07.26: On this day in 1943, Mick Jagger was born. Oh, Mick, how we love thee. Let us count the ways. First, your lips look like they could end the world. Second, your strut isn't made like other struts. It's a thing of beauty, to be beheld and studied and worked into one's own repertoire (if at all possible). Thirdly, your embrace of the blues and subsequent working of it, along with a little help from your mates, into your music, is an amazing thing to hear. For reals, the Rolling Stones first hit single was a cover of Willie Dixon's "Little Red Rooster", and that is one badass blues song. Fourthly, your wearing of tights in your stage shows in the '80s couldn't have been done by anyone but you. Sure, we look back on them now and chuckle, but, man, you pulled it off. Fifthly….well, you get the point. There probably isn't anything we don't love about Mick (except for his role as one of the baddies in the Emilio Estevez-starring movie Freejack; horrible with a capital HORR), and we are thankful he's shared his life with us. Happy birthday, Mick!
07.27: On this day in 1979, the Disco Era claimed another victim. Anti-disco demonstrator and shock rocker, Alice Cooper, saw $200,000 worth of Native American art and several of his gold records destroyed by a fire bomb that was lobbed into his Indian art store in Arizona. Now, to be fair to disco (yeah, some of it was really groovy stuff, believe it or not), there was no connection between Cooper's anti-disco remarks and the firebombing, but Cooper was convinced it happened at the hands of some "disco-music freak." Kinda weird to think of a disco fan as someone willing to bomb a business in defense of his/her favorite genre. Punk, maybe. Metal, definitely. But disco? Alice, we love you, man, but that mighta been a stretch.
07.28: Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Madonna shared a stage on this day in 2004, opening the MTV Music Awards with a rousing rendition of “Like A Virgin.” The trio also shared a couple of kisses, which stirred the headlines for days afterward. We think this marked the beginnings of Ms. Spears' downfall. For reals, what happened between the time Brit locked lips with Madge and now? A whole lotta downfallin', that's what. Madonna = Succubus? Maybe not a succubus, exactly. Maybe she's just bad luck.
07.28: On this day in 2000, nine Pearl Jam fans were trampled to death during the band’s set at the Roskolde Festival in Denmark. No snarky comments here, just sad face.
07.29: Cass Elliot, Mama Cass, of the Mamas and the Papas, died from a heart attack on this day in 1974. For years, the myth passed down through the grapevine that Cass died from choking on a ham sammich, but it's just not true. They did find a ham sandwich in the room with Cass, and maybe her consumption of many a ham sandwich over the years (along with her rampant drug use) led to the heart disease that led to her heart attack, but she did not die from choking on said ham sammich.
07.30: Buddy Guy, the bluesman’s bluesman, revealed himself to his folks and an unsuspecting world on this day in 1936. Inspiration to guitar greats Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and a menagerie of '60s rock icons, Buddy continues to inspire audiences today.
07.30: On this day in 1957, Jerry Lee Lewis, performing “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On”, made his national television debut, helping sales of that single leap from 30,000 to over 6 million. That's quite a leap there, Mr. Lewis. Well done, sir. We still wish you hadn't married your 13-year old cousin. That was kinda messed up, and it effectively stopped your rise in the world of rock, which just sucks, any way you look at it because you rock, sir. Oh well, as much as we wish we could, we can't change the past, so we'll just have to live with it.
08.01: On this day in 1942, the de factor leader of the jam band generation, Jerome John Garcia, or, as you may better know him, Jerry Garcia, was born. With Jerry's auspicious beginnings as the son of a musician and bar owner (his dad) and a lover of piano (his mom) and being named after a famous composer (Jerome Kern), his life as a musician and all-around awesome guy seemed almost preordained. What a long, strange trip for both us and him. From the beginnings of the psychedelic movement in San Francisco in the '60s to the The Grateful Dead's eternal tour during the '70s and '80s to the beginnings of the jamband movement in the '90s, Jerry was in the thick of it, rockin' out and flashing his bearded happy-guy grin to any and all who were lucky enough to be there. Happy birthday, Jerry! We miss ya, kid.
08.01: On this day in 1960, Carlton Douglas Ridenhour joined us, and the world of music would never be the same. Better known as Chuck D, founding member of one of the best groups ever, Public Enemy, he helped move music forward into territories that hadn't been breached since the heyday of '60s protest songs. By taking his anger at the status-quo and injecting it into hip-hop, Chuck, along with integral producers The Bomb Squad, DJ Terminator X, and sidekick/foil Flavor Flav, took the world by storm. Contrary to what some believe, Public Enemy was not gangster rap, but was, instead, highly political and highly motivated to better their community and themselves. Chuck D rocks. Hard. The man is one of our personal heroes and "Welcome To The Terrordome" is one of the hardest things our ears have ever heard. His and his group's influence on music, not just hip-hop, can be heard in the songs of metal-hop pioneers Rage Against The Machine, slam poet Saul Williams, insanely talented hip-hop band The Roots, and pioneering SoCal punk band NOFX. Happy birthday, Chuck!