JUL 4-10: Historic events this week from David Bowie, Dennis Wilson, James Taylor, Styx, David Lee Roth and Creedence Clearwater Revival
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JULY 6, 1972: BOWIE DEBUTS \”ZIGGY\” ON TOP OF THE POPS
Three weeks after the release of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, the titular character made his TV debut on UK\’s Top of the Pops
Bowie\’s performance of \”Starman\” propelled sales of the single and the album, which peaked at #10 and #5, respectively.
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JULY 7, 1971: TWO-LANE BLACKTOP IS RELEASED
James Taylor & Beach Boy Dennis Wilson made their acting debut in the drag racing classic, Two-Lane Blacktop.
Taylor was cast as \”The Driver\” based on how he looked on a billboard.
Wilson was cast as the \”The Mechanic\” based on the director\’s perception that he\’d \”lived the role\” and \”grew up with cars.\”
In 2012, the Library of Congress and National Film Registry deemed the film \”culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant\”.
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JULY 7, 1977: STYX RELEASE GRAND ILLUSION
Styx released their 7th album on 7-7-77.
Featuring \”Come Sail Away\”, \”The Grand Illusion\” and \”Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)\”, The Grand Illusion was Styx\’s first of 4 consecutive triple Platinum albums.
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JULY 7, 1986: DAVID LEE ROTH\’S DEBUT SOLO LP
Four months after Van Halen released 5150, their first with Sammy Hagar, David Lee Roth released his debut solo LP, Eat \’Em and Smile.
Eat \’Em and Smile went Platinum and peaked at #4.
Trying to appeal to the Spanish-speaking market, the album was also released as Sonrisa Salvaje, with Diamond Dave re-recording his vocals in Spanish.
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JULY 10, 2021: CCR\’S ONLY #1 BILLBOARD HIT
Fifty years after its release as a single, Creedence Clearwater Revival have their first US #1 hit.
\”Have You Ever Seen the Rain\” tops Billboard\’s Rock Digital Song Sales chart, giving CCR their first ever Billboard #1.
The song\’s resurgence is credited to John Fogerty\’s presence on social media platform TikTok.
