Lafayette’s Rock and Alternative 106.3 wants to help you look back at the best events, music, news stories, and more from the rock and alternative genre.
Each week, we will bring you a list of major events from history that opened in our music scene.
Let’s dive in!
June 23rd
1976 – At the conclusion of the Paul McCartney “Wings Over America” tour in Los Angeles, Ringo Starr appeared onstage to present former bandmate Paul with a bouquet.
1980 – The Rolling Stones released Emotional Rescue.
1981 – Tom Tom Club released their self-titled debut album. It features “Genius of Love.”
1984 – Duran Duran started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with “The Reflex,” the group’s first No. 1 single in the U.S.
1986 – The Smiths’ The Queen Is Dead was released in the U.S.
1986 – Peter Cetera released his second solo album, Solitude/Solitaire. It features “Glory of Love” and “The Next Time I Fall” featuring Amy Grant.
1987 – Sixteen-year-old Tiffany started her Mall Tour at Paramus Park Mall in New Jersey, performing her No. 1 hit, “I Think We’re Alone Now.” Tiffany’s producer came up with the mall tour idea when it became clear that her record company, MCA, was not going to promote her effectively.
1989 – George Michael received the Silver Clef Award for outstanding achievements to British Music.
1990 – Gary Busey, who had portrayed Buddy Holly in the film, The Buddy Holly Story, paid in the neighborhood of $240,000 for one of Holly’s guitars at a New York auction.
1992 – The B-52’s released their sixth studio album, Good Stuff. It features the hit title track.
1992 – Eric B. & Rakim released their fourth studio album, Don’t Sweat the Technique. It features the title track and “Know the Ledge.”
June 24th
1980 – Jackson Browne released his sixth studio album, Hold Out.
1982 – The Replacements released the EP Stink. It features “Gimme Noise” and “Kids Don’t Follow.”
1985 – Mötley Crüe released their third album, Theatre of Pain. It features “Smokin’ in the Boys Room” and the power ballad “Home Sweet Home.”
1986 – Soul Asylum released the compilation Time’s Incinerator.
1989 – Paul McCartney scored his seventh U.K. No. 1 solo album with Flowers in the Dirt.
1994 – Weezer released “Undone – The Sweater Song,” the first single from their debut album, Weezer (AKA The Blue Album). The song was originally called “Undone” but the band added “The Sweater Song” to the title after fans at shows called it “the sweater song” or “that song about the sweater.” Frontman Rivers Cuomo believed song titles with parentheses looked ugly, so the title features a dash instead. It was recorded at Electric Lady studio in New York City with producer Ric Ocasek. There are no sweaters in the music video, but there are dogs. Directed by Spike Jonze, the popular MTV clip features the band playing along to a sped-up version of the song — but slowed down to match its normal speed. Trippy stuff. The album narrowly came in second during The Current’s March Music Madness celebration of the best albums of 1994 in 2024.
1995 – Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder left the stage due to illness after only seven songs during an outdoor concert in San Francisco. To the delight of some, but mostly dismay to the younger fans, Neil Young stepped up to finish the show.
1997 – Wyclef Jean released his debut album, The Carnival. It features “We Trying to Stay Alive,” “Guantanamera,” and “Gone till November.”
1997 – Sugar Ray released their second studio album, Floored. It features “Fly.”
1997 – Edwin McCain released Misguided Roses. It features “I’ll Be.
June 25th
1981 – Sugarhill Gang released their second studio album, 8th Wonder. It features the title track and “Apache.”
1982 – Joe Jackson released his fifth studio album, Night and Day. It features “Steppin’ Out” and “Breaking Us in Two.”
1982 – Robert Plant released his first solo album, Pictures at Eleven.
1983 – The film soundtrack to Flashdance started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. album chart.
1988 – Red Hot Chili Peppers’ guitarist and founding member Hillel Slovak died due to a heroin overdose.
1988 – Debbie Gibson went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Foolish Beat,” making Debbie, at age 17, the youngest female to write, produce and record a U.S. No. 1 single.
