This Day In Rock History

[CrazyConnie]

This Day In Rock History: February 17th


1960: The Everly Brothers signed with Warner Bros. Records in a 10-year contract worth $1 million.

1970: Joni Mitchell announced her retirement from live performances. She returned to the stage within a year.

1971: James Taylor made his prime-time television debut on ABC’s the “Johnny Cash Show.”

1975: John Lennon released “Rock n’ Roll.” It was his last record before he left the music business for 5 years.

source: noiseaddicts

 

[CrazyConnie]

This Day In Rock History: February 17th

1941, Born on this day, Gene Pitney, singer, who had the 1962 US No.4 single 'Only Love Can Break A Heart'. Also scored the 1967 solo UK No.5 & 1989 UK No.1 single with Marc Almond 'Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart', plus over 15 other US & UK Top 40 hits. Pitney was found dead aged 65 in his bed in a Cardiff hotel on 5th April 2006. The American singer was on a UK tour and had shown no signs of illness.

1975, AC/DC released their debut album 'High Voltage'. The album featured a cover of 'Baby, Please Don't Go' a blues song first recorded by Big Joe Williams and 'She's Got Balls' which was written about singer Bon Scott's ex-wife Irene - the first AC/DC song for which he wrote lyrics.

1989, David Coverdale married actress Tawny Kitaen (known for her provocative appearances in Whitesnake's music videos 'Here I Go Again, 'Is This Love' and 'Still of the Night'). The couple divorced in 1991.

2014, American musician and sound engineer Bob Casale, best known as a guitarist and keyboardist in the new wave band Devo died of heart failure in Los Angeles, California. He engineered the first solo album for Police guitarist, Andy Summers.

source: thisdayinmusic

 

[CrazyConnie]

This Day In Rock History: February 17th


1960
Elvis Presley receives his first Gold record for the album "Elvis".

1962
Gene Chandler had the top tune on the Billboard Pop chart with "The Duke Of Earl", the first of his six US chart hits.

1966
25-year-old Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler receives two Gold records for the single "The Ballad of the Green Berets" and the album of the same name.

1973
The Rock ensemble Free, who reached #2 in the UK and #4 in the US in 1970 with "All Right Now", play their final show at Florida's Hollywood Sportatorium. Vocalist Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke will move on to form Bad Company.

1976
The Eagles release their "Greatest Hits 1971 - 1975" album. To this day, it is still one of the best selling records of all time.

2006
Bill Cowsill, who led his band The Cowsills on their 1967 hit "The Rain, The Park and Other Things", died at the age of 58. His family learned of his death shortly after a memorial for their brother Barry, who drowned in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

2008
Little Richard got a standing ovation from a crowd of 2,400 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville without playing a single note. The 75 year old Rock 'n Roll pioneer was seated at the rear of the auditorium during a concert by The Temptations and The Four Tops when he was introduced by The Temp's Otis Williams.

source: classicbands

 

[CrazyConnie]

This Day In Rock History: February 18th


1969: Lulu and Maurice Gibb (Bee Gees) were married in England.

1974: Yes played their first show at Madison Square Garden.

1992: Vince Neil quit as lead singer of Motley Crue. After 11 years with the group he says he wants to spend more time on his career as a race car driver. The band reunited on the “American Music Awards” 5 years later.

source: noiseaddicts

 

[CrazyConnie]

This Day In Rock History: February 18th

1934, Born on this day, Skip Battin, The Byrds, who had the 1965 US & UK No.1 single 'Mr Tambourine Man'. In 1959-60 he sang in a duo, Skip & Flip, with Gary Paxton when they had two US hits that each went to No.11, Paxton later formed the Hollywood Argyles, who had the No.1 hit, 'Alley Oop'. Battin was in the Byrds from 1970 to 1973. Member of New Riders Of The Purple Sage and The Flying Burrito Brothers. Battin died on July 6th 2003.

1947, Born on this day, Dennis Deyoung, vocals, keyboards, Styx who had the 1979 US No.1 & 1980 UK No.6 single 'Babe'.

1953, Born on this day, Robbie Bachman from Bachman Turner Overdrive who had the 1974 US No.1 & UK No.2 single 'You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet'.

1990, Freddie Mercury made his final public appearance on stage when he joined the rest of Queen to collect the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, held at the Dominion Theater, London, England.

