InternetFM.com

Hand Curated Radio

You are here: Home / Archives for Smashing Pumpkins

Smashing Pumpkins

Today in Rock History – June 16

by

bob-dylan-highway-611965, Bob Dylan recorded “Like A Rolling Stone” at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City, during sessions for the forthcoming Highway 61 Revisited album. Session musicians included Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper, whose Hammond organ on “Like A Rolling Stone” became one of rock’s most recognizable sounds.

1965, The Who’s manager Chris Stamp goes on his first trip to see Decca Records management in New York. The only way he can make the flight is to have his brother, the actor Terence Stamp, downgrade his first-class ticket to two coach tickets as he flies to America to promote his movie The Collector.

1966, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, featuring guitarist Eric Clapton, appeared at The Marquee Club, London, England.

1966, The Who played at the University of Hull in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England.

1966, The Beatles made a surprise live appearance on the UK television program Top of the Pops, performing “Paperback Writer” and “Rain.” It became The Beatles’ last live musical television appearance, apart from the June 1967 worldwide transmission of “All You Need Is Love.”

1967, The three day Monterey Pop Festival in California began. All the proceeds went to charity when all the artists agreed to perform for free, and the “Summer of Love” was born. It was organized by John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas and Lou Adler. The festival saw the first major US appearances by The Who, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin. Also on the bill: The Byrds, Grateful Dead, Otis Redding, Simon & Garfunkel, The Steve Miller Band, Canned Heat, The Mamas And The Papas, Jefferson Airplane, Buffalo Springfield and The Electric Flag. Tickets cost $3.50–6.50 (£2–3.80).  Phillips, would later write, “San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair”) about the festival, which became a hit for Scott McKenzie.

1967, Pink Floyd release their second single, “See Emily Play,” in England. It reached number six in the UK charts. The US release was slated for July 24th.

1968, Janis Joplin, Steve Miller, and Santana play a benefit at San Francisco’s Fillmore Auditorium. Proceeds from the gig go toward keeping the Matrix Club, another San Francisco venue, open.

1969, Led Zeppelin appeared at Aeolian Hall in London, England.

1970, Mungo Jerry were at number one on the singles chart with “In The Summertime.” It went on to become the best selling single of 1970 spending seven weeks at the top of the charts.

1970, The Who performed at the Berkeley Community Theater. It was The Who’s last small venue concert in the US until 1999

1971, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Boutwell Memorial Auditorium, Birmingham, Alabama.

1972, David Bowie released The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. It reached number five on the UK Album Chart and number 75 in the US. It was eventually certified platinum and gold in the UK and US respectively. The first single from the record, “Starman,” charted at number ten in the UK while peaking at number 65 in the US.

1972, Genesis appeared at the Corn Exchange, Bedford, England.

1973, The Eagles and King Crimson played at the Community Theater, Berkeley, California.

1974, Tangerine Dream made their live UK debut at London’s Victoria Palace.

1974, The Grateful Dead played at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa. The show has been released as Road Trips, Volume 2, Number 3.

1975,  John Lennon files a suit against former U.S. Attorneys General John Mitchell and Richard Kleindienst, accusing them of harassment during deportation proceedings.

1975, Peter Frampton played at the Marin County Civic Center, in  San Rafael, California. Recordings from this, along with the following night at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom were used as part of his chart topping double album Frampton Comes Alive!

1975, Pink Floyd performed at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York.

1976, The Jackson Five four-week summer variety show premiered on CBS- TV, featuring The Jacksons plus sisters Latoya, Rebbie and Janet.

1977, Kenny Rogers was at number one on the UK singles chart with “Lucille.” It was the American country music and pop singer’s first of two UK number ones.

1978, Mac Davis hosts The Midnight Special, welcoming guests Rod Stewart, Todd Rundgren, and Andrew Gold.

1978, Bob Dylan performed at Earls Court in London.

1978, David Bowie appeared at City Hall, Newcastle Upon Tyne, England.

1979, The Electric Light Orchestra started a five-week run at number one on the album chart with Discovery, their first chart topping LP, featuring the tracks “Shine A Little Love,” “Don’t Bring Me Down,” and “The Diary Of Horace Wimp.”

