Thursday 31 December 2015

Today in rock history 31st December

Today in rock history Thursday 31st December
1942 – Police guitarist Andy Summers is born
 1943 – Kinks bassist Peter Quaife is born in Tavistock
 1947 – The Guess Who’s singer Burton Cummings is born in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
 1951 – Aerosmith bassist Tom Hamilton is born in Colorado Springs, Colo.
 1965 – The Beatles begin a European tour in Paris.
 1965 – John Lennon’s father Alfred releases a U.K. single today, titled “That’s My Life (My Love And My Home).”
 1961 – Janis Joplin has her first singing engagement at Beaumont, Texas’ Halfway House.
 1966 – George Harrison’s New Year’s plans are foiled when London nightclub Annabel’s bars him from admission because he’s not wearing a tie.
 1968 – Vanilla Fudge and an unknown Led Zeppelin perform a New Year’s Eve gig in Portland, Ore.
1969 – Jimi Hendrix unveils his new group Band of Gypsys at New York’s Fillmore East. The concert, featuring the rhythm section of Billy Cox and Buddy Miles backing Hendrix, later appears on the album Band of Gypsys.
 1969 – BBC television broadcast the program Man of the Decade, who is … John Lennon! Rolling Stone names Lennon its man of the year, while Lennon himself admits to the New Musical Express that he’s considering leaving the Beatles.
 1970 – Paul McCartney files suit against John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison as the Beatles Co., effectively ending the band.
 1971 – Bob Dylan makes a special appearance at the Band’s New Year’s Eve concert at the New York Academy of Music.
 1973 – Having only recorded three tracks, Pink Floyd abandon their idea to make an album using only household objects and settle for recording Wish You Were Here instead.
 1974 – Ron Wood denies reports that he will join the Rolling Stones as a replacement for the recently departed Mick Taylor.
 1974 – A document signed by all the Beatles confirms the dissolution of their partnership.
 1978 – San Francisco’s Winterland Theater closes its doors after a farewell performance by the Grateful Dead and the Blues Brothers.
 1982 – The E Street Band’s guitarist Miami/Little Steven Van Zandt marries Maureen Santora in Asbury Park, N.J. His boss Bruce Springsteen is the best man. Little Richard, who conducted the ceremony, duets with Percy Sledge on “When a Man Loves a Woman” at the reception.
 1985 – Teen idol and country artist Rick Nelson dies in a plane crash with his fiance. The pair were on their way to a New Year’s Eve concert in Dallas. He was 45.
 1991 – Guns N’ Roses play a New Year’s Eve show at the Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami.
 1996 – Paul McCartney is awarded a knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II.
 1999 – John Fogerty sues his lawyer. He alleges that he was provided with incompetent legal advice during a 1985 copyright infringement lawsuit during which he was accused of plagiarizing himself.
 2003 – Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Elton John and Kiss perform on Dick Clark’s 32nd annual New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.
 2003 – The White Stripes and the Flaming Lips play a New Year’s Eve gig in Chicago. At midnight, both bands jam on the Stripes’ “We’re Going to Be Friends.”
 2003 – Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson is arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest and drunken violent behavior at a New Year’s Eve party at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Naples, Fla. Officers say a stun gun was needed to subdue the Canadian prog rock great.
 2004 – The Who’s Roger Daltrey is made a Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to music and charity work.
 2009 – Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi from Status Quo were both appointed OBEs for services to music and charity.

Wednesday 30 December 2015

Today in rock history 30th December

Today in rock history Wednesday 30th December
1928 – Bo Diddley (Otha Ellas Bates McDaniel) is born in McComb, Miss.
 1946 – Patti Smith is born in Chicago.
 1947 – Jeff Lynne is born in Birmingham, England. The singer-songwriter is a member of Electric Light Orchestra and the Traveling Wilburys.
  1965 -The Kinks, The Who, Manfred Man, The Hollies and Gerry and the Pacemakers all appeared on tonight’s UK TV pop show ‘Shindig!’
 1966 – Pink Floyd and Soft Machine appeared at the UFO presents Night Tripper at the Blarney Club, London.
 1968 – Led Zeppelin appeared at Gonzaga University Gymnasium, Spokane on their first North American tour supporting Vanilla Fudge.
  1972 – Brownsville Station, Sha-Na-Na and Bruce Springsteen (who was the opening act), all appeared of the Ohio Theatre, Columbus, Ohio.
 1978 – Emerson, Lake & Palmer announce their break-up.
  1989 – Krist Novoselic of Nirvana marries Shelli Dilley in Tacoma, Wash.
 1991 – Bruce Springsteen and wife Patti Scialfa have a daughter, Jessica Rae Springfield. She is the couple’s second child.
  2001 – Nickelback went to No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘How You Remind Me’.
  2002 – The funeral of former Clash singer and guitarist Joe Strummer took place in London. Strummer had died of a suspected heart attack on 22nd December.
 2006 – Veteran British singer Rod Stewart is among the music industry stalwarts feted in the Queen’s New Year Honours list. Stewart is made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), for services to music.
 2010 – Rocker Axl Rose has been voted the best frontman of all time, ahead of stars including Freddie Mercury and John Lennon.
The Guns N’ Roses singer gained the most votes to take the top spot in a Musicradar.com poll, fighting off competition from Queen star Mercury, who landed in second place.
Led Zeppelin icon Robert Plant came in third place, while Ronnie James Dio – who passed away earlier this year – claimed the fourth spot as the frontman of Black Sabbath and Heaven & Hell. Beatles legend Lennon rounded out the top five.
2011 – Iron Maiden’s Number Of The Beast narrator Barry Clayton passes away.

Tuesday 29 December 2015

Today in rock history 29th December

Today in rock history Tuesday 29th December
1942 – Ray Thomas of the Moody Blues is born in Stourton-on-Severn, England.
 1946 – Marianne Faithfull is born in London, the daughter of a British university lecturer and an Austrian baroness.
 1947 – Rock drummer Cozy Powell, who’s played with the Jeff Beck Group and Rainbow, is born.Fastest drummer in the world.
1953 – Badfinger drummer Mike Gibbons, one of the few surviving members of the band, is born.
 1962 – While in London, Bob Dylan performs at the Troubadour folk club.
 1966 – working at Abbey Road studios, London, The Beatles began work on the new Paul McCartney song ‘Penny Lane’.
1966 – The Jimi Hendrix Experience made their debut on the UK TV show ‘Top Of The Pops’ performing ‘Hey Joe’.
1966 – Born on this day, Bryan Holland, vocals, guitar, The Offspring.
 1967 – Singer-guitarist Dave Mason leaves Traffic to start a solo career.
 1975 – Grace Slick divorces her Jefferson Airplane cohort Paul Kantner.
  1980 – Tim Hardin dies from a heroin overdose just six days after his 39th birthday.
2000 – A federal appeals court rules that bassist Nicholas Kussbaum can continue to bill himself as a former member of Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf’s John Kay had invoked a 1980 contract in which Kussbaum agreed not to emphasize his ties with the band.
 2006 – The wife of rock singer Marilyn Manson, Burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese filed for divorce after just a year of marriage.
  2010 – Slash has released his iTunes Session EP featuring Myles Kennedy.

Monday 28 December 2015

Today in rock history 28th December

Today in rock history Monday 28th December
1946 – Edgar Winter is born in Beaumont, Texas.
  1947 – Dick Diamonde, bassist with “Friday on my Mind” hit-makers the Easybeats, is born in Hilversum, Holland.
  1963 – In today’s New Yorker is an interview with Beatles manager Brian Epstein. It’s the first serious press the Beatles have received in the United States.
 1967 – Tonight at the Oxford New Theatre in England, the Lindsay Kemp Mime Troupe performs Pierrot in Turquoise. Among the cast is the young David Bowie.
 1968 – The Miami Festival kicks off, drawing 100,000 people over its three days for a line-up that includes Jose Feliciano, Procol Harum, and Fleetwood Mac. It’s the first major rock festival held on the east coast.
 1968 – Over in the UK, the Rolling Stones enter the charts at No. 3 with Beggars Banquet.
  1968 – Led Zeppelin play their first ever gig in Canada at Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum supporting Vanilla Fudge and the MC5.
  1971 – Sha Na Na performs tonight at Carnegie Hall. The MC for the event is the Who’s Keith Moon, one of their biggest fans.
 1972 – Mick and Bianca Jagger arrive in Managua, Nicaragua to search for Bianca’s mother in the wake of an earthquake that has devastated the city. They bring with them medical supplies. Bianca’s mother is eventually found safe and well.
 1975 – At a gun show in Spokane, Wash., guest Ted Nugent has a gun pulled on him by an attendee. David Helfer is wrestled to the ground by the audience and security guards and later charged with “intimidating with a weapon.”
  1983 – Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys drowns while swimming near his boat in the harbor at Marina del Ray, Calif.
  2003 – The Who’s Pete Townshend tells a London newspaper he contemplated suicide after police arrested him for accessing a child porn Web site. Charges were later dropped.
 2005 – Pink Floyd were voted the greatest rock stars ever in a survey of 58,000 listeners from UK radio station Planet Rock.
 2010 – Whitesnake, Mr. Big and Buckcherry are confirmed for Sweden Rock Festival 2011.

