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Today in Rock History – September 24

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bob-dylan19651965, Bob Dylan played the first night on a 36 date North American tour at Austin Municipal Auditorium in Austin, Texas.

1966, Jimi Hendrix arrived in London with manager Chas Chandler on a flight from New York City. With only the clothes he was wearing, Hendrix had sold his other belongings to pay a hotel bill in New York.

1966, The Association started a three week run at number one on the singles chart with “Cherish.” The New Christy Minstrels almost recorded the track but Association member and songwriter, Terry Kirkman, held onto “Cherish” instead of selling it for $1000. The finished recording played for 3 minutes and 25 seconds, but the single’s label listed the time as 3:00 so that disc jockeys wouldn’t be discouraged from playing a “long song.”

1967, Traffic made their live debut when they appeared at Saville Theatre in London, featuring Steve Winwood.

1967, Filming continued for The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour at West Malling Air Station, Maidstone, Kent with the shooting of the “Your Mother Should Know” ballroom finale. The Beatles were all dressed in white suits and shoes, gliding down a glittery staircase as 160 members of Peggy Spencer’s dance team swirled round about.

1969, Pink Floyd performed at Stadsgehoorzaal, Leiden, The Netherlands.

1970, The Rolling Stones played at Palais des Sport, Paris

1971, Yes appeared at Queen’s Hall,  Barnstable, Devon, England.

1972, During his Ziggy Stardust tour and on his first North American visit, David Bowie appeared at the New Fisher Theatre, Detroit, Michigan.

Roxy Music
Roxy Music

1974, Roxy Music played at Colston Hall, Bristol, England.

1976, The Grateful Dead performed at College Hall on the campus of William & Mary College, in Williamsburg, Virginia.

1977, Rush appeared at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco.

1978, Bob Dylan performed at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena, Binghamton, New York.

1980, The mixing of the forthcoming John and Yoko album Double Fantasy moved from the Hit Factory in New York City to the Record Plant East. During this session, John Lennon gave one of last ever interviews to Lisa Robinson from 97-FM in Buffalo.

1980, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at the Congress Center Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany.

1983, UB40 scored their first No.1 album with Labour Of Love.

1984, Culture Club had their second number one single with “Karma Chameleon,” which stayed at the top of the charts for six weeks and became the best-selling single of 1983.

1988, Bobby McFerrin started a two week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Don’t Worry Be Happy,” the first a-Capella record to be a chart topper. It made it to number two in the UK. The song was also included in the movie, Cocktail. It would go on to win Grammy Awards for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

1988, The Hollies were at number one on the UK singles chart with “He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother” after the song was used on a UK television beer commercial  The song was originally a hit in 1969 and featured a young Elton John on piano.

1990, AC/DC released The Razors Edge, their 11th internationally released studio album. The only studio album to feature drummer Chris Slade, reached number two on the chart.

1991, Nirvana’s album Nevermind was released in America, entering the chart at number 144 on its first week. The album which peaked at number one in January 1992, has now sold over 30 million copies worldwide. The idea for the iconic front cover shot of the baby swimming came after Kurt Cobain and drummer Dave Grohl saw a TV documentary on water babies.

2003, The Dave Matthews Band played at Central Park in New York City, in front of almost 100,000, the band’s largest audience to date. The Central Park Concert was later released as an album.

2004, The Strat Pack: Live in Concert was held at Wembley Arena in London marking the 50th Anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster guitar. The concert featured Ronnie Wood, Joe Walsh, Gary Moore, Brian May, David Gilmour, Albert Lee, Andy Fairweather-Low, Hank Marvin and many more.

2012, Mumford & Sons released their second studio album Babel which debuted at number one on both the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. It became the fastest selling album of 2012 in the UK and was nominated in the category of Album of the Year for both a Brit Award and Grammy Award, winning the latter.

Born on September 24: Mel Taylor, drums, The Ventures (1934); Linda McCartney (1942); Gerry Marsden, Gerry and the Pacemakers (1942); Carson Osten, Nazz, Utopia (1946); Jerry Donahue, Fotheringay, Fairport Convention (1946); and Peter Salisbury, drums, The Verve (1971)

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Today in Rock History – September 23

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1973, Genesis played at Stadttheater, Osnabrück, Germany.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

1982, Roxy Music appeared at Wembley Arena, London.

1983, Rush performed Radio City Music Hall, New York

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

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

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

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Today in Rock History – August 20

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mccoys1965, 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)

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Today in Rock History – July 26

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1968, The Jackson Five signed a one-year contract with Motown Records.

1968, Decca pulls the Rolling Stones’ Beggars Banquet from its release schedule, citing problems with the sleeve. The design features a graffiti-covered toilet. It’s one of the first disagreements between the band and the label, with Mick Jagger angrily pointing out that Decca released Tom Jones’ A-tom-ic Jones with a nuclear explosion printed on its jacket sleeve.

1968, The Jeff Beck Group, Pink Floyd, and headliner Blue Cheer play the first of two night at the Shrine Exposition Hall in Los Angeles, California.

