Today in rock history on this date in 1980, thundering Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham passed away. The legendary performer had been with the band since the beginning and appeared on all of its studio albums right up until its very last one, 1979’s In Through The Out Door. Led Zeppelin decided to call it quits after Bonham’s death as its figured there’d be no point in continuing without its hard-hitting, loved and revered drummer and they were never interested in hiring a replacement for him.
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Today in rock history: on this date in 1965, at the height of Beatlemania, the televised, animated series depicting The Beatles as cartoon characters aired its first episode. The Saturday morning cartoon series featured animated counterparts for all four band members and each episode featured music by the band throughout the program. The series lasted three seasons and each episode found the Fab Four in some sort of comedic predicament like George being challenged to a surfing contest or Ringo losing all his rings. The series lasted three seasons with 39 episodes being produced.
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Today in rock history: on this date in 1970, The Partridge Family debuted on ABC. Depicting a family consisting of a single mom and her five kids who decide to travel around to play live gigs as a pop group, the show was loosely based on the real life singing family pop group singing act, The Cowsills. The show portrayed the musically inclined singing family who’d live normal lives throughout the day, but it would travel to a variety of locations to perform as often as it could. The show was a huge success and lasted four seasons. Although most of the actors who portrayed the family were not true musicians, one was. The family’s lead singer and oldest sibling, David Cassidy, was a real life singer and guitarist who benefitted from the exposure he received while on the show. His career skyrocketed and he became a wildly successful teen idol in both America, especially in England where he became a huge box office draw where he’d regularly selling out concerts. David led the TV family to have a string of successful singles and albums, although the music on those records was recorded by session musicians alongside Cassidy.
Today in rock history: on this date in 1990, drummer Dave Grohl auditioned for the available spot as drummer for Washington band Nirvana and got the job. After a series of drummers who’d passed through the band, its last, Chad Channing, had played on the band’s debut album Bleach but soon left the band. Grohl’s then band, Scream, had recently broken up and he reached out to friend and musician friend Buzz Osbourne from underground band The Melvins who’d recommended he reach out to the remaining members of Nirvana about filling the vacancy with the band. Members Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic had seen Grohl play with Scream while still together and were impressed with his skills. After his audition for them, he was instantly hired and right then, the most well-known, most popular and the most enduring formation of Nirvana was created.
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This article appears in Sep 21-28, 2017.