Today in Rock n' Roll History

[Koala]

1940 John Lennon was born , singer, songwriter, guitarist, The Beatles who sold over 20m singles worldwide, (1962-1970), and scored more UK & US No.1 albums than any other group. 1967 'Sgt. Pepper's' is the UK's biggest selling album ever. In 1990 Lennon's song 'Imagine' was played simultaneously in 130 countries to commemorate what would've been Lennon's 50th birthday. He was shot dead in New York by Mark Chapman on 8th December 1980.

1944 John Entwistle was born.

1965 The Beatles started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with the Paul McCartney ballad 'Yesterday', giving the group their tenth US No.1. Never released as a single in the UK until 1976.

1970 Pink Floyd released their fourth album Atom Heart Mother which went on to top the UK charts.

1985 Marking what would have been John Lennon's 45th birthday, Yoko Ono formally opened the three and a half acre garden at the Strawberry Fields site in New York's Central Park. The area was planted with trees, shrubs and flowers gathered from across the world and with a $1m donation from Yoko.

1993 Take That had their second UK No.1 single with 'Relight My Fire'. The song which was written and released by Dan Hartman in 1979, where it topped the US dance charts for six weeks. The Take That version featured Scottish singer Lulu and gave her a No.1 hit nearly 30 years after her first hit in 1964.

2000 On what would have been Beatles frontman John Lennon’s 60th Birthdays, the John Lennon Museum opens to the public. Braving heavy rains, about 1,200 people line up around the museum, located about 30 kilometers north of Tokyo, between 7-11 a.m., when the museum opens its doors.

2006 Barbra Streisand tells a heckler at her Madison Square Garden show to "Shut the f*ck up." Honey, I paid $250 for my ticket. I can say what the hell I like.

　

[TimothyBFan]

2006 Barbra Streisand tells a heckler at her Madison Square Garden show to "Shut the f*ck up." Honey, I paid $250 for my ticket. I can say what the hell I like.

　

Geesh---and I complain about Eagles prices?

[AzEaglesFan]

Quick note to Mike, last night on VH1 they had a special about a Rock Band (name starts with Def, I think) they showed all the band members leaving the stage except the drummer and having an 3E time under the stage with a bunch of groupies. I'm surprised they could all make it back to the stage the way the booze and drugs were being passed around.

[MikeA]

It sure gave the drummer a spotlight to get his Ego Stroked. I ain't sayin' nuthin' ELSE.

[Koala]

1902 The Gibson Mandolin guitar company was formed. Gibson's first electric guitar the ES-150 was produced in 1936, and in 1946 Gibson introduced the P-90 single coil pickup, which was eventually used on the first Les Paul model made in 1952.

1956 Elvis Presley's "Love Me Tender" entered the US chart for a 19 week stay, peaking at No.1 for 5 weeks. The song, from Presley's first film of the same name, was adapted from the tune "Aura Lee", written in 1861.

1978 Joe Perry and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith are injured in Philadelphia when a fan tosses a cherry bomb onstage.

1979 Fleetwood Mac were awarded a star on Hollywood's Walk Of Fame.

1980 The funeral took place of Led Zeppelin's drummer John Bonham. ‘Bonzo’ was found dead at guitarists Jimmy Page's house of what was described as asphyxiation, after inhaling his own vomit after excessive vodka consumption, (40 shots in 4 hours) aged 32.

2007 Sting topped a list of the worst lyricists ever, for such alleged sins as name-dropping Russian novelist Vladimir Nabokov in the Police tune "Don't Stand So Close to Me," quoting a Volvo bumper sticker ("If You Love Someone Set Them Free"), and co-opting the works of Chaucer, St. Augustine and Shakespeare. The survey in Blender magazine placed Rush drummer Neil Peart at No. 2, Creed frontman Scott Stapp at No. 3 and Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher at No. 4 saying Gallagher "seemed incapable of following a metaphor through a single line, let alone a whole verse."

[Koala]

1962 The Beatles made their first appearance on the UK singles chart with 'Love Me Do’, which peaked at No. 4 on the chart.

1967 The Doors appeared at Danbury High School, Danbury, Connecticut. Before group came on stage an announcer told the audience not to leave their seats during the performance or they would be escorted out of the venue. There was also a beauty pageant just prior to The Doors coming on stage.

