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Today in Rock History – October 23

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Jimi_Hendrix_Hey_Joe_11966, The Jimi Hendrix Experience recorded their first single “Hey Joe,” at De Lane Lea studios in London. The earliest known commercial recording of the song is the late-1965 single by the Los Angeles garage band the The Leaves. The band then re-recorded the track and released it in 1966 as a follow-up single which became a hit. The Byrds also performed and recorded a version of the song.

1966, The Yardbirds, with new recruit Jimmy Page, perform at San Francisco’s Fillmore.

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

1969, Columbia Records announces it will take legal action to stop sales of Great White Wonder, the popular bootleg set of previously unreleased Bob Dylan material.

1969, The Who continue a six-night stand at the Fillmore East in New York accompanied by the Joshua Light Show.

1970, Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention perform at Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo, New York.

1970, The Who appear at Green’s Playhouse in Glasgow, Scotland.

1971, Yes played at the Empire Theatre, Edinburgh, Scotland.

1972, The Grateful Dead appeared at the Performing Arts Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

1972, Filming begins on That’ll Be the Day, a musical starring David Essex, Ringo Starr, and Keith Moon.

1973, Genesis appeared at City Hall, Newcastle, England.

1973,  “Midnight Train to Georgia” by Gladys Knight & The Pips reaches number one on the US singles chart.

1974, David Bowie  appeared at the Arie Crown Theater, Chicago

1975, Eric Clapton performed at Festival Hall, Osaka, Japan.

The Clash
The Clash

1976, The Clash appeared at The ICA in London.

1976, The Jam played an afternoon show at Soho Market in London.

1976, Chicago started a two week run at number one  on the singles chart with “If You Leave Me Now.” It was the group’s 18th Top 40 and first number one.  It went on to win a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance.

1976, Led Zeppelin made their US television debut on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert, when footage from The Song Remains the Same movie of “Dazed and Confused” and “Black Dog” is aired on the popular weekly music show.

1977, AC/DC played at Town Hall, Middlesborough, England.

1978, Sid Vicious tries to commit suicide at Rikers Island in New York.  Vicious was waiting to be charged with murder following the stabbing death of his girlfriend Nancy Spungen.

1980, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at the Sunrise Theater, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

1980, Mark David Chapman quit his security job and signed out for the last time. Instead of the usual “Chappy” he wrote “John Lennon.” Chapman would murder Lennon on December 8th outside his New York City home.

1982, Culture Club were at number one on the UK singles chart with “Do You Really Want To Hurt Me,” the group’s first chart topper and the first of twelve UK Top 40 hits. The song became a major hit after their memorable debut performance on Top of the Pops, when they stood in for Shakin’ Stevens who was ill and not able to appear.

1984, Pete Townshend stages and performs at an anti-heroin benefit concert at The Moonlight in Hampstead. Making their live debut at this show is a new band called The Stone Roses. Their drummer, Alan “Reni” Wren, also sits in for Pete’s set.

1989, Nirvana played their first ever European show when they appeared at Newcastle’s Riverside Club in North East England. It was the first night of a 36 date European tour for the group who were sharing the bill with Tad.

1993, Meat Loaf had his first UK chart topper with “I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That.”) It stayed at number one for seven weeks. A number one in twenty-eight countries and gave Meat Loaf his first US top hit.

1995, Def Leppard gave themselves a place in the Guinness book Of World Records, by playing three gigs in three continents in 24 hours. Tangier, London and Vancouver.

2002, A federal judge in St. Louis dismissed a lawsuit against Chuck Berry by Johnnie Johnson, a piano player and former collaborator who wanted royalties for more than 30 songs written between 1955 and 1966. The songs in question included “No Particular Place To Go,” “Roll Over Beethoven,” and “Sweet Little Sixteen.” Johnson’s lawsuit argued that he and Berry were co-writers on many of the songs, but because Berry copyrighted them in his name alone, Johnson got none of the royalties. The judge ruled that too many years had passed to bring about a royalties suit.

2005, Arctic Monkeys scored their first UK number one single with “I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor,” the Sheffield band’s debut single.

Born on October 23: Ellie Greenwich, songwriter (1940); Freddie Marsden, Gerry And The Pacemakers (1940); Greg Ridley, bass player, Spooky Tooth, Humble Pie (1943); Michael Burston, Motorhead (1949); Dwight Yoakam, (1956); Robert Trujillo, bass, songwriter Metallica, Black Label Society, Suicidal Tendencies (1964); Dale Crover, singer-songwriter, drummer, producer Melvins (1967);

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Today in Rock History – October 22

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The-Who-1966-B1964, EMI sends Kit Lambert a letter of rejection for The High Numbers. That was the original  band name for The Who. The rejection letter is later included with the Live At Leeds album. Since the reason the group is rejected is their lack of original material, Kit and Chris Stamp set up Pete with a Vortexion reel-to-reel recorder and tell him to get writing.  From this time on almost all Pete Townshend songs will be written and presented as completed demos, a style of presentation then unknown in England. His first pieces with the new system are a dance song called “You Don’t Have To Jerk” and a male chauvinist/hot-rod song (meant to appeal to both Roger and Keith) named “Call Me Lightning.”

1966, The Supremes had their first number one album with The Supremes a Go Go, knocking The Beatles Revolver, from the top of the charts.

1966, The Beach Boys “Good Vibrations” made its debut on the singles chart. Written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love, the track was recorded over 6 weeks in four different Los Angeles studios, at a cost of over $16,000 (£10,000.) The recording engineer would later say that the last take sounded exactly like the first, six months earlier. The record would reach number one on the charts in December 1966.

1967, The Who play two shows at the Saville Theatre in London, preceded by Vanilla Fudge and Studio Six. Before the show, Pete is interviewed on camera about illicit drugs by Australian director Peter Clifton. During the show, Pete plays a two-necked guitar and Keith wears a jester’s outfit.

