Shower in the dark day
Clean sparks driving down
Cool in the waterway
Where the baptized drown
Naked in the cold sun
Breathing life like fire
Thought I was the only one
But that was just a lie
Continue reading Lyrics Of The Day: Soundgarden, “4th of July”
Fun Fun Fun
On This Date, July 3rd, in 1976: Brian Wilson made his first appearance in 11 years with The Beach Boys in concert in Anaheim, CA at Anaheim Stadium. It was a co-headlining show with the band America – very appropriate to celebrate the country’s Bicentennial! And yes, I was there! Man, that was a great summer of an amazing year where I was lucky enough to attend concerts by The Who, Queen, Peter Frampton, Yes, Aerosmith and Jeff Beck, among others that my well-worn memory is now too hazy to recall. Happy holiday weekend, everybody!
Photo of Anaheim Stadium on July 3rd, 1976 Courtesy of Ang Jones
Break On Through
On This Date, July 3rd, in 1971: Jim Morrison, legendary singer and lyricist for The Doors – and enduring sex symbol – was found dead in the bathtub of his apartment in Paris, apparently of heart failure. He was 27 years old. Also on this date in 1969, Brian Jones, former guitarist for and founding member of The Rolling Stones was found dead in his swimming pool in Hartfield, England, at the age of 27 years. For decades Jones’ death was ruled to be an accidental drowning, but the 2005 biopic, Stoned (which features great performances and excessive nudity – two thumbs up) shows an alternate version of his demise, based on the deathbed confession of his (alleged) killer. I don’t want to spoil it for you, so be sure to add Stoned to your Netflix Queue or pick it up on Amazon.com for mere pennies.
On July 2nd in 1973: Brian Eno, synthesizer player for British art rock band Roxy Music, announced he was leaving the group after disagreements with singer Brian Ferry. For die-hard Roxy fans interested in an analytical peak into the the groups early (pre-first album) creative history, check out the book Re-make/Re-model: Art, Pop, Fashion and the Making of Roxy Music, 1952-1972 by Michael Bracewell available from Amazon.com at this link.
On this Date in 1980: Silicon Teens released their debut album, Music For Parties. It contained the singles, “Just Like Eddie,” “Memphis, Tennessee,” “Red River Rock” and “Judy In Disguise” – all covers, by the way. The group was the idea of Mute Records creator Daniel Miller and was not a real group. Studio musicians were brought in to play on the records. A group of teenage actors were hired to do the press interviews (though Frank Tovey of Fad Gadget was hired to “play” the lead singer). The “fictional” U.K. mod revivalist group was over by year’s end with one album and four singles. Daniel Miller, by the way, was the lead singer of The Normal (“Warm Leatherette”). I’m pretty sure I have this album on vinyl at home, somewhere.
Flashback Provided by the Nice Boys at The P5 Blogspot: This Day in 80s Music!
