Tommy’s Coffee Break Calendar for January 2nd

We bet Alice Cooper remembers this one... -- George totally nails it... -- A tragedy for Spirit...

1/2/1969 (51 years ago today) - It's the band's first North American tour, and tonight Led Zeppelin kick-off four nights at The Whisky A Go-Go in Los Angeles -- Local faves that have just signed a record contract are the opening act, a band that call themselves Alice Cooper whose front-man/lead vocalist would probably have been laughed out of town at this point if he had told everybody he really liked playing golf. Old days, you know...

1/2/1971 (49 years ago today) - George Harrison becomes the first Beatle to score a U.S. No. 1 when his massive-triple-LP-box-set "All Things Must Pass" starts seven weeks at the top of the chart -- Think George was frustrated? "My Sweet Lord", "What Is Life", "Isn't It A Pity" and the title track were just a few of the songs George presented to his fellow Fab Four comrades for recording, and every single one of 'em got the "Thanks, but no thanks" treatment. Yeesh!

1/2/1997 (23 years ago today) - Underrated mastermind and singer-songwriter-guitarist Randy California, founder of the legendary psychedelic '60's band Spirit, tragically died in a drowning accident on this date while rescuing his 12 year old son Quinn from a rip current near his mother's home at Molokai, Hawaii. He managed to push Quinn (who survived) toward the shore, but Randy was unable to make it back; he was just 45 years old.

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"You know my winter's almost over/My summer, she's comin' on strong...", xoxo!