1969, American singer Tommy Edwards died after suffering a brain aneurysm in Henrico County, Virginia, at the age of 47. He had the 1958 US and UK top single “It’s All In The Game.”

1969, Paul McCartney publicly denied rumors that he was dead. The most recent of many “clues” of this death hoax was the fact that he was the only barefoot Beatle on the newly released Abby Road LP cover. The story was actually started as a prank by Fred La Bour, a sports and arts writer for the student paper, The Michigan Daily at the University of Michigan.

led-zeppelin-led-zep-II1969, Led Zeppelin II was released on Atlantic Records in the UK. The Jimmy Page-produced album which was recorded over six months between four European and three American tours, peaked at number one in both the UK and the US, going on to sell over 12 million copies in the US alone, and spending 138 weeks on the UK chart. The album is now recognized by writers and music critics as one of the greatest and most influential rock albums ever recorded.

1970, The Who appear at the ABC Cinema in Stockton-on-Tees, England.

1970, Pink Floyd played at the Fillmore West, San Francisco, along with the Roger Wagner Chorale, three French horns, three trombones, three trumpets, and a tuba. They were there for the second ever stage performance of the “Atom Heart Mother Suite.”

1971, The Who perform at the Opera House in Blackpool, Lancashire, England.

1973, Roxy Music appear at City Hall, Sheffield, England.

1974, David Bowie plays at the Arie Crown Theater, Chicago.

1975, The Allman Brothers Band perform at the Civic Center, Bakersfield, California.

1976, Frank Zappa appears at the Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York.

1978, Bob Dylan plays at the University Of Dayton Arena, Dayton, Ohio.

1979, The Pretenders started a run of four consecutive Monday nights at the Marquee Club in London.

1980, The Grateful Dead kicked off an eight night performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York.

1982, Mayor Sara Robertson in Worcester, MA, declared today Van Halen Day, in response to local fans collecting 25,000 signatures requesting the band add a second show to their tour.

1983, Culture Club went to number one on the album chart with their second release Colour By Numbers.

1988, Phil Collins started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “Groovy Kind Of Love,” his 6th chart topper.

1988, U2 scored their fourth number one album with the double set and film soundtrack Rattle And Hum, featuring their first number one single “Desire.”

1989, English folk singer, songwriter, poet, and record producer Ewan MacColl died aged 74. He wrote “Dirty Old Town” and “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” which became a number one hit for Roberta Flack in 1972. Acts including Planxty, The Dubliners, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash recorded his songs. He was the father of singer, songwriter Kirsty MacColl.

1990, Pearl Jam played their first ever concert when they appeared at the Off Ramp in Seattle.

1993, Oasis signed a six-album deal with Creation Records for a £40,000 ($64,000) advance.

2000, George Michael paid £1.45 ($2.32) million for the Steinway piano on which John Lennon wrote “Imagine.” George said, “I know that when my fingers touch the keys of that Steinway, I will feel truly blessed. And parting with my money has never been much of a problem, just ask my accountant.” The singer outbid Robbie Williams and The Oasis brothers.

2000, Pearl Jam appeared at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, California, celebrating the tenth anniversary of their first live performance as a band.

2008, A homeless man claimed a £2,000 ($3200) reward by returning a waxwork head of ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney which had been left on a train. Anthony Silva found the item in a bin at Reading station after auctioneer Joby Carter left it under a seat at Maidenhead station. The homeless man thought it was a Halloween mask and had been using it as a pillow before realizing what it was. The wax model sold the following week for £5,500 ($8800) at auction.

Timothy Leary
Timothy Leary

Born on this day: Timothy Leary  (1920); Bobby Fuller, The Bobby Fuller Four (1942); Leslie West, Mountain (1945); and Eddie Brigati, vocals, The Young Rascals (1946); Greg Hawkes, keyboards, The Cars (1952); Stiv Bators, vocals, Dead Boys, Wanderers, Lords Of The New Church (1956); Cris Kirkwood, singer-songwriter, bass, Meat Puppets (1960); Jon Foreman, singer-songwriter, guitarist Switchfoot,  Fiction Family (1976)

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Today in Rock History – October 21

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beatles-studio-19651965, Wanting to improve on a previous recording session The Beatles started from scratch on a new song called “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown,”) finishing recordings in three takes. They also begin working on a new John Lennon song “Nowhere Man.”

1965, The Kingsmen perform “Louie Louie” on the ABC television variety show Shindig!  Also guesting were the Dave Clark Five.

1965, The Spencer Davis Group recorded “Keep On Running” at Pye Studios in London, England. The track went on to top the UK chart the following January.

1966, Pink Floyd appeared at the London Free School, held at the All Saints Church Hall, Powis Gardens, London.

1967, Scottish singer Lulu started a five-week run at number one on the US singles chart with the theme from the film To Sir With Love.

1967, Pink Floyd performed at Willamette University, in Salem, Oregon.

1970, Pink Floyd’s show at the Fillmore West in San Francisco included a brass and choir for the performance of “Atom Heart Mother.” The choir came back on for an encore of “Ave Maria.” Tickets were $3.

1971, Rolling Stone Mick Jagger became a father when his wife Bianca gave birth to daughter Jade in a Paris hospital.

1972, Pink Floyd performed at a benefit show for War on Want, The Albany Trust Deptford, and Save The Children Fund. The show was held at the Empire Pool, Wembley, London.

1972, Chuck Berry started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “My Ding-A- Ling,” his first and only US and UK chart topper, 17 years after his first chart hit.

1972, Pete Townshend’s solo album Who Came First hits the British charts. Although it has Pete on the cover and is marketed as a solo album, it is more a compilation of the privately released Meher Baba albums. For instance, the single released from the album, “Forever’s No Time At All” (backed with “This Song Is Green,”) features a lead vocal by Billy Nicholls. The album reaches #30 in the British charts. The single does not chart.

1972, Curtis Mayfield started a four-week run at No.1 on the album chart with soundtrack to Superfly.

