Today in Rock n' Roll History

1963 The Beatles released their second album 'With The Beatles' which spent 51 weeks on the UK charts.

1980 Abba scored their sixth UK No.1 album when 'Super Trouper' started a nine week run at the top of the charts.

1991 Alice Cooper came to the rescue of two fans; Patrick and Dee Ann Kelly, whose California home was about to be re-possessed. Patrick had painted Coopers face on the house to help sell the property. Mr Cooper signed autographs to help raise money for the couple.

1997 INXS singer Michael Hutchence was found dead in his hotel suite in Sydney. He was 37. Hutchence body was found at 11.50am naked behind the door to his room. He had apparently hanged himself with his own belt and the buckle broke away and his body was found kneeling on the floor and facing the door. It had been suggested that his death resulted from an act of auto eroticism, no forensic or other evidence to substantiate that suggestion was found.

1899 The world's first jukebox was installed at San Francisco's' Palais Royal Hotel.

1974 Elton John started an 11-week run at No.1 on the UK chart with his 'Greatest Hits', album. It also enjoyed a 10 week run as the US No.1.

1975 Queen started a nine-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Bohemian Rhapsody.' The promotional video that accompanied the song is generally acknowledged as being the first pop video and only cost £5,000 to produce. When the band wanted to release the single various record executives suggested to them that, at 5 minutes and 55 seconds, it was too long and would never be a hit.

1991 Genesis scored their 5th UK No.1 album with 'We Can't Dance', featuring the singles 'Jesus He Knows Me' and 'I Can't Dance'.

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Originally Posted by Koala

1975 Queen started a nine-week run at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Bohemian Rhapsody.' The promotional video that accompanied the song is generally acknowledged as being the first pop video and only cost £5,000 to produce. When the band wanted to release the single various record executives suggested to them that, at 5 minutes and 55 seconds, it was too long and would never be a hit.

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I remember this so well. Our music teacher in 8th grade had a day each month that we could bring in an album to share. This is the one I took. A lot of the kids looked at me a bit weirder after that! :hilarious: How can anyone not love Bohemian Rhapsody and the video is spectacular.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irp8CNj9qBI[/ame]

I love it! However, I'm more familiar with this video... :hilarious:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ea3oUnNfixw[/ame]

1964 The first commercial radio station in the UK, Radio Manx based on The Isle of Man started broadcasting.

1966 The Beatles get together for the first time since their return from the summer tour of the United States, ready to record a new album. The first song selected for recording is John's 'Strawberry Fields Forever', which will end up, not on the album, but on The Beatles' next single. This day's session is devoted entirely to ‘Strawberry Fields Forever.’

1973 Ringo Starr went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Photograph'. His first of two US chart toppers as a solo artist.

1985 Separate Lives (Phil Collins & Marilyn Martin) was a hit.

1991 Eric Carr (Paul Charles Caravello) drummer with Kiss died aged 41, of complications from cancer in a New York hospital. Carr replaced Peter Criss in 1980 and remained a band member until he became ill in 1991. For his Kiss stage persona, Carr was known as “The Fox.”

1991 Freddie Mercury died of complications from aids at his home in London's Holland park aged 45, just one day after he publicly admitted he was HIV positive. Mercury was openly bisexual and enjoyed a colourful rock star lifestyle. During his career with Queen he scored over 40 Top 40 UK singles including the worldwide No.1 'Bohemian Rhapsody'.

　

1968 The Beatles double White album was released in the US. Featuring 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da', 'Dear Prudence', 'Helter Skelter', 'Blackbird' 'Back In The USSR' and George Harrisons 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps'. The album spent 101 weeks on the US chart peaking at No.1.

1969 John Lennon returned his MBE to The Queen on the grounds of the UK's involvement in the Nigeria Biafra war, America in Vietnam, and against his latest single 'Cold Turkey' slipping down the charts.

1976 The Band performs their farewell concert at San Francisco's Winterland. The show is filmed by Martin Scorcese and later released as 'The Last Waltz'. During the show, Pops and Mavis Staples join in on "The Weight."

1984 the cream of the British pop world gathered at S.A.R.M. Studios, London to record the historic ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ The single, which was written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure, featured Paul Young, Bono, Boy George, Sting and George Michael. It went on to sell over three million copies in the UK, becoming the bestselling record ever, and raised over £8 million ($13.6 million) worldwide.

1995 Whitney Houston went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Exhale (Shoop Shoop)', written by Babyface and taken from the film 'Waiting To Exhale', it gave Whitney her 11th US No.1.

1939 Tina Turner is born.

1958 Johnny Cash, made his debut on the US country chart when ’Cry! Cry! Cry!’ made it to number 14. His next seven singles would all make the country top 10, with ‘I Walk the Line’ and ‘There You Go’ both hitting number 1.

