Tuesday 31 October 2017

Today in rock history 31st October

1945 – Roxy Music bassist Rik Kenton is born this day
1945 – Russ Ballard, who as the lead singer for Argent, wrote “God Gave Rock ‘n’ Roll to You,” is born in Waltham Cross, England.
1961 – U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr. is born in Dublin.
1963 - Mikkey Dee, Motorhead drummer born today
1964 – Bob Dylan performs a Halloween concert at New York’s Philharmonic Hall. CBS is recording the show for a possible live album. Dylan shows off a new composition called “Advice to Geraldine on Her Miscellaneous Birthday.”
1966 – King Ad-Rock (Adam Horovitz) of the Beastie Boys is born in Brooklyn, New York.
1967 – Having spent a night at Wormwood Scrubs Prison, Rolling Stone Brian Jones is ordered to spend nine months in jail after pleading guilty to marijuana possession. He appeals the judge’s decision and is released on bail.
1968 – Linda Eastman arrives in England to take up living with Paul McCartney
1974 – Led Zeppelin officially launch their Swan Song label with a party at England’s Chislehurst Caves. Attendees include the Pretty Things – who are signed to Swan Song – Bill Wyman, and Groucho Marx. In typical Zep style, the caves are lined with naked women.
1975 - Queen released “Bohemian Rhapsody” which at the time of its release was the most expensive single ever recorded.
1986 - Roger Waters brought a lawsuit in the Chancery Division of the High Court in London to stop David Gilmour and Nick Mason from using the Pink Floyd name for future recording and touring. The following year both sides reached a settlement with Gilmour and Mason allowed use of the Pink Floyd name & Waters granted The Wall.
1992 – Tonight on ABC, stay-at-home trick-or-treaters can watch the Halloween Jam at Universal Studios, featuring AC/DC, the Black Crowes, Ozzy Osbourne and Slaughter.
1998 – Kiss kicks off its Psycho-Circus tour with a Halloween extravaganza in Los Angeles that dazzles thousands of fans, many of whom arrive in costumes. Appropriately enough, the Smashing Pumpkins opens the show.
1999 – Bryan White sings the National Anthem at the Adelphia Coliseum in Nashville prior to the match-up between the Tennessee Titans and the St. Louis Rams.
2003 – Jane’s Addiction play a surprise “flash mob” gig outside London’s Brixton Academy immediately after their Halloween show there. Fans were invited to the karaoke-styled set via text message.

Monday 30 October 2017

Today in rock history 29th October

1944 – Moody Blues guitarist/vocalist Denny Laine is born on the Jersey coast in England
1946 - Peter Green-guitarist for Fleetwood Mac is born
1955 – Quiet Riot vocalist Kevin Dubrow is born in Los Angeles.
1967 – During an American promotional tour, Pink Floyd appear on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. They lip-sync their single “See Emily Play,” but singer Syd Barrett keeps his mouth shut throughout the “performance.”
1967 – In Battersea, London, the Beatles shoot more sequences for their film The Magical Mystery Tour, including the scene in which Ringo and his Aunt Jessie go up the street to the tour bus.
1967 – Hair, advertised as the American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, opens off-Broadway at the Public Theatre in New York’s East Village.
1969 – In today’s Rat Magazine, one journalist gathers together all the evidence that Paul McCartney is indeed dead.
1971 – Allman Brothers guitarist Duane Allman is killed when he crashes his motorcycle to avoid a truck in Macon, Ga.
1973 – The Who’s double album, “Quadrophenia” received gold record status.
1975 – Joan Baez joins Bob Dylan as a member of his Rolling Thunder Revue.
1976 – Officials at Lancaster Polytechnic, Coventry, England, halt a planned show by The Sex Pistols, saying that they didn’t want “that sort of thing” in their town.
1977 – A 30 year old Rocker named Marvin Lee Aday, who uses the stage name Meat Loaf, releases his landmark album “Bat Out Of Hell”. Since that time, the LP has sold over 43 million copies worldwide.
1983 – Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” marks its 491st week on the Billboard album chart, surpassing the previous record holder, “Johnny’s Greatest Hits” by Johnny Mathis.
1990 – The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame announces their newest inductees: The Byrds, LaVern Baker, John Lee Hooker, The Impressions, Wilson Pickett, Jimmy Reed and Ike & Tina Turner.
1996: Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose sent a fax to MTV saying that Slash was no longer the guitarist for Guns N’ Roses & hadn’t been in the band since 1995. 
1996 – A Pasadena judge drops drug possession charges against Stone Temple Pilots’ singer Scott Weiland, saying that the singer had made definite progress in rehab.
1998 – Three ex-members of the San Francisco punk band the Dead Kennedys sue former lead singer Jello Biafra (Eric Reed Boucher), claiming he diverted money owed to his bandmates for his own use.
1999 – The surviving members of The Who, Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle, reunited for the first time in two years for a concert at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to launch Pixelon, a new internet video company.
1999 – David Lee Roth files suit against Edmund Anderson, the operator of a Web site that sells Roth collectibles, charging that Anderson breached his contract with the singer.
2003 – Puddle of Mudd announce a sweepstakes in which the winner will join the Florida grunge clones as a fifth member for a week on tour.
2003 – Joan Jett appears on TV’s Crossing Over With John Edward. The “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll” singer serves as a psychic conduit for friends to hear from their daughter, who recently passed away.
2003 – Steve O’Rourke, manager of Pink Floyd since 1968, dies in England of a stroke. He is 63.
2005 – The four original wax heads of The Beatles that were used for the cover of their Sgt. Pepper album were auctioned off after being discovered in a back room at Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in London. The winning bidder paid £81,500 for the set.

