This Date in Rock Music History: April 8

1956:  Elvis Presley played two shows at the Denver Coliseum in Colorado.

1957:  Elvis owned #1 with "All Shook Up".


1959:  Wilbert Harrison released the single "Kansas City".
1962:  Connie Francis continued to lead the way on the Easy Listening chart for a third week with "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You".
1964:  The Supremes recorded "Where Did Our Love Go" at Motown Studios in Detroit, Michigan.  The song would become their first #1 song.
1965:  Unit Four Plus Two topped the UK singles chart with "Concrete and Clay".
1967:  Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Booker T and the MG's, Eddie Floyd and Arthur Conley joined for a concert at Hammersmith Odeon in London.
1967:  Aretha Franklin had the #1 R&B song for a third week with "I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)".
 
1967:  Monkee Mania--The Monkees enjoyed their 22nd straight week with the #1 album, 13 with The Monkees and the last 9 with their follow-up, More of the Monkees.

1967:  "Happy Together" by the Turtles was the top song for a third week, followed by "Dedicated to the One I Love" by Mamas & Papas and "Somethin' Stupid" by Frank & Nancy Sinatra.  The Four Tops moved up with "Bernadette"  and Petula Clark had #5 with "This Is My Song".  The rest of the Top 10:  "Penny Lane" from the Beatles, the Five American moved up with "Western Union", Tommy James & the Shondells continued their hot streak with "I Think We're Alone Now", the Monkees jumped from 19 to 9 with "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" and Herman's Hermits fell with "There's a Kind of Hush". 

1968:  The Rascals released the single "A Beautiful Morning".


1968:  The Petula Clark special Petula aired on NBC-TV.
1969:  Neil Diamond set a record by selling out the Los Angeles Forum for nine concerts in a row.
1970:  The UK premiere of the movie Woodstock was in London.  The film was a documentary of the landmark festival in August of 1969 in Bethel, New York.
 
1971:  Chicago became the first rock group to ever sell out a week of shows at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
1972:  Paul McCartney and Wings released the song "Give Ireland Back to the Irish" to protest the Bloody Sunday Massacre in Northern Ireland.  The song was banned by the BBC.
1972:  America's self-titled debut album was #1 for a third week.  

1972:  For the third straight week, the Dramatics owned the #1 R&B song with "In the Rain".  
1972:  A brand new singles chart was released on this date and America continued to hold on to #1 with their debut song "A Horse With No Name" for the third week in a row.  The rest of the Top Five--#2 "Heart Of Gold" by Neil Young (a former #1), #3 "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" by Roberta Flack (on its way to #1), "I Gotcha'" by Joe Tex and "Rockin' Robin" by Michael Jackson.

1974:  The Carpenters released the single "I Won't Last a Day Without You".


1974:  Gordon Lightfoot released the single "Sundown".
1975:  Aerosmith released Toys in the Attic.
1977:  Fleetwood Mac played the first of three sold-out concerts at the Rainbow Theatre in London.

             Journey was off and running


1978:  Journey debuted with their first hit "Wheel in the Sky" (and a Top Underrated Song) on this date.

        
        Raydio broke it down into simple terms...

1978:  The new chart came out on this date and the Bee Gees dominated #1 for the fourth week in a row with "Night Fever", which would stay at the top for another four weeks.  "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees (which was the previous #1), #3 "Lay Down Sally" by Eric Clapton, "Can't Smile Without You" by Barry Manilow and "If I Can't Have You" by Yvonne Elliman, another song written by the Brothers Gibb from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack followed.  The rest of the Top 10:  "Emotion" from Samantha Sang, Kansas moved from 10 to 7 with "Dust in the Wind", Andy Gibb was still in the Top 10 after 23 weeks with "(Love Is) Thicker Than Water", former Spirit member Jay Ferguson had song #9--"Thunder Island" and Raydio moved up with "Jack and Jill".
1978:  England Dan & John Ford Coley remained at #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart for the third week in a row (out of six) with "We'll Never Have To Say Goodbye Again".

                 "Runaway" from Jefferson Starship...

1978:  The Soundtrack to "Saturday Night Fever" spent its 12th consecutive week at #1.  Eric Clapton was #2 with Slowhand, while Barry Manilow (Even Now) and Billy Joel (The Stranger) swapped places.  Aja from Steely Dan was #5.  The rest of the Top 10:  Weekend in L.A. from George Benson, Kansas edged up with Point of Know Return, Jackson Browne's excellent Running On Empty, Earth from Jefferson Starship moved into the Top 10 and Styx remained at #10 with The Grand Illusion.
1979:  Aerosmith was featured in concert at the Los Angeles 
Memorial Coliseum.
1979: Van Halen began their first world tour.
1983: Danny Rapp of Danny & the Juniors ("At the Hop") was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gun wound. He was 41.

1985: 'Til Tuesday released the single "Voices Carry".
1985: Leader of the Pack: The Songs of Ellie Greenwich opened on Broadway in New York City.

 

1985:  Songwriter J. Fred Coots died at the age of 87.  He wrote over 700 songs, including Pat Boone's #1 "Love Letters in the Sand" and the Christmas favorite "Santa Claus is Coming to Town".
1988:  R.E.M. changed recording labels from IRS Records to Warner Brothers.
1989:  Lol Tolhurst, founding member of the Cure, left his group.
1989:  Tone Loc entered the Top 10 with "Funky Cold Medina".
1989:  "Eternal Flame" by the Bangles reached #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

1991:  EMF released the single "Unbelievable".
1993:  Bruce Springsteen played the second of two sellouts at the Hallen Stadion in Zurich, Switzerland.
1994:  Electrician Gary Smith discovered the dead body of Kurt Cobain three days after he had killed himself at his house in Seattle.  KXRX of Seattle broke the story at 9:40 a.m. that the Nirvana lead singer and guitarist was dead from suicide at the age of 27.  A high concentration of heroin was found in Cobain's body.
 