1968, Howlin’ Wolf plays the first of three nights at San Francisco’s Avalon Ballroom, supported by Quicksilver Messenger Service.

1968, The Steve Miller Band appears at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan.

1969, Brian Jones was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, on sale for 35 Cents.

1969, Blind Faith, Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, Shag, Taste, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, MC5, and SRC appeared at the Midwest Rock Festival, held at State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin.

1969, The Turtles performed at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah.

1969, Led Zeppelin and Vanilla Fudge played at the PNE Agrodome, Vancouver, British Columbia. Tickets were $3 – $5 Canadian.

1970, Jimi Hendrix played in his home town of Seattle for the last time when he appeared at Sicks Stadium. Cactus and Cat Mother and the All Night Newboys were the support acts.

1972, Roxy Music played at St. George’s Hall in Liverpool, England.

1973, ZZ Top releases Tres Hombres, their breakthrough album. It featured the hit “La Grange,” plus “Waiting for the Bus/Jesus Just Left Chicago.”

1974, Summerfest was held at Rich Stadium in Buffalo, New York, featuring Emerson, Lake And Palmer, The James Gang, and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

1974, The first Beatles Convention is held in Boston.

1974, Graffiti artists were hired to spray paint sites in London to promote the UK release of The Rolling Stones new single “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

1974, The Allman Brothers appeared at Boston Garden, Boston, Massachusetts with The Eagles as the support band

1975, The Eagles started a five-week run at number one on the US album chart with One Of These Nights.

1975, Van McCoy and the Soul City went to number one on the singles chart with “The Hustle,” his only chart hit.

1977, Elvis Costello was arrested as he performed outside a CBS Records sales conference at The London Hilton Hotel and was fined £5 ($7.50.)

1977, Led Zeppelin cut short their 11th North American tour after Robert Plant’s five-year-old-son Karac died unexpectedly of a virus at their home in England.

1978, Kansas performed at Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkston, Michigan.

1979, Thin Lizzy appeared at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1980, The Rolling Stones started a seven week run at number one on the US album chart with Emotional Rescue, the group’s eighth US chart topper. Emotional Rescue was the first Rolling Stones album recorded following Keith Richards’ exoneration from a Toronto drug charge that could have landed him in jail for years.

1981, Van Halen played at the Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, Maine.

1983, Asia releases Alpha, their second studio album. This one paled in comparison to the brilliant 1982 debut. It went platinum, but to mixed reviews. It featured the singles “Don’t Cry” and (the prophetic) “The Smile Has Left Your Eyes.” Egos in the ranks started to come into play. It’s been said Steve Howe and John Wetton were “oil and water” personality wise and Howe was locked out of writing for this one with Wetton / Downes “taking over.” Plus the record label, Geffen was grooming them for a more pop/commercial direction. Following the release, Wetton either quit  or was forced out and the scheduled tour was cancelled. Greg Lake filled in briefly, but Wetton returned and Howe quit. The band never regained their momentum.

1986, Peter Gabriel went to number one on the US singles chart with “Sledgehammer,” a top four hit in the UK. The song’s music video has won a number of awards, including a record nine MTV Awards at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards, and Best British Video at the 1987 Brit Awards. Gabriel was also nominated for three Grammy Awards.

1987, The Grateful Dead played at Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim, California.

1990, Brent Mydland from The Grateful Dead was found dead on the floor of his home aged 38 from an apparent drug overdose.

1992,  Mary Wells, referred to as The First Lady of Motown and who had a 1964 US number one and UK number five single “My Guy” died, aged 49 of laryngeal cancer. Wells was forced to give up her career and with no health insurance, was forced to sell her home, Wells’ old Motown friends including Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, The Temptations, and Martha Reeves, along with Dionne Warwick, Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin and Bonnie Raitt, personally pledged donations in support.

2000, The celebrity management company Cassandra left dozens of acts out of pocket when it was rocked by fraud charges, filing for bankruptcy at the Manhattan Bankruptcy Court. Clients included Alanis Morissette, Phish and Afghan Whigs.

2006, The guitar on which Sir Paul McCartney learned his first chords sold for £330,000 ($520,000) at an auction at London’s Abbey Road Studios. The Rex acoustic guitar helped McCartney persuade John Lennon to let him join his band, The Quarrymen, in 1957.

2013, singer-songwriter JJ Cale died of a heart attack at the age of 74. He became famous in 1970, when Eric Clapton covered his song “After Midnight.” In 1977 Clapton also brought Cale’s song “Cocaine” into the spotlight. The two worked together on an album, which won a Grammy award in 2008.

Born on July 26: Joe Jackson, patriarch of The Jacksons (1929);Dobie Gray (1942); Mick Jagger (1943);  Roger Taylor, Queen (1949); Andy Connell,  keyboards, Swing Out Sister (1961); Scott Francis Crago, session drummer (1963); Joan Wasser,  singer-songwriter, violinist The Dambuilders (1970)

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Today in Rock History – July 23

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1964, The Beatles were atop the UK singles chart with “A Hard Days Night,” the group’s fifth.  They would be number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 in August.

