Today in rock history: on this date in 1984, ethereal Australian gothic rock band Dead Can Dance released its debut, self-titled album. Featuring the talents of singers and multi-instrumentalists Brendan Perry and Lisa Gerrard, the group created a moody, dark sound that had a lot in common with the music of The Cure and The Cocteau Twins. Released on renowned darkwave and post-punk label, 4AD Records, the atmospherically stunning record marked the first in a long line of influential albums the group would release throughout the 1980s and beyond. The group released a total of eight studio albums as well as several live recordings and compilation albums throughout their tenure making IT one of the most beloved and enduring bands of all the gothic acts to emerge during this time period.

NEW LOOK QUEEN
Photos: Queen and Adam Lambert celebrate News of the World's 40th anniversary at Chicago's United Center (w/setlist)

Today in rock history: on this date in 1984, mega-popular British rock band Queen released its 11th album, The Works. After its poorly received previous album, 1982’s Hot Space, the band returned with a record that more closely resembled its more familiar powerful, anthemic rock sound (versus the dance-influenced sound of Space). Featuring the worldwide smash, “Radio Ga Ga,” the album was a massive hit in Europe and Japan where the band still reigned supreme. Sadly, their visibility in America had diminished somewhat at this time, which caused the record to not perform as well in the States as it did around the globe. Successful singles from the album included “It’s A Hard Life,” “Hammer to Fall” and “I Want to Break Free,” a song for which the band made a comical music video where it appeared in drag. The clip caused some uneasiness at music video channel MTV which refused to air it in the U.S. Nonetheless, The Works achieved gold sales status in America which was still respectable yet paled in comparison to how it performed it other parts of the world.

Today in rock history: on this date in 1956, rock and roll pioneer Little Richard released his legendary double-sided single, “Slippin’ and Slidin/Long Tall Sally.” Following the attention Richard received with his previous single, the raucous rocker “Tutti Frutti,” the follow-up single eclipsed its success. Released on Los Angeles based Specialty Records, each side of the single performed incredibly well on varying sales charts. “Slippin’ and Slidin” reached No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B charts while “Long Tall Sally” became Little Richard’s first record to crack the top 10 on Billboard’s pop charts. A rock staple, “Long Tall Sally” has been covered by an enormous amount of artists since Richard’s version was originally released including The Beatles, The Kinks and Elvis Presley. Both songs were featured on Little Richard’s official debut album, 1957’s essential classic, Here’s Little Richard.

Today in rock history: on this date in 1995, daring and innovative singer-songwriter PJ Harvey released her breakthrough album, To Bring You My Love. The British artist's third album was the first to be truly considered a solo album as her previous two releases were credited to the PJ Harvey trio which consisted of Rob Ellis on drums and Ian Oliver on bass. For To Bring You My Love, Polly Jean Harvey worked with a variety of musicians including Mick Harvey, known for his longtime work with Nick Cave, along with multi-instrumentalist John Parish and producer Flood, both of whom Harvey would work with again throughout her career. Unanimously reviewed positively and making several year-end “best of” lists, To Bring You My Love was a watershed release for Harvey who gained enormous exposure as a result of this strong album. The album featured the singles “C’mon Billy” and “Down By the Water” which received a fair amount of airplay on MTV thanks to its striking accompanying music video. Harvey was honored with two Grammy nominations as well as being in the running for Great Britain’s prestigious Mercury Music Prize for the year of 1995. All 10 tracks on this dazzling, blues-influenced record were penned by Harvey herself which showed off her endless talents to a wide audience and catapulted her to be recognized as one of the most important and essential artists to emerge in the 1990s.