1968 Cream played their farewell concert at the Royal Albert Hall, London. Also on the bill were Yes and Taste.

1982 Peter Gabriel hits US #28 with his fourth self-titled album.

1994 The Eagles started a two-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Hell Freezes Over.'


1994 'No Quarter,' by Led Zeppelin mainstays Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, enters the album chart at #4.
1996Bruce Springsteen begins his first solo acoustic tour in Los Angeles, coinciding with the release of 'The Ghost of Tom Joad'.

1964 Mick Jagger was fined £16 for driving offences by a court in Tettenhall, Staffs. His solicitor told the court: “The Duke of Marlborough had longer hair than my client and he won some famous battles. His hair was powdered, I think because of fleas. My client has no fleas.”


1970 George Harrison released All Things Must Pass. The triple album included a number of songs that were left over from Beatle sessions, the set would go on to be certified 6x Platinum by the RIAA, making it the best selling album by a solo Beatle.

1971 Led Zeppelin’s fourth album, which features four runes (symbols) as its title, enters Billboard’s album chart, where it will remain for the next five years. Oddly, it doesn’t quite reach #1, peaking at #2.

1982 Lionel Richie was No.1 in the US with 'Truly'. Richie achieved a No.1 each year from 78-86 as a writer, 'Three Times A Lady', 'Still', 'Lady (Kenny Rodgers), 'Endless Love', (Diana Ross), 'All Night Long', 'Hello' 'Say 'You Say Me and as co-writer of 'We Are The World'.

2003 figures released by The Rolling Stones showed that the band had grossed £175m from their 2002 '40 Licks World Tour.' The report also showed they had made over $1billion from 1989-2002 from royalties, album sales and tour revenue.

2005 Multimillionaire defence contractor David H. Brooks booked New York’s Rainbow Rooms and his daughter Elizabeth’s favourite acts for her ‘bat mitzvah’ coming-of-age celebration. The stars who appeared included 50 Cent, Tom Petty, Aerosmith, Don Henley, Joe Walsh and Stevie Nicks. 50 Cent who was paid $500,000 to appear performed only four songs but he did manage to work in the lyric, "Go shorty, it's your bat miztvah, we gonna party like it's your bat mitzvah". The party cost an estimated $10 million, including the price of corporate jets to ferry the performers to and from the venue.

　

1960 Elvis Presley started a six week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Are You Lonesome Tonight', his third US No.1 of 1960. The single included a spoken passage loosely based on Shakespeare.

1967 The Beatles recorded their last fan club record as a group; 'Christmas Time Is Here Again!'

1974 John Lennon made his last ever concert appearance when he joined Elton John on stage at Madison Square Gardens in New York City. Lennon performed three songs; 'Whatever Gets You Thru The Night', 'I Saw Her Standing There' and 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.'

1981 Foreigner hits #2 with "Waiting For A Girl Like You".

1981 Genesis hits #29 with "No Reply At All".

1987 REM had their first entry in the Top 10 on the US singles chart with ‘The One I Love.

1992 Whitney Houston started a record-breaking fourteen-week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'I Will Always Love You', taken from the 'Bodyguard' soundtrack. The song was written by Dolly Parton.

1960 Paul McCartney and Pete Best were deported from West Germany after being arrested on suspicion of arson after the hotel room they were staying in mysteriously caught fire. They were released and deported the next day.

1965 This week's UK Top 5 albums, No.5, 'Out Of Our Heads', The Rolling Stones, No.4, 'Highway 61 Revisited', Bob Dylan, No.3, 'Help!', The Beatles, No.2, 'Mary Popins', Soundtrack and at No.1, 'Sound Of Music', Soundtrack.

1980 John and Yoko's 'Double Fantasy' album was released. A No.1 in the US & the UK the set featured the No.1 single 'Just Like Starting Over.'

1997 Whitney Houston pulled out of a concert sponsored by the Moonies two hours before she was due on stage after finding out the event was a mass wedding for over 1,000 Moonie couple's. The religious group said they had no intention of suing providing the singer returned the $1m fee she had received.

1997 'Perfect Day' performed by various artists including Elton John, Bono, Tom Jones & David Bowie went to No.1 on the UK singles chart. Originally written and recorded in 1973 by Lou Reed, this new collaboration of 29 major artists was a fund raiser for the BBC Children In Need charity.


2001 Former Beatles guitarist George Harrison died in Los Angeles of lung cancer aged 58. Following the breakup of The Beatles Harrison had a successful career as a solo artist and later as part of the Traveling Wilburys. The youngest member of The Beatles, (aged 16 when he joined), his compositions include ‘Taxman’, ‘Here Comes the Sun’, ‘Something’, and ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’. Harrison released the acclaimed triple album, All Things Must Pass, in 1970, from which came the worldwide No.1 single ‘My Sweet Lord.’ He was the co-founder of Handmade Films, collaborated with Madonna and the members of Monty Python. An accomplished gardener, Harrison restored the grounds of his 120 roomed English home Friar Park.