July 29

Births

1946: Neal Doughty (Keyboards for REO Speedwagon)

1953: Geddy Lee (Bass & Vocals for Rush)

1953: Patti Scialfa (Background Singer for Bruce Springsteen (Also his wife)

1959: John Sykes (Guitar for Thin Lizzy, Audioslave & Whitesnake)

1962: Martin McCarrick (Guitar for Therapy?)

1966: Martina McBride (Country Singer)

1973: Wanya Morris (Vocals for Boyz II Men)

1973: James Otto (Country Artist)

1977: Danger Mouse (Brian Joseph Burton ) (Producer)

Events

1959: The Isley Brothers recorded the hit single "Shout".

1961: Dick Clark presents his very first Caravan of Stars revue at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, NJ, featuring The Jive Five, the Shirelles, and Clarence "Frogman" Henry.

1963: Capitol Records sends disc jockeys around the US a list of hot rod terms to assist DJs when talking about the latest music trend to help promote The Beach Boys latest release ‘Little Deuce Coupe’.

1965: The Beatles' second movie, Help!, premieres in London at the Pavilion Theatre, with none other than the Queen attending. (Though reviews are mixed, the movie is a financial success.) Later, manager Brian Epstein and the group attend a post-premiere reception at the Dorchester Hotel.

1966: While out riding his Triumph 500 motorbike near Woodstock, NY, Bob Dylan's brakes lock up, causing him to fly off the bike, seriously injuring his neck vertebrae. Dylan was absent from the public spotlight for a full nine months, with rumors circulating that he'd actually broken his neck. Decades later, there's still some doubt as to how exaggerated his condition was; some claim he privately sought to use the injury as an excuse to disappear from the spotlight (or that there was no accident at all). The hiatus gives him a chance to record what would become known as the "Basement Tapes" in a big pink house in Woodstock with a band called The Hawks, who would later record their first album, Music From Big Pink.

1966: Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker made their live debut as Cream at The Twisted Wheel, Manchester, England.

1966: The Grateful Dead played their first ever show outside the US when they appeared in Vancouver.

1966: The US teen magazine Datebook reprints a John Lennon quote from an interview, conducted by Maureen Cleave, which had been published in the London Evening Standard newspaper: "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue with that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first - rock 'n' roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me."  The resulting uproar causes the Beatles' records to be burned in America, especially the South, and death threats to be issued against the band on their upcoming US tour -- despite a hastily assembled press conference in Chicago, at which John explains, "If I had said television is more popular than Jesus, I might have got away with it, but I just happened to be talking to a friend and I used the words "Beatles" as a remote thing, not as what I think - as Beatles, as those other Beatles like other people see us... I'm not saying that we're better or greater, or comparing us with Jesus Christ as a person or God as a thing or whatever it is. I just said what I said and it was wrong. Or it was taken wrong. And now it's all this... I never meant it to be a lousy anti-religious thing. I apologize if that will make you happy. I still don't know quite what I've done. I've tried to tell you what I did do but if you want me to apologize, if that will make you happy, then OK, I'm sorry."

1967: The Doors started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Light My Fire'. The group's first US No.1.

1968: Refusing to play in front of the country's segregated audiences, Gram Parsons leaves the Byrds on the eve of a South African tour.

1968: The Beatles recorded the single "Hey Jude".

1970: The Rolling Stones' contract with Decca expires, and the group takes the opportunity to split with notorious manager Allen Klein. Delivering one more song to the label to fulfill its obligation, the famously unreleasable "C********* Blues," they also begin the process of forming their own label, Rolling Stones Records (which will feature the debut of the band's new "lips" logo).

1973: While performing on stage at Madison Square Garden, Led Zeppelin has $180,000 of their gate receipts from the previous night's show stolen from their safe at the Drake Hotel. This incident, one of the largest such crimes in the history of NYC, will be immortalized in the band's 1976 concert documentary The Song Remains The Same. The crooks are never found.

1974: Mamas And The Papas singer Cass Elliot died in her sleep from a heart attack after playing a sold out show in London, England. She was staying at Harry Nilson's London flat when she died. Her only solo hit was 'Dream a Little Dream of Me,' which also featured the rest of The Mamas and The Papas.

1978: Prince appeared on the US charts for the first time with 'Soft and Wet'.

1978: The film soundtrack to Grease featuring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John went to No.1 on the US album chart.

1982: Andy Taylor of Duran Duran weds Tracie Wilson.

1986: Seventies soft-rocker Paul Davis ("I Go Crazy") is shot during an attempted robbery at a Nashville hotel. He eventually recovers.

1987: Michigan governor James Blanchard declares today "Four Tops Day" in honor of the Motown legends.

1990: Elton John checks into a hospital in Chicago, IL, for bulimia and substance abuse.