1980, The Blues Brothers film starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd premiered in Chicago. The film also had cameos from  Aretha Franklin, James Brown and Ray Charles.

1981, Van Halen appeared at the Aladdin Theatre in Las Vegas.

1982, Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott died following sustained cocaine and heroin addiction.

1983, Dire Straits performed at the Sportpaleis Ahoy, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

1984, Frankie Goes To Hollywood had their second UK number one single with “Two Tribes.”It stayed at number one for nine weeks making Frankie Goes To Hollywood the first band to have their first two singles go to the top of the UK chart. During this run the group’s previous single “Relax” climbed back up the charts to the second spot.

1989, The first day of the UK three day Glastonbury Festival took place featuring Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Throwing Muses, The Pixies, All About Eve, Hot House Flowers, The Waterboys, Suzanne Vega and Fairground Attraction. Tickets cost £28 ($48).

1994, Oasis played at The Erotika Club, Paris in France, the band’s first gig outside the UK.

1996, Rage Against The Machine, Beastie Boys, Smashing Pumpkins, Fugees, Red Hot Chili Peppers, John Lee Hooker, Beck, Sonic Youth, Yoko Ono, De La Soul and Richie Havens all appeared at the two-day Tibetan Freedom Concert, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco: A sell-out crowd of over 100,000 made it the largest US benefit concert since Live Aid in 1985.

1999, Screaming Lord Sutch was found dead after hanging himself. The singer turned politician was 58. He was the first long-haired pop star-boasting hair over 18 inches long and the self-styled lord, whose real name was David Sutch, was Britain’s longest-serving political leader, standing in nearly 40 elections.

2002, Elvis Presley started a four week run at number one on the UK singles chart 46 years after his first hit, with “A Little Less Conversation.” This gave Elvis a total of 18 UK chart topping singles, the most by any artist in chart history. This also set a new record for the longest span of number one hits with 44 years, 11 months and 9 days. His first UK number single was “All Shook Up” in 1957.

2010, American musician and guitarist Gary Shider died from cancer of the brain and lungs. He was musical director of the P-Funk All-Stars, and as a member of Parliament-Funkadelic he scored the hit “One Nation Under A Groove.”

Born on June 16: Lamont Dozier, songwriter of Holland/Dozier/Holland fame (1941); American singer–songwriter and actor Edward Levert, The O’Jays (1942); Ian Matthews, singer, Fairport Convention, Matthews Southern Comfort (1946); Tom Malone, American trombonist, composer, producer, The Blues Brothers, CBS Orchestra (1947); Robbin Thompson, American singer-songwriter, Steel Mill (1949); James Smith, The Stylistics (1950); Charlie Dominici, American singer, guitarist, Dream Theater, Dominici (1951); Gino Vanelli (1952); Garry Roberts, Irish guitarist, The Boomtown Rats (1954); Tupac Shakur (1971)

Get more Today in Rock History

Today in Rock History – December 2

by

1967, The Monkees album, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones Ltd went to number one on the album chart. It was their fourth album to sell over a million copies, following The Monkees, More Of The Monkees and Headquarters.

1967, Pink Floyd play at The Dome in Brighton, England

1969, George Harrison joins Delaney & Bonnie to perform with them in Bristol, England, after having watched them play with Eric Clapton the night before in London. He tours the UK with their ensemble, marking the first series of live performances by a Beatle since 1966.

1969, Cindy Birdsong of The Supremes was kidnapped at knifepoint by a maintenance man who worked in the building she lived in. She later escaped unharmed by jumping out of his car on the San Diego freeway. The kidnapper was arrested in Las Vegas four days later.

1971, Led Zeppelin appeared at The Royal Ballroom, Bournemouth, England.

1971, “Black Dog” by Led Zeppelin, which is featured as the lead-off track of their fourth album, was released as a single in the US and Australia with “Misty Mountain Hop” on the B-side, and reached number 15 on Billboard and number 11 in Australia.

1972, David Bowie performed at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania.

