Riffs
is gathering info on your views as to what may be
the cause of dwindling crowds for live music gigs
around the North-East. We have some great venues,
caring landlords/owners and a plethora (that means
lots) of top quality
(I mean like fuckin' awesome)
bands - so why so few punters? If you wish to have
your say then just email me here:
riffsonline@gmail.com. You can even
remain anonymous if you wish (but make it clear in
your email).
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
APATHY
RULES! - WHATEVER
Just
this very minute (well, coupla days now) heard
from an extremely well-known and well-respected
North-East pub landlord who has put his heart and
soul into live music for many years, that he is
close to calling it a day with live bands. Over
the past few years his gig crowds have steadly
dwindled to a point now that it is hardly feasible
to host live music. Considering the quality of
musicianship and wide range of excellent bands on
offer in our area, this is a total disgrace.
Regular readers will have noticed that Riffs (and
bands and venues) have mentioned the lack of live
music support on many occasions of late but it is
now becoming a frightening reality that venues
will have to react to. The annoying thing is, the
answer is unbelievably simple - fuck
the box and get out and watch a band!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
ADRENALINE-FUELLED HEAVY ROCK
 I think that any band who openly
welcomes a review must be reasonably sure they are
musically and visually capable.
Riffs never expects perfection, indeed, so glad we
haven't found it 'cos life would then be filled with
anti-climaxes. So it was nice to hear from Graham
from Adrenaline
who boast a night of 'Heavy Rock and Classic Rock' -
my musical taste buds are a-rockin' already.
The gig is on November 9th, Saturday, at
Darlington's Quakerhouse.
Now all I need to do is try and remember where I
have heard the name Graham Forrester from.... An
enlightening email will surely be heading my
way.......
Oh, and in case you
need a taster of what Adrenaline
offer. Look no further than HERE.
------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
There's
many amongst us who just can't get enough AC/DC
from the good ol' early days of Bon Scott.
Well, your lust for Rock and Metal at its best
can be well-satiated tonight (Friday 11th) at
Gateshead's Three Tuns when UK/DC
take to the stage for a blistering Rock set
that I can assure you is dynamite. You have been duly notified.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Whoops. Thought I had mentioned this but
apparently not. The Times Inn, Dalton le
Dale, has shut its doors. On its Facebook
page, it says 'for good', but I don't think the
staff and punters would see much good in it! I
think they may mean 'permanently' or
'indefinitely'.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
VICTIM OF
CHANGES
 Without
question, Rob
Halford is one
of Heavy Metal’s all-time great vocalists – as heard
through his highly influential and groundbreaking work
with Judas Priest. But age must do strange things to people,
as he is about to release an all-new album entitled
‘Celestial’ - full of 'Christmas' songs.
‘Celestial’ sees Halford joined by a supporting cast
of those very close to him – his brother (Nigel) on
drums, his nephew on bass (Alex, son of Priest bassist
Ian Hill), has sister (Sue) on bells, and twin guitar
tandem of Robert Jones and Jon Blakey.
'Donner and Blitzen,' and 'Protected by the Light,' as
well as reworkings of such holiday standards as 'God
Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,' 'Joy to the World,' and
'Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,' sit alongside other
offerings. 'Donner and Blitzen’ gets the snowball
rolling for Celestial – a song full of
excitement, love and hope,” says Rob. “You
can hear and feel the power of Christmas time –
energy roarin’ with rockin’ reindeers haulin’!”
Of course you can Mr Halford. Now where's my copy
of Sad Wings of Destiny . . .
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Gonna
give a shout to Heart
Shaped Stone who, up until today,
I thought was a band but, apparently - well not
apparently - because she has told me she isn't a
band, she is solo, and she ought to know.
I'm giving a shout for two reasons. 1) she's
taken out an advert in Riffs, which helps me pay
the exorbitant prices for web hosting and domain
name; and 2) she was the lead singer in
two Rock bands - '99
Clicks', and 'Fallen Angel'.
[I could squeeze in a 3) by saying she
was very polite - you'd be surprised how many
people aren't!].
As she told Riffs quite candidly: "Everything
I play is totally live, no tracks or gizmos, I
strive to play well known cover songs that
people like to hear on a night out and very
often finish up with the audience singing
along as the night goes on, mainly great
singalong songs from the 80s and 90s from
bands such as 3 Non
Blondes, Oasis, Allanis Morrisette,
Beautiful South, Fleetwood Mac, KT
Tunstall, Blondie, Cranberries,
plus some older, earlier and more modern songs
too to please a wider range of audience."
She has a great following in her home town of
North Shields but travels all over the
North-East for gigs. She is no stranger to the
weird and wonderful venues we have here in the
North-East and has hosted buskers nights and
mulitplayer live music gigs since 2017, now
pushing her solo career.
I'll admit, unless she dives into the odd Priest or Motorhead track
("that really isn't going to happen, Nige")
she may leave me a bit by the wayside but, as my
niece told me "There's more to life than
Heavy Rock". Errrmmmm, sorry Hazel, nope,
you've lost me.
But I appreciate there is room for everyone in
our thriving music arena and Heart Shaped Stone
certainly have the background and
professionalism to say "I'm here now, just
leave everything to me". And that, surely,
is what a lot of landlords are dying to hear.
(second only to "there's hundreds of people
queued outside for tonight's gig!")
There is a Facebook page showreel:
https://www.facebook.com/heartshapedmusic/videos/3191461814229734/
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Ginger Baker, one
of the co-founders of Cream,
has died at the age of 80.
Baker
is best known for co-founding Cream with Eric
Claption and Jack Bruce in 1966. He
suffered various health problems in the later years
of his life, telling Rolling Stone in 2013 that
performing “exhausted” him. The
candid interview also saw Baker reveal that he
suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD) from smoking. In February 2016, he
was forced to cancel a tour with Air Force after
being diagnosed with “serious heart problems”. He is
thought to have undergone open heart surgery in June
of that year.
-------------------------------------------------------------
INTERNATIONAL DATELINE
OCTOBER 7 . . . INTERNATIONAL DATELINE OCTOBER 7
. . . INTE
 Direct
from Riffs International Overseas Reporter (you
better believe it!) comes some AC/DC news; recently
opened in Prahran, Melbourne (that's way over in
Australia, by the way) is 'Angus
and Bon' Steakhouse. Which,
co-incidentally or not, is just around the corner
from the Station Hotel where the band played one of
their first Melbourne gigs back in 1975. Our
intrepid Ozzie reported dutifully snapped this pic
of the Angus and Bon plaque and I have requested
that she wears her 'AC/DC founded 1974' t-shirt in
front of the aforementioned establishment while
taking a photo of herself (I think the hip amongst
us call it a 'selfie') - but of course this all
depends on the weather as I was unable to afford the
very fastest pigeon. But a big thanks to Franki who, by her
own admisssion ended up in Melbourne after missing
the Hollywood plane. Don't worry, I told her, relax.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------
Another
thousand words, this time from Qween,
also with a sellout concert on a recent Friday at
Hedworth Hall:
Checkout their radio interview here.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS
The
Bay Horse in Bishop Auckland (on a recent Friday).
. .
 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 Heard
from Maddog - Chairman of the Tyne Wolves - that the Duke of
Cumberland in Gateshead reopened
fairly recently and is planning live gigs. The
management intends to have regular band nights but
The Tyne Wolves have got in quick with two gigs
there already planned: Red Revival on 28th of
this month, and Three
Odd Shoes on Oct 4. Start time is 8pm
and there will be a charity bucket for welcome
contributions.
Val and myself have
many happy memories of the Duke, with Thompa
vying with Paul Tuns for the most gracious
host
in the North East. He
set the bar extremely high, let's just hope the
present management are even half as good.
---------------------------------------------------------------
The
gig arranged for Darlington's Forum for 24th of
this month has been put back to next year and this
new gig featuring The Tom Atkinson
Band and the legendary Russ Tippins Band
now takes its place:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heard from Dave from
the Graham
Henderson Experience that their gig
tonight (Friday) at the Ox and Plough in Washington
is off. The venue is closed and boarded so I guess
that means no live gigs there for a
while............but we'll let you know if anything
changes.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Better
late than never - tonight's
gig (Fri) at the now iconic Three Tuns in
Gateshead is Heavy Metal USURPER. Tried my best
to get a pic of the band but no luck. But there
are some vids on Youtube taken at Trillans. I
mention tonight's gig as it is now getting so damn
difficult to get to see some Metal bands - and
even more so if they play their own compositions;
so good on Usurper. Check out their vids and if
you are in the Gateshead area then why not pop
along and give these guys some support? master of
the wreck baptism of
fire
And good on Paul Tuns for giving these
lads an airing.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRIBUTE
BAND BREAKS PUB ATTENDANCE RECORD
 By all accounts Darlo Blues day on
Sunday was a rip-roaring success and, although we
would have liked to hear from several bands
concerning their gig on the day, at least we've
been contacted by The
Paul Rodgers Story who, apparently,
broke an attendance record at a Darlington pub! We
hear that there was, wait for it, 110 (that's one
hundred and ten) people watching just the band's
sound check at Hoskins Bar in the town
centre. And when the band kicked off, there had
been an unbelievable 553 people in the venue. The
previous record was 350. The band, needless to
say, fed off the crowd and went down an absolute
storm. The Paul Rodgers Story have a new website
up and running www.paulrodgersstory.com
(I've told them about the Riffs reviews links not
working) and also I can link to a video taken on
the night of the band playing 'Fire and Water'.
Just click here.
(above
pic was taken at Darlington Forum earlier this
year)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
 Has anyone a cure for
Fizzyfish? Those adaptable funsters
are at it again - raising money for charity. I can't
put it much better than singer Alan so I'll quote
directly from his email:
"This one's been
drawn together really quickly, Sunday 29th
Sept at the old B&M store on Harbour Walk,
Hartlepool, TS24 0YA. We're helping out the
Personal Trainers at The Gym Group in Hartlepool
in an event to raise funds for Andy’s Man Club,
set up to help people with mental health issues in
remembrance of Adam Rutherford, a young lad who
sadly took his own life. The event is free, but
obviously we would welcome any donations on the
day to the cause, there's 3 live music acts; Red Sky,
the acoustic duo span off the band Skyran, the
wonderful Jades
a 4-part
glamourous harmony group, and to end the afternoon
there’s the ugly buggers that are us, Fizzyfish,
with a power hour to end the day with a bang. The
event runs from noon until around 4pm, there’s
plenty of other stuff going on for those who like
to physically exert themselves - and those who
like to watch them try. Everyones doing their bit
for nowt, from the organisers, Hart
tool hire, PA company Soundwaves, Van Hire
company and Hartlepool Council;
they have all been a great help, all funds raised
go straight to the cause."
There's nothing more I can add to enhance the event,
except a plea for local people to go along, have a
crackin' day out and try and pop a few pennies in
the collecting buckets. Anyone who's organised an
event knows just how much hard work - not to mention
sweat and sleepless nights - goes into it, so to tot
it all up at the end of the day to realise a
financial reward for Andy's Man Club would
put smiles on so many faces . . .
And well done Fizzyfish
- Riffs will always have room for you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
DIRTY
DOGZ PHIL PROPOSES A NIGHT OF
'PANACHE, POWER,
PRECISION AND PASSION'
 And talking of 'no-nonsense', Riffs is
excited at an email from Phil
from Dirty Dogz
fame who, after the demise of aforesaid band, has been
pining for some quality, down-to-earth Rock done by
mature, experienced musicians - or in his own words 'A tasty selection of highly regarded and
seasoned pros' (I'm hearing
people standing and clapping at the back . . .) and
with the adage 'if you want something doing properly
do it yourself' resounding around his thinking organ,
Phil has decided to do just that.
Putting
his money where his mouth is, Phil is arranging a
'little' soiree where he expects to showcase some
incredible Rock talent. He told me: 'There’s
still some cracking nights to be had out there I’m
sure but, as most bands are finding, it's often
hard chuffin work playing to 2 men, a whippet and
a crazy couple in the corner who are adamant they
want a bit of Britney! However, the frustration
and disappointment seems to have wained a tad over
the noted period of inactivity and I am dipping my
arthritic toes (some may say foolishly) into the
local, unpredictable rock'n'roll waters again.'
At the moment he
has got his main band together: Joe
Hope-Bass/Vox (“The Boy”), Ray Johns-Hammond
(“The Man”), Sid White-Drums
(“The Business”), Phil
Caisley-Gtr/Vox (“The Dreamer”) but
Phil promises some 'special guests' not to mention
support band(s).
Still in its early stages,
Phil is wanting to gauge support before he goes full
tilt. He continued: 'Looking for definite feedback
from real fans of live music who like nothing more
than to immerse themselves in a night of quality
sounds delivered with panache, power, precision and
passion'. Expectations are high and Phil hopes
the setlist to include
'interpretations/improvisations of classic rock,
blues and psychedelia from Hendrix, Zeppelin, Cream,
Stones, Beatles, Free, Neil Young, Peter Green, Bob
Dylan...plus the odd original and a few surprises.'
Phil has emphasised that this will happen only
with enough prior interest. He welcomes texts on 07803 640235. I have promised Phil,
Riffs' full involvement and when anything happens -
we wanna know!
LET'S MAKE THIS HAPPEN.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
HEADS
DOWN NO-NONSENSE BOOGIE
Nipped out to catch Ma Kelly's Boys
last Sunday (15th Sep) at Crook Hotel,
co-incidentally about the same time as John Coghlan's Quo
were playing in Darlington as part of the annual
Blues Festival. Again, Ma Kelly's Boys are
seasoned musicians who have done their homework
and noticeably love playing Quo's early stuff.
Lots on offer, including 'Railroad', 'Roll Over
Lay Down', 'Mystery Song' and many of the expected
Quo classics - the sound was ballsy, meaty and
perfectly balanced. Lead guitarist's feigned move
to turn down the volume elicited angry shouts from
the crowd. Think so too. Quo fans will not feel
short-changed here.
  
-------------------------------------------
My faith in
humanity has been partially restored - well, I say
humanity; I mean the Rock-going public of the
North-East. How? Well, I have just received (and
now put together) a review of UK/DC at Glendale Club from
last Friday (13th), and it was packed. Chocka.
Heaving. And don't take my word for it, The Seaham
Silverback was there, sent in his review with
pictures of said crowd. Magnifico.
------------------------------------------------------
 Received
a link to the new offering from our local lads Millennium.
Coming in at around an ear-battering six minutes
this Heavy Rock onslaught - A
New World - is a taster for
the full album coming out this month. Seems
there's fewer and fewer Rock and Metal heads left,
but for the Metal minority this little ditty
should satisfy. Paul from the band told me: 'It's
tough for all bands but especially those that
peddle their own stuff. Hopefully we'll travel a
wider road soon.' We wait with baited
breath. Give it a listen, crank your speakers to
11, sit back, and enjoy . . .A NEW WORLD
----------------------------------------------------
Just been
sent a link to a great video by the NE STREET BAND. Check it out here
--------------------------------------------
Three Tuns in Gateshead need
band for this Sat (14th). Contact Paul asap
07940715824 (and let me know if you get the gig
and I'll post it on the Listings page). NOW
SORTED,. FREDDIE PURVIS GOT THE GIG.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
After typing
the below para something came to me that Colin
Smoult said to me many, many moons ago when he was
in Shovelmouth. He told me how much it
means when, after a gig, if just one person comes
over and says to the band how much they had
enjoyed the gig. That, he said, made all the hard
work so worthwhile.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Can you
hear us at the back?"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
While
writing the review for Obsession yesterday (Sat) I
twigged that the brilliant lead guitarist John Footitt was
in a band called Riot, way back. So, after a
search through Riffs' archives I found a review
for Riot done
at (you might guess) The Three Tuns, by
Val. Again, not sure what year - but I know
someone will help out. Here is the review. Plus a
couple of pics of John belting out some toons
including some Bon J . . .aaah, where's the sick
bucket?!!!
..............................................................................
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Less than a week to
go until the Ruf Blues
Caravan 2019
take to the stage at Hartlepool Supporters
Club on Saturday 14th.
A lot of people may panic
thinking they now do not have
time to arrange tickets for the
gig - but panic not, as Tommy is
allowing pay on door to this
event if all tickerts are not
sold.
If you want to check
availability just give him a quick email on
thomas.wormald2@ntlworld.com.
And he may even hold them on
the door for you, I know
not, but if you ask very
nicely he just may.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just heard from Blistered Molly that their charity Ball at Hexham
Mart has been cancelled. It was listed for later
this month but it is now not to be. Mike from
the band told Riffs "I'm not suprised really,
at £50 a ticket!" And I bet he was looking
forward to that drum solo too. Such is life.
Mike is slightly miffed as the band turned down
a couple of bookings for that night so is now
trying to fill that slot; it's Saturday
September 28; contact
Mike on 07711 006943.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
GOOD OLD-FASHIONED LOVER BOY
 And
I thought Sunday was a day of rest!!
No sooner had I finished putting together last night's
review of The Codgers by the Seaham Silverback,
than in pops an email from Rob of
Qween who had another successful gig
on Friday (30th Aug) at The Grand in Newcastle.
And he very kindly sent me in a couple of pics taken
at that fine establishment.
I also hear that the band even did a meet and greet
after the show for their many fans demanding a chat.
Nice one guys.
Their next gig is at Hedworth Hall South Shields on
Friday 27th Sep and tickets are just £6 from the venue
or Qween's Facebook page.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I
notice that The Codgers
are playing Houghton Sports and Social Club
tonight (Sat) and there's just a chance that the
Seaham Silverback may be out and about too. Now I'd
hate for anyone to put two and two together . .
. but I've sorted through Riffs archives and
dusted off some old pics I took of the young lads
when they were Old Codger in 2007. So,
without further ado:
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I can agree wholeheartedly with The
Seaham Silverback's review of Starz
a few weeks ago. I caught them last
night (Thursday 29th Aug) at
Osbournes in Yarm to get pics of
them on stage and was mega-impressed
by this versatile power trio. An
object lesson in how to - seemingly
effortlessly - entertain a crowd
with an ultra-tight sound by
seasoned and talented musicians and
still have a laugh with the punters.
To be able to play a bikers gig one
night and a wine bar the next will
give Starz an enviable edge.
Tony from St. Peter's Club
in Newcastle told me: "These lads
are great. I have had them twice
this year and intend to book them
again for 2020."
I
kidnapped
guitarist Kenny
between sets:
"There is no
other place
like the
North-East,"
he pointed out,
"every weekend
there are
numerous local
bands on offer
to go and see
- not many
people realise
this is
special to the
area."
Although he
still wouldn't
be drawn on
whether hardened
rockers Black
Rose would
be publicising
their upcoming
album with some
local gigs.
I have updated
the Silverback's
review with some
pics but have
not changed any
of his text.
Starz are
still mid
mini-tour and I
unashamedly urge
you to go see.
Kiko, Mark and
Kenny's
repertoire is
all-encompassing
and I truly
can't see anyone
being
disappointed. http:www.starzrock.co.uk
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIZZYFISH
HAVE DARLINGTON IN THEIR SIGHTS
  By
jove they're at it again!
Fizzy by name and fizzy by nature.
Only this time, the band who put the E in
Entertainment plan to bring a bit of life to
Darlington. They are playing for nopence, not a
penny, not a threepenny bit, not a tanner, not a
florin so as to help Family Help in Darlington,
which specialises in domestic abuse support for
women and women with children fleeing domestic
abuse. They provide safe temporary accommodation for
those that need it, in a purpose built refuge with 8
units.
Alan told Riffs: "We are honoured to be
supporting the refuge and will be offering a night
of entertainment for the princely sum of £6 a
ticket. We will be going full on Rollercoaster set
for this one, so nothing esoteric, just a great
night of great tunes!"
It's on Friday, October 18. Tickets are available
direct from the venue, The Forum Music Centre,
Borough Road, Darlington, 01325 363135. All profits
will go direct to the refuge.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well,
some balls are held for charity and some for fancy
dress, but the ball that's held in aid of
Tynedale Hospice is the ball that
Blistered Molly likes
best. Yep, the band has been asked to play at the
Hats and Glad Rags Ball in
the Function Suite at Hexham Mart. Drummer Mike
from the band tells me they are all looking
forward to introducing the crowd to some Classic
Rock and I note that within their repertoire they
include some Free, Zep,
AC/DC, Lizzy and . . . Sabbath. Hmmm,
best keep clear of War Pigs methinks and probs go
for Paranoid. Even Zep
may be a push. "Well," said Mike
confidently, "we'll suss out the crowd and see
what we can get away with. The name  of the game,
though, is to entertain. And we have no worries
on that score." With such a positive
attitude the band may just make some converts.
Singer Ashleigh is a big
Zep fan so hopes are high for some
blistering Rock. The event has been put together
by Patricia Barnes of Hats and Glad Rags in Hexham
and Gofton Wagyu and takes place on Saturday
September 28th. It all kicks off at 7pm and you'll
get chucked out around midnight.
Not a cheap night mind, coming in at £50. But hey,
it is for charity and hospices up and down the
country rely on public donations to survive. And
if you had a loved one spending time in a hospice
you would wish the best for them wouldn't you? If
you do wish to treat yourself and partner then
call 01434 606 444 or e-mail
fundraising@tynedalehospice.com. Mike did say Blistered Molly
intend to make it a night to remember. I think
when
Mike announces: "Hey everybody, this
is our twenty-minute version of Moby Dick."
That should do the trick.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Had a
little jaunt last night (Fri 23rd) to Bishop Auckland
to see Four Letter
Word do their
stuff at the Bay Horse. Review and pics sorted
for your delectation. The
Seaham Silverback has just submitted to
Riffs his review of The Whole
Hog at The
Glendale and this is now finished and both
reviews are here to view.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
WELL - THEY
HAVEN'T KILLED KENNY
Well, would you credit it? Riffs was opining the
lack of music news today and into our lap popped
this little gem concerning not only a great Metal
band, but also we spy the ruggedly Rock looks of
guitarist Kenny Nicholson who is no stranger to
Riffs News pages. [And as this info didn't come from
Kenny we officially slap him around the face with a
wet lettuce].
He is now part of Millennium,
a Billingham-based Heavy Metal band who are due to
release their fourth full-length studio album A
New World on October 25th, 2019 through Pure
Steel Records.
Vocalist Mark Duffy commented: “We try to keep
some of our New Wave Of British Heavy Metal roots,
but we also try a bit of variation with songs like
‘Obsolete’ and ‘Assassin’ that have a more
straight ahead heavy metal feel to them." The
band who played on the album consisted of:
Mark Duffy (vocals, Toranaga)
Will Philpot (guitar, Serpents Kiss)
Louis Astbury (guitar)
Paul Simpson (bass)
Darren Moore (drums)
We say 'consisted' as Louis Astbury has been
replaced by Kenny, and drummer Darren Moore by Nigel
Waterfall-Brown.
I, for one, will be keeping my eye open for a
possible local gig - well, there's bound to be one
pub that has the balls to unleash some Heavy Metal
thunder. Isn't there?
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Further to the mensh for the
upcoming Red Revival gig at Leam Lane, thought some
readers may be interested in their take
on Whole Lotta Rosie. The lead singer's
voice is quite powerful - you could say
she's got it aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall. Check
out the video here,
taken on the 18th of this month at the Smile
Festival.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Bearing in mind I have been a lilfe-long UFO fan, I was
looking forward to the Pete
Way Band at Trillians on Monday just
gone. But decided to give it a miss.
I'll say nothing more, just point you to this
Youtube video recorded recently - here. Too
bad, too sad.
----------------------------------------------------------
TYNE WOLVES INITIATE RED REVIVAL
Now,
this one's a month away but I'm rather intrigued
with this. Maddog
and the Tyne Wolves
not only show their worth by putting on some
regular Rock/Grunge/Metal offerings at the
Deuchars Arms up there in Leam Lane but has Riffs
mucho respect as he makes sure proceeds go to a
cause close to his heart - the Kayaks charity.
News enough you may agree but I've just heard from
him of his gig on Sep 15 for: Red
Revival. Now I know if I said they have a
female singer a lot of you will immediately
discount the band or subconciously think less off
them - I hold my hands up there. But then think of
Warlock, think
of Benatar. Roxette
even? And what about Harry?
No - not Dirty, Debbie!
Check out this song (click on image) and
see what you think. Massive potential to be a
rockin' combo there. And let's face it; if Maddog
says to them 'I want you Rockin' tonight'.
Would you argue?
.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just one day to
go and we get info on tomorrow's (SAT 17th) Burning
Rock Festival at
Stanley. I've added the info to the Listings page but
here's a rundown of who's on:
2pm no ordinary Angel; 3pm me mes; 4pm dog in a
box; 5pm rigid digits; 6pm ballbreakers; 7pm riverrain; 8pm lock n load.
