BIRTHDAYS
1934: Don Kirshner (Producer / Promoter)
1941: Ronald Wycherley a.k.a. Billy Fury
1943: Roy Estrada (The Mothers)
1948: Jan Hammer (Mahavishnu Orchestra / Jeff Beck Group)
1955: Pete Shelley (Buzzcocks)
1964: Maynard James Keenan (Tool / A Perfect Circle)
EVENTS
1960: Death of singer / songwriter, Eddie Cochran [aged 21].
1965: Bob Dylan’s debut album ‘The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan’ was at No.1 on the UK chart.
1982: Vangelis was at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Chariots of Fire’, which won an Oscar for best original score.
1983: Death of bassist / producer, Felix Pappalardi of Mountain [aged 43].
1992: Death of singer, Sam Kinison [aged 38].
1993: David Bowie went to No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Black Tie White Noise’.
1994: Pink Floyd started a 4-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘The Division Bell’.
1998: Death of Linda McCartney [aged 55].
2020: Death of bassist, Matthew Seligman [aged 64]. The Soft Boys, Thomas Dolby, Bruce Woolley, Thompson Twins, David Bowie & The Dolphin Brothers are some of the artists Matthew created music with over the years.
Has it been 30 years already? ‘The Division Bell’ got reissued in 2014 and I highly recommend the 2LP Vinyl ~ superb mastering by Doug Sax from original masters and full length versions of the songs. Niiiiice!
BIRTHDAYS
1924: Henry Mancini
1939: Dusty Springfield
1947: Lee Kerslake (Uriah Heep)
1947: Gerry Rafferty
1949: Bill “Sputnick” Spooner (The Tubes)
1964: Dave Pirner (Soul Asylum)
1969: Sean Cook (Spiritualized)
EVENTS
1964: The first Rolling Stones album was released in the UK. It went to No.1 two weeks later.
1971: The Rolling Stones released their single “Brown Sugar” b/w “Bitch” on their own new label, Rolling Stones Records.
1991: Temple of the Dog released their self-titled album, featuring Eddie Vedder (vocals), Stone Gossard (guitar), Jeff Ament (bass) & Mike McCready (guitar) of Pearl Jam, along with Chris Cornell (vocals) & Matt Cameron (drums) of Soundgarden. Cornell put the project together, as a tribute to the memory of Mother Love Bone singer, Andrew Wood.
1995: The Rolling Stones played a concert at Western Springs Stadium, Auckland, on their ‘Voodoo Lounge’ tour. I was there!
1983: Death of drummer / guitarist / singer / songwriter, Alexander “Skip” Spence of Jefferson Airplane & Moby Grape [aged 52].
2006: The Rolling Stones played a concert at Western Springs Stadium, Auckland, on their ‘Bigger Bang’ tour. I was there!
2015: Geoff launched the ROCKSTUFF website!
2021: Death of guitarist, Mike Mitchell of The Kingsmen [aged 77].
It was 60 years ago, folks!!! The Stones were Rockin’ and Rollin’ with their debut LP… what LEGENDS!
BIRTHDAYS
1944: Dave Edmunds (Rockpile)
1948: Phil Mogg (UFO)
1955: Jeff Golub (Avenue Blue / Billy Squier / Rod Stewart)
1965: Linda Perry (4 Non Blondes)
1968: Edward John O’Brien (Radiohead)
1980: Patrick “Chilli Con” Carney (The Black Keys)
EVENTS
1966: Jimi Hendrix, The Walker Brothers, Cat Stevens & Engelbert Humperdink all performed on the same bill for a concert at Blackpool Odeon.
1966: The Rolling Stones released their fourth album, ‘Aftermath’.
1974: Lynyrd Skynyrd released their sophomore album, ‘Second Helping’.
2008: Death of drummer, Brian Davison of The Nice & Refugee [aged 65].
2001: Death of guitarist / singer, Joey Ramone of The Ramones [aged 49].
2013: Death of guitarist / singer / songwriter, Dave McArtney of Hello Sailor [aged 62].
2014: Death of guitarist, Shane Gibson of Korn [aged 35].