1973, The Who arrive in Montreal, Canada, disembarking from the plane wearing paper hats made out of French in-flight newspapers and singing the French national anthem. That evening they perform at the Montreal Forum. Early the next morning The Who and twelve members of their entourage are jailed in Montreal after Pete and Keith wreck their hotel suites. They manage to post bail at 1:15pm when the local promoter pays $5,995.34 (£3746.88) in cash to the police station and they perform that night at the Boston Garden, where they rail to the audience about the Montreal police. John will go on to commemorate the arrest in the song “Cell Number Seven” on his solo album Mad Dog.

1973, The Allman Brothers Band appear at William and Mary College, Williamsburg, Virginia.

1973, Bob Dylan fans start mailing in ticket requests for his latest tour today. Dylan sells 658,000 seats through the mail, but not before San Francisco witnesses traffic jams as people rush to send in their applications.

1973, The Grateful Dead performed at the Music Hall in Boston, Massachusetts.

1974, Yes played at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas.

1975, The Who perform at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Des Moines, Iowa.

1976, Elvis Presley played the first of an 11-night run at the Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas.

pink-floyd-animals1976, The first day of the photo shoot for the forthcoming Pink Floyd Animals album cover took place at Battersea Power Station in London, England, with a giant inflatable pig lashed between two of the structure’s tall towers. A trained marksman was hired ready to fire if the inflatable escaped, but was not needed on this, the first day. Unfortunately the following day the marksman hadn’t been rebooked, so when the inflatable broke free from its moorings, it was able to float away, eventually landing in Kent where it was recovered by a local farmer, reportedly furious that it had scared his cows.

1977, Rush play at the Fitchburg Theater, Fitchburg, Massachusetts.

1978, Rod Stewart was at number one on the singles chart with “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?”  A plagiarism lawsuit by Brazilian musician Jorge Ben Jor confirmed that the song had been derived from his composition “Taj Mahal.” Stewart agreed to donate all his royalties from the song to the United Nations Children’s Fund.

1978, Aerosmith appeared at the Tarrant County Convention Center, Fort Worth, Texas.

1979, Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand’s “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” was at number one on the US singles chart. A radio station engineer had spliced together Neil’s version with Barbra’s version and got such good response, the station added it to their play list. When Neil Diamond was told about it, he decided to re-record the song with Streisand herself, and within weeks of its release, the single went to the top of the charts in the US and number five in the UK.

1980, Bob Dylan performed at The Armory, in Salem, Oregon.

1982, Van Halen played at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1982, US folk singer David Blue died of a heart attack aged 41 while jogging in New York’s Washington Square Park. He was a member of Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue during the late ’70s. He wrote “Outlaw Man” covered by The Eagles on their 1973 Desperado album.

1983, MTV aired the full 14-minute version of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video for the first time. In 2009, the video was inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, the first music video to ever receive this honor, for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant.

1988, The Stone Roses, supported by The Charlatans both appeared at The London School Of Economics, tickets £2.50 ($4).

1999, David Bowie played his first UK show in over two years when he appeared at the Astoria Theatre in London in front of 2,000 fans.

2000, The Smashing Pumpkins played their “final” concert when they appeared at the Metro Club in Chicago. They would not play again until May 2007, with founder Billy Corrigan and drummer Jimmy Chamberlain as the only other original members to participate.

2001, Singer Valerie Jones died, aged 45. She was one third of the sister group The Jones Girls, who sang back-up vocals with Lou Reed, Diana Ross, Aretha Franklin, Lou Rawls, Teddy Pendergrass and Betty Everett.

2006, Dutch singer Mariska Veres from Shocking Blue died of cancer at the age of 59. She had the 1970 US number one and UK number eight single “Venus.”

2013, Reggae singer Junior Murvin, best known for the 1976 hit song “Police and Thieves,” died in Jamaica aged 67. “Police and Thieves,” produced by Lee “Scratch” Perry, was a hit in Jamaica, and also took off in the UK, where it found an audience with punk rock aficionados.

2013, Roger Taylor and Brian May opened the Queen Studio Experience – Montreux, an exhibition of Queen memorabilia at Mountain Studios in Switzerland, where they had recorded many classic tracks spanning seven albums and where Freddie Mercury recorded his last vocal. The exhibition would open to the public a day later.