Today in rock history 28th October

1936 – Fiddler Charlie Daniels is born in Wilmington, N.C.
1941 – Hank Marvin of the Shadows is born in Newcastle
1948 – Black Oak Arkansas guitarist Rickie Reynolds is born in … Black Oak, Ark.
1958 – Buddy Holly appeared on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand, where he lip-synched “It’s So Easy” and “Heartbeat”
1961 – In a record shop today in Liverpool, a customer asks clerk Brian Epstein for “My Bonnie,” a single by the Beatles. Epstein doesn’t have it, but after a second customer requests the record he orders it and tracks the group down to the Cavern club. Epstein later becomes the band’s manager.
1972 – The United States Council for World Affairs adopts the Who’s “Join Together” as its anthem.
1972 – Led Zeppelin play a second night at the casino in Montreux, Switzerland.
1978 - Alice Cooper made a guest appearance on The Muppet Show where he performed “Welcome to my Nightmare”, “You and Me” & “School’s Out”.
1982 – The Jam announces it is breaking up. Bandleader Paul Weller forms the Style Council with Mick Talbot shortly thereafter.
2001 – The Beastie Boys play their first show in more than two-and-a-half years at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom, at the first of two New Yorkers Against Violence benefits, which the rap trio organized.
2003 – At a benefit show in Santa Barbara, Calif., Pearl Jam are joined onstage by ex-drummer Jack Irons, singer/songwriter Jack Johnson, Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, and Chris Cornell for an impromptu Temple of the Dog reunion.
2003 – David Bowie and his wife Iman sign with Tommy Hilfiger as the clothing designer’s new spokesmodels.
2003 – Courtney Love turns herself in to the Los Angeles police to face charges of possessing prescription painkillers hydrocodone and oxycodone.
2007 – UK band The Hoosiers went to No.1 on the UK album chart with their debut album ‘The Trick To Life’,

Friday 27 October 2017

Today in rock history 27th October

1945 – Quicksilver Messenger Service bassist Mark Ryan is born in Jacksonville, Fla.
1949 – Bassist Garry Tallent of the E Street Band is born.
1951 - K.K. Downing-guitarist for Judas Priest is born
1962 – In London, the Rolling Stones make their first recordings at Curly Clayton Studios.
1967 - Scott Weiland-singer for Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver is born
1969 – Ringo Starr begins recording his album Sentimental Journey. Following the completion of Abbey Road, he becomes the first Beatle to formally embark on a solo album.
1975 – Bruce Springsteen is featured on the covers of Time and Newsweek simultaneously – the first rock’n’roller to do so.
1980 – Mark David Chapman purchases the five-shot Charter Arms .38 Special he will use to kill John Lennon.
1984 – Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne become the proud parents of a daughter, Kelly.
1996 – In Westwood, Calif., Bruce Springsteen performs at a rally against Proposition 209. If passed, the proposition would end affirmative action in California.
1999 – Korn debuts its new single on the season premiere of “South Park.”
2002 – Foo Fighters scored their first UK No.1 album with ‘One By One.’
2003 – Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers receive the Legend award at the 2003 Radio Music Awards, despite Petty’s album The Last DJ slamming the current state of the radio industry.
2003 – Stone Temple Pilot singer Scott Weiland is arrested for DUI in Los Angeles after allegedly driving his BMW into a parked van.
2007 – Keith Richards marched with campaigners protesting against possible Sussex hospital cuts. The Stones guitarist joined 15,000 people for the walk through Chichester to oppose plans which could see St Richard’s Hospital downgraded.
2013 – Lou Reed passed away today.

Today in rock history 26th October

1944 – Them bassist Alan Henderson is born in Belfast, Northern Ireland
1949 – To B.B. King, a daughter. Shirley King became a blues singer in her own right, but only after a career as an exotic dancer.
1961 – Bob Dylan signs with Columbia Records after attracting the notice of the revered A&R man John Hammond.
1962 – Bob Dylan records with a band for the first time at sessions for his Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan album.
1963 – Natalie Merchant,one time the vocalist for the band 10,000 Maniacs, is born in Jamestown, N.Y.
1964 – The Beatles spend their last day recording tracks for the album Beatles for Sale. Their rockabilly hero Carl Perkins visits them in the studio.
1965 – Queen Elizabeth presents the Beatles with MBE’s at Buckingham Palace in London.
1967 – Pink Floyd performs the first of three nights at San Francisco’s Fillmore
1970 – The mother of Meredith Hunter, the man slain at the ill-fated Altamont festival, sues the Rolling Stones.
1974 – Keith Richards files a planning application with his local council, asking for permission to refurbish his Redlands mansion. The house burned down in 1973.
1975 – Elton John performs at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, dressed in a sequined Dodger outfit. It’s the last date on his sold-out American tour.
1980 – During a recording session, Jefferson Starship’s Paul Kantner suffers a stroke. He later makes a full recovery after spending two weeks in a Los Angeles hospital.
1992 – To John Fogerty, a son. He and his wife, Julie, become the proud parents of Tyler Jackson today.
2001 – Courtney Love plays her first-ever solo show at the Ventura Theatre in Ventura, Calif.
2004 – Apple launched the U2 Special Edition iPod as part of a partnership between Apple, U2 and Universal Music Group.
2004 – John Peel, an English DJ whose eclectic taste and patronage was instrumental in launching the careers of T. Rex, Rod Stewart, The Smiths, The Undertones, The Fall, and countless others, dies of a heart attack in Peru. He was 65.
2006 - The Audio-Visual Preservation Trust of Canada named 2112 by Rush a MasterWork in Canadian sound recording at a ceremony at the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto. This honour ensured that 2112 would be preserved for future generations.

