Music History X 06.26.09: June 22-28
Posted by Jacob Leo on 06.26.2009
In the debut of Music History X we look at this week in the history of music, including Motorhead, Prince, Elvis Presley, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Van Halen...and Puff Daddy? Take a look inside and find out what they did to earn a spot in this column!
Alright, my first column for 411music, are you ready? Here is how it is going to happen: First, I'm going to let you guys know what this column will be about and then I'll tell you a little bit about myself before getting into the actual article alright? Well it better be alright because I'm writing the damn thing and that's how I'm doing it.
This column is going to span the time frame of a week in the history of music from the date of Monday through Sunday. As you can see, this week is from the 22nd (Monday) through the 28th (Sunday). Good job, I knew you'd figure it out! Anyways, I will be discussing something major that has happened on each day of that particular week, with one of those being the main part of the article that I will go in depth on. How do I choose which one you ask? The answer: don't worry about it, it's just the way the cookie crumbles. This article will span the 40s to today with no real guidelines on where to stop.
Now, like I promised, I'll tell you a bit about me so you can understand a little about where I am coming from. Sound good? Well I am a music history geek and not afraid to say it. The word geek gets a bad connotation but honestly, I don't give a rat's ass. I freely call myself one when it comes to music because it truly is my passion. I love to know about the history of what I love and that's where this column came from. That makes sense right? As for my tastes, I prefer heavier music but I don't discriminate. As you will see I will involve all types in this column. I have played guitar for 5 years and own a beautiful sunburst orange Les Paul. I'm not great, but I'm passable. I also have played football for the past 12 years of my life including going to 3 AZ State Championship games and winning 2 of them. I just graduated High School and am going to USC next year. Any questions? Good, I didn't think so. Now on to the main column, shall we go?
Rhetorical question, smart ass…
June 22 - Prince is Prince once more
I will start off this column with a little historical fact about one of my favorite musicians ever. His name was Prince and he was one of the most successful and dynamic artists of all time but in the 1990's Prince's fame was waning and he wanted to do his own thing. In order to get out of his contract with Warner Bros records Prince came up with an idea that found a loophole in his contract. You see, in the Warner Bros deal, Prince could change his name and he would still be under contract. In fact, he wasn't allowed to record for another label under any name. No matter though, Prince switched his name to a symbol and thereby outsmarted the record label. Seven years after this change however on June 22, 2000, The Artist Formally Known as Prince officially returned to using the name Prince after Warner Bros had ended the contract on their own.
June 23 - Elton claims his crown
On this date we commemorate another piece of rock royalty as in 1990 Elton John had his first #1 hit in the UK with the single "Sacrifice". You read that correctly, it took all the way until 1990 for Elton John to score a #1 UK single. He had had 6 US #1s up to that point and 50 UK top 40 singles, but this was a first in his homeland. While the song isn't nearly as well known in America as it is in the UK, Elton has often referred to it as one of his favorites and a sequel to an earlier hit, the much-beloved "Your Song". "Sacrifice", along with B-Side "Healing Hands", stayed at the top spot for 6 weeks and enjoyed an unprecedented 26 week reign in the top 10 in France!
June 24 - A legend is born
On this Day in 1944 rock pioneer Mick Fleetwood was born. Fleetwood is, of course, the namesake of the band Fleetwood Mac, one of the most successful rock bands of all time. Fleetwood Mac was a great blues band in the late sixties and before obtaining a more pop sound with the addition of Stevie Nicks in the mid-70s. Fleetwood Mac is also well known as being one of the most unstable bands in history. Despite being around since 1967, Fleetwood Mac has never had a band lineup that lasted more then 2 years and Mick is the only member to have seen every era of the band. While talking about Mick, here is a fun bit of history for you: Mick Fleetwood was at one point so hooked on cocaine that he would often pass out during concerts if he did not receive his mandatory lines of coke. Mick would have his roadies come on stage in mid concert with lines ready so that he could snort while continuing to play the drums.
30 seconds after that last line…
June 25 - Oh, you ate one too?
June 25, 1985 saw Van Halen grab the #1 spot on the charts with their second album post-Roth, OU812. While the Van Hagar lineup is often the butt of jokes now-a-days, this album had a healthy stay at the top thanks to 4 top 5 hits including #1 singles "When It's Love" and "Black and Blue". Many people thought that the band could not survive without DLR but with the release of their second straight #1 album without him many of those people were silenced. I am a huge Van Halen fan myself and Roth was obviously the better fit for the band and made the best music with them, although I do have a respect for Sammy that many others do not. I find this to be a decent enough album as well despite Eddie's tuned down guitar. Fun fact about the album: The album was named as a joke to make fun of DLR's recently released Eat ‘Em and Smile. If read out loud, OU812 sounds like "Oh you ate one too" and that is where the joke stems from. Do you think its funny? Let's see if I can get an informal poll going in the comments…
or
which do you pick?
June 26 - The King takes his final bow
On this date we celebrate one of the greatest ever performing his final show. On June 26, 1977 Elvis Aaron Presley played the last concert of his life. On this date, Elvis preformed in Indianapolis at the Market Square Arena to a sold out crowd and was said to have played one of the best gigs he had played in years. His voice was said to be strong and his presence on stage was remarkable. The King had reigned for the last time. Less then 2 months after this show, Elvis would pass away in his home. He was 42. It is tough to try to find the words to say about Elvis, but the good thing is that right now, I don't have to. Elvis was the King and that is for sure, and pretty soon I will spend a column commemorating his life when we get to the week of his actual death. Until then, this date is to celebrate his life and his career.
June 27 - Metal Gods have their day
June 27th has been a very active date in music history. The biggest event on this date is no doubt another Elvis piece of history as in 1968 he had his famous comeback special, although since we just talked about Elvis I will go with another personal favorite of mine. On June 27, 1981 a little 3 piece band from England had their only #1 album of their career with No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith. This band was of course Motorhead. (If anyone knows how to do the umlauts, let me know in the comments). Motorhead is still going today and has a fantastic catalog but are often overlooked in music history. They are incredibly influential in the history of metal and speed metal in particular yet they are mainly remembered only for "Ace of Spades" (coincidently track 1 on this album). No Sleep ‘Til Hammersmith is a fantastic live record and marks the peak of popularity of one of rock's most underrated bands, and that is what sets June 27th as a date belonging to Motorhead.
listen to that song and tell me that they are a one-trick pony
June 28 - Tribute to a fallen great
We move on now to more recent times for the date of June 28, 1997. On this date Puff Daddy and Faith Evans combined with the music of the Police to release a tribute to one of raps fallen sons, Biggie Smalls. "I'll Be Missing You" is the highlight of Puffy's career as far as I am concerned and it was an emotional track that actually worked perfectly with the music of "I'll Be Watching You" by The Police. Now, I am not a huge fan of rap but I know when I hear a good song no matter what genre and Biggie was on the greatest in the rap game. It is sad that music's grim reaper took him so soon when we still have talentless hacks like Soulja Boy and Mike Jones littering our airwaves. This song was a fitting and great tribute though that stayed at the top spot for 3 weeks. Kudos to Puffy Daddy (or Puffy, or P. Diddy, or Diddy, or whatever the hell he goes by now) for the best song of his career and RIP to the Notorious B.I.G.
That's it for the debut issue of Music History X. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I liked making it for you. Don't hesitate to leave some comments and tell me what you think or tell me something you'd like me to write about next week. I leave you now, with my video obsession of the week. This is the video I can't stop playing on youtube and it can be anything, no limits! Here is my first pick…
That may be the greatest cross-genre combo of all time.
