Time to take a look back into this day in rock history: September 15
1964
WHK radio brings the Beatles to Cleveland’s Public Hall in September 1964. Police didn’t know how to handle the crowd and stopped the show to calm things down. At one point a Cleveland cop pulls George Harrison’s guitar cord from the amp and Harrison is not pleased!
Poster courtesy of Raw Sugar Studio
1984
A record showing for “Frankie Goes To Hollywood” as the band’s song ‘Relax’ becomes the longest running chart hit since Engelbert Humperdink’s ‘Release Me’. 43 weeks on the British singles chart
2004
After a five year battle with prostate cancer, Ramones guitarist Johnny Ramone (John Cummings) dies in Los Angeles.
2019
Former cars lead singer Ric Ocasek is found dead in his New York City apartment aged 75. The Cars were formed in Boston in the mid-1970s by Ocasek fellow Clevelander Benjamin Orr. They are known for hits including ‘Just What I Needed’, ‘My Best Friend’s Girl’ and ‘Good Times Roll’. The 1984 ballad ‘Drive’ became background music for footage of the Ethiopian famine, and was re-released as a single after the Live Aid concert that raised relief money for the cause. After the band broke up in the late 1980s, Ocasek embarked on a solo career as well as working as a producer for other artists including Weezer, and No Doubt. Ocasek was a Maple Heights High School grad.
2018
A rare solo performance from the late Mike Nesmith at the Kent Stage.
Poster courtesy of Raw Sugar Studio