2017: Death of guitarist, Allan Holdsworth of Tempest, Soft Machine, Gong, Bruford & UK [aged 70].
Singer, Phil Mogg is 76 today! He retired in 2020, but rocked hard with UFO for over 50 of those years ~ what a great band! This “Let It Roll” clip is taken from their primo double live album, ‘Strangers in the Night’ ~ when guitar prodigy, Michael Schenker was in the band.
BIRTHDAYS
1942: Tony Burrows (Edison Lighthouse)
1945: Ritchie Blackmore (Deep Purple / Rainbow)
1949: Sonja Kristina (Curved Air)
1952: Kenny Aaronson (Rick Derringer Band / HSAS / Blue Oyster Cult / Joan Jett & The Blackhearts / Billy Squier / New York Dolls)
1980: Win Butler (Arcade Fire)
EVENTS
1967: David Bowie’s novelty record “The Laughing Gnome” was released in the UK.
1973: Led Zeppelin started a 2-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with ‘Houses of the Holy’.
1975: The Rolling Stones announced that ex-Faces guitarist Ron Wood would be joining the band. Ron became an official member, but was on wages for the next 20 years, becoming a fully paid partner of The Stones in 1995.
1980: Iron Maiden released their self-titled debut LP.
1983: Death of bassist, Pete Farndon of The Pretenders [aged 30].
1983: David Bowie released his ‘Let’s Dance‘ album.
2010: Roger Hodgson performed a concert at ASB Theatre, Auckland. I was there and got to meet him after the show!
2021: Death of guitarist / singer / songwriter, Rusty Young of Poco [aged 75].
Ritchie Blackmore hits 79 today!!! Happy Birthday, Ritchie – the man with the guitar. Such an amazing player on so many incredible songs throughout his career… “Child in Time”, “Highway Star”, “Burn”, “Mistreated”, “Catch the Rainbow”, “Stargazer”, “Gates of Babylon”, “Perfect Strangers”, er, “Smoke on the Water”… the list goes on and on… But I am going to choose a more obscure number from ’71, coz the quality is so good for such ancient footage and I love Ritchie’s really nice clean picking on this one.
Can you believe you’re 79, Ritchie? “No, No, No”!
BIRTHDAYS
1944: Brian Pendleton (The Pretty Things)
1944: Jack Casady (Jefferson Airplane, Hot Tuna)
1945: Lowell George (Little Feat)
1946: Al Green
1947: Michael Chapman (Producer / Songwriter for Sweet / Suzi Quatro / Mud / Blondie / The Knack / Pat Benatar)
1951: Max Weinberg (The E Street Band)
1954: Jimmy Destri (Blondie)
1962: Hillel Slovak (The Red Hot Chili Peppers)
EVENTS
1967: The Rolling Stones performed their first concert behind the Iron Curtain at the Palace of Culture in Warsaw, Poland.
1970: Led Zeppelin became the first band to sell out the Montreal Forum.
1979: Thin Lizzy released their ninth album, ‘Black Rose’.
1979: David Lee Roth of Van Halen collapsed on stage at a concert in Seattle, due to exhaustion and a stomach virus.
1985: Queen performed a concert at Mt. Smart Stadium, Auckland ~ I was there!
2019: Death of keyboardist / guitarist / songwriter, Paul Raymond [aged 73]. Over the years, Paul played with and contributed to music by UFO, Michael Schenker Group, Waysted, Chicken Shack, Savoy Brown / Waysted & more).
I was lucky enough to catch Queen’s one and only show in NZ on ‘The Works’ Tour, exactly three months prior to their legendary Live Aid appearance. What a spectacular night it was! Being amongst the enthusiastic crowd of around 30,000 and witnessing Queen on stage at last really got the heart racing! It was an incredible performance, with ultimate showman Freddie in fine singing form, despite being quite clearly inebriated and swearing like a trooper, haha. “Hello New Zealand, we’re gonna have one muthafucker of a time”…. and it was!!