1973, The Grateful Dead played at the Omaha Civic Center in Omaha, Nebraska.

1973, Elton John, Sutherland Brothers, and Quiver performed at the Hollywood Sportatorium in Hollywood, Florida.

1974, Roxy Music appeared at the Odeon in Edinburgh, Scotland.

1975, The soundtrack to the film Lisztomania is released. The movie stars Roger Daltrey and was helmed by Tommy director Ken Russell. Rick Wakeman’s planned “concept album” version of the soundtrack is turned down for a simple collection of songs and performances. The result does not chart in the U.K. and peaks at number 145 in the US. Wakeman’s version of the soundtrack is not released until 2002.

1975, Elton John is the latest addition to the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1975, The Doobie Brothers played at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1976, Los Angeles’ Fox Wilshire Theatre hosts the west coast premiere of Led Zeppelin’s The Song Remains The Same.” It was attended by the band. Jimmy Page said, “(The premieres were) held apart by a few days so we could check the cinemas out. It’s not as easy a job as you’d think getting the sound right for cinemas. The first time in New York was great, the first time one had sat in an audience. Every time I had seen the film before was with technicians, people with a really critical eye. Then the film  really lived for the first time and you could see people getting off on things, applauding and laughing at the right time, generally vibing. Other charity premieres are held in various major cities including: Toronto, Boston and Dallas, San Francisco and Chicago, but not attended by the band.

keith-moon21976, Keith Moon played his last show with The Who at the end of a North American tour at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto. On September 7, 1978, Moon died of an overdose of a sedative Heminevrin, that had been prescribed to prevent seizures induced by alcohol withdrawal.

1976, Aerosmith appeared at the Stadthalle, Erlangen,Germany.

1977, Rush performed at Will Rogers Auditorium, Fort Worth, Texas.

1978, The Clash sacked manager Bernie Rhodes, saying the band and record company “found him hard to deal with.” Melody Maker journalist Caroline Coon took his place.

1980, Van Halen played at the Hulman Center, Terre Haute, Indiana.

1981, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Memorial Coliseum, Corpus Christi, Texas.

1983, The Grateful Dead appeared at The Centrum in Worcester, Massachusetts.

1989, Jive Bunny And The Mastermixes had their second UK number one single with “That’s What I Like.” The Theme from Hawaii Five-O was the recurring hook in the record which also included “Lets Twist Again,” “Lets Dance,” “Great Balls of Fire,” and “The Twist.”

1992, George Michael took Sony Records to court in a fight over his contract with the company. He lost the case in 1994. Michael worked with Sony again less than 10 years later.

1995, Shannon Hoon, lead singer for Blind Mellon dies of a suspected cocaine overdose after an all-night drug binge following a “disappointing performance” the night before in Houston, Texas. The band is best known for the song “No Rain.”

1997, Elton John’s “Candle In The Wind 97” was declared by the Guinness Book Of Records as the biggest selling single record of all time, with 31.8 million sales in less than 40 days and raising more than £20 ($32)million for charity.

2001, Concerts at Madison Square Garden and the RFK stadium in Washington were expected to raise millions in funds for the victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks. Stars who appeared included Michael Jackson, Tom Petty, Aerosmith, *NSYNC, P-Diddy, James Brown, Paul McCartney, David Bowie, Eric Clapton, The Who, and Elton John.

2006, American musician, singer, songwriter, and drummer Sandy West died from lung cancer. She was a founding member, with Joan Jett, of the all-girl group The Runaways. Cherie Currie, the initial lead singer of The Runaways, said, “Sandy West was by far, the greatest female drummer in the history of rock and roll. No one could compete or even come close to her, but the most important was her heart.”

2006, Evanescence were at number one on the US album chart with their second album The Open Door. It became the 700th top album in Billboard since the chart became a weekly feature in 1956.

2007, Stereophonics went to number one on the UK album chart with Pull The Pin, the bands sixth studio album.

2013, Sid Bernstein, the concert promoter who staged early US shows by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, died at age 95. Bernstein booked The Beatles for their legendary show at Shea Stadium in New York in 1965, which was the first concert to be staged in a large stadium. Bernstein also promoted The Beatles’ performance at Carnegie Hall in New York on their first US tour in 1964. He also arranged the first five American dates for the Rolling Stones, as well as shows for Judy Garland, Ray Charles and Tony Bennett.

Born on October 21: Manfred Mann (1940); Steve Cropper, Booker T & the MG’s (1941); Elvin Bishop (1942); Ron Elliott, The Beau Brummels (1943);Lee Loughnane, trumpet, Chicago (1946); Lux Interior, singer-songwriter, The Cramps (1946); Brent Mydland, keyboards, The Grateful Dead (1952); Charlotte Caffey, The Go- Go’s (1953); Eric Faulkner, singer, Bay City Rollers, (1954) Julian Cope, Teardrop Explodes (1957);  and Steve Lukather, Toto (1957); Nick Oliveri, bass, Kyuss, Queens of the Stone Age (1971)

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Today in Rock History – October 12

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1965, The Beatles recorded “Run For Your Life” in its entirety, in five takes for their upcoming album Rubber Soul at Abbey Road Studio’s London. John Lennon later admits to lifting two lines from Elvis Presley’s 1955 hit “Baby Let’s Play House.” The group also works on another new Lennon song “This Bird Has Flown,” later known as “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown.”) The track included George Harrison’s double-tracked sitar part, the first appearance of an Indian instrument on a pop record.

1967, The Doors played at The Surf Club, Nantasket Beach, Massachusetts, supported by Ultimate Spinach.

1968, Big Brother And The Holding Company went to number one on the US album chart with Cheap Thrills. It spent a total of eight weeks in the top spot.

1968, Pink Floyd were at ORTF TV Studios in Paris where footage of the band “larking about on the London underground combined with shots of London landmarks” were used as a backdrop while the band played “Let There Be More Light.” It was broadcast on the arts program A L’Affiche Du Monde.

