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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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Today in Rock History – June 26

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1965, The Byrds went to number one on the US singles chart with their version of Bob Dylan’s “Mr Tambourine Man.” Only Roger McGuinn from the band played on the song, Wrecking Crew drummer Hal Blaine played on the track.

1965, The Strangeloves,  three Australian aborigines who were really three New Yorkers, enter Billboard’s Hot 100 with “I Want Candy.”

1966, In the midst of a German tour, the Beatles make a long-awaited return to Hamburg, the city where they got their start performing in local clubs. This time they come back in an eight-car motorcade and play to 7,000 people at Ernst Mercky Halle.

1966, During a North American tour, The Rolling Stones played two shows, a matinee show at The Coliseum in Washington DC, and an evening show at The Baltimore Civic Centre in Maryland. The McCoys and The Standells were the support acts.

1969, Joni Mitchell appeared on the ABC TV Mama Cass Television Program from Los Angeles, California.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at North Georgia Fairgrounds in Marietta, Ohio.

1970, Mountain played at The Warehouse in New Orleans, Louisiana.

1971, Emerson Lake and Palmer went to number one on the UK chart with their second album Tarkus.

1971, Pink Floyd play at Hatfield Polytechnic, in Hatfield, England. Tickets were 60 pence (about 90 cents.)

1972, During sessions at Olympic Studios, London, England, David Bowie recorded “John, I’m Only Dancing,” with Mick Ronson on lead guitar and Lou Reed on rhythm guitar. The track which was released and became a hit single in the UK in September of this year was not released in America, being judged too risqué by RCA Records. The original video directed by Mick Rock, featuring androgynous dancers from Lindsay Kemp’s mime troupe, was banned by British music show Top Of The Pops.

1973, Rolling Stone Keith Richards and his girlfriend Anita Pallenberg were arrested at their home in Chelsea, London on drugs and gun charges.

1974, Cher divorced Sonny Bono after 10 years of marriage. Four days later, Cher married guitarist Gregg Allman, the couple split 10 days after that, got back together and split again. They did stay married for three years, producing Elijah Blue Allman.

1975, Bob Dylan officially releases the long-bootlegged Basement Tapes.

1976, The Grateful Dead played the first of four nights at the Auditorium Theater in Chicago, Illinois.

1976, Legendary ’70s group Roxy Music announce they will undergo a “trial separation.”

1977, Elvis Presley made his last ever live stage appearance when he appeared at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. Presley would die less than two months later. The last two songs he performed were  “Hurt”  and  “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”  Before the show Elvis was presented with a plaque commemorating the 2 billionth record to come out of RCA s pressing plant.

1982, American singer and One Hit Wonder Charlene was at number one on the UK singles chart with “I’ve Never Been To Me.” The song was recorded in 1976 and was reissued by Motown records in 1982 by which time Charlene had moved to England and was working in a sweet shop in Ilford, east London.

1999, Elton John was reported to be in talks with a City finance house to secure a £25 million ($42.5 million) loan, using his back catalogue of hits as security. It had been reported that Elton had been spending £250,000 ($425,000) a week on credit cards.

2008, Total Guitar magazine voted Celine Dion’s rendition of the AC/DC track “You Shook Me All Night Long” as the world’s worst cover version ever. In the best cover versions list, Jimi Hendrix was voted into first place with his version of the Bob Dylan song “All Along the Watchtower,” The Beatles rendition of “Twist and Shout,” (first recorded by the Top Notes), was in second place, followed by the Guns N’ Roses version of the Wings song “Live and Let Die.”

Born on Jun 26: Col. Tom Parker, Elvis’ manager (1910); Billy Davis, Jr., The Fifth Dimension (1940); Larry Taylor, Canned Heat (1942) Mick Jones, The Clash (1955); Chris Isaak (1956) ; Colin Greenwood,  Radiohead (1969)

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Today in Rock History – June 8

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1967, The Beatles Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band went to No.1. Costing $42,500 to produce, the album was recorded over 700 hours of studio time. It was also the first album to print the lyrics on the sleeve. The album spent 27 weeks at No.1 on the chart.

1967, Procol Harum went at No.1 on the UK singles chart with “A Whiter Shade Of Pale,” the group’s only UK No.1. In 2004 the song was named the most played record of the past 70 years. More than 900 recorded versions by other artists are known.

1967, The Wild Kingdom, The Triumphs, Tina Mason, The Shades of Blue, Keith Allison, Steve Allison, The Critters, The Knickerbockers, BJ Thomas, and The Young Rascals appeared in concert at Foreman Field at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

1967, The Beatles are in the studio, where Rolling Stone Brian Jones joins them to play sax on “You Know My Name (Look Up the Number).”

