In the summer of 1978 I had the opportunity to see "The Motor City madman" Ted Nugent, Cheap Trick and a little known band from Australia (making their first appearance in Seattle) call AC/DC at The Seattle Center Coliseum.

As I recall this show did not go well for AC/DC. The band was not that well known in the U.S at the time and the drunken Ted Nugent fans (not known to be a very open minded bunch to begin with) didn't quite know what to think of the guy jumping around in a schoolboy uniform.

After about the 3rd song the crowed started throwing bottles at the stage, but the band pressed on. At one point Angus got on Bon Scott's shoulders and walked into the audience, an incredibly gutsy move considering the crowed was not on their side. After the show my friends all grumbled about how "That first band sucked".

Less than a year later "Highway To Hell" was released in the U.S and AC/DC became EVERYBODY'S FAVORITE BAND and all us old farts have a great story about how we saw AC/DC get boo'ed off the stage 35 years ago.

Check out this website http://www.ac-dc.net/archives/review.php?date_id=1091

Influential singer-songwriter J.J cale  died July 26 at a hospital in La Jolla, Calif. He was 74. Cale wrote two of Eric Clapton's biggest hits, "After Midnight" and "Cocaine", as well as "Call Me The Breeze " which was a hit for Lynyrd Skynyrd. 

His biggest U.S. hit single, "Crazy Mama", peaked at #22 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1972. During the 2006 documentary film To Tulsa and Back Cale recounts the story of being offered the opportunity to appear on Dick Clark's American Bandstand.  Cale declined when told he could not bring his band to the taping and would be required to lip-sync the words.

37 years ago today Paul McCartney and Wings played the first rock show at Seattle's Kingdome.

Yes, Tickets were ten dollars!

More than 600,000 people attended 31 shows in the United States and Canada. 
Many of the concerts were professionally recorded at McCartney's request. The best performances would later be released as the triple album "Wings over America". In 1981 a concert film of the Seattle show was released under the title of Rockshow by Miramax.

​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNn5Q7H-FeA

Johnny Cash will be honored with a stamp issued by the United States Postal Service in June. 

The stamp features a photograph of the Man in Black taken by Frank Bez during the photo session for the 1963 album "Ring of Fire: The Best of Johnny Cash," 

 The new Forever postage stamp will be unveiled Wednesday June 5th at a special ceremony at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville .

Artists set to appear, perform or speak at the first-day-of-issuance ceremony include John Carter Cash, Carlene Carter, Larry Gatlin, Jamey Johnson, The Oak Ridge Boys, The Roys, Marty Stuart and Randy Travis among others.

The limited edition forever stamp is available  local Post Offices and online at usps.com/stamps.

Ray Manzarek,co-founder and keyboardist for The Doors  passed away this morning at the age of 74 after a long struggle with bile duct cancer. Manzarek formed The Doors with Jim Morrison while the two were studying film at UCLA in 1965. 

The Doors went on to become one of the most controversial rock acts of the 1960s, selling more than 100-million albums worldwide, and receiving 19 Gold, 14 Platinum and five multi-Platinum albums in the U.S. alone. "L.A.Woman," "Break On Through to the Other Side," "The End," "Hello, I Love You," and "Light My Fire" were just some of their hits.

 
Manzarek is survived by his wife Dorothy, son Pablo, and three grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, the family ask that donations be made in Manzarek’s name to standup2cancer.org.

Read more here at The Doors.com

(From Rollingstone.com) --

 Jimi Hendrix and Miles Davis were making plans to record together in 1969.  Legend has it that Hendrix and Davis were hoping that Paul McCartney would join them on bass.  A telegram was sent to Apple Records on Oct. 21, 1969.

The note read "We are recording and LP together this weekend in NewYork." "How about coming in to play bass stop call Alvan Douglas . Peace Jimi Hendrix Miles Davis Tony Williams."

It's unclear if McCartney was aware of the request.  Beatles aide Peter Brown responded the next day, telling Hendrix and Davis that McCartney was out on vacation and wasn't expected back for two weeks.

Read more at rollingstone.com

On Sunday May 11th 1969  a young, up and coming band named Led Zeppelin played on a small lake just north of Seattle Washington. Thats right they played ON the lake. The venue was Seattle's Greenlake Auqa Theater, The 5,000 seat Aqua Theater on the southwest shores of Green Lake.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported "several thousand of the whimsically clad and nearly unclad younger set" attended. 

The Setlist (posted on Led Zeppelin.com) included the songs  Train Kept a Rollin', I Can't Quit You Baby, Dazed and Confused, As Long As I Have You, Killing Floor, White Summer / Black Mountainside, Babe I'm Gonna Leave You, You Shook Me, How Many More Times and  Communication Breakdown.

Mick Ronson (Possibly the first Morman rockstar) passed away on this day in 1993. 

Ronson was a guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer, best known for his work with David Bowie.  Ronson was a busy session musician who recorded with artists as diverse as Bowie and Morrissey, as well as engagements as a sideman in touring bands with performers such as Van Morrison and John Mellencamp.

Ronson and Bowie parted ways following the infamous "Farewell Concert" in 1973 ( Bowie announced to the audience this was the bands final show, without first notifying the band)

In 1974, Ronson secured the #2 spot from a reader's poll in Creem magazine as the best guitarist that year (with Jimmy Page taking first place), and Eric Clapton in third place after Ronson.

Ronson died of liver cancer on 29 April 1993 at the age of 46. His funeral was held in a Mormon chapel in London on 6 May. In his memory, the Mick Ronson Memorial Stage was constructed in Queens Gardens in his hometown of Hull. There is also a street named after him on Bilton Grange Estate, not far from where he lived.

Metallica already planned to go big with its new 3D film. IMAX is helping make the debut for "Metallica Through The Never" giant-sized.

The film will  hit IMAX theaters across North American for a one week engagement beginning on September 27th.

The film mixes concert footage with a plotline featuring actor Dane DeHaan (Chronicle, The Amazing Spider-Man 2) as a roadie who is sent on a mission during a sold out Metallica concert. The band built a stage to film its concert pieces so fans will have the feeling of being inside the performance.

The movie will play in traditional theaters in full 3D October 4.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE GRAPHIC DETAILS 

The Canadian rock trio Rush will be honored with a postage stamp in July. The legendary progressive rockers are one of four bands being included in the latest set of Canadian Recording Artist stamps from Canada Post.

Rush, The Guess Who, Beau Dommage and The Tragically Hip will be spotlighted in this fourth issue in a series created to honor musical legends.

Jim Phillips, Director of Stamp Services for Canada Post said “This year’s series features Canadian bands that have shaped the music industry in Canada. Each band has achieved national acclaim, along with international radio air-time and extensive tours.”