Rock History July 7
1963, The Rolling Stones made their UK TV debut when they appeared on Thank Your Lucky Stars. Also seen on the show were Mickie Most, The Cadets, Helen Shapiro and Gordon Mills. The Stones made a total of 13 appearances on the show between 1963 and 1966
1965, The Who played at a gala opening of The Manor House club in London.
1966, The Kinks were at number one on the singles chart with “Sunny Afternoon,” the group’s third and last chart topper.
1966, The Who played at the Locarno Ballroom in London, England.
1967, The Monkees begin a nationwide tour, with Jimi Hendrix supporting.
1967, Dusty Springfield begins a three-week residency at New York’s Copacabana nightclub.
1968, The Yardbirds played their last gig before splitting up when they appeared in Luton, England.
1969, Arlo Guthrie and Joni Mitchell appeared in Edwardsville, Illinois.
1969, George Harrison recorded his new song “Here Comes the Sun” with just two other Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr at Abbey Road in London. John Lennon was absent, recovering from a car crash in Scotland.
1970, The Who headline at the Tanglewood Music Amphitheater in Lenox, Massachusetts with Jethro Tull and It’s a Beautiful Day opening. It is one of The Who’s very best performances and is projected on a 15′ X 21′ television screen on the lawn outside the venue. The show is videotaped and intended for use on a Fillmore at Tanglewood television special that never airs. “Heaven and Hell”, “I Can’t Explain” and “Water” are later released on the first video edition of 30 Years Of Maximum R&B and the surviving section of the concert on YouTube in 2014.
1971, The Allman Brothers Band played at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
1971, Yes appeared at the Orlando Sports Stadium, also known as the Eddie Graham Sports Complex, an indoor venue which opened in 1967, and closed in 1995.
1971, 26-year-old pop star Bjorn Ulvaeus and 21-year-old Agnetha Faltskog married in Verum, Sweden. 3000 fans arrived and in the chaos a police horse stepped on the brides foot, causing her a slight injury.
1972, Chicago performed at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana.
1973, Led Zeppelin appeared at Chicago Stadium, Chicago.
1973, Hawkwind played at the Sports Centre, Bletchley, England.
1973, Billy Preston started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “Will It Go Round In Circles,” his first of two chart toppers.
1974, David Bowie performed at the Scope in Norfolk, Virginia.
1975, Paul McCartney & Wings release “Live and Let Die.”
1975, Keith Moon has “Happy Birthday Ringo” written in the sky above Los Angeles in honor of his fellow drummer’s 35th birthday. He then sends the bill to Ringo.
1976, Neil Young appeared at the Providence Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island.
1978, The Grateful Dead played the first of four nights at the Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colorado.
1979, The Boomtown Rats made a personal appearance at the opening of the new Virgin Megastore in London.
1980, Led Zeppelin played their last-ever concert when they appeared in West Berlin at the end of a European tour. They finished the show with a 17-minute version of “Whole Lotta Love.”
1980, The Who perform at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.
1984, Bruce Springsteen went to number one on the US album chart with Born In The USA. The album went on to spend a total of 139 weeks on the US chart. Its also one of three albums (Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation 1814) to produce seven Top-ten US singles.
1984, Prince started a five week run at number one on the US singles chart with “When Doves Cry,” his first US chart topper, which went on to sell over two million copies. It reached the fourth spot in the UK.
1989, It was announced that for the first time compact discs were out selling vinyl albums.
2001, Stereophonics, David Gray, The Dandy Warhols, The Proclaimers, Paul Weller, Texas, Coldplay, Beck, Toploader, Ash, Starsailor, Nelly Furtado, James, and Muse all appeared at T In The Park festival, Scotland, weekend tickets, £64 ($109.)
2006, Pink Floyd co-founder Syd Barrett died from complications arising from diabetes aged 60. The official cause of death was listed as pancreatic cancer. He joined Pink Floyd in 1965, and crafted most of the material from their first album, but only contributed one song for the second offering. Barrett’s behavior became increasingly erratic and unpredictable, partly as a consequence of his reported heavy use of psychedelic drugs, most prominently LSD. By April 1968, he was kicked out of the band. Barrett released two solo albums before going into self-imposed seclusion lasting more than thirty years, with his mental deterioration blamed on drugs.
2007, The Live Earth concerts took place around the world with The Police closing the days events in New Jersey. The concerts were organized by former US Vice-President Al Gore, as part of his campaign to “heal the planet.” Rock stars from around the world performed to hundreds of thousands of fans to highlight climate change. Concerts were held in Washington, Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg, London, Hamburg, Tokyo, Shanghai and Sydney. Madonna brought London’s Live Earth concert to a close, playing a song she had written for the event. Other major acts who appeared included; Snow Patrol, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Genesis, The Beastie Boys, James Blunt, The Foo Fighters, Duran Duran, UB40, Snoop Dogg, Enrique Iglesias, Crowded House & Joss Stone.
2009, Michael Jackson’s family and fans said farewell to the pop superstar at an emotional memorial service. The singer’s coffin was placed in front of the stage during the public event at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, after an earlier private funeral.
2010, Paul McCartney joined Ringo Starr onstage at a concert at New York’s Radio City Music Hall to help celebrate the former Beatle drummer’s 70th birthday. Ringo’s All-Starr Band were joined by Yoko Ono, Joe Walsh, Angus Young and Steven Van Zandt, as Paul belted out “Birthday” and Ringo delivered “With A Little Help From My Friends.”
Born on July 7: Mary Ford, American singer (1928); Joe Zawinul, pianist, Miles Davis band, Weather Report (1932); Ringo Starr (1940); Peter Banks, Yes, Flash (1947); Rob Townsend, drummer, Family (1947); Lynval Golding, guitar, The Specials (1952); Mark White, bass, The Spin Doctors (1962)
Get more Today in Rock History
Arlo Guthrie, Billy Preston, Bruce Springsteen, Chicago, Coldplay, David Bowie, Dusty Springfield, Genesis, George Harrison, Hawkwind, Joni Mitchell, Led Zeppelin, Muse, Neil Young, Paul McCartney, Paul Weller, Prince, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Snow Patrol, Syd Barrett, The Allman Brothers Band, The Dandy Warhols, The Grateful Dead, The Kinks, The Police, The Who, The Yardbirds.
