BIRTHDAYS
1940: Terry Gilliam (Monty Python’s Flying Circus)
1950: Steven Van Zandt a.k.a. Little Steven (E Street Band)
1950: Martina Weymouth (Talking Heads)
1962: Neil Fraser (Tindersticks)
EVENTS
1968: The Beatles released ‘The Beatles’ (Double White) album.
1982: UK group, Japan announced they were splitting up.
1997: Death of INXS singer / songwriter, Michael Hutchence [aged 37].
2014: The Rolling Stones played a concert at Mt. Smart Stadium, Auckland — I was there!
2017: Death of singer / songwriter, Tommy Keene [aged 59].
Happy 69th Birthday to bassist / singer / songwriter, Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club! She and drummer / husband Chris Frantz (also of Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club) have been married for over 39 years. I caught Talking Heads live at Dunedin’s Regent Theatre in 1978 on the ‘More Songs About Buildings and Food’ Tour. The show was just the four of them on stage, under stark white light – and it was great! The following album was entitled ‘Fear of Music’ and remains one of my favourites, being produced by Brian Eno. This song (co-written by Tina) comes from that LP, as performed in 1983 for the brilliant ‘Stop Making Sense’ film.
BIRTHDAYS
1904: Coleman Hawkins
1948: Alphonse Mouzon
1948: John “Rabbit” Bundrick (Free / The Who)
1948: Lonnie Jordan (War)
1948: Mick Rock (Legendary photographer)
1965: Bjork Gudmundsdottir
1968: Alex James (Blur)
EVENTS
1970: Jimi Hendrix was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with “Voodoo Chile”, 2 months after his death.
1981: Queen & David Bowie were at No.1 in the UK with “Under Pressure”.
1988: Former Led Zeppelin guitarist, Jimmy Page began his first-ever solo tour in Birmingham.
1991: Aerosmith made a guest appearance in the Simpsons TV animated comedy.
1995: Death of Led Zeppelin manager, Peter Grant [aged 60].
2017: Death of singer, David Cassidy a.k.a. Keith of The Partridge Family [aged 67].
2017: Death of singer, Devin Lima of LFO [aged 41].
Bit of an unsung hero, John “Rabbit” Bundrick is 71 today! He has contributed keyboard playing and vocals to many albums and tours by Free, The Who, Pete Townshend, Roger Waters, Bob Marley, Johnny Nash, Sandy Denny, Eric Burdon, Joan Armatrading, John Martyn, Donovan, Free-offshoot band, Kossoff / Kirke / Tetsu / Rabbit and even played on the film version of ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’! Following is a superb song by Free, which Rabbit plays on. Happy Birthday, John.
BIRTHDAYS
1941: Malcolm John Rebennack a.k.a. Dr. John
1942: Norman Greenbaum
1946: Duane Allman
1947: Joe Walsh (James Gang / Eagles)
1954: Frank Marino (Mahogany Rush)
1962: Gail Ann Dorsey (David Bowie Band)
1965: Mike Diamond (Beastie Boys)
1986: Jared Followill (Kings of Leon)
EVENTS
1955: “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley & The Comets hit the no.1 spot on the U.K. singles chart.
1973: Alice Cooper released the ‘Muscle Of Love’ album, the final LP recorded by the original band.
1973: Keith Moon collapsed on stage at a Who concert in San Francisco. A drummer from the audience volunteered to replace him for the final three songs.
2005: Death of singer / songwriter / guitarist, Chris Whitley [aged 45].
Happy Birthday to Joe Walsh ~ is he really 72???!!! I wonder how many of those years he can actually remember! With James Gang, Eagles or solo, Joe is always a blast on the guitar, sings in his own unique way and is such a funny guy! My fave ice blocks as a kid were always Crazy Joe Cola!
