188 Classic Rock

May 8th 1940, Born on this day, Ricky Nelson, US singer, (1958 US No.1 'Poor Little Fool', 1961 UK No.2 single 'Hello Mary Lou' plus over 30 US Top 40 hit singles). Played himself on his parent's US TV The Adventures Of Ozzie and Harriet.' Nelson died...

May 8th 1911, Born on this day, Robert Johnson, blues singer, guitarist. Influenced Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Eric Clapton (Cream covered 'Crossroads), The Rolling Stones ('Love In Vain'). Johnson died on 16th August 1938.

May 8th 1984, Roger Waters released his first solo album The Pros And Cons Of Hitch Hiking. The concept album, as originally envisioned by Waters in 1977, rotated around a man's thoughts during a midlife crisis, and featured guest musicians Eric Clapton...

May 8th 1982, Vangelis went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Chariots Of Fire', his only US No.1. Vangelis was accused of plagiarising 'Chariots of Fire' from a song by fellow Greek composer Stavros Logaridis called 'City of Violets'. Vangelis won...

May 8th 1982, Paul McCartney scored his fifth UK No.1 album with 'Tug Of War'. The album featured the duet with Stevie Wonder 'Ebony & Ivory', which was inspired by McCartney hearing comedian Spike Milligan say "black notes, white notes, and you need...

8th May 1965, The filming of the promotional film for Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues took place at the side of the Savoy Hotel in London. Actors in the background were Allen Ginsberg and Bob Neuwirth. The original clip was actually the opening...

Let It Be - Released 8 May 1970 (UK)

7th May 1971, 'Moonage Daydream' was released as a single by Arnold Corns, a band, formed by David Bowie the name of which was inspired by the Pink Floyd song 'Arnold Layne'. This was one of Bowie’s side projects and something of a dry run for Ziggy Stardust....

May 7th 1974, Led Zeppelin held a party at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City for the launch of their new label Swan Song. Other label signings including, Scottish singer Maggie Bell (whose album Suicide Sal was the labels fourth release), and British...

7th May 1977, The Eagles went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Hotel California', the group's fourth US No.1, a No.8 hit in the UK. The Eagles also won the 1977 Grammy Award for Record of the Year for 'Hotel California' at the 20th Annual Grammy...