Tommy’s Coffee Break Calendar for February 8th

A pre-Zep incarnation debut -- A big seller for Dylan -- A sad end for a legendary rocker...

2/08/1967 (49 years ago today) - A group called The Band Of Joy played their very first live set as one of a handful of up-and-coming bands at The Marquee in London. Really only notable for two reasons: Robert Plant was the bands singer and John Bonham was on drums. Quirky side-note: the groups roadie was Noddy Holder, who would go on to achieve a huge amount of success in England as one of the founding members of Slade!

2/08/1975 (41 years ago today) - Bob Dylan went to No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard album chart with his 15th studio recording "Blood On The Tracks". It was Bob's second U.S. No. 1 LP, and has become one of his all-time best-selling releases. Many would argue that it might just be the finest album of his career, and the track listing backs this claim up: "Tangled Up In Blue", "Simple Twist Of Fate", "Idiot Wind", "Shelter From The Storm", "You're A Big Girl Now", "Buckets Of Rain", "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts"...this album pretty much defines what masterpiece means.

2/08/1990 (26 years ago today) - Suffering from depression, classic rocker Del Shannon died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Del hit No. 1 in the U.S. and the U.K. with his brilliant single "Runaway", along with several other notable and catchy Top 40 singles that did quite well in America and England, including "Hats Off To Larry", "Hey Little Girl", "Handy Man", "Do You Wanna Dance?" and "Sea Of Love". Del had been working with Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne (Tom produced the "Drop Down And Get Me" album for Del in 1980), and was, in fact, rumoured to be Roy Orbison's replacement in The Traveling Wilburys after Roy passed away. Shannon was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1999.

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"I think of the things we've done/Together, while our hearts were young...", xoxo!