Breathtaking Music Moments: The Good and the Bad

With such a profusion of media exposure for today's modern music stars any one incident often becomes diluted. There have been a few music events down the years, which, if YouTube had existed, would have had more hits in a week than Lady Gaga could manage in a lifetime! Here's some enduring musical memories, from Elvis Presley's first TV appearance to Melissa Etheridge's rousing performance at Live Earth.

Elvis and the Beatles Cause a Stir

Elvis Presley's first televised appearance was on American television in the 1950s. His exuberant performance was probably more shocking to many, than if Martians had popped up behind President Eisenhower on the White House lawn!

The frenzy when the Beatles hit America was not only enormous, but the boys delivered, and, musically, they took things to a level no other group has consistently matched. The Beatles, though, may have not made it to America... Late in 1963, John Lennon had told the Royal Family to "rattle your jewelry" at the Royal Variety Show in London. That was regarded as cheeky, but Lennon was allegedly going to include an Anglo-Saxon expletive before the word "jewelry". The rest of the band persuaded him not to! If Lennon had said what he wanted to, one wonders if the Beatles would have been allowed into America.

John was always good for a quote, and his claim that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus triggered mass burnings of Beatles records in the US and sinister threats from the Ku Klux Klan. The backlash led to the Beatles to retreat into the studio and call a halt to touring.

The Elvis comeback show of 1968 silenced a lot of critics. He not only looked a million dollars, but sang like it, too. He seemed confident and comfortable, backed by familiar musical companions. The late 1960s saw, in my opinion, his two finest songs - Suspicious Minds and In the Ghetto.

Electric Dylan, Star Spangled Jimi

Bob Dylan going electric at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 was a brave move. Booed there, Dylan's UK tour of 1965 was troubled, with traditional folk fans shouting "Judas" at him. The D.A. Pennebaker film Don't Look Back showed how nasty things became, as folk traditionalists turned on Bob. One rumor went around that, during a performance, someone had fired a gun at Dylan.

The Monterey Pop Festival of 1967 saw a young black guitarist called Jimi Hendrix burn his guitar and the Who smash their instruments. It was the Summer of Love, but nobody really saw the contradictions, or, if they did, ignored them anyway.

Woodstock was the last major good vibes event of the 1960s. Jimi Hendrix played the Star Bangled Banner and the Who performed See Me, Feel Me as the sun rose. Around half a million attended.

Altamont in the last month of 1969 was a different kettle of fish, as a member of the audience was butchered by the Hell's Angels, the Rolling Stones allegedly brought in as security. The fact that the victim was Meredith Hunter, a young black guy, added a racist undertone to the killing. There seemed a sinister feel to the concert even before the Stones played. Mick Jagger was attacked by a young spectator, both physically and verbally, as soon as he got out of the band's helicopter. The Angels also beat Marty Balin of the Jefferson Airplane unconscious, but the Airplane were no gentle flower children fading into the night, and made their feelings about the Angels very plain. A genuine Stones security guy, Tony Fuches, broke both his wrists punching two Hell's Angels simultaneously. The Albert and David Maysles film of the Altamont is probably the most disturbing concert film ever made. The malevolent look on one Hell's Angels member's face, towards Jagger as he strutted his stuff, encapsulated the atmosphere of the event. The Stones were lucky to get out of there alive.

Months earlier the Stones had turned a Hyde Park concert into a memorial for Brian Jones. An estimated 400,000 watched, with no major incident, apart from for the poor butterflies who were released into the crowd. Jagger wore a white minidress and read out a poem by Shelley as a tribute to Brian. The Hell's Angels 'security' at the London concert were pussycats...

With Altamont, the deaths of Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison, and the Beatles demise, all in a period of eighteen months, the '60s dream had rapidly turned sour.

Ziggy Departs as Janet Boobs

David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust, which was captured by D.A. Pennebaker on film, made the most theatrical goodbye in rock history up to that point. In 1973, Bowie announced at the end of the Hammersmith Odeon concert: "...not only is it the last show of the tour, but it's the last show that we'll ever do. Thank you."

Grumpy British TV presenter Bill Grundy thought he'd expose young punks the Sex Pistols in 1976. I watched the anarchy unfold live, as a 17-year-old in Luton. My Mother and I ended up bemused by a surreal few minutes in television history. Grundy provoked the Sex Pistols into behaving badly, hoping that the British public would turn on them. It backfired spectacularly, as Grundy was sacked and the Pistols became stars - if despised and harassed by the Establishment.

America had its 'Grundy moment' in the 1990s, when Sinead O'Connor tore up a picture of the Pope on Saturday Night Live. Prompting a similarly outraged reaction was Janet Jackson's boob at the 2004 Super Bowl. The criticism was unfair, but it remains probably the most notorious 'wardrobe malfunction' of them all.

A Lifetime of Memories in One Day

Live Aid in July 1985 provided enough feelgood memories to last a lifetime - both for those who saw the event live in London and Philadelphia, and for the 1.5 billion watching on television. Bob Geldof had seen famine and suffering of a Biblical scale in Ethiopia, on the BBC News, and decided to do something about it. Thus, Live Aid was born.

U2's Bad hypnotized at the London leg of Live Aid, as Bono, with his band wondering where he was but still playing, embraced and danced with a young woman in the gap between the stage and the crowd. It symbolized the togetherness and humanity of the event. It was the day U2 seized the day and made themselves the biggest young rock band in the world.

Queen played a montage of hits and Freddie Mercury relished the challenge of performing to the biggest audience in music history. Taking on the other artists in putting on the best show, Queen's performance was extraordinary. The moment tens of thousands responded in unison to Radio Ga Ga remains the favorite live music memory of many. It's also the song which inspired the name for none other than... Lady Gaga.

David Bowie sang Heroes, and introduced a harrowing film about Ethiopia. Paul McCartney's mike failed, as he ploughed on regardless with Let it Be, and he was joined by the rest of the performers for an emotional finale at Wembley Stadium.

Led Zeppelin's reunion in Philadelphia was obviously much anticipated, but the acrimony with drummer Phil Collins still lingers to this day. Bob Dylan performed with Keith Richards (looking even more wasted than usual) and Ronnie Wood. These were the pre-conical bra days for Madonna, who was introduced by Bette Midler. The girl was hot, but she seemed almost sweet back then. Tina Turner's duet with Mick Jagger was hotter still. We Are the World wrapped up an incredible, emotional day.

Concerts for the Earth

Live Aid started something, and its spirit was revived in the first decade of the 21st Century. Live 8, in 2005, was organized by Geldof to help impoverished countries, and Live Earth, in 2007, was the brainchild of Al Gore, to raise more consciousness about global warming.

Pink Floyd's reunion gig at Live 8 in Hyde Park, London, has an added poignancy now, as, since that reunion, the band's keyboardist Richard Wright and the lynchpin of Pink Floyd's early work, Syd Barrett, have both died. The joy on the faces of Pink Floyd fans, as they sang along to their heroes songs was a very special and moving few minutes.

Melissa Etheridge at Live Earth in Giants Stadium, New Jersey was magnificent and inspiring. It was a performance which had echoes of Woodstock rumbling through a musical time machine.

Sad Goodbyes

Those who heard the news of the unexpected deaths of Elvis Presley, John Lennon and Michael Jackson can probably remember where they were and what they were doing at the time. But the happy memories of their music mean that we can even turn bad memories into good ones.

Sources

John Lennon: "...just rattle your jewelry" - Twist and shout | www.meet-the-beatles.com

The Ziggy Stardust Companion - The Retirement Gig

Personal Knowledge