This Day in History: 2023-12-10

DECEMBER 10^th

“I don’t know where but she sends me there.” The Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” rules the pop charts. 1966

“Wings Over America,” the triple live album from Paul McCartney’s band, is released.  Selling over four million copies in the U.S., the set was recorded during the American leg of Wings world tour.   1976

“Folie A Deux” by Fall Out Boy’s is out. The album’s title literally means a “madness shared by two.” 2008

MORE TODAY IN ROCK…

J Mascis, singer/guitarist for Dinosaur Jr., has a birthday.  1965

The first Bill Graham-promoted show at the Fillmore Auditorium (soon to be dubbed the Fillmore West) has Jefferson Airplane and The Great Society, with future Airplane vocalist, Grace Slick. 1965

The Punk mecca CBGBs opens in lower Manhattan, New York City. The club has a 33-year run (closed in ’06). 1973

Megan (Meg) Martha White has a birthday. The White Stripes drummer is born in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan – and her last name, unlike her ex-husband Jack, really is White. 1974

Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson’s “Say, Say Say” is a chart topper. The uptempo duet stays at #1 for 6 weeks. 1983

The man who coined the term “Rock ‘n’ Roll” and was an early promoter (and whipping-boy) DJ Alan Freed gets a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Freed died several years earlier. 1991

The day after his 56th birthday, The Band’s bassist, Rick Danko, dies in his sleep in Woodstock, NY. 1999s

Audioslave captures Modern Rock Artist of the Year and Rock Artist of the Year at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas. Trapt’s “Headstrong” nabs Track of Year honors in both the Rock and Modern Rock categories.  2003

System Of A Down’s “Hypnotize” tops the Billboard 200.  The set follows companion album “Mezmerize” which was released six-months earlier and topped the Billboard chart.  2005

Led Zeppelin (vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist John Paul Jones and drummer Jason Bonham – son of the late John Bonham) take the stage of London’s O2 arena as the headliners of a tribute concert for Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun, who passed away the previous December. He signed Zeppelin in ’68.  2007

Bob Dylan’s original handwritten lyrics to “The Times They Are A-Changin’” are auctioned at Sotheby’s in New York. Expected to go for $300,000, hedge-fund manager Adam Sender pays $422,500 beating out a handful of other bidders. Dylan wrote the classic protest song in ’63. 2010

Slipknot percussionist Chris Fehn condemns ‘mosh pit bullying’. “I think, especially in America, moshing has turned into a form of bullying. The big guy stands in the middle and just trucks any small kid that comes near him. Those guys need to be kicked out. A proper mosh pit is a great way to be as a group and dance, and just do your thing.” 2014

Janis Joplin’s psychedelic Porsche sells for $1.76 million at RM Sotheby’s “Driven By Disruption” car auction in New York. Joplin bought the car secondhand in ’68. The pearl white auto was painted by a Big Brother & The Holding Company roadie. 2015

Patti Smith accepts the Nobel Prize in Literature on behalf of Bob Dylan, who is unable to attend the ceremony.   In a statement, Dylan says he’s “honored to be receiving such a prestigious prize.”  2016

Def Leppard beat out Stevie Nicks, among others, to win the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Fan Vote with 547,647 votes.  Since the Fan Vote was created every winner has been inducted.   2018

Metal singer Doro Pesch is featured in a PETA Germany ad campaign that takes a stance against cruelty to animals. “We have a special responsibility toward animals. That’s why I don’t eat meat and only wear faux leather,” Doro Pesch says. She also attributes her vegetarian lifestyle for her onstage stamina and “much clearer conscience.” 2018