A mixture of music and news events from 1964

A mixture of music and news events from 1963

A mixture of music and news events from 1962

A mixture of music and news events from 1961

A mixture of music and news events from 1960

A mixture of music and news events from 1958

HUEY LEWIS-HEART OF ROCK N ROLL

300k/m Highway Rock 'N' Roll

rock, roll, rock and roll, rock n roll, fun, funny, not punk, not goth, not alternative, not divine, not occult, hit by lightninig. neonrhino.com

I'M SO AFRAID

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

GO YOUR OWN WAY

SMALL TOWN
John Mellencamp, previously known as John Cougar and then John Cougar Mellencamp, (born October 7, 1951 in Seymour, Indiana) is a Grammy-winning American rock singer-songwriter, musician and   more...occasional actor.

Mellencamp was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 10, 2008 by Billy Joel.





After about 18 months of traveling back and forth from Indiana to New York City, Mellencamp finally found someone receptive to his music and image in Tony DeFries of MainMan Management (at the time well-known for representing David Bowie, one of Mellencamp's musical idols). DeFries insisted that Mellencamp's first album, Chestnut Street Incident, a collection of covers and derivative originals (Mellencamp had written just a handful of songs prior to landing a record deal and was still very raw), be released under the stage name Johnny Cougar, a move Mellencamp claims was made without his knowledge and against his will. The album was a total failure, selling just 12,000 copies mostly in Indiana.

Mellencamp recorded The Kid Inside in 1977, the follow-up to Chestnut Street Incident, but DeFries eventually decided against releasing the album and Mellencamp was dropped from MCA records. Mellencamp hooked up with Rod Stewart's manager Billy Gaff after parting ways with DeFries and was signed to the tiny Riva Records label. At Gaff's request, Mellencamp moved to London, England for nearly a year to record, promote and tour behind 1978's A Biography. The record wasn't released in the United States, but yielded a No. 1 hit in Australia with "I Need a Lover." Riva Records added "I Need a Lover" to Mellencamp's next album, 1979's John Cougar (which did see domestic release); and it became a No. 28 single in the United States in late 1979. Rocker Pat Benatar recorded "I Need a Lover" on her debut album In the Heat of the Night, and her version garnered a good deal of FM radio airplay even though it was not issued as a single in the United States.

In 1980, Mellencamp returned with the Steve Cropper-produced Nothin' Matters And What If It Did, which yielded two Top 40 singles — "This Time" (No. 27) and "Ain't Even Done With The Night" (No. 17) and showed continued improvement in both his songwriting and singing. However, Mellencamp wasn't particularly fond of the album, or its two hit singles.

"The singles were stupid little pop songs," he told Record Magazine in 1983. "I take no credit for that record. It wasn't like the title was made up it wasn't supposed to be punky or cocky like some people thought. Toward the end, I didn't even go to the studio. Me and the guys in the band thought we were finished, anyway. It was the most expensive record I ever made. It cost $280,000, do you believe that? The worst thing was that I could have gone on making records like that for hundreds of years. Hell, as long as you sell a few records and the record company isn't putting lot of money into promotion, you're making money for 'em and that's all they care about. PolyGram loved Nothin' Matters. They thought I was going to turn into the next Neil Diamond."

In 1982, Mellencamp released his breakthrough album, American Fool (see 1982 in music). The album had a rootsy, garage-rock vibe and spawned the hit singles "Hurts So Good," which spent four weeks at No. 2, and "Jack and Diane," which parked itself at No. 1 for four weeks. Those mega-hits sent American Fool to the top of the charts. A third single, "Hand To Hold On To," made it to No. 19 and was a staple in his concerts throughout the 1980s. Additionally, "Hurts So Good" spent 16 weeks in the Top Ten (more than any other single in the 1980s); and "Jack and Diane" is, to date, Mellencamp's only single to ever top the Billboard Hot 100. "Hurts So Good" went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance at the 25th Grammys. Despite the fact that American Fool made Mellencamp a superstar, he doesn't consider it anywhere close to a masterpiece.

"To be   less

TIME
Pink Floyd are an English rock band from Cambridge. The band initially earned recognition for their psychedelic and space rock music, and, as they evolved, for their progressive rock music. Pink Floyd   more...were known for philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album cover art, and elaborate live shows. One of rock music's most successful acts, the group have sold over 200 million albums worldwide including 74.5 million albums in the United States alone.Pink Floyd influenced progressive rock artists of the 1970s such as Genesis and Yes; and contemporary artists such as Nine Inch Nails and Dream Theater.

