12 AUGUST
Featured Events
2015 Elvis Presley is granted the honor of a second postage stamp bearing his likeness (the first was introduced in 1993). This one features a black-and-white photograph by William Speer of Elvis in 1955 and is part of the Music Icon series that began in 2013.More
1999 The Kiss-produced movie Detroit Rock City, the story of fans on their way to a Kiss concert, opens nationwide.
1994 Woodstock 2 - officially "Woodstock '94" - begins in Saugerties, New York, with Sheryl Crow, Todd Rundgren and Violent Femmes performing. The festival is a success, drawing a crowd of about 350,000.More
1991 Metallica release their fifth album, which is self-titled but commonly known as The Black Album. It goes to #1 in eight countries, including America, where it sells 16 million copies.
1984 Lionel Richie performs his hit song "All Night Long (All Night)," with special lyrics written for the occasion, at the closing ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. One of his backing dancers is a young Cuba Gooding Jr.
1982 The "Performance Video" exhibition opens at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The exhibition, which explores how musicians present their work in "the shallow focal area directly in front of the video camera," includes the music videos for "Mickey" by Toni Basil and "Once In A Lifetime" by Talking Heads.
1978 After years on the road and substantial chart success, The Commodores finally get their first #1 hit with the Lionel Richie-penned ballad "Three Times a Lady," which is taken from their album Natural High. The single stays at #1 for two weeks.
1970 At Harvard, Janis Joplin performs what will be her final concert, ending with a version of Gershwin's "Summertime."
12 AUGUST
In Music History
2023 At Yankee Stadium, Jonas Brothers kick off their Five Albums, One Night tour with a 66-song setlist.
2015 66-year-old Billy Joel becomes a father for the second time when his fourth wife, Alexis, gives birth to a baby girl, Della Rose.
2014 Lauren Bacall, the last living film star mentioned in Madonna's song "Vogue," dies at age 89.
2009 Les Paul, a popular electric guitarist whose inventions and techniques were key to the development of the instrument, dies of complications from pneumonia at age 94.
2008 The Jonas Brothers' A Little Bit Longer, featuring the hit single "Burning Up," debuts at #1 in America.More
2008 Metallica release "The Day That Never Comes," the lead single from their ninth studio album, Death Magnetic.
2008 The man who shot and killed John Lennon, Mark David Chapman, is denied parole for the fifth time.
2001 Shania Twain and her husband/producer Mutt Lange welcome a baby boy, Eja (pronounced "Asia").
1997 MTV debuts the Fleetwood Mac reunion concert The Dance, marking the first time the five had been on stage together since 1982.
1997 Backstreet Boys issue their self-titled debut album in America, where it goes on to sell over 14 million copies. The album was released to international markets a year earlier.
1997 Blues guitarist Luther Allison dies of cancer at age 57 in Madison, Wisconsin.
1996 In Buffalo, New York, Radiohead start a run of 13 shows opening for Alanis Morissette. They use their time to road test songs like "No Surprises" and "Paranoid Android," which appear on their next album, OK Computer.
1996 With ska booming in America, Time magazine runs an article titled "It's a Ska World After All." Sublime, No Doubt and 311 all have albums on the chart.
1992 Composer John Cage dies of a stroke at age 79 in Manhattan, New York.
1989 Richard Marx lands his third consecutive US #1 as "Right Here Waiting" hits the top spot. The song is a love letter to his wife, the actress Cynthia Rhodes, who was away shooting a film when he wrote it.
Rolling Stones Return After 7-Year Layoff With Secret Show
1989The Rolling Stones play a surprise set at the 700-capacity Toad's Place in New Haven, Connecticut, 19 days before the official start of their Steel Wheels Tour.
Looking to give the Steel Wheels setlist a test spin, the Stones scout about and find the ideal venue for an impromptu show: Toad's Place in New Haven. The diminutive nightclub in the heart of the city is surrounded by Yale buildings and has tons of character - bands love the intimate feel, enthusiastic crowds and first-class sound system. It also has the sort of secret entrances that Jagger and company are so fond of. Toad's Place proprietor Mike Spoerndle books a local band called Sons of Bob on the pretense of performing at a "birthday party for an influential music promoter." The band is not told they are actually opening for The Rolling Stones. Tickets for the Saturday night show cost $3.01 (admission to the regularly scheduled Saturday Night Dance Party hosted by local radio station KC 101, which many in the crowd came for) and sell out almost as fast as rumors spread that The Stones might show up. When Keith Richards, Ron Wood, Bill Wyman, Charlie Watts and ever-effervescent Mick Jagger take the stage at the tiny nightspot, it is their first public performance as a band in more than seven years. The hour-long set leaves an indelible mark on the venue, which decades later still puts The Stones at the top of their list of legends who have played there (also on the list: Bob Dylan). The set becomes part of local lore and goes down as the greatest secret show of all time. R.E.M., Radiohead, Beck and Foo Fighters are among the big names that have pulled off unexpected concerts in undersized venues, but nothing compares to the Stones at Toad's.
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