This Day in History: 2024-02-10

FEBRUARY 10^th

Van Halen make a grand entrance with their self-titled debut record. The set includes “Runnin’ With The Devil” and a blisteringly brilliant cover of The Kinks “You Really Got Me.” The album later goes platinum. 1978

Black Keys’ “Lonely Boy” takes Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song at the 55th Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in L.A. The Keys also earn Best Rock Album for “El Camino.” The Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance trophy goes to Halestorm for “Love Bites (So Do I).” 2013

Greta Van Fleet receive the Best Rock Album honor for “From The Fires” at the 61^st Grammy Awards in L.A. The album contains the tracks “Highway Tune” and Safari Song.”  2019

Alice In Chains (“Rainer Fog”), Fall Out Boy (“M.A.N.I.A”), Ghost (”Prequelle”) and Weezer (“Pacific Daydream”) were in the running.  2019

Mötley Crüe play its first concert with guitarist John 5 (middle left) in Atlantic City at the Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena. John 5 replaces the retired Mick Mars.  2023

The show also marks the first date of the band’s 2023 “The World Tour” with Def Leppard. 

MORE TODAY IN ROCK…

Bassist Cliff Burton enters the world.  He is Metallica’s bassist from ‘82 until his death in ’86 (in a bus crash in Sweden while the band was on tour). 1962

The Clash begin recording their eponymous debut album in London. It is not initially released in the U.S. because CBS Records decides the content is unsuitable for radio. It finally drops two years later, after The Clash’s follow-up studio album, “Give ‘Em Enough Rope,” is released in the U.S. 1977

“Stained Class,” Judas Priest’s fourth album, is released.  The set contains “Better By You, Better By Me” which becomes the subject of a lawsuit when two teens, after hearing the song, enter into a suicide pact.  One dies and the other is seriously injured and passes away three years later.  The families’ suit claims the song’s subliminal messages pushed their offspring to suicide. The suit is later dismissed.  1978

Do blondes have more fun?  Well, Rod Stewart would say ‘yes’. His “Blondes Have More Fun” tops the Billboard 200.  1979

Stewart beats out the Village People (“Y.M.C.A.”), Chic (“Le Freak”) and Olivia Newton-John (“A Little More Love”) to have the #1 song in the U.S. He does it with “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?” 1979

Pierce The Veil vocalist/guitarist Victor Vincent “Vic” Fuentes is born in San Diego.  1983

From Aerosmith’s “Pump” album, “Janie’s Got A Gun” shoots to #4 on the pop charts. 1990

INXS wins Best International Group (they’re from Australia) at the 10th annual BRIT Awards in London. 1991

Bryan Adams performs for more than 15,000 thousand fans at a concert in Colombo, Sri Lanka, to promote peace efforts to end that nation’s long civil war.  2004

Courtney Love enters a no-contest plea to a felony-assault charge in a Los Angeles courtroom. The ex-stripper, ex-Mrs. Cobain and ex-Hole vocalist, is accused of attacking a woman at her ex-boyfriend’s house nearly ten months earlier. She gets three years-probation. But there’s more. The same day, only this time in a Beverly Hills courtroom, Love agrees to a “deferred entry of judgment” for a separate misdemeanor count of possession of a forged prescription. The charge goes away if she completes a drug rehab program within a specified timeframe. 2005

The 50th annual Grammy Awards take place in L.A. The winners are: Foo Fighters “The Pretender” (Hard Rock Performance) and their album “Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace” (Rock Album) and the White Stripes’ “Icky Thump” (Alternative Music Album and Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal). 2008

The Beastie Boys reissue their ’89 album “Paul’s Boutique.” “We remastered it,” says the band’s MCA. “So now it actually does have enough bass to shatter your one frozen testicle.” That should ice it. 2009

 Paul McCartney is MusicCares Person of the Year. Neil Young and Crazy Horse perform at Gala honoring the former Beatle. The Grammy charity concert marks the first time Young has been on stage with Crazy Horse in eight years. 2012

Killswitch Engage guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz wins over $51,000 in prizes as a contestant on the daily TV game show The Price Is Right. 2015

Joining the biggest music trend of the year, Sting sells his catalog, including songs by The Police and as a solo artist, to Universal’s music-publishing arm for an undisclosed amount (estimated in the neighborhood of $300 million). 2022

Sepultura’s Derrick Green list the five must have for touring on the “Talk Toomey” podcast.  They are a yoga mat for stretching out, good headphones for listening to music, vitamins, a good book, and a very efficient laptop to watch movies. 2022