Pink Floyd had moderate mainstream success and were one of the most popular bands in the London underground music scene in the late 1960s as a psychedelic band led by Syd Barrett. However, Barrett's erratic behaviour eventually forced his colleagues to replace him with guitarist and singer David Gilmour. After Barrett's departure, singer and bass player Roger Waters gradually became the dominant and driving force in the group by the late-1970s, until his eventual departure from the group in 1985. The band recorded several albums, achieving worldwide success with The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975),
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DEUCE
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in December 1972. Easily identified by its members' trademark face paint and stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid and late-1970s   more...on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting, smoking guitars, and pyrotechnics. Kiss has been awarded 24 gold albums to date.The group's worldwide sales exceed 80 million albums.
The original lineup of Paul Stanley (vocals and rhythm guitar), Gene Simmons (vocals and bass guitar), Ace Frehley (lead guitar and vocals), and Peter Criss (drums, percussion and vocals) is the most successful and identifiable. With their makeup and costumes, they took on the personae of comic book-style characters: The Demon (Simmons), Starchild (Stanley), Space Ace (Frehley), and Catman (Criss). The band explains that the fans were the ones who ultimately chose their makeup designs. The "Demon" makeup reflected Gene's cynicism and dark elements, as well as his love for comic books. Paul Stanley became the "Starchild" due to his tendency to be referred to as the "starry-eyed lover" and "hopeless romantic." Ace Frehley's "Space Ace" makeup was a reflection of him wanting to go for a ride in a space ship and supposedly being from another planet. Peter Criss' "Catman" makeup was in accordance with the belief that Peter had nine lives due to his rough childhood in Brooklyn. Due to creative differences, both Criss and Frehley were out of the group by 1982. The band's commercial fortunes had also waned considerably by that point.
In 1983, Kiss abandoned its makeup and enjoyed a commercial resurgence throughout the rest of the decade. Buoyed by a wave of Kiss nostalgia in the 1990s, the band announced a reunion of the original lineup (with makeup) in 1996. The resulting Kiss Alive/Worldwide/Lost Cities/Reunion Tour was the top-grossing act of 1996 and 1997. Criss and Frehley have since left Kiss again and have been replaced by Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer, respectively. The band continues to perform with makeup, while Stanley and Simmons have remained the only two constant members.
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I CAN'T TELL YOU WHY
The Eagles are an American rock band that was formed in Los Angeles, California during the early 1970s. With five Number 1 singles and six Number 1 albums, the Eagles were one of the   more...most successful recording artists of the decade. At the end of the 20th century, two of their albums, Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971–1975 and Hotel California, ranked among the ten best-selling albums according to the Recording Industry Association of America. The best-selling studio album Hotel California is rated as the thirty-seventh album in the Rolling Stone list "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", and the band was ranked number 75 on Rolling Stone's 2004 list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.They also have the best selling album in the U.S. to date with Eagles: Their Greatest Hits 1971–1975.

The Eagles broke up in 1980, but reunited in 1994 for Hell Freezes Over, a mix of live and new studio tracks. They have toured intermittently since then, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

In 2007, the Eagles released Long Road out of Eden, their first full studio album in 28 years.

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BLACK MAGIC WOMAN
Santana is a flexible number of musicians accompanying Carlos Santana since the late 1960s. Just like Santana himself, the band is known for helping make Latin rock famous in the rest   more...of the world.

The band was formed in 1966 in San Francisco. The first members were Carlos Santana (lead guitar), Tom Frazier (guitar), Mike Carabello (percussion), Rod Harper (drums), Gus Rodriguez (bass) and Gregg Rolie (keyboard, vocal). In the following years the members of the group changed frequently for a number of reasons, and from 1971 to 1972 there was a brief separation between the group and Santana.

Santana himself rarely sings in his songs despite being the leader of the band and recent hits have been frequently accompanied by a guest singer, rather than the members of the band.

In 1998, the group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, with Carlos Santana, Jose Chepito Areas, David Brown, Mike Carabello, Gregg Rolie and Michael Shrieve being honored
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BORN IN THE USA
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American songwriter, singer and guitarist. He has recorded and toured with the E Street Band. Springsteen is widely known   more...for his brand of heartland rock infused with pop hooks, poetic lyrics, and Americana sentiments centered around his native New Jersey. His eloquence in expressing ordinary, everyday problems has earned him numerous awards, including eighteen Grammy Awards and an Academy Award, along with a notoriously dedicated and devoted global fan base. His most famous albums, Born to Run and Born in the U.S.A., epitomize his penchant for finding grandeur in the struggles of daily life. He has sold over 65 million albums in the U.S, and 120 million worldwide.

