188 Classic Rock

June 17th 1944, Born on this day, Chris Spedding, session guitarist. Worked with Donovan, David Essex, Lulu, Dusty Springfield, Jack Bruce, Eno, Bryan Ferry, The Wombles. Solo, (1975 UK No.14 single 'Motor Biking'). Also a member of The Sharks

June 17th 1976, Blondie released their debut single 'X Offender'. Written by Gary Valentine and Debbie Harry, the title of the song was originally 'Sex Offender', written about an 18-year-old boy being arrested for having sex with his younger girlfriend....

June 17th 1972, The Rolling Stones album Exile On Main Street started a four-week run at the top of the US charts. The double album, regularly regarded as one of the band's best, features Rocks Off, Rip This Joint, Happy and Tumbling Dice.

June 17th 1972, Don McLean had his first UK No.1 single with 'Vincent.' The song was written about the 19th century artist Vincent Van Gogh. The song is played daily at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

June 17th 1971, Carole King went to No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Tapestry’ for the first of 15 consecutive weeks. The album contained ‘It's Too Late’, ‘I Feel the Earth Move’, ‘Will You Love Me Tomorrow’’ and ‘You've Got a Friend’. The cover photograph...

16th June 1972, David Bowie released his fifth studio album The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars a concept album telling the story of a fictional bisexual alien rock star named Ziggy Stardust. The album which reached No.5 in the...

June 16th 1965, Bob Dylan recorded 'Like A Rolling Stone' at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City, in the sessions for the forthcoming 'Highway 61 Revisited' album. Session musicians included Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper, whose Hammond organ on...

June 16th 1970, Mungo Jerry were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'In The Summertime'. It went on to become the best selling UK single of 1970 spending seven weeks at No.1 and was a hit in 26 other countries. The UK release was a maxi-single playing...

June 16th 1979, The Electric Light Orchestra started a five-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with 'Discovery' their first No.1 LP, featuring the tracks 'Shine A Little Love', 'Don't Bring Me Down' and 'The Diary Of Horace Wimp'

June 16th 1982, Pretenders guitarist James Honeyman-Scott died following sustained cocaine and heroin addiction.