HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE FUNNIEST MOFO I’VE EVER MET ! TODAY TOMMY CHONG TURNS 82. HE IS NOT ONLY A GREAT COMEDIAN, BUT A FANTASTIC MUSICIAN WHO BUT FOR YEARS HONED HIS COMEDY WHILE WORKING AS IN BANDS AND PLAYING CLUBS IN CANADA. HIS BAND WAS SIGNED TO MOTOWN RECORDS AND THE GROUP’S WARM UP ACT WAS THE JACKSON FIVE. HERE’S A SCENE FROM ‘UP IN SMOKE’. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMMY…SMOKE EM IF YOU’VE GOT ‘EM !
32 YEARS AGO VAN HALEN RELEASED OU812 (PRONOUNCED “OH YOU ATE ONE TOO”). THIS WAS VAN HALEN’S STUDIO ALBUM, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY THE SECOND TO FEATURE THE RED ROCKER SAMMY HAGAR AS THE LEAD VOCALIST. THE GROUP WORKED ON THE RECORD FOR 8 MONTHS, AND FINISHED RECORDING IT JUST ONE MONTH BEFORE ITS RELEASE. THE ALBUM WAS HUGE FOR THE GROUP, SPAWNING 3 HIT SINGLES ‘WHEN IT’S LOVE’ ‘BLACK AND BLUE’ AND ‘FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED’ AND SELLING OVER 6.4 MILLION COPIES WORLDWIDE. THE ALBUM WAS ALSO DEDICATED TO JAN VAN HALEN, EDDIE AND ALEX’S FATHER, WHO DIED ON DECEMBER 9, 1986 AT THE AGE OF 66. THE INNER LININGS OF THE ALBUM INCLUDE THE WORDS, “THIS ONE’S FOR YOU PA”. HERE’S VAN HAGAR ON THE “OU812 TOUR”. AN ENTIRE CONCERT FROM JAPAN.
FORTY SEVEN YEARS AGO LED ZEPPELIN RELEASED ONE OF THEIR FEW SINGLE’S IN AMERICA. ‘OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY’ IS THE THIRD TRACK ON THE ALBUM ‘HOUSES OF THE HOLY’ AND WAS THE ALBUM’S FIRST SINGLE. DESPITE THE FACT THE SONG HAS BECOME A STAPLE ON CLASSIC ROCK RADIO STATIONS, IT ONLY REACHED # 51 ON THE CHARTS. HERE’S THE OFFICIAL VIDEO FOR THE TRACK FROM LED ZEPPELIN
16 YEARS AGO THE BAND JET CAME OUT WITH THE SINGLE ‘ARE YOU GONNA BE MY GIRL’. THIS WAS THE BAND’S FIRST HIT SONG. IT WAS ALSO THE FIRST SONG TO BE USED IN THE POPULAR IPOD COMMERCIALS (REMEMBER THE IPOD ?). IN THE COMMERCIAL A BLACK SHADOW OF A PERSON, LISTENING TO A WHITE IPOD DANCED TO THIS SONG IN FRONT OF COLORFUL BACKGROUNDS. THESE ADS HELPED BOOST SALES OF IPODS AND JET ALBUMS. THIS IS EASILY JET’S MOST SUCCESSFUL SINGLE IN THE U.S. IT SSELLING OVER 1.3 MILLION COPIES TO DATE.
AND HERE’S THE INFAMOUS IPOD AD FEATURING JET