Rock History April 8
1964, The Supremes record “Where Did Our Love Go” at Motown Studios in Detroit. The song would become the first of their five number one singles.
1965, Unit Four Plus Two were at number one on the singles chart with “Concrete And Clay,” the English group’s only chart topping hit.
1966, The Who played at Queens Hall in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.
1967, Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Eddie Floyd, Arthur Conley and Booker T And The MG’s all appeared at London’s Hammersmith Odeon, England.
1967, Pink Floyd appeared at the Rhodes Arts Complex in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, England.
1967, John Lennon took his Rolls Royce to coach builders J.P. Fallon Ltd in Surrey to inquire if they could paint his car in psychedelic colors. This was based on an idea by Marijke Koger,”The Fool,” who was a member of Dutch team of gypsy artists. J.P. Fallon commissioned Steve Weaver’s pattern of scroll and flowers for the Phantom V. The cost for having the work done came in at £2,000.
1969, Led Zeppelin performed at Cherry Tree in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England.
1970, The UK premiere of the Woodstock movie took place in London. The film was a documentary of the seminar music festival that took place in August 1969 at Bethel, New York.
1971, Pink Floyd began the recording sessions for the album Meddle at EMI Studios in London.
1972, Paul McCartney and Wings released “Give Ireland Back To The Irish.” It was written after the “Bloody Sunday Massacre,” in Northern Ireland. The song was banned by the BBC and the IBA. That event also inspired the U2 song “Sunday Bloody Sunday.”
1972, The Grateful Dead perform at the Wembley Empire Pool in London as part of their landmark Europe ’72 tour, which has been released on CD as a complete box set.
1973, During his Ziggy Stardust world tour, David Bowie played the first of three sold out nights at Shinjuku Koseinenkin, Kaikan, Tokyo, Japan.
1973, Gilbert O’Sullivan was at number one on the UK singles chart with “Get Down,”a song about his dog. The singers second UK No.1, and a top ten hit in the US (#7.)
1975, Rush appeared at the Civic Theatre, Akron, Ohio.
1976, David Bowie’s world tour moves to Europe for a performance at Philips Halle in Dusseldorf, Gemany.
1976, Bad Company performed at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.
1976, Genesis appeared at the Beacon Theater in New York.
1979, Aerosmith played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the first night on their 38-date Night In The Rut tour.
1980, Van Halen performed at the Northlands Coliseum, Edmonton, Alberta.
1985, American songwriter J Fred Coots died aged 87. He co-wrote, “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,” and the Pat Boone US number one hit “Love Letters In The Sand.” He wrote over 700 songs.
1994, Electrician Gary Smith who was working at Kurt Cobain’s house in Seattle discovered Cobain’s body lying on the floor in the greenhouse. Local radio station KXRX broke the news at 9:40 am that the Nirvana singer and guitarist was dead. A shotgun was found next to Cobain’s body. A suicide note was found that said, “I haven’t felt the excitement of listening to as well as creating music, along with really writing . . . for too many years now”. A high concentration of heroin and traces of Valium were also found in Cobain’s body.
2010, Malcolm McLaren former manager of the Sex Pistols, the New York Dolls, and Bow Wow Wow died from cancer aged 64. As a solo artist he scored the 1983 UK number three single “Double Dutch.” He set up the fashion store Let It Rock in the late 60’s with Vivienne Westwood selling rubber and fetish gear.
Born on April 8: Jacques Brel, singer, songwriter (1929); Roger Chapman, Family (1942); Steve Howe, Yes (1947); Mel Schacher, bass, ? and the Mysterians, Grand Funk Railroad (1951); Izzy Stradlin, Guns & Roses (1962); Julian Lennon (1963)
Link to Today in Rock History main page
Aerosmith, David Bowie, John Lennon, Otis Redding, Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd, The Grateful Dead, The Supremes, Unit Four Plus Two.
