Pick a Day

31 DECEMBER

In Music History

1980 At the Whisky A Go Go in Hollywood, bass player Kathy Valentine plays her first show with The Go-Go's, establishing the lineup that in 1982 becomes the first all-girl band to land a #1 album in America.

1980 Bruce Springsteen plays an epic show at the Nassau Coliseum lasting 4 hours, 38 minutes and covering 38 songs. The best we can tell, it's the longest Springsteen show ever.

1978 Bill Graham's Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco closes its doors for good after the Grateful Dead play their 48th concert there. Also on the bill: The Blues Brothers.

1978 The Runaways play their final show at Cow Palace, near San Francisco. The all-female hard-rock band have been through several line-up changes, but are finally torn apart through conflict between Joan Jett, who wants to take the band in a glam-rock direction, and Lita Ford who wishes to stay in the hard-rock genre. The band formally split the following April.

1978 Bauhaus play their first show, performing at the Cromwell Public House in Wellingborough, UK.

1975 Casablanca Records' single release party for Donna Summer's debut single, "Love To Love You Baby," features a life-size cake in the shape of the singer, flown in all the way from Los Angeles to New York (it's also Summer's 23rd birthday).

1975 Elvis Presley sets a new single-show solo record at a concert in Pontiac, Michigan, which earns $800,000.

1974 Having lost guitarist Bob Welch, Fleetwood Mac make an offer to Lindsey Buckingham, but he comes as a package deal with his girlfriend, Stevie Nicks.More

1973 AC/DC makes their live debut at the Chequers Bar in Sydney, Australia.

1973 Journey, formed by ex-Santana members Gregg Rolie and Neal Schon, make their live debut at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. Rolie handles the lead vocals; Steve Perry doesn't join the group until 1977.

1972 Joe McIntyre of New Kids on the Block is born in Needham, Massachusetts. He joins NKOTB just before turning 13.

1971 The Band plays at the New York Academy of Music with a full horn section. The following year, the show is issued as the double album Rock of Ages.

1971 David Clayton-Thomas and Fred Lipsius play their last show with Blood, Sweat & Tears at a concert in Anaheim, California. Clayton-Thomas goes on to a solo career.

1970 Paul McCartney sues to dissolve The Beatles partnership and breaks ties with Allen Klein, whom the other three members have chosen to manage their affairs. The case drags on for years until the partnership is finally dissolved in a 1975 private agreement.

1969 Jimi Hendrix's new group, Band of Gypsys, make their concert debut at the Fillmore East ballroom in New York City. The show is later released as the album Band Of Gypsys.