1968, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers appeared at the Grande Ballroom, Detroit, Michigan.

1969, The English press announces that Led Zeppelin will receive “the highest fee ever paid to a British group for a one-nighter in this country,” when they appear at London’s Lyceum, though the actual amount is not revealed.

1969, A DJ on Detroit’s WKNR radio station received a phone call telling him that if you play The Beatles “Strawberry Fields Forever” backwards, you hear John Lennon say the words “I buried Paul.” This started a worldwide rumor that Paul McCartney was dead.

1971, Gene Vincent (Vincent Eugene Craddock), died from a perforated ulcer, aged 36. He had the 1956 US number seven and UK number 16 single “Be Bop A Lula.” Vincent appeared in the film, The Girl Can’t Help It with Jayne Mansfield. In 1960, while on tour in the UK, Vincent and songwriter Sharon Sheeley were seriously injured the car crash that killed Eddie Cochran.

1973, Pink Floyd perform at Munchener Olympiahalle at Olympia Park, in Munich, Germany. It was a typical 1973 show, which included Dark Side of the Moon as the second set of their shows. The support act was Fumble.

bay-city-rollers-saturday-night1974, The Bay City Rollers went to number one on the UK album chart with their debut album Rollin. The album included three British chart hits “Remember,” “Shang-a-Lang,” “Summerlove Sensation,” and the debut of “Saturday Night,” which was never a British hit, despite being a number one smash in America.

1974, If You Love Me, Let Me Know by Olivia Newton-John spent its only week at number one on the US album charts.

1974, The who album Odds and Sods is released in the US. Jim Miller in Rolling Stone calls it “flawed but interesting.”

1975, Rod Stewart and The Faces made their final live appearance when they played at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York.

1975, The Allman Brothers Band appeared Balboa Stadium, San Diego, California. The Marshall Tucker Band was the opening act.

1977, Rod Stewart played at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto.

1977, The Grateful Dead performed at Manor Hall in Austin, Texas.

1978, Aerosmith appeared at the Cox Convention Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

1978, While living at the Chelsea Hotel in New York City, Sex Pistol Sid Vicious called the police to say that someone had stabbed his girlfriend Nancy Spungen. He was arrested and charged with murder and placed in the detox unit of a New York prison.

1980, Yes performed at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1980, The Doobie Brothers played at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum Arena, Oakland, California.

1981, King Crimson appeared at the Music Centre, Utrecht, in the Netherlands.

1982, Van Halen performed at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1985, Ricky Wilson of the B-52’s died of complications from AIDS.

1991, Simply Red’s fourth album Stars went to number one on the UK chart for the first of five times, featuring the singles “Thrill Me,” “For Your Babies,” and the title track “Stars.” The album became the biggest seller of 1991 and 1992 in the UK spending 134 weeks on the chart.

1994, Pink Floyd played the first of a 15-night run at Earls Court, London, England. Less than a minute after the band had started playing “Shine On You Crazy Diamond,” a scaffolding stand holding 1200 fans, collapsed, throwing hundreds of people 20 feet to the ground. It took over an hour to free everyone from the twisted wreckage, ninety-six people were injured, with 36 needing hospital treatment. Six were detained overnight with back, neck and rib injuries. Pink Floyd sent a free T-shirt and a note of apology to all the fans who had been seated in the stand that collapsed. The show was immediately cancelled and re-scheduled.

1997, John Denver was killed when the handmade, experimental airplane he was flying, ran out of gas and crashed off the coast of Monterrey Bay, California. The 53 year old star had scored 15 songs on Billboard’s Top 40 Pop chart, ten of which reached number one on either Billboard’s Adult Contemporary or Country chart.

2005, Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee suffered minor burns at a concert in Casper, Wyoming during a pyrotechnics explosion. Lee was treated at a local hospital for the injuries to his arm and face, which occurred while he was suspended from a wire thirty feet above the stage.

2008, Oasis went to number one on the UK album chart with Dig Out Your Soul the band’s seventh and final studio album.

Born on October 12: Sam Moore, Sam & Dave (1935); Luciano Pavarotti (1935); Melvin Franklin, vocals, The Temptations (1942);  Rick Parfitt, vocals, guitar, Status Quo (1948); David Vanian, singer-songwriter, The Damned (1956); Bryn Merrick,  bass, The Damned (1958); Bob Mould, Husker Du (1960);  Martie Maguire, Dixie Chicks (1969); Jordan Pundik,  singer, guitarist New Found Glory (1979)

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Today in Rock History – October 10

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beatles-1964-tour1964, During a UK tour The Beatles appeared at De Montfort Hall in Leicester. Ringo Starr drove himself to the venue after taking delivery of a brand new Facel Vega, apparently reaching speeds of 140 MPH on the M6 motorway.

1965, The Who arrive at Stockholm airport in Sweden to begin their two-day tour. Unfortunately, their equipment has been flown to Gothenburg for their second stop so the band is forced to borrow instruments from their opening acts The Moonjacks and The Mascots for their show at Johanneshovs Isstadion in Stockholm.

1966, The Who played at Bath Pavilion in Bath, Somerset, England.

1967, Jimi Hendrix performed at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco.

1967, The Who go into De Lane Lea Studios, London to record for BBC Radio One’s show Top Gear. It is the first time the BBC allow any musical act to record for them outside the BBC’s own studios. Alternate versions of “Pictures Of Lily” (Pete on organ), “I Can See For Miles,” (with heavy bass part), “Relax,” “Our Love Was,” (with Hawaiian guitar), “Can’t Reach You,” “A Quick One While He’s Away,” and “Someone’s Coming” are recorded along with new tracks “Summertime Blues” and “My Way.” Also recorded are five jingles, two for Top Gear and three for Radio One using altered lyrics to “Happy Jack,” “Boris The Spider” and “My Generation.”