1964, The Beatles take part in the Night of a Hundred Stars at the London Palladium.

1965, The Kinks perform “You Really Got Me” on the TV show, Where the Action Is.

1965,  The Dave Clark Five played at Independence Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina.

1966, Frank Sinatra went to number one on the album chart with Strangers In The Night. The LP would be the most successful of his career, being certified platinum for 1 million copies sold in the US. The title track would earn him two Grammy awards for Record Of The Year and Best Male Vocal Performance.

1966, The Rolling Stones played at Patio Gardens in Farmington, Utah.

1966, Napoleon XIV releases the perennial novelty favorite “They’re Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!” In reality he was record engineer Jerry Samuels.

1967, The Who performed at McFarlin Memorial Auditorium in Dallas, Texas.

1967, Pink Floyd appeared at the Cosmopolitan Club in Carlisle, Cumbria, England.

1968,  The Beatles completed the recording of “Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey” for the White Album at Abbey Road studios in London. John added a new lead vocal, while Paul and George performed the backup vocals.

1969, The Rolling Stones were at number one on the singles chart with “Honky Tonk Women,” the group’s eighth and last chart topper.

1969, Los Angeles Mayor Sam Yorty had big plans to proclaim today “James Brown Day.” Brown shows up at his office at 10 AM to receive the honor. But when Yorty doesn’t turn up on time, he leaves.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Alan B. Sheppard Civic Center, Virginia Beach, Virginia.

1971, The Rolling Stones and Brian Jones’ father sue former manager Allen Klein for $29 million, alleging that he mismanaged the band’s funds.

1972, Roxy Music appeared at the Black Prince, Bexley, England.

1973, Queen play at the Marquee Club in London.

1975, Yes appeared at the Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

1976, Aerosmith performed at Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York.

1977, Who drummer Keith Moon joined Led Zeppelin on stage during a gig at The Forum, Inglewood, Los Angeles playing a duet with Zeppelin drummer John Bonham before taking to the microphone and attempting to sing.

1977, Barry Manilow went to number one on the US singles chart with “Looks Like We Made It,” his third US chart topper. It was not a hit in the UK.

1978, The Rolling Stones performed at Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim, California.

1979, Keyboard player with The Grateful Dead Keith Godchaux died following injuries sustained in a car accident aged 32. He co-wrote songs with Lowell George (of Little Feat) and was a member of The New Riders of the Purple Sage.

1980, Black Sabbath appeared at the County Fairgrounds, Ventura, California.

1981, Blue Oyster Cult played at Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino, California.

1983, The Police kicked off the North American leg of their Synchronicity 107-date world tour at Comiskey Park, Chicago, Illinois. The Police also went to number one on the US album chart with Synchronicity, which spent a total of seventeen weeks at the top.

1988, Richard Marx went to number one on the US singles chart with ‘Hold On To The Nights’, his first US chart topping single.

1988, After forty-nine weeks on the US album chart, Hysteria by Def Leppard went to the number one position.

1989, Ringo Starr kicked off his first tour since the break-up of the Beatles with a show in Dallas. His backup band included guitarist Joe Walsh, organist Billy Preston, and Bruce Springsteen’s sax man Clarence Clemons.

1990, The Grateful Dead played at the World Music Theater in Tinley Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. This would be Brent Mydland’s last show. He died three days later of an overdose.

1996, Rob Collins, keyboard player with The Charlatans died in a car crash, aged 29.  An investigation into the accident showed that Collins had consumed a considerable amount of alcohol and was not wearing a seatbelt. He died from head injuries on the roadside shortly after the accident, having been thrown through the windshield.

2004, American guitarist Bill Brown died of smoke inhalation in a house fire. Member of The Ozark Mountain Daredevils and The Titanic Blues Band.

2011, Amy Winehouse was found dead at her north London home, she was 27. A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed that a 27-year-old woman had died in Camden and that the cause of death was as yet unexplained.  The troubled singer had a long battle with drink and drugs which overshadowed her musical career.

Born on July 23: Dino Danelli, drums, The Young Rascals (1945); Andy Mackay, Roxy Music (1946); Tony Joe White, singer, songwriter(1947); David Essex (1947); Blair Thorton, guitar, Bachman Turner Overdrive (1950); Martin Gore, keyboards, Depeche Mode (1961); Nick Menza, drums, Megadeth (1964); Tim Kellett, keyboards, trumpet, Simply Red (1964);  Slash, Guns N’ Roses (1965); and Alison Krauss (1971)

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Today in Rock History – July 22

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beatles-introducing-beatles1963, The Beatles’ first US album, Introducing The Beatles was pressed by Vee-Jay Records, who thought they had obtained the legal rights from EMI affiliate, Trans-Global Records. When it was finally released in January, 1964, Capitol Records would hit Vee Jay with an injunction against manufacturing, distributing, advertising, or otherwise disposing of records by the Beatles. After a trial, Vee-Jay was allowed to release any Beatles records that they had masters of in any form until October 15th, 1964. After that time, they no longer had the right to issue any Beatles product.

