Radiohead's OK Computer was released on July 1, 1997 in the United States

Although it was released 2 weeks prior in the UK and Canada Radiohead's OK Computer was released on July 1st of 1997 in the United States. 10 years ago today.

The album peaked at #1 in the UK and at #21 in the US.

It has gone on to be one of the most critically acclaimed albums of all time. Pitchfork Media named it as the #1 album of the 1990s in 2003. Spin Magazine selected it as the best album of the past 20 years in 2005. NME selected it as the 16th best album of all time in 2003. The users of RateYourMusic.com have rated it as the best album of the 1990s. Time Magazine selected it as one of the best 100 albums of all time in 2006.

The track listing of the album (with accompanying videos of a live performance of that song.)

1. Airbag



2. Paranoid Android



3. Subterranean Homesick Alien



4. Exit Music (For a Film)



5. Let Down



6. Karma Police



7. Fitter Happier (They don't play this live (?) ... but I found a neat video that goes the album recording.)



8. Electioneering



9. Climbing Up The Walls



10. No Surprises



11. Lucky



12. The Tourist

Fantasia Barrino was born on June 30, 1984

Fantasia Monique Burrino was born on June 30th of 1984 in North Carolina. She usually goes by just Fantasia.

She rose to fame in the 3rd season of American Idol which she won.

Fantasia singing "Summertime" on American Idol:


Singing Lessons Online

Matthew Good was born on June 29, 1971

Matthew Good was born on June 29th of 1971 in Canada.

He was the lead singer for the Matthew Good Band who had success during the 1990s. Their biggest hit being the song "Apparitions."

Video for "Apparitions"

Kellie Pickler was born on June 28, 1986

American Idol 5 contestant Kellie Pickler turns 21 years old today as she was born on June 28th of 1986.

Kellie Pickler's American Idol audition:


Singing Lessons

American Idol Underground

iPod Downloads

Bruce Johnston was born on June 27, 1942

Bruce Johnston was born as Benjamin Baldwin on June 27th of 1942. He was adopted.

Johnston joined the Beach Boys in April of 1965.

Johnston is most well known being a member of the Beach Boys and for writing the song "I Write the Songs" in 1975 which became a #1 hit for Barry Manilow in 1976.

While some members of the Beach Boys didn't seem to understand the direction of chief Beach Boy Brian Wilson with the Pet Sounds album. Johnston was a big supporter of the album and of Wilson's more artistic song writing. Johnston even flew to England to play Pet Sounds for John Lennon and Paul McCartney of the Beatles before it was released. McCartney in particular was blown away by the album.

Johnston also wrote some Beach Boys material including the song "Disney Girls (1957)" which was on the Beach Boys 1971 album Surf's Up.

Johnston is still a member of the touring version of the Beach Boys.

Interview with Bruce Johnston and Mike Love (also a member of the Beach Boys)




Singing Lessons - Learn To Sing Like The Beach Boys

Colin Greenwood was born on June 26, 1969

Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood was born on June 26th of 1969 in Oxford England. His younger brother Jonny Greenwood is the lead guitarist for the band.

"National Anthem" from Kid A may have the bands most memorable bass line. It was actually played by singer Thom Yorke on the recording but is played by Colin Greenwood live.

Colin Greenwood says that "Airbag" from OK Computer contains his favorite playing.

His bass line was the seed for "Dollars and Cents" from Amnesiac.

Radiohead - "National Anthem" live:


Radiohead - "Airbag" live:


Radiohead - "Dollars and Cents" live:


Learn To Play Bass Guitar Like Radiohead

Unlimited iPod Downloads - Radiohead

Carly Simon was born on June 25, 1945

Carly Simon was born on June 25th of 1945 in New York City.

Simon had success during the 1970s as a singer songwriter. Her biggest hit being "You're So Vain" from 1972. To this day people still wonder who the song is about. Simon has never publicly said who the song is about. She has said that it's about "many vain men" she has known.

Among the men guessed as the "You" in "You're So Vain" are Mick Jagger, Cat Stevens, Warren Beatty, Kris Kristofferson, William Donaldson, and James Taylor.

Simon had brief relationships with Cat Stevens, Warren Beatty and Kris Kristofferson. She was married to James Taylor from 1972 to 1983. Jagger sang backing vocals on the song.

