Welcome to another edition of Today in Boston ROCK, where I, Adam 12, spotlight Very Important Days In Rock History. May 19th is one.
1945
May 19, 1945: Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend is born in West London. The Who has always been the sum of its parts, and Pete Townshend is arguable the biggest part of the whole. Fittingly, the band was at TD Garden just last night. So Pete got to wake up in Boston on his 77th birthday.
This guy had much better seats than we did! Check out his posts for an idea of how good @TheWho were last night at @tdgarden. https://t.co/NSXOfeub9o
— Rob "Hardy" Poole (@HardyRadio) May 19, 20221949
May 19, 1949: John Michael “Dusty” Hill is born in Dallas, TX. Had he not passed away last summer, Dusty Hill would have turned 73 today. The show must go on, however, and ZZ Top is still on the road, coming to town this summer.
1951
May 19, 1951: Jeffrey Ross Hyman is born in Queens, NY. The man who would become Joey Ramone and front the Ramones for over two decades is the very definition of an icon. I was lucky enough to see him in the flesh for the band’s last-ever Boston show in 1996.
1954
May 19, 1954: Phillip Hugh Norman Witschke Rudzevecuis is born in Melbourne. Phil Rudd has played drums for AC/DC over three stints since 1974. And his birthday gives us the perfect opportunity to revisit the band’s legendary 1978 Boston gig.
Today in Boston ROCK: May 17
1965
May 17, 1965: Michael Trent Reznor is born in New Castle, PA. He’s an Oscar winner, he’s a GRAMMY winner, and he’s coming to Boston Calling: Nine Inch Nails are headlining Saturday and you can enter to win tickets here. Get yourself all lathered up with NIN’s set from the Garden from 2013.
1968
May 17, 1968: David James Abbruzzese is born in Stamford, CT. He joined Pearl Jam as their drummer in the summer of ’91, touring behind Ten and staying on for Vs. and Vitalogy, where he’s on record for all but four of the songs on the album. My favorite Dave Abbruzzese moment? The end of “Rearviewmirror,” when you can hear him flinging his drumsticks across the booth in frustration from the amount of takes he had to put on tape.
1980
May 17, 1980: Joan Jett releases her debut album. I wrote about the 40th anniversary 2 years ago.