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Today in rock history: on this date in 1973, rocker Josh Homme was born in Joshua Tree, California. Homme gained notoriety first as a member of stoner-rock band Kyuss before forming Queens of the Stone Age, a band that has steadily gained a loyal following with each successive album. Homme has also been involved with a side band, Them Crooked Vultures, with Foo Fighters founder Dave Grohl. More recently, Homme played a major role in the creation of Iggy Pop’s last album, 2016’s Post Pop Depression and joined him on the album’s supporting tour. Homme is an accomplished singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. Homme has also been dealing with a minor bit of bad PR, which he has publicly apologized for.
Today in rock history: on this date in 1979, punk poet Patti Smith released her fourth album, Wave. Produced by musical wizard Todd Rundgren, the album was a departure from Smith’s prior, more explosive works. The record received mixed reviews upon its release but contained some of Patti’s strongest and most personal songs. “Frederick” was a tribute to Fred “Sonic” Smith, former member of The MC5, who’d become Patti’s spouse not long after this album’s release. A spirited cover of the Byrds’ 1967 hit “So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star” is also included as is one of Smith’s best known songs, “Dancing Barefoot” which has been covered by bands like U2, Simple Minds and Pearl Jam. After Wave, Patti Smith took an extended sabbatical and wouldn’t release another album until 1988’s Dream of Life.
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Today in rock history: on this date in 1976, hard rock band Rainbow released its second album, Rising. Featuring former Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and dynamic lead singer Ronnie James Dio, the record is often regarded as Rainbow’s finest release. Once referred to as the greatest heavy metal album of all time in British rock magazine Kerrang!, Rising features the Rainbow classic “Stargazer” and retains its stature in the history of hard rock albums. The album was a Top 10 success in England although it barely scraped the Top 40 on album sales charts in America.
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Today in rock history: on this date in 1978, to capitalize on the disco craze at the time, the film Thank God it’s Friday was released. Featuring a flimsy plot centering around a variety of characters who frequent a disco, the film starred actors Jeff Goldblum and Debra Winger in some of their earliest roles as well as Terri Nunn who’d later go on to front California new wave band, Berlin. The film was a box office flop but its accompanying 3-LP soundtrack was a big hit. The film featured performances by The Commodores as well as Queen of Disco, Donna Summer who performed her massive hit, “Last Dance”. Summer’s song took home the 1978 Academy Award for best song in a film and the soundtrack album was a Top 10 hit on Billboard’s pop albums chart in America.
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This article appears in May 17-24, 2018.