outside). Osbourne who apparently thought he was relieving himself on a pile of rubble was banned from ever playing in San Antonio, Texas again, (a ban which was lifted in 1992).

1982, Alice Cooper appeared at The Apollo, Glasgow, Scotland.

1992, During their Use Your Illusion Tour, Guns n’ Roses played the first of three nights at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. The 55,000-seat baseball stadium (The Big Egg) is the largest concert hall in Japan.

1994, Mariah Carey had her first UK number one with her version of the Peter Ham – Tom Evans song “Without You.” This was 22 years after Harry Nilsson made it a US chart topper. Carey’s version was released on January 24, 1994, just over a week after Nilsson had died following a heart attack. the tragic connection with this song is that both Ham and Evans committed suicide, Ham in 1975, and Evans in 1983, after an ongoing battle to receive royalties from the song.

1995, Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee married Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson on a Cancun beach, Mexico, the bride wore a white bikini. Anderson and Lee who married only four days after meeting, had videotaped their sexual activities while on vacation. The tape was later stolen and released on the Internet. After suing the video company who released the tape, the Lees entered into a confidential settlement agreement. The couple divorced in 1998.

1996, Winners at this year’s Brit Awards included Paul Weller who won British Male Solo Artist, British Female Solo Artist went to Annie Lennox, Oasis won British Group, Best Album for (What’s The Story) Morning Glory and Best British Video for “Wonderwall.” British Breakthrough Act went to Supergrass, International Group was Bon Jovi, International Breakthrough Act went to Alanis Morissette and David Bowie was awarded Outstanding Contribution to music. Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker was arrested after a stage invasion during Michael Jackson’s appearance, (who won Artist of a Generation). Cocker was accused of attacking children who were performing with Jackson. All charges against Cocker were later dropped.

2014, David Bowie was named best British male at the Brit Awards in London, although he was not there in person to collect his award. Arctic Monkeys won both best group and best album for the third time – the first act to achieve that milestone. Ellie Goulding won best British female, while pop act One Direction were honored for their global success for the second year running. Bowie’s prize came at the expense of four much younger hopefuls – Jake Bugg, Tom Odell, John Newman and Mercury Prize winner James Blake.

Born on this day: Smokey Robinson (1940); Lou Christie (1943); Paul Dean, Canadian guitarist, Loverboy, Streetheart (1946); Tony Iommi, Black Sabbath (1948); Mark Andes, Spirit (1948); Andy Powell, Wishbone Ash (1950); Francis Buchholz, bass, Scorpions, Michael Schenker Group (1954); Peter Holsapple, American singer-songwriter, a guitars, The dB’s (1956); Dave Wakeling, The English Beat (1957); Hans Holzl, aka Falco (1957); Henry Samuel, aka Seal, singer (1963); Jon Fishman, American drummer, Phish (1965); Daniel Adair, drums, 3 Doors Down (1975);

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Today in Rock History – August 20

August 20, 2019 by Steve Leventhal

1965, The Rolling Stones’ manager Andrew Loog Oldham and his partner Tony Calder launched Immediate records. Their first release was The McCoy’s “Hang On Sloopy.” Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton and Nico all attended the launch party. The label became the home of The Small Faces, The Nice, Amen Corner and Chris Farlowe and a young producer, guitarist Jimmy Page.

1966, The Beatles, touring America for the last time, were forced to cancel and reschedule their performance in Cincinnati’s open-air stadium, Crosley Field. Heavy rain (and no cover provided) made electrocution a virtual certainty if The Beatles had attempted to perform.

1968, The University of Tennessee reported that a guinea pig subjected to days of rock music played at 120 decibels had suffered acute hearing damage.

1969, After finishing “I Want You, (She’s So Heavy,”) The Beatles worked on the running order for the Abbey Road album. A preliminary master tape was compiled, the medley was originally slated for side one of the album, and the placement of “Octopus’s Garden” and “Oh! Darling” were reversed from the final version. The album was to end with the slashed guitar chord that finishes “I Want You (She’s So Heavy”). This was the last time all four Beatles were together in Abbey Road studios.

1969, Led Zeppelin appeared at The Aerodrome in Schenectady, New York.

1970, Deep Purple performed at the Terrace Ballroom in Salt Lake City, Utah.

1971, On the second night of a North American tour, Led Zeppelin appeared at the Seattle Centre Coliseum, Seattle, Washington.

1971, Ten Years After and Procol Harum appear at The Forum in Montreal, Quebec.

1972, The Grateful Dead play at the Civic Auditorium in San Jose, California.

1972, Mahavishnu Orchestra appeared at the Montreux Pavillion, Montreux, Switzerland.

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

1973, Bruce Springsteen played the first of a seven night run at Oliver’s in Boston, Massachusetts playing two 60-minute sets each night.

1974, REO Speedwagon, Elvin Bishop and the Allman Brothers Band play at Bosse Park in Evansville, Illinois.

1976, Yes performed at the Sports Arena, Toledo, Ohio.

1977, The Emotions started a five week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with “Best Of My Love.” It made it to No.4 in the UK.

1977, Rush plays at the Music Hall, Houston, Texas.

1979, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at the Stanley Theater, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1980, During a North American tour, Queen appeared at the Civic Centre, Hartford, Connecticut.

1980, John Lennon began recording his final album, ‘Double Fantasy’. It would be released on November 17th by the newly-formed Geffen Records and would win the 1982 Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

1981, Blue Oyster Cult played at Queensway Hall, Dunstable, England.

1982, King Crimson and Roxy Music appeared at Belenenes, Lisbon, Portugal.

1983, Madness, Joan Jett, The Police and R.E.M. all appeared at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia.

