Are you ready to learn some stuff? It’s July 12th and here’s what happened Today in Rock History!
Starting the day in 1992, when Axl Rose was arrested at JFK airport in NYC and was charged with inciting a riot in St. Louis the previous year. The riot was caused by Rose cancelling the show midway through when he jumped into the crowd to stop a fan from filming. Blaming security, he stormed off stage. Axl got two years’ probation and was fined $50,000.
One release today and that belongs to 2005’s Move Along from The All-American Rejects!
Today is the late Eric Carr of KISS’ birthday!
Other birthdays include Brett Reed of Rancid and Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac!
We lost Chris Wood of Traffic in 1983 from liver disease at the age of 39.
In 1970, Janis Joplin performed at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds in California with local band Fritz opening for the blues rock icon. Fritz’s lead singer was awestruck by how Joplin so easily connected with the crowd, inspiring her to continue her music journey. Oh I forgot the mention that singer was Stevie Nicks.
The Rolling Stones performed live for the very first time in 1962. Billed as The Rollin’ Stones, the group included Brian Jones, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ian Stewart (who would later become the Stones’ road manager), Dick Taylor (who would leave the band to form The Pretty Things), and Mick Avory (who would later join The Kinks).
And finally, in a ploy to bring in more fans to see the failing Chicago White Sox, the teams promotions manager hosted it’s Disco Demolition Night on this day in 1979. Employing the recently fired Chicago radio DJ Steve Dahl (who’s former employer changed his rock station to disco), the goal was to blow up a large amount of Disco records in centerfield. Word of mouth spreads, some 50,000 people show up as entry only cost 98 cents if you brought a disco record, the pile of disco records explodes in centerfield, and the unruly fans rush the field. The stunt goes down in history as the beginning of the end for disco. Oh and the White Sox had to forfeit the game.
This has been Today in Rock History! Keep on Rocking, keep on Rolling! Check back tomorrow for your next rock history lesson!