Today in rock history 25th October

1944 – Vocalist Jon Anderson of Yes is born in Lancashire
1948 – Guitarist Glenn Tipton of Judas Priest is born.
1955 – Scorpions guitarist Matthias Jabs is born in Hanover, Germany.
1960 – A 17-year-old Mick Jagger accidentally meets his old school chum Keith Richards on a train. The two bond together again over a mutual love of R&B records and later join Little Boy Blue & the Blue Boys.
1961 - Chad Smith, Red Hot Chilli Peppers drummer enters the earth this day.
1963 – The Beatles begin their first tour of Sweden in Karlstad.
1964 - The Rolling Stones made their debut on U.S. television with an appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. After their performance, Sullivan declared that they would never be back, yet they returned for five more performances.
1969 – Led Zeppelin play to their largest indoor crowd to date. At the Boston Garden, they perform before a crowd of 17,000 and rake in $45,000. Support comes from the MC5 and Johnny Winter.
1978 – At New York’s Bottom Line Club, Keith Richards joins Rockpile for a jam onstage. The day before he had pleaded guilty to heroin possession in Toronto, but was given a one-year suspended sentence.
1986 - Dire Straits singer & guitarist Mark Knopfler broke his collarbone in a car accident during a celebrity car race before the Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide.
1991 - Legendary concert promoter Bill Graham who owned both Filmore venues and promoted Live Aid in Philadelphia died in a helicopter crash. He was 60 years old.
2000 – Mounds of pending litigation against it notwithstanding, embattled music fileswapping service Napster continues to expand with the release of a Macintosh-friendly version available for download.
2003 – Papa Roach drummer Dave Buckner marries Mia Tyler during a performance by her dad’s band, Aerosmith, in Las Vegas.
2006 – Kurt Cobain tops Forbes’ list of the top-earning dead rock stars.
2006 – Ronnie James Dio announce he’s reuniting with his old Black Sabbath chums–Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward–as Heaven and Hell.
2011 - Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler was hospitalized after he collapsed in a Paraguay hotel room due to a case of food poisoning. Tyler was treated for injuries to his face including a loss of teeth after the accident occurred. Aerosmith made up their scheduled concert the following evening.
2014 – Jack Bruce dies at the age of 71.


Today in rock history 24th October

1936 – Bill Wyman, bass, The Rolling Stones, is born 
1944 - Ted Templeman-producer for Van Halen & The Doobie Brothers enters this world
1946 – Steppenwolf drummer Jerry Edmonton is born in Canada.
1948 - Dale Griffin-drummer for Mott the Hoople is born born 
1966 – Beatles manager Brian Epstein arranges to bring his band’s heroes the Four Tops over to England for a tour.
1973 – John Lennon sues the U.S. government, accusing it of tapping his phone.
1973 – At the Marlborough Street Magistrate Court in London, Rolling Stone Keith Richards is slapped with a $500 fine and given a conditional discharge on three firearm offences and four drug charges. His girlfriend Anita Pallenberg is given a conditional discharge after she was found in possession of 25 Mandrax tablets. 
1975 – Bob Dylan re-records “Hurricane” after earlier versions of his song about the imprisoned boxer misidentified a bystander in the bar where Hurricane Carter was alleged to have shot two men. It’s his final session for the Desire album.
1978 – In Toronto, Keith Richards pleads guilty to heroin possession. The judge gives him a one-year suspended sentence and orders him to play a benefit for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind.
1980 – Paul McCartney is honoured by the Guinness Book of World Records for being the best-selling songwriter and recording artist in music history.
1988 – Opening arguments are heard in the case of Fantasy Records vs. John Fogerty. The label claims Fogerty’s solo recording “The Old Man Down the Road” sounds a little too much like his Creedence Clearwater Revival song “Run Through the Jungle,” for which it owns the copyright.
1989 – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announces that it’s inducting the Who, Simon & Garfunkel, the Kinks, the Platters, Hank Ballard, Bobby Darin, the Four Seasons, the Four Tops, Holland/Dozier/Holland, Carole King, and Gerry Goffin.
1991 – When 12,000 people turn up to see Bryan Adams at Glasgow, Scotland’s Scottish Exhibition & Conference Centre, he breaks the record for the largest all-standing indoor concert.
1995 – Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band’s first studio album in four years, “It’s A Mystery,” is released.
2003 – Metallica cancel their South American tour this month, blaming physical injury and mental exhaustion. Says James Hetfield, “we are fried… both in body and in mind.”
2003 – Bruce Springsteen pledges money to help save the Bottom Line, a storyed New York club faced with eviction. In the past, the folk venue has played host to such names as Springsteen, Neil Young, Stevie Wonder and Bonnie Raitt.
2003 – Ben Moody, Evanescence’s founding guitarist , walks out on the Goth rockers in the midst of their European tour. Singer Amy Lee fumes, “”You don’t do that to your band. You wouldn’t do that to your friends or your family. You don’t do that to anyone.”
2005 – Poison guitarist C.C. DeVille is sentenced to 80 days behind bars after he pleaded no contest to DUI and causing injury. DeVille was arrested after running into a parked car in August.
2006 – To celebrate the 20th anniversary of its best-selling album, Def Leppard reissues Hysteria as a two-CD package.

