Rock and Metal History, a day like today October 31
1945: Rik Kenton (Roxy Music bassist) is born in Nottingham, England.
1952: When his original guitarist has a stroke just before a New Year's Eve gig, popular St. Louis boogie-woogie pianist Johnnie Johnson hires a 26-year-old hairdresser named Chuck Berry for his group The Sir John's Trio.
1952: Tony Bowers, guitarist of Simply Red who continues to write and produce, was born in Culcheth, England
1960: Elvis Presley records "In My Father's House," "Joshua Fit the Battle," "Swing Down, Sweet Chariot," "I'm Gonna Walk Dem Golden Stairs," "If We Never Meet Again," "Known Only to Him," "Crying In The Chapel," and "Working On The Building."
1961: U2 drummer Larry Mullen is born in Artane, Dublin, Ireland.
1963: Mikkey Dee, drummer and songwriter of Motorhead, was born in Gothenburg, Sweden.
1969: Led Zeppelin's album "Led Zeppelin II" was released in the United Kingdom.
1970: UFO 1 is the debut studio album by British rock band UFO. It was first released in the UK by Beacon Records .The first US release was on Rare Earth Records in April 1971. Neither of these releases charted; however, the album did become a success in Germany and Japan.
1972: Jethro Tull released the quasi-compilation collection Living in the Past in the US. The double album contains album tracks, out-takes, and non-album singles—many of which had never before been available in the American market.
1975: Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" was released as a single. It would stay on the chart for seventeen weeks, nine of them at number one and would eventually go Platinum. The song would be re-released in December, 1991 after being featured in the movie Wayne's World and became a hit all over again.
1976: Elvis Presley makes his last recording, singing Jim Reeves' "He'll Have To Go" over a pre-recorded backing track in the Jungle Room of his Graceland home.
1981: Frank Anthony Iero, rhythm guitarist of My Chemical Romance, was born in Belleville, New Jersey.
1983: Pipes of Peace is the fourth solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Paul McCartney.
1983: Genesis released the single "That's All".
1988: Soundgarden issue their full-length debut album, Ultramega OK, on SST Records.
1989: Built to Last is the thirteenth and final studio album by the Grateful Dead. It was recorded between February 1 and October 20, 1989.
1994: R.E.M. released “Bang and Blame,” the second single from their ninth studio album, Monster.
1997: The Cure embrace the burgeoning internet by cybercasting their Halloween concert at Irving Plaza in New York City. The show, which is promoting their greatest hits set Galore, is also broadcast by more traditional means on over 60 radio stations.
1998: Cher debuted at #1 in the U.K. with "Believe".
1998: Kiss kicked off their Psycho-Circus Tour with a Halloween extravaganza in LA.
2000: Lifehouse release their debut album, No Name Face. The first single, "Hanging By a Moment," takes off, becoming the most-played song on American radio in 2001.
2010: 7 Sinners is the 13th studio album by German power metal band Helloween. A video clip for "Are You Metal?" was released 11 October 2010. The whole album could be heard on Myspace a week before the physical release. For the first time since 2000's The Dark Ride, each song on the album is a solo composition, i.e. each member has written both the music and lyrics to his song with no additional input from any other member. 7 Sinners sold 1,900 copies in its first week of release in the U.S
2013: Blues guitarist Bobby Parker dies of a heart attack at age 76.