Springsteen's lyrics often concern men and women struggling to make ends meet. He has gradually become identified with progressive politics. Springsteen is also noted for his support of various relief and rebuilding efforts in New Jersey and elsewhere, and for his response to the September 11, 2001 attacks, on which his album The Rising reflects.

Springsteen's recordings have tended to alternate between commercially accessible rock albums and somber folk-oriented works. Much of his status stems from the concerts and marathon shows in which he and the E Street Band present intense ballads, rousing anthems, and party rock and roll songs, amongst which Springsteen intersperses long, whimsical or deeply emotional stories.

Springsteen has long had the nickname "The Boss", a term which he was initially reported to hate but now seems to have come to terms with, as he sometimes jokingly refers to himself as such on stage. The nickname originated when a young Springsteen, playing club gigs with a band in the 1960s, took on the task of collecting the band's nightly pay and distributing it amongst his bandmates.


Springsteen was born in Long Branch, New Jersey. He spent his childhood and high school years in Freehold Boro. He lived off South Street in Freehold Boro and attended Freehold Regional High School (today known as Freehold Borough High School). His father, Douglas Frederick Springsteen, was a bus driver of Dutch and Irish ancestry. His mother, Adele Ann Zirilli, was a legal secretary of Italian ancestry.[3] He has an older sister, Virginia, and a younger sister, Pamela. Pamela Springsteen had a brief film career, but left acting to pursue still photography full time.

Raised a Roman Catholic, Springsteen attended the St. Rose of Lima parochial school in Freehold Borough, where he was at odds with both the nuns and other students, even though much of his later music reflected a deep Catholic ethos and included many rock-influenced, traditional Irish-Catholic hymns.

In ninth grade he transferred to the public Freehold Regional High School, but did not fit in there either. He completed high school but felt so uncomfortable that he skipped his own graduation ceremony.[6] He briefly attended Ocean County College, but dropped out.

Springsteen had been inspired to take up music at the age of seven after seeing Elvis Presley on The Ed Sullivan Show. At 13, he bought his first guitar for $18; later, his mother took out a loan to buy the 16-year-old Springsteen a $60 Kent guitar, an event he later memorialized in his song "The Wish".

In 1965, he went to the house of Tex and Marion Vinyard, who sponsored young bands in town. They helped him become the lead guitarist of The Castiles, and later lead singer of the group. The Castiles recorded two original songs at a public recording studio in Brick Township, New Jersey and played a variety of venues, including Cafe Wha? in Greenwich Village. Marion Vinyard said that she believed Springsteen when, as a young man, he said he was going to make it big.


Cities such as Asbury Park, New Jersey inspired the themes of ordinary life in Bruce Springsteen's music.In the late 1960s, Springsteen performed briefly in a power trio kno  less

DO YOU FEEL LIKE I DO
Peter Kenneth Frampton (born 22 April 1950[citation needed] in Beckenham, Kent) is an English musician, best known today for his solo work in the mid-1970s and as one of the original   more...members of the band Humble Pie. His solo album Frampton Comes Alive! is one of the best selling live albums of all time.

Frampton first became interested in music when he was only seven years old. He discovered his grandmother's banjolele (a banjo-shaped ukulele) in the attic.Teaching himself to play, he became near-obsessed, and upon receiving a guitar and piano, from his parents, taught himself those instruments as well. At age eight he got a guitar and started taking classical music lessons.

Early influences were Cliff Richard & The Shadows, (featuring guitarist Hank Marvin) and American rockers Buddy Holly and Eddie Cochran, and then the Ventures and the Beatles. His father introduced him to Belgian gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt.



By the age of ten, Frampton played in a band called The Little Ravens. Both he and David Bowie were pupils at Bromley Technical School where Frampton's father, Owen Frampton, was an art teacher and head of the Art department. The Little Ravens played on the same bill at school as Bowie's band, George and the Dragons.Peter and David would spend time together at lunch breaks, playing Buddy Holly songs.
At the age of 11, Peter was playing with a band called The Trubeats followed by a band called The Preachers, produced and managed by Bill Wyman of The Rolling Stones.