Sunday 27 December 2015

Today in rock history 27th December

Today in rock history Sunday 27th December
1942 – Moody Blues keyboardist and singer Mike Pinder is born in Birmingham.
1944 – Mick Jones of Foreigner is born in London.
  1947 – Drummer Peter Criss (Peter Crisscoula) of Kiss is born in Brooklyn, N.Y.
 1948 – Guitarist Larry Byrom, who has performed with Steppenwolf and Kenny Rogers, is born.
  1952 – Dire Straits guitarist David Knopfler, brother of Mark, is born.
 1960 – The Beatles play a “welcome home” gig in Liverpool after their recent residency in Hamburg, Germany. Stuart Sutcliffe does not appear with them, as he decided to spend the winter in Germany.
  1963 – The London Times declares that Lennon and McCartney are “The Outstanding Composers of 1963,” with music critic Richard Buckle raving that they are “the greatest composers since Beethoven.”
 1963 – In the British pop paper NME, Richard Green reports on rising combo the Rolling Stones.
1964 – The Who appeared at the Ealing Club, Ealing Broadway, London, England.
 1967 – The Doors appeared on the Jonathon Winters Show CBS TV show from Los Angeles, California.
  1967 – Bob Dylan releases his long-awaited follow-up to Blonde on Blonde, John Wesley Harding.
1969 – The Rolling Stones’ Let It Bleed reaches No. 3 in the American album charts. At No. 1 is the Beatles’ Abbey Road, followed by Led Zeppelin II.
  1975 – Queen started a two-week run at No.1 on the UK chart with ‘A Night At The Opera’ the group’s first No.1 album.
  1979 – The second London concert to benefit Kampuchea organized by Paul McCartney has as its headliners Ian Dury and the Clash.
 1999 – Diva Zappa, the late Frank Zappa’s 20-year-old daughter, releases her first record to radio. The single, titled “When the Ball Drops,” is “basically… about my hunt for someone to make out with for the millennium,” Zappa explains.
 2008 – Thieves broke into a house belonging to Allman Brothers Band singer and keyboardist Gregg Allman in Georgia and stole a coin collection, knives and unreleased concert recordings. Two men where charged with the burglary two days later.
 2008 – Singer, songwriter, guitarist, Delaney Bramlett died in Los Angeles from complications after gall bladder surgery. Was a member of Delaney, Bonnie & Friends and worked with George Harrison, The Everly Brothers, John Lennon, Janis Joplin, J.J. Cale, and Eric Clapton.

Saturday 26 December 2015

Today in rock history 26th December

Today in rock history Saturday 26th December
1967 – The Beatles alienate a large portion of their fan base with the premiere of their psychedelic movie Magical Mystery Tour on British TV. Paul McCartney remembered, “Everybody was looking for a plot, but it purposely wasn’t there.” 
1967 – The Doors begin a week long series of concerts at San Francisco’s Fillmore West with Chuck Berry.
1968 – Led Zeppelin gives its U.S. debut performance in Boston.
  1970 – George Harrison’s “My Sweet Lord” becomes the first Beatles solo single to top the Billboard Hot 100.
 1972 – Mick and Bianca Jagger fly to Nicaragua to begin searching for Bianca’s mother, who they fear might have been lost in the recent earthquake that struck Managua.
  1981 – AC/DC started a three-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘For Those About To Rock We Salute You’.
 1991: Ted Nugent gave an anti-drug message to fans before a concert in Saginaw, MI telling fans “Jimi Hendrix thought I was stupid, and I thought he was a god. Now he’s dead, & I’m still Ted.”

2003 – Bruce Springsteen is named the year’s top concert draw. His Rising tour with the E Street Band grossed $115.9 million.

Friday 25 December 2015

Today in rock history 25th December

Today in rock history Friday 25th December
1944 – Canned Heat guitarist Henry Vestine is born in Washington, D.C.
 1945 – The Jimi Hendrix Experience bassist Noel Redding is born in Folkestone, England.
 1954 – The great R&B vocalist Johnny Ace dies in a backstage game of Russian roulette before a Houston Christmas concert. A young Lou Reed was so distraught he wore a black armband to school.
  1957 – Shane McGowan of the Pogues is born in Kent.
 1959 – This morning young Richard Starkey receives his first drum set for Christmas.
 1960 – 12 year old James Taylor receives his first guitar for Christmas.
 1965 – George Harrison proposes to Patti Boyd as they drive to a Christmas dinner in London.
1967 – Paul McCartney becomes engaged to his girlfriend, the actress Jane Asher. However, they never marry.
  1971 – Guitarist Noel Hogan of the Cranberries is born.
 1981 – The inmates of Norfolk Correctional Center outside of Boston are treated to a Christmas concert by the J. Geils Band. Peter Wolf tells the cons, “We wanna be the first to buy you all a free drink on the outside.” 
 1998 – Bryan MacLean, guitarist and singer of folk-rock group Love, dies in Los Angeles of an apparent heart attack. He is 52.

2010 – According to Reuters, Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience to launch second leg in the spring.

Thursday 24 December 2015

Timesweep 26th December


Timesweep 26th December
Part 1
1. INXS - What you need
2. Simple Minds - Sanctify yourself
3. Ozzy Osbourne - Shot in the dark
4. Jackson Browne - In the shape of a heart
5. Stryper - Calling on you

Part 2
1. Pat Benatar - Sex as a weapon
2. Status Quo - Red sky
3. Bruce Hornsby & The Range - Mandolin rain
4. Poison - Cry tough
5. ACDC - Who made who
6. Eddie Money - Take me home tonight
7. Journey - Be good to yourself

Part 3
1. Kiss - Sloe gin
2. Oasis - Cigarettes and alcohol
3. George Thoroughgood - One bourbon, one scotch, one beer
4. John Lee Hooker - Whiskey and women

Part 4
1. ACDC - For those about to rock
2. Queen - Killer queen
3. The Who - I can see for miles

Part 5
1. Starship - jane
2. Rolling Stones - Emotional rescue
3. Rolling Stones - Not fade away

Part 6
1. Moody Blues - The voice
2. Foreigner - Urgent
3. Kiss - Beth
4. Dire Straits - Twisting by the pool

Part 7
1. Rainbow - Since you've been gone
2. Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley
3. Patti Smith - Because the night
4. Jeff Lynne - Every little ting

Part 8
1. The Police - King of pain
2. The Kinks - Lola
3. Guess Who - American woman
4. Aerosmith - Love in an eleavator

Part 9
1. David Bowie - Fame
2. Kiss - Rock and roll all night
3. John fogerty - Rocking all over the world
4. Bad Company - Feel like making love
5. John Lennon - Stand by me

Part 10
1. Pink Floyd - Wish you were here
2. Genesis - The carpet crawlers
3. Fleetwood mac - Rihannon

Part 11
1. Slade - Who does it feel
2. The Who - Squeeze box
3. Fleetwood Mac - Oh well
4. Living Colour - Love rears its ugly head

Brit Rock 26th December

Brit Rock 26th December
1.   Bob Seger And The Silver Bullet Band - Hollywood nights
2.   Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Dani California
3.   The Eagles - Hotel Californai
4.   Billy Joel - Say goodbye to Hollywood
5.   Alter Bridge - Blackbird
6.   Led Zeppelin - Ten years gone
7.   Tuketto - End of summer days
8.   Bring Me The Horizon - Throne
9.   Foo Fighters - Something from nothing
10. Five Finger Death Punch - Wish it all away
11. The Who - Hppy Jack
12. Great White - Once bitten twice shy
13. Rolling Stones - Mixed emotions
14. Stevie Nicks - Stand back
15. Queen - The miracle
16. Marillion - Hooks in you
17. Tom Petty - Running down a dream
18. Chris Rea - The road to hell part 2
19. Aerosmith - What it takes
20. Don Henley - New York minute
21. Eric Clapton - Forever man
22. Poco - Call it love
23. Iggy Pop - The passenger

Part three and it's back to the first generation of rock
1.   Led Zeppelin - Whole lotta love
2.   Yardbirds - Shapes of things
3.   Free - My brother Jake
4.   Beatles - While my guitar gently weeps
5.   Cream - I feel free
6.   Small Faces - After glow of your love
7.   Badfinger - No matter what
8.   The Doors - Love me two times
9.   Juicy Lucy - Who do you love
10. Bob Dylan - Positively 4th street
11. T-Rex - Telegram Sam
12. Rod Stewart - Hot legs
13. Stephen Stills - Love the one you're with
14. Crosby Stills & Nash - Suite; Judy blue eyes
15. Joni Mitchell - Big yellow taxi

Today in rock history 24th December

Today in rock history Thursday 24th December
1945 – Lemmy, the leader of Motorhead and a bassist with Hawkwind, is born in Stoke-on-Trent, England as Ian Willis.
  1946 – Jan Akkerman, guitarist with Dutch rockers Focus, is born in Amsterdam.
 1963 – The Beatles kick off their first series of London Christmas concerts at the Astoria Cinema in Finsbury Park.
  1964 – The Beatles begin a second annual series of Christmas concerts at London’s Hammersmith Odeon.
 1968 – Led Zeppelin leave Britain to start their first American tour. Robert Plant remembered, “It was Christmas, and Christmas away from home for the English is the end of the world.”
 1970 – In today’s Rolling Stone is the first part of an off-the-cuff interview with John Lennon by Jann Wenner. 
 1972 – Police stop a concert by Manfred Mann and His Earth Band at the University of Miami after neighbors complain about the noise. This sparks a riot among the students that lasts for two hours. Mann and His Earth Band sit it out in the dressing room.
  1972 – Yoko Ono’s ex-husband Tony Cox is reported missing with the couple’s daughter Kyoko.
 1973 – Doobie Brothers guitarist Tom Johnson is arrested in Visalia, Calif., for marijuana possession.
  2005 – U2’s Vertigo tour is declared the top-grossing trek of 2005.
2005 – Iggy Pop is fined by the Swiss city of Lucerne for performing his music too loud at the Blue Balls festival in July. Pop and The Stooges were clocked at 102.5 decibels.
 2005 – Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker becomes a father again, as wife Shanna Moakler gives birth to 7 lb. 1 oz. daughter Alabama Louella Barker.
  2009 – Larry Knechtel, the keyboard player for the Soft-Rock group Bread, died following a heart attack at the age of 69.