1995:  The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced that Pink Floyd had taken over the fourth spot on the all-time list of best-selling albums with Dark Side of the Moon, which had passed 13 million sales in the U.S.
1995:  Take That scored their sixth #1 in the UK with "Back For Good".  The single topped 300,000 in sales its first week and won Best British Single at the 1996 Brit Awards.
 

Crow  was "Strong Enough" to reach the Top 5...

1995:  Madonna had the #1 song for a seventh and final week with "Take a Bow".  "Candy Rain" from Soul for Real had to settle for second with "Run Away" from Real McCoy, TLC's "Red Light Special" and "Strong Enough" from Sheryl Crow giving pursuit.

                               We miss you, Laura


1997:  Accomplished songwriter Laura Nyro died from ovarian cancer.  Nyro wrote "And When I Die" for Blood, Sweat & Tears, "Eli's Coming" for Three Dog Night, "Stoned Soul Picnic" for the 5th Dimension and "Stoney End" for Barbra Streisand.  
1998:  Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood was rescued along with 11 others from a boat off the coast of Brazil after the engine had caught fire.  Nearby journalists rescued the dozen passengers shortly before the boat exploded.
1998:  Maybe their band should be called the Jailbirds?  Tommy Lee of Motley Crue was ordered to serve six months in jail for breaking probation.
 
2000:  Rage Against the Machine won five California Music Awards for their album The Battle of Los Angeles.
Until the End of Time.
2001:  Emma Bunton found success away from the Spice Girls with her #1 song "What Took You So Long". Bunton was the fourth of the Spice Girls to record a solo #1.
2003:  The debut of Cher's special Cher:  The Farewell Tour aired on NBC.
2006:  Prince proved he could still do it with his album 3121, which reached #1.
2008:  Mariah Carey was all obsessed with "Touch My Body", her new #1.
2009:  A street in Camden, New Jersey was named after songwriter and producer Leon Huff.

Born This Day:
1929:  Jacques Brel, singer and songwriter, was born in Schaarbeek, Belgium; died October 9 in Bobigny, France.  Dusty Springfield, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles, David Bowie and the Kingston Trio are among those who have recorded Brel's songs.
1934:  Dave Somerville of the Diamonds ("Little Darlin'") was born in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

1941:  Peggy Lennon of the famous Lennon Sisters was born in Los Angeles.

1947:  Steve Howe, elite guitarist of Yes and Asia, was born in Holloway, North London.   
1962:  Izzy Stradlin (real name Jeffrey Dean Isbell), guitarist for Guns N' Roses, was born in Lafayette, Indiana.
1963:  Julian Lennon, first son of John and Cynthia Lennon, who had hits himself with "Valotte" and "Too Late For Goodbyes", was born in Liverpool, England.
1964:  Marcel Hall (Biz Markie) was born in Harlem, New York.
1971:  Darren Jessee, drummer of Ben Folds Five
1972:  Paul Gray, bassist with Slipknot, was born in Los Angeles.

The #34 Guitarist of the Rock Era: Kirk Hammett

We're up to #34 in Inside the Rock Era's special feature on the great guitarists of the Rock Era.  This guy has come up with some of the greatest solos of all-time.

#34:  Kirk Hammett, Metallica

34 years as an active guitarist

(some of his best solos)

Kirk Lee Hammett was born November 18, 1962 in San Francisco, California.  He has been a songwriter and lead guitarist of Metallica since 1983.

Hammett went to De Anza High School in Richmond, California.  He bought a 1978 Fender Stratocaster copy, then purchased various guitar parts in an effort to customize his sound, but ended up buying a 1974 Gibson Flying V. 


Kirk formed the group Exodus with lead singer Paul Baloff, guitarist Gary Holt, bassist Geoff Andrews and drummer Tom Hunting.  The group recorded a demo in 1982, but in 1983, Hammett was invited to join Metallica after that group fired guitarist Dave Mustaine.  Hammett had been taking guitar lessons from Joe Satriani and that training would pay off.  In 1983, Metallica decided to oust Dave Mustaine and Hammett was the choice to replace him.

Kirk played with Metallica live for the first time at the Showplace in Dover, New Jersey and the group began recording Kill 'Em All, their debut album.  Metallica recorded Ride the Lightning at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark.  The title track was excellent, with "For Whom the Bell Tolls", "Fade to Black", "Creeping Death" and the instrumental "The Call of Ktulu" being the other top songs on the album.


The group attracted the attention of Elektra Records, which signed them to a major contract.  Metallica played its biggest concert to date (70,000 people) at the Monsters of Rock Festival in 1985, when they opened for Bon Jovi and Ratt at Donington Park in England.  

Master of Puppets became the group's breakthrough album in 1986, reaching #29 and spending 72 weeks on the album chart.  It was the first album to reach Gold status (500,000 copies) and would go on to sell six million.  Metallica opened for Ozzy Osbourne on a tour, which is funny today considering how huge Metallica is and the level of success that Osbourne achieved in his lifetime.


On September 27, 1986, while Metallica was on tour, the bus driver lost control near Dorarp, Sweden and flipped the vehicle several times.  Bassist Cliff Burton was pinned under the bus and was killed.  The group auditioned 40 people, with Jason Newsted chosen to be the group's new bass guitarist.  


