JUNE 20 | TODAY IN ROCK HISTORY
Today in 1969, David Bowie recorded the iconic track “Space Oddity” at Trident Studios in London. Bowie, inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film ‘2001: A Space Odyssey,’ crafted this song, which became the opening track of his second studio album, ‘David Bowie.’ “Space Oddity” tells the story of Major Tom, an astronaut who becomes lost in space, and it marked the beginning of Bowie’s rise to stardom, showcasing his innovative approach to music and storytelling.
In 1987, Aerosmith kicked off their ‘Permanent Vacation’ world tour at the 10th annual Texxas Jam in Dallas. The tour was a pivotal moment for the band, signifying their comeback and renewed success in the rock world. Sharing the bill with Aerosmith were other major acts including Boston, Poison, Whitesnake, and Tesla, making it a memorable event for rock fans and a testament to Aerosmith’s enduring appeal.
And a very happy birthday to Michael Anthony, former bassist and background vocalist of Van Halen, who celebrates his 70th birthday today. Known for his powerful bass lines and distinctive backing vocals, Anthony played a crucial role in Van Halen’s success, contributing to hits like “Runnin’ with the Devil,” “Panama,” and “Jump.” His contributions to rock music continue to be celebrated by fans around the world.
Aerosmith Launch the Permanent Vacation Tour
On this day in 1987, Aerosmith took the stage at the 10th Annual Texxas Jam at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, marking an important moment in the band’s remarkable comeback. The June 20 performance came during a period when Aerosmith was rebuilding its career after years of personal struggles, lineup changes, and declining commercial momentum.
Throughout the 1970s, Aerosmith had established itself as one of America’s premier rock bands. Led by vocalist Steven Tyler and guitarist Joe Perry, the band built its reputation on explosive performances and a catalog that included “Dream On,” “Sweet Emotion,” “Walk This Way,” and “Back in the Saddle.”
But the early 1980s brought serious problems. Substance abuse, internal conflicts, and the departures of both Perry and guitarist Brad Whitford disrupted the band’s chemistry and left Aerosmith struggling to maintain the stature it had achieved during the previous decade.
The return of Perry and Whitford helped restore the classic lineup, but the larger turnaround still had to happen. One of the biggest breakthroughs came in 1986, when Run-D.M.C. recorded a groundbreaking version of “Walk This Way” with Aerosmith. The collaboration introduced the band to an entirely new generation while helping establish a powerful connection between rock and hip-hop.
By the summer of 1987, Aerosmith was once again appearing on major stadium stages. The Texxas Jam provided a particularly significant setting. The massive Dallas festival featured a lineup that included Boston, Whitesnake, Poison, Tesla, and Fahrenheit, with Aerosmith sharing the bill with some of the biggest rock acts of the era.
The timing was also significant because Aerosmith’s next studio album, Permanent Vacation, was on the way. Released later that summer, the album completed the band’s transition from comeback story to major commercial force. It produced hits including “Dude (Looks Like a Lady),” “Angel,” and “Rag Doll.”
The June 20 Texxas Jam performance was part of the band’s North American pre-tour appearances before the formal Permanent Vacation Tour began in October. In Dallas, Aerosmith was already demonstrating that the band had regained its live presence and was ready for a much larger second act.
The Texxas Jam itself was an enormous event. More than 80,000 fans packed the Cotton Bowl for the festival, which Billboard later listed among the year’s highest-grossing concert events. The combination of Boston, Aerosmith, Whitesnake, Poison, Tesla, and Fahrenheit made the 1987 edition one of the festival’s most memorable lineups.
For Aerosmith, the significance went beyond a single concert. The band had survived a period when many people had written them off, rebuilt its classic lineup, reached a new audience through “Walk This Way,” and was now preparing to return to the center of mainstream rock.
What followed was one of the most successful second acts in rock history. Permanent Vacation became a major commercial success, and Aerosmith would spend the next decade filling arenas, releasing hit records, and establishing itself as one of the most enduring American rock bands.
Looking back at June 20, 1987, the Texxas Jam was not technically the beginning of the Permanent Vacation Tour. It was something more interesting: a snapshot of Aerosmith at the precise moment its comeback was becoming undeniable.
Foreigner’s Second Album Raises the Stakes
On this day in 1978, Foreigner released Double Vision, the band’s second studio album and the record that firmly established Foreigner as one of the defining arena rock acts of the late 1970s.
Foreigner had already made an impressive entrance with its self-titled 1977 debut, which produced songs including “Feels Like the First Time,” “Cold as Ice,” and “Long, Long Way from Home.” The success of that album created enormous expectations for its follow-up. Double Vision demonstrated that the band’s first success was no fluke.
Founded by guitarist, songwriter, and producer Mick Jones, Foreigner brought together British rock sensibilities and the harder-edged sound of American rock. At the center of that combination was vocalist Lou Gramm, whose powerful voice quickly became one of the band’s most recognizable characteristics.
The chemistry between Jones and Gramm became particularly important to Foreigner’s songwriting. Jones brought a strong melodic and compositional sensibility, while Gramm gave the songs an unmistakable vocal authority that allowed the band to move comfortably between hard rock, radio-friendly melodies, and arena-sized anthems.
