Greetings Rock Voyagers,
It was on this day in musical history:
1956, Police used tear gas to break up a riot that broke out during a Fats Domino concert in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Fats and three of his sidemen suffered minor injuries. It is alleged that a member of the band ate FD's donuts and the big man went berserk. Future musicians were recruited by signing a contract, agreeing not to eat donuts while on tour.
1963, The Konrads, (featuring David Bowie), appeared at Shirley Parish Hall, Shirley, England. The event was MC'd by Shirley Hall from Shirley Parish Hall. She later became, Mrs Shirley Paris-Hall from Shirley Parish Hall.
1964, During a live 'Ready Steady Go!' TV show, singing 'Donna The Prima Donna', Dion walked off the show after becoming irritated by the audience dancing around him. A spokesperson for the teen idol stated that the song in no way reflected the actions and the pop star's opinion of himself. Obviously, he could not see the irony.
1969, "Suspicious Minds" by Elvis Presley topped the US charts and stayed there for a week.
1985, The TV soundtrack from Miami Vice went to No.1 on the US album chart. It spent a total of 11 weeks at No.1, thus confirming that US audiences wouldn't know a good song if they fell over it and mediocrity rules their airwaves.
1986, Singer/songwriter Billy Bragg was arrested after cutting through wire fences at a US Air Base in Norfolk, England. Apparently, officials at the Base weren't concerned about Bragg's illegal entry, but they took offence when he began performing one of his songs.
1991, Karyn White went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Romantic', a No.23 hit in the UK. Once again proving that mediocrity rules in the US.
1991, U2 scored their second UK No.1 single with 'The Fly', taken from their album 'Achtung Baby'. The song was also a showcase for a persona Bono had invented called "The Fly". He took the idea from a sci-fi/horror flick of the same name, whereas a scientist mutates himself into a half man, half fly. He seems to have done an exceptional job with this as one cannot tell when he actually metamorphed.
2003, Fatman Scoop with Crooklyn Clan went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Be Faithful.' Scatman Crothers and Brooklyn Stoop filed a law suit against the two rappers alleging that they had written the song 5 years earlier. It was also found that Crooklyn and Scatman were from the same clan in Brooklyn, NY and that Fatman Scoop and Brooklyn Stoop were from the same ice cream parlour in Crothers, NJ.
2007, Ozzy Osbourne claimed his reputation had been tarnished after a party supposedly involving him was organised by US police officers to round up missing criminal suspects. Over 500 people in North Dakota with outstanding arrest warrants were sent invitations and more than 30 suspects turned up. Osbourne said it was "insulting" that his name had been used but police argued it was a "creative" way to fight crime. Ozzy had been selected because he was due to play a gig in a nearby arena, which was used to explain why he would supposedly have attending the party. Obviously no one had informed Ozzy that his reputation had already been tarnished the day he allowed himself to be seen on television with loathsome son, Jack and talentless twit daughter, Kelly.
1941, Born on this day, Bruce Welch, guitar, The Shadows,
1944, Born on this day, Keith Emerson, keyboards, Emerson Lake and Palmer,
1952, Born on this day, Maxine Nightingale, singer, 1975 single, 'Right Back Where We Started').
1961, Born on this day, Kathryn Dawn Lang, (kd Lang)
1965, Born on this day, Dobby Dall, Poison,
1969, Born on this day, Reginald Arvizu, bass, Korn,
1979, Born on this day, Nelly, (Cornell Haynes Jr)
Hey rockers,
Thought I'd start this entry with a look back over the history of rock'n'roll with:
T'was on this day:
1956 - Record stores were swamped with requests for Elvis' ‘Love Me Tender’ which had not been released yet. Consequently, record stores were swamped with hundreds of copies of Little Richard’s single, ‘Good Golly Miss Molly’, which was released a week prior. No requests had been made from the public to purchase it as yet.
1964 - Rod Stewart recorded his first single ‘Good Morning Little Schoolgirl’. This was later followed up by the single, ‘Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old School Bag’.
1966 - The Rolling Stones appeared on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’. Ed Sullivan appeared on ‘The Rolling Stones Show’ and Ed Sullivan and The Rolling Stones disappeared from television until 1970.
1966 - "The Last Train to Clarksville" was released by the Monkees. The song was penned by singer Davey Jones, an avid ‘Superman’ comic reader. Jones believed the town was named after Clark Kent, Superman’s alter ego and Smallville, the town Kent grew up in.
1973 - BBC Radio banned the song "Star Star" by the Rolling Stones. Studio executives were outraged a decade later when they realised the song they should have banned was, ‘Beast of Burden’, a duet with Bette Midler.
1975 - "Alive" was released by KISS. The album contained live performances from KISS' first three albums. The title of the album was discovered by fans to have a double meaning – it was a live record and also a comedic reference to guitarist Ace Frehley - still alive after years of alcohol and drug abuse.
