1 JULY
In Music History
1986 Misfits issue their second compilation, a self-titled, 20-track release with two songs Metallica later cover: "Green Hell" and "Die, Die My Darling."
1982 Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five release the early rap classic "The Message." It's the first hip-hop hit with lyrics about struggle in the inner city.
1981 Rushton Moreve (original bass guitarist for Steppenwolf) dies in an automobile accident at age 32.
1977 Liv Tyler is born. Her mother is the notorious groupie/muse Bebe Buell, and her father is Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler. By the time Liv is born, Bebe has gone back to her previous boyfriend, Todd Rundgren, and Rundgren raises her as his own. Liv is 11 years old when she finds out Tyler is her real dad.
1975 Ringo Starr divorces his first wife, Maureen.
1975 Lou Reed releases Metal Machine Music, a double album of distortion and guitar feedback.
1973 The Broadway production of Jesus Christ Superstar closes after 711 performances. In August, it is released as a feature film.
1972 The Doobie Brothers release their second album, Toulouse Street. It contains their first hit, "Listen To The Music," and also their cover of "Jesus Is Just Alright," which gives some the impression they're a religious band.
1971 Jethro Tull's Aqualung album is certified Gold.
1969 Sam Phillips sells the legendary Sun Records studio in Memphis.
1969 John Lennon receives 17 facial stitches, and Yoko Ono gets 14 of her own, after a car crash in Scotland.
1963 Roddy Bottum (keyboardist for Faith No More) is born Roswell Christopher Bottum III in Los Angeles, California.
1960 The Shadows release the instrumental call-to-arms "Apache," which goes to #1 in the UK and is a US hit the next year for Jorgen Ingmann. Variations of the song are later sampled on a number of hip-hop tracks.
1952 Dan Aykroyd is born in Ottawa. What's he doing on a music history calendar? He formed The Blues Brothers with John Belushi and also appeared on "We Are The World."
1951 Victor Willis, original lead singer for The Village People, is born. His occupation in the group: policeman.
1 JULY
Featured Events
2009 Thanks to a surge in sales following his death on June 25, Michael Jackson holds the top nine positions on Billboard's Top Pop Catalog Albums chart.
2006 During the brief time when American Idol Season 5 winner Taylor Hicks is the most popular Taylor in music, his first single, "Do I Make You Proud?," hits #1 in America.More
1987 Napalm Death release their debut album, Scum, widely acknowledged as the first grindcore album. It peaks at #7 in the UK Indie chart.
1978 The Texxas Jam takes place at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, with Aerosmith, Van Halen, Journey and Ted Nugent performing. 80,000 fans brave the 100 degree heat, cooled down by fire hoses brought in by the organizers. For Aerosmith, it marks a low point in their career as drug use and infighting are about to break up the band, and their performance suffers.
1971 Missy Elliott is born in Portsmouth, Virginia.
1968 The Band release Music from Big Pink, their debut studio album.More
1967 Scott McKenzie's "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Some Flowers In Your Hair)," written by John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas, reaches its chart peak of #4 in America, where it galvanizes the Flower Power movement.
1966 Bob Dylan releases the "thin, wild mercury" sound of Blonde on Blonde, rock's first double album. Minds are blown.More
1956 The family-friendly Steve Allen Show doesn't want Elvis Presley shaking his legendary pelvis, so he sings "Hound Dog" to a basset hound. Both Elvis and the pooch are dressed in formal wear.More
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