Jeff Beck was born on June 24, 1944

Jeff Beck was born as Geoffrey Arnold Beck on June 24th of 1944 in England.

Jeff Beck joined the Yardbirds in 1965 after Eric Clapton left the group. In 1966 he shared the lead guitar role with Jimmy Page. Beck left the Yardbirds after a year and a half.

Among the songs recorded during the Beck era of the Yardbirds was "Shapes of Things"

In 1967 Beck created a new band called The Jeff Beck Group which featured Rod Stewart on vocals and Ron Wood on bass.

"Shapes Of Things" (the video is fan created but the music is the Yardbirds recording)


Learn Guitar Online - Play Like Jeff Beck

Stu Sutcliffe was born on June 23, 1940

Stuart Sutcliffe was born on June 23rd of 1940 in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Stu Sutcliffe was an art school friend of Beatles legend John Lennon and played bass with The Beatles for two years before leaving the band to concentrate on his art and to live with his fiance Astrid Kirchherr in Hamburg, Germany.

Sutcliffe can be heard playing bass with the Beatles (They were a five piece with Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison all on guitars at the time. Pete Best was the drummer) on three tracks on the Beatles Anthology 1 collection: "Hallelujah, I Love Her So," "You'll Be Mine," and "Cayenne."

Sutcliffe's role with the Beatles early career and his relationships with Astrid Kirchherr and John Lennon are the basis of the movie Backbeat.

Sutcliffe died at the age of 21 on April 10th of 1962 from a brain hemorrhage. It is not known for sure what caused the hemorrhage.

Below you can see a self portrait painted by Stu Sutcliffe:


Two "Making Of" videos for the Backbeat movie (which was released in 1994.)

Cyndi Lauper was born on June 22, 1953

Cyndi Lauper was born Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper on June 22nd of 1953 in New York City.

Today she turns 54 years old.

Lauper was one of the biggest pop stars of the 1980s with hit singles like "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" and "Time After Time."

Video for "Girls Just Want To Have Fun"

Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols was attacked in a brawl on June 21, 1977

The Sex Pistols singer Johnny Rotten was attacked in a brawl in London on June 21st of 1977.

Later that year the Sex Pistols would release their album Nevermind the Bollox, Here's the Sex Pistols.

The album included the track "Anarcy in the UK" - Here's a performance of that song from 1976:

David Bowie recorded "Space Oddity" on June 20, 1969

David Bowie recorded "Space Oddity" on June 20th of 1969.

The story of the song is based on 2001: A Space Odyssey. Coincidentally (and perhaps part of the reason the story interested Bowie so much) the main character in the novel/movie (both came out in 1968) was David Bowman.

A 1975 reissue of this song would become Bowie's first UK #1 hit.

Video for "Space Oddity"


Unlimited iPod Downloads

Paul McCartney talks about using LSD on June 19, 1967

On June 19th of 1967 Paul McCartney of the Beatles admitted to using LSD during an interview with Life Magazine. Although McCartney was actually the last member of The Beatles to use LSD he was the first to talk about using LSD in public.

The Beatles music of the time (specifically Sgt. Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour) seems to be influenced by their use of LSD.

Here's an interview of Paul McCartney talking about LSD:


The Beatles iPod Downloads


Various Artists - Beatles Tribute: Number One Again

The Beastie Boys go to #1 with "Ill Communication" on June 18, 1994

The Beastie Boys entered the US album charts at #1 with Ill Communication on June 18th of 1994.

Watch the the music video (directed by Spike Jonze) for the Ill Communication track "Sabotage"


The first track on the album is "Sure Shot"

Barry Manilow was born on June 17, 1943

Singer-Songwriter Barry Manilow was born June 17th of 1943 in Brooklyn, New York.

His most well known songs include "Mandy" and "Copacabana"

Live performance of "Mandy" from 2005:


Online Singing Lessons - Sing Like Barry Manilow

Oasis Plays Show in Paris, France on June 16, 1994

Oasis played their first show outside of the UK on June 16th of 1994 when they played at The Erotika Club in Paris, France.

Their debut album Definitely Maybe was released later in '94 on August 30th.

The album featured "Live Forever" a song that songwriter Noel Gallagher had written before he joined Oasis in 1991. Gallagher has said it to be a retort to the depressive grunge music of the period and was inspired by the Rolling Stones song "Shine A Light."