1964, The Beach Boys performed at Assembly Hall at the University of Illinois, Champaign, Illinois.

1965, Mick Jagger, Brian Jones and Bill Wyman from The Rolling Stones were each fined £5 at East Ham Magistrates Court, London after being found guilty of insulting behaviour at a Romford Road service station. The three had all urinated against a wall.

1966, The Who played at Central Pier in Morecambe, Lancashire, England.

1967, Pink Floyd appeared at The Beach Ballroom, Aberdeen, Scotland. The venue is home to one of Scotland’s finest dance floors, famous for its bounce, which floats on fixed steel springs. During the 1960s The Beatles,  The Small Faces, and Cream all appeared at the Beach.

Quicksilver Messenger Service
Quicksilver Messenger Service

1967, Quicksilver Messenger Service and Big Brother & the Holding Company appeared at the Convention Hall, San Diego, California.

1967, The Who play their first American live gig at New York’s Paramount Theater.

1969, Aretha Franklin was arrested for causing a disturbance in a Detroit parking lot. After posting $50 bail, she ran down a road sign while leaving the police station.

1969, The Doors perform at the Aquarius Theater in Hollywood, California, portions of the show appear on Absolutely Live. Later the entire concert was released on CD as well.

1971, John and Yoko spent the second day filming the Imagine promotional film at their home in Tittenhurst Park Ascot, England. Today’s footage included the morning walk on the grounds though the mist and John Lennon singing “Imagine” in the white room on his white piano.

1972, Roxy Music appeared at Civic Hall, Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England.

1972, The Grateful Dead play the Paramount Northwest Theater in Seattle, Washington.

1972, Paul and Linda McCartney were arrested in Sweden for possession of drugs.

1972, The Rolling Stones performed at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1973, Humble Pie and Mountain appear at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri.

1973, Van Morrison appeared at Birmingham Town Hall, playing his first UK show for over 2 years.

1974, The Eagles release their third album, On the Border.

1975, Number one on the Billboard album charts is Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti.  Second is Olivia Newton-John with Have You Never Been Mellow. Number three is Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks.

1975, Three Dog Night appear at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1975, The Rolling Stones go into the Musicland Studios in Munich to begin recording Black and Blue.

1976, On the campaign trail, Jimmy Carter tells the National Association of Record Merchandisers’ Scholarship Foundation Dinner his musical inspiration as governor of Georgia was Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead, and Led Zeppelin. He makes pertinent quotations from Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind.”

1977, Stiff Records released My Aim Is True the debut album from Elvis Costello in the UK.

1978, The Police sign with A&M Records.

1979, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York.

1981, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers played at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto.

1982, Van Halen performed at BJCC Arena, Birmingham, Alabama.

1989, Simply Red scored their first UK top charting album with their third release A New Flame.

1989, The soundtrack album Batman by Prince started a six-week run at number one on the US album chart.

2003, Coldplay played the second of two nights at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, Australia on their A Rush of Blood to the Head world tour.

2004, American singer, songwriter and producer Arthur Crier died of heart failure. Member of The Chimes and had worked with Little Eva, Gene Pitney, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Ben E. King, Johnny Nash and The Coasters.

2005, Founder member and singer with The Chi-lites, Eugene Record died of cancer. Had the 1972 US No.1 single “Oh Girl” and 1972 UK No.3 single “Have You Seen Her.” He also released three solo albums.

2006, Johnny Cash was at number one on the US album chart with American V: A Hundred Highways. Released posthumously on July 4, the vocal parts were recorded before Cash’s death, but the instruments were not recorded until 2005.

Born on July 22: George Clinton, Parlaiment, Funkadelic (1941); Bobby Sherman (1943); Estelle Bennett, The Ronettes, and Rick Davies, Supertramp (1944); Don Henley (1947); and Rufus Wainwright (1973)

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Today in Rock History – July 8

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beatles-nowhere-man-ep1966, The Beatles released the Nowhere Man 4-track EP in the UK, which included “Drive My Car,” “Michelle,” and “You Won’t See Me.” All four tracks were taken from The Beatles’ sixth UK studio album, Rubber Soul.

1966, The Who appeared at Top Rank Suite in Cardiff, Wales.

1966, The Rolling Stones performed at Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan.

1967, UK music weekly the Melody Maker ran a front-page comment condemning the 3-month jail sentence given to Rolling Stone Mick Jagger for possession of Benzedrine tablets. Jagger was later given a conditional discharge.

1967, The Monkees began a 29-date tour with The Jimi Hendrix Experience as support act. They requested Hendrix because they were fans, but their young audience disliked the Experience, who left the tour after six shows. Hendrix manager Chas Chandler later admitted that he engineered the tour in an effort to gain publicity for Hendrix.

