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Today in rock history: on this date in 1973, the Watkins Glen Summer Jam festival took place at a racetrack in Watkins Glen, New York. The bill included The Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers and The Band. Advance tickets for the all-day festival were priced at $10 each, and 150,000 were sold in advance. However, crowd attendance was so massive that many who came for the outdoor show crashed the event and tore down entrance gates to gain admittance. It’s been estimated that total attendance exceeded 600,000 making this the most highly-attended rock festival of all time. It was alleged that with so many in attendance at the show, most who were present were not even able to view the stage due to being so far away from it.
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Today in rock history: on this date in 1979, Irish rock band Boomtown Rats went to the no. 1 spot on the British singles chart with their hit, “I Don’t Like Mondays.” Lead singer and songwriter Bob Geldof (the man who’d later organize the massive hunger relief charity concert, Live Aid) was compelled to write the song after hearing the story of a young woman in San Diego, California who went on a shooting spree for no apparent reason and took aim at children playing at a local playground. The woman killed two adults and seriously injured eight children and a police officer. When asked for her motive for the random attack, the woman coldly replied “I don’t like Mondays…this livens up the day.”
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Today in rock history: on this date in 1992, after much controversy and furor, it was announced that Warner Brothers Records would remove the track “Cop Killer” from rapper Ice T’s album with his backing hard rock band, Body Count. The song elicited countless protests from law enforcement officers and public figures and politicians all over the country while first amendment demonstrators argued that the artist had every right to record and release a song of this subject matter. Ice T was held in very low regard from the men in blue all over the States for years for the release of this song. Ironically, the rapper would later portray a police officer himself on television crime drama series, Law & Order.
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Today in rock history: on this date in 1986, Athens, Georgia rock band R.E.M. released its fourth album, Lifes Rich Pageant. The record marked the first indication that the once-underground college rock band was starting to gain some attention outside those circles. The record nearly cracked the top 20 of Billboard’s Hot 100 pop albums chart and “Fall On Me,” the record’s lead single, was added to several rock radio station playlists (and received heavy airplay on music video channel, MTV). The album also contained the underground hit “Superman” on which lead vocals were handled by bassist Mike Mills. The album remains a fan favorite and is usually ranked as one of their very best by followers of the legendary Georgia band.
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This article appears in Jul 27 – Aug 3, 2017.