Video for the Oasis single "Live Forever"


Learn To Play Guitar Like Oasis Online

Harry Nilsson was born on June 15, 1941

Singer-Songwriter Harry Nilsson was born June 15th of 1941 in Brooklyn, New York.

He was usually credited without his first name just as Nilsson.

Perhaps his most well known track is "Everybody's Talkin'" which was featured in the 1969 movie Midnight Cowboy starring Dusting Hoffman and Jon Voight.

The song can be heard over the opening credits:


Harry Nilsson died in 1994 of heart failure at only age 52.

Queen went to the top of the UK album charts with A Kind of Magic on June 14, 1986

Queen topped the UK album charts for the 5th time with A Kind of Magic on June 14th of 1986. Although the album hit the top of the charts in the UK it never made it higher than #46 in the United States.

The album included "One Vision" - watch the video/hear the song:


Learn Guitar Like Brian May

Billy Ray Cyrus hit #1 on the US album charts on June 13, 1992

Billy Ray Cyrus hit #1 on the US album charts with Some Gave All on June 13th of 1992 and it stayed at #1 for 17 weeks and has gone on to sell over 9 million copies in the United States.

The album (which was his debut album) is mostly known for the hit single "Achy Breaky Heart."

Although often cited as a one hit wonder, Cyrus has had 5 other top 10 singles on the country charts but "Achy Breaky Heart" was his one major "crossover" hit.

Billy Ray Cyrus' 14 year old daughter Miley Cyrus plays the part of Hannah Montana in the Disney channel show of the same name.

Video for "Achy Breaky Heart"


Download Country Music For Your iPod

The Beatles arrived in Adelaide, Australia on June 12, 1964

The Beatles arrived in Adelaide, Australia on June 12th of 1964 and were greeted by a quarter of a million fans.

Jimmy Nicol was filling in for Ringo Starr who was recovering from having his tonsils removed at the time.

Watch this video documentary about Beatlemania in Australia in June of 1964:


Download The Beatles With Feed My iPods - Unlimited iPod Downloads

Hank Williams debuts at the Grand Ole Opry on June 11, 1949

Hank Williams made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry on June 11th of 1949 and performed an unprecedented 6 encores.

Hank Williams died less than 4 years later at the age of 29 in a car accident on January 1, 1953. He left behind a son named Hank Williams Jr. who would go on to be a country music star himself. His grandson Hank Williams III is also a musician.

Hank Williams wrote many classic songs including "Move It On Over" and "Hey Good Lookin'"

The following video is from Hank Williams second performance at the Grand Ole Opry and he performs "Cold Cold Heart" and "I Can't Help It."




Do you want to learn to play country guitar like Hank Williams?

Radiohead hits #1 on the UK charts with Amnesiac on June 10, 2001

Radiohead's 5th album Amnesiac went to #1 on the UK charts on June 10th of 2001. Amnesiac was mostly recorded during the same sessions as 2000's Kid A. The album reached #2 on the US album charts.

The album's track list:

1. Packt Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box
2. Pyramid Song
3. Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors
4. You and Whose Army?
5. I Might Be Wrong
6. Knives Out
7. Morning Bell/Amnesiac
8. Dollars and Cents
9. Hunting Bears
10. Like Spinning Plates
11. Life in a Glasshouse

"Pyramid Song" was selected as a single (reaching #5 in the UK) and had a video made for it. The video was made by Shynola:


"I Might Be Wrong" was a radio only single and had a video directed by Sophie Muller:


"Knives Out" was also a single (reaching #13 in the UK and #1 in Canada) and had a video directed by Michel Gondry. This video was all shot in one take:

MC Hammer's Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em Hits #1 On The US Album Charts On June 9, 1990

MC Hammer's Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em hit #1 on the US album charts on June 9th of 1990 and then stayed at #1 for 21 consecutive weeks. It also became the first rap album to sell 10 million copies in the United States.

Most of the album's commercial success was due to the smash hit single "U Can't Touch This" which sampled Rick Jame's 1981 hit "Super Freak."

The music video for "U Can't Touch This" featured MC Hammer in his "Hammer Pants" doing his trademark dance moves.

Watch The Video:


iPod Downloads: Download MC Hammer's U Can't Touch This On Your iPod.

"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears hit #1 on the US singles chart on June 8, 1985

The Tears for Fears single "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" hit #1 on the US singles chart on June 8th of 1985. The song was taken from their second album Songs from the Big Chair.