Monday 23 October 2017

Today in rock history 23rd October

1947 – Humble Pie bassist Greg Ridley is born in Cumberland
1959 – Novelty singer and accordionist “Weird Al” Yankovic is born in Lynnwood, Calif
1963 – The Beatles record “I Wanna Be Your Man,” then fly to Sweden to start a tour there. The song was originally written by Lennon and McCartney on the spur of the moment to provide their friends the Rolling Stones with a hit single.
1964 - Robert Trujillo-bassist for Ozzy Osbourne & Metallica is born 
1966 – The Yardbirds, with new recruit Jimmy Page, perform at San Francisco’s Fillmore.
1969 – Columbia Records announces it will take legal action to stop sales of Great White Wonder, the popular bootleg set of previously unreleased Bob Dylan material.
1972 – Filming begins on That’ll Be the Day, a musical starring David Essex, Ringo Starr, and Keith Moon. 
1975 - Elton John was honoured with a star in the holy firmament of Hollywood's Walk of Fame.
1978 – Sid Vicious tries to commit suicide at Rikers Island in New York. Vicious was waiting to be charged with murder following the stabbing death of his girlfriend Nancy Spungen.
1980 – Signing off work, Mark David Chapman gives his name as “John Lennon.” He would kill the Beatle two months later.
1998 – A federal judge in St. Louis rules that the Fort Zumwalt High School marching band will not be allowed to play Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” in its ’60s medley. The song had been banned by the high school superintendent on the grounds it promoted drug use.
2001 – R.E.M. plays a surprise show at Seattle’s Crocodile Cafe, which guitarist Peter Buck co-owns with his wife, Stephanie Dorgan.
2003 – Antipodean rockers The Datsuns announce Led Zeppelin’s bassist John Paul Jones will produce the follow-up to their self-titled debut.
2009 – Bon Jovi announce The Circle world Tour
2009 – Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi undergoing stem cell treatment to fix his injured hand.

Today in rock history 22nd October

1942 - Bobby Fuller, he of the Bobby Fuller Four, is born in Baytown, Texas.
1945 – Mountain’s main mountain, Leslie West is born in New York.
1964 – The High Numbers fail an audition with the record company EMI. The band would become better known as the Who.
1965 – The Beatles record the electric piano solo for “In My Life.”
1969 – After issuing an official statement denying he is dead, Paul McCartney goes to Scotland to enjoy a vacation.
1976 – The soundtrack to Led Zeppelin’s The Song Remains the Same is released as the concert film opens nationwide.
1982 – If you were in Worcester, Mass., it is Van Halen Day. Local fans had handed over a petition to the band demanding it play another date there. They managed to secure 25,000 signatures.
1994 – A Bob Dylan show in Rochester, N.Y., is interrupted by a stage invasion that turns out to have been orchestrated by the makers of a documentary about Dylan.
1994 – Producer Jimmy Miller dies in Boulder, Colo. He gave the rock back to the Rolling Stones when he produced “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” and worked on their finest records, as well as albums by Traffic and Motorhead.
1996 - Journey released their first album in ten years Trial by Fire which went on to peak at number three on the Billboard 200 album chart & sell a million copies in the U.S.
1998 – Still on the road, Bob Dylan plays Duluth, Minn., in what is generally considered a homecoming gig for the former Hibbing resident.
2003 – UK comedy/glam rockers The Darkness resume their tour in London, after cancelling three dates, with singer Justin Hawkins denies tabloid reports that he has throat cancer.
2008 – Some homeless man claimed a £2,000(about $3800 US) reward for returning a waxwork head of Paul McCartney.