1991 – Bonnie Raitt released her 11th studio album, Luck of the Draw. It features “Something to Talk About,” “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” and “Not the Only One.”
1993 – Bruce Springsteen was a surprise guest on David Letterman’s final show as host of NBC’s Late Night.
1993 – Nora Ephron’s romantic comedy “Sleepless In Seattle”, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, opened in theaters. With songs from Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, and Harry Connick, Jr., the movie spawned a hit soundtrack and renewed interest in standards.
1996 – Screaming Trees released their seventh studio album, Dust. It features “All I Know.”
1996 – Jay-Z released his debut studio album, Reasonable Doubt. It features “Can’t Knock the Hustle.”
2001 – Basement Jaxx released their second studio album, Rooty. It features “Romeo” and “Where’s Your Head At.”
2002 – Nelly released his second studio album, Nellyville. It features “Hot in Herre” and “Dilemma.”
June 26th
1979 – The Village People became the first disco act to play Madison Square Garden.
1982 – American singer and one hit wonder Charlene was at No.1 on the U.K. singles chart with ‘I’ve Never Been To Me’. The song was recorded in 1976 and was reissued by Motown Records in 1982 by which time Charlene had moved to England and was working in a sweet shop in Ilford, east London
1988 – Despite missing 75 days of school her senior year so she could tour, Debbie Gibson graduated from Calhoun High School in Merrick, Long Island, with honors. The previous day, her song “Foolish Beat” went to No. 1 in America.
1990 – Nelson released their debut album After the Rain, which sold over 2 million copies thanks to the No. 1 single “(Can’t Live Without Your) Love and Affection”. Nelson is the duo of Gunnar and Matthew, the twin sons of Rick Nelson.
1990 – Sonic Youth released Goo. With songs like “Kool Thing,” the album was a seminal landmark in alternative rock.
1999 – Pearl Jam’s cover of “Last Kiss” went No. 2 in America, the band’s highest-charting song.
2000 – Badly Drawn Boy released their debut studio album, The Hour of Bewilderbeast. It features “One Around the Block.”
June 27th
1989 – Chris Isaak released his third studio album, Heart Shaped World. It features his massive hit “Wicked Game.”
1994 – Aerosmith became the first major band to let fans download a full new track free from the internet.
1995 – Phish released their first official live release, A Live One. It features “Bouncing Around the Room.”
1995 – Skee-Lo released his debut studio album, I Wish. It features “I Wish.”
1995 – Circle Jerks released their sixth and final studio album, Oddities, Abnormalities, & Curiosities. It was the band’s first release on a major label, although Mercury Records would go on to drop Circle Jerks after they failed to reach mainstream success.
1999 – After releasing three Spanish-language albums on the Fonovisa label, Enrique Iglesias signed with Interscope Records. In November, he released his first English album, Enrique, which contains two No. 1 hits: “Bailamos” and “Be With You.”
1999 – Coldplay, Muse and David Gray all play the New Bands Tent at the Glastonbury Festival.
2000 – Nelly released his debut album, Country Grammar, with the hit “Ride Wit Me.” It’s one of the few rap albums to go Diamond, selling over 10 million copies in America.
2000 – Sum 41 released their debut EP, Half Hour of Power. It features “Makes No Difference.”
2002 – One day before the first show of The Who’s 2002 U.S. tour, bass player John Entwistle died in his hotel room at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. He was 57-years old. When The Who first arrived on the scene, Entwistle’s style featured a then-unusual trebly sound (which he described as “full treble, full volume”) which influenced many players, and in 2011, a Rolling Stone reader poll selected him as the Greatest Bassist of All Time. The Who’s “My Generation,” was a song containing one of the earliest bass solos (if not the first) captured on a rock record.
2009 – Black Eyed Peas went to No. 1 on the U.S. album charts with The E.N.D.the group’s fifth studio album. The album’s lead single, ‘Boom Boom Pow’ topped the Billboard Hot 100 for 12 consecutive weeks, the second single, ‘I Gotta Feeling’ replaced ‘Boom’ and spent 14 weeks at No.1. giving the group 26 consecutive weeks at the top of the charts.
News and Information from The Current