47 YEARS AGO DEEP PURPLE RELEASED THE SINGLE ‘SMOKE ON THE WATER.’ SURPRISINGLY, THE BAND DID NOT THINK THE SONG WAS A HIT, AND RELEASED 2 OTHER SONGS FROM THE GROUP’S 1972 ALBUM ‘MACHINE HEAD’ AS SINGLES (‘NEVER BEFORE’ & ‘HIGHWAY STAR’). HOWEVER, A YEAR LATER IN 1993, THE RECORD COMPANY RELEASED ‘SMOKE ON THE WATER’ AND IT TOOK OFF. THE SONG HAS BEEN RANKED AS # 494 IN “ROLLING STONE” MAGAZINE’S LIST OF THE TOP 500 SONGS OF ALL-TIME, AND AS HIGH AS NUMBER 4 AS ONE OF THE GREATEST GUITAR RIFFS OF ALL-TIME BY “TOTAL GUITAR” MAGAZINE.
TO DATE THE SINGLE HAS SOLD CLOSE TO A COMBINED 3 ½ MILLION COPIES AND DOWNLOADS. ON THE STRENGTH OF ‘SMOKE ON THE WATER’ THE ALBUM ‘MACHINE HEAD’ WAS BY FAR THE BAND’S MOST SUCCESSFUL ALBUM COMMERCIALLY. IT STAYED ON THE AMERICAN CHARTS FOR A TOTAL OF 118 WEEKS AND SOLD OVER 2 MILLION COPIES IN THE U.S.A.
THE ALBUM WAS RECORDED UNDER INCREDIBLE CONDITIONS. THE BAND WAS IN SWITZERLAND TO RECORD MACHINE HEAD RIGHT AFTER A FRANK ZAPPA CONCERT, BUT SOMEONE FIRED A FLARE GUN AT THE CEILING DURING THE ZAPPA SHOW AND IT SET THE PLACE ON FIRE. DEEP PURPLE WAS IN THE AUDIENCE FOR THE SHOW, AND LEAD SINGER IAN GILLAN RECALLS 2 FLARES BEING SHOT OFF BY SOMEONE SITTING BEHIND HIM WHICH LANDED IN THE TOP CORNER OF THE BUILDING AND QUICKLY SET IT ON FIRE. FRANK ZAPPA STOPPED THE SHOW AND HELPED ENSURE AN ORDERLY EXIT. THE REST OF THE BAND WAS ACROSS THE STREET AND WATCHED THE FIRE FROM A NEARBY RESTAURANT, AND WHEN THE FIRE DIED DOWN, A LAYER OF SMOKE COVERED LAKE GENEVA, WHICH THE CASINO OVERLOOKED. THE IMAGE GAVE ROGER GLOVER THE IDEA FOR A SONG TITLE ‘SMOKE ON THE WATER’, AND GILLAN WROTE THE LYRICS .
HERE’S WHAT I CONSIDER THE GREATEST RIFF IN ROCK, DEEP PURPLE PERFORMING ‘SMOKE ON THE WATER’
ON THIS DATE IN 1984 BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN RELEASED THE SINGLE ‘DANCING IN THE DARK’. SPRINGSTEEN WROTE THE SONG AFTER HIS MANAGER DEMANDED A HIT SINGLE FROM HIS ALBUM NEW ALBUM ‘BORN IN THE USA’. AFTER A HUGE ARGUMENT HE SAT DOWN AND WROTE THE TRACK THAT EVENING. THE SONG DEALS WITH HIS FRUSTRATION OF TRYING TO WRITE HIT RECORDS AND HAVING TO WRITE SONGS THAT WILL PLEASE PEOPLE. HIS STRUGGLES POUR OUT IN THE SONG, WHERE HE “FEELS LIKE A HIRED GUN DYING FOR SOME ACTION”. IRONICALLY, THE SONG WAS A HIT SINGLE-THE BIGGEST OF HIS CAREER IN TERMS OF CHART POSITION AND IS ON THE LIST OF THE GREATEST SELLING SINGLES OF ALL TIME. TO DATE THE SONG HAS SOLD OVER 13,500,000 MILLION COPIES. THIS IS THE OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR THE TRACK, AND YES THAT IS A YOUNG COURTNEY COX THAT WAS PLANTED IN THE AUDIENCE TO PULL UP ON STAGE AND DANCE WITH BRUCE
MAY 21, 1976 BLUE OYSTER CULT RELEASED THE ALBUM WHICH WOULD CHANGE THEIR LIFE. AGENT OF FORTUNE FEATURED ‘(DON’T FEAR) THE REAPER’ WHICH BARELY CRACKED THE TOP 30 BUT HAS REMAINED A STAPLE ON FM ROCK STATIONS. TO DATE THE SONG, ACCOUNTING FOR PHYSICAL SALES AND STREAMING, HAS SOLD OVER 4 MILLION COPIES. THIS IS A GREAT LIVE VERSION FROM 1981
TWELVE YEARS AGO SANTANA ROCKED THE FILLMORE. IT WAS PART OF SANTANA’S 2008 “MULTI-DIMENSIONAL WARRIOR TOUR” HE PLAYED 2 SETS FOR THE CROWD AND AN ENCORE ! ACCORDING TO SETLIST.COM THIS IS WHAT THE FANS SAW AT THE FILLMORE.
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Set 1:
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Peace / Jin-go-lo-ba
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Life Is for Living
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Everybody’s Everything
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Batuka
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No One to Depend On
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Victory Is Won
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El farol
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Love Is You
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I Love You Much Too Much
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Shape Shifter
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Day of Celebration
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Right On / Umi Says
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Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen
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Oye como va
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Spartacus / Smooth / Dame tu amor
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Novus
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Set 2:
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Lord’s Prayer
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Sun ra
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Brotherhood
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Open Invitation
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Somewhere in Heaven
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I Believe It’s Time
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Serpents and Doves
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Maria Maria
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Foo Foo
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Corazón espinado
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Praise
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Encore:
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Soul Sacrifice
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Angel Chant
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Into the Night
HERE ARE A COUPLE OF GREAT TRACKS FROM THE NIGHT ( PROFESSIONALLY SHOT-GREAT VIDEO).