April 6, 1993 – Peter Criss, former drummer for the rock group KISS, settles a libel lawsuit against Star magazine for portraying him as a homeless alcoholic. ”At least now I can go on with a clearer head, now that this is over,” he said. “I could write a song about this whole thing. Maybe I will.” A Jan. 8, 1991, story in the Star said Criss was “living like a dog,” getting his meals on bread lines and sleeping in a men’s room at the Santa Monica Pier. It was all a hoax.
April 6, 1968 – Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd founding member, leaves the band. He was the primary songwriter, vocalist and guitarist. Allegedly, Barrett was suffering from psychiatric disorders compounded by drug use, in particular, LSD.
April 6, 1987 – Roger Waters says he will contest the use of the name “Pink Floyd” by anyone else other than himself as he believes he is the creative driving force behind the band.
April 6, 1974 – The first-ever film with a quadraphonic soundtrack is the concert documentary Ladies and Gentlemen: The Rolling Stones. It premieres at the legendary Ziegfeld Theatre in New York.
April 6, 2008 – Triumph is inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at the Juno Awards.
April 6, 1984 – E-Street Band member Steve “Little Steven” Van Zandt announces that he’s exiting the band. He rejoins the band in 1999 when they reunite with Springsteen.
April 6, 1979 – Rod Stewart marries George Hamilton’s ex-wife, Alana, in Beverly Hills. The marriage lasts 5 years.
April 6, 1956 – The iconic Capitol Records Tower opens at the corner of Hollywood and Vine in LA. The 13-story building is said to be designed to look like a stack of records, but the architect says that is just a coincidence. More trivia – the blinking red light on top of the building spells out H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D in morse code.
April 6, 1974 – Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, The Eagles and others perform before a crowd of 200,000 at the California Jam in Ontario, California. Deep Purple were identified at the time as the loudest band in the world by the Guinness Book of World Records.
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Classic Rock Birthdays
April 6, 1952 – Udo Dirkschneider, vocals (Accept, UDO)
April 6, 1963 – Johnny Dee, drums (Britny Fox)
April 6, 1960 – Warren Haynes, guitar (The Allman Brothers Band, Gov’t Mule)
Rock Remembrances
April 6, 1998 – Wendy O. Williams, former lead singer of the Plasmatics, dies from self-inflicted gunshot wounds. She was 48. Williams had previously attempted suicide twice before – once by hammering a knife into her chest in 1993, and also in 1997 with a drug overdose. Wendy was known to sport a mohawk, play concerts almost nude, and was one of the most shocking and controversial punk figures of the time.