2014, American saxophone player Bobby Keys died from complications of cirrhosis of the liver at his home in Franklin, Tennessee. Keys started touring at age fifteen with Bobby Vee and fellow Texan Buddy Holly and was best known as being the main saxophone player for The Rolling Stones.

Born on December 2: Dr. Peter Carl Goldmark, inventor of the LP record in 1945 (1906); Tom McGuinness, guitar, vocals, Manfred Mann (1941); Ted Bluechel Jr,  The Association (1942); Rick Savage, Def Leppard (1960); Nicholas Dingley, aka Razzle, drummer, Hanoi Rocks (1960); Nate Mendel, bassist, Foo Fighters, The Jealous Sound, Sunny Day Real Estate, and The Fire Theft (1968); Christopher Wolstenholme, singer-songwriter, bass, Muse (1978); Britney Spears (1981); Tal Wilkenfeld, bass, Jeff Beck (1986)

Get more Today in Rock History

Today in Rock History – November 11

by

beatles-rubber-soul1965, The final recording session for The Beatles Rubber Soul album took place, at Abbey Road, London. They needed four new songs to finish the album so an old song “Wait” is pulled off the shelf and work is completed on “I’m Looking Through You.” The band recorded two new songs from start to finish. Paul’s “You Won’t See Me,” about his relationship with Jane Asher, and John’s “Girl, his response to Paul’s “Michelle.”   The session began at 6 pm and ended at 7 o’clock the following morning. Rubber Soul was completed, and finished copies of the album were in the shops by December 3rd in the UK and December 6th in the US.

1966, The Who’s first UK EP, Ready Steady WHO is released. It is supposed to be live tracks from The Who’s recent television special but is, in fact, studio tracks recorded between February and August 1966. It goes all the way to number one on the UK. EP charts but isn’t released in the US.

1966, Pink Floyd played a concert for the London Free School at All Saints Church, Powlis Gardens, London.

1967, Jimi Hendrix performs at the Big Apple Club in Munich, Germany.

1969, The FBI in Phoenix, Arizona arrested Jim Morrison for drunk and disorderly conduct aboard a plane. The Doors singer, who was on his way to a Rolling Stones concert with actor Tom Baker, had been drinking and annoying the stewardesses. The pair spent the night in jail and were released on $2,500 bail.

1969, The Who played the first of two nights at The Tea Party in Boston  with Tony William’s Lifetime as support.

1970, Elvis Presley appears at Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Oregon.

1971, King Crimson appeared at Massey Hall, Toronto, Ontario.

1971, BBC TV’s Top Of The Pops celebrated its 400th show. The UK chart show was presented by Tony Blackburn with guests Tom Jones, Dana, John Kongos, Cher, Slade, Cilla Black, The Piglets, Clodagh Rodgers and The Newbeats.

1971, Led Zeppelin played the first date of a 16-night UK tour at City Hall, Newcastle, England.

1971, Pink Floyd performed at Music Hall in Boston, Massachusetts.  Top ticket price was $6.00.

1972, Allman Brothers bass player Berry Oakley was killed when his motorcycle hit a bus at the same intersection where band member Duane Allman had died a year earlier. Oakley was 24 years old.

1972, David Bowie appears at the Majestic Theatre, Dallas, Texas.

1972, Gilbert O’Sullivan was at number one on the UK singles chart with “Clair,” the singer’s first of two UK chart toppers. The Irish singer songwriter would dress as a 1920s worker in flat cap, braces and baggy trousers.

1973, Thirty US radio stations broadcasted a “live” Mott The Hoople concert. In reality it was the band recorded in the studio with the applause dubbed in.

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

1974, David Bowie played at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland. The show includes a live video projection, an innovation first used in the Rolling Stones 1972 US Tour, directed by John Dove, who was documenting some of Bowie’s rehearsals and shows.

1976, US singer Linda Ronstadt made her live UK debut when she appeared at the Birmingham Odeon.

1976, Eric Clapton played at the Louisiana State University Assembly Center, in Baton Rouge.

1977, During an Australian tour, Fleetwood Mac appeared at the RAS Sydney Showgrounds. Also on the bill, Santana, Little River Band and The Kevin Borich Express.

1978, David Bowie played the first night of his 8-date Low / Heroes tour of Australia and New Zealand at The Oval in Adelaide. This was Bowie’s first ever show in Australia.