1968, Pink Floyd kicked off their second North American tour at the Kinetic Playground in Chicago. Visa problems meant a delayed start to the tour, and the band had to spend time in Canada while the paperwork was sorted out.

1969, Marianne Faithful collapsed on the set of Ned Kelly after taking a drug overdose. She was admitted to a Sydney Hospital, (she was later dropped from the movie).

1970, The Everly Brothers Show started an eleven-week prime time slot on ABC- TV.

1971, Yes performed at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, Hampton Beach, New Hampshire.

1971, A minor riot occurred during a Mott The Hoople gig at the Royal Albert Hall, London, England. Some fans were injured and two boxes were damaged causing a temporary ban on rock gigs at the venue.

1972, Bill Withers started a three week run at number one on the singles chart with “Lean On Me.”

1972, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at the Convention Center, Louisville, Kentucky.

1972, Donny Osmond was at number one on the singles chart with his version of the Paul Anka song “Puppy Love.” The first of three solo chart toppers for Donny.

1972, The Concert 10 Festival was held at Pocono International Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Acts performing included, Claire Hamill, The Groundhogs, Edgar Winter, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Faces with Rod Stewart, Humble Pie, The J. Geils Band, and Three Dog Night.

Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy1973, Led Zeppelin’s fifth album Houses Of The Holy was on both the US and UK album charts. The album spent a total of 39 weeks on the US chart. The cover art for Houses Of The Holy was inspired by the ending of Arthur C. Clarke’s novel Childhood’s End. It is a collage of several photographs which were taken at the Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland, by Aubrey Powell of Hipgnosis.

1974, David Bowie plays Philadelphia’s Tower Theatre. The week-long series of concerts is recorded and later released as David Live.

1976, Lynyrd Skynyrd played at the Fox Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia.

1976, Aerosmith appeared at the MECCA Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

1977, ZZ Top performed at the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum, Shreveport, Louisiana.

1978, Gerry Rafferty’s album City To City went to number one on the US charts knocking off Saturday Night Fever, which had reigned supreme at the top of the charts for almost six months.

1978, Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon from The Clash were arrested for being drunk and disorderly after a gig at the Apollo in Glasgow, both were fined.

1979, The B-52’s made their UK live debut at London’s Lyceum Ballroom, supported by The Tourists.

1980, Roxy Music appeared at the Tendastrisce, Rome.

1981, The Grateful Dead perform at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri.

1983, Iron Maiden played at the San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California.

1984, Bob Dylan’s current European tour came to an end at Slane Castle, County Meath in Ireland. Dylan was joined on stage by Van Morrison and they duetted on “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue.” U2’s Bono, who was sent to interview Dylan for the Irish rock magazine Hot Press, ended up duetting with Dylan on “Blowin’ In The Wind” and “Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat.” Carlos Santana also joined Dylan on stage and played guitar on the last seven songs of the set.

1995, TLC started a seven week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Waterfalls,” the group’s second US chart topper, and a top four hit in the UK.

2002, Michael Jackson spoke out against the music industry’s treatment of artists, alleging that the business was rife with racism. Speaking at a civil rights meeting in New York, Jackson claimed there was a “conspiracy” among record companies, especially towards black artists. A spokesman for Jackson’s record label said the remarks were “ludicrous, spiteful and hurtful.”

2006, Queen guitarist Brian May made a “substantial” donation to save hedgehogs from slaughter in the Outer Hebrides. Although the exact amount was not revealed it was said to be enough to pay for the rescue of hundreds of hedgehogs from the Uists, where Scottish Natural Heritage has been culling the animals for the past four years. May’s money would go towards funding cash rewards for islanders so hundreds more hedgehogs can be saved.

2007, Prince was forced off stage by police halfway through his set at the First Avenue nightclub during a late-night gig in his home town of Minneapolis. The club was only allowed to stay open until 3 am, but Prince took to the stage at 2.45 am. Prince had already played two concerts in Minneapolis before his late-night club appearance. His first performance was at a department store, where he promoted his new cologne with a nine-song, 45-minute set.

Born on July 8: Jaimoe Johanson, Allman Bros (1944); Andy Fletcher, Depeche Mode (1960);  Toby Keith (1961); Joan Osborne (1963); Beck (1970); Jamie Cook, guitarist, Arctic Monkeys (1985)

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Today in Rock History – July 3

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monkees-tv1967, A private party was held at the Speakeasy Club in London, England for The Monkees. Guests included: John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Dusty Springfield, Eric Clapton, Lulu, and all the members from Manfred Mann, The Who and Procol Harum.

1967, Jimi Hendrix performed at The Scene in New York City.

1967, Pink Floyd played at the Bath Pavilion in Bath, Somerset, England.

1968, At an impromptu gathering at Joni Mitchell’s house in Lookout Mountain, Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash played together for the very first time.

1969, John Lennon holds a press conference to announce the release of “Give Peace a Chance,” but can’t show up as he and Yoko are recovering from a car crash in Scotland. Ringo fills in instead.