1969, Led Zeppelin play at the Olympia in Paris, France. The show was first broadcast on French radio, November 2, 1969 on Europe1 (Musicorama program). The tape was re-discovered in the radio station’s basement in 2007 and re-broadcast on December 7, 2007.

1969, Pink Floyd appeared at the University of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England.

1969, King Crimson release their debut album, In The Court Of The Crimson King. It peaked at number five in the British charts and hit number 28 in the US.

1970, The Carpenters were at number two on the singles chart with “We’ve Only Just Begun.” The song was originally written for a TV commercial advertising a bank.

1970, Cosmos Factory by Creedence Clearwater Revival enters the eighth of nine weeks at number one on the US album charts.

1970, Black Sabbath were at number one on the UK album chart with their second album Paranoid. The album is now regarded as one of the classic Heavy Metal albums.

1970, Neil Diamond went to number one on the US singles chart with “Cracklin’ Rose,” his first chart topper as an artist. Diamond was the author of the 1966 number one hit “I’m A Believer” for The Monkees.

1970, Pink Floyd’s Atom Heart Mother is released in the US. The UK release took place on October 2nd. It would only reach number 55 on the American charts, while topping the British charts.

1972, Yes appeared at Caird Hall, Dundee, Scotland.

1973, Rod Stewart & The Faces and Rory Gallagher appeared at San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego. California.

1975, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Diablo Stadium, Tempe, Arizona.

1976, The Who appeared at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California.

Aerosmith-19781978, Joe Perry and Steve Tyler from Aerosmith were injured after a cherry bomb was thrown on stage during a gig in Philadelphia. The group performed behind a safety fence for the rest of the tour.

1978, The second Stiff Records UK tour kicked off featuring Wreckless Eric, Jona Lewie, Rachel Sweet, Lene Lovich and Micky Jupp. The UK tour was undertaken by train, and then continued on to the USA, without Jupp, who was afraid of flying.

1979, Fleetwood Mac were awarded a star on Hollywood’s Walk Of Fame.

1979, The Rose, starring Bette Midler as a self-destructive 1960s Rock star, loosely  based on Janis Joplin, premiered in Los Angeles. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Frederic Forrest), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Bette Midler, in her screen debut), Best Film Editing and Best Sound.

1980, The funeral took place of Led Zeppelin’s drummer John Bonham. Bonzo was found dead at  Jimmy Page’s house of what was described as asphyxiation, after inhaling his own vomit during an evening excessive vodka consumption, 40 shots in 4 hours. He was only 32.

1980, Blue Oyster Cult appeared at Freedom Hall, Louisville, Kentucky

1981, The Police went to number one on the album chart with Ghost In The Machine, the band’s third number one LP.

1981, Eric Clapton performed at Scandinavium, Göteborg, Sweden.

1982, The Grateful Dead appeared at Frost Amphitheatre, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California.

1986, The Moody Blues played at The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

1988, U2 released Rattle and Hum, comprised of new studio tracks, live performances, and cover songs. It includes recordings at Sun Studios in Memphis and collaborations with Bob Dylan, BB King, and Harlem’s New Voices of Freedom gospel choir.

1987, Whitesnake went to number one on the US singles chart with “Here I Go Again,” a number nine hit in the UK.

1992, R.E.M. scored their second UK  number one album with Automatic For The People, featuring the singles “Drive,” “Everybody Hurts,” “Man On The Moon,” and “The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight.” It reached number two on the US charts.

2009, Pearl Jam went to number one on the US album chart with Backspacer, the group’s ninth studio album.

Born on October 10: Alan Cartwright, Procol Harum (1945); Jerry Lacroix, Blood Sweat & Tears (1945); John Prine, singer, songwriter (1946); Midge Ure, Ultravox , Tanya Tucker,  country singer (1955); and David Lee Roth (1955); Martin Kemp, bass, Spandau Ballet (1961); Mike Malinin, guitar, vocals, Goo Goo Dolls (1967)

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Today in Rock History – October 7

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1966, The Rolling Stones made their last appearance on UK TV Pop show Ready Steady Go!

1966, Johnny Kidd was killed in a car crash while on UK tour in Radcliffe, Manchester. He was 27. Kidd had the 1960 UK number one single “Shakin’ All Over.”  The Guess Who covered it in 1965, and the following year it became a number one hit in Canada, and a number twenty-two hit in the US.

1966, Smiley Lewis, New Orleans R&B singer, died of stomach cancer. He wrote “One Night” covered by Elvis Presley and “I Hear You Knocking,” a 1955 US number two for Gale Storm, plus a UK number one and a US number two for Dave Edmunds.

1967, Cass Elliot from The Mamas And The Papas spent the night in a London jail after being accused of stealing from a hotel. A TV and concert appearance had to be cancelled.

1967, The Beatles rejected an offer of $1 million (£625,000) from promoter Sid Bernstein to make a second appearance at New York’s Shea Stadium. Bernstein had originally brought the group to Shea in August 1965.

1967, Pink Floyd performed at the Victoria Rooms in Bristol, England.

1968, Jose Feliciano performed a controversial version of The Star Spangled Banner before the fifth game of the World Series between the Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals. As a result of his slow, Bluesy delivery, many radio stations refused to play his songs, and his career suffered.

1970, The Rolling Stones performed at Grugahalle, Essen, Germany.

1970, The Who appeared at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester, England.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band headlines at Santa Fe Downs in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Cowboy, along with Cheech and Chong were support.

1971, Fairport Convention played at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago.

1971, The Moody Blues performed at the St. Louis Arena in St. Louis, Missouri.

1972, David Bowie played at the Auditorium Theatre, Chicago.

1973, The Allman Brothers Band appear at the State Fairgrounds, Hamilton, New Jersey.

1974, Rick Wakeman plays the Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto.

1975, Gary Wright performed at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto

1976, John Lennon was awarded his “Green Card,” permanent residency status, at a hearing in New York which overturned previous efforts by the US Government to deport him. The three judge panel of the US Court of Appeals ruled that his 1968 arrest in Britain for possession of marijuana was “contrary to US ideas of due process, and was invalid as a means of banishing the former Beatle from America.”