Only a fiver and pay at gate. That's it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Gotta
give a big shout to Four Letter Word who are
braving Darlington's apathetic Rock scene to be
part of the Britannia's Britfest event in aid of
St. Theresa's Hospice this Saturday (17th).
Much kudos to Michael and the lads for giving of
their time for such a worthwhile cause, who are
hoping to take to the stage around 5. It's from 2
to 9pm and other bands on the menu are East Coast Mainline; The
Mechanical Capybara and String Edition.
I gotta say, know nothing much about the Britannia
except it's seemed to have always been there,
overseeing many changes to Darlo including the
demise of Handcrafts from directly over the road,
the building of the A68/St. Cuthbert's Way
roundabout directly outside the pub, not to
mention the massive ugly DWP building that it
faces.
And they do their bit for the wild birds by always
maintaining a fresh supply of num nums via their
Britannia tree (not much escapes Riffs' eagle
eye!!). So with that attention to detail it's
probs a pub worth visiting.
As with Maddog's afternoon gig up there in Leam
Lane, we wish for good weather to enhance the
event.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Having a look at Riffs
Listings it's nice to see that Paul Tuns' panic at
getting his August's gigs sorted is now history
and he can look forward to some crackin' bands -
culminating in the astounding coup of securing Skinny Molly; featuring Lynryd Skynyrd's Mike Estes (as
this is the ONLY north-east gig [apart from
Stormin' biker rally the night before] you get to
this gig or you've missed the band for well over a
year). Zooming forward to this Friday (16th) he
has the ever-popular FM. Have dug out
a couple of pics which - according to the photo
info. - I took in 2013. AC/DC,
Hendrix and many others get an
outing with this quality band and - from what I
can remember - a stunning lead guitarist.
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Must give a shout out to David from High Howdon Social Club which
was host to an Abba
tribute last weekend. Between you and me he would be
happy for them to sneak in 'Thunderstruck'. Well, you
never know - the last song the
Pistols played at their gig at
Midddlesbrough Rock Garden in the Seventies was
'Teenage Kicks' - and who'da thought that? So fingers
crossed for ya mate. On the off chance they do, be
sure to let Riffs know!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Isn't
it nice - or do I mean 'rare' - when people keep their
word? And so it is that Rob from Qween Sold Out (Soz -
I mean Qween) sent in some pics - or should I say 'pic'
- of his gig last night Saturday 9th at Newcastle
Village Hotel.
Although I was expecting more than one, at least it's
nice to have an image of the evening. I must apologise
for the size though (unfortunately not the first time
I've had to say that) but this is exactly as supplied.
Beggars can't be choosers, so I thank Rob and fingers
crossed his full houses continue.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
THIS MACHINE
CREATES WHEELS OF STEEL
Nice to hear from This Machine who, I
have been reliably informed (cos they told me), have
been having some rather pleasing responses regarding
their cover versions. Saxon
commented
'very cool' when talkin' 'bout Wheels of
Steel - praise indeed. Also,
their version of the Dead Daisies Long
Way To Go  got a 'like' on
the Daisies' Facebook page. Not bad going for Norman, Tony, Sequel, Paul
and The Hamster of Doom (aka
Gazza) who I know have been on the circuit long enough
to hone their musicianship to deserve such eminent
acolades. I just hope this mensh doesn't embarrass the
lads - no? Well, if that doesn't, then the following
photos just may; taken ten years ago when myself and
Val interviewed the band at The Three Tuns in
Gateshead.
We were all much older then - we're younger
than that now...
 
This Machine playing
Wheels of Steel at The Frigate, Marske- here
This Machine
playing Long Way To Go at The Penny Gill - here
---------------------------------------------------------------....................................
New
Plough Dipton Music festival confirmed
for Sunday 25th August
from 1.15pm through to 10.15pm
Music all day with 6
live acts from solos to full bands as below:
Scott
Kiers solo
North Road duo
Mitch Laddie band
Jen Stevens Little Moth duo
Ash Humble solo
Sofi-stication band
And no reason not to pop along as it's completely,
totally FREE.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
HSC BACK ON THE CIRCUIT
 
Just a heads up for any sharp eyed readers -
especially around the Hartlepool area - who have
noticed that Hartlepool Supporters Club has
been missing from our Gig Listings the last few
months. Well, just heard from Tommy there and they
have had a break from bands but are now back to
firing on all six. Their gigs are, of course, now on
our Listings and you would do well to check out that
fine establishment, which has hosted some really
rare out-of-town bands. Highlight for this month just
has to be The Feelgood Band. I think you will be a
tad impressed. Check 'em out here
--------------------------------------------------------------
QWEEN SOLD OUT
Just heard that the Qween gig (that's a Queen
tribute for those of you have just got up or are or
well hungover) this Friday 9th at Newcastle is now
completely SOLD OUT. That's three gigs in a row for Qween that have
sold out. Wonder if they'll be tempted to rename the
band 'Qween Sold Out'
. . .!!
Rob
from the band has promised to send in some pics
so I'll pop the best on the this page as soon as
I get them.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Hey Molly,
how you so skinny?"
 Bands come and go, venues come and
go, but Gateshead's Three Tuns has been
one of the most reputable and long-established
venues for North-East live gigs for as long as I
can remember [many of you will be thinking 'well,
that's about a fortnight then'] - indeed, just
look at our old reviews and quite a few feature
the Tuns, so it's quite fitting that Paul from
that Rockin' gaff has the honour to be the ONLY
North-East pub to host Lynyrd
Skynyrd's Mike
Estes and his band Skinny Molly. The
band rate the Tuns gig so highly [it states on the
 Skinny Molly website
that The Three Tuns is one of their favourite
places to play] that not only did they plead with
Paul to have a gig there [I totally imagine] but I
understand they are having a warm-up the night
before when they headline Stormin' The Castle
Bikers Rally at Bishop Auckland. Those bikers
appreciate a bit of the ol' Southern hospitality
and will no doubt get the Mollies all fired up for
a night of propa Rockin' boogie for the Tuns
crowd. Just a shame they don't play Freebird
anymore as they reckon it's just not called for at
any of their gigs..............yeah,
right!! - they wouldn't dare not play
Freebird!!!! Skinny Molly
also play the best of Lynyrd
Skynyrd, Molly Hatchet, Blackfoot
and The Outlaws. The Tuns gig is Saturday 31st August
and tickets are a tenner. And, although we all
know the Tuns is like a massive football arena
once you get inside . . . Paul must make it known
that when the tickets are gone - they're gone. No
door entry wiithout a ticket. No squeezing in the
odd punter. And apparently there's quite a few
odd punters in Gateshead.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paul at the Tuns in now all
sorted. All dates filled and up on the Listings
page... he's appreciative of all bands who
enquired and is full for August - unless someone
pulls out!!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, just dug
out another Riffs
review from way back, by dear ol' Val - and again, no
idea when this was penned. Val mentioned it was the
week after the 26th. Ah, right, so that's cleared that
up........
-------------------------------------------------
C'mon
bands - Riffs is updated many times daily and when we
say Paul needs bands for The Three Tuns in Gateshead
for this month then we are talking now;
we will let you know when the slots have been filled -
but they haven't been yet. He still has three dates to
fill
This Saturday 10th August
Next Friday 16th August
Next Saturday 17th August. So give him a call
07940
715824. WHEN?
NOW!!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
AC/DC
GB AT THE PENNY GILL
 Hello
everybody peeps. Well, just  got back from The
Penny Gill in Spennymoor where I
nipped along to try out a new camera -
always felt a bit of a wally lugging my
large DSLR about, so invested in new
technology. Was really pleased with the
results; will need some tweaking but I
thought I'd post a few pics from its very
first use. I'm contemplating undertaking
band reviews - just like the old days
(but, unfortunately without Val) if there
is a demand; and of course a review is no
good without pics to illustrate. Anyway,
this is from last night's gig (Sun Aug
4th) at The Penny Gill of
AC/DC GB . . .
I recorded them playing 'High Voltage' and that
is now on Youtube - https://youtu.be/V-0BzWOjMDk.
---------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
I've started experimenting
with linking bands names in the Listing page to
Youtube videos of themselves - to help readers get
an idea of what to expect at a gig. At the moment
I've picked a few at random but, if any band wants
a link to a particular video then please let me
know and I will initiate that. I'm not sure what
will happen though when that gig comes and goes; I
guess you will need to re-send the link for me to
keep it up to date............ I'll see how it
goes........
---------------------------------------------------------------------
COME
ON AND TOUCH ME
The keen-eyed amongst you may have noticed how
many Starz
gigs there are now in August and
September. Well, it just happens their popularity
seems to know no bounds. I remember guitarist
Kenny telling me earlier this year that they went
out of their way to pick a set list that was
recognisable but yet well away from the
'done-to-death' covers. Well, that has paid off in
spades [what's the builders' motto - measure twice
and cut once]. Kenny explained to Riffs: 'Starz has gone down
really well everywhere; one landlord told us that
we were the first band he'd listened to for months
cos normally he switches off when he's serving
behind the bar because he's sick of hearing the
same old songs, he couldnt wait to get us back!' Not
only that but Kenny is in The
Paul Rodgers Story who had no choice
but to reform after constant requests and, by all
accounts, played a blinder recently at Darlington's
Forum (and yes a re-booking ensued). And, if all
that isn't impressive enough, his other band, the
heavy Black
Rose is on the verge of
releasing a new album. Kenny went on: 'Black Rose are almost finished
recording a new album which is a lot heavier than
anything we have done in the past, it should
surprise a few people!'
Couldn't be too heavy for me Kenny - or too
loud! Click pic to hear
'Cure For Your Disease' by Black Rose.
I wouldn't be surprised if Kenny makes himself
available on a regular basis, surrounded by
railings, for bands who want to just get close and
touch him . . . or just stare in awe . . .
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Three Tuns all sorted for
weekend - they have Romeo's Pistol
for this Friday and Prism
for Saturday. Two bands quick off the mark - mind
you, neither have been in touch with Riffs. We got the
confirmation from Paul Tuns. Y'know, ya try to
give bands publicity . . .
Paul is still short for some dates late August
so give him a call 07940 715824.
THREE TUNS NEEDS BAND FOR FRIDAY now sorted
Paul Tuns is well on his way to filing his listing
for gigs in August but finds himself with a space
for THIS FRIDAY 2ND (Three Tuns in Gateshead)- so
get in there quick: call or text
07940 715824. And when you have
secured your gig, email me here at Riffs and I will
add it to the Listings page - and if you are very
polite I will give your band a mensh here on the
News page!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 If
I'm anything, I'm a man of my word; September's
listings is now live and the first entry is for Friday 13th at The Glendale,
Hall Lane, Houghton le Spring DH5 8DA for a gig
by UK/DC
playing tracks by the legendary Bon Scott.
Angus from that band played with AC/DC GB
recently and went down a storm at Steels
Club in Sunderland, so a lot is riding on
the Glendale gig.
Will they - can they - surpass the Steels Club
gig?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Can I make a clarification concerning the AC/DC GB review
below. The Angus on the night of the gig review
was from UK/DC, and he was standing in on that
night at Steels
Club and it is his band - UK/DC who is
appearing at Glendale Club on Friday
September 13th. UK/DC
play the Bon Scott
era songs, so that's the first five AC/DC albums; and
some would argue undoubtedly the best. But let's
not get into that. I should be getting September's
list up soon on the Listings page and I will make
sure that that will be the first gig entered into
it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BANDS SOUGHT
FOR GATESHEAD GIGS
Looks like landlord Paul Tuns
is having a reet rough August suffering numerous
cancellations! He has put an urgent shout out for
bands for the following dates for his two pubs in
Gateshead - no specific style has been mentioned
so just give him a ring . . . call or text 07940 715824
SCHOONER
Sat 17th, Fri 23rd
THREE TUNS
Fri 2, Sat 3, Sat 10, Fri 16, Sat 17, Sat 24, Fri
30.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The band's website: https://www.acdcgb.co.uk/
For a taste of the band: https://youtu.be/QRCIfpYXSC8
---------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------
WE'LL
HAVE NONE OF YER DEVIL MUSIC
AROUND THESE 'ERE PARTS
Well, ya just gotta
feel sorry for those Junkyard Dogz, all set for
their debut gig at Ye Old Cross in Ryton
Village recently - but just days away from
their much-anticipated gig and they are told it's
off. Who says they can't go ahead? Environmental
Health, that's who. Apparently the pub wants to
start up live music nights but have been shot down
in flames before they've even got going. Paul from
the band told me: 'I wouldn't mind but they
haven't even heard us!'
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Sorting
through Riffs archives (well, when you wake at 5am
you need something to fill in the time!) I noticed
another little gem that warrants an airing, so
without further ado here's Rough Justice
from July 2008 at the Princess Alice in
Middlesbrough . . .penned by yours truly.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
ONE
VISION
By all accounts Queen tribute
Qween knocked
'em dead at Birtley Buffs Club recently. Every single
ticket had been sold and the place was, as you can
well imagine, rammed to the rafters. Rob from the band
told Riffs: 'It was a great responsive
audience who really appreciated our live show
experience - Billy West, our lead singer, does
"Freddie" proud at every gig and sings all Queen
songs in copy key!' No doubt all the musos
reading this will know exactly what 'copy key' is.
Moving on: Rob has been elated at the response his
band has been getting since its inception and playing
to capacity crowds looks like the norm for this
quality ensemble. Their next gig is at Hebburn
Iona Social Club on Friday 12th July tickets
from the club (£6)-.
Did anyone video the
band at the gig that Riffs could link to?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Twister at the
Academy: https://youtu.be/sh3AEUpWyFQ
Rock Solid: https://youtu.be/U8eBOJAF8_0
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOW THESE TOWNS
THEY ALL KNOW OUR NAME
Riffs
is forever hearing of venues closing and bands
splitting so how heartened are we to tell of a band
actually reforming?!! Yes, it's true. A big welcome
back to . . .
THE PAUL RODGERS STORY. It seems only five minutes ago that the
lads (well, I say 'lads' but the pedigree of these
mature guys is there for all to see/hear) were not
only belting out the most memorable tracks from Free, Bad Co., Queen
etc but they included Paul
Rodgers' foray into solo work too.
Not to mention Hendrix.
Gaining an envious reputation for reliablility and
quality musicianship throughout the North-East, it
was a blow to many when the band called it a day.
Guitarist Kenny told me: 'Since the band split up
we've had people asking us on a regular basis
what happend to the band and the enjoyment they
got from our gigs. A chance meeting between a
couple of us led to our reform, so by
popular demand we are back.'
Kenny continued: 'Because all the members are busy with
other bands we can only fit in a very few
gigs.'
Very few indeed, you'll be lucky to catch the band
once a month - but a trek worth taking.
Needless to say Riffs shows The Paul Rodgers Story
gigs on our Listings page but this is the current
list up to Christmas (Oh heavens - it's still June
and we've mentioned Christmas!!!!).
Thurs 4th July - The
Forum, Darlington cc
Sat 3rd Aug - Richmond
Live Festival (on stage at 4pm)
cc
Sun 15th Sept -
Rhythm & Blues Festival, Darlington (Hoskins
Bar at 6pm)
Thurs 28th Nov -
Trillians, Newcastle
Fri 20th Dec - Cleveland
Bay, Eaglescliffe
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
HARTLEPOOL
CELEBRATES 50 YEARS OF
WISHBONE ASH
 Another
short notice gig just come to
Riffs attention is this Sunday (23rd)
at Hartlepool Supporters Club [5pm £4.00];
The venue is celebrating the 50-year anniversay of
the great Wishbone Ash.
Performed by The Flying Vs, Jeff
from the band told Riffs: 'It's one of a
series of gigs we will perform this year. We will be
joined by Dave Barnes from The
Test Pilots as our Ted Turner. Having
opened up for Wishbone Ash
and their fans in 2014 at Chesterfield Winding
Wheel, 2016 at The Grand Clitheroe and 2018 at The Y
Theatre Leicester, we're looking forward to playing
tracks from the early years Wishbone
Ash, Pilgrimage, Argus, Wishbone IV, New
England, and Strange Affair.'
---------------------------------------------------------------
Just found out about this all-dayer today - two
days before the event! Looks like their publicity
dept. is away on holiday . . . Anyway, thanks to American Girl
for keeping Riffs in the loop. Noticed there are
no band times on the poster but one time we do
know is that American Girl are due at 4.45pm. (and
they've missed an 'S' from Assassin!)
------------------------------------------------------------
Following on from
the unbelievable response I got from the last
two recent 'who is this band' pics. And I say
'unbelievable' because no-one - yes no-one -
emailed me! But am I saddened? [Well, yeah, just
a tad] but am I disheartened? [Well . . .] but
not to be deterred here is two more 'who the
fuck is this?' pics.................. any
ideas anyone? Anyone . . .?
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------
https://youtu.be/jhUhw_J5ItE
------------------------------------------------------------------
True
to my word I've dug out these two pics of a young
band pictured at The Grand in Bishop Auckland
(possibly) way back when - so if anyone
knows who the band is, or when I took them (or why
I never labelled them properly) we can then put a
name to the band...
----------------------------------------------------------------
https://youtu.be/DkWRCv5HDjk
------------------------------------------------------------------
YES,
WE TAKE OUR OWN PHOTOS - ALWAYS HAVE
In
reply to a recent email we received: ALL photos
that accompany Riffs reviews (and indeed reviews
by The Seaham Silverback) are taken at the actual
gig - without exception. The reviews by myself and
Val all contained photographs that I took of the
band on that particular night. We do not snaffle
pics from other websites, Facebook or whatever to
enhance the review. If I ever use a photo in this
column (not the column on the right) for
illustrative purposes I always mensh that I nicked
it from somewhere else (other than if it was sent
directly to Riffs by the band/venue themselves).
Myself and Val always prided ourselves on
reviewing, photographing and writing the whole gig
ourselves. In fact, typing this has just reminded
me that I have scores (maybe hundreds) of
photographs that are unnamed and I may post some
on this column soon. Shame to have them gathering
dust.... I am trying to persuade Mr Silverback to
get armed with a camera so as to illustrate his
reviews with some exciting pics... I am working on
his review of
The 3 Colonels from last night
right now and should have it uploaded within a
couple of hours....
---------------------------------------------------------
Mucho gracias to Alan W from The Grand
in Bishop Auckland who recognised the single as 'Watcha Doin' To Me' by The Reds. Just
one more to go . . . this catchy little punk ditty
from the Seventies has bewildered me . . . does
anyone know who it is?
--------------------------------------------------------
HELP - I NEED SOMEBODY
Can anyone help me identify this
single . . . ?
------------------------------------------------------------
Well, it's that
time again - a look though Riffs' archives and see
what gems we have hidden away. How about a review of
Freeway from August 2008? You got it.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Just a brief mensh for an upcoming gig at the Cluny 2
in Newcastle for 26th June when the Tom
Atkinson Band will be performing
there. Over a year since the lads performed at the
Cluny but they are all fired up for this upcoming gig.
Tom Atkinson - Guitar/Vocs; Paul Gowland -
Sax/Keys (Strictly Smokin’
Big Band); Stu Dawson - Bass (RJ Thompson, Preach Alaska);
Jeff Armstrong - Drums (Flakes,
Russ Tippins Band) include some
original music in their set along with covers of Zappa, Mahavishnu Orchestra,
King Crimson etc. Tickets are a fiver
and available from http://www.thecluny.com
I
did try to get a pic from Tom but, even though it
would paint a thousand words, words are all I have ('to
take your heart away').
..............................................................
BACK IN BUFFS
It's always
nice when something works out and
goes to plan - cos in life it most
often bastard well doesn't (what, me -
bitter?). So it was great to get an email from Robert from Heaton
Buffs concerning the BOSS gig from last
week. Not only was it a
virtual sell-out - just five
tickets left unsold [how's
that for honesty? He could
have quite easily told me it
was a sell-out] - but the lads
went down the proverbial
storm. I remember searching
Youtube for a video of the
band to highlight the gig
but found zilch (punk
band from the 70s I think)
but we can make up for it
now because kind ol'
Robert has sent me a link
to the very opening of the
band's set filmed live as
it happenerd
at the Buffs!
So
without further ado here is
BOSS just
seventeen years since
their last visit
at the Buffs - c'mon
lads let someone
else get a look in .
. .
------------------------------------------------------------
Bit of sadness for me last week -
lost a friend, a good supporter of
Rock. Introduced me to Rammstein
and Airbourne.
He was a great lover of German
lesser-known bands and I used to meet up
with him at Newcastle Arena,
or the Academy. A regular at
live pub gigs in
Redcar and was
a regular
at Dr. Browns in
Middlesbrough. Great
guy. He was given
the all clear for cancer
a few years ago and then
it
came back suddenly
just weeks ago with a
vengeance. Anyway Gaz,
here's Rammstein
for you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 Listening to Rock on
internet radio today (which supports
the
age-old
question 'Why djs?')
and
on came Suzie Smiled
by Tygers of
Pan Tang and something
stirred deep inside
me, some distant memory of
reviewing that band many
moons ago.
A quick search of
Riffs archives and -
bingo! found it.
So, for your delectation
. . . (and yet again, I
mentioned the date [February
2], but not
the year, so if anyone
can help
out?....)
Wanna hear
what you missed? Suzie
Smiled
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Due to my throat
virus causing voice loss, my band Steeler can’t
play gig at Redcar Rugby Club tonight Sat 25-May -
Classic Rock covers band or similar is needed.
Contact Pete 07775922523.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Riffs has
just been informed that the gig at Heaton Buffs
this weekend - which we have down as
Boss (and I thought
was a Springsteen tribute) - is in fact a
rather special reunion of a band from the 90s.
As Robert from the club told Riffs: 'They were a
big deal on the club scene back in the 90s &
early 00s. They are doing a few one-off
shows with the original band line up; and of course
they are 100% live! We
have already sold 200 tickets, with only 50 left.'
Apparently, back in 2002, Boss did an outstanding
sell-out gig there and Robert is keen to duplicate
that success.
Check them out - and if
you fancy the gig - you've missed it!!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
With
regards to the Riffs review of Phil Caisley's Dirty Dogs
featured below, Dave from the band has
been in touch to shed some light on exactly
when the gig took place and some info on what
has become of the band . . .
'The date of the review was the 12th February
2010. The Dirty Dogz
were in existence from 2009 until 2013 doing the north
east pub scene and the last gig was at Doctor Browns
in Middlesbrough on the 2nd November of that
year. Phil, in my opinion, is a great rock
singer and it was a good band although we were
certainly very punchy and could test the old ear drums
for volume. Keith John Dean on bass was replaced
by Ian Raine (played with DeeeXpus,
infinity, and lately, The Rising and
many others). The other guys are either not in
bands or between bands whereas I am working with my
brother in the ‘Graham
Henderson experience’.
To remind yourself of what we were like – here is a
link to a Youtube clip of us at the rock 4 All.
https://youtu.be/1LD2ouDwIKU
with keith on bass.
And here is a clip of my current band - (with
Ian Raine on Bass, now replaced by Duncan Sams).
https://youtu.be/u5ghYHhQvI4
Dave'
---------------------------------------------------------------
Another Riffs rave from the grave is featured below.
I know
it's from Feb 12th but Val never mentioned
which year! Possibly 2008. If
anyone has any better suggestions please
let me know . . .
---------------------------------------------------------------------
If you want it, here it is, come
and get it
Here at Riffs I
love to give publicity to live Rock bands - even more so if it
happens to be their first gig. Can imagine
it's quite a traumatic event and a lot
rides on that debut gig. But I am
saddened, I must say, that although publicity at Riffs is entirely
free and I really don't expect anything back,
that this
offer is not taken up more readily.
On a couple of
recent occasions upon
hearing of an approaching
first gig I have asked for
more info - a little blurb
about the band and hopefully
a pic or two - and I hear
nothing. Zilch. Zero. Nought.
Nil. Zippo. I'm
not losing out, but I
suspect that the band
and indeed the venue
would benefit from a tad
of extra publicity . . .
just saying.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
I'M ONLY HERE FOR THE BEER
 Saturday
11th May was Houghton annual beer festival, a
charity event organised by the round table running
for several decades now. I’ve been going along for
the last 5 years or so; nice venue in Houghton
Colliery Welfare club and a decent afternoon out
with mates. However, every year there’s what is
loosely described as “live music” and without
exception it is awful. Last year we offered to pay
the organisers whatever they’d paid the “singer” to
get him off (they declined). There’s usually about a
dozen of us, all guys I know from various venues
where we go to see bands who have varied tastes from
blues to thrash metal to country, we all agreed this
year’s offering was, once again, abysmal. The band
was advertised as “an experienced function band”
doing stuff from Adele, Ed
Sheeran, Kings of Leon, Elvis, Buddy Holly Michael
Buble and Pharrell
Williams; half the stuff wasn’t
recognisable until half way through the song, the
instruments were out of tune and the singer couldn’t
carry a tune in a bucket. If the organisers read
this, get artists who can sing and/or play; Russ Tippins or Tempest would bring
people in, you’re close to driving people away.
