Rock History July 28
1960, Roy Orbison entered the UK chart with “Only The Lonely”, which went on to become the first of Orbison’s three UK chart toppers. Released as a 45 rpm single by Monument Records in May, 1960, “Only The Lonely” went to number two on the United States. The song was turned down by The Everly Brothers and Elvis Presley, so Orbison decided to record the song himself.
1965, The Who pre-tape an appearance on Radio Luxembourg’s Ready Steady Radio! at The Marquee followed by a gig at the Pontiac Club in southwest London’s Putney, where the band’s PA blows up after the first set. The Who’s first live performance of “My Generation” may have taken place at this explosive set.
1965, Rolling Stone Charlie Watts buys a 16th century wooden mansion in Sussex, England. His father tells the press, “We can’t understand why he prefers an old place like this to something modern.”
1966, James Brown appeared at The Apollo Theatre in New York City.
1968, Pink Floyd plays a Friday night gig at UFO, The Blarney Club, on Tottenham Court Road in London. On the bill were Fairport Convention and Shiva’s Children. From Melody Maker, “In a cacophony of sound played to a background of multi-coloured projected lights the Pink Floyd proved they are Britain’s top psychedelic group. In two powerful sets they drew nearly every conceivable note from their instruments, but ignored their two hit singles…..Bass player Roger Waters gave the group a powerful depth and the lights played on to them to set an impressive scene.” This was the last show at the “intimate” Blarney Club. The landlord kicked producer Joe Boyd out of the space, and they relocated to the much larger Roundhouse venue.
1969, Yes play at the Old Granary in Bristol, England.
1969, Police in Moscow reported that thousands of public phone booths had been vandalized after thieves were stealing parts of the phones to convert their acoustic guitars to electric. A feature in a Russian youth magazine had shown details on how to do this.
1970, Ned Kelly, starring Mick Jagger as the behelmeted highwayman, opens in Australia. Reception is unkind. Halliwell’s Film Guide fumes, “Obstinately unlikable action picture with some kind of message which never becomes clear amid all the cleverness.”
1973, Chicago went to number one on the album chart with Chicago IV. It was the group’s second chart topper.
1973, The Watkins Glen outdoor summer jam was held outside of Watkins Glen, New York with The Allman Brothers, The Grateful Dead and The Band. Over 600,000 rock fans attended. Many historians claimed the event was the largest gathering of people in the history of the United States. 150,000 tickets were sold for $10 each, but for all the other people it was a free concert. The crowd was so huge that a large part of the audience was not able to see the stage.
1974, Peter Frampton appears at the Garden, in Boston, Massachusetts.
1975, Bob Dylan plays his first session for the Desire album. On “Romance in Durango,” he’s joined by Eric Clapton on dobro, while Emmylou Harris plays steel guitar on “Abandoned Love.” The album features the song “Hurricane.” It protests the conviction of former middleweight boxer Rubin “Hurricane” Carter for triple murder in 1966, arguing for his innocence.
1975, The Rolling Stones perform at Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Tickets were $9.50.
1978, The lineup for Buffalo’s Summerfest at Rich Stadium was Bob Welch, Pablo Cruise, Foreigner, and the headliner was Welch’s former mates, Fleetwood Mac.
1979, Van Halen plays the Fieldhouse in Dayton, Ohio.
1979, “I Don’t Like Mondays” gave The Boomtown Rats their second UK number one single. Bob Geldof wrote the song after reading a report on the shooting spree of 16-year-old Brenda Ann Spencer, who fired at children playing in a school playground across the street from her home in San Diego, California. She killed two adults and injured eight children and one police officer. Spencer showed no remorse for her crime, and her full explanation for her actions was “I don’t like Mondays, this livens up the day.”
1980, The Police, U2 and Squeeze all appeared at the Dalymount Festival in Dublin, Ireland.
1996, Marge Ganser from The Shangri-Las died of breast cancer. The group scored over ten hits during the 60’s including the 1964 US number one “Leader Of The Pack.”
2008, Amy Winehouse was rushed to hospital after she started to have fits at her home in Camden North London. A spokesman said it appeared the singer had suffered a reaction to medication she was taking to help her off hard drugs.
Born on July 28: George Cummings, steel guitar, Dr Hook (1938); Michael Bloomfield (1944); Rick Wright, Pink Floyd (1945); Jonathan Edwards (1946); Garald Casale, Devo (1948); Simon Kirke, drums, Free (1949); Steve Morse, Dixie Dregs, Deep Purple, Kansas (1954); Dan Warton, drums, Neds Atomic Dustbin (1972)
Link to Today in Rock History main page.
Amy Winehouse, Bob Dylan, Chicago, James Brown, Mick Jagger, Pink Floyd, The Allman Brothers Band, The Boomtown Rats, The Police, The Shangri-Las, The Who, U2, Van Halen, Yes.
