Today in Rock n' Roll History

[Koala]

1966 The Beatles played two shows at Rizal Memorial Football Stadium, Manila, in the Philippines to over 80,000 fans. The Beatles failed to appear at a palace reception hosted by President Marcos' family, who were not informed that the Beatles had declined their invitation. The Philippine media misrepresent this as a deliberate snub and when Brian Epstein tries to make a televised statement, his comments are disrupted by static. The next day, as The Beatles make their way to the airport they were greeted by angry mobs, the Philippine government had retaliated by refusing police protection for The Beatles.

1969 Janis Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Johnny Winter, Delaney and Bonnie, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Canned Heat, Joe Cocker, Blood Sweat & Tears, Chuck Berry, Spirit, Chicago and Paul Butterfield all appeared at the two-day Atlanta Pop Festival, Byron, Georgia.

1970 Cliff Richard released his 50th single 'Goodbye Sam, Hello Samantha.' The song peaked at No.6 on the UK chart.

1985 Dire Straits played the first of ten consecutive nights at London's Wembley Arena.

2003 American record producer and singer-songwriter and five-time Grammy Award-winner Barry White died from Kidney failure aged 58. Produced hits for girl group Love Unlimited and other chart hits include 1974 hit 'You're The First, The Last, My Everything', 1974 US No.1 'Can't Get Enough Of Your Love, Babe'. Bubblegum act The Banana Splits recorded his songs and he arranged the 1963 hit 'Harlem Shuffle' for Bob & Earl.

[Koala]

1944 Robbie Robertson, guitarist and main songwriter for the Band, is born in Toronto, Canada.

1969 The Rolling Stones gave a free concert in London's Hyde Park before an audience of 250,000, as a tribute to Brian Jones who had died two days earlier. Mick Jagger read an extract from Percy Bysshe Shelley's 'Adonais' and released 3,500 butterflies; it was also guitarist's Mick Taylor's debut with the Stones, King Crimson, Family, The Third Ear Band, Screw and Alexis Korner's New Church also appeared on the day.

1975 Pink Floyd, Captain Beefheart, Steve Miller and Roy Harper all appeared at The Knebworth Festival, England, tickets cost £3.50. Pink Floyd premiered their new album ‘Wish You Were Here’ with the help of Spitfires, pyrotechnics and an exploding plane which flies into the stage.

2005 Pink Floyd's David Gilmour said artists who had seen album sales soar after the Live 8 concerts should donate their profits to charity, "This is money that should be used to save lives." UK sales figures released two days after the London concert showed Pink Floyd’s Echoes: The Best of Pink Floyd had risen by 1343%, The Who’s-Then and Now by 863% and Annie Lennox-Eurythmics Greatest Hits by 500%.

2009 Michael Jackson started a seven week run at No.1 on the UK album charts with ‘The Essential Michael Jackson’, and was one of eight Jackson albums in the top twenty after the singers death on 25th June.

[Koala]

1957 John Lennon and Paul McCartney met for the first time at The Woolton Church Parish Fete where The Quarry Men were appearing. As The Quarry Men were setting up for their evening performance, McCartney eager to impress Lennon picked up a guitar and played ‘Twenty Flight Rock’ (Eddie Cochran) and ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’ (Gene Vincent). Lennon was impressed, and even more so when McCartney showed Lennon and Eric Griffiths how to tune their guitars, something they'd been paying someone else to do for them.

1963 James Brown went to No.2 on the US album chart with 'Live At The Apollo'. The album spent a total of 33 weeks on the chart.

1967 Pink Floyd made their first appearance on BBC TV music show Top Of The Pops to promote their new single ‘See Emily Play’. A badly damaged home video recording recovered by the British Film Institute of this show was given a public screening in London on 9th January 2010 at an event called "Missing Believed Wiped" devoted to recovered TV shows. It was the first time any footage was seen of the performance since its original broadcast.

1971 American jazz trumpeter, singer and bandleader, Louis Armstrong died. Had many hits including the 1964 US No.1 'Hello Dolly!', 1968 UK No.1 'What A Wonderful World’ plus ‘When The Saints Go Marching In’, ‘Ain't Misbehavin’, and ‘We Have All the Time in the World.’ He made frequent use of laxatives as a means of controlling his weight, resulting in Armstrong appearing in humorous, advertisements for laxative product Swiss Kriss; the ads bore a picture of him sitting on a toilet, as viewed through a keyhole, with the slogan "Satch says, 'Leave it all behind ya!"
1973 Queen released their debut single ‘Keep Yourself Alive’ in the UK.

1984 The Jacksons kicked off their North American Victory tour at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City. Over 2 million people attended the 55 concerts which grossed over $75 million. Michael Jackson donated $5 million to various charities.

1985 Phil Collins went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Sussudio', his third US No.1, it made No.12 in the UK.

1996 Crowded House went to No.1 on the UK album chart with 'The Very Best Of' album.

2001 A pair of Sir Elton John's sandals was set to become the most expensive shoes in history when they went under the hammer for charity. Offers over £20,000 were invited for the Salvatore Ferragamo sandals to raise funds for Elton's Aid Trust.

[Koala]

1940 Ringo Starr was Born!

1966 The Kinks were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Sunny Afternoon', the group's third and last UK No.1.

1968 The Yardbirds break up, guitarist Jimmy Page forms the New Yardbirds and changes the group's name to Led Zeppelin, allegedly on the advice of the Who's Keith Moon.

1969 George Harrison recorded his new song ‘Here Comes the Sun’ with just two other Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr at Abbey Road in London. John Lennon was absent recovering from a car crash in Scotland.