1998: Miramax studios announces their purchase of the rights to the Beatles' 1964 film A Hard Day's Night, intending to remaster it in time for the film's 35th anniversary.

2005: An anonymous bidder pays one million dollars for the original handwritten lyrics to the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love" at the Hippodrome nightclub in London.

2006: Pamela Anderson gets married for the second time. This time to Kid Rock on a yacht off the French resort of St Tropez. The 39-year-old former Baywatch star divorced from rock star Tommy Lee in 1998, had recently got back together with Kid Rock, after a brief engagement ended in 2003. Anderson and Rock split after four months of marriage.

2007: Heart problems forced Kiss singer and guitarist Paul Stanley to abandon a show in California. Paramedics stopped and restarted his heart to give it a regular rhythm after his heart spontaneously jumped to 190 plus beats per minute.

July 27

Births

1933: Nick Reynolds (Guitar & Vocals for The Kingston Trio)

1944: Bobby Gentry (Roberta Lee Streeter) (Singer / Songwriter)

1955: Bobby Rondinelli (Drummer for Rainbow, Quiet Riot, Black Sabbath & Blue Oyster Cult)

1962: Karl Mueller (Bass for Soul Asylum)

1964: Rex Brown (Bass for Pantera & Down)

1967: Juliana Hatfield (Singer / Songwriter for The Blake Babies & Solo)

1973: Abe Cunningham (Drummer for The Deftones)

1974: Pete Yorn (Singer / Songwriter)

1975: Fred Mascherino (Lead Vocals & Guitar for Taking Back Sunday)

1990: Cheyenne Kimball (Singer & Guitar for Gloriana)

Events

1958: A study by Esso oil (formerly Standard Oil, eventually Exxon) finds that drivers speed more and therefore waste more gas when listening to the new fad of rock and roll music.

1968: A riot erupts at Chicago's Grant Park after Sly and the Family Stone fail to appear for a free concert.

1968:  ‘Mama’ Cass Elliot released her first solo single following the break up of The Mamas and Papas. ’Dream a Little Dream of Me’ had been around since 1931 and had been recorded by Frank Sinatra, Frankie Laine and many others. Cass' version would be the most successful when it peaked at No. 12 on the US chart.

1969: Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees collapses from "nervous exhaustion" just as the group is about to embark on its first US tour, but it's actually a ruse designed to hasten his exit from the group.

1974: John Denver started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Annie's Song', the singers second US No.1. The song was a tribute to his wife and was written in 10 minutes while he was on a ski lift.

1974: Lynyrd Skynyrd released the single "Sweet Home Alabama".

1976: John Lennon ends his four-year fight to stay in the US as a special government hearing granted him a green card (Number A-17-597-321).

1976: Bruce Springsteen's meteoric career rise is stalled when he sues manager Mike Appel for fraud and breach of contract, keeping him from performing or recording for over a year.

1976: After years of alleged physical and verbal abuse, and having left over the Fourth of July with nothing but pocket change and a gas station credit card, Tina Turner files for divorce from her husband of sixteen years, Ike.

1979: A firebomb destroys Alice Cooper's Indian art store in Scottsdale, AZ, causing $200,000 in damage to, among other things, some of Cooper's gold records. The singer jokes that perhaps a "disco music freak" torched the place, as Alice had been quite vocal about not liking the new musical trend.

1981: Fleetwood Mac Singer Stevie Nicks’ first solo album, "Bella Donna," was released.

1983: Madonna's self-titled debut album was released.

1983: Metallica began their first tour entitled "Kill 'em all for one." The tour ended on September 3, 1983.

1985: The Eurythmics were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'There Must Be An Angel (Playing With My Heart)', the duo's only UK No.1 single. The song featured a harmonica solo by Stevie Wonder.

1991: Jani Lane (Singer for Warrant) marries model Bobbie Brown.

1992: Michael Jackson sues the London tabloid Daily Mirror over claims that too many plastic surgeries had left him permanently disfigured.

1994: Bob Seger serves jury duty in Michigan and, as the foreman in a criminal trial, finds the defendant guilty.

1996: The Spice Girls scored their first No.1 UK single with 'Wannabe'. Seven weeks at No.1 the song won Best British-Written Single at the 1997 Ivor Novello Awards and Best Single at the 1997 Brit Awards. The Girl Power song became the best-selling single by a female group selling over six million copies worldwide.

2001: Leon Wilkeson (Bass for Lynyrd Skynyrd) apparently had been suffering from chronic liver and lung disease and his cause of death on this day was deemed 'from natural causes.' He was 49 years old.

2002: Mariah Carey checked herself into an undisclosed hospital suffering from "extreme exhaustion." The singer cancelled all public appearances, including her headlining appearance at MTV's 20th birthday party. Her record company denied tabloid reports that Carey tried to commit suicide, saying she did have cuts on her body, but the injuries were unintentional after breaking some dishes and glasses.

