1966, Jimi Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding played together for the first time, The Jimi Hendrix Experience were formed.
1967, The Doors played the final night of a five night run at Steve Paul’s Scene in New York City.
1969, Donovan appeared at Ellis Auditorium North Hall in Memphis, Tennessee.
1970, The Rolling Stones performed at Festhalle in Frankfurt, Germany.
1970, Led Zeppelin released their third studio album, titled Led Zeppelin III. It was recorded between January and August 1970 and released on Atlantic Records. The material was composed largely at a remote cottage in Wales known as Bron-Yr-Aur. It was number one in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and Italy. 1970, The original cover and interior gatefold art consisted of a surreal collection of random images. Behind the front cover was a rotatable laminated card disc, covered with more images, including photos of the band members, which showed through holes in the cover. The distinctive cover was based on a suggestion of Jimmy Page’s that it should resemble an old-fashioned gardening seed chart. It was designed by Richard Drew, and the sleeve photographs were taken by fellow Leeds Polytechnic lecturer Martin Salisbury.
1970, Hawkwind appeared at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, London.
1971, The Moody Blues played at the Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee.
1972, Elton John appears at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Ontario.
1973, King Crimson performed at Municipal Auditorium, San Antonio, Texas.
1974, Mike Oldfields Tubular Bell‘ went to number one for the first time on the album chart 15 months after being released. The album had a big boost when it was featured in the movie The Exorcist. It went on to sell over 10 million copies worldwide.
1974, Olivia Newton-John started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “I Honestly Love You,” the singers first of five chart toppers.
1974, The Beach Boys went to number one on the album chart with Endless Summer, the group’s second number one. The album was a collection of hits from the band’s pre-Pet Sounds period. Endless Summer was compiled by their old label Capitol Records while the Beach Boys were contracted with Reprise Records.
1975, Stevie Wonder appeared at the Wonder Dream Concert in Kingston, Jamaica, a Jamaican Institute for the Blind benefit concert. Along with Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, the three original Wailers, performing together for the last time.
1976, AC/DC played at Stadthalle, Bern, Switzerland.
1977, Rush performed at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Phoenix, Arizona.
1978, Aerosmith appeared at Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, Ohio.
1979, Jethro Tull played at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario.
1980, Yes performed at Selland Arena, Fresno, California.
1981, King Crimson headlined at Moles Club, Bath, England.
1982, The Who played at the Horizon, Rosemont, Illinois, just outside of Chicago.
1984, Queen played the first of nine concerts at the Sun City Super Bowl, Sun City, Republic of Bophuthatswana (integrated into South Africa’s North West Province in 1994). The 1984 The Works tours saw the reintroduction of older material to Queen’s live set, including songs from the first three albums.
1984, The Grateful Dead played at the Coliseum in Charlotte, NC.
1985, Midge Ure was at number one on the UK singles chart with “If I Was.” The former Ultravox and Slik singer’s only solo chart topper. The song features Mark King of Level 42 on bass guitar.
1987, Former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr began rehearsals with The Pretenders in preparation for the band supporting U2 on their North America tour.
1989, Motley Crue played a warm-up show for their upcoming Dr. Feelgood tour at the Whisky a Go Go, West Hollywood, California, under their pseudonym The Foreskins. The show was also used for the filming of their next video, “Kickstart My Heart.”
1991, Guns N’ Roses started a two week run at number one on the US album chart with Use Your Illusion II.
1992, American singer Eddie Kendricks of The Temptations died, aged 52, of lung cancer, one year after having one lung removed. His was the lead voice on “The Way You Do The Things You Do,” “Get Ready,” and “Just My Imagination.” As a solo artist, Kendricks recorded several hits of his own during the 1970s, including the US chart topping single “Keep On Truckin’.”
1996, “Breakfast At Tiffany’s” by American group Deep Blue Something was at number one on the UK singles chart. The song is a reference to the classic 1960 Audrey Hepburn film of the same name.
1999, Roger Daltrey announced that The Who were reforming, making their first performance in Las Vegas on Oct 29th. The show was also to be broadcast live on the Internet.
2000, Beatles’ fans across the world rushed out to buy copies of the Fab Four’s autobiography. Stores in Japan and Britain opened at midnight to satisfy demand for the book, the first written by the band members. Publishers said the 350,000-word volume, at a cost of £35 ($56,) had already attracted more than one and a half million orders worldwide.
Born on October 5: Carlo Mastrangelo, Dion and the Belmonts (1938); Richard Street, The Temptations (1942); Steve Miller (1943); Brian Johnson, singer, AC/DC, Geordie (1947); Lucius “Tawl” Ross, Funkadelic (1948); Brian Connolly, Sweet (1949); Eddie Clarke, guitarist Motörhead, Fastway (1950); Bob Geldof (1951); Lee Thompson, sax, vocals, Madness (1957); David Bryson, guitar, Counting Crows (1961); Colin Meloy, singer-songwriter, guitarist The Decemberists (1971); James Valentine, guitarist, Maroon 5 (1978)