Are you ready to learn some stuff? It’s June 18th and here’s what happened Today in Rock History!
What a way to start, as it’s Paul McCartney’s birthday today!
It’s also Dizzy Reed of Guns N’ Roses birthday today!
We’re keeping the hits coming as we move onto releases! We got Joe Walsh’s The Smoker You Drink, the Player You Get in 1973, Dare to Be Stupid from “Weird Al” Yankovic in 1985, Origin of Symmetry by Muse in 2001 and Odelay from Beck in 1996!
Its a major day for consumers and music as, in 1948, Columbia Records began producing the 33 1/3 RPM LP vinyl record. Allowing for more music on both sides compared to the 78 RPM records, the LP was the standard for consuming music until the late 1970’s. The LP has seen a bit of a Renaissance in recent years, thanks to hipsters and music snobs!
Speaking of records, in 1983, Swiss group Yello released the first ever 3-D picture disc for their single I Love You. Who the hell is Yello? You may know them for this one-hit wonder:
We lost Teresa Nervosa of the Butthole Surfers in 2023 and The Big Man, Clarence Clemons of the E Street Band in 2011
At a 2012 Radiohead concert in Toronto, metal rigging over the stage collapses an hour before show time. Various technicians were injured trying to set up the stage equipment when the collapse happens. Some were injured but one drum tech, Scott Johnson, was killed.
The last day of the Monterey International Pop Festival takes place in 1967. On the bill that day included The Who, The Grateful Dead, The Jimi Hendrix Experience. The night would live on in rock infamy as the night Hendrix lit his guitar on fire.
In 1977, Sex Pistols Johnny Rotten and Paul Cook were attacked outside a London pub. Beaten and stabbed, the attackers objected to the band’s anti-monarchist song God Save the Queen.
Lollapalooza 1993 began at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver. Acts on the bill included Alice in Chains, Rage Against the Machine, Primus, Tool and Dinosaur Jr.
In 1977, Talking Heads bandmates Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz get married and have been ever since. When the Heads were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, Weymouth and Frantz became the first married couple inducted.
And finally in 2000, the Experience Music Project museum opens in Seattle. Featuring exhibitions on major Seattle musicians like Nirvana and Jimi Hendrix, the museum continues today, just under a different name: The Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP)
This has been Today in Rock History! Keep on Rocking, keep on Rolling! Check back tomorrow for your next rock history lesson!
