Some albums sound so different from anything that came before them that the first time you hear them sticks with you. My first listen to The Cars debut was, appropriately, in a car - the rental of a guy from Elektra Records.  It was a few weeks before its release and he mentioned that there was some debate within the label about whether the debut by this Boston band would get traction. 

Did it ever!  Released on this day in 1978, it spent nearly the next 6 months on the Billboard album chart, spawned several of the biggest Rock radio tracks of the year and earned the group Best New Artist of the Year from Rolling Stone - back when the magazine still had musical cred.

1942 Canned Heat's Larry Taylor born.

1944 Big Brother & the Holding Company's Peter Albin born.

1951 Dwight Twilly born.

1960 Steve Vai born.   

1962 Beatles audition for EMI Records.   

1969 Rod Stewart signs solo contract with Mercury Records while still in the Jeff Beck Group.   

1971 John Lennon & Yoko join Frank Zappa on stage during Mothers of Invention concert at Fillmore East. 

1979 A Def Leppard concert in Sheffield, UK lands them a record contract.

1982 Tom Petty, Bob Dylan, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Jackson Browne, Stevie Nicks and Stevie Wonder play the Peace Sunday; We Have a Dream concert at the Rose Bowl.

1989 Paul McCartney releases Flowers In The Dirt.   

1987 Heart releases Bad Animals.   

1989 Stevie Ray Vaughan In Step released.  1989 Queen releases The Miracle. 

1993 The Velvet Undergound reunites for a live set at Wembley Stadium. 

1998 Chris Robinson of Black Crowes gets in brawl with two men at Sunset Marquis Hotel bar in LA. 

2000 Ron Wood enters rehab.

2004 Eric Clapton stages his Crossroads Festival in Dallas. 

2006 Cheap Trick releases Rockford.   

2006 Billy Preston dies of hypertension and kidney complications.

2016 Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield do the national anthem before game 4 of the Stanley Cup in San Jose.

2017 Original Woodstock Festival site added to National Register of Historic Places....

Def Leppard has packaged their 2019 Rock Hall Of Fame induction performance into a release that will drop on the first of three Record Store Days slated for later this summer and fall. Only 4,000 copies of the limited edition 5 song set the group did during the March 29 induction staged in New York City are being made available on August 29th's RSD.

MORE DEF LEPPARD INSIGHTS

One of the more unusual virtual concerts took place last night from Fenway Park in Boston when the Dropkick Murphys did a set in the shadow of the fabled Green Monster before 36,000 empty seats and welcomed Bruce Springsteen to drop in on their set.

John Fogerty has bundled several of the Covid-19 quarantine songs he has streamed with members of his family into an EP. The 10 song Fogerty's Factory 4th Generation digital release includes a trio of tunes performed as an NPR Tiny Desk Concert.

About the last thing anyone would have expected from KISS veteran Paul Stanley is a cover of a Motown classic, but here it is...

With new town houses closing in on the abandoned building where many of Southern Rock's greatest albums were recorded, Capricorn Records offices and Studios in Macon, Georgia looked to be on the verge of being reduced to just an historical marker a couple of years ago. Mercer College not only saved the building fro the wrecking ball, it revived it. Blackberry Smoked booked one of the earliest sessions in the studio and invited back Jimmy Hall to join them on a rendition of Keep On Smilin', the song Hall recorded there with the band Wet Willie in 1974.

The group's Live From Capricorn Studios EP drops on June 19 and includes a version of Midnight Rider with Charlie Starr playing Duane Allman's Goldtop Les Paul, the Allman's Revival, the Marshall Tucker Band's Take The Highway, Little Richard's Southern Child and Little Milton's Grits Ain't Groceries, another song Wet Willie recorded in the studio's hay day.

Pearl Jam and the Dave Matthews Band will do a Washington State Covid-19 Relief streaming concert on Saturday, June 10 at 7pm (Pacific). Others contributingh songs during the session include Brandi Carlile and Ben Gibbard of the band Death Cab for Cutie.