Today in rock history 21st October

1940 – Manfred Mann (Michael Lubowitz) is born in Johannesburg, South Africa.
1946 – Born on this day, Lee Loughnane, trumpet, Chicago
1947 - Tetsu Yamauchi-bassist for Free and The Faces is born
1952 – Brent Mydland, keyboardist and vocalist with the Grateful Dead, is born in Munich. He joined in the band in 1979, replacing Keith and Donna Godchaux.
1957 – Toto guitarist/singer Steve Lukather is born in Los Angeles.
1958 – In a New York studio, Buddy Holly & the Crickets record “True Love Ways,” “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore,” “Moondreams,” and “Raining in My Heart.” It’s the Texas rocker’s last session.
1966 – The Who perform on British TV’s Ready Steady Go!
1971 – Mick and Bianca Jagger become the proud parents of Jade Jagger. Their daughter is born at the Belvedere Nursing Home in Paris.
1974 – John Lennon begins producing his Rock ‘n’ Roll album himself at the Record Plant Studios.
1976 - The Who performed their last concert with Keith Moon in North America at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.
1992 – Elton John sues the TV tabloid show Hard Copy, claiming it falsely reported he moved to Atlanta to be close to a noted AIDS treatment center.
1993 -  The Ramones made a guest appearance on The Simpsons
1995 – Blind Melon singer Shannon Hoon is found dead on his tour bus from an accidental drug overdose.
1998 – Kiss members Paul Stanley and Bruce Kulick are sued for copyright infringement over the song “Dreamin’,” which the suit alleges sounds too similar to the Alice Cooper hit “Eighteen.”
2003 – AC/DC reopen the refurbished Hammersmith Apollo in London with a hit-heavy set and the inevitable “For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)” finale.
2003 – A judge orders former Hole front-woman Courtney Love out of her Beverly Hills home so her daughter Frances Bean Cobain can continue living there.
2006 – Sandy West, drummer for influential ’70s band the Runaways, dies after a long battle with lung cancer.
2006 – Rockin’ band from Little Rock, Evanescence were at No.1 on the US album chart with their second album ‘The Open Door.’
2007 – Kid Rock and five members of his entourage were arrested after an argument with a man escalated into a fight in a restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia. Kid Rock’s tour bus was pulled over by police after it left the scene.
2011 - Free and Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers became a Canadian citizen during an hour long ceremony at Central City tower in Surrey, BC. Rodgers has been married to former Miss Canada Cynthia Kereluk since 2007.

Friday 20 October 2017

Today in rock history 20th October

1945 – Ric Lee, drummer, Ten Years After is born
1950 – Tom Petty is born in Gainesville, Fla
1951 - Al Greenwood-keyboardist for Foreigner is born
1960 – Elvis Presley film “G.I. Blues” premieres
1961 – Bob Dylan’s self-titled debut album is recorded
1964 – James George “Soni” Sonefeld, drummer for the band Hootie & The Blowfish, is born in Lansing, Michigan.
1964 – The Rolling Stones play Paris for the first time. The gig ends with the now-traditional riot, in which 150 people are arrested.
1966 – In New York, the Yardbirds with Jimmy Page record a jingle for the Great Shakes beverage, utilizing the riff from their song “Over Under Sideways Down.”
1969 – The Who play the first of six nights at New York’s Fillmore East, playing the entirety of their Tommy rock opera.
1969 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono release The Wedding Album in the U.S. Highlights include “John and Yoko,” in which the couple yell each other’s name for 25 minutes.
1976 – The Song Remains the Same, a film that mixes Led Zeppelin performance footage with some rather dubious Lord of the Rings-style sequences, premieres in Manhattan.
1977 - Lynyrd Skynyrd singer Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist Steve Gaines and backup singer Cassie Gaines were killed in a plane crash in Gillsburg, MS. Van Zant and Cassie Gaines were each 29 years old and Steve Gaines was 28 years old.
1978 – The Police give their U.S. performance debut at CBGB’s in New York.
1979 – On Saturday Night Live tonight, Bob Dylan performs three songs from his religiously inclined Slow Train Coming album. Observers report he’s gone gospel.
2001 - The Concert for New York City took place at Madison Square Garden. Many of the attendees were families and members of the New York Fire & Police Departments. Some of the artists that appeared included Paul McCartney, The Who, David Bowie, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Bon Jovi, James Taylor, Billy Joel and John Mellencamp.
2004 – U2’s Bono announces that a briefcase of notes and lyrics stolen from him back in 1981 has been returned to him. The briefcase was found in an attic in Tacoma, Wash.
2004 – Lenny Kravitz is sued after a backed-up toilet allegedly causes over $300,000 worth of damage to a neighbour’s apartment in New York.
2010 – Slash and Myles Kennedy perform acoustically on Australia’s ‘Max Sessions.

Thursday 19 October 2017

Today in rock history 19th October

1946 - Keith Reid-lyricist for Procol Harum is born.
1948 – Doobie Brothers vocalist/guitarist Patrick Simmons is born in Aberdeen, Wash.
1957 – No. 1 Chart Toppers Pop Hit: “Jailhouse Rock,” Elvis Presley.
1966 – The Yardbirds land in New York to kick off their first American tour. Jeff Beck leaves after playing two dates, leaving Jimmy Page to take over the lead guitar slot.
1968 – Eighteen-year-old guitarist Peter Frampton plays with the Small Faces during a London concert. He later joins lead singer Steve Marriott in Humble Pie.
1968 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono appear at Marylebone Magistrate’s Court to answer charges of marijuana possession. They are remanded on bail until November 28.
1974 – At London’s Island studios, Jimmy Page records “Scarlet” with Keith Richards and Traffic’s Rik Grech. Vocal duties are handled by Richards. Page pronounces the track “great, really good.”
1981 - During Bob Dylan’s concert at the Holiday Star Theater in Merrillville, IN, Dylan called up wheelchair-bound friend Larry Kegan for the encore & let him perform Chuck Berry’s “No Money Down” while Dylan played the tenor saxophone.
1993 – Pearl Jam release their second album Vs., which tops the chart the following week despite featuring a llama on the cover.
2004 – Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger and Eurythmics co-founder Dave Stewart are the lead performers on the “Alfie” soundtrack
2004 – Nirvana’s Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic appear in public together for the first time in ten years at a Las Vegas rally for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.
2005 – U2’s Bono has lunch with George W. Bush in the White House. They discuss G8, fighting AIDS, and probably their favourite Bible story.
2007 – Johnny Marr was made a visiting professor of music at the University of Salford in Manchester.

