THIS MONTH IN METAL HISTORY:
AUGUST 1 - August 31
August 1:
- 1971 – Black Sabbath releases the album “Masters of Reality.”
- 1981 – MTV makes its debut at 12:01 a.m. The first music video shown on the music video cable channel is “Video Killed The Radio Star” by The Buggles. The late J.J. Jackson was one of MTV’s original five VJ’s, along with Martha Quinn, Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman and Alan Hunter.
August 2:
- 1979 – AC/DC releases the album “Highway To Hell.”
- 1991 – Metallica releases their self-titled album.
August 3:
- 1987 – The Scorpions releases the album “Animal Magnetism.”
August 5:
- 1985 – The establishment of a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is announced.
- 2001 – Poison bassist Bobby Dall has surgery at a hospital in Nebraska to repair several damaged discs in his back.
August 7:
- 1990 – Bon Jovi releases the album “Blaze Of Glory.”
- 1991 – Axl Rose is charged with assault and property damage relating to a riot at a Guns N’ Roses concert in St. Louis.
- 2002 – An arrest warrant is issued against former Motley Crue singer Vince Neil in connection with an April fight in a nightclub in West Hollywood, California.
August 8:
- 1987 - KISS performs a free show at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles to film segments for their “Crazy, Crazy Nights” video.
- 1992 – Fans riot at a Metallica-Guns N’ Roses concert in Montreal after both bands played shorten sets. Metallica cut its show after James Hetfield is injured in a stage explosion. Guns N’ Roses also has to end early because Axl Rose lost his voice.
August 9:
- 1995 - The original members of KISS reunite for MTV’s “Unplugged.”
- 2005 – Tommy Lee releases the album “Tommyland: The Ride.”
August 11:
- 1973 – Bill Aucoin makes an offer to manage KISS. He promises the band he could secure a record deal.
- 1999 – KISS receives a star on Hollywood Boulevard’s “Walk Of Fame.”
- 2011 - Warrant's Jani Lane dies of acute alcohol poisoning at the age of 47.
August 14:
- 1989 – Bon Jovi’s album “New Jersey” is the first American album to be legally released in the Soviet Union. Because Rubles can’t leave Russia, the Russian record label paid the band in firewood.
August 15:
- 1995 – Vince Neil’s 4 ½ year old daughter, Skylar dies of multiple organ failure at a Los Angeles pediatric hospital after a long, hard-faught battle with cancer.
August 16:
- 1980 – Drummer Bill Ward quits Black Sabbath.
- 1980 – Cozy Powell quits Rainbow.
August 17:
- 1986 – Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen plays his first gig with the band since losing his left arm in a car accident on December 31, 1984.
- 1991 – AC/DC, Motley Crue and Queensryche are among the bands on the bill for the Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington in England.
August 18:
- 1986 – Bon Jovi released the album “Slippery When Wet.”
August 19:
- 1980 – Alice Cooper cancels a show in Toronto due to illness. This prompted the audience to riot.
August 20:
- 1989 – Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose told the crowd at the Donington rock festival in England to, quote, “try not to kill yourself.” However, two audience members died in a crowd surge while the band performed.
- 2005 – Iron Maiden plays its last set on the Ozzfest tour. The controversial performance is riddled with technical problems and during one song the band is pelted with eggs and other debris. Ozzy Osbourne’s wife and manager, Sharon, later admitted to sabotaging the show. She said that she did it because Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson had been mean and disrespectful to Ozzy, the other Ozzfest bands and the crowds throughout the tour. Iron Maiden denied the allegations.
- 2005 – A statue of the late Thin Lizzy frontman Phil Lynott is unveiled in Dublin on what would have been his 56th birthday.
August 21:
- 1990 – Anthrax releases the album “Persistence of Time.”
- 2005 – Poison guitarist C.C. DeVille is released from police custody after posting $50,000 bail following a night in jail. He’d been arrested a day earlier after being accused of assaulting a former girlfriend.
August 22:
- 1989 – Motley Crue releases the single “Dr. Feelgood.”
August 23:
- 2004 – Queen becomes the first Western rock group to have their albums officially authorized to be for sale in Iran. While the conservative Islamic country typically censors Western music, the classic rock group got the OK from authorities because the late Freddie Mercury was of Iranian decent.
August 25:
- 1999 – Motley Crue’s Nikki Sixx is charged with breach of the peace after he tells an audience in Las Vegas they should turn over some cars.
August 27:
- 1991 – Alice Cooper is inducted into Hollywood’s Rock Walk of Fame.
August 28:
- 1978 – The 2nd Marvel KISS comic book goes on sale.
- 1983 – Thin Lizzy plays its last gig in Reading, England.
- 1989 – Motley Crue releases the album “Dr. Feelgood.”
August 29:
- 1980 – Eddie Van Halen met actress and Valerie Bertinelli.
- 1992 – Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain” peaks at #3 on the Pop Singles chart.
- 2003 – A new Guns N’ Roses song, “IRS,” makes its debut on a New York radio station. The song was slated for inclusion on the long awaited album “Chinese Democracy.” The band’s management insisted the track be retrieved from the station.
August 30:
- 1986 – David Lee Roth’s “Yankee Rose” peaks at #16 on the Pop Singles chart.
August 31:
- 1991 – Metallica’s self-titled album, hit #1 on the Billboard album chart.
- 1999 – Megadeth releases the album “Risk.”
- 1999 – Poison’s instruments and stage equipment are destroyed when their transport trucks catch fire. The band vowed to continue the tour anyway.
