Today in rock history: On this date in 1981, Rod Stewart released Tonight I'm Yours, which wound up becoming one of his best-selling albums from the 1980s. Stewart was struggling with the backlash from his foray into disco music on 1978's "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?", and his 1980 album Foolish Behaviour was a sluggish seller, but Tonight I'm Yours helped Stewart regain his stature and earned him plenty of radio airplay, too. The new wave-tinged hit "Young Turks" and the record's title track were both big hits around the world, and other highlights from the album include a reading of Bob Dylan's "Just Like a Woman" as well as Stewart's fine rendition of the mid-'70s soft rock, R&B-inspired hit "How Long," which was originally recorded by British band Ace. Tonight I'm Yours prompted one of Stewart's largest and most widely attended worldwide concert tours and set the stage for the enormous chart comeback he'd enjoy throughout the 1980s.
Today in rock history: On this date in 1970, Aerosmith, the rock and roll group that would eventually become the best-selling American band of all time, played its very first live show at the gymnasium of Miscoe Hill School in the small town of Mendon, Massachusetts. Mom of lead guitarist Joe Perry worked at another local school and got her son's band booked for the show where the cover charge was $1. The band allegedly snuck some adult beverages into the gym, but, by all accounts from those who were in attendance, it was obvious that the band would eventually become bona fide rock-and-roll heavyweights.
Today in rock history: On this date in 1981, Boston, Massachusetts-based new wave band The Cars released their fourth album, the pop-oriented Shake it Up. The album, produced by Roy Thomas Baker (who produced the band's first three records), was another successful release for The Cars thanks in part to the title track, which saw heavy airplay on MTV and many radio stations around the country on the way to becoming the first Cars single to crack The Top 10 on Billboard's pop singles chart. Other singles from this fine album included "Since You're Gone" and "Victim of Love," which also helped Shake it Up to climb as high as No. 9 on American album sales charts and achieve multi-platinum sales status.
Today in rock history: On this date in 1990, leading Irish folk, rock and Celtic band The Pogues released their stunning fifth album Hell's Ditch. The last release to feature vocals from the band's distinctive and unmistakable singer Shane MacGowan, Hell's Ditch ranks among one of the very best of the group's outstanding catalog. Produced by Clash frontman, singer and songwriter Joe Strummer, the album features Pogues classics like "Sunny Side of the Street," "Summer in Siam" and "Lorca's Novena." Slowly moving away from the more traditional Irish sounds the band was known for, The Pogues alienated some of their longtime fans with the pivot towards straight-ahead rock and roll and folk on this release. After MacGowan's departure from the band, Strummer served as a temporary replacement lead singer in order to fulfill live concert appearances the band already committed to playing.
This article appears in Nov 1-8, 2018.