Today in rock history: on this date in 1969, The Beatles released the very last album they’d record together, the monumental Abbey Road, in the U.K. (the American release wouldn’t come until October 1, 1969). Although the band's Let It Be album was released after this brilliant album, most of it had already been recorded before the sessions for Abbey Road had begun. The record continued with some of the experimentation the band had dabbled in on their 1968 self-titled double album but also incorporated elements of blues, pop and plenty of rock and roll. The album’s only single, the double-sided hit featuring “Something” and ”Come Together” topped singles charts in just about every country around the world and added to the album’s unprecedented success. The cover features one of the most iconic band photos ever taken with all four members crossing what’s now a famous crosswalk outside the Abbey Road recording studio in London, England. The studio and the crosswalk attract thousands of tourists every day who enjoy mimicking the now legendary front cover photo on their own. A great majority of Beatles fans cite this, the band’s final hurrah before the dissolution, as their very favorite of the band’s vast catalog. The album, not surprisingly, also went to the no. 1 spot on sales charts all around the world upon its release and has sold in excess of thirty million copies worldwide since its release forty-eight years ago today. Listen to all of Abbey Road below.
Today in rock history: on this date in 1983, Los Angeles based hard rock band Mötley Crüe released its second album, Shout At The Devil. The record was the breakthrough record that attracted plenty of attention to a band which would be one of the catalysts of the popularity of hair metal later in the 1980s. The record featured a solid black cover with a pentagram emblazoned on it which drew a lot of outrage and negativity from conservative groups who felt that the band was glamorizing Satanism. The record featured the hits “Looks That Kill” and “Too Young To Fall In Love” whose accompanying music videos got plenty of airplay on MTV. The airplay helped the band reach a wider audience across the country. While the record wasn’t as brisk a seller as later Crüe albums would be, it was still instrumental in setting the stage for the massive success its follow up, 1985s Theatre Of Pain and many of its subsequent albums would achieve.
Today in rock history: on this date in 1987, legendary San Francisco band The Grateful Dead scored the one and only Top 10 single of its long and storied career. “Touch of Grey, ” a catchy, upbeat song from their 1987 In The Dark album peaked at no. 9 on Billboard’s singles chart and gave the band its only hit single. The band even filmed a music video for the song that actually got it added to MTV’s rotation and exposed the Grateful Dead to listeners who more than likely weren’t even born when the veteran band got its start. The single was lavishly packaged and pressed on grey colored vinyl to commemorate the longtime band’s first foray into the singles market and as a nod to the song’s title.
Today in rock history: on this date in 2003, legendary British blue eyed soul singer Robert Palmer passed away at the age of 54 in Paris, France. Palmer had achieved plenty of accolades throughout the 1970s thanks to an amazing string of hit albums and singles he scored with "Bad Case Of Loving You” being the most successful of his hits. A career rebirth came in the mid-1980s when two members of popular group Duran Duran invited him to handle lead vocalist duties for a new side project it had assembled, The Power Station. Palmer and the band scored two massive hits with “Some Like It Hot” and a cover of the T. Rex classic “Get It On (Bang A Gong)” in 1985 which led to Palmer’s own “Addicted To Love” and “Simply Irresistible,” two huge hits he’d score on his own after the success he enjoyed with The Power Station, making him a bona fide radio and video star throughout the remainder of the decade. Palmer is best remembered for his smooth, slick vocal style and his ability to serve as a fine interpreter of songs he’d cover throughout his career from composers as diverse as Allen Toussaint, Gary Numan and Todd Rundgren to name a few.
This article appears in Sep 21-28, 2017.