1976, The Who perform at the Sports Arena in San Diego. Mothers Finest is the opening act.

1977, The Grateful Dead plays the University Arena, also known as “The Pit” at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

1977, Aerosmith performed at the Memorial Coliseum, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

1978, US Music magazine Billboard reported that Marvin Gaye had twice filed bankruptcy papers earlier in the year, with debts of $7 million.

1978, The film soundtrack to Grease, featuring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John started a 13 week run at number one on the UK chart.

boston-don't-look-back1978,  Boston’s Don’t Look Back reclaimed the number one spot on the US album charts after knocking off the Grease soundtrack.

1979, Van Halen performed at The Forum, Inglewood , California.

1980, Blue Oyster Cult appeared at Wings Stadium, Kalamazoo, Michigan.

1981, The Rolling Stones played at Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, California.

1982, Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page was given a 12-month conditional discharge after being found guilty of possessing cocaine.

1983, ZZ Top appeared at The Summit, Houston, Texas.

1984, Rod Stewart performed at the Hollywood Sportatorium, Pembroke Pines, Florida.

1995, Alanis Morissette went to number one on the US album chart with Jagged Little Pill. The album went on to become the biggest selling album ever by a female artist with sales over 30 million units.

2002, Mick Jagger donated £100,000 ($150,000) to his old grammar school in Dartford to help pay for a music director and buy musical instruments. The new center was also named after Mick Jagger.

2007, Bruce Springsteen went to number one on the UK album chart with Magic, the singer-songwriter’s 15th studio album and 7th UK chart topper. It was also number one on the US charts.

2009, Barbra Streisand surprised many music industry watchers when she topped the Billboard Hot 200 for the ninth time with her latest release, “Love Is the Answer.” The CD extended Streisand’s lead as the female act with the most chart toppers in the history of the Billboard Hot 200.

Born on October 7: Al Marino, singer (1927); Colin Cooper, Climax Blues Band (1939); Kevin Godley 10cc, Godley & Creme (1945); David Hope, Kansas (1949);  John Cougar Mellencamp (1951); Tico Torres, drums, Bon Jovi (1953); Yo-Yo Ma, cellist (1955); David Taylor, Edison Lighthouse (1959); Simon Cowell (1959); Toni Braxton (1967) Thom Yorke, Radiohead (1968); Taylor Hicks (1976)

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Today in Rock History – September 27

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Beach_Boys_070.jpg1964, The Beach Boys made their TV debut on The Ed Sullivan Show on US TV where they performed “I Get Around” and “Wendy.”

1966, The Who’s managers Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp  attend a Jimi Hendrix performance at the Scotch of St. James Club. Chandler has heard about their Track Records’ startup (Hendrix originally wanted to sign with Decca because The Who were on Decca in the US.) After hearing Hendrix play, Lambert and Stamp try to talk him into letting them be his managers but Chandler, naturally, refuses so they sign Hendrix as their first act for Track

1967,  The Beatles recorded various parts for the new John Lennon song “I Am The Walrus” and the new Paul McCartney song “Fool On The Hill.”

1968, The Velvet Underground performed at the Boston Tea Party in Boston.  The support act was Fire and Ice.

1968, Pink Floyd appeared at the Queens Hall in Dunoon, Scotland. Due to bad weather all the ferries to Dunoon were cancelled, so Pink Floyd hired their own boat from Gourock and risked the rough seas to make the crossing to Dunoon to appear in front of 400 fans.

1969, Eric Burdon & War, along with Mountain, performed at the Eastown Theater in Detroit, Michigan.

1969, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at the Piedmont Music Festival in Atlanta, Georgia.

1970, The Rolling Stones appeared at Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria.

1970, Pink Floyd performed two shows (6 pm and 9 pm) at the Fillmore East in New York.  Setlist for both shows: Astronomy Domine, Green Is the Colour, Careful With That Axe Eugene, Fat Old Sun, Set The Controls for the Heart of the Sun,  A Saucerful of Secrets.  The encore was Atom Heart Mother with brass and choir.

1971, Led Zeppelin appeared at the Shiei Taikukan Hall in Hiroshima, Japan.

1972, Yes played at the Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, Virginia.

1972, Rory Storm, singer from the British ’60s group Rory Storm and the Hurricanes, died aged 32 after taking an overdose of sleeping pills in a suicide pact with his mother. Ringo Starr played drums with Storm before joining The Beatles.

1972, The Grateful Dead played at Stanley Theatre in Jersey City, New Jersey.

1973, Rolling Stone announces that guitarist Carlos Santana has added the name “Devadip” since becoming a disciple of Sri Chinmoy. The name means “the Lamp of the Light Supreme.”

1974, Roxy Music performs at Trentham Gardens, Stoke, England.

ZZ-Top1975,  ZZ Top plays at the Palace Theatre, Albany, New York.

1976, Hawkwind performed at Colston Hall, Bristol, England.

1977, Yes appears at the Aladdin Theater, Las Vegas.

1978, Eric Clapton sponsored a West Bromwich Albion UEFA cup-tie against Galatasarey of Turkey. After the game, Eric presented each player with a gold copy of his latest album Slowhand.

1978, Bob Dylan performed at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York.

1979, Scottish guitarist Jimmy McCullough died from a heroin overdose in his apartment in Maida Vale, London, aged 26. He was a member of Stone The Crows, Thunderclap Newman, and Wings (1974 to 1977). When “Something in the Air” by Thunderclap Newman went to number one in 1969 it made McCulloch the youngest guitarist to ever play on a chart topping single, he was sixteen years old at the time.

1980, Rush performed at the Cape Cod Coliseum, South Yarmouth, Massachusetts.

1980, David Bowie scored his fourth UK number one album with Scary Monsters And Supercreeps.

1981, The Rolling Stones played at Rich Stadium, Orchard Park, New York.

