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Week of July 26, 2010

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Damn the Torpedoes DVD

tom petty damn the torp

This DVD tells the story behind the creation of this great rock ‘n’ roll album and the dramatic transformation in the band’s career that took place following its release. Through interviews, new and archive performances and analysis we discover how Tom Petty, Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, Ron Blair and Stan Lynch created their songs and sounds with the help of Co-Producer Jimmy Iovine and Engineer Shelly Yakus.

Courtesy of Eagle Rock Entertainment

This Week in Rock History

July 29

“It’s only money,” according to a popular cliché. But when it’s $180,000 that’s missing, even a group as big as Led Zeppelin could feel the sting. On July 29, 1973, someone ripped off $180,000 in cash receipts from a hotel safe . . . money collected from two sold-out Led Zeppelin concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Police believed it to be an inside job. Happy birthday to Rush vocalist and bass player Geddy Lee. And The Doors hit #1 on the charts for the first time on this date in 1967 with “Light My Fire.”

July 28

In 1973 the biggest rock festival to date was held at Watkins Glen Racetrack in New York. They called it The Watkins Glen “Summer Jam,” starring the Grateful Dead, The Band, and The Allman Brothers. More than 600,000 attended the festival, outdrawing the Woodstock Festival by nearly 150,000. Six years later, Aerosmith, Ted Nugent, Journey and Thin Lizzy were the headliners at another festival – The World Series of Rock, held at Ohio’s Cleveland Stadium. And Rolling Stone Keith Richards and model Patti Hansen had a baby girl born to them on this day in 1986. It was their second daughter, and Keith’s fourth child.

July 27

Give me your tired, your poor . . . and your Beatles! On July 27, 1976, John Lennon’s four and a half year struggle to remain in America finally ended. Judge Ira Fieldsteel said the government no longer objected to John’s presence here and approved his application for permanent residency. Alice Cooper had a nasty surprise on this day in 1979 when a Native American art store he owned in Arizona was hit by a firebomb. $200,000 worth of artifacts were destroyed, along with some of his gold records. Cooper speculated that “disco freaks” were responsible for the blast. And on this day in 1986, Peter Gabriel was at #1 on the charts with “Sledgehammer.”

July 26

The world’s first Beatles convention opened in Boston on this date in 1974. Joe Pope’s Strawberry Fields Forever Fan Club organized the event . . . a day-long swap meet for Beatles buttons, fan club records, souvenir programs, anything and everything having to do with Liverpool’s Fab Four. In 1977 tragedy struck then-Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant. While in America for a concert tour, Plant received a call informing him that his son Karac had died of a viral infection. The boy was just 6 years old. And today the lyrics to the Rolling Stones’ tune “Time Waits for No One” take on a more personal meaning for Mick Jagger, as he celebrates a birthday!

July 25

The booing was nearly deafening on this day in 1965, when young Bob Dylan tossed aside his acoustic guitar in favor of an electric one at the Newport Folk Festival. History called it Dylan’s electric debut, and signaled to all that yes, the times they were a changin’. The Beatles were #1 on the American singles charts in 1964 with the theme to their first movie “A Hard Day’s Night.” On the same day three years later, the Beatles and their manager Brian Epstein issued a press release calling for the decriminalization of marijuana. And record releases on this day included AC/DC’s “Back In Black,” in 1980. It was their first album with Brian Johnson as lead singer. And in 1970, Chicago released “25 or 6 to 4.”

July 24

It was a hot summer’s night in Blackpool, England, on this day in 1964, when a Rolling Stones concert turned into a riot. A few drunken members of an audience that measured 9000 strong started the mess. Before it ended, 50 people were hospitalized and damage to the concert hall was estimated at more than $5,000. In 1971 T.Rex had a British #1 single with “Get It On.” For America the song was retitled “Bang A Gong.” And in 1978 the movie version of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” opened in New York City. Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees starred, and the film was a major critical and commercial flop.

July 23

Rocker Billy Squire earned his first gold album on this day in 1981. The award was for his “Don’t Say No” LP. The disc eventually went platinum, and contains the rock classics, “The Stroke,” In The Dark,” and “My Kinda Lover.” Happy birthday to David Essex, Mr. “Rock On” today! Record releases on this day in rock include Foreigner’s “Cold As Ice” in 1977. And In 1983 the Police were at #1 on the singles charts with “Every Breath You Take … they also topped the album charts with “Synchronicity.”