Now, it
was a charity event and the band may have agreed
to play for free in which case they were worth the
money. Do I name and shame them? Houghton
Beer Festival 2019 afternoon session, will bring
up an answer, but the hope is that the organisers
will read this and either not bother with live
music on afternoons OR book someone who will
attract punters, not alienate them.
The
Seaham Silverback
--------------------------------------------------
The NE Street Band,
playing iconic songs from Bruce
Springsteen and The E Street Band
debuted at The Old Fox in Felling just
recently and we have added a link to some footage
here (only phone footage).
The band's website: https://www.nestreetband.co.uk
They are at the Amphitheatre in South Shields on
Thursday 6th June, 7pm-9pm for an evening of Bruce
Springsteen sounds, as part of the Summer Festival.
---------------------------------------------------------------
THE
PRIESTS OF THE TEMPLE OF ROCK
Bank holiday Monday gigs are a
gamble for venues, if it’s been a nice day and the
punters have been in the garden all day having a few
drinks, they tend to stay there, it’s also a school
night so folk tend to think better of going out.
However, The Force are one of those bands I’d walk barefoot
over broken glass to go and see regardless, they set a
standard that other bands in the North East aspire to
reach and Monday 6th May was no exception. An early
start gave an opportunity for those at work the
following day to get their 8 hours kip and it meant
the gear was pretty much in and checked by the time
the audience started coming in. There was a decent
turn out, but I was expecting the place to be rammed –
punters eh?
The
band opened with a couple of their own tracks before
setting off in a set that featured Rush quite
extensively with songs from Rainbow,
AC/DC, UFO, Montrose, Metallica, Scorpions and Thin Lizzy. It
would be wrong to try and pick out tracks that were
better than the others, because I didn’t hear a bum
note all evening and the sound was absolutely spot
on from the word go. The twin lead guitars in Thin
Lizzy’s “Emerald” were flawless, the guy I was sat
next to turned to look at me at the end of the track
and we were both thinking the same thing. Phil sat
down for “Bad Motor Scooter” with his Strat over his
knee and a bottleneck, first time I’ve seen him do
this, and it was excellent.
I’m
always staggered by the sheer professionalism of The
Force, I doubt there can be a Rock fan between the
Tees and the Tweed who hasn’t heard these guys, but
if you fall into that small number, get out and see
them, you’ll thank me.
The Seaham Silverback.
----------------------------------------------------
 SWEETS FOR MY SWEET . . .
The Sugar Bs
18-year reunion gig on march 30 at the Park Inn,
Hartlepool raised £700, split equally between Alice
House Hospice in Hartlepool and The Great North Air
Ambulance Service.
Details
can be found on Facebook here.
--------------------------------------------------------
The
Big Jug in Durham have ceased all live bands as of
now.
..........................................................................
New Plough Dipton have their annual
music festival on Sunday May 5 starting from 1.30pm
with finish 10pm; latest line up is as follows.
Details here
..........................................................................
LIGHTS, SMOKE, AND ROCK 'N' ROLL
I’ve been following Rock
Solid for over ten years now and
always look forward to every show, the gig in Houghton
Glendale was a welcome spot; right on the
doorstep. I saw them about January and since then
they’ve invested in a completely new LED lighting rig
with fancy rotating spots etc. On a night when the
condensation was running down the walls, the lack of a
few KW of heat from PAR cans was welcome for all
concerned. The Solids have used smoke machines for
years but they must have put new batteries in the
current model - the stage was like a war zone all
night. Our musical tastes are as varied as we are but
the Solid’s set-list dovetails in with my
predilections perfectly, kicking off with a couple of
Priest tracks then
running through AC/DC, Saxon,
Maiden, Purple, Rainbow, Ozzy and Rush - what’s not to
like?
One
of the reasons Rock Solid are so well received
has got to be their interaction with their audiences,
the guys always have time for a few words both on and
off the stage. Last night’s gig was their first in the
Glendale for 8 years (apparently) and there’s another
one in the pipeline for December this year, the room
was full and the club was selling beer like it was
going out of fashion. The crowd loved them and the
band gave every impression they were having a good
time. Events like this keep the Rock scene in the
North East vibrant, everyone’s coming away from the
night happy. Long live Rock`n` Roll!
The Seaham Silverback
On a personal
note, myself (Nige) and Val have always rated Rock
Solid as one of the best rock acts in the North-East
music scene but, alas, have not had the pleasure in
quite a few years, so it really pleased me to read the
Silverback's review to know not only that the lads are
still going strong after so many moons, but also that
they actually seem to be improving. But as Val has
said on numerous occasions: 'When
you've got it, you've got it'.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can't beat quality pie
 The Three Tuns
Gateshead hosts its 14th
International Pie Festival between
2nd May and 6th May.
Over 2000 pies, 100 varieties
including Veggie and Vegan options all served with
creamy mash, mushy peas and special house gravy £3.50.
Live music from Prism Pink
Floyd, The Grumpies, Wham Bam Thank You Mam,
The Russ Tippins Trio and The Beetles.
--------------------------------------------
'Probably
one of the most entertaining
nights I’d had this year'
It was grab-a-granny night down
in Houghton
Sports & Social on 20th
April with a 60s tribute band called FAB gracing the stage (No,
I’d never heard of them either). It had been a
scorching day so the wife and I headed down there
early to re-hydrate ourselves and the car park was
filling rapidly. Walking through the doors at 7.30 we
got one of the last tables available, clearly some
people knew something we didn’t. Bearing in mind we’re
both over 60, our presence lowered the average age of
the crowd which rather put me off, but I was thirsty
and I’d paid my entrance money, so sod it – we stayed.
The band gave a nod to the appearance of the bands of
the 60s era with suits, and even ties in the first
set, the Hofner violin bass a salute to Paul McCartney and the
numerous Beatles
tracks scattered through the set. Now the band weren’t
the best musicians or singers I’ve heard (but I’ve
heard a LOT worse) but they grabbed the crowd by the
scruff of the neck and shook them all night long. Any
empty space was filled with folk on their feet and
dancing almost from the off, tracks from The Beatles, Roy Orbison, The
Searchers, Swinging Blue Jeans, The Hollies and
Gerry and the Pacemakers
with the obligatory Ferry across the Mersey. It was
probably one of the most entertaining nights I’d had
this year.
If you’re looking for a band to span a big age group
or just for a fun party, I can’t recommend these guys
highly enough. [PS, my photos turned out crap. I
nicked this shot from the band’s Facebook page, I
can’t credit the photographer by name, so please
excuse the liberty].
The Seaham Silverback
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
CROOKFEST
2019 - MAY 5
 Crookfest is a annual may bank holiday rock music
festival held in the County Durham market town of
Crook with a variety rock styles performed by
cover/tribute bands across 3 stages inside large
marquees. The event takes place on Sunday 5th May 2019 in
the Millfield ground home of Crook Town AFC from noon
untill 11pm along with food and beer stalls a-plenty.
www.crookfest.co.uk
Rock Bands... Coda a Tribute to Led
Zeppelin, AC/DC-GB, Mane
Attraction, Circa69, Tubesnake, Edenthorn.
Punk Reggae
Ska... The Marley
Experience, The Sex Pistols Experience, Skapones,
Panic Report, The Me Mes, The Anarchists.
Indie Mod
80-90s... Revolver, ZEN, The
Baggy Mondays, Deeper Season, The Thieves,
Collaborators.
--------------------------------------------
Tempest in
Houghton
I must confess I’ve never been a big fan of artists
who use backing tracks - with the exception of
Russ Tippins -
they all seemed to lack the spontaneity of a full
line up. So when some friends recommended I go see a
duet called Tempest
featuring a guy on guitar with backing tracks and a
lass on vocals I was hesitant to say the least. I
couldn’t have been more wrong; Kaz & Ritchie are
2 of the nicest people you could want to meet and
deliver a widely varied set that has never failed to
impress.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Just
heard, courtesy of Alan Fizzyfish, that the Ship
Inn, Richmond has closed - whether temp or
permanent is unknown - so any bands with a
gig there will need to look elsewhere.
---------------------------------------------------------------
The Glendale
Rock nights are going down really well, the place
was packed and there was a good friendly atmosphere
in the place. I’d guess there was 80-ish in, punters
were coming in late and leaving as there were no
more seats, so the solution is going to be get there
early if you intend to go to a gig there. I’ve been
following Lock n Load
for a couple of years, I first saw them at beer
festival since when the line-up has gone through a
couple of changes. Dave, the current singer was
originally on drums and they had a girl on vocals
with legs up to her armpits, I’ve got to say she was
easier on the eye than Dave, but Dave’s vocals suit
the current set list down to a tee.
 Kicking
off with “Tie your mother down” they ran through
tracks from Whitesnake,
AC/DC, Bryan Adams, ZZ Top and Zeppelin in the
first set alone. Journey’s
“Separate ways” was always going to stretch the old
vocal chords and we’ve all heard it murdered on
numerous occasions but the band pulled it off like
it was another day in the office.
Now I’m regularly accused of being proper OCD
about the sound, balance and levels but I couldn’t
find fault with any of that from the word go, I was
much impressed with the guitar sound in particular
that captured Brian May’s tone for the opening Queen number, to Billy Gibbons choppy
fuzz, Bryan Adams
jangly intro on “Run to you” and Gary Moore’s
mournful sustain on “Still got the blues”. All from
1 guitar. Respect.
The band are a mix of ages, so some of the set
was written before they were born; now as an aging
rocker I applaud this tribute to the music I love,
but feel slightly sad that little of any musical
value seems to have risen to the top for young bands
to play. The second set picked up where the first
had finished with a bit of
Bon Jovi then the band threw in
“Nellie the elephant” to a rapturous greeting before
some more Whitesnake, AC/DC, Billy Idol and G&R
before finishing the night with “The Hunter” –
always gonna go down well in Houghton. A cracking
night all round, the band were happy, everybody I
spoke to had a great time and the club sold lots of
beer. Next up “The Force” on 29th of this month.
The Seaham SIlverback
----------------------------------------------------------------
 Steve Hutchinson
from South Shields has recently re-joined CLASSIC CLAPTON on
keyboards & backing vocals.
He was a member of Animals
2 for 6 years during the 1990s
alongside original members Hilton Valentine &
John Steel.
Currently he performs with heritage band Animals 3 and
also UK Legends.
He previously played with Classic Clapton from
2003 - 2005.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Looks like there is yet
another change of management and booking agent at
The Maggie Bank and all bands booked
by the previous team are once again cancelled. If
bands think they are playing there they should get
in touch with the pub to clarify the situation.
---------------------------------------------------------------
I
AIN'T AFRAID OF NO GHOSTS
That
little birdie that told Riffs what a crackin'
gig awaited anyone partaking of ghostly
goings-on at the Glendale last Friday has, we
are cock-a-hoop to say, put his money where his
mouth is [or should we say 'beak']. He not only
popped in to said establishment with some mates
but was good enough to write a quick appraisal
of the gig and sent it in to Riffs. So, without
further ado . . .
 'Last
Friday we went to see The Ghost Band at Houghton Glendale WMC.
For me this was a much anticipated gig, I’d
seen them at Philadelphia beer festival last
year playing a brief set and I was much
impressed by their choice of Blues/Rock and
the level of musicianship. Last night built on
that first impression as the band ran through
tracks from
Hendrix, Gary Moore, Jeff Healey, Tom
Petty, John Mayall and Free among
others. The guys I’d brought with me hadn’t
seen the band before and were captivated by
the whole show. In fact the entire evening
should have been videoed and distributed to
all bands in the region; 3 guys who aren’t
exactly in the first flush of youth had all
their gear brought in, connected and checked
in 20 minutes.
Climbing
off my high horse, I can recommend the Ghost
Band to anyone who appreciates good music played
well with the minimum distraction and gobshitery
between numbers.'
The
Seaham Silverback.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Just heard from Stormy
Phil that the Ship Inn at Benton is
now closed.
-------------------------------------------------------------
NURSES TO
WALK THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA
 As
someone who has seen first-hand the absolutely
wonderful and caring work our beloved Nurses
do (and the amount of piss that Hunt Jeremy
takes) I have no hesitation in giving a big
shout out to the Valentines Night gig at
The Alexandra in
Grangetown,
Sunderland.
The palliative care nurses working in St
Benedicts Hospice in Sunderland are
walking the Great Wall of China - yes, they
are going to walk along the Great Wall of
China!!) to raise funds for St Benedicts
Hospice Charity.
Tickets are £6 available from The Alex, the
Hospice or just turn up on
the night and splash cash on the door. Please pop along and help
these wonderful people - oh, nearly forgot -
there's a jam-packed evening of live music
too!!!
The Wolcott Band
Exit Left
Joanne Wallace
Steve Ayther
----------------------------------------------------------------
GHOSTS
AT THE GLENDALE
A little birdie tells Riffs what a cracking little venue Glendale
Social Club in Houghton le Spring is, and
what a great night it should be this Friday when
The Ghost Band take to the stage. Birdie Dave goes
on to say: 'The
club have bands on every 2nd & 4th Friday
of the month. Normally no cover charge, cheap
beer and a nice clean club with loads of free
parking. It’s on the bus route too for those
who use public transport although I’m not sure
what time the local buses stop running. I’m just an interested punter
and have nothing to do with the club, but I
like to encourage and support anyone who is
prepared to get stuck in.'
----------------------------------------------------------------
CONSPIRACY
TO ROCK
 If you like your rock of the
hard and heavy variety check out Conspiracy Theory; a
new band making inroads into the north east
rock and metal scene. If you’re a bit
tired of seeing too many rock bands playing
the same old stuff, CT’s intention is to
do the songs that no-one else does. And that
doesn’t mean obscure material you’ve
never heard of, if you’re into rock and metal
you’ll know everything they do. From Rainbow to Dio, Whitesnake
to Purple, Maiden
to Priest, Uriah Heep
to Rush
or the guitar greats such as Schenker or Moore, you
won’t forget them in a hurry. With stellar
musicianship from highly experienced players
having cut their teeth in bands such as PowerAge, Ministry of
Rock, Black Rose and On The Rocks
you’re bound to have a night to remember. You
can catch them at Trillians, Newcastle
on Friday 22nd February, The Penny
Gill, Spennymoor Sunday 3rd March,
Acklam Steelies Club, Middlesbrough
Saturday 9th March or the Big Jug,
Durham on Friday 15th March.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOYS IN ACTION . . .
 One of the most enjoyable
things I like to do is to announce the birth
of a new band, and if they are a Rock band
with pedigree then space on Riffs is a must.
So without further ado let me announce . . .
STARZ,
who are a new rock covers band and include three of
the north east's top musicians who have decided to
play some songs that were a little different from
'the usual stuff'. The band features members from
bands such as Pistoleros,
Bryan Adams Experience, Black Rose (not
the TL one), The
Paul Rodgers Story, Stoneheart, American Girl
to name a few and are all well known throughout the
north east for putting on a great show. The set list
includes classic and modern punk rock (Sex Pistols/Green Day
etc), glam rock (T Rex /
Bowie etc), heavy rock (Motley Crue / Marilyn Manson
etc) soft rock (Van Halen /
The Cult etc) pop (Dead or Alive / Kinks
etc) plus plenty of great songs for those that want
to dance and some surprises including rock versions
of songs by Gary Numan
and the Bee Gees.
The band start gigging this month and you can
check them out here -
Sunday 13th - Vigilant Inn, South
Shields (7pm)
Saturday 19th - Holey Molies,
Skelton, Teesside
Sunday 20th - Times Inn, Seaham
Thursday 31st - Osbournes, Yarm
The full list of all Starz
gigs are on Riffs Gig Listings page, but for more
info about the band go to http:www.starzrock.co.uk
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Riding On The Crest Of
The New Wave fitted no-one better than Lene Lovich
who this year is celebrating the 40th
anniversary of ‘Stateless’, her debut album,
featuring cult hit 'Lucky
Number' by touring the UK in March 2019 and
is set to appear at Newcastle Riverside on the 8th
of March. The song was originally a 'b' side to 'I
Think We're Alone Now' but was reissued as an 'a'
side by Stiff in '79. Before joining Stiff Records (The
Damned, Devo, Ian Dury, etc), her early work
included performing in cabaret clubs as a London
go-go dancer, voice-over work recording screams
for Hammer Film Productions, and being the
lyricist for French disco artist Marc Cerrone
(including penning the sci-fi dance hit
‘Supernature’). Riffs has no further details
regarding the gig as yet.....
Now let's see if I can still fit into my old
'If It Ain't Stiff . . .' t-shirt....
--------------------------------------------------------------
Just had a heads up regarding
The Magnesia Bank in
North Shields; it appears the
booking of the bands is now being undertaken
by someone anew; and the usual confusion has
ensued, so it is most advisable that any band
who thinks they have a booking at that venue
to double check asap.
-------------------------------------------------------------
One of
the top AC/DC tribute bands that are on offer
to the good people of the North-East is surely Livewire.
They are getting a great reputation for their
annual shindig at Blackhall Colliery Community
Centre in Hartlepool and they have just announced
this year's gig - Saturday, Feb 23. It is a
stunning venue with two bars and easy free
parking. The band have purposely kept the price
the same as last year and also hope to keep the
same 300 capacity. Tickets on sale now £15 from
ents24.com or 07841 033579. The pic
above is from last year's gig at the Centre.
-------------------------------------------------
 It's always a breath of fresh air to
hear what other people think of the bands that
we have featured, not only in our very own
Riffs reviews, but also regularly in our
listings. And one of the great stalwarts of
the Rock brigade is the good ol' trusted and
reliable Rock Solid. Good friend of
Riffs Dave Fulton was kind enough to pen his
thoughts on the gig by that very band on
Boxing Day so, without further ado, here is
said review:
If it’s Boxing
Day, then Rock Solid must be playing in
Houghton. In a tradition that started in the
old Buffs club in Houghton (now a
Wetherspoons) probably 12 years ago or more,
the Solids have played to broadly the same
crowd of fans of proper Rock in a friendly
setting; this year in Houghton Sport &
Social club. Originally advertised as a
civilised alternative to turkey sandwiches
with the in-laws it continues to draw a good
crowd and this year was no exception. Kicking
off with “Tie your mother down” and running
through a compendium of 70s & 80s hard
Rock, the band played new stuff by Saxon &
Maiden along with perennial favourites by
Priest, Rainbow, Ozzy, Purple and AC/DC.
Playing as tight as I’ve heard them, this was
no nonsense Rock with well-balanced sound and
an easy rapport with their audience. How many
times have you gone to listen to a band and
they throw something into the set and you
think to yourself “Lord, it’s years since I
heard this” then you go home and dig out the
vinyl or raid the Pirate Bay and re-acquaint
yourself with the stuff? Saxon’s “Frozen
Rainbow” did that for me, and Priest’s cover
of “Diamonds & Rust” was another. How
fortunate we are to have such a back catalogue
of classic music to listen to, and bands like
Rock Solid who dig them out, rehearse them and
serve them up for our continued delight. Long
may it continue; catch the Solids again on
Good Friday, 19th April in Houghton Sports
& Social.
Dave
(we have used an old
pic of Rock Solid so many many apologies to the
band if the line up has in any way changed)
-----------------------------------------------------
 Coming
to the Hartlepool Supporters Club on Saturday
Jan 5 is The
Sean Webster Band
and our very own local lad Russ Tippins. Russ is a legend around the
North-East - and no doubt further afield - with
his ability to coax Metal mayhem from his guitar
one minute and soulful soothings the next. He
can fit into a Rock crowd with ease and yet his
intimate acoustic evenings are a joy to behold.
Worth the ticket price alone in our opinion; but
for those who would like to know a bit more
about the headliners, here are a few snippets of
what has been said about the Sean Webster
Band;
"The resultant impression I am left
with is a really superb album that manages to
effortlessly straddle the divide between Blues
and high quality AOR, interspersed with
splashes of Soul and Country."
NIGEL FOSTER - The Blues
Foundation
"Loving the album. I'll play
loads of tracks on my radio show over the
coming weeks."
PAUL LONG - Blues and
Roots Connections
"If you like a bit of bluesy
soulfulness, delivered with conviction and
great musicianship, Leave Your Heart At Door
will surely fit the bill. Just keep the
Kleenex handy".
IAIN CAMERON - Blues
Enthused
" I had a lovely day with this
Sean, such a breath of fresh air "
JON ASTLEY - Close To The
Edge Mastering
Tickets £15 / 17 from ents24
---------------------------------------
This Machine are back on the map with a new
website, Facebook page and also a new addition
to their line up.
Recently joining the band is Paul
Richardson, some of you may know him from Black Rose, Slip
of the Tongue, Destroyer
and also doing a mean Eddie Van Hailen in top
tribute band Van
Hailen UK.
Paul joins the familiar line up of
Norman, Tony, Le Sequel and the Hamster of Doom
to make This Machine a 5 piece again. Check out their revamped Facebook and
website (featuring blogs, videos and everything
else) at
www.thismachinerock.com
www.facebòok.com/thismachinerocks
To get a taste of the new
line up then watch the band live HERE
Last few gigs of the year are
14th Dec Peterlee Central
Club
15th Dec The Turbinia, Newton
Aycliffe
22nd Dec The Fat Ox, Whitley Bay
(special Christmas Show)
28th Dec The market Tavern, Bedlington
30th Dec The Queens Head,
Cullercoats
-------------------------------------------------------------
Very late change for tonight
(Friday 7th) at the Blacksmiths Arms,
Gosforth High Street as The Whole Hog
were unable to make the gig so facilitated
their replacement, who are Skullduggery
who will take their place.
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Next review to be
uploaded that was done back in 2008 will be -
hopefully - The
Kicks
--------------------------------------------------------------
'Ere's one for ya;
this review from back in 2008 (I think!) is of Wild Rumours
and was penned by Riffs' Val . . .
----------------------------------------------------------------
Don't know who these guys are - any idea
anyone?
--------------------------------------------
Michelle
Davies from Usworth and
Washington Gardeners Club has
contacted Riffs with gratitude not only for our
support, but also for the support of all you
local lads and lasses who gave so generously - the
club raised a mighty £1600 in aid of Help For
Heroes recently. Well done all you Usworth and
Washington peeps!!!!
----------------------------------------------------------------
Neon
Nights.
-----------------------------------------------
 ALICE
COOPER'S NIGHTMARE:
Alice in Sunderland The Mad Coopers Tea Party; Sunday
November 18th 3.00pm
The Alexandra Grangetown
Sunderland, Tickets £10.
A unique opportunity to
join the band up close and personal; we will be
performing all the Cooper greats with all the
usual theatrics and then join us for tea.....err
Cooper style :-)
There will be restricted
tickets sales available but you can pre book with
the band through our FB page and limited tickets
available from The Alexandra and St Benedicts.
So please come and join
us supporting St Benedicts.
------------------------------------------------------------
If you can stop laughing
long enough . . . anybody have an idea of who this
band is?
------------------------------------------------------
yeah,
I know this is not music-related but . . . this is
horrific, horrific stuff......
Dozens of
heavily-armed hunters rode into a national park
in Cameroon, butchered over 600 majestic
elephants, then hacked off their faces for their
tusks. Poachers have annihilated half of
central Africa’s last elephants. And no one's
been able to stop them.
Until now!
Brave investigators have gone undercover in
poaching rings in ten African countries,
and already more than 2,000 traffickers have
been jailed!
It’s awe-inspiring stuff, and it’s won awards, but
many funders are wary of going head-to-head with
organised crime. We may be the best community to
scale this extraordinary operation, fast.
Four elephants are killed an hour -- it’s a
race against time before we lose these gentle
giants forever. But if we each give now, this team
can expand to more countries, lock up more
kingpins and complicit officials -- and we
can ramp up campaigning to protect these beautiful
creatures and all of our vulnerable natural world.
Please log in to - Avaaz.org
and give a few quid.
If you wish to donate immediately (as Riffs did)
then go direct to the donation page
https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/hunt_the_hunters_redux_loc
------------------------------------------------------------
Another
review from 2008 here, this one at The Three
Tuns in Gateshead featuring punk stalwarts The Janitors
- courtesy of Riffs' Val.
------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------
|
CELEBRATING THE SEVENTIES:
"Now
when the day goes to sleep and the full moon looks
And the night is so black that the darkness cooks
And you come creeping around, making me do things I don't
wanna do."
CELEBRATING NWOBHM:
FACTOID: Razorlight took their name form the
make of the padlock worn by Sid Vicious.
This week in .
. .
