This Day in History: 2024-10-28

ROCKTOBER 28th

It’s the 1950’s all over again.  Chuck Berry begins the second week at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with the only chart topper of his career, “My Ding-a-Ling.” Elvis Presley sits at #2 with “Burnin’ Love,” 1972

The album “Never Mind The Bollocks Here’s The Sex Pistols” is released in the U.K. The band’s only studio effort becomes one of the most influential Punk Rock records of all time. 1977

“Reflektor” is the title of Arcade Fire’s fourth studio album. The set debuts at #1 on the Billboard 200, selling 140,000 copies in its first week. 2013

AC/DC’s video “Thunderstruck” surpasses one billion views on You Tube.   The David Mallet-directed clip was filmed at London’s Brixton Academy in ’90.  “Thunderstruck” was the lead single off “The Razors Edge” album. 2021

MORE TODAY IN ROCK…

William Reid, of the Jesus & Mary Chain, has a birthday. He hails from Glasgow, Scotland. 1958

A Liverpool music fan asks record store owner Brian Epstein about “My Bonnie” by The Beatles. Epstein doesn’t have the disc but decides to seek out the group, eventually becoming their manager. 1961

Linda Ronstadt’s “Hasten Down The Wind” is a certified platinum (over 1 million sales). It’s Ronstadt’s third straight million-selling album making her the first female artist to accomplish this feat. 1976

Aerosmith’s “Love In An Elevator,” rises all the way to #5 on the U.S. pop chart. 1989

“Jugulator” is Judas Priest’s first album with vocalist Tim “Ripper” Owens. Taking over from Rob Halford, Owens had previously fronted British Steel, a Judas Priest cover band. 1997

The Strokes unfurl their “Room On Fire” album featuring lead single “12:51.” 2003

Avenged Sevenfold release “The Stage.”  It’s the group’s first album to feature Brooks Wackerman, who replaced Arin Ilejay. 2016

“Gimme Danger,” a Stooges documentary, opens in New York.  2016

A Perfect Circle, Anthrax and KoЯn perform at the Knotfest Mexico festival.  But for the first time, there is no Slipknot performance at the event they founded.  The band is on hiatus. However, Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor’s other band, Stone Sour, does perform.   2017

The Allman Brothers Band play what they say is their final show, appropriately, at the Beacon Theatre in New York City where the band had an annual residency – they performed at the venue over 200 times since ’89. 2017

Late Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker is posthumously honored during a street-naming ceremony in the Forest Hills section of New York City. The corner of 112th Street and 72nd Drive is co-named “Walter Becker Way.” Becker passed away the previous year from esophageal cancer at the age of 67. 2018

Metallica is the first Rock group to have a course on MasterClass, the streaming educational platform. “Being A Band” teaches how to be effective communicators, manage criticism and navigate collaboration.  2021

The legendary Jerry Lee Lewis, “The Killer,” dies at his home in DeSoto County, MS. at age 87. The combination of his pounding boogie-woogie piano and Country/Blues vocals that were as smooth as aged bourbon with a kick delivered the landmark hits “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” “Great Balls Of Fire” and “Breathless.”  2022

Longtime Dead Kennedys drummer D.H. Peligro dies from head trauma caused by an accidental fall at his L.A. home. He was 63.  2022