Are you ready to learn some stuff? It’s July 16th and here’s what happened Today in Rock History!
Starting the day off strong as its Stewart Copeland of The Police’s birthday!
Two releases today, both being debuts: Dinosaur Jr’s debut record Dinosaur in 1985 and Billy Idol’s self-titled solo debut in 1982!
In 2019, Metallica drew about 1% of the population of Finland when the band performed at the Kantola Event Park in Hämeenlinna, bringing in over 55,000 fans for the record-breaking show.
A few years later in 2022, Metallica’s Master of Puppets returned to the US Top 40 after being used in season 4 of Netflix’s Stranger Things.
In 1990, the members of Judas Priest went to court over accusations that they implanted subliminal messaging into their song Better By You, Better Than Me. The lawsuit came after two teenagers entered a suicide pact and killed themselves. The case would be dismissed in August of that year after the judge determined that the supposed subliminal messages were just an accidental recording mishap.
We lost John Panozzo of Styx in 1996 and Jon Lord of Deep Purple and Whitesnake in 2012
And finally in 2007, The White Stripes played the shortest live gig ever when they appeared at the Newfoundland venue George Street. The duo played just a single note on guitar with a cymbal crash before exiting the stage after Jack announced, “We have now officially played in every province and territory in Canada.” The “gig” would be recognized by the Guinness Book of Records in 2009. The category would be dropped a year later after getting swamped by applications for similar attempts to break the record.
This has been Today in Rock History! Keep on Rocking, keep on Rolling! Check back tomorrow for your next rock history lesson!
