BIRTHDAYS
1942: James Marshall “Jimi” Hendrix
1945: Randy Brecker
1962: Mike Bordin (Faith No More)
1962: Charlie Benante (Anthrax)
1965: Fiachna O’Braonain (Hothouse Flowers)
1969: Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge / Slash)
1978: Mike Skinner (The Streets)
EVENTS
1967: The Beatles released their ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ album.
1969: The Rolling Stones played the first of four shows at Madison Square Garden, New York City.
1970: George Harrison released his triple album set, ‘All Things Must Pass’.
1971: Alice Cooper released the ‘Killer’ album, the fourth LP by the original group.
1983: Ozzy Osbourne released his double live album, ‘Speak Of The Devil’. (It was titled as ‘Talk Of The Devil’ in the UK).
2006: Death of DJ, Alan “Fluff” Freeman [aged 79].
Jimi Hendrix ~ He only walked on the third stone from the sun for 27 years, but the huge impression of musical expression he made will be felt forever!
BIRTHDAYS
1939: Annie Mae Bullock a.k.a. Tina Turner
1945: John McVie (Fleetwood Mac)
1946: Burt Reiter (Focus)
1970: Ron Jones (The Flaming Lips)
EVENTS
1968: Cream played their farewell concert at the Royal Albert Hall, with Yes & Taste as support.
1976: Kevin Godley & Lol Creme left 10cc to work as a duo.
1983: David Bowie performed his ‘Serious Moonlight’ concert at Western Springs Stadium, Auckland ~ I was there! (Ticket & program shown here)
1990: Public Enemy played a concert at Logan Campbell Centre, Auckland ~ I was there!
1995: Alice In Chains were at No.1 on the US album chart with their self-titled album.
2011: Death of Keef Hartley, of John Mayall Band, Keef Hartley Band & Dog Soldier [aged 67].
Bowie‘s amazing performance at Western Springs on 26 November, 1983 still holds the record for largest audience of paying attendees at a concert in New Zealand. There were over 83,000 ticket-holders in the crowd (including my sister and I). Estimations take the figure to around 90,000, as many more people jumped the perimeter fences to get in. Check out this very interesting mini-doco about the event:
BIRTHDAYS
1941: Percy Sledge
1959: Steve Rothery (Marillion)
1963: Holly Cole
1964: Mark Lanegan (Screaming Trees / Queens of the Stone Age / The Gutter Twins / Mad Season)
EVENTS
1974: Death of singer / songwriter, Nick Drake [aged 26].
1976: Rick Wakeman re-joined Yes, during sessions for the ‘Going for the One’ album.
1976: The Band performed their final concert, documented by Martin Scorsese as ‘The Last Waltz‘. Guests included Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Dr. John, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, and Neil Young, among others!
1997: Yes released their ‘Open Your Eyes’ album.
Eric Clapton was one of the many special guests to perform at the fantastic final concert by The Band, 44 years ago ~ The Last Waltz:
BIRTHDAYS
1868: Scott Joplin
1941: Donald “Duck” Dunn (Booker T. & the MGs / The Blues Brothers)
1941: Peter Best (The Beatles)
1942: Billy Connolly
1944: Bev Bevan (The Move / ELO / Black Sabbath)
1955: Clem Burke (Blondie)
1962: John Squire (The Stone Roses)
1970: Chad Taylor (Live)
EVENTS
1980: Yes released their double live album, ‘Yesshows’.
1991: Death of drummer, Paul Caravello a.k.a. Eric Carr of Kiss [aged 41].
1991: Death of Farrokh Bulsara a.k.a. Freddie Mercury [aged 45].
1993: Death of blues guitarist, Albert Collins [aged 61].
2008: Death of drummer, Michael Lee [aged 39].
Rest in Peace, Freddie!
Albert Collins, 27 years gone. From ice cold to scorching hot, Albert had a blues guitar style like no other. I experienced his raw talent live, decades ago at Auckland Town Hall. It was something like this…
BIRTHDAYS
1948: Tony Bourge (Budgie)
1954: Bruce Hornsby
EVENTS
1899: The world’s first jukebox was installed at San Francisco’s Palais Royal Hotel.
1974: Sweet released their third album in the UK, ‘Desolation Boulevard’. A different version of the album was issued in USA in July, 1975.
1974: The Rolling Stones scored their 5th US No.1 album with ‘It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll’.
1975: Queen started a 9-week run at No.1 in the UK with “Bohemian Rhapsody”.
1981: AC/DC released their album, ‘For Those About to Rock We Salute You’.
1983: Death of bassist / singer, Tom Evans of Badfinger [aged 36].
1986: Genesis played a concert at Western Springs Stadium, Auckland — I was there!
2015: Death of trumpeter, Cynthia Robinson of Sly & The Family Stone [aged 69].
Happy 72nd Birthday to Tony Bourge, original guitarist for Welsh power trio, Budgie! They never got the popularity and recognition they deserved, but Budgie was one of the best heavy rock bands of the 70s! Here’s an impeccable Budgie song from their third album, ‘Never Turn Your Back On a Friend’ (1973).
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 70th 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 72 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].
2015: The Ruts played a concert at Bodega, Wellington ~ I was there!
Happy Birthday to Joe Walsh ~ is he really 73???!!! 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 68th 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!