1986, Rick Allen drummer with Def Leppard made his first live appearance with the band after losing an arm in a car accident, when they appeared at the Monsters Of Rock Festival, Castle Donington, England.

1988, Steve Winwood went to No.1 on the US album chart with his fifth solo album Roll With It. The title cut also topped the US singles charts.

1988, Iron Maiden, Kiss, David Lee Roth, Megadeth, Guns N’ Roses and Helloween all appeared at the Monsters Of Rock Festival, Castle Donington, England. Two rock fans died while slam dancing as Guns N’ Roses played.

1990, Aerosmith appeared at the Marquee Club London. Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page joined the band on stage for a blues jam.

1991, Nirvana and Sonic Youth kicked off a joint European tour at Sir Henry’s Pub, Cork, Ireland.

2006, The Rolling Stones played the first of two nights at Twickenham Stadium on their A Bigger Bang world tour. Feeder and The Charlatans also appeared.

2007, The funeral of Manchester music mogul and broadcaster, Tony Wilson was held at St Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Manchester. Peter Hook and Stephen Morris, two members of first Factory signing Joy Division, as well as a later band, New Order, attended along with Happy Mondays front man, Shaun Ryder.

Born on August 20: Jim Reeves, US country singer (1924); Dave Brock, Hawkwind (1941), Isaac Hayes (1942); James Pankow, Trombone, Chicago (1947); Robert Plant (1948); and Phil Lynott Irish singer, songwriter, bass player, Thin Lizzy (1949)

Today in Rock History – August 8

August 8, 2019 by Mitch Michaels

1969, The photo session for the cover of The Beatles Abbey Road album took place on the crossing outside Abbey Road studios. Photographer Iain McMillan, balanced on a step-ladder in the middle of the road took six shots of John, Ringo, Paul, and George walking across the zebra crossing while a policeman held up the traffic. The band then returned to the studio and recorded overdubs on “The End,” “I Want You (She’s So Heavy,”) and “Oh! Darling.”

1969, During a North American tour Led Zeppelin appeared at the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino, California, supported by Jethro Tull.

1969, Yes played at Mother’s, Birmingham, England.

1969, Alice Cooper performed at the Eastown Theater in Detroit, Michigan.

1969, Pink Floyd appeared at the 9th National Jazz Pop Ballads & Blues Festival at the Plumpton Race Track in Streat, England, along with Soft Machine, Keith Tippett, East of Eden, the Bonzo Dog Band, Roy Harper, The Who, and many others. It was the kickoff night of a three day event.

1970, Blood Sweat & Tears started a two week run at number one on the US album chart with Blood Sweat & Tears 3.

1970, Janis Joplin bought a headstone for the grave of her greatest influence Bessie Smith at the Mont Lawn Cemetery in Philadelphia. Blues singer Smith died in 1937 after being refused admission to a whites only hospital.

1971, Hawkwind appeared at the Red Lion in London.

1972, Yes performed at the Paramount Theater, Seattle, Washington.

1974, Recording sessions for David Bowie album Young Americans begins at Philadelphia’s Sigma Sound Studios.

1974, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young played at Roosevelt Stadium, Jersey City, New Jersey.

1975, Cannonball Adderley, the jazz bandleader who charted with “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy,” dies from a stroke in Gary, Indiana. He was 46.

1975, The lineup at this year’s Summerfest at Rich Stadium in Buffalo, New York was The Rolling Stones, Bobby Womack, and The Outlaws.

1977, Alice Cooper played at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1978, Neil Diamond appeared at Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkston, Michigan.

1979, KISS brought their act to Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York.

1980, The Greater London Council banned The Plasmatics from blowing a car up on stage during their UK live debut at London’s Hammersmith Odeon.

1980, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Mesa Auditorium in Phoenix, Arizona.

1981, The Pretenders kick off their second American tour in Fort Pierce, Florida.

1981, MTV makes its first live concert stereo broadcast. The band is REO Speedwagon.

1981, ZZ Top played at the Omaha Civic Auditorium, Omaha, Nebraska.

1981, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, Wisconsin.

1982, The Grateful Dead are joined onstage by John Cippolina, founding member of Quicksilver Messenger Service, for the final six songs of the second set of their show at Alpine Valley Music Theatre.

1983, The Police performed at the Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1986, David Crosby of Crosby, Stills and Nash was released from prison after serving three years for drug and weapons possession. His conviction would be overturned by a Texas appeals court in November 1987.

1987, U2 scored their second US number one single from their Joshua Tree album with “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” The song received two nominations for the 30th Grammy Awards in 1988, for Record of the Year, and Song of the Year.

1991, On A Friday, later to become known as Radiohead, appeared at The Jericho Tavern, Oxford, England. The band had met while attending Abingdon School, a boys-only public school. “On a Friday” referred to the band’s usual rehearsal day in the school’s music room.

1992, A riot broke out during a Guns N’ Roses and Metallica gig at Montreal stadium when Metallica’s show was cut short after singer James Hetfield was injured by pyrotechnics. Guns N’ Roses took the stage but frontman Axl Rose claimed that his throat hurt, causing the band to leave the stage early. The cancellation led to a riot by the audience who overturned cars, smashed windows, looted local stores and set fires.

2007, The US National Musical Publishers’ Association joined other businesses in seeking to sue YouTube claiming songwriters were not being properly compensated when their music appeared on the site. The legal action had been combined with those of several other companies, including Viacom and Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures and Comedy Central.

Born on August 8: Joe Tex (1933); John David, drums, Dr Hook (1942); Airrion Love, singer, The Stylistics (1949); Ali Score, A Flock Of Seagulls (1956); Christopher Foreman, guitar, Madness (1958); Dave “The Edge” Evans, U2 (1961); Scott Stapp, singer, songwriter, Creed (1973)