Metallica finished its tour in 1987 and the following year, the group scored its first Top 10 album with ...And Justice for All, which earned a Platinum award nine weeks after release.  Metallica was nominated for a Grammy for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance for the album.  Metallica also won a Grammy for Best Metal Performance for the songs "One" and "Stone Cold Crazy".

In 1990, Metallica began working on its next album at One on One studio in North Hollywood, California.  The project ended up costing $1 million to finish, but it was well worth it.  Metallica, known as The Black Album, debuted at number one in ten countries and sold 650,000 in the United States in its initial week.  If people didn't know who they were already, they did with the release of The Black Album.  The album is now the 25th best-selling album of all-time and has been certified 15 times Platinum.


The album took Metallica away from its thrash roots--it was more simple and heavier than past efforts.  Hammett's riff for "Enter Sandman" has helped that song become one of Metallica's most popular songs.  The video for "Enter Sandman" won a MTV Video Music Award for Best Rock Video.  It was the first release from the Black Album.  The song reached #16, and it was followed by Don't Tread on Me", "The Unforgiven", "Nothing Else Matters", "Wherever I May Roam" and "Sad but True".  Metallica's great work was recognized when the group won a Grammy for Best Metal Performance for the album.

The making of the album with painstaking detail and the group's tour was the subject of the documentary A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica.  But on August 8, 1992, while Metallica was co-headlining a tour with Guns N' Roses, lead singer James Hetfield accidentally walked into a 12-foot flame, a new pyrotechnics display, and suffered second and third-degree burns to his arms, face, hands and legs.  Guitar technician John Marshall replaced Hetfield for the remainder of the tour.


After touring for nearly three years, including a headlining performance at Woodstock '94, Metallica began working on their sixth album.  The group spent a year writing and recording new songs, which culminated with the release of Load in 1996.  Like its predecessor, Load too debuted at #1 on the album chart.  Metallica headlined the Lollapalooza festival in the summer.  The group won American Music Awards for the album in the category Favorite Artist:  Heavy Metal/Hard Rock and for Favorite Metal/Hard Rock Song for "Until It Sleeps".  


The group has written enough songs for a double album, but decided to keep half of them for the follow-up album ReLoad.    ReLoad also debuted at #1 and Metallica promoted it by performing "Fuel" and "The Memory Remains" on Saturday Night Live on NBC-TV.  The group was honored at the Billboard Music Awards for Billboard Rock & Roll Artist of the Year, and were presented a Diamond Award.

In 1998, Metallica produced a double album of cover songs by groups such as Black Sabbath and Thin Lizzy on the first CD and the original The $5.98 E.P.:  Garage Days Re-RevisitedGarage Inc.Metallica won their fourth Grammy for Best Metal Performance for "Better Than You".


In April, 1999, Metallica recorded two performances with the San Francisco Symphony orchestra, conducted by Michael Kamen.  The recording and concert footage were released as S&M, which debuted on the album chart at number two. 


In 2000, Metallica won another Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance, this time for "Whiskey in the Jar", and in 2001, their work with Kamen and the San Francisco Symphony was recognized for Best Rock Instrumental Performance at the Grammys for  "The Call of Ktulu".  The group also picked up Billboard Music Awards for Catalog Artist of the Year and Catalog Album of the Year (for The Black Album).

As the group readied to record a new album, Newsted left the band on January 17, 2001.  In April, filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky began shooting more than 1,000 hours of footage of Metallica's recording process.  The footage was compiled into the documentary, Some Kind of Monster, and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004.  Producer Bob Rock played bass during the recording of their new album.


Once the record was completed in 2003, Metallica auditioned several bassists before choosing Robert Trujillo as Newsted's replacement.  St. Anger was released in June and debuted at #1.    The title track won the Grammy for Best Metal Performance of 2004.  Metallica toured for two years in support of the album, then opened for the Rolling Stones in November, 2005 at AT&T Park in San Francisco.


In 2006, Metallica released a DVD with all of their music videos from 1989 to 2004, titled The Videos 1989-2004.  The group recorded a cover of Ennio Morricone's "The Ecstasy of Gold" that earned a Grammy nomination in 2007 for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.

Metallica released Death Magnetic in 2008.  It sold 490,000 units to debut at number one, making Metallica the first band to have five consecutive studio albums debut at #1 in the Rock Era.  The album it #1 in 32 countries all told and "My Apocalypse" captured the Grammy for Best Metal Performance.


Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax performed on the same night for the first time on June 16, 2010 in Warsaw, Poland.  They also played in Bucharest, Romania and Istanbul, Turkey.  The World Magnetic Tour ended on November 21, 2010 in Melbourne, Australia.  The group headlined the Rock in Rio Festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.


The album Lulu was recorded over several months and was released on October 31, 2011.  In December, Metallica celebrated 30 years as a band with four shows at the Fillmore in San Francisco.  


Metallica has been influenced by many heavy metal and hard rock groups, including Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Queen, AC/DC, Rush and the Scorpions.  

Hammett has played guitar for several other artists, including Carlos Santana and Orbital.  Kirk has mastered pentatonic scales and has lightning-fast fingers.  He has come up with countless, timeless riffs and solos as a member of Metallica.  Hammett alternates between picking and tapping in his guitar playing, a variation of the technique known as legato (which means roughly pulling or tapping the strings with your left hand).

Kirk's favorite guitar is the KH-2 M-II "Boris Karloff Mummy".  Hammett also plays the KH-2 "Skully", the M-II Standard, M-II "Zorlac", the ESP Michael Schenker Flying V and the 1968 Gibson Les Paul Standard.