QUEEN Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland, NZ: 13 April, 1985
Machines (Back to Humans)
Tear It Up
Tie Your Mother Down
Under Pressure
Somebody to Love
Killer Queen
Seven Seas of Rhye
Keep Yourself Alive
Liar
It’s a Hard Life
Dragon Attack
Now I’m Here
Is This the World We Created…?
Love of My Life
Guitar Solo
Brighton Rock
Another One Bites the Dust
Hammer to Fall
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Bohemian Rhapsody
Radio Ga Ga
Encore 1: I Want to Break Free
Jailhouse Rock (with Tony Hadley)
Encore 2: We Will Rock You
We Are the Champions
God Save the Queen
1992: Crowded House played a concert at Auckland Town Hall ~ I was there!
2000: Gavin Rossdale of Bush collapsed at the end of a concert in Los Angeles. He fully recovered the next day.
2019: Death of Paul Raymond, keyboardist / guitarist for UFO, Michael Schenker Group, Chicken Shack, Savoy Brown, Waysted & more (aged 73).
Lowell George was a brilliant, melodic songwriter / singer / guitarist (especially on slide), but he was never going to get old with his lifestyle. He was only 34 when he died. Here’s a rare Little Feat live video clip ~ you’ll need to turn it up LOUD!
BIRTHDAYS
1932: Herbert Buckingham Khaury a.k.a. Tiny Tim
1933: Montserrat Caballé
1940: Herbie Hancock
1944: Joachim Fritz Krauledat a.k.a. John Kay (Steppenwolf)
1952: John Sinclair (The Babys / Black Sabbath / The Cult / Heavy Metal Kids / Uriah Heep / Ozzy Osbourne / Savoy Brown / Spinal Tap)
1954: Pat Travers
1958: Will Sergeant (Echo & The Bunnymen / Electrafixion)
1958: Les Pattinson (Echo & The Bunnymen)
1961: Lisa Gerrard (Dead Can Dance)
1965: Sean Welch (Beautiful South)
1967: Sarah Cracknell (Saint Etienne)
1978: Guy Berryman (Coldplay)
EVENTS
1954: Bill Haley recorded “Rock Around the Clock” at Pythian Temple Studios in New York City.
1963: Bob Dylan performed a legendary concert at the Town Hall in New York City.
2000: The members of Metallica filed a suit against Napster, and three Universities for copyright infringement.
Pat Travers is 70 today! Happy Birthday to a guy that has contributed a lot to the sound of guitar rock over the years, with killer riffs and great songs, like this one…
BIRTHDAYS
1946: Bob Harris (BBC DJ & TV presenter)
1956: Neville Staples (The Specials)
1958: Stuart Adamson (Skids / Big Country)
1965: Nigel Pulsford (Bush)
1969: Cerys Matthews (Catatonia)
1987: Joscelyn Stoker a.k.a. Joss Stone
EVENTS
1961: Bob Dylan played his first official live gig, in New York City at Gerde’s Folk City.
1970: Peter Green quit Fleetwood Mac while on tour in Germany. To avoid breach of contract he agreed to finish the tour.
1977: Alice Cooper played to an audience of 40,000 in Sydney, Australia. At that time it was the largest crowd to attend a rock concert in the country’s history.
1980: Judas Priest released their sixth album, ‘British Steel’.
1981: Eddie Van Halen married Valerie Bertinelli.
1998: Van Halen played a concert at North Shore Events Centre, Auckland. I was there and met the band before the show!
2013: Robert Plant performed a concert at Vector Arena, Auckland ~ I was there! So was my sister, Marion (she took the photo above). Below is his great rendition of “Ramble On”, captured live in Auckland, NZ on 11th April, 2013.
2017: Death of guitarist / singer / songwriter, J. Geils of The J. Geils Band [aged 71].
BIRTHDAYS
1936: Bobbie Smith (The Spinners)
1947: Burke Shelley (Budgie)
1947: Bunny Livingston Wailer (Bob Marley & The Wailers)
1953: Terry Roche (The Roches)
1957: Steven Gustafson (10,000 Maniacs)
1959: Brian Setzer (Stray Cats)
1960: Afrika Bambaataa
1960: Katrina Leskanich (Katrina & The Waves)
1963: Warren DiMartini (Ratt)
1964: Alan Wren a.k.a. Reni (The Stone Roses)
1965: Tim “Herb” Alexander (Primus)
EVENTS
1962: Death of bassist / vocalist, Stuart Sutcliffe of The Beatles [aged 21].
