1965 - This is the day 46 years ago when 24 year old Bob Dylan released his classic song, Like A Rolling Stone. Let's take a trip back to when Dylan changed from being acoustic folk to being electric rock, and song writing for rock'n'roll music changed forever. Here's an amazing press conference of this 24 year old, back in '65, demonstrating clearly the aura and charisma of Dylan, and, in the main, the stupidity, ignorance, and lack of research from the media reps who attended. His frustration and keen sense of humour shines through as he attempts to answer some of these dumb journos. Hilarious. Then we have for you a Hendrix version of Rolling Stone at Monterey Pop. Why? Because there are no available videos of Dylan's original version.
1965 - Lovin' Spoonful's big hit record, Do You Believe in Magic, was released today, and this poor audio video is taken directly from the televised live performance on the well-known American show Hullabaloo. The song was a worldwide hit, and according to the lyrics, the magic referenced in the title is the power of music to supply happiness and freedom to both those who make it and those who listen to it. In this video - like many videos in this era - is especially good for the frenetic and excited visuals of the girls in the audience. As much as r'n'r may have been a chauvinist's domain, it would never have happened without the energy and rhythm of females. Females made rock'n'roll real in my opinion.
1968 - This is the day that Jane Asher announced she and Paul McCartney has broken off their engagement. Asher was a strong woman in her own right, an actress who had a successful career, then a second career as a cake decorator, chef, and cake shop proprietor. Her mother was a professor of the oboe at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and taught Beatles producer George Martin how to play the instrument, and taught McCartney how to play the recorder. Her record producer brother, Peter, was one half of the sixties hit-makers Peter & Gordon.
1974 - This is the day back then when Joey Ramone became the lead vocalist for the Ramones, one of the true, fair dinkum rock'n'roll bands, who did it straight up, four-to-the-floor, beginning, middle, end, and stay on the track for two minutes; if they were lucky enough they'd be on the same track at the end. This first video, Judy Is A Punk, after that, one of their best I Wanna Be Sedated, both from Joey's year of joining.
1975 - It was on this day that Steve Van Zandt performed for the first time in concert as a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band...this was the year...this was the band...this was the song...this was the performance...this was the night...a musical powerhouse...feel the power.
1979 - Electric Light Orchestra released their song, don't bring Me Down today, and Jeff Lynne took out advertisements dedicating the release of the song to Skylab. Jeff Lynne sure as hell is a talent and has done some great stuff through his long and varied career, and the guy certainly knows a good rock feel. Get this live video for proof...not frantic...just a groove. Not everyone's cuppa tea, I know. I don't care if it's sanitised music in some folks' view, I love the groove. Apologies for the advert at the beginning. I remember when I was a television rock music reporter for Australia's A Current Affair, way back in 1977, I think, and my first TV reporter concert coverage critique was for ELO. I wanted to make an impression. I discovered that the band had tapes for the string sections, thus partially miming. And that's what I reported…well, it was a great debut for me. Caused headlines in the papers, Current Affair loved me, and I never got to interview ELO again, such was their wrath. Don't blame 'em. This song was the last track from their 1979 album Discovery, and was a worldwide hit. The drum track is in fact a tape loop, coming from On the Run, only slowed down. The song was dedicated to the NASA Skylab space station, which re-entered the Earth's atmosphere over the Indian Ocean and Western Australia on 11 July, 1979. Did you know that?
1986 - It's now a quarter of a century to the day since the film biography, Sid and Nancy had its premiere in London. Did you see this movie first time around? The real-life events on which the movie is based, just a few years earlier tare a cautionary tale; tragic, sad, ironical, and such an indictment on the cut and thrust of the music industry, which now has thousands of people laying strewn, dead, on the side of the rock road. This was particularly sad, two people dead, aged 20 and 22, their lives only really beginning, and torn apart by drugs, sharks and leeches, all of which infiltrate the music industry. Following is a trailer of the movie, a scene from the movie, and a video tribute from a youtuber.
