Today in rock history 19th March

1946 – Born on this day, Paul Atkinson, guitar, The Zombies, 1953 – Born on this day, Billy Sheehan, bass guitarist, Mr. Big, 1958 – During his only UK tour, Buddy Holly played two shows at the Regal Cinema in Hull, Yorkshire. 1964 – UK Prime Minister Harold Wilson presented The Beatles with their awards for show business personalities of the year for 1963 at London’s Dorchester Hotel. 1965 – Tailor And Cutter Magazine ran an article asking The Rolling Stones to start wearing ties. The current fashion did not include wearing ties with shirts and many tie-makers were facing financial disaster. Mick Jagger said of the appeal, “The trouble with a tie is that it could dangle in the soup. It is also something extra to which a fan can hang when you are trying to get in and out of a theater.” 1968 – The Jimi Hendrix Experience played two shows at The Capitol Theatre, Ottawa, Canada. 1970 – David Bowie marries his first wife, Angie Barnett. 1971 – No. 1 Chart Toppers Pop Hit: “Me and Bobby McGee,” Janis Joplin. The song is the second posthumous No. 1 song of the rock era 1974 – Jefferson Airplane is re-named Jefferson Starship. 1976 – Paul Kossof guitarist with Free and Back Street Crawler died of heart failure on a flight from Los Angeles to New York. 1982 – Randy Rhoads, the lead guitarist for heavy metal star Ozzy Osbourne, is killed when the plane in which he is flying buzzes Osbourne’s tour bus and crashes into a house. 1996 – The second Beatles Anthology series was released. The album featured ‘Real Love’, a track the remaining members of the Beatles recorded using an old demo track of John Lennon. 2001 - Aerosmith, Queen, Steely Dan, Paul Simon & Michael Jackson were some of the acts inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Kid Rock inducted Aerosmith, Dave Grohl of Nirvana and the Foo Fighters inducted Queen, & Moby inducted Steely Dan. 2002 – Sharon Osbourne announces that the line-up for this year’s Ozzfest will include her husband Ozzy, System of a Down, P.O.D., Audioslave and Drowning Pool. 2003 – War isn’t a joke for comedy rockers Tenacious D. They cancel the remainder of their European tour as the U.S. begins bombing Baghdad.

Today in rock history 18th March

1947 – Barry Wilson (Paramount/Procol Harum) is born this day 1950 – John Hartman (Doobie Brothers) is born this day 1959 – EMI announces that it has now stopped all production of 78 rpm discs. 1965 – Rolling Stones earn their ‘Bad Boy’ reputation when the group members are fined £5 each for urinating in front of a public filling station after a concert in Essex. 1965 – John Lennon gave his friend and ex-Quarry Man Pete Shotton £20,000 to open Hayling Supermarkets. Lennon, George Harrison and Shotton became joint directors of Hayling Supermarkets Ltd. 1966 – Born on this day, Jerry Cantrell, Alice In Chains, 1967 – Pink Floyd signed to EMI Records in the UK. 1968 – Steve Miller releases Sittin’ In a Circle, his debut single. 1972 – Ringo Starr films Marc Bolan concert at Wembley for Born to Boogie. 1972 – No. 1 Chart Toppers Pop Hit: “Heart of Gold,” Neil Young. The song is Neil Young’s only solo single to reach the top 30. 1973 – Pink Floyd perform Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety at London’s Earls Court. 1975 – The movie version of the Who’s Tommy premieres in New York, presented in “Quintophonic Sound.” 1976 – The Film ‘The Man Who Fell To Earth’ featuring David Bowie premiered in London. 1978 – California Jam 2 draws 250,000 fans to Ontario Motor Speedway near Los Angeles to hear Ted Nugent, Aerosmith, Foreigner and others. 1991 – After attending an in-store promo appearance U2 were fined £500 ($850) after being found guilty of selling condoms illegally at the Virgin Megastore, Dublin. 1994 – In a tragic forerunner of later events, police confiscate 4 guns and 25 boxes of ammo after Kurt Cobain’s wife, Courtney Love calls them, fearing he would commit suicide. 1994 – Rolling Stones: After Bill Wyman confirms that he will no longer tour with The Rolling Stones the band announces Darryl Jones as his replacement on bass. 1996 – The Sex Pistols announced their comeback at the 100 Club in London, 20 years after they had split. 1997 – Taylor Hawkins replaces William Goldsmith as the Foo Fighters’ drummer. Goldsmith announced earlier that he would be leaving due to creative differences. 2000 – U2 are awarded the Freedom of the City of Dublin in a ceremony at which they perform four songs. Bono also takes advantage of the honour and brings some sheep to graze on a Dublin green. 2002 – The Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Eddie Vedder, lead singer of Pearl Jam and close friend of the Ramones. 2003 – Former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted joins Ozzy Osbourne’s band. 2004 – Courtney Love exposed her breasts during an appearance on David Letterman’s TV talk show. 2008 – Heather Mills’ evidence in her divorce case with Sir Paul McCartney was “inconsistent, inaccurate” and “less than candid”, according to judge Mr Justice Bennett.

