This Day in History: 2024-10-10

ROCKTOBER 10^th

The Beach Boys signature song, the three-minute opus “Good Vibrations,” is released. A couple weeks later it’s #1. 1966

No Doubt release their extraordinarily popular (fifteen million in sales) “Tragic Kingdom” album. 1995

Radiohead’s seventh album, “In Rainbows,” is available for digital downloads on a pay-what-you-like basis. Over 60-percent of those who download the album worldwide pay absolutely nothing. 2007

Pearl Jam’s “Backspacer” is the #1 album in the U.S according to Billboard. It’s the group’s first chart topper in 13 years – since “No Code” in ’96. 2009
Machine Gun Kelly’s “Tickets To My Downfall” is #1 on the Billboard 200.  2020

MORE TODAY IN ROCK…

Perpetual party boy, the very hyper David “Diamond Dave” Lee Roth (Van Halen’s original vocalist) is born in Bloomington, IN. 1955

Eric Martin, vocals for Mr. Big, is born in Long Island, NY.  1960

“In The Court Of The Crimson King” is out. It’s King Crimson’s debut studio album.  1969

Singer Steve Perry joins Journey. He replaces Robert Fleischmann who was fired.  1977

Fleetwood Mac Day in L.A. The group gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame – outside Frederick’s of Hollywood. 1979

The Police’s “Ghost In The Machine” is the #1 album in the U.K. It has a three-week run at the top. 1981

Halestorm frontwoman Lzzy Hale has a birthday.  1983

Whitesnake’s signature song, “Here I Go Again,” tops the singles chart. 1987

The double album “Rattle And Hum” is U2’s sixth studio set. The album sells over one million copies in the U.S. 1988

“Insomniac,” the fourth studio album from Green Day, is released. The set becomes the group’s third-best selling album behind “Dookie” and “American Idiot” with sales of over 8 million copies worldwide. 1995

Hole’s “Celebrity Skin” tops the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. 1998

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr attend the London premiere of “A Concert For George.” The Harrison tribute was filmed the previous year at the Royal Albert Hall. 2003

Green Day are recognized by People for the American Way at their Spirit of Liberty Awards in L.A. “(Green Day’s) “American Idiot” has effectively raised social and political consciousness among audiences worldwide,” writes the PFAW in a prepared statement. 2006

Why not do this on Halloween? Rob Zombie’s “The Devil’s Rejects” is named Best Horror Movie at Spike TV’s Scream Awards in L.A. Four of the film’s cast members, including Zombie’s wife, Sheri Moon, are collectively named Most Vile Villain for their portrayal of the Firefly Clan. The ceremony celebrates “horror, sci-fi, fantasy and comic books.” 2006

It’s an election year. Everclear’s “Jesus Was A Democrat” is available for free download. “I have been wanting to write this song for a long time, ever since the right wing in this country tried to make the word liberal a thing of shame,” says frontman Art Alexakis. “If this song offends you… then don’t listen to it.” 2008

The film “Body Of Lies” is in theaters with the song “Bird’s Eye” (during the closing credits), a collaboration between System Of A Down singer Serj Tankian and former Faith No More’s Mike Patton. 2008

Eddie Van Halen is named Guitar World‘s Greatest Guitarist of All Time. A half-a-million votes were cast by readers. 2012

Elton John loses a libel case against the London’s Guardian Times who linked the singer to a tax avoidance scheme in an article titled, “Screen Play: How Movie Millions Are Moved Offshore.” The paper printed a retraction but Elton was not satisfied and filed suit. 2012

“A Night With Janis Joplin” opens at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway. Written and directed by Randy Johnson, the production stars Mary Bridget Davis as Joplin. 2013

Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver bassist Duff McKagan delivers the keynote address at the CBGB Music & Film Festival Conference. The five-day festival features performances by over 500 artists in over 175 venues in Brooklyn and Manhattan. 2013

Jan Kuehnemund, the guitarist and founder member of Vixen, dies after a long battle with cancer. 2013

Arch Enemy reunite with original members Johan Liiva (who left in ’00) and Christopher Amott (absent since ’12) during the group’s appearance at the Loud Park Festival in Saitama, Japan. 2015

Aerosmith file a cease-and-desist letter demanding that Presidential candidate Donald Trump stop using “Dream On” at his rallies. 2015

Slipknot are #2 on the Billboard 200 with “The End, So Far.”  The album can’t break Bad Bunny’s hold of the top spot with “Un Verano Sin Ti.”  2022

Distrurbed‘s David Draiman, who is of Jewish descent, denounces Hamas’s attack on Israel, which killed over 900 Israelis and wounded over 2,400 others. “There’s no justification for the barbarity and the inhumanity that was on display over the course of the past few days against Jews in Israel, and there’s no justification for the support of the acts, the inhumane acts perpetrated against Jews all over the world,” states Draiman.  2023