Led Zeppelin fans can stream the group's 2007 reunion concert Saturday night (5/30) for free.  The set that was delivered to honor Atlantic Records Ahmet Ertegun took place at London's 02 Arena and marked the first time surviving members of the group had done a concert together in 27 years.  John Bonham's son, Jason, filled Bonzo's roll admirably that night.

Here's a preview...

Brian May reveals that a recent awkward moment for him proved to be more serious than it seemed at the time. We wish the Queen guitar great the best.

 

 

 

 

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Hmm ... Sheer Heart Attack eh ? Well, I think I always worried a little bit about that album title. I wondered if it might upset some people who had actually had heart attacks. I’m actually quite relieved now that I’m in that club - and I don’t find it upsetting at all ! Take. care folks. And ... why did those discs in my spine get so squished? Well I think 50 years of running around with a guitar strap over my left shoulder holding a heavy guitar might have something to do with it ! But it probably WAS all worth it ! Bri

A post shared by Brian Harold May (@brianmayforreal) on May 24, 2020 at 7:42pm PDT

Dennis DeYoung is angling for a reunion tour with Styx that includes him. In a recent radio interview, the former Styx member says he's not lobbying to rejoin the group on a full time basis but wants "...one last tour for the Styx fans that want this".

Carb Day for the Indy 500 goes virtual with musicians that had played the event live in years past.

Bono's handwritten lyrics to I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For has raised more than $92,500 in an auction to benefit Covid-19 relief services including Feeding America and NHS Charities Together. The autographed lyrics sheet attracted 3,250 bids during the broadcast auction conducted by Omega Auctions in conjunction with Island Records. Other items in the auction that raised close to $220,000 included a private tour of Abbey Road Studios and a ringtone composed by Brian Eno.

MORE U2 INSIGHTS

Tommy Shaw has released a cover of Led Zeppelin's Goin' to California. The Styx mainstay recorded the version a number of years ago with Will Evankovitch of the Guess Who when the pair collaborated during a Shaw Blades covers project. Redoing anything by the mighty Zep is a pretty ballsy undertaking. We think it's a decent take.

Quarantunes featuring multiple members of a band are keeping us entertained in isolation. Some cross-band collaborations are popping up, including this version of Thin Lizzy's Bad Reputation that features Richie Faulkner of Judas Priest, Dave mcClain from Machinehead, Alice In Chains' Mike Inez and Lzzy Hale from Halestorm.

Harrison Ford talks about filming the Doors - and him doing a brief stint as a roadie for Morrison and company.

Neil Young will release an album that's been on the back burner for decades on June 19. Homegrown was recorded in the spring, fall and winter of 1974 at his California Broken Arrow Ranch studio, in Nashville and Village Studios in LA. Young decided to pass on releasing it at the last moment, opting to put out the more upbeat Tonight's The Night that he had recorded the previous year. Homegrown's songs were written while Young's relationship with actress Carrie Snodgrass was unraveling. He would later tell Cameron Crowe that he elected not to release it because, "it was a little too personal, it scared me."

MORE NEIL YOUNG INSIGHTS

Deep Purple dishes out rehearsal footage of the band working through one of the tracks on Whoosh, the new album due out on August 7.

Roger Waters serves-up a Floyd classic from isolation that's fitting for perilous times...

David Gilmour reached waaay back for a couple of Syd Barrett songs during a recent COVID-19 Von Trapped Family live stream.