Wednesday 23 December 2015

Today in rock history 23rd December

Today in rock history Wednesday 23rd December
1940 – Born on this day, Jorma Kaukonen, guitar, Jefferson Airplane.
  1941 – Songwriter Tim Hardin is born in Eugene, Ore.
 1943 – Harry Shearer, the comic actor who portrayed bassist Derek Smalls in This is Spinal Tap, is born.
  1945 – Born on this day, Ron Bushy, Iron Butterfly.
 1949 – Mott the Hoople guitarist Ariel Bender is born.
 1955 – Iron Maiden guitarist Dave Murray is born.
 1959 – Chuck Berry was arrested after taking 14 year old Janice Norine (who unbeknown to Berry was working as a prostitute), across a state line.
1962 – While staying in London, Bob Dylan performs at the King and Queen Pub.
  1966 – The UFO Club opens in London’s Tottenham Court Road. With Pink Floyd as the club’s house band, the venue becomes a hive of psychedelic activity.
 1966 – The BBC airs the last edition of Ready Steady Go! The show had brought audiences such acts as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
1967 – John Lennon writes a get-well-soon letter to his estranged father Alfred, who has taken ill. Lennon also sends Alfred a car so that he can visit his son at Weybridge.
1968 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono, dressed as Santa and Mrs. Claus, distribute presents to the children of Apple’s staff.
 1974 – George Harrison releases one of his rare Christmas records, “Ding Dong, Ding Dong.” It fails to crack the top 30.
 1985 – Judas Priest fans Raymond Belknap and James Vance shot themselves after listening to the Judas Priest album ‘Stained Class.’ The two had drunk beer, smoked marijuana and then listened to hours of the album. Afterwards they took a shotgun to a nearby school playground where Belknap shot and killed himself. Vance then blew away his jaw, mouth and nose but lived for more than three years before dying of effects of the shooting.
 1987 – After Roger Waters threatens to get an injunction preventing Dave Gilmour from trading under the Pink Floyd name, the two sign an agreement that allows Gilmour to continue under the name Pink Floyd. In return, Waters receives a royalty whenever an image from his time with the band is used.
  2002 – Sir Paul McCartney was granted his own coat of arms by the College of Arms. The honour featured a Liver Bird, highlighting his Liverpool connections.
 2003 – The White Stripes’ Jack White turns himself into Detroit Police 13th (Woodward) Precinct. White is accused of assaulting Von Bondies singer Jason Stollsteimer. He is photographed, fingerprinted, and released on a $100 bond.
 2003 – Ozzy Osbourne is removed from intensive care to a private clinic to recuperate from injuries he sustained after crashing an ATV on his English estate.
 2006 – it was reported that U2 singer Bono was to given an honorary knighthood in recognition of his outstanding contribution to music and humanitarian work.
 2007 – The Police were the highest earning touring group for the past year, bringing in nearly $132 million (£66.5m)

Tuesday 22 December 2015

Today in rock history 22nd December

Today in rock history Tuesday 22nd December
1944 – Barry Jenkins, drummer with the Animals, is born in Leicester.
  1948 – Cheap Trick’s baseball-hat-sporting guitarist Rick Nielsen is born in Rockford, Ill.
 1961 – Heading back to Hibbing for Christmas, Bob Dylan stops at the Minneapolis home of Bonnie Beecher. He plays a few Woody Guthrie songs for his friend that are recorded. The set later becomes the basis for Great White Wonder, one of the first ever bootleg releases.
  1963 – In British cinemas today is The Beatles Come to Town, a newsreel documentary by Pathe news.
  1967 – Pink Floyd play the Christmas on Earth Revisited event at London’s Olympia. Throughout the concert, their singer Syd Barrett simply gives the audience a frozen stare.
 1969 – During their stay in Canada, John Lennon and Yoko Ono meet with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and discuss drug abuse with John Munro, the Minister of Health.
 1971 – After Yoko Ono tries to take her daughter from father Tony Cox, a court awards custody of the child Kyoko to him. Ono is allowed to visit Kyoko, but only if she posts a $20,000 bond as a guarantee that she won’t kidnap the child.
  1972 – Led Zeppelin performs at London’s Alexandra Palace. The Melody Maker describes the Zep as “about as perfect a band as you could hope to hear.”
 1973 – Stephen Stills loses a paternity suit brought against him by Harriet B. Tunis. Stills’ defense team had tried to discredit Tunis’ case by asking the jury, “How can you believe a witness who works in the record business?”
  1978 – The Who announce that the Faces’ Kenny Jones will be drafted as a replacement for their late drummer Keith Moon.
 1978 – Todd Rundgren sues the British Musicians Union after they call a stop to a radio concert he was due to give.
  1980 – An album called “The Wit and Wisdom of Ronald Reagan” was released by Stiff Records. The entire disc contained 40 minutes of silence.
1981 – Sotheby’s auction of rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia in London sees an Abbey Road street sign sell for $600 and an autographed program from the Beatles’ Royal Command Performance fetch $2000.
  2002 – Joe Strummer, the Clash’s fiery frontman, dies of heart failure after walking his dog around his hometown of Broomfield, England. He was 50.
 2003 – The White Stripes’ Jack White is charged with assault after an alleged brawl with the Von Bondies’ leader Jason Stollsteimer.
  2008 – Selling for £20,200, A cassette tape of a “drunk” John Lennon recording a cover version of ‘Just Because’ by Lloyd Price.
2010 – Fans rejoice, The Abbey Road zebra crossing in north London, made famous after appearing on a Beatles album cover was given Grade II listed status. The crossing, the first of its kind to be listed, was being recognised for its “cultural and historical importance” following advice from English Heritage. The Beatles were photographed on Abbey Road in Ian Macmillan’s iconic cover shot for the 1969 album ‘Abbey Road’.

Monday 21 December 2015

Today in rock history 21st December

Today in rock history Monday 21st December
1940 – Frank Zappa is born in Baltimore.
 1943 – English blues guitarist Albert Lee is born in Leominster.
 1963 – The Beatles perform their first Christmas show at the Gaumont Theatre in Bradford.
  1964 – Ode to a High Flying Bird, a picture book tribute to Charlie Parker by Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, is published in England.
1967 – The Rolling Stones release their psychedelic stinker Their Satanic Majesties Request in the United States. The album reaches No. 2 in the American album charts, below the Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour. The Beatles themselves hold a costume party at London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel to celebrate their Mystery Tour film’s transmission on the BBC.
  1968 – Janis Joplin and her Kozmic Blues Band perform at the Stax/Volt Yuletide Thing at Memphis’ Mid South Coliseum.
1974 – At the Rainbow Theatre in London, Bad Company are joined for a jam onstage by Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin. The group performs B.B. King’s “Rock Me Baby.”
  1978 – Rod Stewart settles out of court with drummer Mickey Waller, who claims he was not paid royalties for his work on 1974’s Smiler album.
  1979 – California governor Jerry Brown holds a fundraiser at the San Diego Sports Arena, with performances from the Eagles, Chicago and Brown’s girlfriend Linda Ronstadt.
1980 – No. 1 Chart Toppers Pop Hit: “(Just Like) Starting Over,” John Lennon. The song reaches No. 1 13 days after Lennon is shot to death in New York.
 1989 – Carlos Santana becomes the proud father of Angelica Faith.
 1992 – Blues guitarist Albert King dies from a heart attack in Memphis.
 2005 – Sir Elton John marries his longtime partner David Furnish at a civil union service in Windsor.

Sunday 20 December 2015

Today in rock history 20th December

Today in rock history Sunday 20th December
1947 – KISS drummer Peter Criss is born in Brooklyn,New York.
1948 – Born on this day Alan Parsons, British studio audio engineer, musician, and record producer. He was involved with the production of The Beatles’ Abbey Road and Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon for which Pink Floyd credit him as an important contributor. Parsons’ own group, The Alan Parsons Project released several albums.
1956 – Born on this day, Guy Babylon, keyboards, Elton John Band.
963 – In this year’s NME poll, the Beatles win Best World Vocal Group and Best British Vocal Group.
1966 – Born on this day, Chris Robinson, The Black Crowes.
1967 – Singer Ian Anderson forms Jethro Tull with his former John Evans Blues Band mate, bassist Glenn Cornick, in Blackpool.
1972 – Led Zeppelin performs at the Brighton Dome.
1975 – Joe Walsh replaces guitarist Bernie Leadon in the Eagles.
1980 – Motorhead’s bassist Philthy Taylor amuses friends after a gig in Belfast by showing them how he can bounce on his head. He ends up breaking a bone in his neck in the process.
2000 – Founding 10,000 Maniacs guitarist Robert Buck dies of complications resulting from liver failure.
2001 – Tommy Lee exclaimed his ex-wife Pam Anderson an unfit mother. The drummer filed papers with the Los Angeles Superior Court alleging his son’s say to him ‘We hate Mommy’! Also, his son Brandon had been quoted as using the F-word, he learned from his mommy.
2006 – Matthew Fisher, a founding member of Procol Harum, won a High Court battle over who wrote their song A Whiter Shade of Pale. He played organ on the 1967 hit and argued he wrote the distinctive organ melody.
2011 – Paul McCartney to debut 2012 with awesome cover tunes album.