In 2007, ESP Guitars announced the release of a 20th Anniversary Limited KH-20 Guitar to celebrate 20 years that Kirk has endorsed ESP.

Hammett has used several different amplifiers.  He started out in Metallica with Marshall amplifiers and cabinets.  In 1986, he switched to a Mesa/Boogie MarkIIC+amplifier with Dual Rectifier heads.  Kirk switched to Randall Amplifiers in 2007 but still uses Mesa/Boogie.  

Hammett uses many effects, including the Dunlop KH95 Kirk Hammett Signature Crybaby, the Boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor, the Shure UR-4D Wireless Receiver, the MXR Eddie Van Halen Flanger, the Ibanez Tube Screamer, the DigiTech Whammy, the TC Electronic G-Major 2 effects processor, the GCX Audio Switcher, the DBX 1074 Quad Gate, the MXR Bass Octave Deluxe, the DigiTech Space Station and DL4 and MM4 Modelers from Line 6.


Metallica has sold more than 100 albums worldwide, including 59 million in the United States.  They expanded the limits of thrash metal and are easily the best, most influential heavy metal band of the 1980's.


Metallica's sound has inspired many artists of today, including Korn, Godmack, Avenged Sevenfold and Machine Head.  


On March 7, 1999, Metallica was inducted into the San Francisco Walk of Fame.  Mayor Willie Brown proclaimed the day "Official Metallica Day".  Metallica was awarded the MTV Icon award in 2003.  Metallica was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on April 4, 2009.  Former bassist Jason Newsted joined the band on stage for "Master of Puppets" and "Enter Sandman".  

In a genre in which most acts burn out in a year or so, Kirk has proven a durable force for 30 years as one of the most influential guitarists of his generation.  Kirk Hammett ranks #34 for the Rock Era*...

New Featured Unknown/Underrated Song: "Hang On to Your Love" by Sade

One of the top songs never to make the Top 10, this was the second single in the great career of Sade:

"Hang On to Your Love"

by Sade

Words and Music by Sade Adu & Stuart Matthewman


In heaven's name why are you walking away
Hang on to your love
In heaven's name why do you play these games
Hang on to your love
Take time if you're down on luck
It's so easy to walk out on love
Take your time if the going gets tough
It's so precious

So if you want it to get stronger
You'd better not let go
You gotta hold on longer
If you want your love to grow

Gotta stick together
Hand in glove
Hold tight, don't fight
Hang on to your love

In heaven's name why are you walking away
Hang on to your love
In heaven's name why do you play these games
Hang on to your love

Be brave when the journey is rough
It's not easy when you're in love
Don't be ashamed when the going gets tough
It's not easy don't give up

If you want it to get stronger
You'd better not let go
You gotta hold on longer
If you want your love to grow

Gotta stick together
Hand in glove
Hold tight, don't fight
Hang on to your love

In heaven's name why are you walking away
Hang on to your love
In heaven's name why do you play these games
Hang on to your love

Da da da dee dee da, da da da dee dee da, daaa (dee dee daa)
Da da da dee dee da, da da da dee dee da, daaa (dee dee daa)

Da da da dee dee da, da da da dee dee da, daaa (dee dee daa)
Da da da dee dee da, da da da dee dee da, daaa (dee dee daa)

So if you want it to get stronger
You'd better not let go
You gotta hold on longer
If you want your love to grow

Gotta stick together
Hand in glove
Hold tight, don't fight
Hang on to your love

In heaven's name why are you walking away
Hang on to your love
In heaven's name why do you play these games
Hang on to your love

When you find a love (to your love)
Don't let it walk away
When you find your love (to your love)
You've got to make it stay (hang on)

Hang on to your love
Don't let it walk away
When you find your love
Got to make him stay

You've got to hang on to your love (to your love)
You've got to hang on to your love (to your love)
Why are you walking away (why are you walking away)
Why do you play these games< (play these games)
Da da da dee dee da (to your love), da da da dee dee da, daaa (to your love)
Da da da dee dee da (to your love), da da da dee dee da, daaa (to your love)
Hang on to your love

This Date in Rock Music History: April 7

1956:  Columbia Records announced that all future record releases would be at 45 R.P.M.
1956:  The Platters made their television debut on Tommy & Jimmy Dorsey's Stage Show on CBS.
1956:  CBS Radio Network premiered the first scheduled national radio program of exclusively rock & roll music, Alan Freed's "Rock 'n" Roll Dance Party".

1958:  Alan Freed's "Big Beat Show", a concert featuring rock performers, would feature two shows at Memorial Hall in Canton, Ohio.  Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Frankie Lymon, the Diamonds, Billy Ford, the Chantels, Screaming Jay Hawkins, the Pastels and Larry Williams were on the bill.

                The great group the Platters


1958:  The Platters released "Twilight Time".
1959:  Marty Robbins recorded "El Paso".
1962:  Mick Jagger and Keith Richards met Brian Jones for the first time at the Ealing Jazz Club in England.  At the time, Jones was called Elmo Lewis and was playing guitar with Paul Jones.

1962:  The Beatles played at the Casbah Coffee Club in Liverpool, England.  The group played without guitarist George Harrison who was ill.  This was the Beatles' finale at the Casbah before returning to Hamburg, West Germany for a third engagement.
1962:  Sam Cooke remained atop the R&B chart for a third week with "Twistin' the Night Away".
1962:  Shelley Fabares moved to #1 with "Johnny Angel" as former #1 "Don't Break the Heart That Loves You" from Connie Francis slipped.  Elvis Presley's "Good Luck Charm" moved from 9 to 4.  
1963:  The Beatles performed at the Savoy Ballroom in Portsmouth, England.
1966:  The Beatles worked on overdubs for the track "Tomorrow Never Knows" and on a new McCartney-penned song, "Got To Get You Into My Life" for the upcoming Revolver album.

