This Day in History: 2024-07-25

JULY 25th

The soundtrack to The Beatles first film “A Hard Day’s Night” begins a fourteen-week run atop the Billboard chart.  1964

The title track is simultaneously #1 in the U.S.

“Back In Black” is released.  AC/DC’s seventh studio effort is their first with singer Brian Johnson who replaced the deceased Bon Scott.  It was recorded in the Bahamas and mixed in New York City with producer Robert “Mutt” Lange, who had worked on the group’s breakthrough “Highway To Hell.”  1980

“Kill ‘Em All” is the title of Metallica’s debut studio set. It goes on to sell 3-million copies. 1983

Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose joins Billy Joel on stage during the final show of Piano Man’s residency at Madison Square Garden in New York City.  2024

Rose is around for renditions of Wings’ “Live And Let Die,” a song that was also a GN’R hit, AC/DC’s “Highway To Hell.” which Rose previously performed with Joel during a ’17 concert at Dodger Stadium in L.A. and Joel’s ’80 hit “You May Be Right.”

MORE TODAY IN ROCK…

Sonic Youth singer/guitarist Thurston Moore is born in Coral Gables, Florida. 1958

Bob Dylan goes ‘electric’ at the Newport Folk Festival and gets booed. 1965

A year later, Dylan is seriously injured when he crashes his motorcycle. He is rumored to be in a coma, a vegetable or dead. Of course, he recovers. 1966

Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Country drenched “Lookin’ Out My Back Door” is released. It goes to #2 on the U.S. pop chart. 1970

David Bowie’s “Fame” drops. The song becomes a chart-topper.  1975

After splitting from the Sex Pistols earlier in the year, John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) returns with Public Image Limited. 1978

Eric Carr makes his live debut with KISS at NY’s Palladium Theater. The drummer replaces Peter “Cat Face” Criss who left two months earlier. 1980

The Moody Blues tenth LP, “Long Distance Voyager,” is the #1 on the Billboard 200.  1981

Alice In Chains bail as Metallica’s ‘s opening act for the Shit In The Sheds Tour. Though vigorously denied by the band’s management, singer Layne Staley’s heroin problems are seen as the cause. 1994

Iron Butterfly guitarist Erik Braunn dies of cardiac arrest at the age of 52. Braunn (listed as “Brann” on albums) played on the band’s second, and most successful LP, “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.” He later discovered the Southern Rock band Black Oak Arkansas. 2003

Mega-suit in L.A. Megadeth guitarist/frontman Dave Mustaine sues the group’s former bassist, David Ellefson, for using the band’s name without permission. Mustaine seeks unspecified damages. 2005

Metallica’s back catalog is finally available online via Apple’s iTunes service. A long time hold out, the group got into a legal dispute with file-sharing site Napster in ’00. 2006

John Fogerty’s “Centerfield” is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The title track from the former Creedence Clearwater Revival leader’s ’85 album is a mainstay at baseball games and features the lyrics “Put me in coach, I’m ready to play, today.” He takes the stage at the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., and performs the song before the start of the annual induction ceremonies. 2010

Lamb Of God’s Randy Blythe shares “Rewilding,” a documentary about his conservationist quest and the fight against deforestation. Blythe had purchased a swath of land in Ecuador to replant native trees and help regrow the forest.  2022

Bassist Billy Sheehan drops out of Sons Of Appollo’s South American tour due to “travel restrictions” (possibly related to not being vaccinated). Felipe Andreoli fills in.  2022

Staind is #1 on Billboard’s Active Rock survey with “Lowest In Me,” the lead single from the band’s “Confessions Of The Fallen.” 2023

Klaus Meine, Rudolf Schenker and Matthias Jabs of the Scorpions are awarded the Great Lower Saxony Cross Of Merit by the prime minister of Lower Saxony, in Hannover, Germany.  2023