1979 - Pattie Smith announced that she was performing her last show in front of 85,000 people in Florence, Italy. She returned to performing a decade later, to 85 people at her retirement home in Santa Monica, California.
1980 - "She's So Cold" by the Rolling Stones was released. Many believed the song referred to Jagger’s ex-wife, Bianca, but it’s possible Jagger could have been affected by the weather at the time of writing the song.
1980 - The song "Uptown" was released by Prince, the love symbol, Artist Formerly Known As Prince, The Prince & The Pauper and then Prince.
1992 - Howard Stern appeared as Fartman on the MTV Video Music Awards. He collected the award for best song, clearly proving that the whole show is a load of hot air and really stinks.
1995 - Cyndi Lauper won an Emmy for her guest appearance on ‘Mad About You’. Not surprisingly, it was the only Emmy the show ever received.
Birthdays
Artie Tripp (Mothers Of Invention) 1944
Danny Hutton (Three Dog Night) 1942
Barriemore Barlow (Jethro Tull) 1949
Don Powell (Slade) 1950
Joe Perry (Aerosmith) 1950
Jonnie Fingers (Boomtown Rats) 1956
Siobhan Fahey (Bananarama, Shakespeare's Sister) 1957
Robin Goodridge, English rock drummer 1965
Bill Stevenson (ALL, Descendents, Only Crime, The Last, The Lemonheads) 1963
Big Daddy Kane, American rapper 1968
My profile of this month goes out to a band from Oakland, California who are fast becoming cult heros in their own state. The best way to describe them is DEVO being mutated with The Stray Cats. What you get is a tripped out rockabilly-fused, neutron explosion. The songs are catchy and the live act is a rocket ride to planet cool. Whatever they are, The Phenomenauts are a rockin' live band and cd just doesn't do them justice.
Here's another vid from The Phenomenauts. I think this will sum up what the band is all about. Check out their myspace page: Really Long Link
and their website: www.phenomenauts.com
Looking for a singer in the Geelong area. Have gigs - need someone with talent, passion, commitment and charisma. Contact Chun: noggler@hotmail.com
Adios
August 27th 2009
T’was on this day in 1889, Charles G Conn received a patent for the metal clarinet. This was unsuccessfully preceded by the rubber clarinet and the paper clarinet.
T’was on this day in 1965, that Elvis played host to the Beatles at his home in Bel-Air, California. Elvis introduced the Liverpudlian quads to good old American hospitality, even though he couldn't understand a word they said.
T’was on this day in 1967, Brian Epstein was found dead in his home from an overdose of sleeping pills. Epstein was the manager of the Beatles. Had Epstein also been at the Elvis mansion two years prior?
T’was on this day in 1992, John Lennon's handwritten lyrics to, ‘A Day In The Life’, sold for $87,000 at an auction. Unfortunately, the buyer couldn’t read the lyrics, so forked out $100, 000 for some ‘expert’ to decypher the hand writing. It was later revealed that the letter contained no lyrics at all, but a recipe for 'Spotted Dick', a gastronomic favourite of Lennon's.
T’was on this day in 1997, Steven Segal kicked off a North American music tour to promote his newest film ‘Fire Down Below.’ The tour was cancelled after ten minutes, due to an angry crowd setting fire to the stage. Evidently, Segal sings as good as he acts.
T’was on this day in 1957, Johnny Nash performed ‘A Very Special Love’ on ‘American Bandstand.’ After about 60 seconds into his song, the audience made up of tender teens, boo’d and howled him off the stage. It had become apparent that he was not Johnny Cash, whom the audience had wanted to see. A spokesman for Nash said, “He was all shook up.”
Birthdays:
Daryl Dragon (The Captain and Tennille) 1942
Glenn Matlock (Sex Pistols) 1956
Mike Johnson (Dinosaur Jr.) 1965
Alex Lifeson (Rush) 1953
August 28th 2009
T’was on this day in 1963, Peter, Paul & Mary performed ‘Blowin' In The Wind’ before Civil Rights marchers, who had gathered in Washington to hear Martin Luther King Jr speak. Apparently, the inspiration for the song was watching Bob Dylan perform at an outdoor festival.
T’was on this day in 1967, The Grateful Dead and Big Brother and the Holding Company played at the wake of a Hell's Angels member, who had been struck by a car in San Francisco, California. The irony here is that it was a member of Big Brother & the Holding Company that struck the Hell’s Angel in the first place.
Twas on this day in 1984, The Jacksons’ Victory Tour broke the record for concert ticket sales. The group surpassed the 1.1 million mark in only two months. Unfortunately, the rising cost of plastic surgery and vetenary fees surpassed the 2.2 million mark in only two months.
Stay posted for more news, band profiles and gos. All here at Rock Voyage.
