This Date in Rock Music History: June 21

1948:  Columbia Records began mass production of the amazing new product--the 33 1/3 RPM long-playing record.  The format would dominate music sales well into the 1980s.
1955:  Elvis Presley appeared in concert at Beaumont, Texas.




1961:  Bobby Vee recorded "Take Good Care Of My Baby".
1966:  The Rolling Stones sued 14 New York City hotels that refused to let the band stay there, accusing them of "discrimination on account of national origin."  Did they ever think it might have been because of the people they were?
1966:  The Marquee Club in London was all abuzz about that new guitarist with the Yardbirds.  Jimmy Page appeared in concert for the first time with his new group.
1966:  Tom Jones required 14 stitches in his forehead after a car crash in Marble Arch, London.
1966:  The Beatles recorded the song "She Said She Said", the final track recorded for their upcoming album Revolver.
1967:  The Grateful Dead, Big Brother & the Holding Company and Quicksilver Messenger Service performed at Summer Solstice celebrations at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.





1969:  "Get Back", one of The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era* maintained its position at #1 for the Beatles, making it five weeks in a row.  Henry Mancini's beautiful "Love Theme From 'Romeo & Juliet'" held steady at #2, CCR was up one with "Bad Moon Rising", while Elvis Presley took position #4 with his timeless "In The Ghetto".  The rest of the Top 10:  Marvin Gaye moved up to 5 with "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby", Three Dog Night climbed up to 6 with "One", Mercy's great one and only hit "Love (Can Make You Happy)" was on its way down to #7, the Friends of Distinction came in at #8 with "Grazing In The Grass", Oliver had #9 with "Good Morning Starshine" and Blood, Sweat & Tears had their second Top 10 song (moving 18-10) with "Spinning Wheel".









1971:  Rare Earth released their new single "I Just Want to Celebrate".
1972:  Led Zeppelin was at the Denver Coliseum in Denver, Colorado.

1973:  Bread played their last concert at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah.
1975:  Ritchie Blackmore left Deep Purple to form the hard rock group Rainbow.
1975:  If you weren't at London's Wembley Stadium on this date, you missed out.  There, you would see Elton John, the Eagles, the Beach Boys, Rufus and future Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh in concert.
1975:  The Eagles performed at the Day of the Green Concert in England to a crowd of over 120,000 along with the Doobie Brothers and Commander Cody and his Lost Planet Airmen.
1975:  The Bee Gees had the fastest-rising hit within the Top 100--"Jive Talkin'", which moved from 65 to 41 on this date.
1975:  "Midnight Blue" by Melissa Manchester became the new #1 Easy Listening song.







1975:  Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy by Elton John was #1 on the Album chart for the third week--every week of its release.  The great album Venus and Mars from Wings moved from 25 to 2 but was still a long ways from the top, and That's the Way of the World from Earth, Wind & Fire was third.









1975:  The Captain & Tennille turned the Neil Sedaka song "Love Will Keep Us Together" into their first #1 song.  Linda Ronstadt came in second with "When Will I Be Loved", the amazing song "Wildfire" moved from 12-3 for Michael Murphey and Jessi Colter was at 4 with "I'm Not Lisa".  The rest of the Top 10:  Major Harris was at #5 with "Love Won't Let Me Wait", America's former #1 "Sister Golden Hair" was at #6, Van McCoy had the sound of the times with "The Hustle" which moved from 29-7 on this date, Joe Simon was at #8 with "Get Down, Get Down", Wings scored their 10th Top 10 and 14th overall with "Listen To What The Man Said" (including the Beatles, it made Top 10 hit #43 and hit # 79 for Paul McCartney) and Average White Band registered a Top 10 with "Cut The Cake".
1976:  Wings wrapped up their first North American tour at the Los Angeles Forum.
1979:  Angus MacLise, former drummer of Velvet Underground, died of tuberculosis in Kathmandu at age 41.
1979:  Mick Taylor released his first solo album since leaving the Rolling Stones in 1975.
1980:  The Beach Boys, Santana, Mike Oldfield and Lindisfarne performed at Knebworth Park in England.
1980:  Glass Houses from Billy Joel was #1 on the Album chart for a second week.

1980:  Singer, songwriter and arranger Bert Kaempfert passed away at the age of 56 after suffering a stroke in Majorka, Spain.
1981:  Donald Fagan and Walter Becker announced that Steely Dan was breaking up.











1982:  Crosby, Stills & Nash released their comeback single "Wasted On The Way".
1986:  "There'll Be Sad Songs" by Billy Ocean took over at #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.











