1966, The Mamas and the Papas started a three week run at number one on the singles chart with “Monday Monday.” The group was reported, as saying they all hated the song except for its writer John Phillips. The Mamas and the Papas won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for this song.
1967, Jimi Hendrix played two shows at London’s Saville Theatre. Ringo Starr, Brian Jones and members of The Beach Boys and The Moody Blues were in the audience.
1967, Pink Floyd appeared at King & Queen The Mojo A Go-Go Club, Tollbar, Sheffield, England, opened and owned by Peter Stringfellow. Acts who have also appeared at the club include Stevie Wonder, John Lee Hooker, Rod Stewart, Ike and Tina Turner, The Who, The Small Faces and Jimi Hendrix.
1967, The Who appear at MFF-Stadion in Malmo, Sweden, where the performance sparks a “fan-crush” as attendees rush the stage during the opening song “Substitute,” only to be shoved back by police. At least twenty attendees have to be carried out, some unconscious. The Who will not return to Sweden for five years.
1967, Pearls Before Swine begin recording an album called One Nation Underground. The LP included a song called “Miss Morse,” which would be banned in New York when it was discovered that lead singer Tom Rapp was singing F-U-C-K in Morse code. After disc jockey Murray The K played the record on the air, local Boy Scouts correctly interpreted the chorus and phoned in a complaint.
1970, Black Sabbath played at Osteseehalle, Kiel, Germany.
1971, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at the University of Tennessee -Chattanooga.
1972, The Grateful Dead performed at the Bickershaw Festival in Wigan, England as part of their historic tour of Europe. The entire tour was released as a 73-CD box set.
1972, Reginald Dwight legally changed his name to Elton Hercules John.
1972, The Rolling Stones released the second album on their own label, Exile on Main Street featuring two hit singles, “Tumbling Dice’ and ‘Happy.” In 2003, the album was ranked number seven on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, the highest of any Stones album on the list.
1973, “Money/Us and Them” was released as a 7-inch single in the US by Pink Floyd
1974, Led Zeppelin held a party at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City for the launch of their new label Swan Song. Other label signings including, Scottish singer Maggie Bell (whose album Suicide Sal was the label’s fourth release), and British supergroup, Bad Company also attended.
1975, Yes played at Colston Hall, Bristol,England.
1976, Genesis performed at Will Rogers Auditorium, Fort Worth, Texas.
1977, The Eagles went to No.1 on the singles chart with “Hotel California,” the group’s fourth No.1, The Eagles also won the 1977 Grammy Award for Record of the Year for Hotel California at the 20th Annual Grammy Awards in 1978. The song’s guitar solo is ranked 8th on Guitar Magazine’s Top 100 Guitar Solos and was voted the best solo of all time by readers of Guitarist magazine.
1978, 90,000 tickets were sold in eight hours for Bob Dylan’s forthcoming London dates at Earls Court.
1978, David Bowie played the first of three nights on his Low / Heroes world tour at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
1979, Van Halen appeared at the Stanley Theater, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
1980, Black Sabbath performed at the Hammersmith Odeon, London.
1983, Paul Weller unveiled his new group Style Council at an anti nuclear benefit gig in London.
1983, Spandau Ballet were at number one on the UK singles chart with “True,” the group’s only chart topper. The song spent four weeks there, and was a hit in 20 other countries. Parts of the original version have been sampled and used in a number of songs – most notably PM Dawn’s 1991 US number one hit “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss,” which contains a sample of the song’s famous guitar hook.
1992, Nigel Preston drummer with The Cult died in London, England aged 32. Was a founding member of The Death Cult, he also played and recorded with Sex Gang Children, Theatre of Hate and The Gun Club.
1998, Eddie Rabbitt, US singer, songwriter died of lung cancer aged 56. During his career, he scored over twenty number ones on Billboard’s country singles chart including 1981’s “I Love A Rainy Night.” Elvis Presley, Dr Hook, Tom Jones, Kenny Rogers, Crystal Gayle and Lynn Anderson all recorded his songs.
2006, Snow Patrol went to number one on the UK album chart with Eyes Open, the band’s fourth album. Also a chart topper in Ireland and Australia, and a number 27 hit on the US charts. The band’s first album Songs For Polarbears peaked at the 143rd spot when released in 1998.
2024, Steve Albini, indie rock icon, died of a heart attack at age 61, according to staff at his recording studio, Electric Audio. He was the frontman for underground rock bands including Shellac and Big Black, Albini was a pioneering legend in the recording studio, through his work on Nirvana’s In Utero, the Pixies’ Surfer Rosa, and PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me.
Born on this day: Jimmy Ruffin (1974); Derek Taylor, publicist for the Beatles, Beach Boys, Byrds (1942); Billy Kreutzmann, Grateful Dead (1946); and Eagle Eye Cherry (1969)