Wednesday 18 October 2017

Today in rock history 18th October

1926 – Chuck Berry is born in St. Louis as Charles Edward Anderson “Chuck” Berry
1949 – REO Speedwagon guitarist Gary Richrath is born in Peoria, Ill.
1949 – Joe Egan, Stealers Wheel, is born
1957 – Paul McCartney makes his live debut with the Quarrymen at the New Clubmoor Hall in Liverpool, England.
1964 – The Animals begin their first headlining tour in Manchester, England. Supporting them are Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent, Tommy Tucker, and the Nashville Teens.
1966 – The Jimi Hendrix Experience play before 14,500 people at the Paris Olympia less than a week after they’ve formed. The band is the support for French superstar Johnny Hallyday.
1967 – John Lennon stars as Private Gripweed in Richard Lester’s film How I Won the War, which opens tonight at London’s Premiere Theatre.
1968 – Police raid John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s apartment in London and arrest the couple. They are charged with possession of marijuana.
1969 – Jefferson Airplane’s Paul Kantner is arrested for marijuana possession in Hawaii.
1986 – Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie marries Eduardo DeMendoca
1986 – Huey Lewis and the News went to No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Fore!’
1989 - During a Guns N’ Roses set supporting The Rolling Stones at the Los Angeles Coliseum, Axl Rose announced he was quitting the band. The following night, Rose apologized for saying that he would quit & delivered a five minute anti-drug oration.
1997 – Former Alice Cooper guitarist Glen Buxton dies at age 49.
2010 –Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason has said the legendary rock band may get back together to play concerts for charity.

Today in rock history 17th October

1946 – Jim Tucker, original guitarist with the Turtles, is born in Los Angeles.
1962 – The Beatles perform on TV for the first time today, on the British programme People and Places.
1963 – The Beatles have lunch with four Boyfriend magazine contest winners at the Old Vienna restaurant in London. Later in the day the group records The Beatles’ Christmas Record.
1967 – Bob Dylan begins recording John Wesley Harding.
1967 – The Beatles attend a memorial service for manager Brian Epstein at the New London Synagogue.
1968 – Jose Feliciano releases “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Fans booed Feliciano when he performed his meandering interpretation earlier during the 1968 World Series.
1969 – The Kinks play their first concert in the U.S. in four years, supporting Spirit at New York’s Fillmore East. The American Federation of Musicians banned the group from playing there after a disastrous 1965 tour during which the band spent as much time fighting onstage as playing music.
1973 – In a court in Nice, France, Keith Richards and his girlfriend Anita Pallenberg receive suspended sentences of one year for drug possession. Both also have to pay a $1,000 fine and Richards is barred from entering France for two years.
1986 – Run-D.M.C.’s remake of “Walk This Way,” a collaboration with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, enters the Top Forty. It becomes the first big rap-rock crossover hit, reaching #4.
1988 – Opel, a collection of previously unreleased material by Syd Barrett, is released in England.
1991 – John Mellencamp is hospitalized in Seattle after suffering dizzy spells during a promotion at a local radio station. His doctor later attributes the problem to “too much coffee, stress and not enough breakfast.”
1999 – Veteran rock band Santana sees its newest release “Supernatural” jump to the top spot at the nation’s retailers. It’s the Carlos Santana-led group’s first No. 1 release in 28 years.
2000 - The piano that John Lennon used to write Imagine was sold to George Michael for $2 million in an auction organized by Mick Fleetwood.
2008 –A slightly revised track listing for the new Guns N’ Roses album, “Chinese Democracy”, has now been posted at BestBuy.com.
2013 –Alex and Kelly Van Halen divorced over 20 years ago, yet Kelly has kept Van Halen as her surname. Now the company that controls the group’s name is suing her for trademark infringement.

Monday 16 October 2017

Today in rock history 16th October

1938 – Iconic anti-singer Nico is born in Cologne, Germany.
1943 – Bassist C.F. “Fred” Turner of Bachman-Turner Overdrive is born.
1947 – Grateful Dead guitarist Bob Weir is born in San Francisco.
1953 – Guitarist Tony Carey, who as well as performing solo was in Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow, is born in Fresno, Calif.
1962 – Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea is born in Melbourne, Australia, as Michael Balzary.
1963 – It’s announced that the Beatles will play at this year’s Royal Command Performance.
1965 – The Beatles record “Day Tripper”
1966 – Grace Slick performs as a member of Jefferson Airplane for the first time at San Francisco’s Fillmore West after Signe Anderson bows out of the group’s lineup. Slick introduces the band to two new songs, “White Rabbit” and “Somebody to Love.”
1968 – George Harrison flies to Los Angeles, where he will produce Jackie Lomax’s 1969 debut, Is This What You Want. It wasn’t.
1972 – Creedence Clearwater Revival announces its decision to split up.
1981 – Bob Dylan kicks off his Shot of Love tour at the Milwaukee Auditorium. It’s his first live outing since his controversial 1979 tour, during which he played only Christian material.
1986 – Chuck Berry plays his 60th Birthdays concert in St. Louis this day in rock history! Eric Clapton and Keith Richards perform at a birthday party for Chuck Berry, who celebrates turning 60 on October 18.
1992 –Sinead O’Connor is booed at a Bob Dylan tribute concert at Madison Square Garden. She replies by reciting the words to Bob Marley’s “War” before being escorted from the stage by Kris Kristofferson.
2002 – Billy Joel checked out of a Connecticut hospital known for treating substance abuse.
2003 –U2 donate $46,000 to the Irish branch of One in Four, a sex abuse charity facing closure due to lack of funds.
2003 – Courtney Love appears in court in an effort to regain custody of her daughter Francis Bean Cobain. The child was placed in the care of Kurt Cobain’s mother after Love was arrested for being under the influence of drugs.
2006 – CBGB, the legendary New York punk club credited with discovering Patti Smith and The Ramones, closed after a final gig by Smith herself.