1982, Blue Oyster Cult appeared at the CNE Coliseum, Toronto.

1983, Black Sabbath performed at Hemmerleinhalle, Neunkirchen, Germany.

1986, Metallica bass player Cliff Burton was crushed to death after the bands tour bus crashed between Stockholm and Copenhagen. During a European tour, members from the band drew cards for the most comfortable bunk on the tour bus, Burton had won the game with an Ace of Spades and was asleep when the tour bus ran over a patch of black ice and skidded off of the road. He was thrown through the window of the bus, which fell on top of him.

1986, The Beatles’ “Twist and Shout” re-entered the US singles chart over twenty-five years after it first appeared, after the song was featured in the film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.

1998, The Manic Street Preachers scored their first UK number one album with their fifth release This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours.

2000, U2 played a show from the rooftop of The Clarence Hotel in Dublin, which they own. Over 4,000 fans gathered on the streets below.

2004, Legendary record producer Phil Spector was formally charged with murder in the February 3rd, 2003 shooting of actress Lana Clarkson. He was convicted in April, 2009 and sentenced to nineteen years to life in the California State prison system.

2008, Pink Floyd’s manager Bryan Morrison died after spending over two years in a coma. Morrison suffered severe brain injuries in a polo accident at the Royal Berkshire Polo Club, England in 2006, and never recovered. He also managed The Pretty Things, and was a music publisher for Syd Barrett, The Bee Gees, Elton John, The Jam, T-Rex and Wham!

2011, Tony Bennett became the oldest living person to top the US album chart when the 85-year-old’s Duets II album went to number one. The record, which featured collaborations with Amy Winehouse and Lady Gaga, was also his first US chart topper in his 60 year career. The previous oldest performer to top the chart was Bob Dylan in 2009 with Together Through Life. At the time he was 67-years old.

Born on September 27: Randy Bachman (1943); Marvin Lee Aday, aka Meat Loaf  (1947); Greg Ham, Men At Work (1953); Robbie Shakespeare, session bass player (1953); Shaun Cassidy (1958); Stephan Jenkins, Third Eye Blind (1966); Dwayne Michael Carter, Jr., aka Lil Wayne (1982);  Avril Lavigne (1984)

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Today in Rock History – September 26

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Who-1965-live1965, The Who are scheduled to play an 8pm show at the Aarhus Hallen in Aarhus. The audience pelts the opening acts with bottles and trash and turns into a rioting mob by the time The Who take the stage. The band makes it through half of one song before fleeing for their lives, as the audience storms the stage and smashes the instruments. Pete later calls it “the best concert we ever played in Denmark.” Backstage Roger angrily blames the others for the group’s problems calling them “pillheads,” an appropriate description at the time. Roger grabs Keith’s supply of speed tablets and flushes them down the toilet. Keith goes for Roger’s throat. Security has to be called in break up the fisticuffs. Nevertheless, they all rush to Aalborg, taking the Fredrikstorv stage to play a 9:30pm show. Back in the UK, Pete, John and Keith demand that Roger be kicked out of the Who. The managers talk them into allowing Roger to continue for now while they look for another singer.

1965, During a UK tour, The Rolling Stones appeared at Colston Hall in Bristol.

1967, Pink Floyd played the first of three nights at the Fillmore in San Francisco, the band’s first ever live dates in the US.

1968, Rolling Stone Brian Jones was fined £50 ($80), after being found guilty of possession of cannabis.

1969, The Beatles released Abbey Road, the final studio recording from the group. It featured two George Harrison songs “Something” and “Here Comes The Sun.” In their interviews for The Beatles Anthology, the surviving band members stated that, although none of them ever made the distinction of calling it the “last album,” they all felt at the time this would very likely be the final Beatles effort, and therefore agreed to set aside their differences and “go out on a high note”.

1969, Fleetwood Mac, East Of Eden, Family, Edgar Broughton Band, Grisby Dyke and Glass Menagerie all appeared at an all night indoor festival at The Pavillion Gardens, Buxton, Derbyshire, England. John Peel hosted the night.

1970, Pink Floyd kicked off their third North American tour at The Electric Factory in Philadelphia.

1970, The Allman Brothers Band at Municipal Auditorium in Charleston, South Carolina

1970, The Who’s “See Me Feel Me” backed with “Overture From Tommy” hits the US charts. The 16-month old A-side is released to cash in on the popularity of the movie Woodstock and becomes one of The Who’s biggest US hits, reaching number 12 in Billboard and number 8 in Cash Box.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band performed at Sam Houston Coliseum, Houston, Texas.

1972, J. Geils Band released  Live – Full House, their first live album. They built their reputation as one of the best live bands on the tour circuit. This great hard rockin’ document proved it.  Featured “First I look At The Purse”, “Hard Drivin’ Man”, “Whammer Jammer”, “Lookin’ For A Love”, and more.

cheech-chong1972, Cheech & Chong appear at the Keith Albee Theater in Huntington, West Virginia.

1973, The Grateful Dead performed at War Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York.

1973, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. Marshall Tucker was the opening act.

1975, Black Oak Arkansas played at the Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee.

1976, Hawkwind appeared at the Capitol Theatre in Cardiff, Wales.

1977, Eric Clapton performed at the Festival Hall, Osaka, Japan.

1978, Bob Dylan played at the Civic Center in Springfield, Massachusetts.

1980, U2 appeared at the Cedar Ballroom, Birmingham, England on their Boy tour.

1981,  It is officially announced that Samson’s Bruce Dickinson has replaced Paul Di’Anno as the singer for Iron Maiden. Dickinson would leave the band in 1993 and rejoin in 1999.

1981, Blue Oyster Cult played at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.

1982, Van Halen performed at the Events Center, Casper, Wyoming.

1987, Michael Jackson started a six-week run at number one on the US album chart with Bad. Released nearly five years after Jackson’s previous studio album, Thriller, Bad, went on to become the world’s best-selling album, having sold between 30 to 45 million copies worldwide. The album produced five US number one hits, the first album to do so.