1967:  Pink Floyd appeared at the Floral Hall in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
1967:  The movie Good Times, starring Sonny & Cher, opened in theaters.
1968:  The Who played at the CNE Coliseum in Toronto, Canada.
1969:  John Lennon recorded "Give Peace a Chance" in his Toronto hotel room.  The song lives on to this day.

1969:  Simon & Garfunkel released the single "The Boxer".



1969:  Mercy released the single "Love (Can Make You Happy)".
1970:  "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" (from the movie Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid won Best Original Song at the Academy Awards.
1972:  Grateful Dead was at the Empire Pool in London, England..  

 

What's really sad is that African-Americans who otherwise would have much to offer insist on doing rap music rather than contribute great songs like this one from Gladys Knight & the Pips, a great group to aspire to.

1973:  Gladys Knight & the Pips had the top R&B song for a fourth week with the excellent "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye".
1973:  Tony Orlando & Dawn reached #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart on this date with "Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree".
1973:  Diana Ross had the top album with Lady Sings the Blues.  The only new album in the Top 10 was the new Pink Floyd release, The Dark Side of the Moon, which jumped from #27 to #9.

1973:  The new Billboard Hot 100 chart came out on this day and Vicki Lawrence led everyone on top the singles chart with "The Night the Lights Went Out In Georgia".  Lawrence vaulted from 10 to 1, the seventh-biggest jump to #1 of the Rock Era.  The rest of the top five--#2 "Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be the First To Say Goodbye) by Gladys Knight & the Pips, #3 "Killing Me Softly With His Song by Roberta Flack (the former #1), "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got" by the Four Tops, and "Break Up To Make Up" by the great soul group the Stylistics.
1975:  Stevie Wonder and his wife celebrated the birth of daughter Aisha.  She's the one heard crying at the opening of Stevie's song "Isn't She Lovely".

1975:  Linda Ronstadt released her remake of the Everly Brothers hit "When Will I Be Loved".
1975:  Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple to form the group Rainbow.  Tommy Bolin replaced Blackmore in Deep Purple.
1979:  Aerosmith, Van Halen, Cheap Trick, the Boomtown Rats and Ted Nugent performed at the California Music Festival.


1979:  Orleans had one of the hottest new songs on the radio as "Love Takes Time" moved from 69 to 35.
1979:  The new Top 100 singles chart came out on this day; the top five:  #1 "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor, #2 "What A Fool Believes" by the Doobie Brothers, which was on its way to #1, #3 "Tragedy" by the Bee Gees, a former #1, the debut release from Dire Straits "Sultans of Swing" was #4, and #5 "Shake Your Groove Thing" by Peaches & Herb.
1979:  "Crazy Love" by Poco topped the Adult Contemporary chart, where it would spend seven weeks at #1.

1979:  The Doobie Brothers scored their first and only #1 album Minute By Minute.  Spirits Having Flown from the Bee Gees fell to #2 with the tasty Dire Straits debut third.  Love Tracks from Gloria Gaynor preceded the latest from Rod Stewart, Blondes Have More Fun.  The rest of the Top 10:  2 (sic) Hot!  by Peaches & Herb, 52nd Street from Billy Joel, George Benson moved to #8 with Livin' Inside Your Love, Bad Company vaulted from 30 to 9 with Desolation Angels and the Allman Brothers Band moved to 10 with Enlightened Rouges.

1980:  Robbie Dupree released the single "Steal Away".
1981:  Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band began their first major tour outside the U.S.  in Hamburg, Germany.
1981:  Kit Lambert, the 60's manager of the Who, died on this date of a cerebral hemorrhage resulting from a fall down a flight of stairs at his mother's home in London.  Lambert produced the Tommy album and Arthur Brown's 1968 hit "Fire".
1984:  "Hello" by Lionel Richie moved to #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

1984:  The Scorpions had the fastest-rising song on this date as "Rock You Like a Hurricane" moved from 76 to 58.
1984:  A record 40 British artists were on the U.S. Top 100 singles chart that came out on this date.  The top five:  #1 "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins, #2 "Somebody's Watching Me" by Rockwell with help from Michael Jackson, #3 Against All Odds by Phil Collins (which would soon hit #1), #4 "Here Comes The Rain Again" by the Eurythmics and #5 "Jump" by the Pointer Sisters.
1984:  Thriller by Michael Jackson spent a 36th week at #1 on the album chart.  

1985:  Wham! became the first western rock group to perform live in China, appearing at the workers gymnasium in Beijing.  Several solo performers had played China before.
1985:  Prince wrapped up his 32-city tour in Miami, Florida by announcing he would cease touring for "an indeterminate number of years".
1988:  Alice Cooper accidentally hung himself for several seconds during a European tour when a safety rope broke.  As luck would have it, a roadie saved his life.
1990:  Elton John, Neil Young, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Guns N' Roses and Jackson Browne performed at Farm Aid IV at the Indiana Hoosierdome to benefit America's farmers. 
1990:  Only Yesterday by the Carpenters climbed to the top of the UK album chart.  The compilation album hit #1 seven years after the death of Karen Carpenter.
1990:  Bonnie Raitt had the biggest hit of her life with the album Nick of Time, which rose to #1.

