54: March 30, 1965
OWSLEY RECEIVES HIS FIRST SHIPMENT OF LYSERGIC MONOHYDRATE: With 800 grams of the raw materials for LSD Augustus Owsley Stanley III manufactures 300,000 capsules of "White Lightning" acid-legal in California at the time-and turns in the entire West Coast, Hello, psychedelia!
53: January 22, 1972
DAVID BOWIE REVEALS HIS BISEXUALITY IN MELODY MAKER: Ziggy Stardust tells a reporter, "Yes, of course I'm gay, and always have been," becoming the first rock star to come out of the closet.
52: January 20, 1982
OZZY OSBOURNE BITS THE HEAD OFF A LIVE BAT: Onstage at a solo show in Des Moines, Iowa, Ozzy's ghoulish nosh establishes his as rock's alpha nutcase-a title yet to be wrestled from his trembling grasp.
51: May 19, 1965
PETE TOWNSHEND WRITES "MY GENERATION": Forced to take the train after the queen has his Packard hearse towed, the Who guitarist uses his commute to author rock's first and greatest endorsement of voluntary euthanasia.
50: November 16, 1965
BILL HAM DEMONSTRATES THE "LIGHT SHOW": San Fransicso visual artist displays "electric action paitings"- soon he'd project them onto the areas frumpy psychedelic bands, forever altering the course of "whoa, trippy"-ness.
49: January 18, 1966
BRIAN WILSON BEGINS WORK ON PET SOUNDS: Inspired by the Beatles Rubber Soul, the Beach Boys' obsessive genius transforms pop into high art with a concept album of startling complexity- just one year before he withdraws into a vortex of mental illness.
48: October 23, 2001
THE UNVEILING OF THE iPOD: Apples Computer launched the iPod less than six weeks after 9/11. After sales of 100 million iPods and 2.5 billion songs in the iTunes store, that appeal is undeniable.
47: August 1, 1989
THE FBI SENDS A LETTER TO N.W.A: A year after the release of N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton, FBI Assistant Director of the Office of Public Affairs Mit Ahlerich wrote their label's parent company, Priority Records, to "take exception" to an unspecified N.W.A. song that "encourages violence against and disrespect for the law enforcement officer." That song, of course, was the incendiary anti-cop track "Fuck Tha Police." The feds never took any direct action against N.W.A.-but with this vaguely threatning letter, hip-hop came into its own as a source of govermental concern, foreshawdoing rising public and political anxiety about the influence of gangsta rap on its increasingly white and suburban fan base.
46: January 30, 1973
KISS PERFORM IN FULL MAKEUP: Bassist Gene Simmons and singer Paul Stanley's previous group, Wicked Lester, had played wearing white face paint, but their new band developed this into "personalities"- the Demon (Simmons), the Starchild (Stanley), the Space Ace (guitarist Ace Frehley) and, yes, the Catman (drummer Peter Criss).
45: May 21, 1992
THE REAL WORLD DEBUTS: The show about seven strangers living together in front of television cameras prompts the gradual disappearance of actual music videos on MTV and gives birth to reality television.
-TO BE CONTINUED-
OWSLEY RECEIVES HIS FIRST SHIPMENT OF LYSERGIC MONOHYDRATE: With 800 grams of the raw materials for LSD Augustus Owsley Stanley III manufactures 300,000 capsules of "White Lightning" acid-legal in California at the time-and turns in the entire West Coast, Hello, psychedelia!
53: January 22, 1972
DAVID BOWIE REVEALS HIS BISEXUALITY IN MELODY MAKER: Ziggy Stardust tells a reporter, "Yes, of course I'm gay, and always have been," becoming the first rock star to come out of the closet.
52: January 20, 1982
OZZY OSBOURNE BITS THE HEAD OFF A LIVE BAT: Onstage at a solo show in Des Moines, Iowa, Ozzy's ghoulish nosh establishes his as rock's alpha nutcase-a title yet to be wrestled from his trembling grasp.
51: May 19, 1965
PETE TOWNSHEND WRITES "MY GENERATION": Forced to take the train after the queen has his Packard hearse towed, the Who guitarist uses his commute to author rock's first and greatest endorsement of voluntary euthanasia.
50: November 16, 1965
BILL HAM DEMONSTRATES THE "LIGHT SHOW": San Fransicso visual artist displays "electric action paitings"- soon he'd project them onto the areas frumpy psychedelic bands, forever altering the course of "whoa, trippy"-ness.
49: January 18, 1966
BRIAN WILSON BEGINS WORK ON PET SOUNDS: Inspired by the Beatles Rubber Soul, the Beach Boys' obsessive genius transforms pop into high art with a concept album of startling complexity- just one year before he withdraws into a vortex of mental illness.
48: October 23, 2001
THE UNVEILING OF THE iPOD: Apples Computer launched the iPod less than six weeks after 9/11. After sales of 100 million iPods and 2.5 billion songs in the iTunes store, that appeal is undeniable.
47: August 1, 1989
THE FBI SENDS A LETTER TO N.W.A: A year after the release of N.W.A.'s Straight Outta Compton, FBI Assistant Director of the Office of Public Affairs Mit Ahlerich wrote their label's parent company, Priority Records, to "take exception" to an unspecified N.W.A. song that "encourages violence against and disrespect for the law enforcement officer." That song, of course, was the incendiary anti-cop track "Fuck Tha Police." The feds never took any direct action against N.W.A.-but with this vaguely threatning letter, hip-hop came into its own as a source of govermental concern, foreshawdoing rising public and political anxiety about the influence of gangsta rap on its increasingly white and suburban fan base.
46: January 30, 1973
KISS PERFORM IN FULL MAKEUP: Bassist Gene Simmons and singer Paul Stanley's previous group, Wicked Lester, had played wearing white face paint, but their new band developed this into "personalities"- the Demon (Simmons), the Starchild (Stanley), the Space Ace (guitarist Ace Frehley) and, yes, the Catman (drummer Peter Criss).
45: May 21, 1992
THE REAL WORLD DEBUTS: The show about seven strangers living together in front of television cameras prompts the gradual disappearance of actual music videos on MTV and gives birth to reality television.
-TO BE CONTINUED-