1958 -
Buddy
Holly's
last recording session
took place at Pythian
Temple Studios, New
York City. The songs
recorded included
'Raining In My Heart',
'Moondreams' and 'It
Doesn't Matter
Anymore' which became
a No.1 hit.
1965 - Bill
Black, Elvis
Presley's
bass player (1954-57),
died four months after
receiving surgery to
remove a brain tumour,
aged 39. With
guitarist Scotty
Moore, and Elvis
Presley on rhythm
guitar, Black played
on ‘That's All Right
(Mama)’, Heartbreak
Hotel, ‘Baby Let's
Play House’, ‘Mystery
Train’, ‘Hound Dog’;
‘Jailhouse Rock’ in
the late 1950s. Black,
Scotty Moore and
drummer D.J. Fontana
toured extensively
during Presley's early
career. After leaving
Presley Black formed Bill
Black's Combo.
1965 - The
Spencer Davis
Group
recorded 'Keep On
Running' at Pye
Studios in London. The
track went on to top
the chart next
January.
1976 - Keith
Moon
played his last show
with
The Who
at the end of a North
American tour at Maple
Leaf Gardens, Toronto.
On September 7, 1978,
Moon died of an
overdose of a sedative
Heminevrin, that had
been prescribed to
prevent seizures
induced by alcohol
withdrawal.
1995 -
Green Day
singer Billie
Joe was
arrested and fined
$141 after mooning at
the audience during a
gig in Milwaukee.
2006 - Legendary
broadcaster John
Peel
left over £1.8m and
over 25,000 vinyl
records in his will.
Peel died suddenly at
the age of 65 from a
heart attack in 2004.
2014 - Former Dr
Feelgood
guitarist Wilko
Johnson
said he has been
"cured" of the
terminal pancreatic
cancer with which he
was diagnosed in 2012.
The 67-year-old was
initially given 10
months to live after
rejecting
chemotherapy, but had
radical surgery to
remove the tumour
earlier this year.
Week
Commencing October 14
1966 - The
Yardbirds
arrived in New York for
their first US tour with
Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page
on lead guitars. After
two dates of the tour,
Beck developed acute
tonsillitis and quit the
group. He would go on to
form The
Jeff Beck Group,
that gave Rod
Stewart
his first major
exposure.
1968 - On their farewell
tour Cream
appeared at The Forum in
Los Angeles, California,
where live recordings
were made which were
included on the 'Goodbye
Cream' album which was
released the following
year.
1980 - AC/DC
kicked off a 20-date UK
tour at Bristol Colston
Hall. The bands first
gigs since the death of
singer Bon
Scott.
1997 - Original Alice
Cooper
band guitarist Glen
Buxton
died from pneumonia,
aged 49. Born in Akron,
Ohio, he attended High
School in Phoenix,
Arizona, where he met
Dennis Dunaway and
Vincent Furnier, later
to call himself the
titular Alice Cooper.
Buxton co-wrote several
classic Alice Cooper
hits, including
'School's Out', 'I'm
Eighteen' and 'Elected.'
2005 - A survey
concluded that the
average person spent
around £21,000 on music
during their lives, the
figure included the
amount spent on Hi-Fi
equipment, concerts and
CDs. Music enthusiasts
were likely to spend
more than double that,
parting with just over
£44,000, in a lifetime,
according to the survey
conducted by Prudential.
2014 - Raphael
Ravenscroft
who played the sax riff
on the Gerry
Rafferty
hit 'Baker Street' died
aged 60 of a suspected
heart attack. He was
paid only £27.50 for the
'Baker Street' session,
and it has been reported
that the cheque bounced
and that it was kept on
the wall of
Ravenscroft's
solicitors; by contrast
the song is said to have
earned Rafferty £80,000
a year in royalties.
1957 - Paul McCartney made
his first appearance with
The
Quarry Men
at New Clubmoor Hall,
Norris Green, Liverpool.
The line-up for The Quarry
Men was John Lennon, Paul
McCartney, Eric Griffiths,
Colin Hanton, and Len
Garry. Paul played John
some songs that he had
composed which Lennon
contributes, marking the
birth of the Lennon and
McCartney songwriting
partnership.
1967 - The
Bee Gees
were at No.1 on the
singles chart with
'Massachusetts', the
group's first of five
No.1s. Engelbert
Humperdink
was at No.2 with ‘The Last
Waltz’ and
Traffic
were at No.3 with ‘Hole In
My Shoe.’
1964 - Manfred
Mann started
a run at No.1 on the singles
chart with 'Do Wah Diddy
Diddy', possibly the first
No.1 with a Nonsense Song
Title. The song was first
released by the US group The
Exciters.
1995 - Sting's
former accountant Keith
Moore was
sentenced to six years in
jail after being found
guilty of embezzling £6
million from the singer's
108 bank accounts.
2017 - Canadian rock
musician Gord
Downie died
of glioblastoma aged 53. He
was the lead singer and
lyricist for the Canadian
rock band The
Tragically Hip
as well as releasing six
solo albums. The band's
final concert was held at
the Rogers K-Rock Centre in
Kingston, Ontario, on August
20 2016 and was broadcast
and streamed live by the
Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation on television,
radio and internet. It was
viewed by an estimated 11.7
million people.
1961 - Decca records released
'Crazy' by Patsy
Cline. The
ballad, composed by Willie
Nelson, gave
Cline a No.2 country hit in
1962. Nelson originally wrote
the song for country singer
Billy Walker, but Walker
turned it down. The song's
eventual success helped launch
Nelson as a performer as well
as a songwriter. It spent 21
weeks on the chart for Cline,
and eventually became one of
her signature tunes.
1967 - Folk singer Joan Baez
was arrested, along with 123
others, for blocking the
entrance to an Armed Forces
Induction Center in Oakland,
California.
1969 - Record company
executive and founder of the
Chess record label Leonard
Chess died of a
heart attack aged 52. Home to
John
Lee Hooker, Chuck Berry,
Bo Diddley Little Walter,
The Moonglows, The
Flamingos, Jimmy Reed
and Sonny
Boy Williamson.
1972 -
Creedence Clearwater
Revival split
up following the failure of
their most recent album,
'Mardi Gras'. After limited
success as a solo act and some
legal hassles with Fantasy
Records, John Fogarty would
have two big hits in 1985,
'Center Field' and 'Rock and
Roll Girls'. John's brother
Tom Fogarty died in September,
1990 and the surviving members
have been touring as Creedence
Clearwater Revisited.
1976 - One Hit Wonders Rick Dees
and his Cast Of Idiots
went to No.6 with 'Disco Duck
(part one)'. Dees was a US TV
and radio presenter. The
vocals were actually voiced by
Ken Pruitt.
2001 - Two security guards
were sacked after refusing to
allow Bob
Dylan into his
own concert. Dylan who had
demanded that security on his
'Love and Theft' tour should
be tighter than ever didn't
have a pass when he arrived
backstage.
2010 - Auburn University
graduate student Justin Havird
named a new species of fish,
Lepidocephalichthys Zeppelini,
because the fish's pectoral
fin reminded him of the
double-neck guitar used by
Jimmy Page. 'I'm a big Led
Zeppelin
fan, and I was listening to
them while I was working on
the fish,' Havird said.
'The structure that makes
this species unique just
reminded me of the guitar
that Jimmy Page played'.
1965 - Jimi
Hendrix signed
his first recording contract in
the UK, where he would receive
£1 and a 1% Royalty on all of
his recordings.
1966 - Pink
Floyd (who were
paid £15 for the gig), The Move,
Denny Laine, Soft Machine,
Yoko Ono and a
West Indian steel band all
appeared at the launch for the
International Times
(which became the first and
longest running British hippy
paper), at London's Roundhouse.
Beatle Paul McCartney attended
the event in Arabian dress. The
flyers for the evening stated:
'Bring your own poison, bring
flowers & gass (sic), filled
balloons'. Admission was 10
shillings on the door.
2003 - Mike
Smith, the former
lead singer of The Dave
Clark Five
suffered a fall at his home in
Spain that left him paralyzed
from the waist down. Smith died
of pneumonia on February 28th,
2008, less than two weeks before
the band was to be inducted into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
2004 - Bill
Eyden, the
session drummer hired to play on
Procol
Harum's ’A Whiter
Shade Of Pale’ died after a
lengthy illness at the age of
74. Eyden also worked with Georgie
Fame and the Blue Flames,
Charlie Watts and
was a member of the resident
trio, led by Stan Tracey, at
Ronnie Scott's club in London,
until the late 60s.
1957 - Although it was banned by
some radio stations for its
suggestive lyrics, The Everly
Brothers had a No.2
hit with 'Wake Up Little Susie').
1965 - The
Rolling Stones, The Spencer
Davis Group, Unit 4 Plus 2,
The Checkmates, The Habit, The
End and Charlie
Dickins all
appeared at The Odeon, Birmingham
during a UK tour.
1967 - The second series of The Monkees
TV show started on BBC tv in the
UK. Plans for the shows to be
screened in colour were dropped,
so it was aired in black &
white.
1971 - Music
publishing firm, Arco Industries
filed a $500,000 dollar lawsuit
against
Creedence Clearwater Revival singer
John
Fogerty, claiming
that Fogerty's song Travelin' Band
"contained substantial material
copied from Little Richard's Good
Golly, Miss Molly". The suit was
eventually dropped.
1996 - 28 years after its
creation, The
Rolling Stones'
Rock & Roll Circus was finally
released. The 1968 event put
together by The Stones comprised
two concerts on a circus stage and
included performaces by The Who, Taj
Mahal, Marianne Faithfull
and Jethro
Tull. John Lennon
and Yoko
Ono performed as
part of a supergroup called The
Dirty Mac, along with Eric Clapton,
Mitch Mitchell and
Keith
Richards. It was
originally planned to be aired on
BBC tv.
2004 - Eric
Clapton was
suspended from driving in France
after being caught speeding at
134mph in his Porsche 911 Turbo
near Merceuil. He was given a 750
euro (£515) fine and his UK
licence was confiscated. After
paying his fine Clapton posed for
photographs with French police and
then left the scene in his Porsche
- with his secretary behind the
wheel.
2014 - Isaiah
"Ikey" Owens the
American keyboardist known for his
work with The
Mars Volta, Jack White
and an array of bands from the
Long Beach music scene died aged
39. Owens was found dead due to a
heart attack in his hotel room in
Puebla, Mexico.
Week Commencing
October 7
1962 - Don
Everly collapsed
during rehearsals on stage at the
Prince of Wales Theatre in London on
the eve of a 22 date Everly Brothers
tour. He was flown back to the US
for treatment and the tour continued
with Phil Everly performing solo.
1965 - The
Who recorded 'My
Generation' at Pye studios, London.
When released as a single it reached
No.2 on the 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.
1979 - 'Reggatta De Blanc', the
second album from The Police
started a four-week run at No.1. The
album, which features the band's
first two No.1 hits, 'Message in a
Bottle' and 'Walking on the Moon',
cost only £6,000 to record.
2001 - Australian singer songwriter
Peter Doyle
died of throat cancer aged 52. Solo
artist and a member of The New Seekers.
Scored the hits, ‘What Have They
Done To My Song Ma’, ‘Never Ending
Song of Love’ and ‘I'd Like to Teach
the World to Sing’ with The New
Seekers.
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 home in Surrey.
2016 - Bob Dylan
was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize for
Literature, becoming the first
songwriter to win the prestigious
award. The 75-year-old rock legend
received the prize "for having
created new poetic expressions
within the great American song
tradition".
1955 - The Chrysler Corporation
launched high
fidelity record players
for their 1956 line-up of cars. The
unit measured about four inches high
and less than a foot wide and was
mounted under the instrument panel.
The seven inch discs spun at 16 2/3
rpm and required almost three times
the number of grooves per inch as an
LP. The players were discontinued in
1961.
1957 - During an Australian tour, Little Richard
publicly renounced rock 'n' roll and
embraced God, telling a story of
dreaming of his own damnation after
praying to God when one of the engines
on a plane he was on caught fire. The
singer threw four diamond rings,
valued at $8,000, into Sydney's Hunter
River and soon after launched a Gospel
career. Five years later, he would
switch back to Rock.
1968 - Big
Brother And The Holding Company
went to No.1 on the US album chart
with 'Cheap Thrills'. The cover, drawn
by underground cartoonist Robert
Crumb, replaced the band's original
idea, a picture of the group naked in
bed together. Crumb had originally
intended his art to be the LP's back
cover, but Joplin demanded that
Columbia Records use it for the front
cover. Initially the album title was
to have been Sex, Dope and Cheap
Thrills, but this didn't go down too
well at Columbia Records.
1971 - Gene
Vincent (Vincent Eugene
Craddock), died from a perforated
ulcer, aged 36. Had the 1956 No.16
single 'Be Bop A Lula'. Appeared in
the film, The Girl Can't Help It with
Jayne Mansfield. In 1960, while on
tour in the UK, Vincent and songwriter
Sharon Sheeley were seriously injured
the car crash that killed Eddie Cochran.
1974 - Blondie
appeared at CBGBs in New York City,
under the name ‘Blondie’ for the first
time. The name is derived from
comments made by truck drivers who
catcalled "Hey, Blondie" to
Debbie Harry as they drove by.
1979 - Fleetwood
Mac released their
twelfth album Tusk, an experimental
set of songs that cost the band over
$1 million to record. The double album
peaked at No.1 and
achieved
Platinum
status.It
achieved sales in excess of two
million copies, spawning two Top Ten
singles, 'Sara' and the title track.
1985 - Ricky
Wilson of the B-52s
died of complications from aids. The
B-52s had the 1990 No.2 single 'Love
Shack'.
1994 - Pink
Floyd played the first
of a 15-night run at Earls Court,
London. Less than a minute after the
band had started playing 'Shine On You
Crazy Diamond', a scaffolding stand
holding 1200 fans collapsed, throwing
hundreds of people 20 feet to the
ground. It took over an hour to free
everyone from the twisted wreckage,
ninety-six people were injured, with
36 needing hospital treatment. Six
were detained overnight with back,
neck and rib injuries. Pink Floyd sent
a free T-shirt and a note of apology
to all the fans who had been seated in
the stand that collapsed. The show was
immediately cancelled and
re-scheduled.
2016 - David
Bowie and Prince
were both new entries in the latest
list of top-earning dead celebrities
compiled by Forbes. Prince's pre-tax
income from 1 October 2015 to 1
October 2016 was estimated at £20.5m
by the business magazine, putting him
fifth in the list. Bowie, meanwhile,
was ranked at 11th for an estimated
income of £8.5m. Both, however, are
dwarfed by Michael
Jackson who topped the
list once again with a record-breaking
estimated income of £672.8m.
1961 - The
Highwaymen were at No.1
on the singles chart with 'Michael'. The
Highwaymen were US college students who
broke up when they graduated. The only
band to boast a sitting
Federal Appeals Court judge, in the
person of Steve Trott, in their line-up.
2005 - Freddie
Mercury's 1974 Rolls
Royce Silver Shadow was offered for
auction on eBay by his sister, Kashmira
Cooke, who had inherited the car from
him. The luxury vehicle had not appeared
in public since 2002, when it had been
used to transport the Bulsara family to
the premiere of the Queen stage musical
We Will Rock You. It came with a box of
Kleenex Mansize tissues left in the car
by Freddie.
2009 - 54-year-old Jo Wood, wife of The Rolling Stones
Ronnie Wood was granted a
divorce after 24 years of marriage on
the grounds of adultery. The couple
split in 2008 after the guitarist, 64,
began a relationship with a 20-year-old
woman.
1964 - The Beach
Boys recorded ‘Dance Dance
Dance’, with Glen Campbell playing the
lead guitar intro. It would go on to
become their twelfth Top 40 hit.
1969 - For the first time in the history
of the show, Top Of The Pops producers
refused to air the No. 1 song, ‘Je
T’aime... Moi Non Plus’, the erotic French
language love song by Serge Gainsbourg and
actress Jane Birkin. The song, an
instrumental with the voices of Gainsbourg and Birkin
apparently recorded in the act of love and
superimposed over the top, caused such a
stir that the original label, Fontana,
dropped the record despite it being No. 2
on the charts. A small record company,
Major Minor, bought the rights and saw the
song climb to the top of the charts, the
first French language song to ever do so.
1971 - The Who
played a small, low-key show at the
University of Surrey, Guildford, with
guest John Sebastian joining in on
harmonica on ‘Magic Bus’ ‘ the only
outside musician ever to jam with The Who
on stage. Backstage, the group celebrated
John Entwistle’s 27th birthday.
1971 - Rod
Stewart was at No.1 on the
singles chart with 'Maggie May' (first
released as a B side to 'Reason To
Believe'). The first of six UK No.1s for
Stewart, it spent five weeks at the top of
the chart.
1976 - The Sex
Pistols signed to EMI
records for £40,000. The contract was
terminated three months later with the
label stopping production of the 'Anarchy
In The UK' single and deleting it from its
catalogue. EMI later issued a statement
saying it felt unable to promote The Sex
Pistols records in view of the adverse
publicity generated over the last few
months.
1993 - Nirvana
entered the US album chart at No.1 with
'In Utero', their third and final studio
album. Kurt Cobain had originally wanted
to name the album 'I Hate Myself and I
Want to Die.'
2007 - The Imagine Peace Tower was
officially unveiled in Kollafjorour Bay
near Reykjav’k, Iceland. The memorial to John Lennon
from his widow, Yoko Ono, consists of a
tall "tower of light", projected from a
white stone monument that has the words
"Imagine Peace" carved into it in 24
languages.
2008 - Paul
McCartney (a vegetarian for
30 years), was said to be furious when he
heard that a Liverpool branch of
McDonald's restaurant displayed his
picture, accusing them of using it to
attract customers. Sir Paul was quoted as
saying "What sort of morons do
McDonald's think Beatles fans are?"
1965 - The
Florescents supported by The Castiles,
which featured a young singer called Bruce Springsteen
appeared at the I.B. Club in Howell, New
Jersey. This was The Castiles first publicly
advertised nightclub appearance. Admission
was $1.00.
1965 - During a UK tour The Rolling Stones
appeared at The ABC, Stockton on Tees. Also
on the bill: Spencer
Davis Group, Unit Four + 2, The
Checkmates, The End, and Charles Dickens and The
Habits.
1966 - Cream
drummer Ginger
Baker collapsed during a gig
at Sussex University, after playing a 20
minute drum solo. He later recovered in a
local hospital.
1967 - Jimi
Hendrix, Arthur Brown and John's Children
all appeared at the Saville Theatre in
London.
1969 - David Bowie
played the first of a 10 date tour
supporting Humble
Pie at Coventry Theatre.
Humble Pie were fronted by former Small Faces
singer Steve Marriott and featuring Bowies
old school friend
Peter Frampton. Frampton’s
father, Owen taught Art at Beckenham
Technical School were Bowie was a pupil.
Another of his pupils was George Underwood,
who became a painter and designed three
David Bowie album covers, Space Oddity,
Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust.
1971 - Led
Zeppelin II was enjoying its
100th week on the album charts. It was the
band's first album to hit No.1 in the US,
knocking The
Beatles' Abbey Road twice
from the top spot, where it remained for
seven weeks. When first released the album
had advance orders of 400,000 copies in the
USA (the advertising campaign was built
around the slogan Led Zeppelin II Now
Flying).
1987 - The three members from ZZ Top made
advance bookings for seats on the first
passenger flight to the Moon. The boys are
still waiting for confirmation of the trip.
1988 - Pink Floyd's
The Dark Side of The Moon finally left
Billboard's Hot 200 Album Chart after a
record breaking 741 weeks.
Week
Commencing September 30
1964 - The Beatles
spent the afternoon recording 'Eight Days A
Week' at Abbey Road studios in London. Late
evening was spent at The Ad Lib Club, London,
partying with The
Ronettes and Mick Jagger.
1967 - Pink Floyd
appeared at the Miss Teenage Brighton Contest,
Top Rank Suite, Brighton, playing the musical
interlude during the contest.
1967 - The Jimi
Hendrix Experience recorded a
session for radio show 'Top Gear.' Stevie Wonder
who was also appearing on the show jammed with
Hendrix.
1972 - During sessions at RCA Studios, New
York City, David
Bowie recorded 'The Jean
Genie', which became the lead single from his
1973 album Aladdin Sane. The track spent 13
weeks in the charts, peaking at No.2, making
it Bowie's biggest hit to date. The line "He's
so simple minded, he can't drive his module"
would later give the band Simple Minds
their name.
1979 - Buzzcocks,
supported by Joy
Division appeared at the Odeon
Theatre, Edinburgh, tickets £2.50.
2011 - Starship's
'We Built This City' was named 'the worst song
of the 1980s in a poll by Rolling Stone
magazine. 'The Final Countdown' by the Swedish
band Europe
came in second and 'Lady in Red' by Chris de Burgh was
third. Also making the top five were Wham!'s 'Wake
Me Up (Before You Go Go)' and 'The Safety
Dance' by Men
Without Hats.
1958 - Cliff Richard
and The Shadows played their
first gig together when they appeared at the
Victoria Hall, Hanley.
1970 - Led Zeppelin
III was released in the UK on
Atlantic records. The album peaked at No.1 on
both the UK and US charts. It has now been
certified 6 times Platinum by the Recording
Industry Association of America (RIAA) for US
sales in excess of 6 million copies.
1973 - Elton John
released his seventh studio album Goodbye Yellow
Brick Road. Under the working titles of 'Vodka
and Tonics', and 'Silent Movies, Talking
Pictures', Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics to the
album in two and a half weeks, with John
composing most of the music in three days while
staying at the Pink Flamingo Hotel in Kingston,
Jamaica. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road has now sold
over 30 million copies worldwide and is his
best-selling studio album.
1974 - Mike Oldfield's
'Tubular Bells' went to No.1 for the first time
on the album chart 15 months after being
released. It went on to sell over 10 million
copies worldwide.
1980 - The NME had Joy
Division's 'She's Lost
Control' as single of the week. The song is
about a girl who singer Ian Curtis worked with
at a disability centre. One day she didn't come
to the center and Ian later learned that she
died from an epileptic seizure.
1992 - American singer
Eddie Kendricks of The Temptations
died aged 52 of lung cancer one year after
having one lung removed. His was the lead voice
on ‘The Way You Do The Things You Do’, ‘Get
Ready’, and ‘Just My Imagination’. As a solo
artist, Kendricks recorded several hits of his
own during the 1970s, including the US No.1
single 'Keep On Truckin'.
2000 - Top Of The Pops issued a Top 40 chart
based on singles that had spent the longest time
on the chart. No.3 was 'My Way' by Frank Sinatra,
No.2 'She Loves You', The
Beatles and No.1 'Relax' by Frankie Goes To Hollywood
who, incidentally, never actually played on the
record.
1967 - American singer, songwriter Woody Guthrie died
after suffering from Huntington's Chorea disease.
Guthrie was a major influence on Bob Dylan and
American folk music. The 70s film 'Bound For
Glory' is based on his life. His best-known song
is 'This Land Is Your Land', which is regularly
sung in American schools.
1978 - The members of Aerosmith
bailed thirty fans out of jail after they were
arrested for smoking pot during an Aerosmith
concert at Fort Wayne Coliseum.
1991 - Texas governor Ann Richards proclaimed
October 3 (Stevie Ray
Vaughan's birthday), to be "Stevie
Ray Vaughan Day". An annual motorcycle ride and
concert in Central Texas benefits the Stevie Ray
Vaughan Memorial Scholarship Fund.
2000 - The Cars
singer and bass player Benjamin Orr died of cancer
at home in Atlanta at the age of 53. Sang lead
vocals on the bands hits ‘Just What I Needed’,
‘Let's Go’ and ‘Drive’.
2011 - According to new scientific research, Queen's 'We Are
The Champions' was found to be the catchiest song
ever written. Musicologist Dr Alisun Pawley from
the University of London conducted research into
what makes a song memorable and compiled a list of
the ten "catchiest" songs of all time. During the
research, they discovered that sing-along songs
contained four key elements: long and detailed
musical phrases, multiple pitch changes in a
song's 'hook', male vocalists, and higher male
voices making a noticeable vocal effort. Y.M.C.A.
by the Village People,
Sum 41's Fat
Lip, and Europe's
The Final Countdown were also in the list.
1965 - Bob Dylan
appeared at Carnegie Hall in New York City. He
introduced his new touring band on this tour, made
up of guitarist Robbie Robertson, organist Garth
Hudson, bassist Rick Danko, pianist Richard Manual
and drummer Levon Helm. They will become known
simply as The Band.
1966 - Jimi Hendrix
appeared live for the first time in the UK when he
jammed with Cream
at their gig at London Polytechnic. Hendrix made his
official UK live debut a month later on Friday 25
Nov 1966, when the Jimi
Hendrix Experience appeared at the
Bag O'Nails Club, London.