1968, Wilson Pickett performed at the Civic Center in Charleston, West Virginia.

1969, Founding member of The Rolling Stones Brian Jones announced that he was leaving the group, saying that he no longer saw “eye to eye” with the rest of the band.

1970, Deep Purple had their van and equipment impounded by East German police while on an European tour, after mistakenly driving too close to the border.

1970, Bob Dylan releases his Self Portrait album. Critic Greil Marcus upon hearing it is moved to publish an article titled “What Is This Sh*t?”

1972, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Ector County Coliseum, Odessa, Texas.

1973, King Crimson played at Hofheinz Pavilion, Houston, Texas.

1974, Bill Wyman became the first Rolling Stone to release a solo album with “Monkey Grip.” It peaked at No.39 in the UK and No.99 in the US.

1974, The Grateful Dead performed at the Coliseum Stadium in Oakland, California.

1974, David Bowie started a four-week run at the top of the charts with his third No.1 album Diamond Dogs. The cover art features Bowie as a striking half-man, half-dog grotesque painted by Belgian artist Guy Peellaert. It was controversial as the full painting clearly showed the hybrid’s genitalia. Very few copies of this original cover made their way into circulation at the time of the album’s release. Bowie also begins three days of rehearsals for the tour at the Port Chester Capitol Theatre, before the elaborate set is sent to the first tour stop in Montreal.

1974, AC/DC appeared at Chequers in Sydney, Australia.

1974,  Dolly Parton was at No.1 on the US country chart with “I Will Always Love You.” Elvis Presley indicated that he wanted to cover the song. Parton was interested until Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, told her that it was standard procedure for the songwriter to sign over half of the publishing rights to any song Elvis recorded. Parton refused. “I Will Always Love You” later became a worldwide No.1 hit for Whitney Houston in 1992 when featured in the movie The Bodyguard.

1974, Keyboard player Rick Wakeman announced that he was leaving Yes.

1974, Paul McCartney and Wings went to No.1 on the singles chart with “Band On The Run,” his third solo No.1, and a No.3 hit in the UK. McCartney later stated that George Harrison unwittingly contributed the first line of one part of the song: “If we ever get out of here…” when he said it during one of the many Beatles’ business meetings.

1975, Aerosmith played at the Metropolitan Sports Center, Bloomington, Minnesota.

1976, Yes performed at Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio.

1977, Crosby, Stills & Nash appeared at Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1978, Genesis played at Ekeberghallen, in Oslo, Norway.

1979, Marianne Faithfull married Ben Brieley of punk rock band The Vibrators.

1979, On tonight’s Midnight Special, Gloria Gaynor hosts Paul McCartney & Wings, Rod Stewart, and Bad Company.

1980, The Grateful Dead performed at Folsum Field on the University of Colorado campus in Boulder, Colorado.

1980, Roxy Music appeared at Stadthalle, Bremen, Germany.

1984, Van Halen played at Tingley Coliseum, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

1985, Tears For Fears started a two-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with “Everybody Wants To Rule The World,” the group’s first US No.1. In 1986, the song won Best Single at the Brit Awards. Band member and co-writer Roland Orzabal argued that the song deserved to win the Ivor Novello International Hit of the Year award, claiming that the winner, “19” by Paul Hardcastle – was not an actual song, but only a “dialogue collage.”

1987, Yogi Horton a session drummer with Luther Vandross, jumped to his death from a 17th floor hotel window, having told his wife he was tired of Living in the shadow of Vandross Also worked with The B-52’s, Diana Ross and Debbie Harry.

1996, The Fugees scored their first UK No.1 single with their version of the Roberta Flack 1973 hit “Killing Me Softly.”

2003, Led Zeppelin were at No.1 on the US album chart with their triple live album How The West Was Won, the band’s seventh US No.1 album. The performances were from the band’s 1972 tour of the United States, recorded at the LA Forum on  June 25, 1972 and Long Beach Arena on  June 27, 1972.

Born on this day: Nancy Sinatra (1940); Chuck Negron, Three Dog Night (1942); Boz Scaggs (1944); Alex Van Halen (1953); and Nick Rhodes, Duran Duran (1962)

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Today in Rock History – June 5

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rolling-stones-19641964, The Rolling Stones played their first-ever live date in the US when they appeared at the Swing Auditorium, San Bernardino, California. The Stones were supporting their first album release The Rolling Stones, in North America.

1965, The soundtrack album to The Sound of Music started a 10-week run at number one on the UK chart. It returned to the top of the charts on no less than eleven other occasions spending over 380 weeks on the charts.

1966, David Bowie, appearing as “The Bowie Showboat, gave a lunchtime performance consisting of “three hours of music and mime” at The Marquee Club in London.  Admission was 3 shillings, ($0.42.)

