Category: Milestones

Milestones: David Byrne is 60 today — watch full Talking Heads concert filmed in 1980

Milestones: David Byrne is 60 today — watch full Talking Heads concert filmed in 1980

It’s David Byrne’s birthday today — he’s 60 — and while he’s made it perfectly clear he wants nothing to do with his old Talking Heads bandmates, it’s certainly fun to look back at what a mighty band they once were. So here’s a killer ‘Remain in Light’-era concert filmed in Rome in 1980 for your viewing pleasure.

Milestones: Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan is 50 today — watch 7 full concerts, 1981-2009

Milestones: Depeche Mode’s Dave Gahan is 50 today — watch 7 full concerts, 1981-2009

Today we mark the 50th birthday of Dave Gahan by looking back at the man’s, and band’s, 30-year career with this selection of seven full Depeche Mode concerts for your viewing pleasure, filmed on tours in 1981, 1985, 1986, 1993, 2001, 2006 and 2009. Enjoy.

Milestones: U2’s ‘Joshua Tree’ is 25 today; watch full 1987 ‘Save the Yuppies’ concert

Milestones: U2’s ‘Joshua Tree’ is 25 today; watch full 1987 ‘Save the Yuppies’ concert

Twenty-five years ago today, U2 cemented itself as one of rock ‘n’ roll’s giants, releasing its epochal album ‘The Joshua Tree.’ To celebrate this milestone, we present the band’s infamous “Save the Yuppies” concert from Nov. 11, 1987, when U2 set up in Justin Herman Plaza at San Francisco’s Embarcadero Center for a free concert.

Milestones: Mark E. Smith is 55 today; watch complete BBC documentary on The Fall

Milestones: Mark E. Smith is 55 today; watch complete BBC documentary on The Fall

Long one of rock’s most unique and iconoclastic frontmen, Mark E. Smith — the only constant member of The Fall — turns 55 today, and to celebrate, we, for the second straight year, offer up this hour-long documentary called ‘The Fall: The Wonderful and Frightening World of Mark E. Smith’ that aired on the BBC back in 2005.

Milestones: U2’s ZOO TV Tour opened 20 years ago tonight — see news footage, dress rehearsal

Milestones: U2’s ZOO TV Tour opened 20 years ago tonight — see news footage, dress rehearsal

Twenty years ago tonight, U2 opened its ZOO TV Tour in Lakeland, Fla. — debuting a high-tech stage show that not only redefined the Irish rockers, but changed the way arena and stadium tours have been staged ever since, incorporating dazzling visual imagery and extending the performance space out into the audience.

Milestones: David Bowie is 65 today; watch 8 full concerts spanning 1978 to 2004

Milestones: David Bowie is 65 today; watch 8 full concerts spanning 1978 to 2004

David Bowie turns 65 today, and while he’s hitting what’s traditionally seen as retirement age, the Thin White Duke seemingly ended his musical career a few years ago. So to celebrate this peerless musical legend, we present eight full Bowie concerts, filmed between the years of 1978 and 2004.

Milestones: The Smiths played last concert 25 years ago today — watch the whole show

Milestones: The Smiths played last concert 25 years ago today — watch the whole show

Twenty-five years ago today, The Smiths performed what would prove to be the band’s final concert, a 15-song set at London’s Brixton Academy as part of a rescheduled benefit for Artists Against Apartheid. Watch that full Dec. 12, 1986, concert here.

Milestones: Depeche Mode’s ‘Speak & Spell’ released Oct. 5, 1981 — 30 years ago today

Milestones: Depeche Mode’s ‘Speak & Spell’ released Oct. 5, 1981 — 30 years ago today

Depeche Mode’s debut ‘Speak & Spell’ was released on Oct. 5, 1981 — exactly 30 years ago today. To mark the occasion, we present the band’s first few appearances on ‘Top of the Pops,’ which find a group of very young men — introduced as ‘Depech-ay Mode!’ — miming along to their early hits.

Milestones: Siouxsie and the Banshees play 1st concert 35 years ago today (audio)

Milestones: Siouxsie and the Banshees play 1st concert 35 years ago today (audio)

Thirty-five years ago today, a nascent Siouxsie and the Banshees — with co-founders Siouxsie Sioux and Steven Severin joined by Sid Vicious on drums — played their first concert at the famed 100 Club Punk Special, opening for The Clash and the Sex Pistols. Hear it here.

Milestones: Nirvana films ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ music video 20 years ago today

Milestones: Nirvana films ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ music video 20 years ago today

Twenty years ago today, first-time director Samuel Bayer gathered several dozen fans and three young musicians on a Culver City, Calif., soundstage to film the video for Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit,’ a soon-to-be iconic clip — the infamous high school pep rally from hell — that ultimately would be as era-defining as the song itself.

Milestones: MTV debuts 30 years ago today; watch first full hour of music videos

Milestones: MTV debuts 30 years ago today; watch first full hour of music videos

This is a little more mainstream than what we usually cover, but it’s hard to deny the significance: Thirty years ago today, on Aug. 1, 1981, MTV went on the air (‘Ladies and gentlemen, rock ‘n’ roll…’), changing the course of music in the ’80s and beyond.

Milestones: Daniel Ash is 54 today; watch Love and Rockets’ ‘120 Minutes’ promo

Milestones: Daniel Ash is 54 today; watch Love and Rockets’ ‘120 Minutes’ promo

Daniel Ash — he of ’80s darkwave trifecta Bauhaus, Tones on Tail and Love and Rockets — turns 54 today, and to mark the occasion, we present this little nugget: It’s a promo for MTV’s ‘120 Minutes’ featuring a cue-card reading Ash and his Love and Rockets bandmates David J and Kevin Haskins that aired sometime around 1986.

Milestones: Lollapalooza debuted 20 years ago today; watch MTV ‘120 Minutes’ coverage

Milestones: Lollapalooza debuted 20 years ago today; watch MTV ‘120 Minutes’ coverage

Twenty years ago today, the Perry Farrell-spawned Lollapalooza festival — which, in retrospect, joins Nevermind as perhaps the best historical encapsulation of ‘the year punk broke’ — made its debut in the sun-baked Arizona desert with performances by Nine Inch Nails, Living Colour, Siouxsie and the Banshees and Jane’s Addiction.