1986:  Heart posted the sixth Top 10 hit of their career when "Nothin' At All" jumped into the list on this date.










                                        The Outfield had a Top 10 album...

1986:  The debut album Whitney Houston was #1 for a 13th week, and in its 65th week of release no less.  Winner in You from Patti LaBelle was #2 followed by Janet Jackson's Control and Like a Rock from Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band.  The rest of the Top 10:  5150 by Van Halen, Raised on Radio remaining at 6 for Journey, Please by the Pet Shop Boys, Love Zone from Billy Ocean moving into the Top 10, Parade from Prince and Play Deep by the Outfield at #10.
1988:  The Rascals began a reunion tour.
1988:  Bruce Springsteen thrilled fans with a show at the Aston Villa Football Club in Birmingham, England.






1990:  Little Richard received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.












1993:  Whitney Houston released the single "Run To You".
1993:  Some groups, like the Eagles for example, can be adults--others can't.  On this date, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal from John Fogerty, who was trying to recoup legal fees from a battle over song copyrights with the other former members of Creedence Clearwater Revival.  This is 30 years after the band broke up.  Soon they will die and they'll discover that all of this wasn't really that important.
1998:  Bobby Brown was charged with sexual battery at the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel.  What a surprise.
2002:  U2 and the Corrs performed during the Opening Ceremony of the Special Olympics at Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland.
2003:  R.E.M. began the European leg of their first tour in four years at the Tivoli in Utrecht, the Netherlands. 
2006:  Busta Rhymes had the top album with The Big Bang.
2008:  Disturbed had the top album with Indestrucible.


Born This Day:

1932:  O.C. Smith ("Little Green Apples" from 1968) was born in Mansfield, Louisiana; died November 23, 2001 after suffering a heart attack in Los Angeles.

1944:  Ray Davies, the founder and genius behind the Kinks, was born in Muswell Hill, London, England.  (Note:  some websites lazily say Davies was born in London, while some say he was born in Fortis Green.  London is both a city and county, so saying one was born in London doesn't tell us much, while Fortis Green is a neighborhood, not a city.  According to the book 'Legends of Rock Guitar:  The Essential Reference of Rock's Greatest Guitarists' by Pete Prown, Harvey P. Newquist and Jon F. Eiche, Davies was born in Muswell Hill, London.)
1944: Miguel Vicens of Los Bravos ("Black Is Black" from 1966) was born in O Ferrol, A Coruña, Galicia, Spain.
1947:  Joey Molland, songwriter and guitarist for Badfinger, was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England.  (Note:  some websites report Molland was born in Edge Hill, Liverpool, England.  Edge Hill is a district within Liverpool, not its own city.  Reporting a birthplace as Edge Hill, Liverpool implies that Liverpool is a county, which it is not.)
1949:  Greg Munford of Strawberry Alarm Clock
1950:  Joey Kramer, drummer of Aerosmith, was born in the Bronx, New York.  (Note:  many websites lazily say Joey was born in New York City, which of course is made up of several boroughs that are all census-designated.  Joey was born in the Bronx, according to the book 'Aerosmith:  Hard Rock Superstars' by Jeff Burlingame.)

1951: Alan Silson of Smokie ("If You Think You Know How To Love Me") was born in Birkenshaw, Yorkshire, England.

(Note:  some websites say he was born in Birkenshaw, West Yorkshire, England.  West Yorkshire became a county effective in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act of 1972.  Since Silson was born 21 years before this, it is impossible for him to have been born in West Yorkshire and you will never see West Yorkshire listed as his County of Birth on his official birth certificate.)

1951:  Nils Lofgren, a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and also a solo performer, was born in Chicago, Illinois.

1957:  Mark Brzezicki, drummer of Big Country, was born in Slough, Buckinghamshire, England.  (Note:  some websites naively say Mark was born in Slough, Berkshire, England.  Slough was not included in the county of Berkshire until 1974, 17 years after he was born.  Thus, it is impossible for him to have been born in the county of Berkshire and you will never see Berkshire listed as his County of Birth on his official birth certificate.)
1959:  Marcella Detroit (real name Marcella Levy) of Shakespear's Sister and the songwriter of "Lay Down Sally" for Eric Clapton, was born in Detroit, Michigan.
1968:  Sonique ("It Feels So Good" and Sky" from 2000) was born in London.  (Note:  some websites say Sonique was born in Crouch End, London.  Crouch End is an area of London, not a separate city.)
1975:  Justin Carey, bassist of Sixpence None the Richer
1976:  Michael Einziger, co-songwriter and guitarist of Incubus, was born in Los Angeles.