Alice Cooper Was a Band
On This Date, August 12th in 1972: The band called Alice Cooper (Dennis Dunaway, Neal Smith, Glen Buxton, Michael Bruce and Vincent Furnier) reached the top of the U.K. singles chart with “School’s Out,” which spent three weeks on top. It was the band’s only number one single in the U.K.
I Like Jerry’s Shirt In This Photo
Jerry Garcia, guitarist and songwriter for the Grateful Dead and undeniably one of contemporary rock music’s most enduring pop culture icons, was born on this day, August 1st, in 1942.
Today is also a day to remember the late Tommy Bolin, guitarist for the James Gang and Deep Purple, who died of a heroin overdose at the very young age of just 25, and who was born on this day in 1951.
Last but not least, Happy Birthday to Joe Elliot of Def Leppard who was born in 1959. Def Leppard can still kick any band’s ass live.
“Walk Don’t Run”
This past Sunday, June 14th, Bob Bogle, guitarist for the legendary and wildly influential instrumental surf rock band The Ventures, passed away after a lengthy battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. He was 75 years old. My friend and colleague Steve Stav, a truly marvelous writer, has posted a very personal remembrance of and fitting tribute to Bogle on his blog, Intermittent Signals, which you can read by following this link. RIP, Bob.
And they wandered in
From the city of St. John
Without a dime
Wearing coats that shined
Both red and green
Colors from their sunny island
Continue reading Lyrics of the Day: Steely Dan’s “The Royal Scam”
“Wouldn’t It Be Nice…”
On This Day, May 16th in 1966: The Beach Boys released the controversial album Pet Sounds, which is considered by many to be one of the best and most influential albums in popular music history. I confess that I haven’t listened to this album in a couple of years, but I am going to put it on right now, because it really is just amazing.