This Day in History: 2023-10-29

ROCKTOBER 29^th

“Radioactive,” by Imagine Dragons, is released.  Staying on the Billboard Hot 100 for 87 weeks and peaking at #3, the song tops both the U.S. Hot Rock Songs and Rock Airplay charts on its way to becoming the most downloaded track in Rock history.  2012

Green Day’s “Radio Revolution” tops the Billboard 200 on first week sales of 95,000 units.  It’s the group’s 10^th Top 10 album.  2016

MORE TODAY IN ROCK…

Denny Laine (Moody Blues & Wings) is born. He writes and sings one of Wings’ best songs “Time To Hide.” 1944

Peter Green (Peter Allen Greenbaum) is born in London. In addition to being a co-founder of Fleetwood Mac, the guitarist composed “Black Magic Woman” (a hit for Santana).  1946

Quiet Riot’s vocalist, Kevin DuBrow, enters the world. 1955

Billboard says Little Richard’s debut hit, “Tutti Frutti,” is “a cleverly styled novelty with nonsense words, rapid fire delivery.” 1955

The Who’s classic, “My Generation,” is released in the U.K. The track is later listed 11th on Rolling Stone‘s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and 13th on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of Rock & Roll. 1965

A motorcycle accident in Macon, GA, claims the life of guitar great Duane Allman (Allman Brothers Band). 1971

John Lennon issues his “Mind Games” album featuring the title track.  1973

“Nirvana” (with the black cover and silver lettering), a de facto greatest hits album, is released. 2002

“Ray – The Life Of Ray Charles” opens. The bio-pic stars Jamie Foxx as the immortal performer. 2004

The Sundance Channel premieres “Runnin’ Down A Dream: Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers.” Director Peter Bogdanovich’s four-hour documentary has appearances by Stevie Nicks (Fleetwood Mac), Jeff Lynne (E.L.O.) and the late George Harrison. 2007

Police nab 40 accused petty criminals in a sting operation that involves Ozzy Osbourne. Without Ozzy’s prior knowledge, police invite people with outstanding warrants to a fake pre-show party that promises free tickets to Ozzy’s Fargo, ND concert. “It’s insulting to me and to my audience,” says Osbourne. “It shows how lazy this particular sheriff is when it comes to doing his job.” 2007

Elvis Presley and John Lennon are #1 and #2, respectively. Only this time it’s on Forbes magazine’s annual tally of the highest-earning dead celebrities. Presley, earning $49 million, beats out Lennon by $5 million. The Lennon estate is boosted by the settlement of long-standing lawsuits regarding record royalties. 2007

U2’s Bono is a surprise speaker at a Starbucks leadership conference in New Orleans, as the coffee company announces a partnership with the singer’s (Red) campaign. A percentage of money raised by sales of select Starbucks drinks benefit the (Red)-supported Global Fund’s fight against AIDS in Africa. “This coffee will be beautiful because it’s going to chase away the ugliness of this tiny little virus, HIV,” says Bono. 2008

John Lennon wins the Royal Mint’s public vote and is honored with his own “Great Briton” limited edition coin. The massive proportion of the vote he received shows clearly just how much his untimely death still resonates with the nation,” says Dave Knight, director of commemorative coins at the Royal Mint.  2010

Green Day announce that they’ve canceled all dates for ’12 and postponed early ’13 shows as frontman Billie Joe Armstrong continues his stay in rehab. “Obviously, the timing for this isn’t ideal, but Billie Joe’s well-being is our main concern,” writes bassist Mike Dirnt in a statement. 2012

Just before the mid-term elections Slayer’s Tom Araya offers a ‘conservative vs. liberal’ comparison via the bassist’s own Instagram account. “If a conservative doesn’t like guns, he doesn’t buy one. If a liberal doesn’t like guns, he wants all guns outlawed. If a conservative is a vegetarian, he doesn’t eat meat. If a liberal is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone and if a conservative decides he needs health care, he goes shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it. A liberal demands that the rest of us pay for his.”  2018

Former Molly Hatchet singer Jimmy Farrar dies at age 68. Farrar passes away due to complications from congestive heart, kidney and liver failure.  His vocals are heard “Beatin’ The Odds” (’80) and “Take No Prisoners (’81). 2018

In a radio interview Superjoint guitarist Jimmy Bower says that the band is “done” for good.  Members are now involved in other projects. Superjoint last released an album in ‘16.  2021

Highly Suspect’s “Natural Born Killer” is #1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart.  2022