1978, Donna Summer started a three-week run at number one on the US singles chart with her version of Jimmy Webb’s “MacArthur Park.” The song was also a hit for actor Richard Harris in 1968, and made it to number five in the UK. Also on this day Summer went to number one on the US album chart with Live And More.

1978, The Cars released “My Best Friend’s Girl” the first picture-disc single commercially available, which went on to be a number three hit on the UK charts.

 1979, The Who play the Conference Centre in Brighton, England.

1980, Bob Dylan performs at the Fox Warfield Theatre, San Fransisco.

1980, U2 appeared in the Junior Common Room of Rutherford College at Kent University, Canterbury, England. Tickets are £0.50 ($0.80) and all 150 sell out before the show.

1981, Rush performed at Concert Centrum, in Hamburg, Germany.

1982, Prince kicked off his 87-date 1999 North American tour at the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

1983, The Police appear at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi.

1986, Pink Floyd issued a press statement stating that they intend to continue using the band name without Roger Waters and were recording their next album.

1989, Chris Rea started a three-week run at number one on the UK album chart with The Road To Hell. The iconic album cover features art by the English artist, Adrian Chesterman, who was also responsible for creating cover art for, Motörhead’s 1979 Bomber album.

1995, The Smashing Pumpkins double album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness went to number one on the US charts.

2004, Robbie Williams, The Rolling Stones and Queen were inducted into the UK’s first music Hall of Fame at a ceremony in London. One act had been chosen by TV viewers of a Channel 4 program to represent each decade since the 1950s. Williams represented the 1990s, Michael Jackson the 1980s, Queen the 1970s, the Rolling Stones the 1960s, and Cliff Richard the 1950s.

2011, The four original band members of Black Sabbath announced that they were reuniting and recording a new album followed by a world tour in 2012.

2014, Big Bank Hank (Henry Lee Jackson), from The Sugarhill Gang died aged 58 from kidney complications due to cancer. The Sugarhill Gang were the first hip hop act to have a hit with the cross-over single “Rapper’s Delight” in the pop charts in 1979.

Born on November 11: Kurt Vonnegut (1922); Lavern Baker, R&B singer (1929); Jessie Colin Young, The Youngbloods (1944); Vince Martell,  singer, guitar, Vanilla Fudge (1945); Chris Dreja, The Yardbirds (1946); Jim Peterik, Ides of March, Survivor (1950); Paul Cowsill, The Cowsills (1952); Andy Partridge, XTC (1953); Dave Alvin,  singer-songwriter, guitar The Blasters, The Knitters,  X (1955); Ian Craig Marsh, keyboards, Heaven 17 (1956); Mic Michaeli, keyboards, Europe, (1962); Jason White, guitar, Green Day (1973)

Link to Today in Rock History archives.

Today in Rock History – July 11

by

The First Edition

1964, The Beatles appeared live on the ABC Television program Lucky Stars (Summer Spin,) performing “A Hard Day’s Night,” “Long Tall Sally,” “Things We Said Today,” and “You Can’t Do That.” To avoid the crowd of fans waiting for them, The Beatles arrived at the Teddington Studio Centre by boat, traveling down the River Thames.

1965, The Who performed two shows on this Sunday, first at St. George’s Ballroom in Hinkley, and later at the Savoy Ballroom, South Parade, Southsea, Portsmouth. The second show was supported by the Crow and promoted by Rikki Farr of the Birdcage Club Portsmouth.

1967, Having left the New Christy Minstrels the day before, Kenny Rogers forms the First Edition with fellow ex-Minstrels Thelma Camacho, Mike Settle, and Terry Williams.

1968, Fleetwood Mac appeared at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan.

1969, The Velvet Underground performed at the Boston Tea Party in Boston.

david-bowie-space-oddity-rca1969, “Space Oddity” by David Bowie was released in the UK for the first time. It was timed to coincide with the Apollo moon landing but had to be re-released before it became a hit, later in the year in the UK, and not until 1973 in the US.

1969, The Grateful Dead appeared at the New York State Pavilion, Flushing Meadows, New York.