Today in rock history 15th October

1935 – Barry McGuire, who scored the world’s most miserable No. 1 with “Eve of Destruction,” is born in Oklahoma City.
1942 – Moby Grape drummer Don Stevenson is born in Seattle.
1955 – Buddy Holly (with Bob Montgomery) opens a show for Elvis Presley in Lubbock, Texas.
1960 – Ringo Starr plays with the Beatles for the first time. The group is backing Wally Eymond in a Hamburg studio on his version of “Summertime.” Pete Best was unavailable to drum, and so the skin-beater with Rory Storm & the Hurricanes stepped in.
1964 – Crazed vocalist Screaming Lord Sutch stands for parliamentary election in England.
1965 – At San Francisco State College, Country Joe & the Fish perform at a Vietnam Day Committee Teach-In.
1965, Jimi Hendrix signed his first recording contract, he received $1 and a 1% Royalty on all of his recordings.
1966 – Jefferson Airplane singer and new mom Signe Anderson makes her last appearance with the band at San Francisco’s Fillmore before quitting the group to have a baby. She’s replaced the next day by new singer Grace Slick.
1966 – Pink Floyd and the Soft Machine perform at the All Night Rave, an event sponsored by the English underground newspaper International Times.
1971 – Former teen idol Rick Nelson performs at an oldies show at Madison Square Garden, but is booed when he debuts some new material. He later writes the song “Garden Party” about the experience.
1987 – Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia begins a sold-out two-week solo residency on Broadway.
1989: Eddie Van Halen & Michael Anthony of Van Halen participated in the first World Music Invitational Pro/Am celebrity golf tournament at Stonebridge Ranch in Dallas.
1995: Paul & Linda McCartney made a guest appearance on The Simpsons. They made their appearance on the condition that Lisa Simpson is to remain a vegetarian for the remainder of the program’s run.
1996 – Drummer Tommy Lee of Motley Crue is charged with attacking a cameraman outside a Los Angeles club after the hapless photographer tried to take snaps of him and Pamela Anderson Lee.
2003 – Ozzy Osbourne cancels his European tour after undergoing treatment for a nervous tremor. His doctors say the ailing rocker does not have Parkinson’s Disease.
2003 – One-time KISS guitarist Bruce Kulick is shot in the right leg outside of Los Angeles’ Rainbow Room during a melee by some irate club-goers.

Today in rock history 14th October

1946 – Singer Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues is born in Swindon, England.
1955 – Buddy Holly opens for Bill Haley & the Comets in Lubbock, Texas. His performance is seen by Nashville talent scout Eddie Crandell, who sets up a demo session for Holly and his band.
1957 – The Elvis Presley classic, ‘Jailhouse Rock’ was released.
1964 – Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts marries Shirley Ann Arnold in Bradford
1966 – At London’s All Saints Hall, Pink Floyd play their first set made up entirely of their psychedelic originals after a band decision to dump its R&B direction.
1967 – The Who release their single “I Can See for Miles” in Britain and the U.S. Pete Townshend is so sure he has a No. 1 on his hands that he’s described as crushed when the single reaches only No. 12 in the U.K.
1971 – John Fogerty is sued by the owners of Specialty Records. Their suit accuses Fogerty of plagiarizing the song “Good Golly, Miss Molly” in his song “Travelin’ Band,” but it’s later dropped.
1972 – In Adelaide, Australia, Joe Cocker and six members of his band are arrested after police allegedly discover marijuana and heroin in their dressing rooms. Cocker is later released on bail.
1993 – Rolling Stone magazine ranks the video for Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” as the No.1 video in video history
1994 – At a Pink Floyd concert at London’s Earls Court, a section of seating collapses, injuring several people
1998 – B.B. King picks up a lifetime achievement award at the Music of Black Origin (MOBO) Awards, held at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
2003 – Ozzy Osbourne seeks treatment for Parkinson’s Disease-like tremors and postpones a fall European tour, The veteran rock artist says in a statement, “I have been in Boston for the last three weeks, having medical tests for a tremor which has become markedly worse over the last two years.”
2003 – Montreal punk rock fans destroy cars and smash windows after Total Chaos and the Exploited cancel a show. Members of the Exploited were refused admission to Canada.
2003 – Troubled Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver frontman Scott Weiland files for divorce from his wife of three years.
2004 - Eric Clapton was banned from driving in France after being caught driving 134mph, 53mph above the speed limit in his Porsche 911 Turbo
2007 - Ted Nugent made a voice cameo on The Simpsons where he was on the phone telling a prisoner voiced by Steve Buscemi to vote no on a fictional proposition that banned crossbows in public schools, a jab on Nugent’s political stance.