Saturday 19 December 2015

Today in rock history 19th December

Today in rock history Saturday 19th December
1944 – Alvin Lee of Ten Years After is born in Nottingham.
 964 – Beatles for Sale spends its first week at No. 1 in the U.K. album charts. It knocks A Hard Day’s Night off the top spot, where it had spent the last 21 weeks.
  1965 – Paul McCartney attends a preview of the musical Twang! at London’s Shaftsbury Theatre.
 1968 – The struggling Led Zeppelin performs at the Exeter City Hall in England for a fee of 125 pounds. On many dates in the current tour, the band is billed as the New Yardbirds simply to draw an audience.
  1969 – At London’s Great Marlborough Street Magistrates Court Mick Jagger is fined 200 pounds for possession of marijuana. His girlfriend Marianne Faithfull is acquitted of a similar charge.
 1974 – On his first ever solo world tour, George Harrison performs the first of two nights at Madison Square Garden.
  1993 – The Byrds’ original drummer Michael Clarke dies of liver failure in Treasure Island, Fla.
 1997 – Jimmy Rogers, blues guitarist for the original Muddy Waters band, and soloist with such hits as “Walking By Myself,” dies from colon cancer at the age of 73.
 1999 – Goo Goo Dolls narrowly avoid serious injury when the military plane they are aboard skids off the runway at a U.S. Naval Air Station in Sicily, Italy. The group is on its way back from Bosnia, where they had just performed for soldiers at Tuzla army base. The plane attempts two landing approaches before touching down on the third attempt. The plane skids off the runway and then slides back on again, damaging the craft’s landing gear and wing. Passengers exit via emergency chutes onto the runway.
 2003 – Kevin Eckenrod is sentenced to 25 months in prison for impersonating Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti. He was arrested and charged in April for stealing more than a thousand dollars while kissing a misinformed Creed fan.
 2003 – Bruce Springsteen and bandmate Nils Lofgren attend the funeral of their friend, eccentric Wall St. tycoon John Mulheren. Springsteen leads the assembly in Christmas carols, while Lofgren sings “Wind Beneath My Wings.”

Friday 18 December 2015

Today in rock history 18th December

Today in rock history Friday 18th December
1931 – Allen Klein, who managed both the Beatles and Rolling Stones, is born in Newark, N.J.
 1938 – Animals bassist and Jimi Hendrix manager Chas Chandler is born in Heaton, England.
 1943 – Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones is born in Kent.
 1948 – Bill Nelson, formerly of Be-Bop Deluxe, is born in Wakefield, England.
 1953 – Left-handed guitarist Elliot Easton, best known for playing with the Cars, is born in Brooklyn, N.Y.
 1962 – The Beatles make their final trip to Hamburg, West Germany, during their early pre-fame days. They play the Star Club for two weeks.
  1966 – Pink Floyd plays London’s Blarney Club. A week later the club changes its name to the UFO Club and quickly becomes a center of psychedelic music activity.
 1968 – Janis Joplin begins auditions for her Kozmic Blues Band in San Francisco.
 1968 – On the occasion of the Underground Art Movement’s Christmas party in London, John Lennon and Yoko Ono hold a press conference from the inside of a white bag. Ono calls it “Bag-ism.”
1968 – Keith Richards celebrates his 25th birthday today, and leaves for a Brazilian holiday with his girlfriend Anita Pallenberg, Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull.
  1978 – Led Zeppelin finish recording their last studio album In Through the Out Door.
  1983 – Keith Richards gets married to Patti Hansen on his 40th birthday. Mick Jagger acts as best man at the ceremony in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.
 1992 – Canadian radio station CFRA bans the 27-year-old Beatles song “Run For Your Life.” Station officials say the lyric “I’d rather see you dead little girl, than to be with another man” promotes violence against women.
  1993 – Authorities discover the body of Douglas Hopkins in Arizona. The Gin Blossoms songwriter had killed himself on December 5.
 2000 – British music magazine Melody Maker, which began publishing weekly in 1926, publishes its last issue.
 2000 – Bruce Springsteen, backed by the Max Weinberg 7 & Friends, plays the second in a pair of benefit shows at New Jersey’s Asbury Park Convention Hall. The show benefits the Boys & Girls Club of Monmouth County, the Women’s Center of Monmouth County (which serves families affected by domestic violence and sexual assault), the FoodBank of Monmouth & Ocean Counties, and the Parker Family Health Clinic (a free healthcare facility).
 2000 – Kirsty MacColl, a much-loved figure on the British music scene for more than 20 years, dies while swimming on vacation in Cozumel, Mexico. MacColl, 41, is hit by a speedboat while swimming in an area reserved for swimmers. Her two sons are with her at the time of the accident, but are unharmed.
 2000 – Bob Geldof is granted custody of Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily. Tiger Lily was the daughter of his former wife Paula Yates and INXS singer Michael Hutchence. Yates was found dead in her London home in September.
 2003 – Audioslave’s Tom Morello and System of a Down’s Serj organize a benefit concert for striking grocery workers in Los Angeles. Among the performers are Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Corey Taylor of Slipknot.
 2004 – The crowd at London’s Astoria riots after it is announced Babyshambles, the band led by ex-Libertine Pete Doherty, will not perform. Doherty has been battling addictions to crack cocaine.

Wednesday 16 December 2015

Timesweep 19th December

 Timesweep 19th December
Christmas rock and classic rock galore on Timesweep. Coming to a fine radio station near you from around about now. Go to the website, click the button that says Timesweep and choose a station.
www.dominicforbes.co.nr/
Part 1
1. Bruce Springsteen - Merry Christmas baby
2. Bob Seger - Little drummer boy
3. Bryan Adams - Run Rudolph run
4. Twisted Sister - Heavy metal Christmas
5. John Mellencamp - I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus
6. Ronnie James Dio & Tony Iommi - God rest ye merry gentlemen

Part 2
1. Bob Rivers - Walking round in women's underwear
2. John Lennon & Yoko Ono - Happy Christmas (war is over)
3. Jethro Tull - Ring out the solstice bells
4. Elvis Presley - Blue Christmas
5. Trans Siberian Orchestra - Carol of the bells
6. Alice Cooper - Santa Claws is coming to town
7. Bob Dylan - Must be Santa
Part 3
1. The Yardbirds - Shapes of things
2. The Clash - Rock the casbah
3. The Police - Synchronicity 2
Part 4
1. Led Zeppelin - D'yer maker
2. Blink 182 - Always
3. J Giels Band - 'Till the walls come tumblin' down
Part 5
1. The Kinks - Father Christmas
2. Tom Petty - Christmas time all over again
3. The Pretenders - 2,000 miles
4. Queen - Thank God it's Christmas
Part 6
1. The Beatles - Drive my car
2. The Beatles - While my guitar gently weeps
3. The Beatles - Let it be
4. Heart - Please come home for Christmas
Part 7
1. Kiss - Heaven's on fire
2. Black Crowes - Hard to handle
3. Chep Trick - If you want my love
4. Mott The Hoople - All the way from Memphis
Part 8
1. Motorhead - Ace of spades
2. Focus - Sylvia
3. The Pogues - Dirty old town
4. The Cranberries - Zombie
5. U2 - Christmas baby please come home
Part 9
1. Elton John - Step into Christmas
2. Extreme - Christmas time again
3. Chris Rea - Driving home for Christmas
Part 10
1. Bob Rivers - I am Santa Claus
2. Bob Seger - Sock it to me Santa
3. Boston - God rest ye metal gentlemen
4. Bruce Springsteen - Santa Claus is coming to town
Part 11
1. The Greedies - Winter wonderland
2. Bon Jovi - I wish everyday could be like Christmas
3. Mike Oldfield - In dulce jublio
4. Randy Bachman - Taking care of Christmas
5. Chris DeBurgh - A spaceman came travelling
6. Stevie Nicks - Silent night

Brit Rock 19th December

Brit Rock 19th December
Christmas rock and old and new songs galore on Brit Rock. Coming to a fine radio station near you from around about now. Go to the website, click the button that says Brit Rock and choose a station.
www.dominicforbes.co.nr/

1. Tom Petty - Christmas all over again
2. Bruce Springsteen - Santa Claus is coming to town
3. Peter Gabriel - Shock the monkey
4. Iron Maiden - Hallowed be thy name
5. Judas Priest - Another thing coming
6. Doald Fagen - IGY
7. Rainbow - Stone cold
8. Simple Minds - Glittering pride
9. Bad News - Cashing in on Christmas
10. Twisted Sister - Heavy metal Christmas
11. Queen - Thank God it's Christmas
12. Alcatraz - Hiroshima mon amor
13. Spinal Tap - Stonehenge
14. Bryan Adams - It's only love
15. Van Halen - Jump
16. Huey Lewis & The News - Hip to be square
17. Cyndi Lauper - All through the night
18. Queen - Radio ga ga
19. Chris DeBurgh - High on emotion
20. Billy Idol - Eyes without a face
21. The Scorpions - Still loving you
22. U2 - Christmas (baby please come home)
23. Bon Jovi - Please come home for Christmas
24. Bryan Adams - Run rudolph run