In 1966, he became a member of The Herd. He was the lead guitarist and singer, scoring a handful of British teenybopper hits. Frampton was named "The Face of 1968" by the UK press.[2][4][6]

In early 1969, when Frampton was 18 years old, he joined with Steve Marriott of The Small Faces to form Humble Pie.[2][6]

While playing with Humble Pie, Frampton also did session recording with other artists, including: Harry Nilsson, Jim Price, Jerry Lee Lewis, as well as George Harrison's solo "All Things Must Pass", in 1971, and John Entwistle's "Whistle Rymes", in 1972.[6] During the Harrison session he was introduced to the 'talk box' that has become his trademark guitar sound.



After five albums with Humble Pie, Frampton left the band and went solo in 1971, just in time to see Rockin' The Fillmore rise up the US charts .He remained with Dee Anthony, the same personal manager that Humble Pie had used.

His debut was 1972's Wind of Change, with guest artists Ringo Starr and Billy Preston. This album was followed by Frampton's Camel in 1973, which featured Frampton working within a group project. In 1974, Frampton released Somethin's Happening. Frampton toured extensively to support his solo career. In 1975, the Frampton album was released. The album went to #32 in the US charts, and is certified Gold by the RIAA.[

Peter Frampton had minimal commercial success with his early albums. This changed with Frampton's breakthrough best-selling live album, Frampton Comes Alive!, in 1976. "Baby, I Love Your Way" and "Show Me the Way" were singles. "Do You Feel Like We Do", despite its length, was also popular. The latter two tracks also featured his use of the talk box guitar effect. Recorded mainly in San Francisco, California, where Humble Pie enjoyed a good following, at Winterland in 1975. Released in early January, it debuted on the charts on February 14 at number 191. It stayed at the top of the charts, at number one, for 10 weeks, in the Billboard's Top 40 album chart for 55 weeks, and stayed on the Billboard 200 charts in total for 97 Weeks. It was the top selling album of 1976, beating Fleetwood Mac's Fleetwood Mac for the top spot, and was the 14th best seller of 1977. The album became the biggest selling live album at the time of its release and sold over 6 million copies in the US, 16 million worldwide. It has since dropped to fourth all-time, after The Garth Brooks album Double Live, which at 20 time  less

URGENT
Foreigner is a rock band formed in New York City in 1976 by veteran musicians Mick Jones and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald, along with then-unknown vocalist Lou Gramm (Louis Grammatico). Foreigner   more...has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide (including over 36 million in the United States alone).

The band is led by British journeyman rocker Mick Jones (former member of Nero and the Gladiators, Spooky Tooth, and The Leslie West Band) who in early 1976 met with ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald in NYC and formed Foreigner with Lou Gramm (ex-Black Sheep), Dennis Elliott, Al Greenwood, and Ed Gagliardi as a sextet. Jones came up with the name from the fact that he, McDonald, and Elliott were British, while Gramm, Greenwood, and Gagliardi were Americans.

The band's debut album Foreigner was released in March 1977 and sold more than four million copies in the United States, staying in the Top 20 for a year with such hits as "Feels Like the First Time", "Cold as Ice", and "Long Long Way From Home". Their second album, Double Vision (released in June 1978), topped their previous selling five million records and spawned "Hot Blooded", the title track "Double Vision" and "Blue Morning Blue Day". Their third album, Head Games, which was referred to by Gramm as their "grainiest" album, was also successful due to the thunderous "Dirty White Boy" and another title track hit "Head Games".

For 1979's Head Games, bassist Ed Gagliardi was replaced by Englishman Rick Wills. In September 1980, keyboardist Al Greenwood and co-founder Ian McDonald were sacked as Jones wished to have more control over the band and write most of the music (along with Gramm). The band was now stripped down to a quartet, with session players brought in as needed to record or tour (see below). Greenwood soon joined Gagliardi to form the AOR band SPYS with John Blanco, Billy Milne, and John DiGaudio. The band released two albums, a self-titled debut, and the follow-up Behind Enemy Lines.

In the meantime, Foreigner's next album, 4,(released in July 1981) was the band's biggest hit containing "Urgent", "Waiting for a Girl Like You", "Juke Box Hero", and "Break it Up". Before releasing albums of his own, Thomas Dolby played synthesizers on 4 (he contributed the signature synth sound on "Urgent" and played the intro to "Waiting For A Girl Like You").

Their next album, Agent Provocateur, was released successfully in late 1984, and gave them their first and only #1 hit in 1985 (in U.S., UK, Australia, Norway, Sweden, etc.), "I Want to Know What Love Is", a gospel-inspired ballad backed by the New Jersey Mass Choir. "That Was Yesterday" was the next single released from the album in early 1985 and proved to be another sizable hit. In late 1987 Foreigner released Inside Information; spawning hits such as "Say You Will" and "I Don't Want To Live Without You". In the late 1980s, Jones and Gramm each put out solo efforts and Gramm decided to leave the group in 1990.

