February 8th 1971 Frank Zappa’s scheduled concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall was canceled at the last minute because the venue’s representative, a Mr. Ernest O’Ffill (great name) deemed the lyrics to Zappa’s 200 Motels "obscene." Zappa eventually sued the hall for breach of contract and lost four years later—the judge ruled that the lyrics were indeed "distasteful."
February 9th. The Beatles performed on Ed Sullivan in 1964: Arguably one of the most important moments in TV history, The Beatles made their US debut. 73 million people tuned in—roughly 40% of the US population at the time.
In 1981 Bill Haley passed away at age 55.
February 10 1979. Dire Straits released their debut single in the US. The heavy metal pioneers Blue Cheer—famous for being "the loudest band in the world"—played a concert in San Francisco billed as a "Tribute to J. Edgar Hoover." Given Blue Cheer’s reputation as long-haired, psychedelic bikers, the irony was lost on no one.
February 11, 1970 On this day, the band featuring Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood officially dropped the "Small" and became The Faces. They were essentially the same band as the Small Faces, but since Rod and Ronnie were both significantly taller than the original members, the name "Small" no longer made physical sense!
February 12 1939 Ray Manzarek was born meanwhile in 1950 guitarist Steve Hackett was born.
February 13 Black Sabbath released their self-titled debut album. It was released on Friday the 13th. In 1972 Led Zeppelin was scheduled to play their first-ever show in Singapore. However, when they arrived at the airport, government officials refused to let them off the plane because of their long hair. The band was told they could only perform if they got immediate haircuts. They refused and flew to Australia instead.
In 1967 The Beatles released the double A-side "Strawberry Fields Forever / Penny Lane" in the US.
.February 15, 1969 a woman was arrested in Florida for impersonating Aretha Franklin during a live club performance. She had apparently managed to fool the audience and the club owner for a significant portion of the set before being outed as a fraud.
