Rock History September 25
1965, The Beatles cartoon series premiered on ABC TV in the US. The first story was titled I Want To Hold Your Hand and had the group exploring the ocean floor in a diving bell where they met a lovesick octopus.
1965, The Who arrive in Denmark to begin their first Danish tour with a 9 pm show at the Folkets Hus in Elsinore, then rush 20 miles to Copenhagen to play the KB Hallen at Midnight, this set with loaner equipment from the Swedish band The Lee Kings. According to a member of The Namelosers, a Swedish pop band, Roger bursts into the dressing room after the second show and headbutts Keith in the nose because Keith had been playing too loud.
1967, The Beatles began recording the new Paul McCartney song “The Fool on the Hill” at Abbey Road, London. John and George played harmonicas, Paul played a recorder and recorded his lead vocal and Ringo played drums.
1967, Pink Floyd performed at the Playhouse Theatre in London.
1968, Welsh singer Mary Hopkin was at number one on the UK singles chart with “Those Were The Days.” Hopkins had signed to The Beatles Apple label after appearing on UK TV talent show Opportunity Knocks.
1969, John Lennon recorded the track “Cold Turkey” with Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Klaus Voorman and Yoko Ono.
1970, The first episode of The Partridge Family was shown on US TV, featuring Shirley Jones, David Cassidy, Susan Dey and Danny Bonaduce.
1971, David Bowie and America both appeared at Friars in Aylesbury, England.
1971, The production master for The Who’s next album, Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy, is compiled at Apple Studios. Also, in Melody Maker, Pete calls for the audience to become more involved with the performers. He also believes that although the equipment may change, rock will stay pretty much the same. In the same issue a fan attacks The Who for their high ticket prices calling them capitalists hiding behind a banner of anti-materialism. The letter is sparked by the outrageous ticket prices for The Who’s upcoming tour, some as high as £3.50 ($5.25.)
1971, Deep Purple went to No.1 on the chart with their sixth album Fireball.
1972, Black Sabbath released their fourth studio album, Black Sabbath Vol. 4. The album, which features a monochrome photograph of Ozzy Osbourne with hands raised, taken during a Black Sabbath concert, was originally to be titled Snowblind, after one of several songs referring to the band’s cocaine use.
1973, The Allman Brothers Band played at Henry J. Kaiser Auditorium, Oakland, California.
1975, Jackie Wilson had a heart attack while performing live on stage at the Latin Casino, New Jersey. Wilson collapsed into a coma suffering severe brain damage. Ironically, he was in the middle of singing one of his biggest hits, “Lonely Teardrops” and was two words into the line, “….my heart is crying” when he collapsed to the stage, striking his head heavily. Wilson died on 21st January 1984. Van Morrison wrote the song “Jackie Wilson Said,” covered by Dexy’s Midnight Runners.
1975, Aerosmith appeared at the Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
1976, Wings played a charity concert in St Marks Square, Venice to raise funds for the historic city. The night was a success but the weight of the equipment used by the group caused more damage to the square.
1977, Yes performed at the Sports Arena, San Diego, California.
1980, John Bonham, drummer with Led Zeppelin, died aged 32 after a heavy drinking session. “Bonzo” was found dead at guitarists Jimmy Page’s house of what was described as asphyxiation, from inhaling his own vomit after excessive vodka consumption, (40 shots in 4 hours). During live sets his drum solo, “Moby Dick,” would often last for half an hour and regularly featured his use of his bare hands. In 2007, Ludwig issued a limited edition drum kit in Bonham’s memory.
1980, The Grateful Dead played the first of fifteen nights at the Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, California.
1981, The Rolling Stones kicked off a 50-date North American tour at the JFK Stadium, Philadelphia.
1982, Queen made a guest appearance on US TV’s Saturday Night Live, where they performed “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” and “Under Pressure.”
1990, Drummer Dave Grohl auditioned for Nirvana and was instantly given the job. Grohl’s last band Scream had recently split-up.
1993, Nirvana went to No.1 on the UK album chart with In Utero the bands first UK No.1 album.
1999, Stephen Canaday of The Ozark Mountain Daredevils was killed when the vintage WW II plane he was flying in, rolled, inverted and crashed into a tree. The pilot failed to maintain speed which resulted in a stall.
2000, Ozzy Osbourne formally requested that Black Sabbath be removed from the nomination list for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Calling the inclusion “meaningless”, Osbourne went on to say “Let’s face it. Black Sabbath have never been media darlings. We’re a people’s band and that suits us just fine.”
Born on September 25: Gary Alexander guitar, vocals, The Association and John Locke, Spirit (1943); Onnie Mcintyre, Average White Band (1945); Bryan MacLean, guitar, vocals, Love (1946); and Will Smith, actor, rapper (1968)
Link to Today in Rock History page.
Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, David Bowie, Deep Purple, John Lennon, Led Zeppelin, Mary Hopkin, Pink Floyd, The Allman Brothers Band, The Beatles, The Partridge Family, Yes.