1969, Led Zeppelin performs at The Laurel Pop Festival along with Jethro Tull, Johnny Winter, Al Kooper, Buddy Guy, and the Edwin Hawkins Singers at the Laurel Race Couse on the outskirts of Baltimore, Maryland. Ticket prices ranged from $4.75 – $10 (£3 – £6.75).

1970, The soundtrack album Woodstock started a four-week run at number one on the album chart.

1970, Three Dog Night started a two-week run at number one in the with their cover of the Randy Newman song “Mama Told Me Not To Come.”

1971, Creedence Clearwater Revival played at Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan.

1971, The Bruce Springsteen Band opened for Humble Pie at the Sunshine Inn, Asbury Park, New Jersey. After the show an impressed Peter Frampton from Humble Pie, tells Springsteen and the band he’d like to have them open for them on a national basis. Frampton also said he would be happy to get the band an audition with his record label, A&M Records.

1972, The Rolling Stones played at the Rubber Bowl in Akron, Ohio.

1973, Brownsville Station performed at Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, Maryland.

1974, KISS was at the West Palm Beach Auditorium, West Palm Beach, Florida.

1974, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The site is now a parking lot for the new baseball and football stadiums in Pittsburgh.

1975, Fleetwood Mac release their self titled tenth album under the Fleetwood Mac name. It was the first to feature Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. The album reached number one on the Billboard 200 over a year after entering the chart, spent 37 weeks within the top 10, and more, than fifteen months within the top 40. It launched three top twenty singles, “Over My Head,” “Rhiannon,” and “Say You Love Me,” the last two falling just short of the top ten, both at number eleven.

1975, Yes performed at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio.

1976,  Frank Sinatra marries Barbara Marx, his fourth and final wife. She had been married to Zeppo Marx.

1976, ZZ Top played at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri.

Siouxsie and the Banshees

1977, This was opening night of a new punk venue, The Vortex Club, on Wardour Street, London, with Siouxise, Adam And The Ants, The Slits and Sham 69.

1978, Bob Dylan performed at Scandinavium, Göteborg, Sweden.

1979, Van Halen played at the Music Hall, Houston, Texas.

1981, Def Leppard releases High ‘n’ Dry, their second album. It was the last to feature Pete Willis as a full member. He was sacked during the “Pyromania” sessions in July 1982. It featured the title track, plus “Let It Go”, “Another Hit and Run,” and “Switch 625.”

1981, The Specials had their second and final UK number one single with “Ghost Town.” Despite being a song about Coventry, the band chose to film the video of themselves driving a Vauxhall Cresta around some empty London streets.

1982, The Rolling Stones played at Stadio Comunale, Turin, Italy.

1983, Robert Plant releases The Principle Of Moments, scoring big with his second solo album. His supporting players include Robbie Blunt, Paul Martinez, Jezz Woodroffe, Phil Collins and Barrimore Barlow. It featured the hits “Big Log” and “In The Mood”.

1984, David Gilmour appeared at the Stanley Theater, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1992, A range of eight men’s ties designed by Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead went on sale in the US. President Bill Clinton bought a set. The collection grossed millions in the US by the end of the year.

1994, The Rolling Stones release Voodoo Lounge, their 20th British and 22nd American studio album. The Stones recapturing some of their classic mojo and swagger. Voodoo Lounge is also the Stones’ first album without long-time bassist Bill Wyman, who left the band in early 1993.

1996, Jonathan Melvoin, keyboard player with the Smashing Pumpkins, died from a drug overdose in New York City aged 34. Smashing Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin who was with Melvoin tried, but failed to revive him after Chamberlin was allegedly advised by 911 operators to put Melvoin’s head in the shower. Several songs were inspired by his death, including Sarah McLachlan’s hit single “Angel.” He was the brother of Susannah and Wendy Melvoin of Prince and the Revolution. Melvoin had also been a member of The Dickies.

1999, Limp Bizkit started a three week run at number one on the US album chart with Significant Other, the band’s first US chart topper.

2002, The funeral of The Who’s bass player John Entwistle took place at a church in The Cotswolds. More than 200 mourners filed into the 12th century church of St Edward in Stow-on-the-wold.

