IT’S HARD TO BELIEVE THAT 3 YEARS AGO TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS ROCKED NAPA @ THE 2017 BOTTLEROCK MUSIC FESTIVAL. WHO KNEW THAT CATCHING THAT SHOW WOULD BE ONE OF OUR LAST OPPORTUNITIES TO WATCH PETTY IN CONCERT, WITH PETTY PASSING AWAY ONLY 128 DAYS LATER ON OCTOBER 2ND OF AN ACCIDENTAL DRUG OVERDOSE. HERE’S SOME GREAT CELL PHONE FOOTAGE OF PETTY AT BOTTLEROCK IN NAPA.
44 YEARS AGO AEROSMITH RELEASED THE SINGLE ‘LAST CHILD’ FROM THE ALBUM ‘ROCKS’. IN THE AEROSMITH BIOGRAPHY “WALK THIS WAY” BRAD WHITFORD EXPLAINED HOW THIS SONG CAME TOGETHER: “After rehearsal one day, I played this riff and Steven yells, ‘I love it!’ and started playing drums; he plays very different from Joey (Kramer) with a more jazzy approach, fun to work with. Joe (Perry) threw in a couple of chord changes, a D chord to an A, and then spiced up the chord a little.” THE LYRICS WERE BASED ON THE LIFE WITH THE BAND AT THAT TIME, AND ALL THE TIME THEY SPENT ON THE ROAD. PART OF THE SONG DEALS WITH THE TIME ON TOUR JUST BEFORE THE BAND WOULD COME HOME(“HOME SWEET HOOOMMMME”). SOME MEMBERS OF THE BAND AND CREW HAD WIVES AND GIRLFRIENDS, SO WHEN A TOUR WAS COMING TO A CLOSE, THEY WOULD REFRAIN FROM SEX WITH GROUPIES (EXCEPT ORAL) AS A COURTESY- THEY DIDN’T WANT TO BRING A SOCIAL DISEASE HOME WITH THEM. HERE’S AN EPIC RENDITION OF THE SONG FROM AEROSMITH
FORTY TWO YEARS AGO BOB SEGER RELEASED THE ALBUM ‘STRANGER IN TOWN’ AND IT WAS AN INSTANT SUCCESS IN NORTH AMERICA. WITHIN 4 WEEKS OF IT’S RELEASE THE ALBUM WAS CERTIFIED PLATINUM. IT CAME ON THE HEELS OF THE MEGA SUCCESSFUL ALBUM ‘NIGHT MOVES’, AND LIKE IT’S PREDECESSOR SOLD OVER 6 MILLION COPIES. THE RECORD BOASTED 4 HIT SINGLES ‘STILL THE SAME’ ‘HOLLYWOOD NIGHTS’ ‘WE’VE GOT TONIGHT’ AND ‘OLD TIME ROCK AND ROLL’ AND SOLIDIFIED SEGER AS ONE OF THE GREAT ROCK SONGWRITERS AND PERFORMERS OF THE 70’S AND 80’S.HERE’S A LIVE VERSION OF ‘STILL THE SAME’ FROM A CONCERT CIRCA 1978
THIRTY THREE YEARS AGO U2 RELEASED THE SINGLE ‘I STILL HAVEN’T FOUND WHAT I’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR’ FROM THE ALBUM ‘THE JOSHUA TREE.’ IT WAS THE SECOND SINGLE RELEASED FROM THE EPIC ALBUM (THE FIRST SINGLE WAS ‘WITH OR WITHOUT YOU’). IT BECAME THE GROUP’S SECOND CONSECUTIVE NUMBER ONE SINGLE. THE TRACK WAS INFLUENCED BY GOSPEL MUSIC. BONO WANTED THE JOSHUA TREE TO EXPLORE VARIOUS FORMS OF AMERICAN MUSIC THE GROUP EXPERIENCED WHEN IT WAS ON TOUR. I STILL HAVEN’T FOUND WHAT I’M LOOKING FOR RECEIVED TWO NOMINATIONS FOR GRAMMY AWARDS IN 1988, FOR BOTH “RECORD OF THE YEAR” AND “SONG OF THE YEAR”. ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE ALSO RANKS IT AT # 93 ON IT’S LIST OF “THE 500 GREATEST SONGS OF ALL TIME.”
HERE’S THE OFFICIAL VIDEO