1967 - The first edition of Radio 1's 'Top Gear' was
aired. Presented by John
Peel and Pete
Drummond, it featured The Move, Traffic, Pink Floyd,
Tim Rose and Tomorrow
featuring Keith West.
1970 - Jimi Hendrix
was buried at The Greenwood Cemetery at the Dunlop
Baptist Church, Seattle. Among the mourners; Miles Davis, Eric Burdon,
Johnny Winter and members of Derek and the Dominoes.
1975 - 39 year old Al
Jackson, drummer for Booker T. And The MGs,
was shot and killed by a burglar at his home. His
wife was questioned about the killing because she
was arrested in July for shooting her husband in the
chest during a domestic dispute. He wasn't badly
hurt and the charges were dismissed when his wife
claimed self-defense. Jackson had returned home to
what police described as a botched robbery attempt.
According to Jackson's wife, an intruder made her
answer the door and then threw her husband to the
floor demanding money. Jackson was forced to lie
face down and then was shot in the back five times.
The identity of the culprit remains a mystery.
Booker T had backed such artists as Otis Redding, Al Green
and Sam and Dave.
1981 - The Pretenders
were forced to cancel the last leg of a US tour
after drummer Martin Chambers put his hand through a
windowpane, cutting tendons and arteries.
1983 - A David Bowie
world convention was held at The Cunard Hotel in
London. The event had the largest collection of
Bowie merchandise ever assembled.
2004 - The Lord Mayor of Melbourne officially opened
'AC/DC Lane'
after the veteran rockers. The Lord Mayor erected
the sign to cheers and bagpipes playing the bands
song 'It's A Long Way To The Top'. The City of
Melbourne had extra copies of the sign made, in
anticipation of fans stealing them.
2015 - An original tape of The
Beatles performing at The Cavern Club
in Liverpool in 1962 was found after 50 years
languishing in a desk drawer. It featured the Fab
Four playing 'Some Other Guy' in September 1962,
four weeks before their debut single came out. It
was recorded after the group were filmed for Granada
TV's Know The North, but was never broadcast.
1965 - Donovan made
his US television debut on Shindig! along with The Hollies, The Turtles
and the Dave Clark Five.
1965 - The Rolling Stones
performed at the Gaumont Theatre in Hanley,
Staffordshire. Also on the bill were The Moody Blues, The Spencer
Davis Group, The End and The Habits. Bill Wyman produced
singles and the debut album for The End, on Decca
Records.
1967 - The UK's first National pop radio station, BBC
Radio 1 was launched in the to take over from the very
successful pirate radio stations which had been forced
off-air by the Government. Former pirate DJ Tony
Blackburn, from Radio
Caroline, was the first presenter on
air, with The Move's
Flowers In The Rain the first record to be played.
1974 - Police were called to a Lynyrd
Skynyrd and Blue
Oyster Cult concert after a fight broke
out between two sound engineers. The Skynyrd roadie
claimed that the sound had been deliberately turned
off during the bands set.
2016 - A schoolboy from Philadelphia who skipped class
to meet his musical hero handed his teacher an absence
note with a difference. The typewritten note was
signed by Bruce Springsteen.
Fifth-grader Michael Fenerty met the star at a
"meet-and-greet" in the Free Library of Philadelphia
when Springsteen was in town signing copies of his new
autobiography, Born to Run.
Week
Commencing September 23 . . .
1960 - Ricky Valance
was at No.1 on the singles chart with 'Tell Laura I Love
Her', making him the first Welsh singer to top the
charts, and a One-hit Wonder.
1971 - On the last night of their first ever Japanese
tour Led Zeppelin
appeared at Osaka Festival Hall. Near the end of the set
the group played a medley of songs during an extended
version of 'Whole Lotta Love', including 'Let That Boy
Boogie', 'I Gotta Know', 'Twist and Shout', 'Fortune
Teller', 'Good Times Bad Times' and 'You Shook Me'.
1976 - Enjoying his own birthday celebrations singer Jerry Lee Lewis
accidentally shot his bass player Norman Owens in the
chest. Lewis had been blasting holes in an office door.
Owens survived but sued his boss.
1979 - The Police
had their first No.1 single with 'Message In A Bottle'
the group's third Top 20 hit. The song was released as
the first single from Reggatta de Blanc and also topped
the charts in Ireland and reached No.5 in Australia.
Despite its popularity in the UK, the single only
reached No.74 in the United States.
2004 - Keith Moon's
five-piece drum kit, custom-made for The Who drummer in 1968,
sold for £120,000 pounds in London to an American
collector, setting a world auction record for a set of
drums.
1972 - Rory Storm
singer from 60s group Rory Storm
and the Hurricanes died aged 32 after
taking an overdose of sleeping pills in a suicide pact
with his mother. Ringo Starr played drums with Storm
before joining The Beatles.
1979 - Scottish guitarist Jimmy
McCullough died from a heroin overdose in
his flat in Maida Vale, London, aged 26. Member of Stone The Crows, Thunderclap Newman
and Wings (1974 to
1977). When 'Something in the Air' by Thunderclap Newman
went to No.1 in 1969, it made McCulloch the youngest
guitarist to ever play on a UK No.1 single, as he was was
just sixteen years old at the time.
2008 - Pink Floyd's
manager Bryan Morrison
died after spending over two years in a coma. Morrison
suffered severe brain injuries in a polo accident at the
Royal Berkshire Polo Club, in 2006, and never recovered.
He also managed The Pretty
Things and was a music publisher for Syd Barrett, The Bee Gees, Elton
John, The Jam, T-Rex and Wham!
2018 - American singer, songwriter Marty
Balin died at the age of 76. He was best
known as the founder and one of the lead singers of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship who had
the 1967 US No.18 single 'White Rabbit'. Balin played with
Jefferson Airplane at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967
and at the Woodstock Festival in 1969.
1937 -
American blues singer Bessie
Smith died aged 43 after
being involved in a car accident while traveling
along Route 61 outside Memphis, Tennessee. Her
1923 song ‘Downhearted Blues’ was inducted into
the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2006.
1961 - The Greenbriar
Boys started a two-week
residency at Gerde's Folk Club in New York. The
opening act was Bob
Dylan.
1965 - At the end of a European tour Roger
Daltry knocked out Keith Moon resulting in the
singer being sacked from
The Who. The band were playing
two shows in one night in Denmark when an
argument broke about between all four band
members. Daltrey was reinstated the following
day.
1967 - Pink Floyd played
the first of three nights at the Fillmore in San
Francisco, the groups first ever live dates in
the US.
1981 - Bruce Dickinson
joined Iron Maiden
(Dickinson had been the vocalist with Samson).
1995 - AC/DC
released Ballbreaker their 12th international
studio album. The album which was produced by
Rick Rubin, featured the return of former
drummer Phil Rudd, who had been fired from the
band in 1983 as a result of drinking and drug
problems and a fight with founding rhythm
guitarist Malcolm Young.
2003 - English singer, songwriter Robert Palmer died
of a heart attack aged 54 in Paris France. He
was a member of Vinegar
Joe and Power
Station (with Duran Duran
members Andy Taylor and John Taylor with drummer
and former Chic
member Tony Thompson). As a solo artist had the
1986 US No.1 & UK No.5 single 'Addicted To
Love' and the 1988 hit 'Simply Irresistible'.
1964 - The Temptations
begin recording 'My Girl' which went on to be
their first US number one and the first of fifteen
US Top Ten hits.
1969 - John Lennon
recorded the track 'Cold Turkey', with Eric
Clapton, Ringo Starr, Klaus Voorman and Yoko.
Lennon presented the song to Paul McCartney as a
potential single by The Beatles, but was refused
and released it as a Plastic
Ono Band single with sole writing
credits to him.
1972 - Black Sabbath
released their fourth studio album, 'Black Sabbath
Vol. 4'. The album which features a monochrome
photograph of Ozzy Osbourne with hands raised,
taken during a Black Sabbath concert was
originally to be titled 'Snowblind', after one of
several songs referring to the band's cocaine use.
1976 - Paul McCartney
and Wings played a charity concert
in St Marks Square, Venice to raise funds for the
historic city. The night was a success but the
weight of the equipment used by the group caused
more damage to the square.
1980 - John Bonham,
drummer with Led
Zeppelin, died aged 32 after a
heavy drinking session. ‘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). During live sets his drum solo, ‘Moby
Dick,’ would often last for half an hour and
regularly featured his use of his bare hands. In
2007, Ludwig issued a limited edition drum kit in
Bonham's memory.
1993 - Nirvana
went to No.1 on the album chart with 'In Utero'
the bands first No.1 album.
2000 - Ozzy Osbourne
formally requested that Black
Sabbath be removed from the
nomination list for the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame. Calling the inclusion "meaningless",
Osbourne went on to say "Let's face it. Black
Sabbath have never been media darlings. We're a
people's band and that suits us just fine."
2015 - David Gilmour's
fourth studio album Rattle That Lock went to No.1
on the album chart. Gilmour had been writing the
material for Rattle That Lock over the past five
years, though he pointed out that one piano piece
was recorded 18 years ago in his living room.
1961 - John Leyton was
at No.1 on the singles chart with 'Johnny Remember
Me.' The singer's only No.1 and producer Joe Meek's
first No.1 hit.
1962 - Elvis Presley
received an invitation to appear at the Royal
Variety Performance in the UK which is attended by
members of the British Royal Family. Presley's
manager, Colonel Tom Parker, graciously declined,
citing motion picture commitments. The real reason
was that Parker was an illegal Dutch immigrant
living in the United States who feared he might not
be allowed to return if he left the country.
1966 - Jimi Hendrix arrived
in London with manager Chas chandler on a flight
from New York City. With only the clothes he was
wearing, Hendrix had sold his other belongings to
pay a hotel bill in New York. One of the first
things he did after arriving in England was to
legally change his name from James to Jimi.
1988 - Bobby McFerrin
started a two week run at No.2 on the singles chart
with 'Don't Worry Be Happy', the first a-cappella
record to be a hit. ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy was also
included in the movie Cocktail. The song would go on
to win Grammy Awards for both Record of the Year and
Song of the Year.
1988 - The Hollies
were at No.1 on the singles chart with 'He Ain't
Heavy He's My Brother' after the song was used on a
TV beer commercial, the song was originally a hit in
1969 and featured a young Elton
John on piano.
1990 - AC/DC
released 'The Razors Edge' their 11th
internationally released studio album. The only
studio album to feature drummer Chris Slade, it
reached No.4 on the chart.
1997 - Barry Loukaitis
was convicted of shooting and killing two pupils and
a teacher at a school in Washington. His defence
team claimed he had copied scenes from Pearl Jam's video
'Jeremy'.
2004 - The Strat Pack: Live in Concert was held at
Wembley Arena in London marking the 50th Anniversary
of the Fender Stratocaster guitar. The concert
featured Ronnie Wood, Joe
Walsh, Gary Moore, Brian May, David Gilmour,
Albert Lee, Andy Fairweather-Low, Hank Marvin
and many more.
1957 - The Crickets
went to No.1 on the singles chart with 'That'll Be The
Day.' The title being taken from a phrase used by John
Wayne in the film 'The Searchers.'
1965 - The Walker Brothers
were at No.1 on the singles chart with the Burt
Bacharach song, 'Make It Easy On Yourself', the trio's
first of two No.1s.
1966 - The 'Rolling Stones
66' 12-date UK tour kicked off at the Royal Albert
Hall London. Supported by Long
John Baldry, Ike & Tina Turner and
The Yardbirds (Jimmy Page was playing
bass, with Jeff Beck
on guitar). Michelangelo Antonioni attended this
concert and asked The Yardbirds to appear in his
forthcoming film Blow Up. Also both Keith Moon and John Entwistle from The Who were in the
audience.
1967 - The Box Tops
started a four week run at No.5 on the chart with 'The
Letter'. The record went on to sell over four million
copies and receive two Grammy nominations. It was also
a Top Ten hit for Joe Cocker
in 1970.
1974 - Robbie McIntosh
founder member of the Average
White Band died of a heroin overdose at
a Hollywood party (after he inhaled a white powder
thought to be cocaine but was actually pure heroin).
AWB scored the No.1 single 'Pick up the Pieces' which
was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1975.
1977 - David Bowie
released 'Heroes' as a single. Co-written by Bowie and
Brian Eno, the
track features King Crimson
guitarist Robert Fripp
and has gone on to become one of Bowie's signature
songs.
1978 - 10cc
had their third and final No.1 single with 'Dreadlock
Holiday.' The lyrics, about a white man lost in
Jamaica, were based on a true event that happened to Moody Blues vocalist Justin Hayward and Eric Stewart from 10cc
in Barbados.
2009 - A Blue Plaque was unveiled on the building
where Cargo Studios used to be on Kenion Street in
Rochdale. The plaque was to recognise the part the
building played in the British music scene between
1978 and 2000. In the early years as a home to Cargo
Studios and Tractor Music then later Suite 16 Studios.
Factory producer Martin Hannett spent a great deal of
time in Cargo recording Joy
Division, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark,
Durutti Column, Section 25 and Nico amongst others.
Week Commencing September 16
1962 - The Springfields
(Dusty Springfield her brother Tom and their friend, Tim
Field) had 'Silver Threads and Golden Needles', enter
the US Top 20 and became the first British vocal group
to chart that high in America.
1964 - Herman's Hermits
were at No.1 on the singles chart with the Carole King
& Gerry Goffin song 'I'm Into Something Good', the
group's only No.1.
1969 - The Band
released their self-titled album, which peaked at No.9
on the US chart, and included the tracks; 'Rag Mama
Rag', 'Up on Cripple Creek' and 'The Night They Drove
Old Dixie Down'. In 2009, the album was preserved into
the National Recording Registry because the album was
‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically important,
and reflects life in the United States.’
1973 - The Rolling Stones
scored their eighth No.1 album when 'Goats Head Soup'
started a two-week run at the top of the charts. Also a
US No.1.
1979 - Gary Numan
had his second and final No.1 single with 'Cars'. Also
on this day Gary Numan went to No.1 on the album chart
with 'The Pleasure Principle.'
1992 - Def Leppard
were forced to cancel two US shows after their
sound-equipment truck was found abandoned after one of
the bands drivers had attempted to rob a store. The
driver was later charged of possessing drugs and
criminal damage.
2005 - Jimmy Page
was made an honorary citizen of Brazilian city Rio de
Janeiro for his work helping its street children. The Led Zeppelin guitarist
had opened Casa Jimmy (Jimmy's House) in 1998 which had
so far supported more than 300 children.
1968 - Deep Purple made it onto the singles
chart with
their debut
single 'Hush',
also a hit for
Kula Shaker in
1997.
1970 -
Freda Payne
was at No.1 on
the singles
chart with
'Band Of
Gold', the
singers only
No.1 which
spent six
weeks at the
top of the
chart.
1971 - The
first edition
of 'The
Old Grey
Whistle Test'
was aired. The
show included
film clips of
Jimi
Hendrix
from Monterey
Festival
playing 'Wild
Thing', Bob Dylan playing 'Maggies Farm', plus America and Lesley
Duncan
'live' in the
studio. The
influential
show went on
to enjoy a run
from 1971 to
1987.
According to
presenter Bob
Harris, the
programme
derived its
name from a
Tin Pan Alley
phrase from
years before.
When they got
the first
pressing of a
record they
would play it
to people they
called the old
greys—doormen
in grey suits.
The songs they
could remember
and whistle,
having heard
it just once
or twice, had
passed the old
grey whistle
test.
1974 - Carl Douglas was at No.1 on the singles
chart with
'Kung Fu
Fighting.' The
song was
recorded in 10
minutes, had
started out as
a B-side and
went on to
sell over 10
million and
made Douglas a
One Hit
Wonder.
1980 - During
a North
American tour,
Bob
Marley
collapsed
while jogging
in New York's
Central Park.
After hospital
tests he was
diagnosed as
having cancer.
Marley played
his last ever
concert two
nights later
at the Stanley
Theater in
Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania.
1981 - Adam And The Ants were at No.1 on the
singles chart
with their
second chart
topper 'Prince
Charming'.
2011 - A
contract
revealing that
The
Beatles
refused to
perform in
front of a
segregated
audience at
the Cow Palace
in Daly City,
California on
August 31st,
1965, sold for
$23,033 at an
auction in Los
Angeles. In
addition to
the
desegregation
clause, the
contract
guaranteed the
band $40,000
and at least
150 police
officers to
provide
security at
the show.
1968 - Led Zeppelin (recording under the name of
The
Yardbirds)
started
recording
their debut
album at
Olympic
Studios,
Barnes,
London. The
album took
only about 36
hours of
studio time to
complete at a
cost of around
£1,782, with
most of the
tracks being
recorded
'live' in the
studio with
very few
overdubs.
1969 - Blind Faith started a two-week run at No.1
on the chart
with their
self-titled
debut album.
The only
release from
the Eric
Clapton, Steve
Winwood,
Ginger Baker
& Rick
Grech line-up
also reached
No.1 in the
US. Their only
UK gig was in
Hyde Park on
7th June 1969.
1969 - During
a meeting in
London between
John Lennon,
Paul McCartney
and Ringo
Starr,
Lennon
announced he
was leaving The Beatles.
1970 - Jim Morrison of The
Doors
was acquitted
on charges of
lewd and
lascivious
behavior, but
was found
guilty of
exposing
himself during
a concert at
The Dinner Key
Auditorium in
Coconut Grove
a year and a
half earlier.
At his trial
at the Dade
County
Courthouse in
Miami, Judge
Goodman
sentenced
Morrison to
six months
hard labor and
a $500 (£270),
fine for
public
exposure and
sixty days
hard labor for
profanity. The
sentence was
appealed, but
Morrison was
never brought
to trial, as
he would die
in Paris
France on July
3, 1971.
1970 - The Rolling Stones live album 'Get Your
Ya-Yas Out'
started a
two-week run
at No.1 on the
chart.
Recorded at
New York's
Madison Sq
Gardens on
27th &
28th Nov 1969,
featuring
'Jumpin Jack
Flash', 'Honky
Tonk Woman'
and 'Midnight
Rambler'.
1975 - 'Fame'
gave David
Bowie
his first No.1
in the US. The
song was
co-written
with John
Lennon.
Lennon's voice
is heard
towards the
ending of the
song repeating
the words:
"Fame, Fame,
Fame" from a
fast track,
through a
regular track,
to a slow
track, before
Bowie finished
the lyrics.
1976 - AC/DC released their third studio album
'Dirty Deeds
Done Dirt
Cheap'. The
album has been
certified 6x
Platinum in
the United
States, which
means that it
has sold at
least 6
million
copies,
becoming the
third highest
sold album by
AC/DC in the
US after
'Highway To
Hell' and
'Back In
Black'.
1976 - The
first of the
two night 100
Club Punk
Festival,
Oxford St,
featuring the
Sex
Pistols, The
Clash, Subway
Sect, Suzie
(spelling on
the poster), And The Banshees, The Buzzcocks, Vibrators
and Stinky
Toys.
Admission
£1.50.
1997 - Pearl Jam's 'Jeremy' video was cited as
one of the
reasons
American
teenager Barry Loukaitis had snapped into a violent
rage that left
three people
dead. Defence
attorneys took
the
unprecedented
step of
playing the
video in a
Washington
court.
2012 - The
former north
London home of
the original
band members
of Pink
Floyd
was bought by
a Singaporean
developer.
Sham
Masterman, who
admitted not
being a big
fan of the
rock band,
bought the
Highgate house
and the one
next door for
£1.2m each.
Roger Waters,
Nick Mason,
Richard Wright
and Syd
Barrett had
all lived in
the house in
the 1960s. The
previous
owner,
lighting
technician
Mike Leonard,
was landlord
and friend to
the band and
even inspired
their earliest
name,
Leonard's
Lodgers.
1957 - 16
year-old UK
singer Cliff Richard, still known by his real
name, Harry
Webb,
joined the Dick Teague Skiffle Group.
1960 - Former
chicken
plucker Chubby Checker went to No.14 in the
singles chart
with 'The
Twist'. The Fat Boys made No.2 with it in 1988.
1960 - Hank Ballard and The Midnighters had the
honour of
being the
first group to
have three
songs in the
US Top 100 at
the same time.
‘Finger
Poppin’ Time,’
‘Let’s Go
Let’s Go Let’s
Go’ and ‘The
Twist’ all
made the Top
30. Ballard
refused to
perform ‘The
Twist’ on a
highly rated
US TV show, so
Chubby Checker
picked it up
at the
insistence of
Dick Clark,
and Checker’s
version of the
song was
number 1 this
week in 1960.
1964 - Oxfam
printed half a
million
Christmas
cards of a
drawing by John Lennon called the Fat Budgie, which
was taken from
his book A
Spaniard in
the Works. All
profits from
the cards went
to help raise
money for
charity. Oxfam
re-printed the
cards in 2007
as a limited
edition card
which again
sold
thousands.
1969 - Creedence Clearwater Revival scored their
only No.1
single with
'Bad Moon
Rising' a US
No.2 hit. Also
on this day
the group
started a
four-week run
at No.1 on the
US album chart
with 'Green
River.'
1970 - The
first
Glastonbury
Festival took
place
featuring Marc Bolan, Ian Anderson, Keith Christmas,
Quintessence,
Amazing
Blondel
and Sam
Apple Pie.
1973 - Country
rock singer,
songwriter
26-year-old Gram Parsons formerly of The
Byrds
and The
Flying Burrito
Brothers,
died under
mysterious
conditions in
Joshua Tree,
California.
His death was
attributed to
heart failure
but later was
officially
announced as a
drug overdose.
His coffin was
stolen by two
of his
associates,
manager Phil
Kaufman and
Michael
Martin, a
former roadie
for The Byrds,
and was taken
to Cap Rock in
the California
desert, where
it was set
alight, in
accordance to
Parson's
wishes. The
two were later
arrested by
police.
1992 - The Shamen started a four-week run at No.1
on the singles
chart with
'Ebeneezer
Goode'. One of
the most
controversial
chart toppers
due to its
perceived
endorsement of
recreational
drug use. The
song was
initially
banned by the
BBC.
1993 - Pearl Jam released their second studio
album Vs. The
album set the
record for the
most copies of
an album sold
in its first
week, a record
it held for
five years,
despite the
fact that the
group declined
to produce
music videos
for any of the
album’s
singles.
2005 -
Research
published by
Guinness World
Records showed
that
Status Quo
have had more
hit singles
than any other
band in UK
chart history.
The band had
scored 61
chart
successes,
dating from
‘Pictures of
Matchstick
Men’ in 1968
to ‘You'll
Come Around’
in 2004. Queen
came second
with 52 hits,
with
The Rolling
Stones
and UB40
with 51 hits
each.
2008 -
American
drummer Earl Palmer died. Worked with The
Beach Boys,
Little Richard
(‘Tutti
Frutti’), Frank Sinatra, Ike And Tina Turner (‘River
Deep, Mountain
High’), The Monkees, Fats Domino (‘I'm Walkin’), Neil Young, Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, The Righteous
Brothers (‘You've
Lost That
Lovin'
Feelin’), Randy Newman, Tom Waits, Bonnie Raitt, Tim Buckley,
Little Feat
and Elvis
Costello.
2010 - John Lennon's son Julian
told the press
that he has
ended his
long-running
feud with his
half-brother
Sean and his
step-mother
Yoko Ono,
which started
after the
former Beatle
was murdered
in December,
1980. The trio
battled in
court for a
share of the
singer's
estate, but
Julian now
said "Things
are good
between us.
Whenever I'm
in New York,
we all get
together."
1970 - Jimi Hendrix was pronounced dead on
arrival at St.
Mary Abbot's
Hospital in
London at the
age of 27
after choking
on his own
vomit. Hendrix
left the
message 'I
need help bad
man', on
his manager's
answer phone
earlier that
night. Rumors
and conspiracy
theories grew
up around
Hendrix’s
death. Eric
Burdon claimed
Jimi had
committed
suicide, but
that’s
contradicted
by reports
that he was in
a good frame
of mind. In
2009, a former
Animals roadie
published a
book claiming
that Jimi’s
manager had
admitted to
him that he
arranged the
murder of
Hendrix, since
the guitarist
wanted out of
his contract.
1981 - Gary Numan took off on a round the world
trip in a
single engine
Cesna plane.
The attempt
ended after he
was forced to
land in India,
where local
police
arrested him.
1991 -
Rob Tyner
lead singer
with the
American hard
rock band MC5 died after he suffered a heart attack
in the seat of
his parked car
in his
hometown of
Berkley,
Michigan. MC5
(shortened
from the Motor
City Five),
formed in
Detroit, in
1965, they
released their
first album,
‘Kick Out the
Jams’ in 1969.
