1971
Time to go! Rolling Stones Leave England as tax-exiles. Mick Jagger told Roy Carter of the NME just before the release of Exile on Main Street, “So after working for eight years I discovered at the end that nobody had ever paid my taxes and I owed a fortune. So then you have to leave the country. So I said fuck it, and left the country.” Exile becomes one of their most critically acclaimed albums.
1975
1975 was a great year for concerts in the Cleveland area and Golden Earring did not disappoint with their show at the Allen Theatre. There were also two versions of this poster as the image on the first poster were deemed at the time to graphic.
1977
A major boost for a former Stooge as David Bowie plays keyboards and sings backing vocals on Iggy Pop’s US tour. The tour eventually makes it to the Cleveland Agora with a song included on the resulting live album. They even play on Dinah Shore’s midday TV show.
1983
Then US Interior Secretary James Watt doesn’t want The Beach Boys and The Grass Roots to perform at the annual Fourth of July celebration in Washington claiming they attract “the wrong element of people.” Watt prefers Wayne Newton. A fellow Californian, President Ronald Reagan, nixes watt’s decision.
1994
Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain succeeds in taking his own life at his Seattle home. He apparently used a shot gun and his body was discovered days later by an electrician who came by to install a security system. The installer thought Cobain was sleeping until it becomes apparent what happened. The suicide note read, “I haven’t felt the excitement of listening to as well as creating music, along with really writing . . . for too many years now.” Lots of drugs found in his system during the autopsy, and the cause of death is officially ruled as “suicide by a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head.”
2006
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Gene Pitney is found dead in a Cardiff, Wales, hotel. The 65 year old was on a UK tour and seemed in good health. Pitney had a string of hits and even helped the Rolling Stones in their formative days.
