07.19: Former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler filed a lawsuit against the band on this day in 1991, claiming the other members of the group forced him to use heroin and made him quit the band when he tried to quit the smack. The lawsuit was settled out of court the following year for a reported $2.5 million. Really? They forced him to use heroin? They sat on him, strapped him down, held him as they tied up his arm, found a vein, and inserted the needle? Now, we know those boys were pretty crazy back in the day, we've watched VH1's Behind The Music, but this is just too crazy. All the guys in the band had habits, for sure, but maybe Steve's was just a little bit beyond what they were used to, went a little too far and left no room for him to stop when the other guys decided to stop. Or maybe the other guys forced drugs on him, so that they could have a reason to fire him. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, especially when you see Steven these days, pimping his drug-addled life on Celebrity Rehab.
07.20: July 20th has turned out quite a few famous musicians over the years. Carlos Santana joined us on this day in 1947, beginning a journey that would take him from Mexico to San Francisco to Woodstock (where he absolutely tore up both the stage and every dirty hippy who dared open their eyes and ears while he shredded) to the world. On this day in 1955, Michael Anthony joined us, bass guitar in hand, ready to reinvigorate rock and roll in the '70s with a little band called Van Halen (from which he has been subsequently scrubbed from their history, 1984-style). Chris Cornell tested his lungs for the first time on this day in 1964, prepping for his work in both Soundgarden and Audioslave. Another Seattle scene alum, Stone Gossard, future lead guitar for Pearl Jam (who are, believe it, still going strong), rocked his way into the doctor's hands on this day in 1966.
07.21: On this day in 1973, Jim Croce’s “Bad Bad Leroy Brown” hit the top of the charts, the first of two #1 songs he had that year. Alas, the second of those came after his death in September 1973 in a plane crash, at the ripe old age of 30. Like so many musicians/artists before and since, Croce's death came during his ascendency, just when he was about to break into the big-time.
07.21: Cat Stevens, heretofore known as Yusef Islam, entered the wild world on this day in 1948. From "Wild World" to "Moonshadow", from his conversion to Islam to his re-emergence onto the worldwide music scene in the new millennium, Cat/Yusef's story doesn't follow, by any means, the usual trajectory of the '70s pop superstar, instead veering off on tangents and down roads that many thought confoundingly odd and others found thoughtfully sincere. Whatever you may think of the man, his '70s music survives and his voice continues to sing in the now, which is a very good thing.
07.22: It's not unusual to be loved by anyone. It's not unusual to have fun with anyone. And, for Tom Jones, it’s not unusual to pay for it later. On this day in 1989, Jones was ordered to pay $200 a week in child support to then 27-year old Katherine Berkery. Jones claimed the child wasn't his, but the DNA evidence suggested otherwise. $800/month?! Really? That lady musta had a horrible lawyer because we know that Jones could afford much more than that, especially for a kid that carries his own DNA.
07.22: The outer space Funkadelic master, George Clinton, crashed-landed on Earth on this day in 1940. Seven years later, on this very same day, Don Henley, future bird of prey, jumped head first into the fast lane of life.
07.23: Pushed out top hat first, Slash of Guns ‘N Roses fame was born on this day in 1965. Inarguably, in our opinion, the biggest and best band to emerge from the Sunset Strip hair metal scene of the '80s (sorry, Mötley Crüe), Gun 'N Roses transcended that silly "genre", shedding the makeup (but keeping the hair) and shredding faces at the same time, due in large part to the fingerlicious guitar work of one Saul Hudson, aka Slash. We still remember the day when someone asked us if we'd heard of this new band from L.A. called Guns 'N Roses. We said "no," proceeded to acquire the cassette, and totally went crazy over Appetite For Destruction, an album that continues to rock our world to this day, over two decades later. Yes, it will go down in history as a seminal rock record, as one of the best hard rock albums of all time, and as a testament to the fact that the Sunset Strip hair metal scene bred at least one amazing band and, comparatively, a whole bunch of crappy ones.
07.23: On this day in 1977, Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham and the group's hulk-like alpha dog manager, Peter Grant, were charged with assault after a fight broke out backstage with employees of the show’s promoter, the late and great Bill Graham, at an Oakland Coliseum concert. Grant blamed his own head of security for the escalation of tensions, but it didn't really matter who was to blame, as things had gotten out of hand pretty quickly, leading to at least two backstage brawls and plenty of knockouts. Yeah, that was The Zep back in the day. Emotion and reaction and rock.
07.25: On this day in 1958, Sonic Youth frontman and lead guitar player Thurston Moore was born. Sonic Youth. One of the most unknown popular bands of all time. They rock. Pure and simple. They friggin' rock. With Moore and Kim Gordon's melding of post-punk with alternative with avant-noise, they brought a sound that continues to ring our ears and rock our world in the best of ways. Though they never achieved the chart success of many of their '80s cohorts, they are still killing stages today, putting out head-turning albums, and generally just being genuine rockers.