1980 Led Zeppelin played their last-ever concert when they appeared in West Berlin at the end of a European tour. The set included ‘Black Dog’, ‘Rock and Roll’, ‘Kashmir’, ‘Trampled Underfoot’ and ‘Stairway To Heaven’. They finished the show with ‘Whole Lotta Love’.

1984 Bruce Springsteen went to No.1 on the US album chart with 'Born In The USA'. The album went on to spend a total of 139 weeks on the US chart. Its also one of three albums (Michael Jackson's Thriller and Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814) to produce seven Top-ten US singles.

2006 Syd Barrett died from complications arising from diabetes aged 60. The singer, songwriter, guitarist was one of the founding members of Pink Floyd, active as a rock musician for only about seven years before he went into seclusion. He joined Pink Floyd in 1965 but left three years later after one album. Barrett released two solo albums before going into self-imposed seclusion lasting more than thirty years, with his mental deterioration blamed on drugs.

2007 The Live Earth concerts took place around the world with The Police closing the days events in New Jersey. The concerts were organised by former US Vice-President Al Gore, as part of his campaign to "heal the planet". Rock stars from around the world performed to hundreds of thousands of fans to highlight climate change. Concerts were held in Washington, Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg, London, Hamburg, Tokyo, Shanghai and Sydney. Madonna brought London's Live Earth concert to a close, playing a song she had written for the event. Other major acts who appeared included; Snow Patrol, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Genesis, The Beastie Boys, James Blunt, The Foo Fighters, Duran Duran, UB40, Snoop Dogg, Enrique Iglesias, Crowded House & Joss Stone.

[AzEaglesFan]

I was just watching the video when they celebrated Ringo's 70th birthday. It sure doesn't seem like it was a year ago already.

[Koala]

1967 The Monkees began a 29-date tour with The Jimi Hendrix Experience as support act. Hendrix was dropped after six shows after being told his act was not suitable for their teenybopper audience.

1969 Marianne Faithfull collapsed on the set of 'Ned Kelly' after taking a drug overdose. She was admitted to a Sydney Hospital, (she was later dropped from the movie).

1978 Gerry Rafferty's album 'City To City' went to No.1 on the US chart, knocking off 'Saturday Night Fever', which had been at the top of the charts for almost six months.

2002 Michael Jackson spoke out against the music industry's treatment of artists, alleging that the business was rife with racism. Speaking at a civil rights meeting in New York, Jackson claimed there was a 'conspiracy' among record companies, especially towards black artists. A spokesman for Jackson's record label said the remarks were 'ludicrous, spiteful and hurtful.'

2004 Mark Purseglove known as the world’s ‘biggest bootlegger’ was sentenced to 3 years 6 months jail by Blackfriars Crown Court. Purseglove had built up a £15 million pirate CD empire by bootlegging live concerts of some of the world's biggest stars including The Beatles, David Bowie and Pink Floyd.

[Koala]

1946 Bon Scott was born, vocals, AC/DC, (1980 UK No.36 single 'Whole Lotta Rosie' and 1980 UK No.1 & US No.14 album 'Back in Black' sold over 10 million copies). Scott was found dead in the backseat of a friend's car on 20th February 1980. The coroner's report stated he had ‘drunk himself to death’.

1962 Bob Dylan recorded ‘Blowin' In the Wind’ at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City during an afternoon session.

1966 Rod Allen bass player with The Fortunes was taken to hospital after being injured when fans pulled him from the stage during a gig at The Starlight Rooms in Lincoln.

1974 Crosby Stills Nash & Young kicked off a reunion tour in Seattle in front of 15,000 fans.

1983 The Police started an eight week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Every Breath You Take' also No.1 in the UK. Taken from the bands album Synchronicity, Sting won Song of the Year and The Police won Best Pop Performance for the song at the 1984 Grammy Awards.

[Koala]

1964 200,000 Liverpudlians took to the streets to celebrate The Beatles return to Liverpool for the northern premiere of the group's first film 'A Hard Days Night.' The group were honored in a public ceremony in front of Liverpool Town Hall and as The Beatles stood on a balcony looking at the large crowd gathered below, John Lennon, gave a few Nazi "Sieg Heil" salutes. Not everyone appreciated his sense of humor.

1965 The Rolling Stones started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction', the group's first US No.1. Some US stations cut out the last verse believing it referred to women's 'time of the month'.

1968 Eric Clapton announced that Cream would break-up after their current tour.

1969 The funeral of Rolling Stone Brian Jones took place in his home town at Hatherley Road Parish Church, Cheltenham. Canon Hugh Evan Hopkins read Jones' own epitaph, 'Please don't judge me too harshly'. Bill Wyman, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts from The Stones attended the funeral.

　1971 Sweet hits #2 in the UK with "Co-Co."

2005 The four members of Led Zeppelin were voted the UK's ideal supergroup after 3,500 music fans were asked to create their fantasy band for Planet Rock Radio. Jimmy Page won best guitarist, followed by Guns N' Roses' Slash and Deep Purple's Ritchie Blackmore. John Paul Jones was named top bassist, with John Bonham, who died in 1980, winning best drummer and Robert Plant beat the late Freddie Mercury to best singer.

[tequila girl]

1964 200,000 Liverpudlians took to the streets to celebrate The Beatles return to Liverpool for the northern premiere of the group's first film 'A Hard Days Night.' The group were honored in a public ceremony in front of Liverpool Town Hall and as The Beatles stood on a balcony looking at the large crowd gathered below, John Lennon, gave a few Nazi "Sieg Heil" salutes. Not everyone appreciated his sense of humor.

I think i've said it before.......I was part of that large crowd!

[Ive always been a dreamer]

Oh gosh - I missed you mentioning that before, Carole. Now, THAT is one cool memory!!!

And, unfortunately, this is late, but I'd like to extend a very happy belated 71st birthday wish to Ringo. Hope he had a wonderful day!!!