2006 - Sir Cliff Richard unveiled a plaque to
mark a tiny
basement said
to be the
birthplace of
British rock
and roll,
fifty years
after the "2
is" coffee bar
opened in
London's Old
Compton
Street. The Tornados, Tommy Steele, The Shadows
and Adam
Faith
were among
stars who
started out at
the club.
2009 - Leonard Cohen collapsed on stage during a
concert in
Valencia in
Spain and was
taken to
hospital. He
was later
discharged
after doctors
told him he
had food
poisoning.
Cohen was in
the middle of
singing his
song Bird On
The Wire when
he fainted,
prompting the
band to stop
playing and
rush to help
him.
1931 - The
first long-playing
record,
a 331/3
rpm recording,
was
demonstrated
at the Savoy
Plaza Hotel in
New York by
RCA-Victor.
The venture
was doomed to
fail however,
due to the
high price of
the record
players which
started around
$95 (about
$1140 in
today's
dollars) and
wasn't revived
until 1948.
1956 - The BBC
announced the
removal of Bill Haley and His Comets' ‘Rockin'
Through The
Rye’ from its
playlist
because they
felt the song
went against
traditional
British
standards (and
included the
lyrics "All
the lassies
rock with me
when rockin'
through the
rye"). The
record, based
on an 18th
century
Scottish Folk
tune, was at
No.5 on the
charts.
1962 - The Beatles played the last of three
Monday night
gigs at The
Queen's Hall,
Widnes,
Cheshire. Also
on the bill, Billy Kramer and the Coasters, Rory Storm and the
Hurricanes
and Sonny
Kaye and the
Reds.
Tickets cost
3/6.
1996 - A bomb
was found at a
South London
sorting office
addressed to
Icelandic
singer Bjork. Police in Miami had alerted the
post office
after finding
the body of
Ricardo Lopez
who had made a
video of
himself making
the bomb and
then killing
himself.
2000 - Paula Yates was found dead in bed from a
suspected drug
overdose.
Yates had
presented The
Tube during
the 80s,
married Bob Geldof and was the girlfriend of INXS singer Michael
Hutchence.
2006
- American
guitarist Al Casey died aged 69. Casey is noted for
his work as a
session
musician and
as a member of
the Wrecking
Crew
and worked
with The
Beach Boys,
Phil Spector,
Elvis Presley,
Glen Campbell,
The
Association,
The Monkees,
Johnny Cash,
Simon &
Garfunkel, 5th
Dimension,
Harry Nilsson,
The Partridge
Family, Frank
Sinatra
and Nancy
Sinatra.
2011 - The
estate of Jimi Hendrix gave the go-ahead for
another round
of archival
releases
nearly 41
years to the
day after the
singer's
death. The
four new
products
included an
expanded
version of his
landmark
Winterland
concerts in
1968, a revamp
of a 1972 live
compilation,
an upgraded
DVD of his
final UK
festival gig,
and a DVD
reissue of
some old
talk-show
appearances.
1966 - Member
of Parliament
Tom Drilberg
asked
Britain's
House of
Commons to
officially
"deplore" the
action of a
magistrate
who'd earlier
called The Rolling Stones "complete morons...who
wear filthy
clothes."
1967 - Jimi Hendrix's debut LP, Are You
Experienced?
entered the
Billboard Hot
200 album
chart where it
stayed for 106
weeks,
including 77
weeks in the
Top 40. In
2003, Rolling
Stone magazine
ranked it
No.15 on their
500 Greatest
Albums of All
Time and two
years later it
was selected
for permanent
preservation
in the
National
Recording
Registry at
the Library of
Congress in
the United
States.
1970 - Jimi Hendrix joined Eric
Burdon
on stage at
Ronnie Scotts
in London for
what would
become the
guitarist's
last ever
public
appearance.
1977 -
29-year-old
former T Rex singer Marc
Bolan
was killed
instantly when
the car driven
by his
girlfriend,
Gloria Jones,
left the road
and hit a tree
in Barnes,
London. Miss
Jones broke
her jaw in the
accident. The
couple were on
the way to
Bolan's home
in Richmond
after a night
out at a
Mayfair
restaurant. A
local man who
witnessed the
crash said,
'When I
arrived a girl
was lying on
the bonnet and
a man with
long dark
curly hair was
stretched out
in the road -
there was a
hell of a
mess.'
1988 - Former
Clash
drummer Topper Headon was released from jail after
serving 10
months of a
15-month
sentence on a
narcotics
charge.
1996 - Pearl Jam played the first night on their
'No Code' tour
at the Key
Arena in
Seattle,
Washington.
Because of the
band's refusal
to play in
Ticketmaster's
venue areas,
they were
forced to use
alternate
ticketing
companies for
the shows
which fans
complained
were to be
out-of-the-way
and hard to
get to.
2008 - Norman Whitfield died in Los Angeles,
California
from diabetes
and other
illnesses. The
Motown
songwriter and
producer
collaborated
with Barrett
Strong on such
hits as 'I
Heard It
Through the
Grapevine',
‘Ain't Too
Proud to Beg’,
‘(I Know) I'm
Losing You’,
‘Cloud Nine’,
‘War’, ‘Papa
Was a Rolling
Stone’, and
‘Car Wash’.
2009 - Mary Travers from Folk trio
Peter, Paul
And Mary,
passed away
after
suffering from
leukemia for
several years.
She was 72.
Mary's lead
vocal can be
heard on the
group's
biggest hit,
1969's
'Leaving On A
Jet Plane'.
2018 - English
multi-instrumentalist
musician and
record
producer Maartin Allcock died aged 61. He was a
member of Fairport Convention and Jethro
Tull
and also
played
keyboards for
The
Mission.
Week Commencing
September 9
1941 -
American
singer Signe Toly Anderson who was one of the
founding
members of the
American rock
band
Jefferson
Airplane, was born today. She sang on the first
Jefferson
Airplane
album,
Jefferson
Airplane Takes
Off, most
notably on the
song
'Chauffeur
Blues'. She
died on 28
January 2016.
1961 - A group
from
Hawthorne,
California
called
The
Pendletones
attend their
first real
recording
session at
Hite Morgan's
studio in Los
Angeles. The
band recorded
'Surfin', a
song that
would help
shape their
career as The Beach Boys.
1964 - The Beatles on tour in the USA, appeared
at the Public
Auditorium in
Cleveland,
Ohio. During
the
performance a
group of fans
managed to
break through
the line of
police
fronting the
stage and get
up on-stage.
Police ordered
The Beatles
off-stage in
the middle of
a song, and
the concert
only resumed
after Derek
Taylor got on
the PA system
and pleaded
for order to
be restored so
that the rest
of the
performance
would not be
cancelled by
the police.
1966 - The Small Faces were at No.1 on the
singles chart
with 'All Or
Nothing',
their only
No.1 hit.
According to
Kay Marriott,
Steve
Marriott's
mother, Steve
wrote the song
about his
split with
ex-fiancee Sue
Oliver, though
first wife
Jenny Rylance
states that
Marriott told
her he wrote
the song for
her as a
result of her
split with Rod Stewart.
1967 - Filming
continued for The Beatles 'Magical Mystery Tour'. Lunch
was at James
and Amy
Smedley's fish
and chip shop
in Taunton,
Somerset with
The Beatles
being filmed
and
photographed
eating their
fish and
chips.
1975 - Pink Floyd released their ninth studio
album Wish You
Were Here. The
album which
explores
themes of
absence, the
music
business, and
former
band-mate Syd Barrett's mental decline peaked at
No.1 on both
sides of the
Atlantic and
went on to
spend a total
of 84 weeks on
the chart.
1990 - The Steve Miller Band had a No.1 with 'The
Joker' 16
years after
its first
release. More
than 16 years
later it
reached No.1
in the Singles
Chart after
being used in
"Great Deal",
a Hugh
Johnson-directed
television
advertisement
for Levi's,
thus holding
the record for
the longest
gap between
transatlantic
chart-toppers.
1997 - A 34
year old man
was awarded
more than
£20,000 by a
French court
after he lost
his hearing
when he stood
too close to
loudspeakers
at a U2
concert in
1993.
2004 - Ramones guitarist Johnny
Ramone
(John
Cummings) died
in Los Angeles
after a
five-year
battle with
prostate
cancer.
2008 - Pink Floyd keyboard player and founder
member Richard Wright died aged 65 from cancer.
Wright
appeared on
the group's
first album,
The Piper at
the Gates of
Dawn, in 1967
alongside Syd
Barrett, Roger
Waters and
Nick Mason.
David Gilmour
who joined the
band at the
start of 1968
said: "He
was such a
lovely,
gentle,
genuine man
and will be
missed
terribly by so
many who loved
him." In
2005, the full
band reunited
- for the
first time in
24 years - for
the Live 8
concert in
London's Hyde
Park. Wright
had also
contributed
vocals and
keyboards to
Gilmour's 2006
solo album On
An Island.
1955 -
Little Richard
entered a New
Orleans
recording
studio to
begin two days
of recording.
Things were
not going well
and during a
break, Richard
and his
producer Bumps
Blackwell went
to the Dew
Drop Inn for
lunch. Richard
started
playing the
piano in the
bar like
crazy, singing
a loud and
lewd version
of ‘Tutti
Frutti.’ With
only fifteen
minutes left
in the
session,
Richard
recorded the
song and
coined the
phrase,
‘a-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom.’
1968 - Roy Orbison's house in Nashville burnt
down, his two
eldest sons
both died in
the blaze.
Orbison was on
tour in the UK
at the time of
the accident.
1979 - The
film
Quadrophenia
was released.
Based on The Who's 1973 rock opera the film
featured Phil
Daniels, Toyah Wilcox, Ray Winstone, Michael
Elphick and Sting.
1984 - David Bowie won Video of the year for
'China Girl'
at the first
MTV Video
awards. The
song,
co-written by
David Bowie
and
Iggy Pop
during their
years in
Berlin, first
appeared on
Iggy's album
The Idiot
released in
1977.
1997 - Over
2000 fans
watched Pete Townshend unveil a English Heritage
Blue Plaque at
23 Brook
Street,
Mayfair
London, to
mark where Jimi Hendrix had lived in 1968-69.
Hendrix was
the first pop
star to be
awarded with
the plaque.
2005 - The
newly
refurbished Grateful Dead's original tour bus went on
display at the
Volo Auto
Museum in
Volo,
Illinois. The
1965 Gillig
bus, which
Jerry Garcia
and the rest
of the Dead
dubbed ‘Sugar
Magnolia’, was
used by the
band on their
frequent tours
across the US
between 1967
and 1985. The
ceiling was
lined with
hundreds of
vintage rock
posters
featuring The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Janice Joplin
and others who
had visited
the bus.
1958 -
Cliff Richard
made his
British TV
debut on Jack
good's 'Oh
Boy',
performing
'Move It'.
Before he was
allowed to
appear on the
show, Richard
was ordered to
remove his
sideburns.
1960 - A
campaign was
started in the
UK to ban the
American hit
'Tell Laura I
Love Her' by Ray Peterson. The song was being denounced
in the press
as likely to
inspire a
teenage
"glorious
death cult."
The story told
of a lovesick
youngster who
drives in a
stock car race
to win the
hand of his
sweetheart. He
crashes and
just before
dying, groans
out the words
of the title.
1963 - Graham Nash fell out of
The Hollies
van after a
gig in
Scotland. Nash
checked to see
if the door
was locked, it
wasn't and he
fell out as it
travelled at
40 mph.
1964 - During
a tour, two
dozen rugby
players were
hired as 'a
human crash
barrier' at a
Rolling
Stones
gig at the
Liverpool
Empire. The
'human chain'
disappeared
under a wave
of 5,000 fans
as the Stones
took to the
stage.
1965 - The Paul McCartney song 'Yesterday' was
released as a
Beatles single
in the US.
McCartney's
vocal and
acoustic
guitar
together with
a string
quartet
essentially
made for the
first solo
performance of
the band. The
final
recording was
so different
from other
works by The
Beatles that
the band
members vetoed
the release of
the song as a
single in the
United
Kingdom.
(However, it
was issued as
a single here
in 1976.)
1967 - The Beatles formed an electronics company
called
Fiftyshapes,
Ltd.
appointing
John Alexis
Mardas (Magic
Alex) to be
the company's
director. Alex
claimed he
could build a
72-track tape
machine,
instead of the
4-track at
Abbey Road
(this never
materialised).
One of his
more
outrageous
plans was to
replace the
acoustic
baffles around
Ringo Starr's
drums with an
invisible
sonic force
field. George
Harrison later
said that
employing
Mardas was
"the biggest
disaster of
all time."
1986 - The Communards were at No.1 on the UK with
the singles
chart with
'Don't Leave
Me This Way',
which had been
a hit for Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in 1975
and later a
hit for Thelma Houston.
2005 - The Sex Pistols were among new names added
to a celebrity
Walk of Fame
in Covent
Garden London.
Other musical
celebrities to
immortalised
on the Avenue
of the Stars
include Bob Geldof, Tom Jones, Gracie Fields and Bob Hope.
2015 - Gary Richrath, lead guitarist and
songwriter for
REO
Speedwagon
died at the
age of 65.
Richrath
recorded 12
albums with
the band
before leaving
in 1989 and
released his
own solo album
in 1992.
1966 - N.B.C.
aired the
first episode
of The
Monkees
TV show in the
US. The series
ran for a
total of 58
episodes.
1970 - Bob Dylan joined Joan
Baez, Pete
Seger
and Arlo
Guthrie
at the Woody
Guthrie
Memorial
Concert held
at the
Hollywood Bowl
in Los
Angeles,
California.
1970 - Smokey Robinson and The Miracles were at
No.1 on the
singles chart
with 'The
Tears Of A
Clown', their
first UK No.1.
Stevie Wonder
(who was
discovered by
Miracles
member Ronnie
White), and
his producer
Hank Cosby
wrote the
music for the
song.
1986 - Public Image Ltd guitarist John
McGeoch
needed 40
stitches in
his face after
a two-litre
wine bottle
was thrown at
the stage
during a gig
in Vienna.
1990 - Stevie Nicks and
Christine
McVie
from Fleetwood
Mac
announced they
were leaving
the band at
the end of
their current
tour. At the
time, some
believed that
Nicks’ and
McVie’s
departures
were hastened
by bad blood
in the wake of
Fleetwood’s
memoir,
Fleetwood: My
Life and
Adventures in
Fleetwood Mac
which revealed
some “sordid
revelations”
about life in
Fleetwood Mac.
1997 - Founder
of the Polar
Music record
label,
songwriter,
producer and ABBA's manager Stig
Anderson
died of a
heart attack.
Anderson
co-wrote some
of ABBA's
biggest hits,
such as
‘Waterloo’,
‘Mamma Mia’,
‘S.O.S’,
‘Fernando’,
‘Dancing
Queen’,
‘Knowing Me,
Knowing You’
and ‘The Name
of the Game.’
His funeral
was broadcast
live on
Swedish
television an
honour
otherwise only
reserved for
distinguished
statesmen or
royalty.
2003 - US
singer
songwriter Johnny Cash died of respiratory failure
aged 71. One
of the most
influential
musicians of
the 20th
century, known
as "The Man in
Black." He
traditionally
started his
concerts by
saying,
"Hello, I'm
Johnny Cash."
Had the 1969
US No.2 &
UK No.4 single
'A Boy Named
Sue', plus 11
other US Top
40 singles.
Cash also had
his own US TV
show in late
60s early 70s.
2007 - The
surviving
members of Led Zeppelin announced they would reform
for a
star-studded
tribute
concert in
London. Robert
Plant, Jimmy
Page and John
Paul Jones
would play at
a show to
remember the
late Atlantic
Records
founder Ahmet
Ertegun. The
place of Led
Zeppelin
drummer John
Bonham, who
died in 1980,
would be taken
by his son
Jason. The
one-off
concert, the
trio's first
performance
for 19 years,
would take
place at the
O2 arena in
London on 26th
November.
1956 - Police
were called to
break up a
crowd of rowdy
teenagers
following the
showing of the
film Rock
Around the
Clock
at the
Trocadero
Cinema in
London. The
following day,
The Times
printed a
reader's
letter that
said: "The
hypnotic
rhythm and the
wild gestures
have a
maddening
effect on a
rhythm loving
age group and
the result of
its impact is
the relaxing
of all self
control." The
film was
quickly banned
in several
cities.
1962 - After
George Martin
insisted that
session
drummer Andy White took
Ringo Starr's
place, The Beatles returned to EMI Studios in
London for a
third attempt
at recording
their first
single. 'Love
Me Do' was
selected to be
The Beatles'
first A-side,
with "P.S. I
Love You" on
the flip side
(a reversal of
the original
plan). The
single that
was released
on October 5th
featured a
version of
‘Love Me Do’
with Ringo on
drums, but the
album ‘Please
Please Me’
included a
version with
Andy White on
drums.
1964 - The
London Evening
News reported
that a 16
year-old
Eltham Collage
boy,
introduced as
Laurie Yarham,
was everyone's
idea of a
winner in a Mick Jagger look-a-like competition.
Laurie looked
like Mick
Jagger and
seemed to know
his every
action; and
the audience
at Greenwich
Town Hall were
delighted,
until the
winner turned
out to be
Mick's younger
brother Chris
Jagger.
1970 - NME’s
Keith Allston
interviewed Jimi Hendrix. The interview turned out to
be Hendrix's
last; he died
a mere seven
days later.
During the
interview,
Hendrix talked
about a new
musical phase,
with planned
collaborations
with Miles
Davis
and Paul
McCartney.
1987 - Founder
member of The Wailers, Peter Tosh, was shot dead at
his home in
Kingston,
Jamaica by
armed robbers.
1987 - Peter Gabriel cleaned up at this year's
MTV Awards,
winning best
video, best
male video,
best concept
video, best
special
effects and
five other
awards for the
track
'Sledgehammer'.
2001 - Walking
to work in New
York (as an
comic book
illustrator)
Gerard Way
witnessed the
9/11 attacks
on the World
Trade Centre.
The day's
events
inspired him
to start a
band, which
became My Chemical Romance with Way becoming
their lead
singer.
2003 - Tommy
Chong,
one-half of
the comedy
team of Cheech and Chong, was sentenced to nine
months in
federal prison
and fined
$20,000 for
selling drug
paraphernalia
over the
Internet. The
65 year-old
Chong pled
guilty to the
charges last
May. He
remained free
until April,
2004, when he
went to jail.
1962 - The BBC
banned Bobby 'Boris' Pickett and the Crypt Kickers
single
'Monster Mash'
saying it was
offensive. The
single went on
to be a No.3
hit in 1973.
1963 - The
Daily Mirror
published a
two-page
article about
The
Beatles.
Written by
Donald Zec,
the feature is
entitled ‘Four
Frenzied
Little Lord
Fauntleroys
Who Are
Earning 5,000
Pounds A Week’
Zec, who had
attended a
Beatles
concert in
Luton on Sept.
6 and then
invited them
to his home to
complete the
interview,
referred to
The Beatles'
haircuts as ‘A
stone-age hair
style’. The
article
provided a
major boost to
their career.
1964 - The Kinks third single 'You Really Got
Me', was at
No.1 on the
singles chart.
Future Led Zeppelin founder and guitarist Jimmy Page played tambourine on the track.
1964 - Rod Stewart recorded his first single, a
version of Willie Dixon's 'Good Morning Little School
Girl.' Future
Led
Zeppelin
bass player John Paul Jones played on the session.
1965 - The Byrds begin recording ‘Turn! Turn!
Turn!’. Unlike
their first
hit, ‘Mr.
Tambourine
Man’, members
of the group
itself were
permitted to
play instead
of session
musicians.
1973 - The BBC
banned The Rolling Stones single 'Star Star',
from their
Goat's Head
Soup album
because it
contained the
word
"Star-fucker"
in the chorus
a dozen times.
1974 - The New York Dolls split up. The
influential
American band
formed in 1972
and made just
two albums,
the 1973 'New
York Dolls'
and 1974 'Too
Much Too
Soon'.
1977 - Meat Loaf released his second studio
album Bat Out
Of Hell. His
first
collaboration
with composer
Jim Steinman
and producer
Todd Rundgren,
it is one of
the
best-selling
albums of all
time, having
sold over 43
million copies
worldwide (and
still sells
over 200,000
copies per
year). The
first single
released from
the album 'You
Took the Words
Right Out of
My Mouth'
failed to
chart when
first
released.
1991 - Nirvana's single 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'
was released
in the US. The
unexpected
success of
'Smells Like
Teen Spirit'
in late 1991
propelled
Nevermind to
the top of the
charts at the
start of 1992,
an event often
marked as the
point where
alternative
rock entered
the
mainstream.
1994 - REM were at No.9 on the singles chart with
'What's The
Frequency
Kenneth'. The
song's title
refers to an
incident in
1986 when two
unknown
assailants
attacked
journalist Dan
Rather while
repeating
"Kenneth, what
is the
frequency?"
1996 - Music
journalist Ray Coleman died of cancer. Coleman had
worked with The Beatles and
The Rolling
Stones
and had been
the editor of
the UK music
weekly Melody
Maker
throughout the
heyday of The
Beatles and
The Rolling
Stones into
the era of Pink Floyd and Led
Zeppelin.
2002 - Chris Cowey the man behind the UK's
longest
running music
show
Top Of The
Pops
accused record
bosses of
controlling
the singles
chart with
marketing
scams and as a
result the
chart lacked
credibility
and was 'full
of crap
records.'
2009 - A
harmonica
owned by Bob Dylan sold for £2,700 at auction in
Norfolk; more
than four
times the
guide price.
The
singer-songwriter
had presented
the chromonica
harmonica,
made by
Hohner, to a
member of his
wardrobe
department in
1974. Lifetime
Dylan fan John
Fellas, of
Gorleston,
Norfolk, who
wore
Dylan-style
sunglasses
while bidding,
outbid fans
from across
the world for
the
instrument.
The inside of
the harmonica
case was
signed and
dedicated by
Dylan. It had
is expected to
fetch more
than £600 at
the sale by
Barnes
Auctioneers.
Fellas told
reporters he
was still
plucking up
the courage to
tell his wife
about what he
had done.
1965 - US
newspaper The
Hollywood
reporter ran the
following
advertisement;
'Madness folk
& roll
musicians,
singers wanted
for acting roles
in new TV show.
Parts for 4
insane boys.' The Monkees were born. 437 people applied
for the job.
1965 - The
Rolling Stones
were at No.1 in
the with ’(I
Can’t Get No)
Satisfaction’,
giving the band
their 4th No.1
single. Keith
Richards
recorded a rough
version of the
riff in a
Florida hotel
room. He ran
through it once
before falling
asleep. He said
when he listened
back to it in
the morning,
there was about
two minutes of
acoustic guitar
before you could
hear him drop
the pick and
"then me snoring
for the next
forty minutes".
1989 - Italian
based Black
Box
started a
six-week run at
No.1 on the UK
singles chart
with 'Ride On
Time'. The track
sampled the
uncredited use
of
Loleatta
Holloway's
song 'Love
Sensation', who
objected
resulting in a
settlement that
paid the singer
an undisclosed
sum. New
pressings had M People singer Heather Small singing the
vocals. Biggest
selling single
of 1989.
1992 -
Nirvana's
Krist
Novoselic
knocked himself
unconscious
during the MTV
music and video
awards after
being hit on the
head with his
guitar after
throwing it 'up
in the air'.
2005 - An
international
conference
devoted to the
life, work, and
influence of Bruce Springsteen was held at Monmouth
University, New
Jersey. The
festivities
included various
live acts, as
well as keynote
addresses by
rock critics and
figures from the
music industry.
More than 150
papers were
presented to the
course including
Springsteen and
American
Folklore,
Springsteen and
Dylan's American
Dreamscapes,
Springsteen's
Musical Legacy,
Born to Run at
30-Years-Old,
Springsteen and
New Jersey and
the Boss and the
Bible.
2014 - Scottish
guitarist Robert "Throb" Young died at the age of
49. Young
founded
Primal Scream
with school
friend and
singer Bobby
Gillespie in
Glasgow in 1984.
As a member of
Primal Scream,
Young performed
on all of the
group's records
up to 2006's
Riot City Blues,
and including
their most
famous album,
Screamadelica.
Week
commening September 2
1956
- Eddie
Cochran
signed a one year
contract with
Liberty Records,
Cochran went on to
give Liberty three
top 40 hits over
the next several
years including
‘Summertime
Blues,’ ‘Twenty
Flight Rock’ and
‘C’mon Everybody’.
1974 - Joni
Mitchell,
Crosby,
Stills, Nash
& Young and
The Beach Boys
all appeared at
the New York
'Summersault '74'
at Roosevelt
Raceway in
Westbury.
