Today in rock history: On this date in 1986, in an odd pairing, British, gender-bending band Culture Club appeared as special guests on The A-Team. The show starred George Peppard and Mr. T, and it depicted a team of ex-Vietnam veterans whose mission was to protect those charged with crimes they hadn't committed. Boy George and Culture Club’s episode revolved around a get rich quick scheme for booking rock concerts and found the band winning a country bar crowd over during a performance of "Karma Chameleon."
Today in rock history: On this date in 1935, rockabilly legend Gene Vincent was born in Norfolk, Virginia. Best known for songs like "Be-Bop-A-Lula," "Race With the Devil" and "Blue Jean Bop," Vincent (born Vincent Eugene Craddock) was the very first inductee of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame (his former backing band, the Blue Caps, is also in the hall). Sadly, Vincent died in 1971 at the age of 36.
Today in rock history: On this date in 1983, The Rolling Stones’ Hal Ashby-directed concert documentary Let's Spend the Night Together premiered and earned poor reviews from critics who thought the film — which captured the band’s 1981 “Tattoo You” tour — was dull and lifeless. Its accompanying live album, Still Life, suffered the same backlash, but still managed to chart in America and England.
Today in rock history: On this date in 1980, WKRP in Cincinnati — a sitcom set inside a popular Cincinnati radio station — ran an episode that touched on the real life concert tragedy that occurred at the city’s Riverfront Coliseum where 11 attendees died as a result of crowd control issues at a December 1979 concert by The Who.
This article appears in Feb 7-14, 2019.