It's an hour of Christmas songs for hour three
1. Ashley Redd - Coming home for Christmas
2. Thea Gilmore - That'll be Christmas
3. Moody Blues - december snow
4. Freiheit - Keeping the dream alive
5. Kate Bush - December will be magic again
6. The Darkness - Christmas time don't let the bells end
7. Jethro Tull - Ring out those solstice bells
8. Bruce Springsteen - Merry Christmas baby
9. John Mellencamp - I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus
10. Bob Seger - Little drummer boy
11. Greg Lake - I believe in Father Christmas
12. Chris DeBurgh - A spaceman came travelling
13. Extreme - Christmas time again

Today in rock history 17th December

Today in rock history Thursday 17th December
1942 – Bluesman Paul Butterfield is born in Chicago.
 1949 – Paul Rodgers, whose hard-rockin’ tones have graced records by Free and Bad Company, is born in Middlesborough.
 1958 – Mike Mills of R.E.M. is born.
1960 – returning from Hamburg, The Beatles appeared at the Casbah Coffee Club in Liverpool. Chas Newby joined The Beatles on bass guitar (to replace Stuart Sutcliffe, who had remained in Hamburg), a position he would hold for only two weeks and four performances. When Newby bowed out to return to college, Paul McCartney became The Beatles’ bass player.
 1966 – Country Joe & the Fish perform at a Benefit for Legalization of Marijuana at San Francisco’s California Hall.
 1967 – In London, John Lennon and George Harrison hold a party for the area secretaries of the Official Beatles Fan Club. The guests are treated to sneak previews of the films Magical Mystery Tour and The Beatles at Shea Stadium.
 1968 – Pink Floyd release “Point Met At the Sky” in England. It’s their fourth 45, and their last single release in the UK for 11 years.
 1971 – At Harlem’s Apollo Theater, John Lennon and Yoko Ono appear at a benefit for the families of victims of the Attica State Prison riots.
 1981 – Fifteen-year-old Christopher Tyrer sees the metal group Saxon in Wolverhampton, England and head-bangs along to their set. When he wakes up the following morning, Tyrer discovers that he is paralyzed down one side and can’t speak. His condition deteriorates and dies on Christmas Day. A coroner rules it was “death by misadventure.”
 1982 – The Who perform one of their first last farewell concerts at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens.
1987 – Robert Plant plays with his old group, the Band of Joy, in Folkestone. Plant performs Led Zeppelin numbers as a solo artist for the first time, including “Trampled Underfoot” and “Misty Mountain Hop.”
 1992 – Keith Richards performs with his band the X-Pensive Winos at London’s Town & Country Club.
 1995 – a statue of the late Frank Zappa was unveiled in Vilnius, the capital of the Republic Of Lithuania.
1997 – David Bowie launched his BowieNet on the Internet.
1999 – When an autograph hunter hands Keith Richards a guitar to sign outside New York’s Russian Tea Room, the Rolling Stone walks off with the instrument. The victim opts not to press charges, reasoning, “It’s Keith, man.”
 2005 – U2 had the top-grossing tour of 2005, according to an end-of-year chart compiled by US magazine Billboard. More than three million people watched the band’s sell-out 90-date Vertigo tour which grossed $260m (£146.6m). The Eagles, took $117m (£66m) from 77 shows and Neil Diamond grossed more than $71m (£40m).

Today in rock history 16th December

Today in rock history Wednesday 16th December
1945 – The Hollies’ guitarist Tony Hicks is born in Nelson, England.
 1949 – Guitarist Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top is born in Houston, Texas.
  1964 – Ringo Starr leaves hospital after having had his tonsils removed.
 1965 – Bob Dylan takes care of his Los Angeles publicity duties in support of his new album Highway 61 Revisited at a press conference.
 1965 – On British TV tonight, the Beatles appear in their own tribute The Music of Lennon-McCartney. The group perform “We Can Work It Out,” and there are appearances from Peter Sellers, Marianne Faithfull, Cilla Black, Peter & Gordon, Lulu, Billy J. Kramer, Esther Phillips and Richard Anthony.
  1967 – The NME reports that the Rolling Stones are launching their own Mother Earth label, with Marianne Faithfull as the first signing.
1969 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono travel to Toronto to perform at the Peace Festival. During their stay they reside on Ronnie Hawkins’ farm. Billboards reading “War Is Over! If You Want It” go up in 11 cities as part of the Lennons’ own peace campaign.
 1970 – Creedence Clearwater Revival walk away with an armload of gold records as five of their singles and five of their albums are certified as gold-sellers by the Recording Industry Association of America: “Down on the Corner,” “Lookin’ Out My Back Door,” “Travelin’ Band,” “Bad Moon Rising,” “Up Around the Bend,” Cosmo’s Factory, Willy and the Poor Boys, Green River, Bayou Country and their 1968 debut Creedence Clearwater Revival.
 1974 – Mott the Hoople breaks up.
  1978 – Bob Dylan plays the last show of his massive Street Legal world tour at the Hollywood Miami Sportatorium and gives “Do Right to Me Baby” a rare airing.
 1983 – The Who announced that they were splitting up.
 1993 – MTV airs Nirvana’s Sony Studios, New York “Unplugged” performance.
 1999 – Former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren announces plans to join the race for London’s first ever elected mayor. The 53-year-old impresario plans to run as an independent with some ideas to make the Pistols proud: brothels outside the houses of Parliament; legalizing marijuana; allowing London pubs to stay open all night, instead of closing at 11 p.m.; legalizing the consumption of alcohol in public libraries. McLaren pulls out of the race three months later.
 2001 – Guitarist/singer/songwriter Stuart Adamson, formerly of Scottish act Big Country, is found dead in a Hawaii hotel room. He is 43.
 2003 – Rolling Stone Ron Wood joins the Stereophonics to play “Handbags and Gladrags” and The Beatles’ “Don’t Let Me Down” at their Earl’s Court show.
 2003 – A Web site offers up for auction an audio tape of five songs that the Beatles allegedly recorded in 1976 during a reunion at an L.A. studio. Paul McCartney’s spokesperson says, “I am not aware of any Beatles reunion during the ’70s.”
2004 – Gold and silver Black Sabbath discs were stolen from the Kent home of Ozzy Osbourne’s former manager Patrick Meehan. Police recovered the discs a week later after they were offered for sale on the internet auction site eBay.
 2005 – the surviving Beatles and relatives of the band’s late members began legal action against EMI to get royalties allegedly worth £30m.
2007 – Sir Paul McCartney said he left EMI, his record label of 45 years, as it had become “boring” and he had dreaded going to see its executives. McCartney told The Times that the company’s handling of his music had become “symbolic of the treadmill”. The ex-Beatle went on to sign a deal with Starbucks’ label, Hear Music.

Tuesday 15 December 2015

Today in rock history 15th December

Today in rock history Tuesday 15th December
1919 – Born on this day, Max Yasgur, owner of the Woodstock farm where the 1969 festival was held.
1946 – Born on this day, Carmine Appice, rock drummer.
1969 – John Lennon gives his last live performance in England, a UNICEF benefit in London.
 1992 – “Incesticide,” a collection of b-sides and rarities from Nirvana, is released. It goes gold the following spring.
 1997 – The surviving members of Australian rock act INXS release a tape of an interview in which they talk about the life and Deaths of the group’s late vocalist Michael Hutchence. The band members had been reluctant to give interviews up to this point.
 2003 – Courtney Love was sentenced to 18 months in drug rehabilitation after she admitted being under the influence of cocaine and opiates. She was banned from taking non-prescription drugs.
  2006 – the co-founder of Atlantic Records Ahmet Ertegun dies, aged 83.
2006 – Phish frontman Trey Anastasio is arrested early in the morning in upstate New York for driving while under the influence of drugs and with a suspended license.
 2010 – “All American Nightmare”, the third album from Oklahoma hard rockers Hinder, sold 35,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release.