"Shout," also from Songs from the Big Chair, would become the bands second (and last) #1 US single on August 3, 1985.

"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" was #1 for 2 weeks while "Shout" lasted 3 weeks.

Hear this 80s classic and watch the video too:


Unlimited iPod Downloads With Feed My iPods

Elton John's Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy debuts at #1 on the US album charts on June 7, 1975

Elton John's Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy became the first album to ever debut at #1 on the US album charts on June 7th, 1975.

This has more to do with a change in how the billboard charts are calculated than with amazing sales of the album. Previously it would take some time for an album's sales to all be counted for it to reach higher on the charts.

In modern times albums by big name artists generally have their largest sales in the first week and if they are to reach #1 will generally do so during their first week. This is due to people who are already fans of the artist buying the album in the first week. Obviously this was also happening in the past it's just that the album sales were not able to be counted as quickly as they are now.

Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy is an autobiographical album describing the early days of Elton John's and Bernie Taupin's musical career. John was "Captain Fantastic" and Taupin the "Brown Dirt Cowboy." Taupin wrote most of the lyrics for Elton John's songs throughout his career.

The best known track and only single released from the album is "Someone Saved My Life Tonight."

Live performance of "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" from 1995:


Learn To Play Keyboards Like Elton John With Piano Lessons

Steve Vai was born on June 6, 1960

Steve Vai turns 47 years old today as he was born on June 6th of 1960 in Carle Place, New York.

Vai is known as one of the supreme technically skilled guitar players in the world. He has played with Frank Zappa, David Lee Roth, Public Image Ltd., and Whitesnake, among many others.

Vai was featured as the devil's guitar player Jack Butler in the 1986 movie Crossroads. Vai, of course, played his part in the movie. He also (along with Ry Cooder who played the blues intro) played Ralph Macchio's part. Steve Vai wrote all of the guitar parts for the guitar duel.

See the climatic guitar duel from Crossroads:


Learn To Play Guitar Like Steve Vai

Mark Wahlberg was born June 5, 1971

Mark Wahlberg was born on June 5th of 1971 making him 36 years old today.

Wahlberg is best known as an Academy Award nominated actor now but in the early 90s he was a rapper known as "Marky Mark" and he had a #1 1991 hit single with a song called "Good Vibrations" (nothing in common with the Beach Boys classic other than the name.)

Wahlberg first became known as Donnie Wahlberg's little brother. Donnie Wahlberg was a member of the hugely successful boy band The New Kids on the Block and Mark Wahlberg was originally supposed to be a member of the group but he declined deciding he didn't like the clean cut pop image they were going for. Joe McIntyre replaced him in the New Kids lineup.

Video for "Good Vibrations"

Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP Goes To #1 On June 4, 2000

Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP hit #1 on the US album charts on June 4th of 2000. The album was released on May 23 of 2000 so this was it's first week on the charts. It spent 8 weeks at #1 and sold a record breaking 1.7 million copies in it's first week.

The album is named The Marshall Mathers LP as Marshall Mathers is Eminem's birth name.

The album's biggest hit single was "The Real Slim Shady" which went to #4 on the Billboard singles chart. The video for "The Real Slim Shady" :


"Stan" (featuring Dido) was another hit. See the video for "Stan" :


"The Way I Am"


Hip Hop Beats - thousands of royalty free custom made beats.

Bob Marley and the Wailers released Exodus on June 3, 1977

Bob Marley and the Wailers released the album Exodus 30 years ago today.

The album's track listing is as follows:
1. Natural Mystic
2. So Much Things to Say
3. Guiltiness
4. The Heathen
5. Exodus
6. Jammin'
7. Waiting in Vain
8. Turn Your Lights Down Low
9. Three Little Birds
10. One Love/People Get Ready

Live performance of "Exodus" (the song)


Live performance of "Jammin'"


Video for "One Love" (features cameos from stars such as Paul McCartney)

Tony Handley was born June 2, 1960

British pop singer Tony Handley was born on June 2nd of 1960 in London.

He is best known as the lead singer for the 1980s band Spandau Ballet.

Spandau Ballet's biggest hit was the song "True" from the 1983 album of the same name. "True" was later sampled on PM Dawn's 1991 hit "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss."

Video for "True" (video/audio out of sync like so many YT videos)


Video for PM Dawn's "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss."