Music History Events: Ambitious Endeavors
October 23, 1995 Def Leppard play shows on three different continents in the same day, starting in Tangier (Africa), then London (Europe), and finally Vancouver (North America). Each show is an acoustic set running 45 minutes; they take the Concorde to the last one, which gets them in Vancouver for a 9 p.m. performance.
January 28, 1985 Lionel Richie hosts the American Music Awards, where he wins five of the eight awards he's nominated for, including Favorite Pop/Rock Male Artist. He can't slow down: After the show, he heads to A&M Recording Studios to record "We Are The World," which he wrote with Michael Jackson.
July 16, 1982 Peter Gabriel launches the 3-day WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance) festival at the Royal Bath and West showground in Somerset, England, with acts including the Drummers Of Burundi, Echo & the Bunnymen, and the Tian Jin dancers from China. It's a financial disaster but artistic success; Gabriel revives it the next year and the festival carries on, branching out to many countries over the next several years.
May 24, 1977 At Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky, Emerson, Lake & Palmer begin an extravagant, 11-month tour with a 70-piece orchestra, 63 roadies, a choir and a karate instructor for drummer Carl Palmer. The tour is a stunning spectacle, but a financial disaster.
December 1, 1965 Overcoming protests from residents worried about their property values, Joan Baez gets approval to open the Institute For The Study Of Nonviolence, a school in Carmel Valley, California. It later moves to Palo Alto and eventually becomes the Resource Center for Nonviolence.
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