1970: Paul McCartney announced the disbandment of The Beatles.
1972: Isaac Hayes won an Oscar for the Best Music, Original Song award for the song “Shaft”.
1975: Death of Ronnie Quinton (Ritchie Blackmore’s personal roadie)
1977: Supertramp released their fifth album, ‘Even in the Quietest Moments…’.
1982: Iron Maiden’s “The Number of the Beast” was #1 on the British album chart.
2000: Sony Music Entertainment announced plans to make its first commercial digital downloads available.
2017: Death of bassist, Banner Thomas of Molly Hatchet [aged 63].
2018: Fleetwood Mac announced that they had fired guitarist / singer / songwriter, Lindsey Buckingham and he would be replaced by Neil Finn (Crowded House / Split Enz) & Mike Campbell (The Heartbreakers).
2019: IRIS released her second single, “Lost When I’m Found”.
Remembering Burke Shelley on his birthday! Sadly, he passed away at the age of 71, on 10 January, 2022. Burke was a hugely under-rated singer / songwriter / bassist and leader of Budgie. They were around for decades, but never gained the popularity at the time of Zep, Sabbath, Purple, etc. Now original pressings of Budgie records are very collectable and rare ~ and awesome! So many great songs ~ this one was made famous when Metallica covered it…
BIRTHDAYS
1932: Carl Perkins
1944: Gene Parsons (The Byrds)
1961: Mark Kelly (Marillion)
1980: Albert Hammond Jr. (The Strokes)
EVENTS
1966: Jeff Beck collapsed on stage during a Yardbirds gig in Marseilles, France.
1973: Newly signed to EMI, Queen played a showcase gig for the label at Marquee Club, London.
1976: Death of folk singer / songwriter, Phil Ochs [aged 35].
1994: Pantera entered the U.S. album chart at No.1 with ‘Far Beyond Driven’.
1997: Soundgarden announced their disbandment. (They re-formed 13 years later).
2017: Death of comedian / singer / songwriter, John Clarke a.k.a. Fred Dagg [aged 68].
2022: Death of singer / songwriter / guitarist, Chris Bailey of The Saints [aged 65].
As It Began: It all started for Queen in the early ’70s with this great song ~ first single and first track on their first LP, released in ’73.
BIRTHDAYS
1929: Jacques Brel
1942: Roger Chapman (Family)
1944: Keef Hartley (John Mayall Band / Keef Hartley Band / Dog Soldier)
1947: Steve Howe (Yes / Asia / GTR)
1951: Mel Schacher (Grand Funk Railroad)
1955: Alex Van Halen
1962: Jeffrey Isbell a.k.a. Izzy Stradlin (Guns N Roses)
1963: Julian Lennon
1963: Donita Sparks (L7)
EVENTS
1970: The movie ‘Woodstock’ premiered in London.
1994: An electrician discovered Kurt Cobain’s dead body at Kurt & Courtney’s house in Seattle.
1997: Death of singer / songwriter / pianist, Laura Nyro [aged 49].
2007: Kings of Leon started a 2-week run at No.1 on UK album chart with ‘Because of the Times’.
2010: Death of former Sex Pistols manager, Malcolm McLaren [aged 64].
2017: Death of drummer, Keni Richards of Autograph [aged 60].
Steeeeeeeeve ~ Happy Birthday! Yes, Mr. Howe turns 77 today. A master of the guitar, there is no doubt that Steve is one of the most outstanding players of the instrument in the history of human kind. So difficult to pick only one Yes track with scorching guitar work from Steve Howe. It took me all morning to decide, but figured ya can’t go wrong with “Starship Trooper”! This clip lovingly edited together by a Yes fan, using Philip Howe’s footage from ‘Yessongs’.