1990:  Taylor Dayne had the #1 hit "Love Will Lead You Back" (written by Dianne Warren).  Tommy Page's "I'll Be Your Everything" was #2, followed by #3 "All Around the World" by Lisa Stansfield, #4 "I Wish It Would Rain Down" by Phil Collins and #5 was the former #1 song "Black Velvet" by Canada's Alannah Myles.
1990:  Taylor Dayne had the top Adult Contemporary hit for a third week with "Love Will Lead You Back".
1994:  Lee Brilleaux, lead singer and harmonica player with Dr. Feelgood, died of throat cancer.
1994:  Courtney Love was arrested on drugs and theft charges, not aware at the time that her husband Kurt Cobain had committed suicide and lay dead at their home.  Cobain's body wasn't discovered until April 8.
1994:  Percy Sledge plead guilty to tax evasion for failing to report $260,000 in income earned between 1987 and 1989.  Sledge was ordered to serve six months in a halfway house.
1996:  Take That topped the UK album chart with their Greatest Hits package.
1997:  The Chemical Brothers released the album Dig Your Hole.
1997:  Liam Gallagher of Oasis married Patsy Kensit at the Marylebone Registry office in London.

2000:  Heinz Burt, bass player and vocalist with the Tornadoes, died at the age of 57.  The group scored a #1 song with one of the top instrumentals of all-time "Telstar".  Burt also had a solo hit with a tribute to Eddie Cochran "Just Like Eddie" that featured Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore.
2001:  Paul McCartney bought the Beverly Hills home of Courtney Love for $3.995 million.
2002:  Gareth Gates, who was runner-up at the UK Pop Idol contest, hit #1 with his cover of "Unchained Melody", making him the seventh artist to have a hit with the Righteous Brother classic.

2002:  Celine Dion had a huge #1 album with A New Day Has Come .
2003:  Jury selection began in a wrongful death suit against Tommy Lee of Motley Crue following the 2001 drowning death of a boy at a pool party.
2003:  Bass guitarist Dirk Lance, a founding member of Incubus, left the band.
2004:  Janet Jackson debuted at #2 with the album Damito Jo.
2004:  More trouble for Motley Crue as Vince Neil was charged with a misdemeanor of battery after a fight on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.
2008:  Olivia Newton-John set out on a 21-day, 141-mile walk along the entire length of the Great Wall of China to raise money for breast cancer research.

2008:  Bob Dylan received a Pulitzer Prize for his impact on music and culture.

2010:  Bobby Rydell had major shoulder surgery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania after slipping on hail after a concert in Oregon four days earlier.

Born This Day:

1908:  Percy Faith ("Theme from 'A Summer Place'") was born on Toronto, Ontario, Canada; died on cancer February 9, 1976 in Encino, California.
1917:  Mongo Satamaria, who gave us one of The Top 100 Instrumentals of the Rock Era ("Watermelon Man"), was born in Havana, Cuba; died February 1, 2003 in Miami, Florida.
1920:  Ravi Shankar (Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury), sitar player who worked with George Harrison and performed at both Woodstock and the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival, and was the father of singer Norah Jones, was born in Varanasi, United Privinces, Indian Empire; died December 11, 2012 in San Diego, California.

1935:  Bobby Bare ("All-American Boy" and "500 Miles from Home") was born in Ironton, Ohio.

1937:  Charlie Thomas of the Drifters was born in Lynchburg, Virginia.

1938:  Spencer Dryden, drummer of Jefferson Airplane.  Dryden, was born in New York City; died of cancer January 11, 2005
1943:  Alan Buck, drummer of the Four Pennies ("Juliet" in 1964), was born in Brierfield, Burnley, England.
1943:  Mick Abrahams, guitarist of Blodwyn Pig and Jethro Tull, was born in Bedfordshire, England.

1946:  Bill Kreutzmann, drummer of Grateful Dead, was born in Palo Alto, California.
1947:  Florian Schneider-Esleben of Kraftwerk, who scored their biggest hit with "Autobahn" in 1975
1947:  Patricia Bennett, original member of the Chiffons, was born in The Bronx, New York.
1948:  Carol Douglas of the Chantels

1949:  John Oates, singer, songwriter and producer of Hall and Oates, was born in New York City.
1951:  Janis Ian ("Society's Child" and "At Seventeen") was born in New York City.
1952:  Bruce Gary, drummer of the Knack ("My Sharona"), was born in Burbank, California; died August 22, 2006 of Non-Hodgkin lymphoma in Tarzana, California.

Hits List: Four Tops

This Motown group churned out a consistent list of great songs in the 1960's and 70's and even scored hits into the 80's.  Here is the complete Hits List from one of The Top 100 Artists of the Rock Era*:

1964:  "Baby I Need Your Loving" (#11)--vastly underrated.
          "Without the One You Love (Life's Not Worth While)" (#43)
1965:  "Ask the Lonely" (#24, #9 R&B)
           "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" (#1, #1 R&B, #23 U.K.)
           "It's the Same Old Song" (#5, #2 R&B, #34 U.K.)
           "Something About You" (#19, #9 R&B)
1966:  "Shake Me, Wake Me (When It's Over)" (#18, #3 R&B)
           "Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever" (#45, #12 R&B, #21 U.K.)
           "Reach Out (I'll Be There)" (#1, #1 R&B, #1 U.K.)
           "Standing in the Shadows of Love" (#6, #2 R&B, #6 U.K.)

