Today in Headbanger History

September 19, 1985 – Dee Snider, Frank Zappa and John Denver testify before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee against the Parents Music Resource Center’s plans on demanding warning labels on albums.  Frank Zappa says that, “The PMRC proposal is an ill-conceived piece of nonsense which fails to deliver any real benefits to children, infringes the civil liberties of […]

September 18, 1983 – Kiss appear without their makeup for the first time during an MTV interview while promoting the release of their new album Lick It Up.  Only two of the group’s original members were unveiled as founding drummer Peter Criss and guitarist Ace Frehley had left the band.  Eric Carr and Vinnie Vincent were their replacements. September 18, 1978 – All four members of Kiss […]

September 17, 1991 – Guns N’ Roses release both Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II on the same day because they think one double album of 30 tracks would be too expensive for fans.  Record stores open at midnight to frenzied purchasing and when the dust settles, each album sells more than 7 million […]

September 16, 1970 – Jimi Hendrix goes to see his good friend Eric Burdon’s new band War, and is invited on stage to play guest guitar. This is his last time on stage as he dies less than 72 hours later. September 16, 2005 – Mötley Crüe’s Vince Neil tears his calf when he leans over to sing along with […]

September 15, 2014 – Apple releases a tool to remove U2’s new album, Songs of Innocence, from iTunes accounts after giving away the music for free. Songs of Innocence is considered the biggest album launch in history because about half a billion iTunes users owned it on the day of its release. Apple reportedly gave U2 a large blanket […]

September 14, 1984 – MTV debuts its first ever video awards show, hosted by Dan Aykroyd and Bette Midler in New York at Radio City Music Hall. The Cars win Video of the Year for “You Might Think” and David Bowie wins Best Male Video for “China Girl,” a song co-written with his friend, Iggy Pop. September 14, 1979 – The film Quadrophenia, based loosely […]

September 13, 1991 – Geffen, Nirvana’s record label, throws them a party to celebrate the release of their forthcoming album, Nevermind, and the single “Smells Like Teen Spirit” at Re-bar in Seattle.  The band proceeds to tear down all of the Nevermind posters and then starts a food fight.  A bouncer ends up kicking the band out of their own party, but they hop in […]

September 12, 2008 – Metallica release their 9th studio album, Death Magnetic.  The album is produced by Rick Rubin and is the band’s first album to feature bassist Robert Trujillo.  It goes on to sell over two million copies in the U.S. September 12, 1966 – The first episode of The Monkees TV show debuts on NBC, preceding I Dream of […]