1969, Brian Jones drowned while under the influence of drugs and alcohol after taking a midnight swim in his pool, aged 27. His body was found at the bottom of the pool by his Swedish girlfriend Anna Wohlin. The coroner’s report stated “Death by misadventure,” and noted his liver and heart were heavily enlarged by drug and alcohol abuse. Jones was one of the founding members of The Rolling Stones.

1969, James Brown, Led Zeppelin, Jethro Tull, Sly and the Family Stone, Jeff Beck, Savoy Brown, Johnny Winter, Jethro Tull, Buddy Guy Blues Band, Mothers Of Invention and Ten Years After all appeared at the four day Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island.

1969, The Grateful Dead appeared at Reed’s Ranch in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

1970, Gene Ammons,  Sonny Stitt, Kenny Burrell, Miles Davis, Eddie Harris, Herbie Mann, Mongo Santa Maria, Jerry Smith, Oscar Peterson, Roberta Flack, and Sarah Vaughn appeared at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia.

1970, The three day Atlanta Pop Festival took place, featuring The Allman Brothers, Jimi Hendrix, Jethro Tull, Johnny Winter, Mountain, Procol Harum and Rare Earth. Over 200,000 music fans attended the festival.

1971, American singer, songwriter and poet, Jim Morrison of The Doors was found dead in a bathtub in Paris, France, the cause of death was given as a heart attack. No autopsy was ever performed. However other theories exist. Morrison’s girlfriend, Pam Courson, stated that Jim had died of an accidental heroin overdose, having snorted what he believed to be cocaine.

1971, Melody Maker reports on the appearance of a new Who bootleg in the US, Who Unreleased. Seven of the ten tracks are British Who releases that had not yet come out in the States.

1972, Blues singer, guitarist Mississippi Fred McDowell died of cancer aged 68. The Rolling Stones covered his “You Got To Move” on their Sticky Fingers album. He coached Bonnie Raitt on slide guitar technique.

1973, Laurens Hammond the inventor of the Hammond organ died aged 73. Many rock artists including Procol Harum, Keith Emerson, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, The Allman Brothers and The Faces featured the sound of the Hammond. He also invented a silent spring-driven clock and during the World War II, he helped design guided missile systems.

1973, On the last night of a 60-date tour David Bowie announced he was about to retire from live performing, although it eventually transpires that Ziggy Stardust, the stage persona is being retired and not Bowie himself.

1975, Yes performed at the Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri.

1975, Lead singer from Three Dog Night Chuck Negron was arrested at his Louisville hotel room on the opening night of the band’s tour and charged with possession of cocaine.

1976, Pete Townshend opens his Meher Baba Oceanic Centre with a week-long convention for his followers and gives away copies of the new Meher Baba tribute LP With Love. It features Pete’s “His Hands,” “Sleeping Dog,” and “Lantern Cabin,” a Pete vocal on “Meher” as well as a Billy Nicholls’ song “Without Your Love,” that will later be a solo hit for Roger.

1976, Brian Wilson played his first live show with The Beach Boys in seven years when they appeared at the Anaheim Stadium, California.

1977, Aerosmith appeared at Freedom Hall, Louisville, Kentucky.

1978, Bob Dylan performed at the Pavillon De Paris, Paris.

1979, James Taylor played at Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1980, Roxy Music appeared at Oberschwabenhalle, Ravensburg, Germany.

1981, bands performing on this date: Kraftwerk at the Hammersmith Odeon, London; Blue Oyster Cult at Autzen Stadium, Eugene, Oregon; Van Halen at Cobo Arena, Detroit; Rush at the Metropolitan Sports Center, Bloomington, Minnesota; and Bruce Springsteen at Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford.

1982, The Human League started a three week run at number one on the US singles charts with “Don’t You Want Me,” also a UK chart topper.

1983, Iron Maiden appeared at Memorial Auditorium, Sacramento, California.

1985, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played the first of three sold out shows at Wembley Stadium in London.

1986, U2 crew member Greg Carroll was killed in a motorcycle accident in Dublin while running an errand for Bono. The song “One Tree Hill” on the band’s Joshua Tree album is dedicated to Carroll.

1996, AC/DC played the second of two nights at Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain on their Ballbreaker world tour.

2001, American singer, songwriter Johnny Russell died aged 61. Wrote “Act Naturally” covered by The Beatles and Buck Owens. Jim Reeves, Jerry Garcia, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt all covered his songs.

Born on July 3: David Lynch, The Platters (1929);  Tommy Tedesco, session guitarist for Beach Boys, Everly Brothers, The Supremes, The Monkees, The Association, Barbra Streisand, Elvis Presley, and more (1930); Paul Barrerre, Little Feat (1948); Johnnie Wilder, vocals, Heatwave (1949); Andy Fraser, Free, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers (1952); Vince Clarke, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure (1960); and Kevin Hearn, Barenaked Ladies (1969)

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Today in Rock History – July 2

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1966, David Bowie and The Lower Third appeared at The Lion Hotel in Warrington, England, (they were paid £30 for the gig). Also appearing was The Powerhouse which featured Eric Clapton Jack Bruce, Steve Winwood and Paul Jones.

