Rock and Metal History, a day like today June 26

1964:The Beatles album "A Hard Day’s Night" was released in the U.S. During a world tour, The Beatles played two shows at Town Hall, Dunedin, South Island, New Zealand. The flight from Auckland to Dunedin was tense due the receipt of an anonymous threat that a "germ bomb" had been placed on board the aircraft.

-Rolling Stones release It’s All Over Now in the UK, their first No. 1 single

1965: The Byrds went to No.1 on the US singles chart with their version of Bob Dylan's 'Mr Tambourine Man'. Only Roger McGuinn from the band played on the song, the drummer Hal Blaine who played on the track also played on 'Bridge Over Troubled Water'.

1966: During a North American tour, The Rolling Stones played two shows, a matinee show at The Coliseum in Washington DC and an evening show at The Baltimore Civic Centre in Maryland. The McCoys and The Standells were the support acts.

1970: Free released their third studo album " Fire And Water ".The album became the band's breakthrough hit, reaching #2 in the UK charts and #17 in the US, making it the most successful Free album. ‘All Right Now’ marked their first time on the UK charts, on 6 June, and was already a Top 10 hit by the time the band’s third studio release.Free produced Fire And Water themselves after daring to tell Island’s Chris Blackwell that they thought his production of their previous, self-titled, 1969 album was “too clean”.

1972: During sessions at Olympic Studios, London, England, David Bowie recorded 'John, I'm Only Dancing', with Mick Ronson on lead guitar and Lou Reed on rhythm guitar. The track which was released and became a hit single in the UK in September of this year was not released in America, being judged too risquι by RCA Records. The original video directed by Mick Rock, featuring androgynous dancers from Lindsay Kemp's mime troupe, was banned by British music show Top Of The Pops.

1974: Bad Company released their self-titled debut album on Led Zeppelin‘s Swan Song Records. The album reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart, while selling more than five million copies in the United States.The album has been certified five times platinum by the RIAA, and became the 46th best selling album of the 1970s .The singles "Can;t get enough" and "Movin' On" peaked at No. 5 and No. 19 on the Billboard hot 100

1975: Bob Dylan released the album The Basement Tapes on Columbia Records. It is Dylan's sixteenth studio album. The songs featuring Dylan's vocals were recorded in 1967, eight years before the album's release, at houses in and around Woodstock, New York, where Dylan and the Band lived. Although most of the Dylan songs had appeared on bootleg records, The Basement Tapes marked their first official release. The art director/design consultant credited on the 1975 album was Bob Cato. The cover photograph for the 1975 album was taken by designer and photographer Reid Miles in the basement of a Los Angeles YMCA. It poses Dylan and the Band alongside characters suggested by the songs: a woman in a Mrs. Henry T-shirt, an Eskimo, a circus strongman and a dwarf who has been identified as Angelo Rossitto

1976: Aerosmith peaked at #3 on the U.S. Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart with their fourth studio album: Rocks. This was Aerosmith’s first album to reach the top ten on the U.S. album chart.

1986: James Hetfield (Metallica) broke his wrist while trying to skateboard down a hill. One show was cancelled and the remainder of dates on the tour James was on vocals only and John Marshall (later with Metal Church) was on guitar.

2005: Tickets for a forthcoming Rolling Stones gig at the Hollywood Bowl were set to become the most expensive in rock 'n' roll history. Fans would have to pay up to £249 for a seat - £2 per minute to watch the Stones.

Born on this day

1955: Mick Jones, guitar, vocals, The Clash, (1979 UK No. 11 single 'London Calling' 1982 US No. 8 single 'Rock The Casbah, 1991 UK No.1 single 'Should I Stay Or Should I Go', first released 1982, plus 15 other UK Top 40 singles), Big Audio Dynamite, (1986 UK No.11 single 'e=mc2'). Jones plays with Carbon/Silicon and also toured the world as part of the Gorillaz live band.

1966: Jürgen "Ventor" Reil drummer with Kreator

1969: Colin Greenwood, bass, Radiohead. Their 1993 debut single 'Creep' was initially unsuccessful, but it became a worldwide hit several months after the release of their debut album, 'Pablo Honey'. Their 1997 album OK Computer appeared in many 1997 critics' lists and listener polls for best album of the year.

1972: Jussi Sydnamaa, guitarist, Lordi. Became Finland's first ever Eurovision Song Contest winners after their song Hard Rock Hallelujah won the contest held in Athens in 2006.

1979: Nathan Followill, drums, Kings Of Leon, (2007 UK No.1 album Because Of The Times, 2008 UK No.1 single Sex on Fire, 2008 UK No.1 album Only By The Night).