1967:  "Bernadette" (#4, #2 R&B, #8 U.K.)
           "7-Rooms of Gloom" (#14, #11 R&B, #12 U.K.)
           "I'll Turn to Stone" (#76, #50 R&B)
           "You Keep Running Away" (#19, #7 R&B, #26 U.K.)
1968:  "Walk Away Renee" (#14, #15 R&B, #3 U.K.)
           "If I Were a Carpenter" (#20, #17 R&B, #7 U.K.)
           "Yesterday's Dreams" (#49, #31 R&B, #23 U.K.)
           "I'm in a Different World" (#51, #23 R&B, #27 U.K.)
1969:  "What Is a Man" (#53, #16 U.K.)
           "Do What You Gotta' Do" (#11 U.K.)
           "Don't Let Him Take Your Love from Me" (#45, #25 R&B)
           "Barbara's Boy"

1970:  "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" (re-issue) (#10 U.K.)
           "It's All in the Game" (#24, #6 R&B, #5 U.K.)
           "Love (Is the Answer)" (#5 U.K.)
           "Still Water (Love)" (#11, #4 R&B, #10 U.K.)
           "River Deep - Mountain High" (with the Supremes) (#14, #7 R&B, #11 U.K.)--underrated.
1971:  "Just Seven Numbers (Can Straighten Out My Life)" (#40, #9 R&B, #36 U.K.)
           "You Gotta' Have Love in Your Heart" (with the Supremes) (#55, #41 R&B, #25 U.K.)
           "In These Changing Times" (#70, #28 R&B)
           "MacArthur Park (Part II)" (#38)

1972:  "A Simple Game" (#90, #34 R&B, #3 U.K.)
           "Bernadette" (re-issue) (#23 U.K.)
           "Walk with Me, Talk with Me, Darling" (#32 U.K.    
           "(It's the Way) Nature Planned It" (#53, #8 R&B)
           "Keeper of the Castle"  (#10, #7 R&B, #18 U.K.)
1973:  "Ain't No Woman (Like the One I've Got" (#4, #2 R&B)
           "Are You Man Enough" (#15, #2 R&B)
           "Sweet Understanding Love" (#33, #10 R&B, #29 U.K.)
1974:  "I Just Can't Get You Out of My Mind" (#62, #18 R&B)
           "One Chain Don't Make No Prison" (#44, #3 R&B)
           "Midnight Flower" (#55, #5 R&B)
1975:  "Seven Lonely Nights" (#71, #13 R&B)
           "We All Gotta' Stick Together" (#97, #17 R&B)
1976:  "Catfish" (#71, #7 R&B)
           "I'm Glad You Walked Into My Life" (#76 R&B)

1981:  "When She Was My Girl" (#11, #1 R&B, #3 U.K.)
           "Don't Walk Away" (#16 U.K.)
1982:  "Let Me Set You Free" (#71 R&B)
           "Back to School Again" (#71, #62 U.K.)
           "Sad Hearts" (#84, #40 R&B)
           "Tonight I'm Gonna' Love You All Over" (#32 R&B, #43 U.K.)
1983:  "I Believe in You and Me" (#40 R&B)
           "I Just Can't Walk Away" (#71, #36 R&B)
1985:  "Sexy Ways" (#21 R&B)
1988:  "Reach Out (I'll Be There)" (re-issue) (#11 U.K.)
           "If Ever a Love There Was" (with Aretha Franklin) (#31 R&B)
           "Indestructible" (#35, #57 R&B, #30 U.K.)
1989:  "Loco in Acapulco" (#7 U.K.)


That's 44 hits, with 7 of those going Top 10 and two #1's.

The #35 Guitarist of the Rock Era: Lee Ranaldo

If you like a guitarist that pushes the boundaries of music through experimentation,#35 is for you:

#35:  Lee Ranaldo, Sonic Youth, solo

33 years as an active guitarist

Lee M. Ranaldo was born February 3, 1956 in Glen Cove, Long Island.  He is a co-founder, singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer and visual artist for the alternative rock group Sonic Youth.  

 

Ranaldo graduated from Binghamton University.  Ranaldo began his career in New York City in several groups and joined the electric guitar orchestra of Glenn Branca, which toured throughout the United States and Europe. 


Ranaldo became acquainted with Thurston Moore, who had moved to New York City in 1976.  Moore and Kim Gordon formed a band, using the names Male Bonding, Red Milk, the Arcadians, and finally Sonic Youth by 1981.  Sonic Youth might as well have been called We Can't Find a Drummer.  Sonic Youth performed at the Noise Fest in New York City, a festival that also included Branca's ensemble.  Moore thought Ranaldo was "the best guitarist he had ever seen in my life", and asked Lee if he would join the band.  Ranaldo accepted, and the band played three songs at the festival later in the week, with each band member taking turns playing the drums.
 

Eventually, the group met drummer Richard Edson and the lineup was complete.  Branca signed Sonic Youth as the first act on his record label Neutral Records.  The group recorded the Sonic Youth mini-LP of five songs and, while it received little airplay, did impress the critics.  Edson left soon after the project and was replaced by Bob Bert.


Bert didn't work out either and was replaced in 1983 by Jim Sclavunos.  Sonic Youth released the album Confusion Is Sex and toured Europe that summer.  Sclavunos left midway through the tour, as Bert was accepted back into the group.
 

While touring Europe the next year, the band's equipment malfunctioned during a show in London and Moore destroyed the equipment onstage in frustration.  This actually gave the band publicity they hadn't received to that point, and when they returned to New York City, Sonic Youth was able to finally perform on a semi-regular basis.  Sonic Youth released the album Bad Moon Rising that year.


Sonic Youth signed with Homestead Records in America and Blast First in the U.K.  Their recent album had sold 5,000 copies in six months in the U.K., a paltry figure.  Bert quit the group and was replaced by drummer Steve Shelley.  