2012, Whitney Houston had an invitation-only memorial at the New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey. Among those who performed at the funeral were Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys and R. Kelly. Kevin Costner read a moving and personal Eulogy.

source: thisdayinmusic

 

[CrazyConnie]

This Day In Rock History: February 18th



1968
Pink Floyd members fired Syd Barrett from the band and permanently replaced him with David Gilmour. Roger Waters later wrote and dedicated the song "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" to the increasingly unstable Barrett, who checked into a psychiatric hospital before going into seclusion.

1978
The third time would be the charm for a Topeka based group called Kansas. After scoring Top 40 hits with "Carry On Wayward Son" (#11) and "Point Of Know Return" (#28), "Dust In The Wind" entered the Billboard chart on its way to becoming the group's only Top 10 hit.

1980
Bill Wyman announces that he will quit the Rolling Stones in 1983. He is persuaded not to and stays nine more years, eventually leaving in 1992.

2010
Gordon Lightfoot was headed to the dentist when he heard on the radio that he was dead. "It seems like a bit of a hoax or something," the 71-year-old singer said. "I was quite surprised to hear it myself."

2014
The 72-year-old David Crosby postponed the final dates of his solo tour in order to undergo heart surgery.


source: classicbands

 

[CrazyConnie]

This Day In Rock History: February 18th


1974 - KISS released their first album "KISS."

1987 - The song "Sign O' The Times" was released by Prince.

2006 - In Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, the Rolling Stones gave a free concert before a crowd of over 1 million people at Copacabana Beach.

source: onthisday

 

[CrazyConnie]

This Day In Rock History: February 19th


1948, Born on this day, Toni Iommi, guitarist with Black Sabbath who had the 1970 UK No.4 single 'Paranoid'. The bands self-titled album was voted as the best British rock album ever by Kerrang! in 2005. At the age of 17 and on his last day of work in a sheet metal factory, he lost the tips of the middle and ring finger of his right hand. After attempting to learn to play right-handed, Iommi instead strung his guitars with lighter strings and made thimbles to extend his fingers.


1982, Ozzy Osbourne was arrested in San Antonio, Texas for urinating on the Alamo. Osbourne was wearing a dress at the time of his arrest, (due to his wife Sharon hiding all his clothes so he couldn't go outside). Osbourne who apparently thought he was relieving himself on a pile of rubble was banned from ever playing in San Antonio, Texas again, (a ban which was lifted in 1992).

source: thisdayinmusic

 

[CrazyConnie]

This Day In Rock History: February 19th


1966
Lou Christie enjoys his only US number one record with "Lightnin' Strikes", a song that his record company, MGM, hated so much, they initially refused to release. Label head Lenny Shear actually threw the tape in the wastebasket and said it was "a piece of crap." After Christie's management team promoted the record themselves, it started to gain attention and three months later, Billboard magazine featured a picture of Shear presenting Christie with a Gold record. It became a #11 hit in the UK.

1980
Bon Scott, vocalist for AC/DC, died of alcohol poisoning at the age of 33.

1995
Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee marries Pamela Anderson from the TV show Baywatch, on a beach in Cancun. The bride wore a white bikini. Tommy Lee wore a smile.

2009
Kelly Groucutt, bassist and co-lead vocalist for the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) between 1974 and 1983, died following a heart attack that he suffered the previous day. He was 63.

source: classicbands

 

[CrazyConnie]

This Day In Rock History: February 19th

1949
Spirit/Heart bass player Mark Andes has a birthday. He's a Philly native but grows up in L.A.

1965
Drummer Jon Fishman (Phish) has a birthday.

1977
Fleetwood Mac releases "Rumours." The break-up album, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks and the McVies (John and Christine) are separating, while it is recorded. Still, the LP sells over ten million copies and spawns a slew of hit singles including "Go Your Own Way" and "Don't Stop." That's making suffering pay.

1980
AC/DC's Bon Scott goes out with a friend, Alistair Kennear, to see a couple bands. He drinks heavily through the night and passes out in the car. Kennear decides to let Scott sleep it off in the car but finds him unconscious the following day. At the hospital, doctors are unable to revive Scott.

1987
"7800 Fahrenheit," Bon Jovi's sophomore album, goes platinum.

source: rockintown