Rock History September 8
1966, The Who appeared at the Locarno Ballroon in Stevenage, England. This UK tour was notable for the addition of the single, “I’m A Boy” to the band’s repertoire.
1968, Pink Floyd were forced to cancel a performance at the Chatelet Teenage Festival in Belgium due to work permit problems. There were some violent reactions from the fans, but the several other bands, including The Kinks were able to play at the event.
1968, The Beatles performed “Hey Jude” on the UK television show Frost On Sunday in front of an invited audience.
1968, Led Zeppelin played three shows in Denmark on this day, first appearing at the Fjordvilla club in Roskilde with The Ladybirds, who were an all girl topless go-go dancing outfit. Next, the played at Raventlowparken in Lolland, supported by The Beatnicks and to cap it off, they finished the evening at Teaterbygningen in Køge.
1968, Jimi Hendrix played at the Spokane Coliseum in Spokane, Washington.
1972, Pink Floyd appeared at the Municipal Auditorium, Austin, Texas.
1973, During a UK tour The Rolling Stones appeared at Empire Pool, Wembley, London.
1973, Marvin Gaye started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with “Let’s Get It On,” his second chart topper.
1973, The Allman Brothers started a five week run at number one on the album chart with Brothers And Sisters, the group’s only US chart topping album.
1974, David Bowie appeared at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles.
1974, Joni Mitchell, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and the Beach Boys all performed at Summersault ’74 at Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury, New York.
1976, Aerosmith appeared at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona.
1977, Guitarist Jimmy McCulloch left Wings to help re-form The Small Faces. McCulloch had played with Paul McCartney’s band on the Venus and Mars and Wings At the Speed of Sound albums, as well as on the Wings Over America tour. He died two years later at the age of 26. Drummer Joe English also left Wings at this time, joining Sea Level.
1978, Dave Edmunds realeased Trax on Wax 4, his fourth solo album. It was released on Zeppelin’s Swansong label and featured the excellent “Trouble Boys,” which Thin Lizzy would cover in 1981.
1978, David Bowie released Stage, his second (official) live album recorded during his “Berlin” period. Backed by some talented players of note. Carlos Alomar, rhythm guitar, backing vocals, George Murray, bass, backing vocals, Dennis Davis, drums, percussion, Adrian Belew, lead guitar, backing vocals, Simon House, violin, Sean Mayes , piano, string ensemble, backing vocals, and Roger Powell, keyboards.
1978, Yes appeared at Madison Square Garden in New York.
1979, Led Zeppelin scored their eighth UK number one album when In Through The Out Door went to the top of the charts for two weeks.
1979, Dire Straits performed at The Orpheum, Boston, Massachusetts.
1981, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band appeared at the Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, Illinois.
1983, The Grateful Dead played at Red Rocks Amphitheatre at Morrison, Colorado.
1984, Stevie Wonder had his first UK chart topper with “I Just Called To Say I Love You.” The song was taken from the film Lady In Red. This was was 18 years after Wonder’s chart debut in 1966. The song stayed at number one for six weeks.
1990, Jon Bon Jovi went to number one on the US singles chart with “Blaze Of Glory,” a top two song in the UK. The track appeared in the motion picture Young Guns II, for which it was originally recorded.
1993, Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love appeared on stage together at a show in Hollywood. They performed a song they wrote together “Penny Royal Tea.”
1997, 29 years after the band first formed, Led Zeppelin release”d Whole Lotta Love,” their first ever single in the UK. The track recorded in 1969, and featured on the bands second album was issued to promote their re-issued back catalogue.
1997, Derek Taylor, the publicist for The Beatles, died aged 67. Taylor had been responsible for many of the legends surrounding their career and had also worked with The Beach Boys and The Byrds. In 1967 he helped organize the Monterrey Pop Festival together with Lou Adler and John Philips. He helped launch the Beatles Anthology trilogy in the 90’s.
2003, David Bowie performed the first interactive concert when his performance was beamed live into 21 cinemas from Warsaw to Edinburgh. Members of the audience talked to Bowie via microphones linked to ISDN lines and he took requests for songs from fans.
2005, A charity album featuring some of the biggest bands in the UK was thought to be the fastest ever produced. Coldplay, Radiohead, Kaiser Chiefs, Antony and the Johnsons, The Magic Numbers, The Coral, Bloc Party and Gorillaz were among those who recorded tracks for Help: A Day in the Life. The whole 22-track album was made available for download from the War Child website the following day.
2007, A commemorative plaque dedicated to Don Arden and the Small Faces was unveiled at 52–55 Carnaby Street, London, Arden’s former offices. Arden achieved notoriety in Britain for his aggressive, sometimes illegal business tactics and looked after the career’s of Small Faces, The Move, Electric Light Orchestra, and Black Sabbath. He was the father of Sharon Osbourne.
2015, Cuban-born Jamaican ska and reggae trombonist Rico Rodriguez died aged 80. He recorded with many artists including Karl Pitterson, Prince Buster, and Lloyd “Matador” Daley. He was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) at Buckingham Palace in July 2007, for services to music. In October 2012, he was awarded the Silver Musgrave Medal by the Institute of Jamaica in recognition of his contribution to Jamaican music
Born on September 8: Jimmie Rodgers (1897); Peter Sellers (1925); Patsy Cline (1932); Brian Cole, bass, vocals, The Association (1942); Kelly Groucutt, Electric Light Orchestra (1945); Ron “Pigpen” Mckernan, Grateful Dead (1945); Benjamin Orr, The Cars (1955); Michael Lardie, keyboards Great White, Night Ranger (1958); David Steele, Fine Young Cannibals (1960); Jay Ziskrout, drummer Bad Religion (1962); Neko Case, singer-songwriter, guitarist The New Pornographers (1970); Alicia Moore, aka Pink, (1979); Cameron Jibril Thomaz, aka Wiz Khalifa, American rapper, singer-songwriter (1987)
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Pink Floyd, Marvin Gaye, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Dire Straits.
