BIRTHDAYS
1943: Steve Miller (Steve Miller Band)
1945: Brian Connolly (Sweet)
1947: Brian Johnson (Geordie / AC/DC)
1948: Lucius Ross (Funkadelic)
1950: Edward “Fast Eddie” Clarke (Motorhead / Fastway)
1951: “Sir” Bob Geldof (The Boomtown Rats)
1959: Troy Luccketta (Tesla)
1961: David Bryson (Counting Crows)
EVENTS
1966: Jimi Hendrix, Mitch Mitchell & Noel Redding first played together, as Jimi Hendrix Experience.
1969: The first programme of ‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus’ TV series was broadcast in Britain.
1970: ‘Led Zeppelin III’ was released.
1974: AC/DC performed their first gig with Bon Scott as lead singer, at Brighton Le-Sands Masonic Hall, Australia.
1974: Mike Oldfield’s ‘Tubular Bells’ went to No.1 on the UK album chart.
1996: The Sex Pistols played a concert at Mt. Smart Supertop, Auckland. I was there!
2011: Death of guitarist, Bert Jansch [aged 67].
2018: Diggin’ Bones played their first full gig at The Cabana, Napier.
Beneath the glitter and glam, Brian Connolly was a fine singer indeed ~ he would have been 79 today. Surprisingly, Brian lacked confidence in his abilities and took to drinking, to calm his nerves before performances. This led to full on alcoholism, causing his career and health to spiral down to a sad ending. He died on 9th of February, 1997, aged only 51.
Sweet ruled the singles charts in the 70s, with a string of irresistible pop / rock numbers including “Ballroom Blitz”, “Fox on the Run” & “Love is Like Oxygen”. Their best work can be found on their albums though, where they had a much harder edge and stretched out with excellent musicianship ~ check out ‘Sweet Fanny Adams’, ‘Desolation Boulevard’, ‘Give Us a Wink’ & ‘Level Headed’.