BIRTHDAYS
1937: Ray Collins (Frank Zappa Band)
1952: Anthony Eddie Rayner “The Prof” (Split Enz)
1960: Matt Sorum (The Cult / Guns N’ Roses / Velvet Revolver)
1971: Justin Chancellor (Tool)
EVENTS
1955: Carl Perkins recorded “Blue Suede Shoes” at Sun Studios in Memphis.
1973: Emerson, Lake & Palmer released their album, ‘Brain Salad Surgery’.
1982: Led Zeppelin released their ‘Coda’ album, a compilation of live tracks and rarities.
1994: Nirvana entered the US album chart at No.1 with ‘Unplugged in New York.’
1994: CSN member, David Crosby had a successful liver transplant operation in Los Angeles.
2000: The Beatles started an 11-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘1’.
2003: Death of Spooky Tooth / Humble pie bassist, Greg Ridley [aged 56].
2007: Death of singer, Kevin DuBrow of Quiet Riot [aged 52].
Happy 67th Birthday to greatly talented keyboardist / writer / arranger / producer, Eddie Rayner. He was an integral player in legendary New Zealand group, Split Enz (1974-1985), but was also a member of Space Waltz, Crowded House and went on to be the driving force of the ENZSO project.
Eddie has contributed to and performed on such a wide range of songs over the decades, it’s difficult to choose just one video clip… the wonderfully weird early Enz stuff, like “Spellbound”… the moving ENZSO rendition of “Message to My Girl”, featuring Rikki Morris… The most popular song won out — and Eddie is in full flight on this one, captured on the 2009 Enz reunion tour:
Rest in Peace, Malcolm Young. The powerhouse energy behind AC/DC, he was easily one of the greatest rhythm guitarists ever and co-writer of all the Acca Dacca classics. He gave his all for rock ~ for that we salute you, sir!
BIRTHDAYS
1936: Don Cherry
1949: Herman Rarebell (Scorpions)
1950: Graham Parker
1950: Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot / Ozzy Osbourne Band / Whitesnake)
1962: Kirk Hammett (Metallica)
EVENTS
1972: Death of Danny Whitten, guitarist with Neil Young’s Crazy Horse band [aged 29].
1974: Genesis released their double album, ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’. It was the last record by the group to feature founding member / singer / songwriter, Peter Gabriel.
1988: Run DMC played a concert at Logan Campbell Centre, Auckland ~ I was there!
1989: Whitesnake released their album, ‘Slip Of The Tongue’, which featured Steve Via on guitar.
2003: Death of composer / arranger, Michael Kamen [aged 55].
2016: Death of singer, Sharon Jones of Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings [aged 60].
2017: Death of guitarist / songwriter, Malcolm Young of AC/DC [aged 64].
Happy Birthday to guitarist, Kirk Hammett of Metallica — he’s 57 today! Check out “Fade to Black”, one of his best Metallica guitar compositions…
BIRTHDAYS
1937: Peter Cook
1938: Gordon Lightfoot
1942: Martin Scorsese
1944: Gene Clark (The Byrds)
1946: Martin Barre (Jethro Tull)
1947: Robert Antoni (The Nazz / Utopia)
1966: Jeff Buckley
1982: Hollie Smith
EVENTS
1973: The Who released their double album ‘Quadrophenia’.
1975: Tommy Bolin released his debut album, ‘Teaser’.
1978: Alice Cooper released his ‘From The Inside’ album.
1979: Death of Jethro Tull bassist, John Glascock [aged 28].
1980: John Lennon (& Yoko Ono) released his final album, ‘Double Fantasy’.
2001: Death of Can guitarist, Michael Karoli [aged 53].
2014: Death of singer, Jimmy Ruffin, of The Temptations [aged 78].
Hugely talented singer / songwriter / guitarist Jeff Buckley would have been 53 today, but sadly ~ like his father before him ~ he died way too young. I feel greatly honoured to have met him, after his amazing performance at St. James Theatre, Auckland on 9 February, 1996. He signed the back of my concert ticket, shown above.