2009,“I Gotta Feeling” by the The Black Eyes Peas started a 14-week run at number one on the US singles chart ending the 12-week run of the band’s previous single “Boom Boom Pow.” It made the band only the fourth to replace themselves at the top spot in chart history, following The Beatles, Boyz II Men, and OutKast.

2014, Producer and drummer Tommy Ramone (Thomas Erdelyi), from the influential punk rock band the Ramones died at his home in New York aged 65, following unsuccessful treatment for bile duct cancer. He was the last surviving original member of the Ramones before his death. In 1970, Erdelyi was an assistant engineer for the production of the Jimi Hendrix album Band of Gypsys.

Born on July 11: Jeff Hana, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (1949); Bonnie Pointer, singer, The Pointer Sisters (1951); Pete Murphy, vocals, Bauhaus (1957); Richie Sambora, guitarist Bon Jovi; (1959) Suzanne Vega (1959); and Kimberly Jones, aka Lil’ Kim (1975)

Get more Today in Rock History

Song Of The Day – “Cupid de Locke” by Smashing Pumpkins

by

Beautiful grunge may seem like an oxymoron to some, but in the hands of Smashing Pumpkins on their masterwork “Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness,” beautiful grunge is a reality. Case in point is this gorgeous, gentle melody – one of several that pop up on an album that Billy Corgan says was inspired by The Beatles “White Album” in it’s scope at the onset of its recording. “Cupid de Locke” has always been my favorite song on the record due to its ethereal, otherworldly arrangement and, crucially its placement within the sequence of the CD (Note: The CD and vinyl versions of this album have different track sequences). “Mellon Collie” was filled to the brim with some of Corgan’s most tender and melodic songs including the hits “Tonight Tonight” and “1979,” plus the wonderful “In The Arms Of Sleep,” “Thru The Eyes Of Ruby” and today’s Song Of The Day, “Cupid de Locke.” There’s also a fair share of vitriol within, especially on the album’s centerpiece “Bullet With Butterfly Wing” with it’s furious chorus “Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage” and on “Zero” which Corgan announces that “Emptiness is loneliness, and loneliness is cleanliness and cleanliness is godliness, and god is empty just like me.” There’s also plenty of grunge-crunch on “Here Is No Why” and fire in the belly on “Tales Of A Scorched Earth.” In interviews after the record’s release, he likened the sprawling double album to Pink Floyd’s “The Wall,” but the Pumpkins easily better that album with its musical scope and less pretentious theme of dawn to dusk and twilight to starlight. Corgan also saw this as the last major statement from this, the most significant lineup of the Pumpkins. Indeed, the follow-up album “Adore,” took grunge is beautiful to a whole new level with its subtle electro-sonics and sumptuous melodies. “Adore” would be the last great music to come out of Corgan and company for a long time. Corgan has been working on another Pumpkins major work which has been released in dribs and drabs over the years, and has opened a tea house in Highland Park, Illinois which is 20 minutes away from where I live, yet a million miles away in class and status.

Billy Corgan Interview now on Vinyl Schminyl Radio

by

Friends now is the time to give yourself an hour to listen to what might be one of the coolest rock interviews ever. My conversation is now up on our website as a Very Special Vinyl Schminyl Radio Hour With Billy Corgan.  Please click the pic and it will take you there.  The overnight numbers for this show are pretty amazing..thousands across the world have already clicked on it and is rising quickly! Enjoy.

A Very Special Vinyl Schminyl Radio Hour Featuring Billy Corgan

by

This Sunday, March 4th host and creator of Vinyl Schminyl Radio Bob Stern sits down with music legend Billy Corgan to riff on favorite tunes, fellow guitarists, Smashing Pumpkins and growing up “Chicago” in 60 minutes of nonstop conversation and music you won’t want to miss. Find the interview on http://www.vinylschminyl.com (Click on the Vinyl Schminyl Radio tab.)

Vinyl Schminyl Radio (VSR) podcasts are heard Monday through Friday as Bob Stern takes one song, primarily from the classic rock genre, and adds a back story to it. Every other Sunday, Bob presents the Vinyl Schminyl Radio Hour, a compilation of deep cuts, hits and rare anecdotes. Since it began it 2010, over 500 episodes of VSR have been created, with tens of thousands of downloads by people in 117 countries worldwide.