Oh worshippers of the mighty ALL, when I was growing up, I had a dream of becoming the bass master general. Why, you ask? Simply because of a guy named Karl Alvarez, who tore shreds on the bass for surf/ pop/punk band, The Descendents.
The Descendents were formed way back in '79 by powerhouse drummer/songwriter/engineer, Bill Stevenson. Over several years and a couple of line-up changes, the Descendents have endured since '87 with Karl on bass, Bill on drums, Stephen Egerton on guitar and the most famous nerd in rock'n'roll on vocals, Milo Aukerman. Not only was this caffeinated four piece around at the beginning of the punk movement in California, Bill actually played drums for the infamous, Black Flag, at the time Mr Rollins took over from Des on vocals. How cool is that?
Where's My Silly Girl?
Over the years, Descendents songs have become iconic among their legions of fans, even to the extent that bands such as NOFX and Blink 182, have covered Descendents songs on tour. Back here in Oz, Bodyjar always did a rockin' version of 'Coolidge'.
Saludos rockers, I have probably stated this before, but nothing gets my amp buzzing more than chicks who play rock’n’roll. If they happen to be wearing black micro minis and black vamp boots and singing about teenage werewolves, then I’m sure to blow a fuse. Today’s RockVoyage pays homage to the spookily sexy girls of rockabilly / psychobilly music. First up is Ghouls Night Out , a tidy three piece from MA in the US (ironically, where they used to burn witches). GNO features Myra-guitar/vocals, Vampira-bass/vocals and Lily-drums.
GNO
Don't be fooled by the creepy cuteness of these vivacious vamps because their sound is a raw fusion of 60's garage with Misfit's style punk/horror. Songs like: Bully, Demons Are a Ghouls Best Friend and Pleatherface are fast becoming cult classics among their legion of followers. GNO are just the kind of nightmares I enjoy
Thought it was about time to do a tribute piece on a band who is fast rising to the top of the independent scene. Forming from the ashes of another trully great rock/punk band, The Lillingtons, Teenage Bottlerocket are shredding all competition in their wake. With the release of their second CD, Warning Device, about a year ago, this full-on four piece from Wyoming in the US, are conquering the planet. Their cool, melodic riffs and ass-kicking chords work magic on the ears. The old favourite, Blood Bath at Burger King is now a cult favourite amongst fans. Not only are these guys cool for taking the three chord formula to new heights, but they recorded their stuff at the Blasting Room, Fort Collins CO, home to legends of punk, ALL/Descendents. To the nerds out there who have not had the pleasure, here are a couple of vids to educate and entertain. To fans of TB - enjoy
Hey there Rockers,
Seeing the recent Batman flick gave me pang of nostalgia. Heath Ledger gave the performance of his short life (no pun intended) and finally gave credence to the Bat's arch-nemesis, the Joker. It was the Joker's warped-looking face paint that had me all gooey-eyed and it made me think of another bunch of clowns that used to be at the top of the rock'n'roll / sideshow tree. They were: Clowns Of Decadence.
Life's a circus
Not only were COD brilliant musicians, they also had the best stage act around. Flame throwing, juggling, sword swallowing and other feats of carnival curiosities that had the crowd going wild. All this added to the most unique blend of macabre rock/jazz/funk ever to be played. It was an amazing show
Hey there Rock Voyagers, I am overly excited with the return of Roller Derby because two of my favourite things have joined forces to create one hell of an entertaining sport. For the unitiiated, Roller Derby was huge in the 70's, but sort of disappeared in the 80's. Now it's back and gaining popularity by the day. For girls, the concept of roller skating around a rink beating on other chicks, wearing cool and sexy outfits, is a turn on. For guys, the thought of chicks roller skating around a rink, beating on other chicks, wearing tight, sexy outfits, is a turn on. So, what are the negatives? There are none. It's great sport for everyone.
What does this have to do with music you ask? Well, as far I have seen, the chicks involved in this game, have a love of rockabilly, psychabilly or old school rock and live it somehow. For guys or girls who are into chicks with tatts, piercings and all the bad girl stuff, then you will worship these goddesses of the four wheel boot. Remember that this is a global sport and is sure to have a team in your town, so check it out. I dare you!
There's one thing that really gets my drum beating ( I said my drum), and that's hot chicks playing kick-arse rock'n''roll. The Killerbirds are young, hot and play the kind of gutsy, chain-crunching rock that most guys try to imitate and fail. Hailing from Bendigo, this power-house trio have released a killer 4 track EP (produced by Knighty from The Cosmic Psychos and mixed by the guru, Lindsay Gravina), which has already sold out. For those who haven't had the pleasure of seeing or hearing these goddesses of grinding rock, check out the clip below
I have a diverse and broad taste in music but two singers guarenteed to uplift my mood are Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. I will also add Kate Miller-Heidke and The Ramones. Ha ha told you my taste is broad.
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