Today in rock history 17th March

1941 – Paul Kantner (Jefferson Airplane) is born 1951 – Thin Lizzy guitarist Scott Gorham is born in Santa Monica, Calif. 1962 – Alexis Korner’s Blues Incorporated, featuring guitarist Alexis Korner and drummer Charlie Watts, begin a Saturday-night residency at London’s Ealing Jazz club. During their tenure there, young guitarist and R&B fanatic Brian Jones will join the band. 1967 – Working at Abbey Road studios in London, The Beatles finished the recoding of ‘She’s Leaving Home’ after adding backing vocals to the track. Harpist Sheila Bromberg who was part of the string section on the track became the first woman to play on a Beatles recording. 1967 – Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins is born in Chicago. 1971 – Peter Gabriel married his girlfriend Jill. They were together on and off for 17 years. 1973 – Dr Hook’s single ‘On The Cover Of Rolling Stone peaked at No.6 on the US chart. 1975 – Born on this day, Justin Hawkins, vocals, The Darkness. 1976 – The Bob Dylan song “Hurricane” prompts boxer Rubin “Hurricane”‘ Carter’s retrial. 1990 – Rick Grech, bass player with Family, Blind Faith and Traffic died of kidney and liver failure. 1998 – Van Halen release their first album with new singer Gary Cherone, titled Van Halen III. 2002 – Nickelback started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Silver Side Up.’ 2003 – Paul McCartney tops the Rolling Stone rich list, with earnings of $72 million. 2003 – Dire Straits singer-guitarist Mark Knopfler is hospitalized after his motorcycle collides with a car in London. He suffers a broken collarbone and six broken ribs. 2004 – The Kinks singer Ray Davies received his CBE medal from the Queen at Buckingham Palace for services to the music industry. 2005 – Justin Hawkins from The Darkness became the centre of the latest hands-on activity at Madame Tussauds in London. His wax double would judge the air guitar skills of visitors who would be invited to play an imaginary guitar with smoke and music pumping out. Hawkins said: ‘I find the process of air guitaring rather silly. What makes a good air guitarist? Alcohol. ‘ 2005 – Former Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant is presented with his lifetime achievement Grammy award at the South By Southwest (SXSW) music festival.

Rock Talk - Billy Gibbons

Stations list available via the website, dominicforbes.org Part 1 1. ZZ Top - La grange 2. ZZ Top - Got me under pressure 3. ZZ Top & Jeff Beck - Sixteen tons 4. ZZ Top - Tush 5. ZZ Top - TV dinners 6. ZZ Top - Legs Part 2 1. ZZ Top - Viva Las Vegas 2. ZZ Top - Sleeping bag 3. ZZ Top - Rough boy 4. ZZ Top - I gotsa get paid 5. ZZ Top - Sharp dressed man

Timesweep 18th March

The widest variety of classic rock and some pleasing features are here every week. Stations list available via the website, dominicforbes.org Part 1 We start with a look at families 1. Guns 'N' Roses - Sweet child of mine 2. Family - Burlesque 3. Crosby, Stills & Nash - Teach your children 4. Pearl Jam - Daughter 5. Kansas - Carry on wayward son 6. David Bowie - Boys keep swinging Part 2 1. Muddy Waters - Mannish boy 2. Harry Chapin - Cats in the cradle 3. Fleetwood Mac - Man of the world 4. Genesis - Mama 5. Ozzy Osbourne - Mama I'm coming home 6. The Who - I can't explain Part 3 Back to 1971 1. Deep Purple - Fireball 2. Badfinger - No matter what 3. The Who - Baba O' Reilly 4. Jethro Tull - Aqualung Part 4 1. The Rolling Stones - Wild horses 2. Slade - Coz I luv u 3. Free - My brother Jake Part 5 1. The Doors - Love her madly 2. PaulMcCartney - Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey 3. John Kongas - He's gonna step on you again 4. T-Rex - Hot love Part 6 It's this week in rock history 1. Ozzy Osbourne - I don't know 2. Queen - Save me 3. Alice Cooper - Only women bleed 4. Rush - Closer to the heart Part 7 This week's birthdays 1. The Zombies - She's not there 2. Mr Big - To be with you 3. Asia - Heat of the moment 4. Eddie Money - Take me home tonight Part 8 1. Supertramp - Breakfast in America 2. John Lee Hooker - Boom boom 3. Elton John - Tiny dancer 4. Elton John - The bitch is back Part 9 Back to 1964 1. The Kinks - You really got me 2. Rolling Stones - It's all over now 3. Pretty Things - Don't bring me down 4. Nashville Teens - Tobacco road 5. The Beatles - I saw her standing there Part 10 1. Them - Baby please don't go 2. The Zombies - She's not there 3. Bob Dylan - The times they are a changing 4. Swinging Blue Jeans - Good golly miss Molly Part 11 And finally, a look at 1979 1. Cheap Trick - I want you to want me 2. The Cars - Just what I needed 3. Meatloaf - Paradise by the dashboard light 4. Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Can't stop