The group signed with indie label SST Records and recorded the album EVOL, which featured more melodic material and new drummer Shelley.  SST was able to promote the group nationally and the music press began to take notice.  
 

Sonic Youth recorded the album Sister in 1987, an album that showed great experimentation.  Sister sold 60,000 copes for the group.  Once again, though, it seemed the members of the group were never satisfied, and they signed with Enigma Records, which was partly owned by EMI and distributed by Capitol Records. 
 

Sonic Youth released the double album Daydream Nation, which was a critical success and was chosen in 2006 by the Library of Congress as one of 50 recordings that year to be added to the National Recording Registry.  The lead single, "Teen Age Riot", was the first song from the group to achieve any significant success, receiving heavy airplay on modern rock stations.  But there were problems with distribution and once again the group was looking for a new label.


So the band next signed with Geffen after finally figuring out that there was a reason some labels were called "major" and others were called "indie".  In 1990, Sonic Youth released the album Goo, which included the single "Kool Thing" and followed that up with the release of the album Dirty.  In 1993, the group recording "Burning Spear" for the AIDS-Benefit album No Alternative.  

 
In 1994, Sonic Youth released Experimental Jet Set, Trash and No Star, which peaked at #34 on the album chart.  They also recorded a cover of "Superstar" for the Carpenters tribute album If I Were a Carpenter.  By 1995, alternative rock had gained a lot of attention, and Sonic Youth headlined the Lollapalooza festival.

Gordon began playing guitar, giving the group three guitarists and a drummer, and this combination yielded the album A Thousand Leaves and Washing Machine.  This album represented a shift away from the group's punk roots and towards longer jam sessions.  The album features two Renaldo songs, "Hoarfrost" and "Karen Koltrane".  

Over the next few years, Sonic Youth released eight highly experimental records on their own record label, SYR.  Bassist Jim O'Rourke joined the band as a fifth member, and albums contained mostly instrumental, improvised music.

 

In 1999, Sonic Youth recorded NYC Ghosts &Flowers and then opened for Pearl Jam during the east coast leg of their tour in 2000.  They performed at the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival in Los Angeles in 2002 and released the album Murray Street.  The group followed in 2004 with the album Sonic Nurse.  The latter enjoyed decent sales due to appearances on several television talk shows.

O'Rourke departed in 2006, replaced by Mark Ibold on bass. The group released the album Rather Ripped, a switch to shorter, more structured songs, and appeared at the Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza festivals.  In 2008, Sonic Youth released two more editions to the SYR Series, SYR7:  J'Accuse Ted Hughes and SYR8:  Andre Sider Af Sonic Youth.  In June, the group was featured in Goodbye 20th Century:  A Biography of Sonic Youth
 

The group, however, was never happy, and unbelievably, was upset with the way Geffen "handled their last four or five albums".  In December of 2008, Sonic Youth collaborated with Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones on a project that became the soundtrack for a Merce Cunningham Dance Company. 


In early 2009, Sonic Youth released the album The Eternal and scored and composed the soundtrack to the French thriller Simon Werner a Disparu, which premiered in May, 2010 at the Cannes International Film Festival.  The soundtrack was released in 2011 as SYR9:  Simon Werner a Disparu.


Ranaldo announced on November 28, 2011 that Sonic Youth were "ending for a while".


Sonic Youth used a variety of alternative guitar tunings more radical than nearly anything in the Rock Era.  Ranaldo and Moore developed the tunings in an effort to introduce new sounds, with guitars tuned for use in specific songs. 

 

Ranaldo released the solo albums Dirty Windows, Amarillo Ramp and Scriptures of the Golden Eternity.  Ranaldo has also formed the group Glacial with guitarist David Watson and drummer Tony Buck and the duo called Drift with his wife Leah Singer.

Text of Life was a group founded in 2001 by Ranaldo that plays improvised music along with films by Stan Brakhage.  Since then, Ranaldo has released the solo albums Outside My Window The City Is Never Silent - A Bestiary in 2002, Music for Stage and Screen in 2004, Ambient Loop For Vancouver in 2006, Maelstrom From Drift in 2008 and Between the Times and Tides in 2012.

Ranaldo has worked with jazz drummer William Hooker and has also produced many albums for others including Babes in Toyland.  

Ranaldo plays Fender Jazzmaster and Telecaster Deluxe guitars and occasionally Gibson Les Pauls.  One of his Jazzmasters has a single coil pickup that is installed between the bridge and tailpiece to accentuate the resonating chiming sounds on that area of string.  In 2007, Yuri Landman built the Moonlander for Ranaldo, a bi-headed electric guitar with 18 strings.  In 2009, Fender introduced a Lee Ranaldo signature edition of a transparent blue guitar.


Ranaldo uses a Fender Super Reverb head with a Fender 4 x10" cabinet, a Fender Vibro-King, a Furman power source and a Toneworks DTR-1 Digital Tuner.  He has used heads from Bassman and Custom HiWatt and a Mesa Boogie 4 x 12 cab.


Ranaldo has used the same effects since 2007.  They are the Moogerfooger Ring Modulator, an Ernie Ball Expressional pedal, an Electro-Harmonix Micro Synthesizer, an MXR Blue Box, and BJF Honey Bee, an Ibanez AD-80 Analog Delay, a Hughes & Kettner Tube Factor, a Klon Centaur and a Digitech PDS 1002 two-second Digital Delay and a Voodoo Lab Pedal power.
 

Showing amazing creativity, Ranaldo has introduced new ways of using the guitar and different sounds that the instrument can make.  Lee Ranaldo ranks #35 for the Rock Era*...