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Today in rock history: on this date in 1990, Ice Cube, one of the key members of California’s outspoken rap outfit N.W.A., released his first solo album, AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted. Following his bitter split from the leading West Coast rap group, Cube enlisted the The Bomb Squad, the enormously talented production crew which helped make Public Enemy’s albums sound so powerful, to work on his solo debut. The album was critically and commercially embraced and drew accolades for Cube’s unabashed, raw depictions of poverty, drug addiction, racism as well as other contemporary socio-political topics. Single from the album included “Endangered Species (Tales From the Darkside),” “Who’s The Mack?,” and the hard-hitting title track. Released with very little promotion and no radio airplay or video airtime, AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted achieved gold sales status only two weeks after its release and reached the top ten on Billboard’s rap/hip-hop albums chart and made it to the Top 20 on the pop albums chart.
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Today in rock history: on this date in 1946, incredibly innovative and inventive guitarist Robert Fripp was born in Dorset, England. As a member of premier progressive rock band King Crimson, Fripp has played with every lineup in that band’s long history and is known for his avant-garde, jazz stylings. Besides his work with the band, Fripp has also lent his talents to recordings by David Bowie, David Sylvian, Talking Heads and Brian Eno. Devising unique recording and tuning techniques, Fripp is widely regarded as an influential and unprecedented musician and a truly creative force. Fripp has also released several critically acclaimed solo albums and is widely considered to be one of the greatest guitarists of all time.
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Today in rock history: on this date in 1983, Michael Jackson made television history when he unleashed his famous moonwalk dance move. As a guest on the TV special Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever which commemorated the legendary record label’s 25th anniversary, Jackson, who was already a huge star on his own, appeared with his brothers to perform Jackson 5 songs from their days on the Motown roster. Soon after, Jackson broke out into his own hit single that was riding high on the charts at the time, “Billie Jean” from his monster solo album, Thriller. During the performance, which was filmed in March of 1983 but not televised until two months later, while wearing a bejeweled glove and sparkly socks, Jackson began to seemingly glide backwards in a seamless, flowing move that most viewers had never seen before. The move was taught to Jackson by Jeffrey Daniel, a former Soul Train dancer and a member of 1980s pop/R&B band Shalamar but it was Jackson who made it internationally known.
ROBERT ROAD
Today in rock history; Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, The Doors end, John Peel is born and Byrds fly
Today in rock history: on this date in 1966, Bob Dylan released his superb seventh album, the 2-LP set, Blonde on Blonde. As one of the first double-albums of the rock era, the album came after two of Dylan’s most significant works: Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited which were both released in 1965. Widely recognized as one of the greatest rock and roll albums of all time, the set is chock-full of brilliant songs and performances by one of the most important and iconic figures in rock music. Featuring the singles “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35,” “I Want You” and “Just Like A Woman,” Blonde on Blonde is to many of his fans, Bob Dylan’s masterwork and his finest hour. A top ten hit album in America, Blonde on Blonde achieved double-platinum sales status and will forever remain one of the brightest spots in Dylan’s long and illustrious career.
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This article appears in May 10-17, 2018.
