The Beatles started their first full North American tour tonight in 1964 at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. They'd christen the Seattle Center Coliseum with it's first rock show two nights later. When Paul McCartney played Safeco Field, the third sporting venue he'd graced with it's first rock show back in 2013, he played for 3 hours, but in '64 their set was just 12 short songs, and the rest of the time was filled by opening acts The Righteous Brothers, The Bill Black Combo, The Exciters, and Jackie DeShannon.
The Beatles scored their 14th American #1 hit today in 1967 with the song they'd written to represent England in the world's first satellite TV broadcast, All You Need Is Love, joined by background vocalists Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Keith Moon, Graham Nash, Marianne Faithfull and Walker Brother Gary Leeds.
The final episode of The Monkees, starring Michael Nesmith, Mickey Dolenz, and the late Davy Jones and Peter Tork as a Beatlesesque band who despite having little success playing rich girl's parties and such, somehow managed to live in what today would be a multimillion dollar beach house in Malibu aired tonight on NBC tonight in 1968 after 58 installments.
There was a riot in Vancouver B.C. tonight in 1971, but it had nothing to do with the Canucks hockey team, which had been admitted to the NHL the year before. Tonight's riot was started by about 3000 ticketless Led Zeppelin fans, who couldn't get in to the 17,000 seat Pacific Coliseum, and threw rocks and bottles at the police who showed up to disperse them.
The Sex Pistols had pissed off most of England with their songs God Save The Queen and Anarchy in the UK, and were being beaten up regularly when they started a tour of Britain tonight in 1977 as The Spots, an acronym for Sex Pistols On Tour Secretly.
A life-size bronze statue of Thin Lizzy frontman and bass player Phil Lynott was unveiled on Harry Street in Dublin Ireland today in 2005, attended by his former bandmates Gary Moore, Brian Robertson, and Scott Gorham. Phil died at age 36 in 1989, but remains one of Ireland's most beloved rock and roll native sons.
Rock and Roll Birthdays
Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker, the former drummer of Cream, Blind Faith, PiL, and many more, and the subject of the fabulous 2012 documentary Beware Of Mr. Baker, would be 81 if he hadn't passed away back in Rocktober.
Deep Purple's heyday lead singer Ian Gillan is 75.
Queen bass player John Deacon is 69. He retired from music completely after reuniting with the surviving members of the band in 1997 at an AIDS benefit, but did not participate in the Queen with Paul Rodgers tour, their 2001 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the 2012 London Olympics closing ceremony, or the Queen with Adam Lambert tour, but he does still control the band's finances, and they don't do anything financial without consulting him.