1989 Michael Jackson attended the opening ceremony of the Michael Jackson Auditorium at his former school, Gardner Street Elementary in Hollywood, California. In November, 2003, school officials covered over Jackson's name with painted plywood, leaving only the word "Auditorium" showing, after receiving requests from angry parents when Jackson was booked on suspicion of child molestation.

2003 Mojo magazine readers voted the studio session for Elvis Presley's debut single 'That's All Right' the most pivotal moment in rock history. Bob Dylan's switch from acoustic to electric guitars in 1965 came second, and 'White Riot, the debut single by The Clash released in 1977 was voted third.

2005 Rod Stewart received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to honour a career spanning more than 40 years.

[Koala]

1965 Pink Floyd plays their first gig at the Countdown Club in London.

1969 Commencing with a call to a Detroit disk jockey, rumors that Paul McCartney is dead begin circulating. These based on a number of apparently planted "clues" divined from Beatle lyrics and album covers. The "Paul is dead" hoax is laid to rest when Paul McCartney emerges from seclusion in Scotland, announcing that "rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated.

1978 Whilst living at the Chelsea Hotel in New York City, Sex Pistol Sid Vicious called the police to say that someone had stabbed his girlfriend Nancy Spungen. He was arrested and charged with murder and placed in the detox unit of a New York prison.

1985 Jennifer Rush was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'The Power Of Love'. The song stayed at No.1 for five weeks and became the biggest selling single of the year and the biggest single ever for a woman in the UK. Celine Dion enjoyed a No.1 US hit with her version in 1993.


1993 'Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles', an album in which some of country music's hottest stars pay tribute to the Eagles, is released. It sells more than 3 million copies, wins the Country Music Association's Album of the Year Award, and rekindles interest in the band.

1994 The live documentary 'Unledded,' which reunites Robert Plant and Jimmy Page onstage, airs on MTV. It features four live acoustic versions of Led Zeppelin favorites and eight new Page-Plant collaborations.

1997US singer songwriter John Denver was killed when the light aircraft he was piloting crashed into Monterey Bay, California. Denver was aged 53.

[TimothyBFan]

1993 'Common Thread: The Songs of the Eagles', an album in which some of country music's hottest stars pay tribute to the Eagles, is released. It sells more than 3 million copies, wins the Country Music Association's Album of the Year Award, and rekindles interest in the band.

Rekindles interest! I'm sure most of us here can say we never lost interest! I've never heard it other than bits a pieces, but I am very thankful it was thought of, put together & released!!!

[Koala]

1941 Paul Simon is born.

1958 Frank Sinatra started a five-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Frank Sinatra Sings For Only The Lonely'.

1963 The Beatles made their debut on ITV's 'Sunday Night at The London Palladium', topping the bill and transmitted live to an audience of 15 million viewers. They played, 'From Me To You', 'She Loves You', 'Twist and Shout' and 'I'll Get You.'

1965 The Who recorded 'My Generation', at Pye studios, London. When released as a single it reached No.2 on the UK chart, held off the No.1 position by The Seekers 'The Carnival Is Over'. Roger Daltrey would later say that he stuttered the lyrics to try to fit them to the music. The BBC initially refused to play the song because it did not want to offend people who stutter.

1975 Neil Young underwent an operation at a Los Angeles hospital to remove an object from his vocal cords.

1980 AC/DC's 'Back In Black' is certified platinum.

1984 Stevie Wonder started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'I Just Called To Say I Love You', his 7th US No.1, also No.1 in the UK.

1985 Take On Me (a-ha) was a hit.

2002 UK rock band Muse took legal action against Celine Dion after she announced her forthcoming Las Vegas show would be called 'Muse'. Singer Matt Bellamy from the band said 'We don't want anyone to think we're Celine Dion's backing band.'

2008 In a video message on his website, Ringo Starr announced that he no longer has time to sign autographs and asked fans not to send him any mail at all. "No more fan mail and no objects to be signed. Nothing." After finishing a tour of the US and Canada, he was dividing his time between Los Angeles, the South of France and his UK home in Surrey.

[Troubadour]

That whole Ringo fiasco was two years ago? Wow.