Brit Rock 18th March

Brit Rock 18th March The widest variety of rock and some pleasing features are here every week. Stations list available via the website, dominicforbes.org 1. Supertramp - Breakfast in America 2. Def Leppard - Pour some sugar on me 3. ZZ Top - TV dinners 4. Billy Joel - Scenes from an Italian resturant 5. Anders Bossell - Maybe I will go to Spain 6. Heart - Crazy on you 7. Jefferson Starship - Count on me 8. Starship - Jane 9. Joe Satriani - Surfing with the alien 10. The Who - You better you bet 11. Metallica - Enter sandman 12. Roxy Music - A song for Europe 13. Nightwish - Over the hills and far away 14. Focus - Hocus pocus 15. Trust - Anti social 16. The Scorpions - No one like you 17. U2 - The fly 18. Deep Purple - Knocking at your back door 19. Europe - Superstitious 20. Him - Wings of a butterfly 21. Rasmus - In the shadows 22. The Scorpions - Coast to coast Hour three is non stop rock from Ireland 1. The Pogues - Dirty old town 2. Thin Lizzy - Waiting for an alibi 3. Gary Moore - Over the hills and far away 4. Chris DeBurgh - In a country churchyard 5. The Cranberries - Zombie 6. The Undertones - Teenage kicks 7. The Mama's Boys - Runaway dreams 8. Van Morrison - In the days before rock and roll 9. U2 - All I want is you 10. Rory Gallagher - Tatoo'd lady 11. Saw Doctors - I used ta lover her 12. Boomtown Rats - I don't like Mondays 13. Horslips - Dearg doom

Today in rock history 16th March

1948, Born on this day, Michael Bruce, guitar, Alice Cooper Band. 1954 – Born on this day, Nancy Wilson, vocals, Heart, 1958 – The Champs go to No. 1 with “Tequila.” 1959 – Plans announced for the first American rock-and-roll package tour to hit Europe. Performers including Bobby Darin, Conway Twitty, Duane Eddy and Pony Tails are contracted, along with UK star Cliff Richard. 1964 – DJ Alan Freed is charged with tax evasion 1964 – Ringo Starr is elected vice president of the Leeds University Law Society. 1967 – Pink Floyd begin sessions at Abbey Road studios for their debut album, Piper at the Gates of Dawn. 1972 – John Lennon lodged an appeal with the US immigration office in New York, after he was served with deportation orders arising from his 1968 cannabis possession conviction. 1977 – After being with the label for just six days The Sex Pistols were fired from A&M due to pressure from other label artists and its Los Angeles head office. 1979 – Twisted Sister sell out New York’s Palladium. It’s the first time an unsigned band has headlined and filled the 3,000-seat theater. 1989 – MTV America launched a contest to give away Jon Bon Jovi’s childhood home. 1991 – Eddie Van Halen and his wife, actress Valerie Bertinelli, have a son. The couple names the child Wolfgang Van Halen. 1992 – During a Metallica gig at Orlando Arena fans dangled an usher by his ankles from the balcony as trouble broke out at the concert. The band was charged $38,000 (£22,353) for repairs and cleaning after the audience trashed the building. 1993 - Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page & Whitesnake singer David Coverdale released their first and only album together titled Coverdale and Page 1996 – The Ramones performed what they claimed would be their last ever date in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 2004 – Courtney Love shows up two hours late for a preliminary hearing in Los Angeles on drugs possession charges. During the proceedings, she fires her legal team, only to declare them rehired after a warning from the judge. 2004 – Mick Jones of the Clash joins the Libertines onstage at a Love Music Hate Racism Gig in London. The guitarist performs the Clash hit “Should I Stay or Should I Go” with the band. 2005 – Billy Joel checked into a rehabilitation centre for alcohol abuse. A statement from the 55-year-old singer’s spokesperson put his latest problems down to “a recent bout of severe gastrointestinal distress.”