The video below was filmed at the Bataclan in Paris, France, on 11 February 1995. Rest in Peace, Jeff, and all the innocent souls that were slaughtered and suffered at the hands of terrorists, at that venue on Black Friday 13 November, 2015. (The bombs that Jeff refers to at the start of this clip are the nuclear tests that the French were conducting at the time in the South Pacific).
“Maybe there’s a God above
But all I’ve ever learned from love
Was how to shoot somebody who outdrew ya
And it’s not a cry that you hear at night
It’s not somebody who’s seen the light
It’s a cold and it’s a broken Hallelujah…”
BIRTHDAYS
1945: Paul Raymond (UFO / Michael Schenker Group / Chicken Shack / Savoy Brown / Waysted & more)
1962: Gary “Mani” Mounfield (The Stone Roses)
1964: Diana Krall
1965: David Kushner (Velvet Revolver)
EVENTS
1968: The Jimi Hendrix Experience went to No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Electric Ladyland’.
1974: Brian Eno released his second album, ‘Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)’
1976: Thin Lizzy performed at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. The concert was filmed and released as the ‘Live and Dangerous’ video.
1990: I interviewed Jon Lord of Deep Purple.
1991: AC/DC played a concert at Mt. Smart Stadium, Auckland. I was there and met them before the show!
1999: Yngwie Malmsteen played a concert at The Powerstation, Auckland~ I was there!
2017: Death of electronics / keyboard player, Richard Michael Davies a.k.a. DikMik of Hawkwind [aged 74].
I am immensely proud that Jon Lord’s estate chose a quote from one of my interviews, to use in the official Jon Lord biography, ‘All Those Years Ago’. (See the attached photo). Here are a few more quotes from that particular chat I had with Jon…
“But we’re going to have to do ‘Smoke on the Water’. I mean it’s a classic riff — it’s the riff that bought me my house!”
“I got to the point where I decided I’m not a keyboard player, I’m a Hammond organ player. It’s the instrument of my choice for over twenty years and I really, really enjoy playing it. It’s totally unique and it gives that edge to Purple’s sound, which sets it apart from other bands.”
“Paicey, yeah, he’s my brother-in-law. We’re both married to twin sisters. The answer to the obvious question is no, we don’t get them mixed up. Well, not very often anyway!”
– Jon Lord; 16 November, 1990
BIRTHDAYS
1941: Rick Kemp (Steeleye Span)
1945: Frida Lyngstad (Abba)
1949: Steve Fossen (Heart)
1954: Tony Thompson (Chic / Power Station)
EVENTS
1974: Roxy Music released their fourth album, ‘Country Life’.
1983: Ozzy Osbourne released his third studio album, ‘Bark at the Moon’.
1992: Ozzy Osbourne announced his retirement from touring. (Yeah right, Ozzy!)
2016: Death of singer / songwriter / pianist, Mose Allison [aged 89].
Tony Thompson was a mighty good drummer, as heard on all those classic Chic songs and with the supergroup, The Power Station. He very nearly replaced John Bonham in Led Zeppelin too, but that’s another story. Check out his playing on this big hit from 1985… sadly, he and singer, Robert Palmer are no longer with us.
BIRTHDAYS
1949: James Young (Styx)
1951: Barry Brandt (Angel)
1953: Frankie Banali (Quiet Riot / W.A.S.P.)
1964: Joseph “Run” Simmons (Run DMC)
1965: Stuart Stapels (Tindersticks)
EVENTS
1967: A package tour with Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Move, The Nice & Amen Corner kicked off at the Royal Albert Hall, London.
1979: Neil Young & Crazy Horse released the double album, ‘Live Rust‘.
1990: Record producer, Frank Farin fired Rob Pilatus & Fabrice Morvan of Milli Vanilli, because they wanted to sing on their second album.
Jimi sure stood out in a crowd, but can you spot Mitch, Noel and members of Pink Floyd? Roy Wood is there too… the others must be the rest of The Move and Amen Corner.
