13 AUGUST
Featured Events
2004 At the opening ceremonies of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Björk wears a dress that unfurls about 10,000 feet of fabric, which is stretched to cover the viewing area where a world map is then projected. All of this takes place while she sings "Oceania."More
1993 Steely Dan, who broke up in 1981, re-form and begin a US tour at The Palace in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Walter Becker explains: "We spent all the money from the last tour. We made $800 each and it's all gone now."
1990 While warming up for an outdoor concert at Wingate Field in Flatbush, Brooklyn, Curtis Mayfield is paralyzed when a lighting tower falls from the stage and onto his back. He remains a quadriplegic for the next nine years until his death in 1999.
1975 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band play the first of five sold-out shows at The Bottom Line in New York City. The shows help establish Springsteen as a great live performer and draw national attention.
1973 Lynyrd Skynyrd release their debut album, Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd. It's an impressive set, containing the Skynyrd classics "Tuesday's Gone," "Simple Man" and "Free Bird."More
1966 The Lovin' Spoonful's "Summer In The City" hits #1 for the first of three weeks, becoming the first chart-topper with street sounds in the mix.
13 AUGUST
In Music History
2022 Beyoncé's album Renaissance goes to #1 in America, making her the first female solo artist to have her first seven albums top the chart.
2017 David Bowie makes a posthumous appearance in the TV series Twin Peaks: The Return. The late singer, who made a cameo appearance as a deranged FBI agent in the cult classic's 1991 prequel, Fire Walk With Me, was supposed to return for the show's revival but died before filming. Director David Lynch used archive footage from the movie to bring Bowie to life in the episode.
2011 At the Indiana State Fair, tragedy strikes before a Sugarland performance when a gust of high wind blows off rigging, causing the stage to collapse on the crowd, killing five attendees and injuring dozens more. Janet Jackson and Lady Antebellum, both of whom were scheduled to perform, cancel their appearances.
2009 Allen Shellenberger (drummer for Lit) dies of cancer at age 39 in Artesia, California.
2005 Francine Barker (the original Peaches of Peaches & Herb) dies after a long illness in Hyattsville, Maryland, at age 58.
2003 Songwriter/producer Ed Townsend dies of a heart attack at age 74 in San Bernardino, California. He co-wrote Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On."
1994 Day 2 of Woodstock '94 welcomes Irish rockers The Cranberries, who entertain the crowd with their forthcoming single "Zombie" and a rendition of the Carpenters' "(They Long to Be) Close to You." In a nod to his 1969 performance, original Woodstock veteran Joe Cocker revisits "With A Little Help From My Friends" on the more prestigious North Stage.
1993 The fantasy-comedy movie Heart and Souls premieres in US theaters. Star Robert Downey Jr. sings the US national anthem in the film, backed by B.B. King on guitar. King also performs his classic "The Thrill is Gone."
1988 Robert Smith of The Cure marries his childhood sweetheart, Mary Poole, at the Benedictine Monastery in Sussex, England. Poole appeared in the "Just Like Heaven" video and inspired the hit "Lovesong."
1982 In response to plummeting record sales (which the industry blames on the sale of blank cassette tapes), major labels CBS, Atlantic, and Warner Brothers announce a series of major staff cuts.
1982 Southern Soul singer Joe Tex dies of a heart attack at age 47 in Navasota, Texas.
1980 At his home in Woodstock, New York, Todd Rundgren and four guests are victims of an invasion when four masked men break in and strip it of anything valuable.
1977 Bachman-Turner Overdrive announce that the group is splitting up. They reunite five years later.
1971 Saxophonist King Curtis dies at age 37 after being stabbed outside of his apartment in New York City. Known for his distinctive playing on The Coasters' "Yakety Yak."
A Wind of Change Blows Behind the Iron Curtain
1989After floating down the Moskva River and passing Gorky Park, the Scorpions play the Moscow Music Peace Festival, inspiring their song "Wind Of Change."
On one of the press days leading up to the festival, Scorpions manager Doc McGhee organized a boat trip that gave Scorpions lead singer Klaus Meine the feeling that the world was changing. Old cultural barriers seemed to be falling away as Mikhail Gorbachev worked to dissolve the Soviet Union and open up Russia to the West. The tension that Meine knew all his life living in West Germany in the shadow of the Berlin Wall was finally dissipating. This is when he started whistling the melody for what would become "Wind Of Change." The festival is of great significance to Europeans, but American bands top the bill, with Bon Jovi headlining and Ozzy Osbourne, Mötley Crüe, Skid Row and Cinderella also performing. To the Scorpions, a German band, it's not just a gig, it's a turing point in geopolitical relations. After the festival, the band fleshes out the song, which is released on their 1990 album Crazy World. It becomes an anthem for freedom, peace, and hope throughout Europe, especially when the Berlin Wall comes down in November, a few months after the song was released. It remains a cultural and historical touchstone for generations to come.
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