1968, The Jimi Hendrix Experience appeared on the Dusty Springfield TV show filmed on ATV, in London, England. Hendrix performed “Stone Free” and “Voodoo Chile,” and then played a version of “Mockingbird” with Dusty Springfield.

1968, Senator and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy is shot and killed by Sirhan Sirhan in Los Angeles. The next day, the Rolling Stones amend their new song “Sympathy for the Devil” to reference the event. David Crosby is also inspired to write “Long Time Gone” in memory of the senator.

1969, The Who appeared at the Fillmore East in New York.

1970, Traffic performed at the Eastown Theater in Detroit, Michigan.

1970, The Grateful Dead play San Francisco’s Fillmore West.

1971, Grand Funk Railroad smashed the record held by The Beatles when they sold out New York’s Shea Stadium in 72 hours.

1971, Paul McCartney’s second solo album Ram started a two-week run at number one on the UK album chart. It featured the American chart topping single “Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey.”

1972, Roxy Music performed at Chester, Cheshire, England.

1974, Sly Stone married Kathy Silva on stage during a gig at Madison Square Garden. They separated four months later.

1974, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at the Civic Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

1974, Patti Smith enters a studio for the first time to cut her interpretation of “Hey Joe.”

1975, During recording sessions for Wish You Were Here at Abbey Road Studios, London, England, Syd Barrett turned up out of the blue as Pink Floyd were listening to playbacks of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” a tribute to former band member Barrett. He was almost unrecognizable, bald, and overweight. This was the last time any member of Pink Floyd saw Barrett.

1976, ZZ Top appeared at Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, while Elvis Presley performed not far away at the Omni Coliseum.

1976, The Who, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Little Feat, Outlaws and Streetwalkers appeared at Celtic Football Club, Glasgow, Scotland. Tickets cost £4.00 ($7.)

1977, Alice Cooper’s boa constrictor, a co-star of his live act suffered a fatal bite from a rat it was being fed for breakfast. Cooper held auditions for a replacement and a snake named “Angel” got the gig.

1978, Bob Dylan performed at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles.

1979, Blues legend Muddy Waters (aged 64), married Marva Jean Brooks on her 25th birthday.

1979, Dire Straits played at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris.

1980, The Grateful Dead celebrate the band’s fifteenth anniversary playing the Compton Terrace Amphitheater in Tempe, Arizona.

1981, Rush  performed at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California.

1983, During a 48-date North American tour U2 played at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado, near Denver. The show was recorded and released as U2 Live At Red Rocks: Under A Blood Red Sky.

1988, The Pet Shop Boys played their debut live show when they appeared at London’s Piccadilly Theatre as part of an Anti Section 28 Benefit concert.

1990, Drummer Jim Hodder drowned in his swimming pool aged 42. He was the original drummer with Steely Dan and also worked with Sammy Hagar and David Soul.

1993, Country singer Conway Twitty died from an abdominal aortic aneurysm. He had the 1958 US and UK number one single “It’s Only Make Believe.” Until 2000, he held the record for the most number one singles of any country act, with 45 chart toppers. He lived in Hendersonville, Tennessee, just north of Nashville, where he built a country music entertainment complex called Twitty City.

1997, Ex Small Faces, The Faces and leader of Slim Chance, Ronnie Lane died aged 51 after a 20-year battle with multiple sclerosis. Lane also collaborated with Pete Townshend on the 1977 album Rough Mix.

1999, Jazz singer and songwriter Mel Torme died aged 73. His biggest hit was the 1956 UK number four single “Mountain Greenery” and his “Christmas Song” (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) has been recorded more than 1,700 times.

2002, Dee Dee Ramone (Douglas Glenn Colvin), bass guitarist with The Ramones died at his Hollywood, California apartment of a heroin overdose at age 49. He was the group’s primary songwriter, penning songs such as “Rockaway Beach,” “53rd & 3rd,” and “Poison Heart.”

2005, Oasis went to number one on the UK album chart with Don’t Believe The Truth, the band’s sixth UK chart topping  album.

2007, Paul McCartney released his 21st solo album, Memory Almost Full on the new Hear Music Starbucks label. It was later announced that all copies sold through UK Starbucks would not be eligible for the UK charts as the 533 stores were not registered with the Official Chart Company. The album was being played non-stop in more than 10,000 Starbucks outlets across 29 countries.

Born on June 5: Freddie Stone, Sly and The Family Stone (1946); Tom Evans, bass, vocals, Badfinger; Laurie Anderson (1947); Nicko McBrain, drums, Iron Maiden (1954); Richard Butler, Psychedelic Furs, (1956); Mark Wahlberg (the actor, aka Marky Mark,) New Kids on the Block (1971); Pete Wentz, Fall Out Boy (1979)

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