1967, Jeff Beck, Cream and John Mayall all appeared at London’s Saville Theatre.

1967,  Jimi Hendrix performed at the Whisky A Go-Go in Los Angeles, California.

1967, Pink Floyd appeared in concert at Digbeth Civic Hall in Birmingham, West Midlands, England.

1968, The Human Beinz, Gary Pucket & The Union Gap, plus The Beach Boys played at the Adler Theatre in Davenport, Iowa.

1969, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at the National Guard Armory, Auburn, Alabama.

1969, Working at Abbey Road Paul McCartney recorded “Her Majesty.” Then Paul, George, and Ringo record 15 takes of “Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight.” John Lennon was absent, having been hospitalized in Golspie, Scotland, after a serious car accident a day earlier.

1969, Thunderclap Newman started a three week run at number one on the singles chart with the Pete Townshend produced track “Something In The Air.” The song was featured on the soundtrack for the movie, The Magic Christian. The the group included future Wings guitarist Jimmy McCulloch.

1969, Bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell quit the Jimi Hendrix Experience after completing the three-day Denver Pop Festival. Hendrix and drummer Mitch Mitchell would later team with bassist Billy Cox to form the short-lived Gypsy Sun and Rainbows, who played at the Woodstock Festival.

1970, The Who performed at Freedom Palace, Kansas City, Missouri.

1971, Queen appeared at Surrey College, England. This was the group’s first gig with the line-up of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon.

1971, The Grateful Dead play only one of two shows they did in the month of July, at the Fillmore West in their hometown of San Francisco, California.

1972, David Bowie appeared at the Rainbow Pavilion, Torquay, England.

1973, Roxy Music’s synthesizer player Brian Eno quit after personality clashes with the band’s singer Bryan Ferry.

1973, King Crimson played at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio.

1974, Eric Clapton performed at the International Amphitheater, Chicago.

1975, The Rolling Stones played at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1976, Brian Wilson rejoins the Beach Boys for the first time on stage since deciding he’d rather spend his life in bed. Aside from singing “In My Room” at the Anaheim, California, performance, he mostly sits staring at his keyboard.

1977, Bill Conti went to number one on the singles chart with “Gonna Fly Now,” the theme from the film Rocky.

1979, Aerosmith appeared at the Canadian National Exhibition Stadium, Toronto.

1979, Sony introduced the Walkman, the first portable audio cassette player. Over the next 30 years they sold over 385 million Walkmans in cassette, CD, mini-disc and digital file versions, and were the market leaders until the arrival of Apple’s iPod and other new digital devices.

1980, Bob Weir and Mickey Hart from The Grateful Dead were arrested on suspicion of starting a riot at the San Diego Sports Arena after they tried to interfere in a drug bust.

1981, Bruce Springsteen played the first of six nights at the new Brendan Byrne Arena, New Jersey.

1982, Blue Oyster Cult performed at the Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California.

1983, Rod Stewart started a three week run at number one on the UK singles chart with “Baby Jane,” his sixth UK chart topper.

1988, Tracy Chapman started a three-week run at number one on the UK album chart with her self-titled debut LP. She was buoyed by her performance at the Nelson Mandela’s 70th Birthday Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium. The album was  also a chart topper in the US.

1991, Axl Rose caused a riot to break out during a Guns N’ Roses gig after leaping into the crowd to remove a camera from a fan at the Riverpoint Amphitheatre, Maryland Heights. Over 50 people were injured and 15 fans were arrested.

1999, R.E.M., Skunk Anansie, Barenaked Ladies, Blur, Blondie, Built To Spill, The Chemical Brothers, Marilyn Manson, Metallica, Placebo, Suede and Wilco all appeared at the Oskilde Festival, Roskilde, Denmark.

2005, The world’s biggest music stars united in concerts around the world to put pressure on political leaders ahead of the G8 summit to address poverty in Africa. Concerts in ten cities, including London, Philadelphia, Paris, Berlin, Johannesburg, Rome and Moscow played to hundreds of thousands of people. A TV audience of several hundred million watched the gigs. The London featured The Who, Madonna, U2, Coldplay, Sting, The Scissor Sisters, Keane, Paul McCartney and a Pink Floyd reunion.  Destiny’s Child, Jay-Z and Bon Jovi, Canada, Bryan Adams and Neil Young headlined in Philadelphia, while Bjork was featured in Tokyo, and Green Day played in Berlin.

Born on July 2: Tom Springfield, The Springfields (1936); Paul Williams, The Temptations (1940); Roy Brittan, E Street Band (1949); Johnny Colla, guitar, sax, Huey Lewis and the News (1952);  Pete Briquette,  The Boomtown Rats (1954); Mike Anger, The Blow Monkeys (1957); Rocky Gray, drummer, Evanescence (1974); and Daron Malakian, guitar System of a Down (1983)

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Today in Rock History – June 28

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1966, The Small Faces appeared live at the Marquee Club in Wardour Street, London. Admission cost $1.05

1967, Pink Floyd performed at The Dance Hall, Eel Pie Island Hotel, Twickenham, England.