Ian Anderson's ability to sustain a barrage of pithy flute notes while perched on one foot was a hallmark of Jethro Tull songs, albums and concerts. His balance may be as dependable as ever, but his lung capacity is far from it. Speaking with Dan Rather on tonight's The Big interview on AXS TV, Anderson revealed that he has COPD - chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, an incurable affliction that reduces lung capacity and strength. Anderson's announcement was the first time he has acknowledged the condition publicly and admitted that it makes it very difficult for him to perform up to his own and fan's expectations, but added, "It's not yet at the point that it affects my day to day life, I can still run for the bus,"

With Creedence Clearwater Revival and Creedence Clearwater Revisted, his 25 year CCR spin-off with bassist Stu Cook, both in his past, drummer Doug Clifford revisited a decades old album project he never got around to releasing. Magic Window was recorded at Clifford's Lake Tahoe studio in 1985. The ten track album is now available.

Boston College alum Evan Springsteen's dad will welcome incoming students this fall. Bruce has agreed to address students at the First Year Academic Convocation on September 10th and his autobiography has been selected as the class of 2024's convocation book. The release announcing that The Boss will participate included, "Each BC student brings a unique set of talent, and reading Bruce's story will give them an invaluable perspective as they begin their formation at Boston College."

MORE BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN INSIGHTS

One of the groundbreaking pioneers of Rock died today at 87. Little Richard, the piano pounding, barrier crashing, flamboyant and almost always astounding performer was an inspiration to multiple generations of musicians for nearly a century. David Bowie once said the he and many of his contemporaries would not have become musicians were it not for the man born Richard Penniman.

Steven Van Zandt of Bruce Springsteen's band singled out Little Richard as the "archetype" and "the man who invented Rock and Roll. Jimmy Page said it was "Little Richard's songs that pioneered rock 'n' roll". Dave Davies called Penniman's riffs "The best backbeat in the world" and the Kinks veteran called him "an immense inspiration" and Ringo Starr cited him as being "one of my all-time musical heroes".

No cause of death was announced by his family.

Rock In Peace, Little Richard.

Live recordings of David Bowie culled from four 1990 concerts are due out May 15. LiveAndWell includes songs Bowie performed in New York City, Amsterdam, Rio De Janeiro and the Phoenix Festival in the UK during his 1997 Earthlings tour.
Two additional concert albums are expected later in the year. The songs on the first album were previously offered to BowieNet subscribers.

MORE DAVID BOWIE INSIGHTS

Far from resting on his laurels, Bob Dylan has been cranking out and recording new material during this period of social distancing. Some new titles have made their online debut already, and now comes word that a double CD/LP/Digital release will drop on June 19.Rough And Rowdy Ways is the first album of new songs from Bob in eight years.

MORE BOB DYLAN INSIGHTS

Restrictions on live concerts brought tours to a screeching halt several weeks ago and there is no way of knowing how soon it will be possible to stage or attend future concerts and festivals. Thankfully, many artists have adapted by streaming weekly archived concerts or live sessions. There are also opportunities for music junkies to view and participate in other online presentations. One of the potentially most interesting ones will be hosted by Gibson Guitars and will feature the extraordinary producer/engineer Eddie Kramer. Kramer was at the controls for a lot of iconic albums, including releases from Jimi Hendrix, Santana, Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, John Mellencamp, Led Zeppelin and many, many more.

The four part series premieres tonight with Kramer talking about his work with Jimi Hendrix. May 14th's episode focuses on Led Zeppelin sessions he did. The Woodstock soundtrack recordings are covered on May 21. His work with the Stones will be featured on May 28.

Enjoy them at Gibson's Facebook Live and YouTube Live pages starting at 5pm (Eastern).

R.I.P. Brian Howe, the singer that fronted Bad Company during an eight year stretch that Paul Rodgers had left the band, died after suffering a heart attack at his home in Florida on Tuesday. Howe was recruited to become Bad Co's lead singer after Rodgers exited in 1986 to join forces with Jimmy Page in The Firm. Brian left the group in 1994, saying he was tired of shouldering more of the work than other band members were willing to take on.
Howe had been found unconscious in his car after suffering a September, 2017 heart attack that required a long recovery period, but he had returned to performing and toured extensively in 2019.

MORE BAD COMPANY INSIGHTS

How tedious is quarantining? Even Mick Jagger is resorting to doing household chores...