April 12th 1954: Bill Haley & His Comets recorded "Rock Around the Clock" at Pythian Temple studios in New York. While not the first rock song ever, it became the first to top the pop charts in both the US and UK, effectively kicking off the rock and roll era.
In 1975, a group of thieves broke into a recording studio in London and stole the master tapes for the Bay City Rollers' upcoming album. While the band was at the height of "Rollermania," the thieves quickly realized they couldn't sell the tapes to a rival label because the band's sound was too recognizable. They eventually dumped the tapes in a trash bin, where they were recovered by a janitor.
1983: R.E.M. released their debut album, Murmur. It became a cornerstone of college rock and alternative music, later being named the best album of 1983 by Rolling Stone, famously beating out Michael Jackson’s Thriller.
2003: The White Stripes hit No. 1 on the UK Albums chart with Elephant.
April 13 (1982): John Mellencamp (then known as John Cougar) released American Fool. Driven by hits like "Hurts So Good" and "Jack & Diane," it became the best-selling album of the year in the US.
April 14 (1980): Iron Maiden released their self-titled debut album.
In 1969, The Beatles recorded "The Ballad of John and Yoko" at Abbey Road. Because John Lennon was in a rush to release it, only he and Paul McCartney played on the track (George was on holiday and Ringo was filming a movie). The song was immediately banned by several US radio stations on this week in 1969—not for the politics, but because the lyric "Christ, you know it ain't easy" was considered "sacrilegious" for FM radio at the time.
April 16 (1964): The Rolling Stones released their self-titled debut album in the UK. Composed almost entirely of rhythm and blues covers, it spent 12 weeks at No. 1
April 17: In 1971, a Grand Funk Railroad concert at the Shea Stadium sold out in just 72 hours, breaking the record previously held by The Beatles. Fans who couldn't get tickets discovered that a local promoter had accidentally printed a small batch of tickets with a 10-cent price tag. When the venue refused to honor them, a minor riot broke out at the box office, requiring police intervention.
April 18 1967: After months of delays due to the complicated "peelable banana" cover art designed by Andy Warhol, The Velvet Underground & Nico finally began to appear in shops in significant numbers. However, it was almost immediately recalled because the back cover featured a photo of an actor (Eric Emerson) projected behind the band without his permission. Emerson threatened to sue, and the label had to manually place large black stickers over his face on every unsold copy
April 19: 1971: The Doors released L.A. Woman. It was the final album recorded with Jim Morrison before his death in July of that year.
1973: David Bowie released Aladdin Sane, the album was Bowie's first to reach No. 1 in the UK and described by him as "Ziggy goes to America."
In 1973, Keith Richards' home in Sussex, "Redlands," caught fire while he was inside. Keith and Anita Pallenberg escaped just in time, but Keith allegedly went back inside—not for jewelry or documents, but to rescue his favorite 1950s Telecaster. The house was gutted, but the guitar survived and became the primary instrument for the Rolling Stones' It's Only Rock 'n Roll sessions
