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Today in rock history: on this date in 1994, Britpop band Oasis released its very first single, “Supersonic”. The record marked the debut of brothers and band founders Liam and Noel Gallagher, and it caused an instant interest in a band that would go on to become the biggest and most successful British group of its era. Written by chief songwriter, guitarist and older sibling Noel in only a day, “Supersonic” peaked at No. 31 in Britain. Future singles would perform much better after the band established a rabid following and became superstars in England. Eventually appearing on the band’s stellar debut album, Definitely Maybe, which was released in August 1994, “Supersonic” was also the band’s first single to chart in America when it raced up Billboard’s modern rock singles chart. Lead singer Liam Gallagher has often cited this, the band’s initial single, as being his all-time favorite Oasis song.
TODAY IN ROCK HISTORY
Dylan introduces The Beatles to weed, Devo gets born, Marvin Gaye gets it on and more
Today in rock history: on this date in 1961, a brand new folk singer-songwriter who’d just arrived in New York City in hopes of pursuing a music career got his first big break. The newcomer, Bob Dylan, was hired to open for blues legend John Lee Hooker at a well-known folk club, Gerde’s Folk City, where many of the day’s popular folk artists regularly performed. The appearance led to good things for Dylan: he got noticed and within the next year he’d release his debut, self-titled album after being signed to Columbia Records. Appropriately, that album contained a song entitled “Talkin’ New York” which included lyrics alluding to that historic night at Gerde’s: “After weeks and weeks of hanging around/I finally got a job in New York town/In a bigger place, bigger money too/Even joined the Union and paid my dues.” The pairing went over so well that the double-bill was held over for almost two straight weeks and ran until April 23, 1961.
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Today in rock history: on this date in 1973, while at a particularly low point of its career and popularity, celebrated California hit makers The Beach Boys performed at The Omni, the former concert arena in Atlanta, Georgia. While the band hadn’t had a hit record in some time, the response to this performance echoed the dry spell the Boys were going through. Although the venue’s maximum capacity was 16,000, less than 3,000 tickets were sold, which resulted in a financial catastrophe for the promoters who’d booked the show. On the bill was Mother’s Finest, a dynamic up and coming band that fused hard rock and soul music and gained a cult following throughout the 1970s. Second on the bill was another new artist who had only one album to his credit to this point: Bruce Springsteen, whose name was even spelled wrong on the poster. Bruce went over extremely well at the show and was allowed to play a 60-minute set to precede the night’s headliners.
Today in rock history: on this date in 1962, Elvis Presley’s ninth film, Follow That Dream was released. This particular film was of interest to Floridians as it was filmed in various locations throughout central Florida including Inverness and Ocala. As was expected, many residents in those areas tried their best to catch a glimpse and have a possible encounter with Presley during the movie’s filming. One resident who did get a chance to meet Elvis was a 10-year old named Tom Petty who’d later go on to be an incredibly popular musician as well. One of Tom’s uncles was working on the production crew of the film, which led to his brief encounter with Elvis. It’s been alleged that, soon after this event, Petty traded a slingshot for an Elvis record and so his interest in music began. The film was based on the 1959 Richard P. Powell novel “Pioneer, Go Home!” After Elvis recorded a song for the film’s soundtrack entitled Follow That Dream, the decision was made to use that as the title for the film as well in place of the novel’s original title. The film’s lightweight plot centers around a traveling family which make its way through Florida and gets stranded in the state. The film performed moderately and was ranked as one of the top 30 highest-grossing movies of the year when 1962 came to a close.
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