45 YEARS AGO ELTON JOHN RELEASED THE ALBUM ‘CAPTAIN FANTASTIC AND THE BROWN DIRT COWBOY’. THIS WAS ELTON’S NINTH STUDIO ALBUM AND IT WAS HUGE. IT WAS DURING A TIME WHEN EVERYTHING ELTON RELEASE WAS PURE GOLD AND IT TOPPED THE BILLBOARD ALBUM CHARTS FOR SEVEN STRAIGHT WEEKS UPON RELEASE. THE RECORD IS RANKED AT #158 ON “ROLLING STONE” MAGAZINE’S LIST OF “THE TOP 500 GREATEST ALBUMS OF ALL TIME”.
FORTY ONE YEARS AGO KISS RELEASED THE ALBUM ‘DYNASTY’. DYNASTY RETURNED KISS TO COMMERCIAL PROMINENCE. IT PEAKED AT #9 ON THE BILLBOARD TOP ALBUM CHART” AND EARNED INSTANT PLATINUM STATUS. THE ALBUM WAS FUELED BY THE SUCCESS OF THE SINGLE ‘I WAS MADE FOR LOVING YOU’ THE GROUP’S FIRST COLLABORATION WITH SONGWRITER DESMOND CHILD. IRONICALLY, THE DISCO INFECTED TRACK WAS RELEASED AFTER KISS HAD SPENT YEARS RALLYING THE KISS ARMY INTO BATTLE AGAINST DISCO. HERE’S THE OFFICIAL VIDEO FROM KISS
THIRTY FOUR YEARS AGO AC/DC RELEASED THE SOUNDTRACK ALBUM ‘WHO MADE WHO’. IT WAS THE SOUNDTRACK TO STEPHEN KING’S MOVIE ‘MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE’. THE SONG ‘WHO MADE WHO’ WAS WRITTEN SPECIFICALLY FOR THE MOVIE. THE THEME OF ‘MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE’ WAS BUILT AROUND MACHINES COMING TO LIFE AND KILLING PEOPLE. THUS IT WAS VERY APPROPRIATE THAT THE VIDEO FOR THE SONG ‘WHO MADE WHO’ FEATURED A ROBOT BUILDING AN ARMY OF ANGUS YOUNG CLONES. THE ‘WHO MADE WHO’ ALBUM WAS HUGELY SUCCESSFUL COMMERCIALLY, SELLING OVER 5 MILLION COPIES IN THE USA. HERE’S THE OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR AC/DC’S ‘WHO MADE WHO’
BEFORE YOU READ THIS, THERE’S ONE THING YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND. THE RECORD INDUSTRY IS MADE UP OF SHADY DOUCHEBAGS. CREATIVE ACCOUNTING AND HORRENDOUS, ONE SIDED CONTRACTS HAVE ENABLED RECORD COMPANIES TO KEEP PERFORMERS IN PERPETUALLY IN DEBT FOR YEARS, AND YES, EVEN SOME TOP SELLING ARTISTS. HERE’S HOW IT WORKS. A RECORD LABEL ADVANCES AN ARTIST MONEY AGAINST FUTURE EARNINGS FROM ROYALTIES. BUT BECAUSE THE COST OF THINGS LIKE STUDIO TIME, MARKETING SUPPORT, ACCOUNTING FEES, ADMINISTRATION FEES AND TOUR EXPENSES MUST BE RECOUPED TO THE LABEL BEFORE AN ARTIST EARNS ANY ACTUAL MONEY, MANY ARTISTS NEVER SELL “ENOUGH” TO REPAY THE RECORD COMPANY FOR THE EXPENSES THAT THEY CONTROL. THUS, YOU HAVE AN ARTIST THAT SELLS MILLIONS OF RECORDS AND HE STILL “OWES THE RECORD COMPANY. THIS IS WERE TOM PETTY COMES INTO THE STORY. IT WAS ON THIS DATE IN 1979 TOM PETTY FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY IN AN EFFORT TO FREE HIMSELF FROM SHELTER RECORDS. AT THE TIME OF HIS BANKRUPTCY, PETTY HAD NOTHING TO SHOW FINANCIALLY, DESPITE HAVING 2 HIT ALBUMS TO HIS CREDIT ( 1976 “TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKER’S AND 1978’S ‘YOU’RE GONNA GET IT!’), AND 2 HIT SINGLES ‘BREAKDOWN’ AND ‘AMERICAN GIRL.’ UNHAPPY WITH THE TERMS OF HIS CONTRACT, AND SEEING AN OPPORTUNITY WITH THE SALE OF HIS RECORD COMPANY TO MCA RECORDS, HE DECLARED BANKRUPTCY IN AN EFFORT TO FREE HIMSELF FROM SHELTER RECORDS. THIS WAS AN ACT OF GENIUS ON BEHALF OF TOM PETTY., HAVING A BANKRUPTCY COURT EVENTUALLY RULE HIS CONTRACT WAS EXTREMELY UNFAVORABLE AND RULE IT NULL AND VOID BASED ON THE FACT HE SIGNED IT UNDER DURESS. A WIN FOR THE GOOD GUYS ! HERE’S TOM PETTY FROM 2017. IT WAS PETTY’S 2ND LAST CONCERT BEFORE HE PASSED AWAY AND IT WAS HERE IN THE BAY AREA.