Today in rock history: On this date in 1978, teenage rock band Def Leppard made its live debut. Playing in their home city of Sheffield, England, the band performed at Westfield School and performed in front of 150 students. The group played a 50-minute set that consisted of some original tunes and some covers including its version of “Jailbreak,” a hit by Irish hard-rock band Thin Lizzy. The band was paid a total of £5 (about $7 USD) for its first-ever live performance and was able to sneak beer hidden inside a bass drum into the school for the performance. The band would record an independently released debut EP later in the year and, by 1979, Def Leppard was signed to a major-label recording contract. As the 1980s progressed, Def Leppard became one of the most popular and successful bands in the world. The band plays Tampa's Amalie Arena on August 18 and just released its "Spotify Singles" session today. Get more information on the show via amaliearena.com and listen to the Spotify tracks below.
Today in rock history: On this date in 1995, the end of an era came when revered longstanding punk band The Ramones released their final album, the appropriately titled ¡Adios Amigos!. The band’s 14th studio album was met with mixed reviews and bittersweet emotions from the group’s longtime fans. The record featured a cover of Tom Waits’ “I Don’t Want To Grow Up” which was a minor hit on Billboard’s modern rock chart. Apart from the original material on the album (some which had been previously released on a solo album by bassist Dee Dee Ramone), the band also recorded a version of “I Love You,” a song written by a fellow New York City music legend, Johnny Thunders. The album was followed by one final world tour and, at its conclusion, the end of one of America’s most important and influential bands had sadly come.
Today in rock history: On this date in 1939, Dion DiMucci was born in the borough of The Bronx in New York City. Known simply as Dion , the singer scored a pile of hits in the early 1960s before bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones started dominating sales charts as part of the British Invasion. Along with his group The Belmonts, Dion is best known for his hits “Runaround Sue,” “The Wanderer,” and “Ruby Baby” among many others. A strong vocalist whose music combined a variety of styles like doo-wop and R&B, DiMucci was a huge influence on many different artists like Lou Reed, Bruce Springsteen and several others. Dion was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989 and remains musically active.
Today in rock history: On this date in 1966, American folk/rock band The Byrds released its third album, Fifth Dimension. Following the departure of integral member Gene Clark, remaining members Roger McGuinn and David Crosby took more of a front-and-center role in the band. The album became a more experimental piece of work than the group’s earlier records and is now recognized as a major influence on the genre of psychedelic rock. Singles from the album included the classics “Eight Miles High” and “Mr. Spaceman,” which solidified the importance of this fantastic band and earned significant radio airplay. The album cracked the Top 20 on Billboard’s pop albums charts and remains a favorite among the many devoted Byrds fans who still cite the band as one of the most influential bands of the 1960s.
This article appears in Jul 12-19, 2018.