1989, Paul McCartney started his world tour at The Drammenshallen, in Drammen, Norway. It was McCartney’s first major tour outing in ten years, since Wings UK Tour 1979, and would mark his first appearances in North America in thirteen years.

1995, AC/DC released Ballbreaker, their 12th international studio album. The album which was produced by Rick Rubin, featured the return of former drummer Phil Rudd, who had been fired from the band in 1983 as a result of drinking and drug problems and a fight with founding rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young.

2003, English singer, songwriter Robert Palmer died of a heart attack aged 54 in Paris France. He was a member of Vinegar Joe and Power Station (with Duran Duran members Andy Taylor and John Taylor, as well as drummer and former Chic member Tony Thompson.) As a solo artist had the 1986 US number one and UK number five single “Addicted To Love” and the 1988 hit “Simply Irresistible.”

2004, Green Day scored their first UK number one album with American Idiot the band’s seventh release.

Born on September 26: Marty Robbins, country singer (1925); Joe Bauer, drummer, The Youngbloods (1941); Bryan Ferry, singer, Roxy Music (1945);  and Olivia Newton-John (1948)

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Today in Rock History – September 25

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beatles-cartoon-series1965, The Beatles cartoon series premiered on ABC TV in the US. The first story was titled I Want To Hold Your Hand and had the group exploring the ocean floor in a diving bell where they met a lovesick octopus.

1965, The Who arrive in Denmark to begin their first Danish tour with a 9 pm show at the Folkets Hus in Elsinore, then rush 20 miles to Copenhagen to play the KB Hallen at Midnight, this set with loaner equipment from the Swedish band The Lee Kings. According to a member of The Namelosers, a Swedish pop band, Roger bursts into the dressing room after the second show and headbutts Keith in the nose because Keith had been playing too loud.

1967, The Beatles began recording the new Paul McCartney song “The Fool on the Hill” at Abbey Road, London. John and George played harmonicas, Paul played a recorder and recorded his lead vocal and Ringo played drums.

1967, Pink Floyd performed at the Playhouse Theatre in London.

1968, Welsh singer Mary Hopkin was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with “Those Were The Days.” Hopkins had signed to The Beatles Apple label after appearing on UK TV talent show Opportunity Knocks.

1969, John Lennon recorded the track “Cold Turkey” with Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Klaus Voorman and Yoko Ono.

1970, The first episode of The Partridge Family was shown on US TV, featuring Shirley Jones, David Cassidy, Susan Dey and Danny Bonaduce.

1971, David Bowie and America both appeared at Friars in Aylesbury, England.

1971, The production master for The Who’s next album, Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy, is compiled at Apple Studios. Also, in Melody Maker, Pete calls for the audience to become more involved with the performers. He also believes that although the equipment may change, rock will stay pretty much the same. In the same issue a fan attacks The Who for their high ticket prices calling them capitalists hiding behind a banner of anti-materialism. The letter is sparked by the outrageous ticket prices for The Who’s upcoming tour, some as high as £3.50 ($5.25.)

deep-purple-fireball1971, Deep Purple went to No.1 on the chart with their sixth album Fireball.

1972, Black Sabbath released their fourth studio album, Black Sabbath Vol. 4. The album, which features a monochrome photograph of Ozzy Osbourne with hands raised, taken during a Black Sabbath concert, was originally to be titled Snowblind, after one of several songs referring to the band’s cocaine use.

1973, The Allman Brothers Band played at Henry J. Kaiser Auditorium, Oakland, California.

1975, Jackie Wilson had a heart attack while performing live on stage at the Latin Casino, New Jersey. Wilson collapsed into a coma suffering severe brain damage. Ironically, he was in the middle of singing one of his biggest hits, “Lonely Teardrops” and was two words into the line, “….my heart is crying” when he collapsed to the stage, striking his head heavily. Wilson died on 21st January 1984. Van Morrison wrote the song “Jackie Wilson Said,” covered by Dexy’s Midnight Runners.

1975, Aerosmith appeared at the Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

1976, Wings played a charity concert in St Marks Square, Venice to raise funds for the historic city. The night was a success but the weight of the equipment used by the group caused more damage to the square.

1977, Yes performed at the Sports Arena, San Diego, California.

1980, John Bonham, drummer with Led Zeppelin, died aged 32 after a heavy drinking session. “Bonzo” was found dead at guitarists Jimmy Page’s house of what was described as asphyxiation, from inhaling his own vomit after excessive vodka consumption, (40 shots in 4 hours). During live sets his drum solo, “Moby Dick,” would often last for half an hour and regularly featured his use of his bare hands. In 2007, Ludwig issued a limited edition drum kit in Bonham’s memory.

1980, The Grateful Dead played the first of fifteen nights at the Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, California.

1981, The Rolling Stones kicked off a 50-date North American tour at the JFK Stadium, Philadelphia.

1982, Queen made a guest appearance on US TV’s Saturday Night Live, where they performed “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and “Under Pressure.”

1990, Drummer Dave Grohl auditioned for Nirvana and was instantly given the job. Grohl’s last band Scream had recently split-up.

1993, Nirvana went to No.1 on the UK album chart with In Utero the bands first UK No.1 album.

1999, Stephen Canaday of The Ozark Mountain Daredevils was killed when the vintage WW II plane he was flying in, rolled, inverted and crashed into a tree. The pilot failed to maintain speed which resulted in a stall.

2000, Ozzy Osbourne formally requested that Black Sabbath be removed from the nomination list for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Calling the inclusion “meaningless”, Osbourne went on to say “Let’s face it. Black Sabbath have never been media darlings. We’re a people’s band and that suits us just fine.”

Born on September 25:  Gary Alexander guitar, vocals, The Association and John Locke, Spirit (1943); Onnie Mcintyre, Average White Band (1945); Bryan MacLean, guitar, vocals, Love (1946); and Will Smith, actor, rapper (1968)

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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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