Rock History June 15
1964, The Who played at the Glenlyn Ballroom in Forest Hill, London.
1965, The Rolling Stones kicked off an 8-date mini-European tour at The Odeon Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland, supported by The Hollies
1966, “Substitute” by The Who peaks at number 13 on the German charts.
1967, Guitarist Peter Green quit the John Mayall Band. He went on to be a founding member of Fleetwood Mac.
1968, The Soft Machine appeared at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan.
1968, Today John and Yoko plant their acorns outside Coventry Cathedral in England to help promote peace.
1968, Pink Floyd performed two shows (7:30 and 11:30 pm) at Magic Village in Manchester, England. Also on the bill for this all night event were Purple Stone and the Alchemist, The Jack Lancaster – Bruce Mitchell Quartet, and the Inner Light Show.
1968, Quicksilver Messenger Service supported by The Hallucinations played at Boston Tea Party, Boston, Massachusetts.
1969, Led Zeppelin, along with Liverpool Scene and Bloodwyn Pig appeared at The Free Trade Hall, Manchester, England, during a five date UK tour.
1969, The Frost played at the Sports Arena in Toledo, Ohio.
1969, The Doors appeared at the Minneapolis Convention Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
1970, The Who performed at the Community Theater, Berkeley, California.
1971, Pink Floyd performed at Abbaye de Royaumont in Royaumont, France. The show that was filmed by French TV channel ORTF, and two songs were broadcast on Cinq Grand Sur La Deux in the early hours of July 12th.
1972, The Rolling Stones appeared at University Stadium, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
1973, On television’s Midnight Special, host Jim Croce welcomes guests Wishbone Ash and Bobby Womack.
1973, David Bowie performed at the Odeon Theatre, Taunton, England.
1974, Abba’s debut album Waterloo entered the chart for the first time peaking at number 28.
1974, Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods started a two week run at number one on the US singles chart with “Billy Don’t Be A Hero,” The song was a UK chart topper for Paper Lace.
1974, Elvis Presley played the first night of an 18-date US tour by playing four shows at the Tarrant County Center, Forth Worth, Texas.
1975, ZZ Top played at the Spokane Coliseum, Spokane, Washington.
1976, The Sex Pistols recorded their first demos in Clapham’s Majestic studios followed by a gig that night at The 100 club, London.
1976, AC/DC appeared at St. Georges Hall, Bradford, England.
1977, The Sex Pistols held a party on a boat as it sailed down The River Thames in London. The Pistols performed “Anarchy In The UK” outside The Houses Of Parliament, resulting in members from the party being arrested when the boat docked later that day.
Rock history – June 15
1977, Pink Floyd performed at County Stadium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
1978, During a European tour Bob Dylan played the first of six sold out nights at London’s Earl Court.
1979, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Pine Knob Music Theatre, Clarkston, Michigan.
1980, Nazareth played at the Hollywood Sportatorium, Pembroke Pines, Florida.
1983, David Bowie performed at Ruhrland Stadion, Bochum, Germany.
1984, Yes appeared at the Scandinavium, Göteborg, Sweden.
1985, Dire Straits started a nine-week run at number one on the US album chart with, Brothers In Arms.
1986, U2 and Sting headlined a concert in New Jersey celebrating 25 years of Amnesty International.
1989 Nirvana’s debut album Bleach was released in the US. The title for the album came from a poster “Bleach Your Works” urging drug users to bleach their needles. Kurt Cobain claimed that most of the lyrics on the album were written the night before recording while he was feeling “pissed off,” and that he did not regard them highly.
1996, Jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald died in Beverly Hills, California, aged 79. Already blinded by the effects of diabetes, Fitzgerald had both her legs amputated in 1993. She won 13 Grammy Awards, and the 1956 Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Songbook was the first of eight “Songbook” sets.
2002, A rare autographed copy of The Beatles’ album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band sold at auction for £34,000 ($57,800), more than five times the estimated price.
2003, Radiohead scored their fourth UK number one with their sixth studio album Hail To The Thief, while Metallica were at number one on the US album chart with St Anger, the band’s fourth US chart topper, and a top three hit in the UK.
2005, Coldplay went straight to number one on US album chart with their third album X&Y, having already entered at number one in the UK. The last time a British artist had a simultaneous US and UK number one was in November 2000 with 1, a compilation of hits by The Beatles. The last studio album to reach number one on both sides of the Atlantic was Radiohead’s Kid A in October 2000.
Born on June 15: Nigel Pickering, Spanky And Our Gang (1929); Waylon Jennings (1937); Harry Nilsson (1941); Johnny Halliday, “the French Elvis” (1943); Muff Winwood, The Spencer Davis Group (1943); Russell Hitchcock, vocals, Air Supply (1949); Steve Walsh, Kansas (1951); David Hinds, Steel Pulse (1956); rapper Ice Cube (1969)
Get more Today in Rock History
Abba, AC/DC, Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods, Bob Dylan, Coldplay, David Bowie, Dire Straits, Ella Fitzgerald, Elvis Presley, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Nazareth, Nirvana, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Sting, The Allman Brothers Band, The Beatles, The Doors, The Frost, The Rolling Stones, The Sex Pistols, The Soft Machine, The Who, U2, Yes, ZZ Top.