In 1990, Mick Jones brought in a new lead vocalist, Johnny Edwards (formerly of the bands Montrose, King Kobra, Buster Brown and Wild Horses). This edition of Foreigner released the album Unusual Heat in the summer of 1991. This was at the time their worst selling album and only climbed as high as #117 on the Billboard 200, although "Lowdown and Dirty" was a minor mainstream rock hit, reaching #4 on that chart. Just after the start of the Unusual Heat tour, Elliott decided to leave the group. Larry Aberman was then recruited as a temporary replacement. Since 1992 several other drummers have come & gone, including Mark Schulman, Ron Wikso, Brian Tichy and Denny Carmassi. Jason Bonham is the current drummer.

By 1992 Lou Gramm rejoined Foreigner (bringing along with his Shadow King bandmate bassist Bruce Turgon) and produced the band's second greatest hits album, The Very Best of...and Beyond, which included three new songs. Three years later Foreigner released what was supposed to  less

DANCING IN THE MOON LIGHT
Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band who formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1969. The band were led throughout their recording career by bassist, songwriter and singer Phil Lynott,   more...and are best known for their songs "Whiskey in the Jar", "Jailbreak" and "The Boys Are Back in Town", all major international hits still played regularly on hard rock and classic rock radio stations.

Consistent with being Thin Lizzy's leader, Lynott was composer or co-composer of almost all their songs. He was also one of the few black men to achieve significant success in hard rock. As well as being multiracial, the band drew its members not only from both sides of the Irish border but also from both the Catholic and Protestant communities.Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including country and traditional Irish folk music, and psychedelic rock but is generally classified as hard rock or heavy metal.

Critic for allmusic John Dugan has written that "As the band's creative force, Lynott was a more insightful and intelligent writer than many of his ilk, preferring slice-of-life working-class dramas of love and hate influenced by Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen, and virtually all of the Irish literary tradition. Van Morrison, Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix were major influences during the early days of the band, and later influences included American artists Little Feat and Bob Seger.

Thin Lizzy were ranked #51 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.

From 1974, Thin Lizzy switched from using one lead guitarist to two. Though others had earlier used similar techniques, Thin Lizzy are widely recognised as one of the first hard rock bands to employ double lead guitar harmony - a technique pioneered by Wishbone Ash in the UK, whilst independently in the USA by Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Allman Brothers Band. This style was later refined and popularised by bands of the emerging New Wave of British Heavy Metal, such as Iron Maiden, Motörhead, and Def Leppard. Iron Maiden in particular have praised Thin Lizzy extensively and even covered the song "Massacre" from Lizzy's popular Johnny the Fox album.



Thin Lizzy were founded one night in December 1969 in Dublin, Ireland, when Belfast guitarist Eric Bell met up with organist Eric Wrixon in a pub and found that they shared an ambition to form a group. Both musicians had previously played with Them, fronted by Van Morrison.[6] The same night, they went to see the band Orphanage, which featured vocalist Phil Lynott and drummer Brian Downey. Bell and Wrixon introduced themselves after the gig and suggested the four of them form a band together. Lynott and Downey were aware of Bell's good musical reputation,and agreed with the condition that Lynott play bass guitar as well as sing, and that they perform some of his own compositions.

In the summer of 1970, Thin Lizzy released a single, "The Farmer" / "I Need You", on EMI with the B-side written by John D'ardis, who owned Trend Studios where the single was recorded. The single only sold 283 copies and is now a collectors' item. Wrixon left the band before the single's release, meaning there was a greater share of income for the three remaining members. He moved to Europe before returning to Belfast, rejoining his old band, Them.

By the end of 1970, Thin Lizzy were signed to Decca Records, and they travelled to London in January 1971 to record their debut album, Thin Lizzy. The album sold moderately well but did not chart in the UK despite airplay and support from influential DJs John Peel and Kid Jensen.[6]

Around March 1971, the band permanently relocated to London, before the release of the unsuccessful "New Day" EP in August. Despite poor sales, Decca agreed to finance the band's second album Shades of a Blue Orphanage, released in March 1972. Like the previous LP, the songs were filled with Lynott's personal anecdotes and references to his life in Dublin and the people he knew there. Musicall  less

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

Cotton Lloyd and Christian....sing this great song from 1975.