Friday 13 October 2017

Today in rock history 12th October

1957 – Little Richard publicly renounces rock `n’ roll and embraces Christianity during a tour in Australia.
1970 – Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s “Jesus Christ Superstar” debuts on Broadway.
1971 – Early rock’n’roller Gene Vincent of “Be Bop A Lula” fame dies at age 36 from a ruptured stomach ulcer.
1975: Rod Stewart performed his final concert with The Faces at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, NY.
1978 – Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols is arrested for the murder of his girlfriend, Nancy Spungen.
1987 - Twisted Sister singer Dee Snider announced that he was leaving the band. Snider later reunited with Twisted Sister ten years later.
1991 – Nirvana’s album, “Nevermind” hits No. 1 on the Chart Toppers Album chart, going gold. The same day, Nirvana plays “Saturday Night Live.”
1999 – David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash and Neil Young appear at New York’s Madison Square Garden to announce their forthcoming album and CSNY2K tour.
2001 – Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland quits the band. A post on the group’s Web site states, “Limp Bizkit and Wes Borland have amicably decided to part ways. Both Limp Bizkit and Borland will continue to pursue their respective musical careers.”
2005 – Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee suffered minor burns at a concert in Casper, Wyoming during a pyrotechnics explosion. Lee was treated at a local hospital for the injuries to his arm and face, which occurred while he was suspended from a wire 30 feet above the stage.
2011 –Guitar maker ‘Gibson faces criminal investigation over claims it violated environmental laws for importing exotic and protected woods.
2011 – Chickenfoot Announces 5-date tour in Europe.

Wednesday 11 October 2017

Today in rock history 11th October

1946 – Born on this day, Gary Mallaber, drums, Steve Miller Band.
1955 – Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash kicked off an eleven date tour of the Southern US states in Abilene, Texas.
1962 – Born on this day, Andy McCoy, Hanoi Rocks.
1962 – Born on this day, Scott Johnson, Gin Blossoms
1965 – The Beatles release their single “Roll Over Beethoven,” a cover of the Chuck Berry classic.
1967 – The Doors appeared at Danbury High School, Danbury, Connecticut. Before the group came on stage an announcer told the audience not to leave their seats during the performance or they would be escorted out of the venue. There was also a beauty pageant just prior to The Doors coming on stage.
1967 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono open their joint exhibition Half-a-Wind Show at London’s Lisson Gallery.
1968 – During a Beatles recording session at Abbey Road six saxophonists recorded parts for ‘Savoy Truffle’ for the forthcoming White Album. George Harrison distorted the saxophones to get the desired sound.
1969 – The No. 1 album in America today is Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Green River.
1975 - The first episode of Saturday Night Live then titled Saturday Night premiered on NBC. The episode was hosted by George Carlin, first musical guests were Janis Ian & Billy Preston & the bandleader was Paul Shaffer.
1983 - Kiss performed their first concert without makeup at the Cascais Hall in Lisbon, Portugal.
1990 – Drummer Dave Grohl played his first gig with Nirvana when they appeared at the North Shore Surf Club in Olympia.
1997 – Gregg Allman, Bo Diddley, Keb’Mo’, Buddy Guy and John Hiatt are among the musicians who perform at a tribute to Muddy Waters at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
1999 – Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee was released on $5000 bail after facing charges relating to a riot at a gig in North Carolina in 1997. Lee allegedly incited the crowd to attack a guard and had also poured a drink over his head.
2005 – Rod Stewart received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to honour a career spanning more than 40 years.
2005 – Freddie Mercury’s 1974 Rolls Royce was offered for auction on eBay by his family. The Silver Shadow luxury vehicle had already attracted bids of up to £8,400. It came with an unused box of tissues the singer always stored in the car.
2006 – Singer Justin Hawkins announces that he has left British band the Darkness to continue his drug rehabilitation.
2010 - Vince Neil will go to trial on January 6 on drunken driving and speeding charges stemming from his recent arrest.

Tuesday 10 October 2017

Today in rock history 10th October

1902 – The Gibson Mandolin guitar company was formed.
1939 – The real Eleanor Rigby died in her sleep of unknown causes at the age of 44.
1955 – David Lee Roth is born in Bloomington, Ind
1959 – The Quarry Men played at the Casbah Coffee Club, Liverpool.
1960 – Born on this day, Eric Martin, singer, Mr. Big
1970 – Black Sabbath were at No.1 on the UK chart with their second album ‘Paranoid.’
1978 – Joe Perry and Steve Tyler from Aerosmith were injured after a cherry bomb was thrown on stage during a gig in Philadelphia. The group performed behind a safety fence for the rest of the tour.
1979 – Fleetwood Mac were awarded a star on the Hollywood walk of fame..
1980 – The funeral took place of Led Zeppelin’s drummer John Bonham. ‘Bonzo’ was found dead at guitarist’s Jimmy Page’s house of what was described as asphyxiation, after inhaling his own vomit after excessive vodka consumption.
1987 -  ZZ Top announced that they made an advance booking for the first passenger flight to the Moon.
1992 – Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash (Saul Hudson) marries Renee Suran in Marina Del Rey, Calif.
1995 - Peter Frampton released the long awaited follow-up to his record-setting live album released 19 years earlier. Its title: Frampton Comes Alive II.
2006 – Sting releases “Songs From the Labyrinth,” an album of 16th century lute songs.
2011 – Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell tied the knot.