1968,The Beatles were at Studio Two at Abbey Road studios, where they recorded “Good Night,” John Lennon’s lullaby for his 5-year-old son Julian. It was said to be inspired by Cole Porter’s “True Love.”   Ringo singing the lead vocal. It was completed after two more sessions in July, and appeared on the White Album.

1968, Ten Years After played at the Fillmore West, San Francisco.

1968, Pink Floyd released their second album A Saucerful Of Secrets in the UK. It is both the last Pink Floyd album on which Syd Barrett would appear, and the only studio album to which all five band members contributed.  That same day the band performed A Saucerful of Secrets for the program Release on BBCTV2. It would air the following evening.  That night, Floyd played for the Students Celebration Dance- The End Of It All Ball,  at the Music Hall in Shrewsbury, England.

1968, The Who performed at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles.

1968, Aretha Franklin appears on the cover of Time magazine.

1969, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, Nice, John Mayall, Ten Years After, Taste, Liverpool Scene and Chicken Shack, Keef Hartley, Taste and Savoy Brown, all appeared at The Bath Festival of Blues in England, the DJ was John Peel. Over 12,000 fans attended.

1969, Pink Floyd played at the Winter Gardens Pavilion, Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset, England. Supporting acts were The Ken Birch Band and the Mike Slocombe Combo.

1969, Henry Mancini started a two week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Love Theme from Romeo And Juliet.” The film’s love theme was used as the backing for “Our Tune” by DJ Simon Bates on his BBC Radio 1 show.

1969, Crosby, Stills & Nash release their self-titled debut album.

1970, Ten Years After performed at the Canadian National Exhibition Stadium, Toronto.

1971, Yes appeared at the Whiskey A Go-Go in Hollywood, California.

1972, Pink Floyd played the first of two nights at The Dome in Brighton, England. These were makeup shows for a concert performance at the same venue in January that had to be stopped in the middle of “Money” due to technical difficulties.

1972, Led Zeppelin performed at the Community Arena in Tucson, Arizona. Tickets cost $4 – $6 (£2.67 – £4.)

1973, The Searchers, Gerry & the Pacemakers, Herman’s Hermits, and Wayne Fontana appear at a revival show at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

1974, The Grateful Dead play at the Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.

1975, The Eagles started a five-week run at number one on the US album chart with ‘One Of These Nights’.

1975, Wings went to number one on the UK charts with the album Venus And Mars, featuring the US chart topping single “Listen What The Man Said.”

1975, American singer songwriter Tim Buckley completed the last show of a tour in Dallas, Texas, playing to a sold-out crowd of 1,800 people. This was Buckley’s last ever show, he died the following day of a heroin and morphine overdose at age 28.

1975, Cher marries Gregg Allman.

1977, Elton John achieved a life long ambition when he became the Chairman of Watford Football Club.

1978, The Clash supported by The Specials appeared at Friars, Aylesbury, England.

1980, Roxy Music scored their second number one album with Flesh And Blood. It would return to the top spot again in August for another three weeks, in total spending 60 weeks on the albums chart in the United Kingdom. The album also peaked at number 35 in the United States and number ten in Australia.

1986, Wham! were at number one on the UK singles chart with their fourth and final UK chart topper “The Edge Of Heaven.” Also on this day Wham! played their farewell concert in front of 80,000 fans at Wembley Stadium, London.

1997, Radiohead went to number one on the UK album chart with their third album OK Computer. The British group’s first self-produced album later appeared in many critics’ lists and listener polls for best album of the year, and also won a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Performance.

2005, 2 Pac featuring Elton John was at number one on the UK singles chart with “Ghetto Gospel.” It was written by Tupac Shakur and produced by Eminem. The song uses samples from the Elton John song “Indian Sunset” from his 1971 album Madman Across the Water.

2007, The Spice Girls confirmed they would reform for a world tour to take place in December 2007 and January 2008 with the original line-up, who had not performed on stage since Ginger Spice Geri Halliwell quit in May 1998. The 11 dates announced included a London show on December 15th, eight days after the first date in Los Angeles. Other dates included Cologne, Madrid Beijing, Hong Kong, Sydney and Cape Town. The tour was being put together by Simon Fuller, whose 19 company masterminded the group’s global success more than a decade earlier.

Born on this day: David Knights, Procol Harum (1945);  Steven J. Morse, Dixie Dregs, Deep Purple (1954); Clint Boon, English singer, keyboards, Inspiral Carpets, The Clint Boon Experience (1959);  Charlie Clouser, American keyboard player, songwriter, producer, Nine Inch Nails (1963);  Steve Williamson, English saxophonist, composer, Jazz Warriors (1964); Mark Stoermer,  The Killers (1977); Michael Crafter, Australian singer-songwriter, Confession, I Killed the Prom Queen, Carpathian, Bury Your Dead (1981)

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