Rock History August 7
1965, Herman’s Hermits went to number one on the singles chart with “I’m Henry VIII I Am.” The single was only released in the US. Singer Peter Noone once interviewed Elvis Presley for UK music paper New Musical Express.
1965, Mike Smith of the Dave Clark Five suffered two broken ribs when he was pulled off the stage by a fan in Chicago.
1965, The Turtles’ remake of Bob Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me Babe” was released. It reached the eighth spot on the US charts, and became the title of their first album as The Turtles.
1968, The Who performed at the Wollman Skating Rink Theater in New York City.
1969, During a North American tour Led Zeppelin appeared at the Berkeley Community Theatre, California.
1970, Ten Years After, Jethro Tull, Cactus, Grand Funk, Alice Cooper, The Youngbloods, and others played at the Strawberry Fields Festival, held at Mosport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada.
1970, The Goose Lake International Music Festival was held in Leoni, Michigan. Over 200,000 fans attended the three day festival. Acts who appeared included Mountain, Chicago, Bob Seger, John Sebastian, James Gang, Stooges with Iggy Pop, Brownsville Station, MC5, Rod Stewart and the Flying Burrito Brothers
1971, Hawkwind appeared at Under The Arches in London.
1971, The Bee Gees started a four week run at number one on the Billboard singles chart with “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart?” It was the group’s tenth hit, and first chart topper.
1971, The Who were to have played the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut but it is canceled by the local government, due to the concert’s proximity to a planned Black Panther rally. Instead, The Who play one more night in Boston.
1972, Yes performed at the PNE Coliseum, Vancouver, Canada.
1974, Peter Wolf from The J Geils Band married actress Faye Dunaway in Beverly Hills the marriage ended in divorce five years later.
1975, ZZ Top plays the Calderone Concert Hall, Hempstead, New York.
1976, Elton John and Kiki Dee were at number one on the US singles chart with “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” giving Elton his sixth chart topper. It was written by Elton John without Bernie Taupin under the pseudonym “Ann Orson” and “Carte Blanche.”
Rock History August 7
1976, Elton also headlined the annual Summerfest concert at Rich Stadium in Buffalo, New York. Supporting acts were John Miles and Boz Scaggs.
1976, UK music weekly Melody Maker gave The Sex Pistols their first front cover.
1977, AC/DC played at the Hollywood Sportatorium, Pembroke Pines, Florida
1978, Aerosmith appeared at Comiskey Park in Chicago.
1979, Chicago performed at Hersheypark Arena, Hershey, Pennsylvania.
1980, The Allman Brothers Band headlined at the Greek Theatre, Los Angeles.
1981, Bruce Springsteen played at the Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland.
1982, Dexy’s Midnight Runners were at number one on the UK singles chart with “Come On Eileen,” their second and last chart topper. It was the Best-selling single of 1982 and the song won Best British Single at the 1983 Brit Awards. The “Eileen” as featured in the video is Máire Fahey, sister of Siobhan Fahey, former singer with Bananarama and Shakespeare’s Sister. The American singer Johnnie Ray, mentioned in the opening lyrics, was also featured in the video using old film footage. The song was used in the films Tommy Boy (1995), This Is England (2006), Get Him to the Greek (2010), Take Me Home Tonight (2011), The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012,) and the TV shows Spaced and Hindsight.
1982, The Grateful Dead play the first of two nights at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wisconsin.
1982, Fleetwood Mac started a five-week run at number one on the US album chart with Mirage. The band’s third US chart topping album.
1984, American soul singer Esther Phillips died from liver and kidney failure in Carson, California in 1984, at the age of 48. She had the 1975 hit single “What A Difference A Day Makes.”
1993, Pete Townshend appears at the Brooklyn Academy of Music during his Psychoderelict tour.
1997, Garth Brooks played to the largest crowd ever in New York’s Central Park. An estimated one million people attended the live concert with an additional 14.6 million viewing live on HBO.
2001, Harmonica player Larry Adler died aged 87. Known for his original collaborations with George Gershwin, Kate Bush, Sting, and Vaughan Williams, and his own virtuoso performances.
2008, Elvis Presley’s peacock jumpsuit, was sold at auction for $300,000 (£187,500), making it the most expensive piece of Elvis memorabilia ever sold at an auction. The white outfit with a plunging V-neck and high collar featured a blue-and-gold peacock design, hand-embroidered on the front and back and along the pant legs.
2011, Marshall Grant, who played bass for Johnny Cash in the Tennessee Two, from 1954 to 1980, passed away at the age of 83. After his time with The Man In Black, Grant managed The Statler Brothers until they retired in 2002, and later wrote an autobiography entitled I Was There When It Happened.
Born on August 7: Felice Bryant, songwriter, Everly Brothers (1925); B.J.Thomas (1942); Kerry Chater, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap (1945); Rodney Crowell (1950); Bruce Dickinson vocals, Iron Maiden (1958); Kristin Hersh, singer, guitarist, Throwing Muses (1966)
Get more Today in Rock History
Dexy’s Midnight Runners, Elton John, Grand Funk, Herman’s Hermits, J.Geils Band, Jethro Tull, Ten Years After, The Bee Gees, The Grateful Dead, The Sex Pistols, The Turtles, The Who, Yes, ZZ Top.