Monday 14 December 2015

Today in rock history 14th December

Today in rock history Monday 14th December
1949 – AC/DC bassist Cliff Williams is born in Romford, England.
 1962 –  Bill Wyman made his live debut with The Rollin’ Stones at the Ricky Tick Club, Star and Garter Hotel in Windsor, England.Note that the group were know as The Rollin’ Stones during this period.
  1962 – Bob Dylan releases his first single “Mixed Up Confusion/Corrina Corrina.” However, his record label quickly withdraws the single.
 1963 – The Beatles played a show for their Southern Area Fan Club at Wimbledon Palais, London. To prevent damage to the stage from fans the management of the Palais constructed a platform for The Beatles to perform on, surrounded by a steel cage.
 1967 – Rolling Stone Brian Jones collapses and is admitted to a London hospital. He later discharges himself.
 1967 – Dick Clark announces he’s producing a new film about hippies that will star Jack Nicholson and Susan Strasberg. Originally called The Love Children, the film hits screens as Psych-Out, featuring music from the Strawberry Alarm Clock and the Seeds.
 1971 – The MC5’s manager John Sinclair is released from prison after Michigan relaxes its drug penalties. Sinclair had been sentenced to ten years in prison for possession of two marijuana joints.
 1972 – In London, Born to Boogie, starring Marc Bolan, premieres. The Ringo Starr-directed film also features an appearance by Elton John.
 1973 – Bruce Springsteen appeared at the Pinecrest Country Club, Shelton, Connecticut. Only 200 tickets were sold for the show.
  1974 – David Crosby and Graham Nash play a benefit concert for the United Farm Workers in San Francisco.
  1976 – Led Zeppelin begin rehearsing for their first American tour in two years, due to kick off in February.
 1980 – Yoko Ono calls for a 10-minute silent vigil around the world for her husband, John Lennon, who was shot to death six days earlier.
 1995 – The FBI makes public their files relating to John Lennon’s attempted deportation.
 1996 – Alanis Morissette makes the final stop of her highly successful 1996 tour at Richardson Field in Honolulu. After her last song, the diminutive singer decides to celebrate the end of the tour by throwing whipped cream pies at her four band members.
 1999 – Former Fab Four member Sir Paul McCartney plays a one-off gig at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, where the Beatles formed three decades earlier. It is the first time since the 1963 that McCartney has played the Cavern.
  1999 – Lynyrd Skynyrd cancel their show in Odessa, Texas, after bassist Leon Wilkeson is hospitalized. He has an infected intestine and urinary tract.
2003 – As he recovers in a Berkshire, England, hospital from injuries sustained in an earlier ATV crash, Ozzy Osbourne has some cheering news when “Changes,” his duet with daughter Kelly, debuts at No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart.
 2004 – Thousands attend a memorial for the late Pantera/Damageplan guitarist Dimebag Darrell in Arlington, Texas. Eddie Van Halen, Jerry Cantrell and Zakk Wylde attend the ceremony along with Darrell’s brother Vinnie Paul.
 2005 – 61-year-old Led Zeppelin legend Jimmy Page is made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for his work with Brazilian street children.
2010 – Ozzy Osbourne’s Ferrari hit a Mercedes from behind right before entering an L.A. highway.Both parties waited for police to arrive and then traded information – departing without incident. There were no injuries and damage was minor. The rock star’s rep didn’t immediately comment.
 2010 – German guitar legend Michael Schenker  has announced that he has formed a new band named, Strangers In The Night with UFO bass player Pete Way, former Scorpions drummer Herman Rarebell and singer Michael Voss. 

Sunday 13 December 2015

Today in rock history 13th December

Today in rock history Sunday 13th December
1948 – Ted Nugent( the motor city madman)  is born in Detroit.
 1948 – Guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter of the Doobie Brothers is born in Washington, D.C.
 1952 – Born on this day, Berton Averre, The Knack.
1963 – Bob Dylan is given a Tom Paine Award by the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee at their annual dinner at New York’s Hotel Americana. However, in his acceptance speech Dylan questions the ECLC’s objectives and even says he understands why Kennedy was shot. He later apologizes for his remarks.
  1965 – The Beatles announce that they will not be starring in an adaptation of Richard Condon’s A Talent for Loving, as originally reported back in February.
  1966 – Jimi Hendrix made his TV debut on ITV’s ‘Ready Steady Go!’ (Marc Bolan was also on the show).
 1969 – Bob Dylan was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, on sale for 35 Cents.
  1969 – John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Wedding Album crashes into the Billboard album chart at No. 182.
 1974 – George Harrison meets with President Gerald Ford at the White House after Gerald’s son Jack extends an invitation. Harrison is in town to perform a date on his North American tour. 
 1975 – Born on this day, Tom Delonge, Blink 182.
 1979 – Simple Minds played the first of two nights at The Marquee in London, tickets £1.25.
  1981 – Born on this day, Amy Lynn Lee, vocals, Evanescence.
1983 – During a solo concert at London’s Hammersmith Odeon, Robert Plant is joined by his old Led Zeppelin cohort Jimmy Page. The two perform “Treat Her Right,” a song that was originally a hit for Roy Head in 1965.
 1993 – Playing in Los Angeles, Billy Joel invites Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash to show his soft rock colors by contributing a solo to “Shameless.”
 1997 – The Guess Who’s guitarist Kurt Winter dies.
 2000 – Sir Paul McCartney held his first-ever London book signing at Waterstone’s in Piccadilly. Sir Paul was in the store to sign copies of his new book, Paul McCartney Paintings.
  2000 – It’s announced that Michael Jackson, Paul Simon, Aerosmith and Queen will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next year.
 2003 – The White Stripes’ Jack White is involved in a brawl with his Jason Stollsteimer of the Von Bondies at Detroit’s Magic Stick venue. White is accused of spitting in Stollsteimer’s face and repeatedly punching him in the head.
 2005 – A cheque signed by John Lennon made out to the Inland Revenue sold for £2,000 at a UK auction. It was sold by former madam Lindi St Clair, (formerly known as Miss Whiplash), after she decided she had no use for it.

Saturday 12 December 2015

Today in rock history 12th December

Today in rock history Saturday 12th December
1942 – Keyboardist Mike Pinder of the Moody Blues is born in Birmingham, England.
 1943 – Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts is born in Jacksonville, Fla.
  1946 – Jethro Tull drummer Clive Bunker is born.
 1963 – Spin Doctors guitarist Eric Schenkman is also born.
 1966 – Pink Floyd play London’s Royal Albert Hall for the first time.
 1967 – Rolling Stone Brian Jones is let off the hook by a London appeals court. He faced nine months in prison after being found guilty of possessing cannabis. However, three psychiatrists testify that his nerves would be unable to handle such a lengthy incarceration, and the court agrees to commute his sentence.
  1968 – Second day of taping the Rolling Stones’ Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus with Eric Clapton, John Lennon, the Who and Jethro Tull.
 1974 – The Rolling Stones’ second guitarist Mick Taylor announces he is quitting the band.
 1979 – Paul McCartney & Wings perform in Birmingham, England, the latest stop on their farewell tour. Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant and John Bonham, who performed on the Wings album Back to the Egg, attend the show.
 1997 – In Burbank, Calif., former Creedence Clearwater Revival frontman John Fogerty begins recording an MTV special.
  2000 – Guns N’ Roses announce that their long awaited Chinese Democracy is due for release in June 2001.
 2001 – Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic file a countersuit against Courtney Love. The case involves the release of material by Nirvana. The suit is in response to an action Love filed earlier that claims Nirvana’s contract with Universal Music Group is void and that all rights pertaining to the band revert to her.
 2003 – Rolling Stone Mick Jagger, 60, is knighted by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace. The one-time Satanic Majesty brings his 92-year-old father Joe to the ceremony.
 2007 – a copy of John Lennon’s book, A Spaniard in the Works, which contained a lock of Lennon’s hair, sold at Gorringes Auction House for £24,000,
 2008 – the town where Mick Jagger and Keith Richards grew up announced it was to name streets in a new estate after Rolling Stones hits. The 13 streets in Dartford, Kent, were to be given names such as Angie Mews, Babylon Close, Sympathy Street, Little Red Walk and Satisfaction Street. Leader of the council, Jeremy Kite, said he thought Ruby Tuesday Drive sounded a “fantastic” place to live, but police were concerned the street signs might be stolen by fans.
 2013 – Heart release new live performance on DVD and Blu-ray.

Thursday 10 December 2015

Today in rock history 11th December

Today in rock history Friday 11th December
1957 – Jerry Lee Lewis marries his 13-year-old cousin, Myra Gale Brown.
 1958 – Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx is born in Seattle.
 1963 – The Beatles appear on the BBC’s Juke Box Jury, passing comment on that week’s new records.
 1964 – Justin Currie, leader of Scotch rockers Del Amitri, is born.
 1966 – Beatles manager Brian Epstein tries to sign Little Richard after promoting two of the wild rocker’s London concerts. Richard declines the offer.
 1967 – Jethro Tull are formed.
 1967 – The Beatles partnership Apple Music signs its first act, Grapefruit.
 1968 – The Rolling Stones begin taping their Rock ‘n’ Roll Circus TV special in England, as their album Beggar’s Banquet debuts in the British album charts at No. 3. Guests include the Who, Eric Clapton, Jethro Tull and John Lennon appearing as the Dirty Mac Band, performing “Yer Blues.”
 1968 – Lennon also puts his home in Weybridge, England up for sale.
 1969 – The Magic Christian, starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr, receives its premiere at a Royal Command Performance in London. Outside the cinema, John Lennon and Yoko Ono parade with placards reading “Britain Murdered Hanratty,” referring to a man many believe was wrongly executed for murder in 1962.
 1971 – Chart-Toppers: David Bowie releases ‘Hunky Dory,’ which contains the classic “Changes”
 1972 – Genesis make their American live debut with a show at Massachusetts’ Brandeis University.
 1973 – Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley was nearly electrocuted during a concert in Florida when he touched a short-circuited light. The guitarist was carried from the stage but returned 10 minutes later to finish the show.
 1988 – Days after the death of the great Roy Orbison, Don Henley, Tom Petty, and Graham Nash perform a concert in his honour at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles.
 1989 – The Recording Industry Association of America certified four Led Zeppelin albums as multi-platinum: ‘Presence’ (2 million), ‘Led Zeppelin’ (4 million), ‘Physical Graffiti’ (4 million) and ‘In Through The Out Door’ (5 million).
 2002 – The hobbled Guns N’ Roses North American tour suffers a final blow as promoter Clear Channel Entertainment confirms it is canceling the remaining dates with which it is affiliated. A handful of shows being worked by other promoters are also axed.
 2002 – David Lee Roth sues Van Halen, alleging his old band didn’t include him in a 1996 renegotiation of their contract with Warner Bros.
 2003 – MTV gives viewers a glimpse into the holiday season at the home of Ozzy Osbourne and his family with “The Osbourne Family Christmas Special.” A wide range of celebrity guests join in on the festivities, including Jessica Simpson, who duets with Ozzy on “Winter Wonderland,”
 2003 – The RIAA certifies AC/DC’s Back In Black as the world’s second-best-selling album of all time, behind Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
 2010 – Pearl Jam will be celebrating their twentieth anniversary with a new live album titled Live on Ten Legs.

