188 Classic Rock

June 18th 1948, Columbia Records started the first mass production of the 33-RPM long player. The new format could contain a maximum of 23 minutes of music per side versus the three minutes that could be squeezed on to a 78 RPM disc.

June 18th 1964, Touring Australia The Beatles played at Sydney Stadium in Sydney. This was Paul McCartney 22nd birthday and after the show his guests included 17 girls who were winners of the Daily Mirrors 'Why I would like to be a guest at a Beatles...

17th June 1965, Working at Abbey Road studios in London The Beatles completed work on the new Paul McCartney song 'Yesterday' with the overdubbing of an additional vocal track by McCartney and a string quartet. They also recorded ‘Act Naturally’ for Ringo's...

June 17th 1946, Born on this day, Barry Manilow, (born Barry Alan Pincus) US singer, songwriter, (1975 US No.1 & UK No.11 single 'Mandy', also wrote 'Could It Be Magic', and 'Copacabana.' Has scored over 25 US Top 40 singles selling over 75 million records...

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...