Rock History July 8
1966, The Beatles released the Nowhere Man 4-track EP in the UK, which included “Drive My Car,” “Michelle,” and “You Won’t See Me.” All four tracks were taken from The Beatles’ sixth UK studio album, Rubber Soul.
1966, The Who appeared at Top Rank Suite in Cardiff, Wales.
1966, The Rolling Stones performed at Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan.
1967, UK music weekly the Melody Maker ran a front-page comment condemning the 3-month jail sentence given to Rolling Stone Mick Jagger for possession of Benzedrine tablets. Jagger was later given a conditional discharge.
1967, The Monkees began a 29-date tour with The Jimi Hendrix Experience as support act. They requested Hendrix because they were fans, but their young audience disliked the Experience, who left the tour after six shows. Hendrix manager Chas Chandler later admitted that he engineered the tour in an effort to gain publicity for Hendrix.
1968, Pink Floyd kicked off their second North American tour at the Kinetic Playground in Chicago. Visa problems meant a delayed start to the tour, and the band had to spend time in Canada while the paperwork was sorted out.
1969, Marianne Faithful collapsed on the set of Ned Kelly after taking a drug overdose. She was admitted to a Sydney Hospital. She was later dropped from the movie.
1970, The Everly Brothers Show started an eleven-week prime time slot on ABC- TV.
1971, Yes performed at the Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, Hampton Beach, New Hampshire.
1971, A minor riot occurred during a Mott The Hoople gig at the Royal Albert Hall, London, England. Some fans were injured and two boxes were damaged causing a temporary ban on rock gigs at the venue.
1972, Bill Withers started a three week run at number one on the singles chart with “Lean On Me.”
1972, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at the Convention Center, Louisville, Kentucky.
1972, Donny Osmond was at number one on the singles chart with his version of the Paul Anka song “Puppy Love.” The first of three solo chart toppers for Donny.
1972, The Concert 10 Festival was held at Pocono International Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. Acts performing included, Claire Hamill, The Groundhogs, Edgar Winter, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Faces with Rod Stewart, Humble Pie, The J. Geils Band, and Three Dog Night.
1973, Led Zeppelin’s fifth album Houses Of The Holy was on both the US and UK album charts. The album spent a total of 39 weeks on the US chart. The cover art for Houses Of The Holy was inspired by the ending of Arthur C. Clarke’s novel Childhood’s End. It is a collage of several photographs which were taken at the Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland, by Aubrey Powell of Hipgnosis.
1974, David Bowie plays Philadelphia’s Tower Theatre. The week-long series of concerts is recorded and later released as David Live.
1976, Lynyrd Skynyrd played at the Fox Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia.
1976, Aerosmith appeared at the MECCA Arena, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
1977, ZZ Top performed at the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum, Shreveport, Louisiana.
1978, Gerry Rafferty’s album City To City went to number one on the US charts knocking off Saturday Night Fever, which had reigned supreme at the top of the charts for almost six months.
1978, Joe Strummer and Paul Simonon from The Clash were arrested for being drunk and disorderly after a gig at the Apollo in Glasgow, both were fined.
1979, The B-52’s made their UK live debut at London’s Lyceum Ballroom, supported by The Tourists.
1980, Roxy Music appeared at the Tendastrisce in Rome.
1981, The Grateful Dead perform at Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri.
1983, Iron Maiden played at the San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California.
1984, Bob Dylan’s current European tour came to an end at Slane Castle, County Meath in Ireland. Dylan was joined on stage by Van Morrison and they duetted on “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue.” U2’s Bono, who was sent to interview Dylan for the Irish rock magazine Hot Press, ended up duetting with Dylan on “Blowin’ In The Wind” and “Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat.” Carlos Santana also joined Dylan on stage and played guitar on the last seven songs of the set.
1995, TLC started a seven week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Waterfalls,” the group’s second US chart topper, and a top four hit in the UK.
2002, Michael Jackson spoke out against the music industry’s treatment of artists, alleging that the business was rife with racism. Speaking at a civil rights meeting in New York, Jackson claimed there was a “conspiracy” among record companies, especially towards black artists. A spokesman for Jackson’s record label said the remarks were “ludicrous, spiteful and hurtful.”
2006, Queen guitarist Brian May made a “substantial” donation to save hedgehogs from slaughter in the Outer Hebrides. Although the exact amount was not revealed it was said to be enough to pay for the rescue of hundreds of hedgehogs from the Uists, where Scottish Natural Heritage has been culling the animals for the past four years. May’s money would go towards funding cash rewards for islanders so hundreds more hedgehogs can be saved.
2007, Prince was forced off stage by police halfway through his set at the First Avenue nightclub during a late-night gig in his home town of Minneapolis. The club was only allowed to stay open until 3 am, but Prince took to the stage at 2.45 in the morning. Prince had already played two concerts in Minneapolis before his late-night club appearance. His first performance was at a department store, where he promoted his new cologne with a nine-song, 45-minute set.
2023, Elton John told his millions of fans that they would remain in his “head, heart and soul” when concluding his marathon farewell tour at Sweden’s Tele2 Arena in Stockholm.
Born on July 8: Jaimoe Johanson, Allman Bros (1944); Andy Fletcher, Depeche Mode (1960); Toby Keith (1961); Joan Osborne (1963); Beck (1970); Jamie Cook, guitarist, Arctic Monkeys (1985)
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Aerosmith, Bill Withers, Bob Dylan, Carlos Santana, David Bowie, Donny Osmond, Edgar Winter, Emerson Lake & Palmer, Gerry Rafferty, Iron Maiden, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marianne Faithful, Michael Jackson, Mott the Hoople, Pink Floyd, Queen, Roxy Music, The Allman Brothers Band, The B-52’s, The Beatles, The Clash, The Everly Broithers, The Grateful Dead, The Monkees, The Who, U2, Yes, ZZ Top.