2002: John Entwistle (Bassist for The Who) died in hotel room 658 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on 27 June 2002 one day before the scheduled first show of The Who's 2002 US tour. He had gone to bed that night with a stripper/groupie, Alycen Rowse, who woke at 10 am to find Entwistle cold and unresponsive. The Clark County medical examiner determined that death was due to a heart attack induced by cocaine.

2006: The company behind file-sharing service Kazaa agrees to pay record labels over $115 million in damages for piracy.

2007: Paul Stanley (KISS) had to leave a concert due to his pulse being twice the normal level. The band performed as a trio with Gene Simmons singing all songs. 

July 26

Births

1940: Dobie Gray (Pop Singer)

1943: Mick Jagger (Singer for The Rolling Stones)

1949: Roger Taylor (Drummer for Queen)

1961: Gary Cherone (Vocalist for Extreme & Van Halen)

1965: Jim Lindberg (Singer for Pennywise)

1980: Dave 'Brown Sound' Baksh (Lead Guitar & Keyboards for Sum 41)

Events

1965: Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson marries Carol Freedman, the first of what would be four wives, in Los Angeles.

1968: Much to Mick Jagger's fury, the new Rolling Stones album Beggar's Banquet, scheduled to be released today in the US, is held back after Atlantic fears the cover, featuring a filthy men's room urinal with graffiti on the walls, will be found offensive. The album is eventually released with an all-white cover that looks like an invitation. (The original cover is now available on CD.)

1968: The Jackson 5, discovered by Motown mainstay Gladys Knight (not, as legend has it, Diana Ross), signs to the label today for a one-year contract.

1969: The Rolling Stones' founding member and guitarist Brian Jones, found dead in his swimming pool just weeks earlier, is memorialized on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine which was on sale for 35 cents.

1969: The 5th Dimension's two lead singers, Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. are married. The duo will score their own hit in 1977 with "You Don't Have To Be A Star (To Be In My Show)."

1974: London graffiti artists hired by the Rolling Stones' management spray paint various local sites as promotion for the groups' latest single, "It's Only Rock And Roll."

1976: With endless touring and recording, as well as various addictions, tearing the band apart, Three Dog Night plays their last concert tonight in San Francisco, CA. (The group would reunite in 1981, but that reunion would prove short-lived.)

1977: While on tour in New Orleans, Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant receives shocking news by phone: his eldest son Karac has died of a respiratory infection, causing the remainder of the group's tour dates to be canceled -- and rumors to begin swirling about guitarist Jimmy Page's interest in the occult and a "curse" it might have laid on the band.

1977: Elvis Costello was arrested as he performed outside a CBS Records sales conference at The London Hilton Hotel and was fined $10.

1984: Prince's movie "Purple Rain" premiered in Hollywood, CA.

1987: Billy Joel plays an historic concert in Leningrad, one of the first major filmed concerts behind the "Iron Curtain" of Soviet Russia and a huge hit with local fans, who carry Joel off the stage in triumph at the end of the set. The show will eventually be released as the album KOHUEPT (Concert).

1990: Brent Mydland (Keyboardist for The Grateful Dead) died from a drug overdose at age 38.

1992: KISS frontman Paul Stanley marries Pamela Bowen. They divorced in 2001.

1992: American singer and Motown artist, Mary Wells, referred to as The First Lady of Motown and who had a 1964 US No. 1 single ‘My Guy’, dies aged 49 of laryngeal cancer. Forced to give up her career and with no health insurance, forced to sell her home, Wells’ old Motown friends including Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, The Temptations and Martha Reeves, along with Dionne Warwick, Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin and Bonnie Raitt, personally pledged donations in support.

2000: The file-sharing service Napster is ordered by a US federal judge to cease trading copyrighted music files in the next 48 hours.

2000: The Beastie Boys postponed their tour with Rage Against the Machine due to Mike D.'s shoulder injury incurred July 22 in a bicycle accident.

2000: Oasis were booed off stage during a show at the Paleo Festival in Switzerland after singer Liam Gallagher had insulted the 35,000 strong audience.  They were hit with bottles, cans and coins.

2001: Sir Paul McCartney announced his engagement to Heather Mills, the anti-landmine campaigner and former model. The couple split-up in 2006.

2003: Vegas mainstay Tom Jones in inducted into the Gaming Hall Of Fame, along with Harrah's exec Phil Satre.

2006: Arvel Jett Reeves is sentenced to eight months in jail for "bugging" Michael Jackson's Gulfstream jet with two digital video recorders in order to get some media-worthy private conversation.

2006: Paul McCartney's first guitar is sold at an Abbey Road Studios auction for about half a million dollars.