Wednesday 9 December 2015

Timesweep 12th December

Timesweep 12th December
Look at this fine selection of tunes going worldwide from about now. www.dominicforbes.co.nr/
Part 1
1. Peter Frampton - Show me the way
2. Heart - Magic man
3. ACDC - It's a long way to the top
4. The Eagles - New kid in town
5. Rolling Stones - Fool to cry

Part 2
1. Kiss - Detroit rock city
2. Queen - Somebody to love
3. Be Bop Deluxe - Ships in the night
4. Jethro Tull - Too old to rock and roll
5. Manfred Mann's Earth Band - Blinded by the light
Part 3
1. Pink Floyd - Breath
2. Allman Bros Band - Ramblin' man
3. Aerosmith - Dream on
4. Alice Cooper - Elected
5. Roger Daltrey - Giving it all away
Part 4
1. Slade - Cum on feel the noize
2. Stealers Wheel - Stuck in the middle
3. Lou Reed - Walk on the wild side
Part 5
1. The Doors - People are strange
2. JJ Cale - After midnight
3. Evanescence - My immortal
4. Genesis - The carpet crawlers
Part 6
1. T-Rex - Children of the revolution
2. Yes - America
3. Focus - Sylvia
4. Van Morrison - jackie Wilson said
Part 7
1. Free - A little bit of love
2. Deep Purple - Space truckin'
3. Led Zeppelin - Black dog
4. Elton John - Tiony dancer
Part 8
1. Cat Stevens - Can't keep it in
2. Jackson Browne - Doctor my eyes
3. America - Horse with no name
4. Mott The Hoople - All the young dudes
5. Pagliaro - Lovin' you ain't easy
Part 9
1. Bob Seger - Old time rock and roll
2. Ozzy Osbourne - Over the mountain
3. ACDC - For those about to rock
Part 10
1. Rolling Stones - Start me up
2. Foreigner - Juke box hero
3. Blue Oyster Cult - Joan Crawford
4. Rainbow - Can't happen here
Part 11
1. Graham Bonnet - Night games
2. ELO - The way life's meant to be
3. The Who - You better you bet
4. Eric Clapton - Behind the mask

Brit Rock 12th December

Brit Rock 12th December
Look at this fine selection of tunes going worldwide from about now. www.dominicforbes.co.nr/
1.   Red Hot Chilli Peppers - My Aeroplane
2.   Blur - Stereotypes
3.   Nick Cave & Kylie Minogue - Where the wild roses grow
4.   Metallica - Hero of the day
5.   Ocean Colour Scene - The riverboat song
6.   Queen - Too much love will kill you
7.   Dio - Rock 'n' roll children
8.   Marillion - Assasing
9.   ZZ Top - Rough boy
10. Joan Osbourne - One of us
11. Alanis Morrisette - Hands clean
12. Cream - Strange brew
13. Love - Alone again or
14. Van Morrison - Brown eyed girl
15. Jimi Hendrix - Little wing
16. Eric Burdon - San Franciscan nights
17. Rolling Stones - She's a rainbow
18. Pink Floyd - See Emily play
19. Jefferson Starship - Somebody to love
20. Ashley Redd - Coming home for Christmas
21. Thea Gilmore - That'll be Christmas
22. Moody Blues - December snow
23. Freiheit - Keeping the dream alive
24. Kate Bush - December will be magic again
25. The Darkness - Christmas time (don't let the bells end)

It's an hour of 1990's alternative for hour three
1.   Jane's Addicition - Been caught stealing
2.   Nirvana - In bloom
3.   REM - Radio song
4.   Green Day - When I come around
5.   Rage Against The Machine - Killing in the name of
6.   Pearl Jam - Alive
7.   Cranberries - Zombie
8.   Johnny Cash - Hurt
9.   Radiohead - Just
10. Placebo - Nancy boy
11. Weezer - Hash pipe
12. Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Under the bridge
13. The Verve - Bitter sweet symphony
14. Blur - Parklife

Today in rock history 10th November

Today in rock history Thursday 10th November
1965 – The Warlocks change their name to the Grateful Dead and play their first gig under the name at the second San Francisco Mime Troupe Appeal Party at the Fillmore Auditorium.
 1966 – The Electric Prunes release their garage rock classic, “I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night.”
 1967 – The Byrds played the first of an 8 night run at the Whisky-a-go-go, Hollywood, California.
 1967 – Steve Miller shocks the music industry when his hitherto unknown Blues Band signs with Capitol Records for a whopping $750,000. Miller drops the “Blues” portion of his group’s name and goes on to return Capitol’s investment with hits like “The Joker.”
 1968 – John Lennon makes his first solo TV appearance, singing “Yer Blues.”
 1968 – Led Zeppelin perform at London’s Marquee on one of their first tours. The manager John Gee later recalled, “The group was very loud – I thought they were overpoweringly loud for the size of the Marquee. Anyway the lads received an enthusiastic but not overwhelming reaction from the audience.
 1971 – The jealous boyfriend of a Frank Zappa fan climbs onstage during a Zappa concert at London’s Rainbow Theatre. He throws Zappa off the stage, breaking his leg and ankle. The arch-satirist also suffers a fractured skull and has to spend the next nine months in a wheelchair.
 1976 – Paul McCartney & Wings release the triple LP set Wings Over America, which quickly goes to number one.
 1980 – John Lennon’s body is cremated in New York.
 1998 – a recording of a 1963 Beatles concert was sold at auction at Christies in London for £25,300, ($41,500). The tape of The Beatles’ 10-song concert was recorded by the chief technician at the Gaumont Theatre in Bournemouth during one of six consecutive nights which The Beatles had played.
 1998 – Alanis Morissette, Radiohead, Jimmy Page & Robert Plant, Peter Gabriel, Tracy Chapman, Asian Dub Foundation, Youssou N’Dour, and Shania Twain are part of the superstar lineup that performs at the Amnesty International Concert for Human Rights Defenders at Bercy Stadium in Paris.
 1998 – Bruce Springsteen wins a two and a half year legal battle over two British companies seeking to release previously unreleased songs from his early career. Masquerade Music sought to release a CD titled “Before the Fame,” while another music publisher, Flute International, hoped to release an album of 19 previously unreleased songs.
 1999 – Rick Danko, bassist and singer for acclaimed rock act the Band, dies at his home in Woodstock.
 2000 – Rage Against the Machine members Tom Morello and Tim Commerford are among those taking part in a Los Angeles march supporting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The duo enliven the rabble by cheering, “They say Death Row, we say hell no!”
2007 – Led Zeppelin played their first concert in 19 years, at London’s 02 arena. Original band members Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones were joined on stage by Jason Bonham, the son of their late drummer John Bonham. More than one million people had taken part in a ballot for the 9,000 pairs of tickets available for the show, Paris Hilton being amongst the lucky winners.

Today in rock history 9th December

Today in rock history Wednesday 9th December
1948 – Dennis Dunaway, bassist with the Alice Cooper band, is born in Cottage Grove, Ore.
 1961 – The Beatles play their first concert in the South of England when they play with Ivor Jay & the Jaywalkers in Aldershot. Despite the gig being billed as a “Battle of the Bands – Liverpool Vs. London,” only 18 people show up.
  1962 – Future Beatles producer George Martin is taken to the Liverpool Cavern by the group’s manager Brian Epstein to see the band perform live.
  1967 – Cream’s second album, ‘Disraeli Gears’, enters the U.S. charts.
 1967 – Police arrest Jim Morrison as he performs onstage in New Haven, Conn. It’s the culmination of a wild night for the Lizard King, who clashed with a cop trying to hassle him and his lady before the gig. The cop in return maced him. When Morrison began complaining about his treatment by the New Haven police to the crowd, the house lights were turned up and Morrison was busted for breaching the peace.
 1968 – Born on this day, Brian Bell, Weezer.
 1971 – Richie Havens receives a role in the orchestral stage version of the Who’s rock opera “Tommy.”
 1972 – The Moody Blues started a five-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Seventh Sojourn’.
 1972 – Pete Townshend is the narrator for an orchestral performance of Tommy featuring contributions from Roger Daltrey (of course), Richie Havens, Steve Winwood and comic actor Peter Sellers. Only Daltrey and Winwood, who played Tommy’s dad, escape the critical lash of the papers the next day. Townshend is accused of being drunk during the performance.
 1974 – George Harrison releases Dark Horse, his first album on the label of the same name. His cover of the Everly Brothers’ “Bye Bye Love” is a backhanded farewell to wife Patti Boyd, who took up with his friend Eric Clapton. Even weirder, Boyd and Clapton join Harrison on the track. Rolling Stone is perplexed enough to decide, “Dark Horse is ultimately something more than an embarrassingly bad record.”
 1974 – On tonight’s edition of Monday Night Football, John Lennon stops by booth during a match between L. A. Rams and Washington Redskins. While he’s there guest Ronald Reagan explains the rules of football to him.
  1975 – The Sex Pistols appeared at Ravensbourne College, Chistlehurst, London.
 1976 – John Lennon purchases a Renoir painting valued at half a million dollars.
  1991 – Guns N’ Roses play the first of three standing room only concerts at New York’s Madison Square Garden.
 1992 – Bassist Bill Wyman formally announces he is leaving the Rolling Stones.
 1995 – No. 1 in the album charts today, the Beatles with Anthology Vol. 1. It’s the group’s 16th No. 1 album.
 2000 – Sting receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
  2003 – Ozzy Osbourne was admitted to Wexham Park Hospital in Slough, Berkshire after being injured in a quad bike accident at his UK home.
2003 – A Rhode Island grand jury gives three indictments of involuntary manslaughter in the case surrounding the February fire at a Great White concert to the club’s two owners as well as Great White’s road manager.