1997 - 29 years
after the band
first formed, Led
Zeppelin
released 'Whole
Lotta Love', their
first ever single
in the UK. The
track recorded in
1969 and featured
on the bands
second album was
issued to promote
their re-issued
back catalogue.
1997 - Derek
Taylor
the publicist for
The
Beatles
died aged 67.
Taylor had been
responsible for
many of the
legends
surrounding their
career and had
also worked with The
Beach Boys
and The
Byrds.
In 1967 he helped
organise the
Monterey Pop
Festival together
with Lou Adler and
John Philips. He
helped launch the
Beatles Anthology
trilogy in the
90s.
2007 - A
commemorative
plaque dedicated
to Don
Arden
and
the Small
Faces
was unveiled at
52–55 Carnaby
Street, London,
Arden's former
offices. Arden
achieved notoriety
in Britain for his
aggressive,
sometimes illegal
business tactics
and looked after
the career's of
Small Faces,
the Move, the
Electric Light
Orchestra and
Black
Sabbath.
He was the father
of Sharon Osbourne
(and father-in-law
of Ozzy
Osbourne).
1963 -
The Rolling
Stones
kicked off their
fourth UK tour at
The Astoria London.
A 32-date package
tour with Mike
Berry and the
Innocents, The
Mojos
and
Simon Scott and
the Leroys.
1964 - The
Animals
started a three week
run at No.1 on the
US singles chart
with 'House Of The
Rising Sun'. When
first released the
record company
printed the time of
the song on the
record as three
minutes feeling that
the real time of
four minutes was too
long for radio
airplay.
1966 - John
Lennon
started work on his
role as Private
Gripweed in the film
'How I Won The War'.
The black comedy,
directed by Richard
Lester, was filmed
in Spain in Almería
Province and saw
Lennon taking a
long-overdue break
from The
Beatles
after nearly four
years of constant
touring.
1968 - On their
first ever visit to
the UK, The
Doors
appeared on Top Of
The Pops performing
'Hello I Love You'
live.
1970 - Janis
Joplin
started recording
sessions recording a
version of the Kris
Kristofferson and
Fred Foster song 'Me
and Bobby McGee'.
Joplin (who was a
lover and a friend
of Kristofferson's
from the beginning
of her career to her
death) topped the US
singles chart with
the song in 1971
after her death,
making the song the
second posthumous
No.1 single in US
chart history after
'(Sittin' On) The
Dock of the Bay' by
Otis
Redding.
1976 -
Lynyrd Skynyrd
guitarist Gary
Rossington
was seriously
injured in a car
crash in Florida.
1978 - Joe
Negroni
from
Frankie Lymon
and the
Teenagers
died of a brain
haemorrhage. They
had the 1956 UK No.1
& US No.6 single
'Why Do Fools Fall
In Love' and are
also noted for being
rock's first
all-teenaged act.
1981 - Soft
Cell
were at No.1 on the
singles chart with
their version of
'Tainted Love.' The
song had been a hit
for
Gloria Jones
in 1964. (Jones, who
became Marc
Bolan's
girlfriend, was the
driver of the car
that crashed and
killed Bolan on 16
September 1977.
Jones nearly died in
the accident).
1987 -
Ian Astbury
of The
Cult was
arrested after a
show in Vancouver
ended in a riot.
Staff at the concert
claimed they were
assaulted by
Astbury, who spent
the night in the
local police cells.
1990 -
Ian Dury And The
Blockheads
drummer
Charley Charles
died of cancer.
Scored the 1978 No.1
single 'Hit Me With
Your Rhythm Stick'.
2008 - A study of
more than 36,000
people from around
the world concluded
that musical tastes
and personality type
were closely
related. The
research, which was
carried out by
Professor Adrian
North of Heriot Watt
University,
Edinburgh, suggested
classical music fans
were shy, while
heavy metal fans
were gentle and at
ease with
themselves. Fans of
Indie music had low
self-esteem and were
not hard working,
fans of Rap music
had high self-esteem
and were outgoing.
Country &
Western fans were
hardworking and
outgoing, Reggae
fans were creative
but not hardworking,
and fans of chart
pop had high
self-esteem, were
not creative, but
were hardworking and
outgoing.
2016 - An asteroid
was named after Freddie
Mercury
to mark what would
have been the
singer's 70th
birthday. The
Queen
frontman has had his
name attached to
Asteroid 17473,
which was discovered
in 1991 - the year
he died. Queen
guitarist Brian
May told
a gathering of 1,250
fans at Montreux
Casino in
Switzerland that the
asteroid would now
be known as Asteroid
17473
Freddiemercury.
2017 - Former Tower
of Power
lead singer
Rick Stevens
died age 77 after a
battle with cancer.
Stevens was in his
30s, four years out
of Tower of Power
and addicted to
drugs when he shot
to death three men
in a 1976 dealing
dispute and served
36 years in prison.
1965 -
The
Who had
their van stolen
containing over £5000
worth of equipment
outside the Battersea
Dogs Home. The band
were inside the home
at the time buying a
guard dog. The van was
later recovered.
1976 -
Fleetwood Mac
went to No.1 on the
album chart with their
self-titled album
after being on the
charts for over a
year. The album went
on to sell over 5
million copies in the
US and was the first
of three No.1 albums
for the group.
1982 - The
Steve Miller Band
started a two week run
at No.1 on the US
singles chart with
'Abracadabra' the
group's third US No.1,
a No.2 hit in the UK.
The song is said to
have been inspired by
Diana
Ross
with whom Miller had
met while performing
together on Hullabaloo
in the 1960s.
1995 - Blur,
Oasis, Radiohead,
Paul Weller, Manic
St Preachers
and The
Stone Roses
all recorded tracks
for the 'War Child'
charity album, which
was released five days
later. All profits
went to children
caught up in the
current war in former
Yugoslavia.
2015 - Rolling
Stones'
guitarist Keith
Richards
told The New York
Daily News that Rap
music was for "tone
deaf people." He
went on to say "All
they need is a drum
beat and somebody
yelling over it and
they're happy.
There's an enormous
market for people
who can't tell one
note from another."
1965 - A Rolling
Stones
gig in Dublin, Ireland
ended in a riot after 30
fans jumped onto the
stage. Jagger was
knocked to the floor as
the rest of the band
fled the stage.
1966 - Donovan
went to No.1 on the US
singles chart with
'Sunshine Superman', a
No.2 hit in the UK. The
track featured then Yardbirds
and future Led
Zeppelin
guitarist Jimmy
Page. The
song was written for
Donovan's future wife
Linda Lawrence.
1970 - Alan
Wilson
guitarist and songwriter
with Canned
Heat
was found dead at fellow
band-members Bob Hite's
garden in Topanga
Canyon, Los Angeles aged
27. With Canned Heat,
Wilson performed at two
prominent concerts of
the 1960s era, The
Monterey Pop Festival in
1967 and Woodstock in
1969. Canned Heat
appeared in the film
Woodstock, and the
band's 'Going Up the
Country,' which Wilson
sang, has been referred
to as the festival's
unofficial theme song.
Wilson also wrote 'On
the Road Again,'
arguably Canned Heat's
second-most familiar
song.
1970 -
Arthur Brown
was arrested at the
Palermo Pop '70 Festival
in Italy, after he set
fire to his helmet
(during the performance
of his hit 'Fire'), and
stripped naked during
his stage performance.
The singer spent four
days in solitary
confinement before he
was released.
1975 - An all-star jam
session took place at a
party in Los Angeles for
actor Peter Sellers’
50th Birthday. The
line-up for the group
who named themselves the
Trading Faces: Bill
Wyman on
bass,
Ronnie Wood, Jesse
Ed Davis,
and Danny
Kortchmar
on guitars, Keith
Moon
organ and drums,
Joe Cocker
vocals, Nigel
Olsson
drums and David
Bowie and
Bobby Keys
on sax.
1977 - Studio engineer
Keith Harwood
was killed in a car
crash shortly after he
left a recording session
with
The Rolling Stones.
Harwood was noted for
his work at Olympic
Studios with David
Bowie
(Diamond Dogs), and
The Rolling Stones
albums It's Only Rock
'n' Roll and Black And
Blue. He also engineered
a number of Led
Zeppelin
albums, including Houses
Of The Holy, Physical
Graffiti and Presence.
The Rolling Stones
dedicated their album
Love You Live to the
memory of Harwood.
1982 - The three day US
Festival in San
Bernardino, California
took place featuring
Tom Petty, Fleetwood
Mac, The Police, The
Cars, Talking Heads,
The Kinks, Ramones,
B52s, The English
Beat, Gang Of Four,
The Grateful Dead,
Pat Benatar, Jackson
Browne.
Apple Computers' founder
Steven Wozniak
bankrolled the festival.
1991 - During a European
tour, Nirvana
recorded ‘Dumb’, ‘Drain
You’ and ‘Endless
Nameless’ at Maida Vale
studios in London for
the John Peel show.
2010 - Mike
Edwards a
founding member of ELO
was killed in a freak
accident when a giant
bale of hay tumbled down
a hill and crashed into
his van. The 62 year-old
cellist died after the
600 kg (1,323 lb) bale
rolled down a steep
field in Devon, smashed
through a hedge and
careered on to the road.
Edwards played cello
with ELO, the
seven-piece band led by
Jeff Lynne, from their
first live gig in 1972
until he left in January
1975. He quit the band
in 1975 to become a
Buddhist, changing his
name to Deva Pramada and
making his living by
teaching the cello.
2017 - Walter
Becker,
co-founder and guitarist
for the US band
Steely Dan
died aged 67. Steely Dan
released their first
album Can't Buy a Thrill
in 1972 and had the 1973
US No.11 single 'Reeling
In The Years' and nine
other Top 30 hits.
Steely Dan's 'Two
Against Nature' won a
Grammy in 2001 for Album
of the year. Becker had
produced records for Rickie
Lee Jones, China
Crisis
and Michael
Franks.
1965 - Steam
Packet with
Long
John Baldry, Rod
Stewart, Julie Discoll
and The Brian Auger
Trinity
appeared at The Marquee
Club London.
1971 -
Grateful Dead's
former manager was
arrested after
disappearing with over
$70,000 of the bands
money.
1972 - The Erie Canal Soda
Pop Festival was held over
three days on Bull Island,
near Griffin, Indiana. The
Promoters expected over
50,000 music fans, and
over 200,000 attended the
festival. Many bands
pulled out as the festival
drifted steadily into
anarchy. Bands that did
appear included Flash
Cadillac & the
Continental Kids,
Black Oak Arkansas,
Cheech and Chong,
Foghat, Albert King,
Brownsville Station,
Canned heat, Flash,
Ravi Shankar, Rory
Gallagher, Lee
Michaels and Frosty,
the Eagles, The Amboy
Dukes and Gentle
Giant.
Three concert goers
drowned in the Wabash
River and as the festival
ended, the remnants of the
crowd burned down the
music stand.
1988 - The Human Rights
Now! world tour kicked off
at Wembley Stadium London
with
Sting, Bruce
Springsteen, Peter
Gabriel, Tracy Chapman
and
Youssu n'Dour.
Taking in five continents
and claiming to be the
most ambitious rock tour
in history.
2016 - The
Eagles
Their Greatest Hits
1971-1975 returned to the
US album chart thanks to a
99-cent sale price in the
Google Play store. The
album, released in 1976,
was already the largest
selling compilation album
in history with worldwide
sales of over 42 million
copies.
WEEK
COMMENCING AUGUST 26
1962 -
Tommy Roe
went to No.1 on the US
singles chart with 'Sheila',
a No.3 hit in the UK. The
record was a re-recorded
version of a song that was
first released in 1960 when
Roe was part of a group
called
The Satins.
1966 -
The Byrds
played the first of an
11-night run at the
Whisky-a-go-go, Hollywood,
California. The Whisky a
Go-Go opened in 1964 with a
live band led by Johnny
Rivers and a
short-skirted female DJ
spinning records between
sets from a suspended cage.
When the girl began to dance
during Rivers sets the
audience thought it was part
of the act – and the concept
of Go-Go dancers in cages
was born.
1976 - Wish You Were here
was close to spending one
year on the chart. Pink
Floyd’s ninth
studio had been premiered at
Knebworth in July 1975, and
was released in September
that year. It was an instant
success, with record company
EMI unable to press enough
copies to satisfy demand.
The artwork for the album
package was once again
created by the Hipgnosis
team, who created a series
of tableaux based on
‘absence’, including the
empty gesture of a handshake
between two US business men
(one of whom is on fire), a
diver that causes no
ripples, and a piece of
gauze floating in the wind,
photographed somewhere in
Norfolk.
1977 - Blondie
featuring former Playboy
Bunny Debra
Harry signed
their first major record
company contract with
Chrysalis Records.
1983 - Mick
Jones, lead
guitarist with The
Clash was
fired by the other three
members who claimed he'd
'drifted apart' from the
original idea of the group.
2005 - Barry
Cowsill, bass
guitarist for The
Cowsills,
died from injuries caused by
Hurricane Katrina. His body
was not recovered until
December 28th, 2005, from
the Chartres Street Wharf,
New Orleans. He was 51.
2009 -
Jake Brockman,
former keyboard player with Echo
and the Bunnymen
was killed when his
motorbike was in collision
with a converted ambulance
on the Isle of Man. In 1989
the band's first drummer
Pete De Freitas died in a
similar crash.
1963 -
The Ronettes
first entered the US singles
chart with 'Be My Baby' the
girl group's only top 10 hit.
Lead singer, Veronica Bennett
who became Ronnie Spector,
took producer and ex-husband
Phil Spector to court in the
late 1990s for unpaid
royalties.
1968 - Decca Records released
what has been called The
Rolling Stones
most political song, 'Street
Fighting Man', written after
Mick Jagger attended a March
1968 anti-war rally at
London's US embassy, during
which mounted police attempted
to control a crowd of 25,000.
The single was kept out of the
US Top 40 (reaching No.48)
because many radio stations
refused to play it based on
what were perceived as
subversive lyrics.
1968 - The
Move, The Pretty Things,
The Crazy World Of Aurthur
Brown, Orange Bicycle,
Jefferson Airplane,
Fairport Convention and
Tyrannosaurus
Rex all
appeared at the first Isle Of
Wight Festival held over two
days. Tickets; 25 shillings.
1974 -
Traffic made
their last live performance at
the annual Reading Festival.
Other acts appearing included
Alex
Harvey, 10cc, Focus, Steve
Harley and Procol
Harum. £5.50
for a weekend ticket.
1976 - George
Harrison was
found guilty of 'subconscious
plagiarism' of the Ronnie
Mack song 'He's
So Fine' when writing 'My
Sweet Lord'. Earnings from the
song were awarded to Mack's
estate;
The Chiffons
then recorded their own
version of 'My Sweet Lord'.
1991 - Metallica
started a four-week run at
No.1 on the US album chart
with, Metallica. The album
featured ‘Enter Sandman’ ‘Sad
But True’, ‘The Unforgiven’
and ‘Nothing Else Matters’
went on to sell over 10
million copies in the US
alone.
2007 - Hilly
Kristal,
founder of the New York punk
club CBGBs, died from
complications arising from
lung cancer at the age of 75.
Kristal was credited with
discovering Patti
Smith and the
Ramones and
his club became a breeding
ground for punk rock. The New
York City venue, whose full
title CBGB OMFUG stood for
'country, bluegrass, blues and
other music for uplifting
gourmandisers', was originally
launched to showcase country
music.
1949 -
Hank Williams
went into Herzog Studio in
Cincinnati to record 'I'm So
Lonesome I Could Cry'. Williams
wrote the song originally
intending that the words be
spoken, rather than sung. The
song about loneliness was
largely inspired by his troubled
relationship with wife Audrey
Sheppard.
1969 - Two weeks after the
Woodstock festival, the second
Isle Of Wight festival took
place. Over 150,000 turned up
over the two days to see Bob Dylan,
The Band, Blodwyn Pig,
Blonde On Blonde, Bonzo Dog
Dooh Dah Band, Edgar
Broughton Band, Joe Cocker,
Aynsley Dunbar, Family, Fat
Mattress, Julie Felix, Free,
Gypsy, Richie Havens, The
Moody Blues, The Nice, Tom
Paxton, Pentangle, The
Pretty Things, Third Ear
Band and The Who.
Tickets 25 shillings.
Celebrities who attended include
Keith Richards, Charlie Watts,
John & Yoko, George
Harrison, Ringo Starr, Jane
Fonder, Liz Taylor and Richard
Burton.
1969 - One Hit Wonders Zager and
Evans started a
three week run at No.1 on the
singles chart with 'In The Year
2525.' The song which was
written by Rick Evans in 1964,
also spent six weeks at No.1 on
the US chart.
1969 - The three day Texas Pop
Festival took place featuring Janis
Joplin, Led Zeppelin, Sam
& Dave, Santana, Johnny
Winter, Grand Funk Railroad,
Delaney & Bonnie, Nazz,
Spirit, B.B. King, Canned
Heat and Chicago.
Over 120,000 fans attended the
festival.
 1975 - Paul
Kossoff,
guitarist with Free
and Back
Street Crawler,
'died' for 35 minutes in
hospital after being taken ill
(Kossoff died on 19th March
1976 of heart failure after a
history of drug abuse).
1992 - Appearing at this year's
Reading Festival were Suede,
Ride, Pavement, Public
Enemy, Manic Street
Preachers
(bassist Nicky Wire smashed his
guitar in two and hurled it into
the crowd, hitting a security
guard who needed 16
stitches). Nirvana
played what was to become their
last UK concert, and one of
their most famous. Kurt Cobain
took to the stage in a
wheelchair pushed by music
journalist Everett True,
parodying speculations about his
mental health.
1995 -
Sterling Morrison
founder member of the Velvet
Underground died
of cancer at his home in New
York City two days after his
53rd birthday. The guitarist
left the group in August 1971
and re-joined in 1992 for a
European tour. During the 80s he
became the captain of a Houston
tugboat.
2013 - A 96-year-old who wrote a
song for his late wife made the
US iTunes top 10, alongside Katy
Perry and Lady Gaga. Fred
Stobaugh, whose
wife Lorraine had died in April,
had no previous musical
experience and wrote the song on
a whim for a competition. He
submitted his handwritten lyrics
by post and, although the
contest was online-only, the
organisers were so moved they
put the words to music. 'Oh
Sweet Lorraine' was No.7 on US
iTunes and had seen over 1.9m
YouTube views.
2016 - The 2017 edition of
Guinness World Records said that
Ringo
Starr's copy of The Beatles'
White Album was officially the
most expensive LP ever sold at
auction. Guinness confirmed that
a December 2015 sale at Julien's
Auction House set a new high for
album prices when the
first-edition copy with the
catalog number 0000001, which
was kept in a vault in perfect
condition by Starr for more than
35 years, sold for $790,000.
1959 - The
Quarry Men (John
Lennon, Paul McCartney, George
Harrison, and Ken Brown) performed
at the Casbah Coffee Club,
Hayman's Green, West Derby,
Liverpool. This is the opening
night of a new teen club in a
large Victorian house that is
owned by Mrs. Mona Best and the
first of seven straight Saturdays
that The Quarry Men play here. The
band shared one microphone
connected to the house P.A.
1964 - Roy
Orbison's 'Oh,
Pretty Woman' was released. It
went on to reach No.1 four weeks
later. The title was inspired by
Orbison's wife Claudette
interrupting a conversation to
announce she was going out; when
Orbison asked if she was okay for
cash, his co-writer Bill Dees
interjected "A pretty woman
never needs any money."
1976 - The
Clash, Buzzcocks
and the Sex
Pistols all
appeared at a showcase event at
The Screen On The Green,
Islington. Organised by Malcolm
Maclaren, this was notable for
many reasons including it was only
The Clash's third gig and the
first ever to be recorded, and is
the earliest known (after the
Manchester Free Trade Hall concert
from April 1976) recorded
performance and a rare recording
of The Sex Pistols with Glen
Matlock. The cinema is referenced
throughout Adam
and the Ants' song
'Fall in' - released as the b side
to "Ant Music" in 1980. [click
on this pic from the actual
night for the full audio of Sex
Pistols from 1976]
2005 - 77-year-old Fats Domino
was rescued from the flooding in
New Orleans caused by Hurricane
Katrina. He had earlier told his
agent that he planned to remain in
his home despite the order to
evacuate.
1964 - After playing a show at
Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, New
York, The
Beatles met Bob Dylan
for the first time at The Delmonico
Hotel. Dylan and mutual journalist
friend Al Aronowitz introduce the
Fab Four to marijuana.
1965 - The
Rolling Stones
announced that
Allen Klein, who they
had met three days earlier, would
co-manage the group along with Andrew Loog
Oldham. At the same
time, The Stones signed a five-year
recording deal with Decca Records.
1966 - Nearing the end of their
final tour of America, The Beatles
performed one show at Dodger
Stadium, Los Angeles, before a crowd
of 45,000. The Beatles' attempt to
escape from the stadium in an
armoured truck is thwarted when the
main gate was found to be locked,
and the band had to spend two hours
in the back of the truck before they
could leave the stadium.
1970 - During a four-week engagement
at The International Hotel in Las
Vegas, a security guard at the hotel
received a phone call in which he
was told
Elvis Presley would
be shot during his last show. The
person demanded $50,000 to reveal
the name of the potential killer.
Later that day a menu was found in
Elvis’ mail at the hotel on which
his face was destroyed and a gun had
been drawn pointing to his heart.
The threats were taken very
seriously. Elvis played his last
show without any incident.
1981 - Producer Guy Stevens
died at the age of 38 years old,
having overdosed on prescription
drugs he was taking to reduce his
alcohol dependency. He worked with Mott The
Hoople, Free and The Clash.
He was the president of the Chuck Berry
Appreciation Society and it was
Stevens who brought Berry to the UK
for his first tour. He gave Procol Harum
and Mott
the Hoople their
distinctive names.
2012 - Celebrity Net Worth named Ringo Starr as
the world's richest drummer, with an
estimated fortune of $300 million. Phil Collins
was ranked second with $250 million,
former Nirvana
drummer
Dave Grohl was third
with $225 million, the Eagles' Don
Henley came in forth
with $200 million and Metallica's
Lars Ulrich was fifth
with $175 million. Also making the
top ten were
U2's Larry Mullen and The Rolling
Stones' Charlie Watts.
1965 - On the last day of a five-day
break from their North American tour,
The Beatles
attended a recording session for The Byrds.
Later that afternoon, The Beatles met
Elvis Presley at his mansion in
Beverly Hills. It was an awkward
meeting, leaving The Beatles with the
impression that Presley's personality
was decidedly "unmagnetic". John
Lennon remarked soon after, ‘Where’s
Elvis’ It was like meeting Engelbert
Humperdinck.’
1967 - British music entrepreneur and
the manager of The
Beatles, Brian Epstein
was found dead, locked in a bedroom at
his London home. A coroner's inquest
concluded that Epstein died from an
overdose of the sleeping pill
Carbitrol. He also managed several
other artists including Gerry & The
Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and
the Dakotas, Cilla Black
and The Remo
Four. The first
contract between The Beatles and
Epstein was auctioned in London in
2008, and was sold for £240,000.
1990 - Stevie
Ray Vaughan was killed
when the helicopter he was flying in,
hit a man-made ski slope while trying
to navigate through dense fog. Vaughan
had played a show at Alpine Valley
Music Theatre, East Troy, Wisconsin
with Robert
Cray & His Memphis Horns,
and Eric
Clapton. Vaughan was
informed by a member of Clapton's crew
that three seats were open on a
helicopter returning to Chicago with
Clapton's crew, it turned out there
was only one seat left; Vaughan
requested it from his brother, who
obliged. Three members of Eric
Clapton's entourage were also killed.
1999 - The
Charlatans, Blur, Red Hot Chili
Peppers, The Offspring, Catatonia,
Reef, The Chemical Brothers, The
Divine Comedy, Pavement,
Silverchair, Jon Spencer Blues
Explosion all appeared
at The Carling Reading three day
festival, tickets, £78.
2004 - Winners at this years Kerrang!
awards included The
Darkness for best
British band and best live band, best
band on the planet award went to Metallica. Green
Day were inducted into
the Kerrang! Hall of Fame, Lostprophets
won the best single for 'Last Train
Home' and best album went to Muse
for 'Absolution'.
2004 - Green
Day, The Darkness, The White
Stripes, Morrissey, The
Libertines, Franz Ferdinand, The
Hives, 50 Cent (50 Cent
was booed off stage after being
greeted by a rain of bottles thrown at
him and his G-Unit crew as they came
onstage), The
Streets, The Vines, Soulwax, Dogs
Die In Hot Cars, The Offspring,
Ash, Placebo and Lostprophets
all appeared at this years Carling
Weekend in Reading and Leeds.
