Today in rock history: on this date in 1935, rock and roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis was born in Ferriday, Louisiana. Known by his nickname, The Killer, Lewis started his career with esteemed Memphis-based record label Sun Records which also boasted Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash on its impressive roster. After a string of classic singles in the 1950s including “Great Balls Of Fire,” “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” and “Breathless,” Lewis shifted gears and concentrated more on a career in country music to great success later in his lengthy career. Lewis still occasionally records and performs live in concert.
Today in rock history: on this date in 1992, San Diego, California four-piece hard rock band Stone Temple Pilots released itsfirst album, Core. The album was a massive success peaking at no. 3 on Billboard’s pop albums charts and was a staple on FM rock radio airwaves all over the country as well as receiving plenty of airtime on MTV. Featuring the singles “Sex Type Thing,” “Creep” and “Plush,” the album was the best-selling album of the band’s career. On the same date, Seattle band Alice in Chains released its sophomore release, Dirt. At the height of the popularity of the music coming out of the northwestern part of the U.S., the band which is often equated with the success of grunge music received acclaim for its debut album, Facelift. With this, its follow-up, Alice in Chains exceeded the success of its debut with a quadruple-selling album that includes the singles “Would?,” “Them Bones,” “Angry Chair” and “Down In A Hole.” Sadly the dynamic front men for both bands, Scott Weiland and Layne Staley have since passed away, but both left impressive catalogs with their respective groups for which they’ll always be remembered.
Today in rock history: on this date in 1976, Canadian rock trio Rush released its first live album, the 2-LP set, All The World’s A Stage. Recorded while the band was on tour promoting its breakthrough album, the epic 2112, the album is a fine overview of the music the band had released to that point over the four studio albums it had under their its belt. Packaged in a deluxe tri-fold sleeve, the performances on the record were captured over three nights at Massey Hall in Toronto. The album was the first Rush album to crack the top 40 on U.S. album sales charts and it quickly achieved gold sales status in the States as the band’s continually rising popularity here and all over the world was on a meteoric rise that never waned after this point.
Today in rock history: on this date in 1986, British synth/post-punk band New Order released its fourth album, the amazing Brotherhood. Containing one of the band’s most popular and recognizable singles, the dance club staple “Bizarre Love Triangle,” the album was another smash hit in the band’s native England where it topped the British indie albums chart. Displaying the band’s penchant for creating its own blend of disco-inspired, modern dance music, the band which was arose from the ashes of the influential Joy Division, continually released cutting edge, daring records — and this was certainly no exception. With an eye-catching sleeve design created by famed art designer Peter Saville (who designed plenty of record sleeves for many bands who recorded for the Factory Records label in the U.K.), Brotherhood is certainly one of the ground-breaking band’s sleekest and best albums of New Order's catalog.
This article appears in Sep 28 – Oct 6, 2017.