The Beatles set a new record for advance record sales today in 1964 when stores across America ordered 2,100,000 copies of their new single Can't Buy Me Love. Two years later on their last-ever tour Paul McCartney was pestered with questions about the song's rather obvious meaning, and replied " I think you can put any interpretation you want on anything, but when someone suggests that Can't Buy Me Love is about a prostitute, I draw the line. The idea behind it was all these material possessions are all very well, but they won't buy me what I really want".
The Rolling Stones were at #1 on the British singles chart for the third time today in 1965, but it was their first with a song written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, who had been "taken to school" by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, though Keith later admitted The Last Time was basically a re-adaptation of a traditional gospel song recorded by The Staple Singers.
The Beatles were at the Austrian ski area Obertauren today in 1965, wrapping up the last day of shooting scenes for their second movie Help! They had never skied before, but George Harrison's then-girlfriend Pattie Boyd was quite good at it, but the resort town wasn't chosen for any reason other than unlike most European ski areas that year, it had snow.
Otis Redding started a 5 week run at #1 on the U.S. charts today in 1968 with Sittin' On The Dock of The Bay. Unfortunately for Otis, he wasn't around to enjoy it, he'd been killed in a plane crash three days after recording it, making him the first performer to have a posthumous hit.
John Lennon filed an appeal with the U.S. Dept. of Immigration today in 1972 after being served deportation orders at the urging of the Nixon administration, who were incensed by his peacenik activities and cited his 1968 pot bust in England as reason to mark him an "undesirable alien". Nixon would resign the office in disgrace following the Watergate scandal a little over a year later, and his successor Gerald Ford had exactly zero interest in furthering the deportation attempt, and John got his "Green Card" in 1976.
Partridge Family frontman David Cassidy played the first of 6 sold-out nights at London's Empire Pool in Wembley tonight in 1973. Danny Bonaduce did not play bass.
Having been on the label for all of 6 days, The Sex Pistols were fired from A&M records today in 1977 after some particularly bad behavior at the company offices in London. All 25,000 copies of their new single God Save the Queen were destroyed, but they did get to keep their £75,000 advance.
Pink Floyd were playing the second night of their 5 night run at London's Empire Pool in Wembley tonight in 1977. They were promoting their new album Animals, but sold out one night less than David Cassidy.
The now 8 year old MTV borrowed another trick from rock radio today in 1989, launching a ratings-grabbing contest, their biggest yet, in which they gave away the Sayerville New Jersey childhood home of heartthrob John Francis Bonjiovi Jr., frontman of Bon Jovi.
Metallica's fans were not necessarily on their best behavior at their show in Orlando Florida tonight in 1992, when some of them felt the need to dangle an usher by his ankles over the edge of the balcony, and did some $38,000 worth of damage to the Orlando Arena.
The Ramones played what they said at the time would be their last show ever tonight in 1996 in Buenos Aires Argentina. Lead singer Joey Ramone (Jeffery Ross Hyman) had recently been diagnosed with the lymphoma that would kill him in 2001, but the band agreed to join the Lollapalooza tour that summer, and would film their actual final show in Hollywood in August, which included guest performer-fans including Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Soundgarden's Chris Cornell, and the late Mötorhead frontman Lemmy.
To the sheer horror and disgust of Rock and Roll fans everywhere, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted Swedish disco-pop band ABBA tonight in 2010, but they did also induct three actual rock bands: The Hollies, the original lineup of Genesis, and late 60's Detroit proto-punks The Stooges.
Rock and Roll Birthdays
Alice Cooper rhythm guitarist, singer, and keyboard player Michael Bruce is 72. He was inducted into the Rock and roll Hall of Fame with the original lineup of that band in 2011.
Though it's not really polite to tell a woman's age, we'll do it anyway: Nancy Wilson of Seattle's own Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted Heart is 66.