1967 - Brian
Wilson returned to
performing live with The Beach Boys
in Honolulu after a 2 year hiatus. The
group had just released 'Heroes and
Villains' in the US.
1995 - Bassist and singer Doug Stegmeyer
shot himself dead. He'd worked with many
artists including Billy
Joel, Hall and Oates and The Carpenters.
2000 - Academy Award-winning film score
composer and record producer Jack Nitzsche
died of a heart attack. He produced The Rolling
Stones, Neil Young, Buffalo
Springfield and The Walker Brothers.
Musical scores including The Exorcist, One
Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,
co-wrote 'Up Where We Belong' with Buffy Sainte-Marie
from 1982 film An
Officer and a Gentleman.
2005 - Two former members of Guns N' Roses
were suing singer Axl
Rose for allegedly naming
himself sole administrator of the US
rock band's copyrights. Slash
and Duff -
otherwise known as Saul Hudson and
Michael McKagan, accused Rose of
"arrogance and ego". The legal action
claimed the singer "was no longer
willing to acknowledge the
contributions of his former partners".
2009 - Bob
Dylan revealed during his
weekly radio show broadcast on 6 Music,
that he was speaking to a number of car
companies about becoming the voice of
their satellite navigation systems. The
68 year-old said he thought it be would
be good for drivers to hear him saying
things such as: "Take a left at the
next street. No, a right. You know
what, just go straight".
WEEK COMMENCING
AUGUST 19
1968 -
The Incredible
String Band, Traffic, Bonzo Dog Band,
Family, Fairport Convention, Blossom
Toes, Pretty things, Deviants, Blonde
On Blonde and Free all
appeared over two nights at The Roundhouse
in London.
1975 - Queen
started recording 'Bohemian Rhapsody' at
Rockfield studios in Monmouth (the song
was recorded over three weeks). Freddie
Mercury had mentally prepared the song
beforehand and directed the band
throughout the sessions. May, Mercury and
Taylor sang their vocal parts continually
for ten to twelve hours a day, resulting
in 180 separate overdubs.
1990 - Judas
Priest successfully
defended themselves against a lawsuit,
after two fans attempted suicide while
listening to the Stained Class album. Both
fans eventually died, one immediately from
a shotgun blast, and the other on a second
attempt three years later by a methadone
overdose. The prosecution claimed that
there were subliminal messages in the
group’s music that caused the two
seventeen year olds to carry out the
suicide pact in 1985.
1965 - Security guards at a Manchester TV
studio hosed down 200 Rolling
Stones fans after they broke
down barriers while waiting for the band to
arrive for a performance.
1968 - During a North American tour The Jimi Hendrix
Experience appeared at Singer
Bowl, Flushing Meadow Park, New York. Also
on the bill was Soft
Machine and Big Brother and the
Holding Company.
1970 - Lou Reed
and the Velvet Underground
performed together for the last time at the
New York Club 'Max's Kansas City'. Reed
worked as a typist for his father for the
next two years, at $40 per week.
1975 - Joy
Division singer Ian Curtis
married Deborah Woodruff, whom he met while
still at school, when he was 19 and she was
18. They remained married until his death
when he hanged himself in the kitchen of his
house in Macclesfield, at the age of 23.
1980 - David Bowie
was at No.1 on the singles chart with 'Ashes
To Ashes' his second No.1. Taken from the
Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) album, the
song continued the story of Major Tom from
Bowie's 'Space Oddity'. The video for 'Ashes
to Ashes' was one of the most iconic of the
1980s and costing £250,000, it was at the
time the most expensive music video ever
made.
1980 - The Heatwave Festival in Toronto,
Canada took place with Talking Heads, Elvis
Costello, The B-52s, The Pretenders,
Rockpile and The Rumour.
Tickets cost $30. With only 50,000 people
attending, the festival lost over $1
million.
1986 - Sigue Sigue
Sputnik came up with an idea
to sell advertising space between the tracks
on their forthcoming new album. It was a
non-starter.
1963 - Billy J Kramer
And The Dakotas were at No.1
on the singles chart with 'Bad To Me.' A song
John Lennon wrote for them while on holiday in
Spain with Brian Epstein. The track later
became the first Lennon–McCartney composition
to reach the US Top 40 for an artist other
than The Beatles.
1964 - The Supremes
started a two week run at No.1 on the US
singles chart with 'Where Did Our Love Go' the
girl group's first No.1.
Holland–Dozier–Holland had originally composed
the song for The
Marvelettes to record it who
rejected the song.
1967 - The Jimi
Hendrix Experience appeared on
the Simon Dee Show. Kiki
Dee and Cat
Stevens were also guests on the
show.
1968 - Ringo Starr
quit The Beatles
during The White Album sessions when the
constant bickering and tension became too much
for him. The news of Ringo's departure was
kept secret, and he rejoined the sessions on
September 3rd. After Ringo walked out, the
remaining Beatles recorded 'Back In the USSR',
with Paul on drums and John playing bass.
1978 - Sex Pistol
Sid Vicious made his last live
stage appearance when he appeared with Rat Scabies
from The Damned,
former Sex Pistol
Glen Matlock and Nancy Spungen
at London's Electric Ballroom. In the
audience: Elvis
Costello, Debbie Harry, Joan Jett, The
Slits and
Captain Sensible.
2014 - John Lennon's
killer, 59-year-old Mark
David Chapman, was denied
parole by New York State officials for the
eighth time. In handing down their decision,
the parole board said, "Your release would
be incompatible with the welfare of society
and would so deprecate the serious nature of
the crime as to undermine respect for the
law."
1961 - Tamla Records released the Marvelettes
first single, 'Please Mr. Postman'. The song
went on to sell over a million copies and become
the group's biggest hit, reaching the top of
both the Billboard Pop and R&B charts. The
song is notable as the first Motown song to
reach the No.1 position on the Billboard Hot 100
pop singles chart.
1961 - Patsy Cline
recorded the classic Willie
Nelson song, ‘Crazy’. Cline was
still on crutches after going through a car
windshield in a head-on collision two months
earlier and had difficulty reaching the high
notes of the song at first due to her broken
ribs. 'Crazy' spent 21 weeks on the chart and
eventually became one of her signature tunes.
1971 - Arthur Brown's
Kingdom Come, Hawkwind, Duster Bennett,
Brewers Droop, Indian Summer, Graphite
and (second from the bottom on the bill) Queen all
appeared at the Tregye Festival, Truro,
Cornwall.
1983 - Ramones guitarist
Johnny Ramone
had a four-hour brain surgery operation, after
being found unconscious in a New York Street
where he had been involved in a fight.
1997 - Former Stone
Roses drummer Alan Wren was
jailed for seven days after being rude to a top
Manchester Magistrate. He was before the court
due to having no car insurance and lost his
temper after being quizzed about his earnings.
2006 - A man surfing the Internet in America
foiled three men who broke into a Liverpool shop
in Liverpool, England. The man who had logged
onto a site streaming live footage of Mathew
Street and a forthcoming Beatles
festival saw the men smashing a window of a shop
and climb inside. He phoned Merseyside police
who arrested the men.
2008 - Paedophile and ex-pop star Gary Glitter
returned to Thailand after being refused entry
to Hong Kong. Chinese authorities informed the
UK Foreign Office they had barred Glitter from
entry. He was earlier deported from Vietnam
after spending almost three years in jail for
sexually abusing two girls. He flew to Hong Kong
from Bangkok after refusing to fly to the UK,
and had made a plea for medical treatment after
saying he was suffering a heart attack.
2016 - The Tragically
Hip drew a sell-out crowd to the
show in Kingston, Ontario, as their dying singer
Gord Downie
bid Canada farewell. The show was broadcast live
across Canada and was shown at hundreds of
public screenings across the country in bars and
outdoor venues.
1967 - The
Beatles scored their 14th US No.1
single with 'All You Need Is Love'. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards,
Eric Clapton, Keith Moon, Graham Nash,
Marianne Faithfull and Walker Brother Gary Leeds
all sang backing vocals on the track.
1971 - Led Zeppelin
kicked off a North American tour at the Pacific
Coliseum in Vancouver, Canada. The band played to
a sold out crowd of over 17,000 fans, another
3,000 fans outside the venue who didn't have
tickets started a battle with local police.
1972 - David Bowie played
the first of two nights at the Rainbow Theatre in
London on his current 182-date Ziggy Stardust
world tour.
1977 - The Sex Pistols
started an undercover UK tour as The Spots (an
acronym for Sex Pistols on tour secretly).
2005 - 2005 - A life-size bronze statue of Phil Lynott designed
by Paul Daly was unveiled on Harry Street in
Dublin. The ceremony was attended by his former Thin Lizzy band
members Gary Moore, Brian Robertson and Scott
Gorham. Lynott who died in 1986 aged 36 had a
string of hits including 'Whiskey in the Jar',
'The Boys are Back in Town', 'Jailbreak' and
'Waiting for an Alibi'.
WEEK
COMMENCING AUGUST 12
1959 - American jazz trumpeter Miles Davis released
Kind of Blue which is regarded by many critics as
jazz's greatest record, Davis's masterpiece, and one
of the best albums of all time. Its influence on
music, including jazz, rock, and classical genres,
has led writers to also deem it one of the most
influential albums ever recorded.
1964 - Glasgow council announced that all boys and
men with Beatles
styled haircuts would have to wear bathing caps
after a committee was told that hair from
'Beatle-cuts' was clogging the pools filters.
1965 - The Byrds
were forced to cancel a concert during their UK tour
at The Guildhall, Portsmouth when only 250 of the
4,000 tickets had been sold.
1969 - The final day of the 3 day Woodstock Festival
took place at Max Yasgur's farm in Bethel, New York.
Acts who appeared included Crosby,
Stills Nash & Young, The Who, Jimi Hendrix,
Ten Years After, John Sebastian, Sha Na Na, Joe
Cocker, Country Joe and the Fish, The Band, Ten
Years After, Johnny Winter and Paul Butterfield Blues Band.
Over 186,000 tickets had been sold but on the first
day the flimsy fences and ticket barriers had come
down. Organisers announced the concert would be a
free event, prompting thousands more to head for the
concert.
1973 - Former Temptations
singer Paul Williams
was found dead in his car, after shooting himself.
He owed $80,000 in taxes and his celebrity boutique
business had failed.
1991 - Nirvana
shot the video for 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' at GMT
Studios in Culver City, California, costing less
than $50,000, the shoot features real Nirvana fans
as the audience. The video won Nirvana the Best New
Artist and Best Alternative Group awards at the 1992
MTV Video Music Awards, and in 2000 the Guinness
World Records named 'Teen Spirit' the Most Played
Video on MTV Europe.
1999 - Led Zeppelin topped
a chart of Britain's most bootlegged musicians,
compiled by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI),
after identifying 384 bootleg titles featuring Led
Zeppelin performances. The bootleg chart was
complied from the BPI's archive of some 10,000
recordings seized over the past 25 years. The Beatles came in
second with 320 entries, other acts listed included
The Rolling Stones, Bob
Dylan and Pink
Floyd.
1999 - Former Bay City
Rollers drummer Derek Longmuir
appeared at the Edinburgh Sheriff Court accused of
child porn and drugs offences. Longmuir, 48, denied
the charges but was later sentenced to 300 hours
community service.
2012 - Three members of the Russian feminist punk
rock protest group Pussy
Riot were sentenced to two years
imprisonment after they had staged a performance on
the soleas of Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the
Savior in a protest directed at the Orthodox Church
leader's support for President Putin during his
election campaign.
1962 - Brian Epstein told Pete
Best that the other Beatles wanted him
out of the group, and that he was being replaced.
Epstein then asked Best to perform with The Beatles that night
at the Riverpark Ballroom in Chester. Pete Best does
not show up, so drummer Johnny Hutchinson of The Big Three filled
in the temporary vacancy.
1969 - Hippie leader Abbie Hoffman was knocked
offstage by Pete Townshend while attempting to make a
political statement during The
Who's set at Woodstock. Later,
Townshend said he didn't know it was Hoffman at the
time.
1969 - During a North American tour Led Zeppelin appeared
at the Convention Hall in Asbury Park with Joe Cocker
as support. Zeppelin had been asked to perform at
Woodstock but due to this gig commitment were unable
to attend. And down the road Bruce
Springsteen's band Child played the first
of two shows over two days at the Student Prince,
Asbury Park. Springsteen was also unable to attend
Woodstock due to these gigs.
1970 - The final day of the three day Yorkshire Folk,
Blues & Jazz Festival at Krumlin, took place
featuring The Kinks, Mungo
Jerry, Yes, Ginger Baker's Air Force
and Edgar Winter.
Weekend tickets, £3.
1977 - Elvis Presley was
found dead lying on the floor in his bathroom by his
girlfriend Ginger Alden, he had been seated on the
toilet reading 'The Scientific Search For Jesus'. He
died of heart failure at the age of 42. His first
record for RCA, 'Heartbreak Hotel' was also his first
US No.1. He starred in 31 films. Elvis holds the
record for the most entries on the US Hot 100 chart
with 154. Elvis became the first rock 'n' roll artist
to be honoured by the US Postal Service with a stamp.
1979 - The biggest single of the summer, The Knack's
'My Sharona' was awarded a Gold record for selling one
million copies. The Knack's Doug Fieger wrote the song
for his girlfriend, Sharona Alperin, whose picture
appeared on the single's cover. Their debut album took
just 11 days to complete and was produced by Mike
Chapman.
1988 - Kiss
played at The Marquee Club in London on their current
129-date Crazy Nights world tour.
1997 - Blur, Prodigy, Beck,
Kula Shaker, Dodgy, Foo Fighters, Placebo, James,
Ash, Dodgy and Gene
all appeared at the two day V97 UK festival in
Chelmsford and Leeds, weekend tickets, £50.
1969 -
Woodstock
Festival was
held on Max
Yasgur's 600
acre farm in
Bethel outside
New York.
Attended by
over 400,000
people, the
event featured Jimi Hendrix, Crosby Stills Nash & Young,
Santana, The
Who, Creedence
Clearwater
Revival,
Grateful Dead,
Janis Joplin,
The Band,
Canned Heat,
Joan Baez,
Melanie, Ten
Years After,
Sly and the
Family Stone,
Johnny Winter,
Jefferson
Airplane, Ravi
Shanker,
Country Joe
and the Fish,
Blood Sweat
and Tears,
Arlo Guthrie
and Joe
Cocker.
During the
three days
there were
three deaths,
two births and
four
miscarriages.
1969 - During
a North
American tour
Led
Zeppelin
appeared at
the Hemisfair
Arena in San
Antonio. Jethro Tull and Sweet
Smoke
were also on
the bill.
During the
show Zeppelin
received abuse
from locals
due to the
length of
their hair.
1979 - The
futuristic
satire film
'Americathon'
premiered in
Los Angeles
featuring Meat Loaf. The soundtrack included songs
by The
Beach Boys,
Nick Lowe
and Elvis
Costello.
1995 - Vince Neil’s daughter, Skylar
Neil,
died of cancer
at the age of
4. The
Motley Crue singer
later founded
the Skylar
Neil Memorial
Fund in her
honor. Since
that time,
Neil and the
foundation
have raised
awareness and
funding for
various
children's
illnesses and
has donated
millions of
dollars to The
T.J. Martell
Foundation,
and it
sponsors an
annual golf
tournament to
raise money
for children
with cancer.
2004 - Rolling Stones drummer Charlie
Watts
was being
treated for
throat cancer
after being
diagnosed with
the disease in
June.
2012 -
American
musician Bob Birch died from an self-inflicted
gunshot wound
in his Los
Angeles home,
aged 56. Birch
was badly
injured in a
car accident
in 1995 and
since then
struggled with
constant
headaches,
dizziness,
vertigo, and
severe pain
throughout his
body. He
worked with Doobie Brothers, Bryan Adams, Lionel Richie, George
Michael, Eric
Clapton, B.B.
King, Phil
Collins, Keith
Emerson, Barry
Manilow and
Elton
John.
1962 - Unhappy
with drummer
Pete Best's
role in The Beatles, Brian Epstein and the other
three members
decided to
sack him. Best
played his
last gig the
following
night at The
Cavern,
Liverpool.
Ringo Starr
who was
nearing the
end of a
three-month
engagement
with Rory
Storm &
the Hurricanes
at a Butlin's
holiday camp
received a
telephone call
from John
Lennon, asking
him to join
The Beatles.
Ringo gave
Rory Storm
three days
notice and on
August 18,
appeared as a
member of The
Beatles for
the first
time.
1967 - All UK
offshore
pirate radio
stations were
closed down
when the
marine
broadcasting
act came into
force. Radio Caroline continued to broadcast
until March
'68.
1970 - The
first day of
the three day
Yorkshire
Folk, Blues
& Jazz
Festival at
Krumlin,
Yorkshire took
place
featuring Atomic Rooster, Pink Floyd (who didn't
appear after
being fog
bound at Paris
Airport), The Kinks, Elton John, Mungo Jerry, Yes, Alan Price,
Georgie Fame,
Juicy Lucy,
Pretty Things
and
The Groundhogs.
Weekend
tickets;
£3.
1971 -
The Who
released their
fifth studio
album Who's
Next which
featured the
classic song
'Won't Get
Fooled Again'
and has since
been viewed by
critics as the
Who's best
record and one
of the
greatest rock
albums of all
time. The
cover artwork
shows a photo
of the band
apparently
having just
urinated on a
large concrete
piling, but
according to
photographer
Ethan Russell,
most of the
band members
were unable to
urinate, so
rainwater was
tipped from an
empty film
canister to
achieve the
desired
effect.
1988 - Lead
singer, poet
and frontman
of Hawkwind,
Robert Calvert
died of a
heart attack.
He was a
member of
Hawkwind from
1972-1979
during which
time he
co-wrote their
hit single
'Silver
Machine' and
directed their
Space Ritual
Tour.
2002 - Dave Williams lead singer of US heavy rock
band
Drowning Pool
was found dead
on the band's
tour bus
during Ozzy Osbourne's Ozzfest tour in Manassas,
Virginia. The
autopsy
concluded that
he suffered
from a form of
heart disease.
The bands
debut album,
Sinner, had
sold over 1
million copies
in the US
since its
release in
June 2001.
2018 -
American
singer Jill Janus committed suicide age 42. She
had been the
lead singer of
American heavy
metal bands Huntress, The Starbreakers and Chelsea
Girls.
1964 - The Beatles first film A Hard Day's Night
opened in 500
American
cinemas to
rave reviews.
The film was a
financial and
critical
success. Time
magazine rated
it as one of
the all-time
great 100
films.
1968 - Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones
and John
Bonham
played
together for
the first time
when they
rehearsed at a
studio in
Gerrard Street
in London's
West End. The
first song
they played
was a version
of 'The Train
Kept
A-Rollin.'
They also
played
'Smokestack
Lightning' and
a version of
'I'm Confused'
(soon to
become 'Dazed
And
Confused').
The first live
dates they
played were as
The
Yardbirds,
and it was not
until the
following
month when
they started
to use the
name Led
Zeppelin.
1989 - The two
day Moscow
Music Peace
Festival was
held at The
Lenin Stadium
in Moscow.
Western Acts
who appeared
included Motley Crue, Ozzy Osbourne, Bon Jovi, Skid Row
and Scorpions.
This was the
first time
that an
audience had
been allowed
to stand up
and dance at a
stadium rock
concert in the
Soviet Union.
Previous to
this, all
concerts had
to be seated.
2010 - Richie Hayward, drummer and co-founder of
Little
Feat,
passed away at
the age of 64
after
contracting
pneumonia as
he battled
liver cancer.
WEEK
COMMENCING
AUGUST 5
1959 - Four
members of The Platters were arrested after a gig in
Cincinnati
after being
found with
four 19 year
old women (3
of them
white), in
various stages
of undress.
The scandal
resulted in
radio stations
across the US
removing
Platters
records from
their
playlists.
1985 - 'Money
for Nothing'
by Dire
Straits
peaked at No.4
on the singles
chart. Notable
for its
groundbreaking
music video
and a cameo
appearance by
Sting
singing the
song's
falsetto
introduction
and backing
chorus, "I
want my MTV"
who also
co-wrote the
song with Mark
Knopfler. The
video was also
the first to
be aired on
MTV Europe
when the
network
started on 1
August 1987.
2007 - Anthony Wilson the music mogul behind some
of
Manchester's
most
successful
bands died
aged 57 after
suffering from
kidney cancer.
The TV
presenter and
entrepreneur
founded
Factory
records, the
label behind New Order and the Happy
Mondays
was also
famous for
setting up the
Hacienda
nightclub in
Manchester.
2008 -
Singer-songwriter
Isaac
Hayes
died at his
home in
Memphis,
Tennessee, at
the age of 65.
Police were
called to his
home after his
wife found him
unconscious.
He was taken
to hospital
where he was
pronounced
dead. Hayes
won an Oscar
for the 1971
hit Theme From
Shaft as was
also known as
the voice of
Chef from the
hit cartoon
show, South
Park. He was
married four
times and had
12 children.
1963 - The
first ever
edition of
'Ready Steady
Go! was shown
on UK TV.
Introduced by
Keith Fordyce
and 19
year-old Cathy
McGowan. The
first show
featured The Searchers, Jet Harris, Pat Boone, Billy Fury
and Brian
Poole and The
Tremeloes.
The final show
was in Dec
1966 after 175
episodes.
Originally 30
minutes long,
it expanded to
50 minutes the
following
year, and soon
attracted the
most popular
artists,
including The Beatles, The Lovin' Spoonful, The Rolling Stones,
The Four Tops,
The Kinks
and many
others.
1967 - The Small Faces entered the singles chart
with 'Itchycoo
Park', the
single peaked
at No.3 in the
chart. The
song was one
of the first
pop singles to
use flanging,
an effect that
can be heard
in the bridge
section after
each chorus.
Most sources
credit the use
of the effect
to Olympic
Studios
engineer
George
Chkiantz who
showed it to
the Small
Faces regular
engineer Glyn
Johns.
1968 - Deep Purple, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Ten Years After, The
Nice, Ginger
Baker,
Traffic, John
Mayall,
Spencer Davis,
Taste,
Jerry Lee
Lewis
and Arthur
Brown
all appeared
at the 3 day
National Jazz
& Blues
Festival,
Kempton Park
Racecourse,
Sunbury On
Thames.
1980 - AC/DC scored their first No.1 album with
Back In Black.
It was the
first AC/DC
album recorded
without former
lead singer
Bon Scott (who
died on 19
February 1980
at the age of
33), and was
dedicated to
him. The album
has sold an
estimated 49
million copies
worldwide to
date, making
it the second
highest
selling album
of all time,
and the best
selling hard
rock or heavy
metal album,
as well as the
best selling
album ever
released by a
band.
1986 - Queen ended their Magic European tour at
Knebworth
Park,
Stevenage,
with over
120,000 fans
witnessing
what would be
Queen's last
ever live
performance.
On this, their
final tour,
Queen played
to legions of
established
fans, plus
many new ones
gained as a
result of
their
show-stealing
performance at
Live Aid the
previous year.
The support
acts were Belouis Some, Big Country and
Status Quo.
1995 - Jerry Garcia guitarist and singer from The Grateful Dead died from a heart
attack at the
Serenity
Knolls
rehabilitation
clinic in San
Francisco aged
53. Garcia
co-founded the
New
Riders of the
Purple Sage
and also
released
several solo
albums. He was
well known for
his
distinctive
guitar playing
and was ranked
13th in
Rolling
Stone's "100
Greatest
Guitarists of
All Time".
1960 - 16-year
old Brian
Hyland went
to No.8
with 'Itsy
Bitsy Teeny
Weeny Yellow
Polka Dot
Bikini'. A
No.1
for Bombalurina
featuring TV
presenter
Timmy Mallett
in 1990.
1960 - Decca
Records
scrapped
25,000 copies
of
Ray Peterson's
'Tell Laura I
Lover Her'
because they
felt the song,
which recounts
the last
thoughts of a
teenager dying
from a car
accident, was
"too tasteless
and vulgar". A
cover version
by Ricky
Valance
went to No.1 just
a month later.
1980 - The
Greater London
Council banned
The
Plasmatics
from blowing a
car up on
stage during
their live
debut at
London's
Hammersmith
Odeon.
1992 - A riot
broke out
during a Guns N' Roses and Metallica
gig at
Montreal
stadium when
Metallica's
show was cut
short after
singer James
Hetfield was
injured by
pyrotechnics.
Guns N' Roses
took the stage
but frontman
Axl Rose
claimed that
his throat
hurt, causing
the band to
leave the
stage early.
The
cancellation
led to a riot
by the
audience who
overturned
cars, smashed
windows,
looted local
stores and set
fires.
2016 - The
judge
overseeing Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway To Heaven' trial
ruled a |
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