Eagle Classic Hitstory July 2 on birminghamseagle.com

On This Day in Eagle Classic Hitstory...

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July 2

1941
The ageless Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones is born in Islington, England.

1949
Roy Bittan, pianist with Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, is born.

1956
Elvis records "Hound Dog," "Don't Be Cruel," and "Any Way You Want Me" for RCA Records in New York. It's the first session to feature the Jordainaries, a vocal harmony quartet.

1958
It’s the release of Elvis Presley’s latest film, King Creole, known among audiences for being the only Elvis movie worth a darn.

1963
No. 1 Hit: "Easier Said Than Done," The Essex. The members of the group are all U.S. Marines, including lead singer Anita Humes.

1964
Paul McCartney is at the piano as Liverpudlian diva Cilla Black records the Beatles' "It’s for You."

1969
Noel Redding and Mitch Mitchell quit the Jimi Hendrix Experience, however there is some good news for rock enthusiasts as Leslie West and Felix Pappalardi team up to create Mountain.

1973
No. 1 Hit: "Will It Go Round in Circles," Billy Preston.

1975
David Bowie gets gold record number four. Young American contains two of his biggest hits, "Fame," which hits #1 later in the year, and the title track.
David Bowie "Fame"

1976
For the first time in 12 years, Brian Wilson joins the Beach Boys on stage. Aside from singing "In My Room" at the Anaheim, Calif., performance, he mostly sits staring at his keyboard. The next night he's back and TV cameras record the whole thing for a Beach Boys special which will air on NBC in August.

1980
Bob Weir and Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead are arrested with their manager, Danny Rifken, on charges of inciting a riot. They were alleged to have interfered with a drug-related arrest during a concert at the San Diego Sports Arena.

1981
Bruce Springsteen plays the first shows ever at the 21,000 seat Brendan Byrne Meadowlands Arena in New Jersey. The six shows sold out in an hour. Springsteen said of the audiences' loudness, "When we got onstage, I couldn't hear the band. We felt like the Beatles."

1981
Medley singles make it to top-40 radio. The most popular is "Stars on 45" by a group of Dutch studio musicians and singers. The medley has strung together sound-alike versions of popular hits like "Sugar Sugar," "Venus," and several Beatles songs. The song hits #1 and goes gold and sets the trend for other medly hits.

1982
Clash drummer Topper Headon is charged with stealing a bus stop sign.

1982
The Rolling Stones begin their summer tour of Europe in Rotterdam, Holland.

1984
This Day in Dio: Dio are off to the witch, they may never never never come home. They release their album The Last in Line.
Dio "The Last In Line"

1984
No. 1 Hit: "When Doves Cry," by the artist then known as Prince. The song is the first single released from Prince’s Purple Rain LP.

1986
Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead perform together at a show in Akron, Ohio. Dylan joins the Dead on three songs.

1987
Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones emerges from retirement to begin producing the Mission’s Children.

1990
Representatives of the Italian Catholic Church announce they'll attempt to halt Madonna's concerts in Rome because of her alleged inappropiate use of crucifixes and sacred symbols. It works.

1991
Several people are injured at a Guns N’ Roses concert in Maryland Heights, Mo., a St. Louis suburb. Lead singer Axl Rose sparked a riot when he jumped off the stage and attacked a fan who was videotaping the concert. 60 people were hurt and the venue was wrecked. Axl is charged with third-degree assault and property damage but doesn’t turn himself in for a year.

1992
Mick Jagger’s daughter Jade gives birth to a daughter. She is the first grandchild for the 48-year-old Rolling Stone. That makes Mick a grandfather! Now, to drive that point home, that granddaughter is now nearly old enough to have children of her own... Yeah.

1995
Grateful Dead fans riot outside a Noblesville, Ind., concert. Seventeen arrests are made after gates are torn down and rocks thrown.

1997
After he is awarded Sweden’s Polar Music Prize, Bruce Springsteen gives the cash portion of the award to a Swedish school program that keeps teenagers off the streets.

1999
Latin pop star Enrique Iglesias gives a free public performance in front of the Lincoln Center Plaza in New York.

1999
Mark Sandman, lead singer of idiosyncratic rock band Morphine, dies from a heart attack onstage at the Diardini del Principe music festival in Palestrina, Italy. He is 47.

2000
Pete Townshend announces via his website that he contacted Eddie Vedder after learning about the deaths of nine people during a Pearl Jam performance at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark. In 1979, 11 people were killed before a Who concert in Cincinnati. "I spoke yesterday to Eddie Vedder," Townshend’s posting reads. "I don’t want to say anymore than that. I passed on what I knew The Who had done wrong after the Cincinnati disaster - in a nutshell, I think we left too soon, and I spoke too angrily to the press and without proper consideration of the fact that the people who deserved respect were the dead and their families. Luckily Pearl Jam and their management have stayed in Denmark, and cancelled subsequent shows. Other bands have also marked some respect by refusing to play. If you have a faith, please pray for the victims and their families, and for everyone who was involved. It was a horrific experience for them."

2001
Yoko Ono visits the Beatle’s hometown of Liverpool, England, to attend a ceremony announcing the renaming of the Liverpool Airport as the Liverpool John Lennon Airport in honor of her late husband.

2002
Ray Brown, a legendary jazz bassist who played with giants Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Oscar Peterson, and his one-time wife Ella Fitzgerald in a career that spanned more than half a century, dies in his sleep at the age of 75.

2003
After various delays, Lollapalooza kicks off again, with headliners Jane’s Addiction and a line-up that includes Incubus, hip-hop act Jurassic Five, and Audioslave.

2003
In Billboard, the Who’s Pete Townshend dismisses those who’ve passed judgment on him after his arrest for kiddie porn, and instead cares about its affect on "friends, fans, family, and strangers who feel they know me through my work."

2003
Great White are forced to cancel their tour to benefit the victims of the Rhode Island club fire due to money troubles and insurance issues.

2005
Live 8 concerts are held in locations from London to Philadelphia to Tokyo to raise awareness of African poverty. Among the performers are Madonna, Green Day, Paul McCartney, U2, Stevie Wonder, Jay-Z, a reunited Pink Floyd with Roger Waters, Stevie Wonder, Bjork, Jet, Simple Plan, Neil Young, Maroon 5, Pet Shop Boys, The Cure, and Shakira.

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