Historic events this week from Bruce Springsteen, The Cars, Guns N’ Roses, Tom Petty & Bob Dylan, Velvet Revolver and The Rolling Stones.
JUNE 4, 1984: BORN IN THE U.S.A
Move over Born to Run. Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A. was a game changer for him, selling 15 millions copies to date.
All seven singles released from the album would crack the Top 10 in the US.
“Dancing in the Dark” (#2), “Cover Me” (#7), “Born in the U.S.A.” (#9), “I’m on Fire” (#6), “Glory Days” (#5), “I’m Goin’ Down” (# 9), “My Hometown” (#6)
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JUNE 6, 1978: THE CARS’ DEBUT ALBUM
The Cars’ self-titled debut album is the band’s biggest, with 6 million copies sold in the US.
The classic debut features the singles “Just What I Needed”, “Good Times Roll”, “My Best Friend’s Girl”, as well as “Bye Bye Love”, “Moving in Stereo” and “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight”.
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JUNE 6, 1992: “NOVEMBER RAIN” VIDEO DEBUTS ON MTV
When it was released, GNR’s $1,500,000 “November Rain” music video was the most expensive in rock music.
The video went on to win the MTV Video Music Award for Best Cinematography.
In 2018, it became the first pre-YouTube era video to reach 1 billion views on YouTube.
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JUNE 7, 1978: PETTY MEETS DYLAN
Before performing a show in L.A., Bob Dylan was informed Joni Mitchell, Raquel Welch and Tom Petty were all in attendance.
Dylan was unaware of who Tom Petty was, but after a quick explanation, he gave Petty a shout out towards the end of the set.
Petty was brought backstage after the show, where they became fast friends.
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JUNE 8 2004: VELVET REVOLVER RELEASE CONTRABAND
Guns N’ Roses/Stone Temple Pilots supergroup, Velvet Revolver, quickly went Platinum after debuting at #1.
Contraband featured the #1 hit singles “Slither” and “Fall to Pieces”.
Velvet Revolver would take home the 2005 Grammy for Best Hard Rock Performance for “Slither”.
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JUNE 9, 1978: THE ROLLING STONES’ SOME GIRLS
When The Rolling Stones’ Some Girls went to #1 in the US, it was their sixth of eight straight albums to top the charts.
Some Girls remains the band’s biggest album thanks to hit singles “Shattered”, “Beast of Burden” and the US #1 single, “Miss You.”