This Day in History: 2024-07-05

JULY 5th

Slayer’s “South Of Heaven” is out.  Though the album goes gold many fans are disappointed with the toned-down performances. 1988

Hootie & The Blowfish roll out “Cracked Rear View,” their debut album.

It sells over 16 million copies.  1994

“Zooropa” is U2’s eighth studio album.

Though the album sells 7-million copies it’s seen as a bit of a “disappointment’.  None of the singles from the album are chart success. 1993

Queen‘s “Greatest Hits” is the biggest-selling album of all time in Britain, as compiled by the Official Charts Company. The ’81 compilation is the first record to pass the six-million sales mark. 2016

MORE TODAY IN ROCK…

The Band’s Jaime Robert “Robbie” Robertson has a birthday. His last name at birth is Klegerman. 1943

Michael Monarch, Steppenwolf’s original guitarist, has a birthday. The L.A. native is heard on “Born To Be Wild.” 1950

Hip to be square. Huey Lewis is born. He lends his name to the ’80s group Huey Lewis & The News and serves as their singer and main attraction. 1950

Elvis Presley auditions for Sun Records in Memphis. The session looks like a bust until Elvis cuts loose on “That’s All Right,” a Blues number. The song becomes his first single and the rest is history. 1954

Animal’s bassist Chas Chandler sees Jimi Hendrix perform in NYC and decides to take Jimi to London to become a Rock star. 1966

Concert promoter Bill Graham opens the Fillmore West Auditorium in San Francisco. It quickly becomes a preeminent Rock venue. 1968

The Who issue “I’m Free.” “We’re Not Gonna Take It” is on the b-side. Both songs are from the Rock opera “Tommy.” 1969

The Rolling Stones play a free concert in London’s Hyde Park to introduce their new guitarist, Mick Taylor. But the death of former Stones guitarist Brian Jones just two days earlier turns the concert into a tribute. Jagger even reads a passage from Shelley and butterflies are released. 250,000 attend. 1969

Lifehouse frontman, Jason Wade is born in Camarillo, CA. 1980

The Pearl Jam/Ticketmaster controversy ends (more or less) when the U.S. Justice Department decides not to pursue anti-trust actions against Ticketmaster. The company is free to add those surcharges to ticket prices. Which they do. 1995

KoЯn touring guitarist Clint Lowery (who replaced Brian “Head” Welch) is arrested in Piestany, Slovakia, after getting drunk and trashing his hotel room. “I pulled some Rock 101 stuff,” says Lowery, who’s also a member of Dark New Day and a former member of Sevendust. Lowery pays for damages and is released. 2007

Salon magazine publishes an article titled “Leave U2 Alone: Why Did One of Our Best Rock Bands Become So Loathed? “From their iTunes debacle to Bono’s ego, the Irish rockers catch their share of grief, but enough is enough.” That about sums it up. 2015

A guitar played onstage and signed by the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir, Phil Lesh, Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann is auctioned for $526,000. Part of the proceeds go to HeadCount, a non-profit that “works with musicians to promote participation in democracy.” 2015

Manuel “Manny” Charlton, Nazareth guitarist (from ‘68 to ‘90), passes away at age 80.  The band is best remembered for the song “Love Hurts.”  2022

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensk tells CNN that listening to AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses and Eric Clapton helps him get through Ukraine’s war with Russia.  “AC/DC, I don’t understand all the words, but I like the energy,” states the president. 2023