Monday 7 December 2015

Today in rock history 8th December

Today in rock history Tuesday 8th December
1943 – Jim Morrison of the Doors is born in Melbourne, Fla.
 1947 – Allman Brothers vocalist and organist Gregg Allman is born in Nashville.
 1957 – Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen is born.
 1965 – The Beatles’ “Day Tripper” enters the U.K. chart at No. 1
 1967 – Traffic release their debut album, Mr. Fantasy.
1968 – Graham Nash leaves the Hollies after a London concert.
 968 – In the London Sunday Express, it’s reported that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are planning an expedition to Rio de Janeiro to see a magician. Keith Richards reveals, “We have become very interested in magic and we are very serious about this trip. We are hoping to see this magician practice both white and black magic. He has a long and difficult name which we cannot pronounce. We just call him ‘Banana’ for short.”
 1969 – Jimi Hendrix appears in Toronto Supreme Court to answer charges of hashish and heroin possession. Hendrix admits he has used pot, hashish, LSD, and cocaine a handful of times. But he tells the judge he has “outgrown” drugs. The jury, presumably unfamiliar with Hendrix’s history, finds him not guilty.
 1975 – Bob Dylan’s Rolling Thunder Revue plays its last night at Madison Square Garden. The Night of the Hurricane raises $100,000 for Hurricane Carter, a boxer unjustly jailed for murder immortalized in Dylan’s song “Hurricane.
 1975 – Uriah Heep bassist Gary Thain dies of a drug overdose in his bath.
 1980 – John Lennon is shot to Death outside of his New York City home by Mark David Chapman.
 1981 – A year after her husband’s death, Yoko Ono publishes in Rolling Stone a letter saying, “I think of John’s death as a war casualty – it is the war between the sane and the insane.”
 1995 – Courtney Love puts on a suit for a TV interview with Barbara Walters for ABC’s “10 Most Fascinating People of 1995.” Love tearfully tells Walters she wishes she’d done “eight thousand million things” differently to prevent husband Kurt Cobain’s Death.
 1998 – It is announced that for the first time in nearly a decade, Bruce Springsteen will again tour with the E Street Band.
 1999 – Santana tells a press conference in Mexico City that while he was praying in church, the Virgin of Guadalupe spoke to him. He adds, “Marijuana is not a drug and if factories are set up here to make clothes, tofu cheese, medicine and paper from marijuana, we won’t have to chop down so many trees.”
 2000 – Metallica sues perfume manufacturer Guerlain Inc. and the Neiman-Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman department store chains, alleging that they have infringed on and diluted the rock band’s trademarked name by creating and marketing a “Metallica” perfume brand.
 2000 – On his Web site, Julian Lennon does his best to remember the father who was never there for him on the 20th anniversary of John Lennon’s murder. “I had a great deal of anger towards Dad because of his negligence and his attitude to peace and love,” he posts. “That peace and love never came home to me.” 
 2003 – Ozzy Osbourne breaks his collarbone and several ribs after he crashes an ATV on the grounds of his Buckinghamshire estate in England. Doctors say he may take two months to fully recover.
 2004 – Pantera guitarist “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott is murdered on stage in Columbus, Ohio, in a shooting spree that also claims the life of the band’s head of security, Jeffrey “Mayhem” Thompson, a club employee and an audience member.
2010 - Alice Cooper portrays Scrooge in a unique performance to promote his 10th Annual Christmas Pudding Concert

Today in rock history 7th December

Today in rock history Monday 7th December
1942 – Singer/songwriter Harry Chapin is born in New York City.
  1958 – Psychedelic Furs bassist Tim Butler is born.
 1962 – The Rolling Stones audition bass players at the World’s End pub in Chelsea, London. One candidate is Bill Wyman. He gets the job partly because he has tons of cool equipment the band can use.
 1963 – The No. 1 album in the U.K. this week is With the Beatles. The Beatles themselves appear on the British TV program Juke Box Jury.
 1968 – Eric Burdon announces that he will break up the Animals following a concert at Newcastle City Hall.
 1968 – The Beatles’ self-titled double album, referred to as The White Album because of its cover, tops the British albums chart. 
1972 – Led Zeppelin perform at the Manchester Hardrock in England. “The world’s most overrated band,” sniffs a Melody Maker reviewer.
 1973 – Fleetwood Mac manager Clifford Davis declares that he owns the rights to the band’s name and assembles a second Fleetwood Mac to tour around the country. After a lengthy legal fight, the second Fleetwood Mac become Stretch. .
 1984 – Motley Crue’s Vince Neil crashes his ’72 Ford Pintero in Redondo Beach, Calif. His passenger, Hanoi Rocks’ Nick “Razzle” Dingley, is killed. Neil is later found guilty of vehicular manslaughter.
 1991 – “Achtung Baby” by U2 debuts at No. 1 on Chart Toppers’s pop albums chart.
 1993 – Despite protests, Guns N’ Roses say that their cover of Charles Manson’s “Look at Your Game, Girl” will stay on the album The Spaghetti Incident? Royalties from their recording will go to the son of a Manson family victim.
  1999 – The Eagles hold a press conference to announce that their first Greatest Hits package has become America’s best-selling album.
2000 – In a New York TV studio, B.B. King performs with Elmo and Big Bird for an episode of Sesame Street.
 2003 – Ozzy Osbourne tells the Los Angeles Times that his stuttering and physically unstable condition was caused by a cocktail of prescription medicine. Osbourne was put on an array of tranquilizers and amphetamines to combat depression after his wife was diagnosed with cancer.
 2004 – Actor William Shatner’s infamous 1968 album “The Transformed Man,” which finds the venerable Capt. Kirk reading poetry over ultra-serious musical accompaniment and covering such contemporary classics as Bob Dylan’s “Mr. Tambourine Man” and the Beatles’ “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” is reissued by Geffen.
 2005 – the MBE medal that John Lennon returned to the Queen was found in a royal vault at St James’ Palace. Lennon returned his medal in November, 1969 with a letter accompanying saying, “Your Majesty, I am returning my MBE as a protest against Britain’s involvement in the Nigeria-Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against Cold Turky slipping down the charts. With Love, John Lennon.” Historians were calling for the medal to be put on public display.

Sunday 6 December 2015

Today in rock history 6th December

Today in rock history Sunday 6th December
1947 – Guitarist Kim Simmonds, who rode the British blues boom with his group Savoy Brown, is born in Newbridge, Wales.
 1956 – Guitarist Peter Buck of R.E.M is born.
 1956 – Randy Rhoads, a guitar god of a different stripe with Ozzy Osbourne’s band, is born in Santa Monica, Calif. Randall William “Randy” Rhoads.
1964 – In the NME year-end poll, the Rolling Stones are voted No. 1 U.K. R&B Group and Best New Group. Mick Jagger is named Best New Disc or TV Singer.
  1965 – The Rolling Stones go into RCA’s Hollywood Studios to record “Mother’s Little Helper” and “19th Nervous Breakdown.”
  1966 – The Beatles perform two takes of “When I’m 64,” marking the first Abbey Road session for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
1967 – The Beatles open their Apple Boutique on London’s Baker Street.
  1969 – Ringo Starr appears on The David Frost Show.
 1969 – In Britain, the double-A-sided “Something”/”Come Together” becomes the first Beatles single since “Love Me Do” not to peak at either No. 1 or No. 2. Instead, the band has to make do with the No. 4 position.
  1969 – The Rolling Stones’ hold an ill-fated concert at California’s Altamont Speedway, where a fan is stabbed to Death near the stage.
  1978 – Out on bail after a prison stint on Riker’s Island, Sid Vicious decides to spend the evening at New York’s Hurrah club. There he gets into a fight with Patti Smith’s brother and ends up smashing a glass in his face.
1980 – In the studio, John Lennon mixes “Walking on Thin Ice.” He’s also interviewed by British DJ Andy Peebles. Mark David Chapman arrives in New York after flying there from Honolulu. He checks into a YMCA nine blocks from John Lennon’s apartment.
 1988 – Roy Orbison dies of a heart attack while on a visit to his mother near Nashville, Tenn. He is 52.
  1994 – Pearl Jam release their third album, the stripped-down and punky Vitalogy. It peaks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
 1999 – The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announces it will induct Eric Clapton, Lovin’ Spoonful, the Moonglows, Bonnie Raitt, James Taylor, and Earth, Wind & Fire next year.
  2004 – One of the worst kept secrets in rock becomes a secret no longer when Motley Crue announce they are reforming for their first tour in five years.
 2005 – Rapper 50 Cent and veteran modern rock act Green Day are the toast of Las Vegas, as each nab six trophies at the 2005 Chart Toppers Music Awards.