Rock and Metal History, December 30
1942: Mike Nesmith, vocals, guitar, The Monkees (1967 UK & US No.1 single 'I'm A Believer' plus 10 US & 8 UK Top 40 singles). He wrote 'Different Drum' (sung by Linda Ronstadt with the Stone Poneys), and was the executive producer of the cult film Repo Man (1984)
1942: Robert Quine, elite guitarist for Lou Reed, Marianne Faithfull and Tom Waits among others, was born in Akron, Ohio; died when he committed suicide in New York City on May 31, 2004.
1945: Davy Jones, vocals, guitar, The Monkees (1967 UK & US No.1 single 'I'm A Believer' plus 10 US & 8 UK Top 40 singles). Actor in 1986 London cast of 'Godspell'. Jones died on 29 February 2012 of a severe heart attack due to atherosclerosis.
1946: Clive Bunker, drummer, Jethro Tull, (1969 UK No.3 & US No.11 single 'Living In The Past').
1946: Patti Smith ("Because The Night" from 1978) was born in Chicago, Illinois.
1947: Jeff Lynne, lead singer, guitarist, songwriter, arranger and producer of the Move, Electric Light Orchestra and later the Traveling Wilburys, was born in Shard End, Birmingham, England.
1956: Joe Hasselvander was born. He is famously known as the current and long-time drummer for the legendary NWOBHM band: RAVEN. Joe also is a former drummer and multi-instrumentalist for the pioneering Doom Metal band: Pentagram.
1963: The Rolling Stones performed at Studio 51 in Soho, London, on the same bill as Jimmy Powell and the Five Dimensions, who featured a young Rod Stewart. The Stones played a regular Sunday afternoon gig at the club from 4 until 6.30pm and were billed as Rhythm and Blues with The Rolling Stones.
1965: The Kinks, The Who, Manfred Man, The Hollies and Gerry and the Pacemakers all appeared on the TV pop show ‘Shindig!‘
1966: Pink Floyd and Soft Machine played at the UFO presents Night Tripper at the Blarney Club, London, England.
1967: John Lee Hooker performed at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan.
1967: The Beatles scored their 15th number one with “Hello Goodbye.”
1968: The Turtles released the single "You Showed Me".
1968: Led Zeppelin I (who were advertised as Len Zefflin), appeared at Gonzaga University Gymnasium, Spokane on their first North American tour supporting Vanilla Fudge.
1969: Santana released the single "Evil Ways".
1977: Ted Nugent with Golden Earring and Missouri performed at the Riverfront Coliseum, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Ted Nugent was touring in support of his third studio album: Cat Scratch Fever.
2002: The funeral of former Clash singer and guitarist Joe Strummer took place in London. Strummer had died of a suspected heart attack on 22nd Dec 2002 aged 50.
2010: Linkin Park’s “Waiting for the End” topped the Alternative Songs chart, the band’s tenth track to go to number one, putting them into second place for the most number ones on the 22-year-old Alternative Songs chart behind Red Hot Chili Peppers.
