In 1984, two years after wooing the eclectic and unpredictable Neil Young away from his long time home at Reprise Records, David Geffen and his label, Geffen Records, actually sued Young for intentionally making “uncharacteristic and uncommercial music.” During Young’s five years on Geffen Records he made musical detours in to electronic music on the […]

Summer, 1989 - A call for revolution returns to popular music. But this time, it’s not from a guitar-toting folk singer or a heavy metal act; it comes from the world of Hip Hop and the band Public Enemy. “Fight the Power” decries racism in America and challenges the oppressed to confront it. The song […]

1997 - Sarah McLachlan, tired of concert promoters and radio stations that refused to feature two women artists in a row, began booking a tour for herself and Paula Cole. Using the name Lilith, from a medieval Jewish legend that Lilith was Adam’s first wife, McLachlan and numerous other female performers staged a large traveling […]

June 11, 2002 - “American Idol” premiers on Fox. That’s only after executives from a number of other networks rejected it. It turns out Fox made a pretty smart decision. The singing competition has become a ratings juggernaut. Season 4 winner Carrie Underwood’s debut CD sold over 5 million copies. This year Season 3 finalist […]

April 23, 1971 – With the release of the movie Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song – followed by the July 2 release of Shaft — the blaxploitation genre of film was off and running. Although criticized by civil rights groups for their use of stereotypes, they addressed the great and newfound demand for Afrocentric entertainment, and […]

By today’s standards it may seem quaint. But when it was released in 1979 the cassette playing walkman made it possible to walk, jog, shop or travel listening to your favorite album in stereo quality. The product was conceived when a Sony executive asked the company’s tape recorder unit to rig up a listening […]

February 3, 1959, Buddy Holly dies in a plane crash along with Ritchie Valens and J.P. “Big Bopper Richardson”. The three were bound for Clear Lake Iowa on the last leg of the Winter Dance Party tour. Holly only took the gig because he was short on cash. His wife was pregnant. And his former […]

January 6th, 1957 — Elvis Presley returns to the Ed Sullivan show for the third time. But on this occasion CBS censors worried that Presley’s hip shaking wouldn’t fly on Sullivan’s family friendly show. After all Presley had earned the name “Elvis the Pelvis”. So the network decided to film the King from above […]

Billboard Magazine, created to support the billposting business in the late 19th century, developed a new strength in the 1930s, thanks largely to the jukebox business. The mechanical music machines began to flourish in this period and major jukebox manufacturers became big-time Billboard advertisers. This support left a powerful impression on Billboard’s management, who in […]

April 8, 1994, Veca Electric employee Gary Smith arrives at a Lake Washington home to install security lighting and sees the body of Kurt Cobain lying on the floor of the garage apartment. The Nirvana lead singer and guitarist reportedly died of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head three days earlier. Arguably the most influential […]