Today in Rock Music History

July 12th

1965 The Beach Boys release their home state tribute, “California Girls.”

The song peaks at #3.

2005 “The Stealth” soundtrack is out.

Incubus contributes three songs to the Jamie Foxx action flick. “Neither Of Us Can See” is a duet with frontman Brandon Boyd and The Pretenders Chrissie Hynde.

2022 “Pam & Tommy” receives ten nominations for prime-time Emmy Awards.

Hulu’s limited series about Mötley Crüe drummer and “Baywatch” star Pamela Anderson’s infamous leaked sex tape, receives ten nominations for prime-time Emmy Awards. There are individual performance nominations for Lily James (as Anderson) and Sebastian Stan (as Lee). 

The film only gets one Emmy Award for “make-up.

MORE TODAY IN ROCK…

1943 Fleetwood Mac’s Christine McVie (Christine Anne Perfect) has a birthday. The singer, keyboardist, songwriter hails from northeast England.

1949 John Wetton, bassist for Uriah Heep and Asia, is born.

1962 Soul Asylum’s guitarist, Dan Murphy, is born in Duluth, MN.

1962 The Rolling Stones play their first gig at London’s Marquee Club. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Brian Jones are there. But on bass and drums are Dick Taylor and Mick Avory respectively, rather than eventual Stones Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts. Also, Ian Stewart plays piano.

1965 Singer Robin Wilson (Gin Blossoms) has a birthday. He’s a native of the Motor City.

1967 Guitarist John Petrucci (Dream Theater) is born. 

1974 Within Temptation vocalist Sharon den Adel has a birthday.  She is a founding member of the band. 

1979 Chicago Rock DJ Steve Dahl’s “disco demolition” promotion is held between games of a Chicago White Sox double-header at Comiskey Park. Disco records are blown up in center field. The damage to the field and the riot that follows cause the second game to be cancelled with Chicago forfeiting. Nothing like this would have ever happened at Wrigley.

1983 Alcoholism and drug addiction, leading to pneumonia, takes the life of Traffic sax and flute player Chris Wood.

1992 Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose is busted in New York on charges of inciting a riot during a St. Louis concert the previous year.

1996 Smashing Pumpkins tour keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin ODs on heroin in New York. Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlain is with Melvoin at the time. He is charged with heroin possession and soon gets kicked out the band. Chamberlain goes into rehab and eventually rejoins the group.

1997 Red Hot Chili Peppers vocalist Anthony Kiedis is seriously injured in a motorcycle accident. A car pulls a U-turn in front of him. He undergoes five-hours of surgery at an L.A. hospital and recovers.

2001 Metallica and Napster settle their copyright dispute. Unfortunately, it comes too late to help either party. Metallica’s lawsuit disillusioned fans and Napster had already ceased being what it was.

2005 Beating the rap. Velvet Revolver vocalist Scott Weiland gets a drug charged dismissed in a Pasadena, CA., court because he has completed a court-ordered rehab program. The charge originated from an ’03 drug possession bust in Burbank.

2007 The Rolling Stones are paid $5.5 million (or $67,500 per minute) to perform a 14-song set at a private Deutsche Bank party for top-level employees held at the National Art Museum of Catalonia in Barcelona, Spain.

2011 Former Queens Of The Stoneage bassist Nick Oliveri is arrested for felony domestic violence following a stand-off with a S.W.A.T. team at his L.A. home. An altercation between Oliveri and his girlfriend leads to his arrest. Oliveri is later cut loose after posting a $100,000 bail.

2012 Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler says he is leaving American Idol (a TV singing competition) to focus his attention on the band. “After some long, hard thoughts I’ve decided it’s time for me to let go of my mistress, American Idol, before she boils my rabbit,” says Tyler. He was a judge for two seasons.

2022 Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider teams up with T-Mobile to promote the company’s “Carrier Callout” campaign in an effort to win over AT&T and Verizon customers after the two carriers announce that they are raising prices on select plans. Snider is at Times Square in New York City singing his band’s signature song “We’re Not Gonna Take It” to sway the masses to switch to T-Mobile.

2023 The tribute concert for the late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins is nominated for an Emmy in the ‘Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety Series or Special’ category. 

2024 Stryper frontman Michael Sweet speaks in defense of a law that calls for the posting of the Ten Commandments in Louisiana public schools. “Children basically pledging allegiance to a rainbow flag you know, that’s okay, that’s perfectly acceptable,” says Sweet in an interview with The Metal Voice. “I mean so why can’t the Ten Commandments be in there?”