Today in Rock History – September 15

Are you ready to learn some stuff? It’s September 15th and here’s what happened Today in Rock History!

Starting the day off on a sadder note, we lost Johnny Ramone of the Ramones on this day in 2004

We also lost Ric Ocasek of The Cars in 2019 and Richard Wright of Pink Floyd in 2008

Moving onto releases now, we got Muse’s Absolution in 2003, Fool for the City by Foghat in 1975, and Marilyn Manson’s Mechanical Animals in 1998.

We also got Frank Zappa’s Studio Tan in 1978, Sports by Huey Lewis and the News in 1983 and the Foo Fighters’ Concrete and Gold in 2017.

In 1982, Queen play what would be their last American concert with Freddie Mercury in the frontman position with their show at the LA Forum. Mercury would die nine years later.

In 1965, Ford becomes the first auto manufacture to offer a factory-installed 8-track player in their Mustang, Thunderbird and Lincoln models. This would mark the first time the players would be widely available. But with the tapes only being sold in automotive shops and the fact the players ate up the tapes, 8-track roadkill became common as drivers would throw out their destroyed tapes out the window. 8-tracks would become obsolete by the 80’s when cassettes take over.

With birthdays, we have Dr. Know of Bad Brains, Paul Thomson of Franz Ferdinand, and Doyle Wolfgang von Frankenstein of the Misfits

And finally in 2001, Incubus became the first music act to perform in New York City after the September 11th attacks when they played the first of two shows at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan.

This has been Today in Rock History! Keep on Rocking, keep on Rolling! Check back tomorrow for your next rock history lesson!