Double Vision reached number three on the Billboard 200 and eventually sold millions of copies. More importantly, it gave Foreigner a collection of songs that could thrive both on FM radio and in increasingly large concert venues.
The album’s biggest hit was “Hot Blooded.” Built around a driving guitar riff and an instantly memorable chorus, the song captured the band’s ability to combine muscular rock instrumentation with concise, accessible songwriting. It became one of Foreigner’s signature songs and remains a staple of classic rock radio.
The title track, “Double Vision,” offered another example of the band’s formula. Its powerful rhythm section, layered guitars, and commanding vocal performance created a polished rock sound that was sophisticated enough for radio while retaining the energy of a live band.
“Blue Morning, Blue Day” added another dimension to the album. With its distinctive keyboard and guitar arrangement and Gramm’s emotional delivery, the song demonstrated that Foreigner could create something more nuanced than straightforward hard rock.
The timing of the album was significant. Rock music was entering a period of rapid change. Disco dominated the pop charts, punk was challenging the conventions of established rock, and new wave was beginning to reshape popular music. Foreigner succeeded by taking a different approach: concentrating on strong songs, polished production, memorable hooks, and musicianship without abandoning the power of rock.
Gramm’s voice was central to that formula. His combination of range, power, and emotional intensity gave Foreigner a vocal identity capable of filling an arena without losing its impact on the radio. The contrast between his delivery and Jones’s melodic songwriting became one of the band’s defining strengths.
The success of Double Vision set the stage for an even more successful period. Foreigner would follow it with Head Games in 1979, 4 in 1981, and Agent Provocateur in 1984. Those records would produce some of the band’s biggest songs and transform Foreigner into one of the most commercially successful rock groups of its generation.
But Double Vision was the album that proved Foreigner could sustain its momentum. It took the promise of the debut and expanded it into a sound designed for the radio, the record store, and the increasingly enormous stages of late-1970s rock.
More than four decades later, Double Vision remains a cornerstone of the Foreigner catalog and a defining document of the era when album-oriented rock was becoming arena rock. Its songs still sound at home on classic rock radio because the formula that made Foreigner successful in 1978 remains remarkably durable: great riffs, great hooks, and a voice built to be heard from the back row.
Celebrating Michael Anthony
Today we celebrate the birthday of Michael Anthony, born June 20, 1954, and one of the most important supporting players in the history of Van Halen.
When discussions turn to Van Halen, the spotlight naturally falls on guitarist Eddie Van Halen and vocalist David Lee Roth. Eddie transformed the possibilities of rock guitar, while Roth brought an unmistakable combination of charisma, humor, and theatrical energy to the stage. But underneath that spectacle was a rhythm section that gave the band its power, and Anthony was an essential part of it.
As Van Halen’s bassist and backing vocalist during the band’s classic years, Anthony provided far more than a traditional bass foundation. His playing locked tightly with drummer Alex Van Halen, helping create the massive rhythmic punch that became one of the band’s trademarks.
His vocal contributions were even more distinctive. Anthony possessed an exceptional ability to create tight, high harmonies around Roth’s lead vocals. Those harmonies became such an important part of Van Halen’s recordings that removing them from the band’s classic material changes the character of the songs dramatically.
That contribution can be heard throughout the band’s early catalog. “Runnin’ with the Devil,” “Panama,” “Dance the Night Away,” “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love,” and “Jump” all benefit from the depth and texture of his backing vocals.
Van Halen’s music depended on contrast. Eddie’s guitar could be wildly inventive, Roth could command an audience with almost comic-book levels of stage presence, and Alex’s drumming supplied enormous force. Anthony provided an important counterbalance, combining rhythmic stability with a vocal presence that could make the band’s choruses sound larger than life.
When Van Halen emerged from the Southern California club scene in the mid-1970s, that combination quickly separated the group from its competition. Their 1978 self-titled debut arrived with the force of a band that had already developed its identity onstage, and Anthony was part of that identity from the beginning.
Throughout Van Halen’s classic era, Anthony rarely competed for attention. His role was to make the entire band sound better, whether he was reinforcing Eddie’s guitar work, locking into Alex’s drumming, or adding the soaring harmonies that became one of Van Halen’s signatures.
That understated role is precisely why his contribution can sometimes be overlooked. Rock history tends to celebrate the frontman and the guitar hero, but the biggest sounds are often created by musicians who understand how to support the entire arrangement. Anthony had that ability in abundance.
After his years with Van Halen, Anthony continued building a career that kept him firmly connected to the rock world. He became a longtime collaborator with former Van Halen vocalist Sammy Hagar, performing with Hagar in projects including Chickenfoot and The Circle.
Anthony’s legacy is ultimately larger than the role listed beside his name on a lineup sheet. He was the bassist who helped anchor one of the most explosive bands in rock history and the harmony vocalist whose voice helped give Van Halen recordings their unmistakable character.
On his birthday, Michael Anthony deserves recognition not simply as the bass player standing beside Eddie Van Halen, but as a musician whose playing, singing, and consistency helped make Van Halen sound like Van Halen.
OTHER KEY EVENTS FOR JUNE 20TH IN ROCK HISTORY
- 1975: The Rolling Stones released their hit album ‘Made in the Shade,’ a compilation album that captured the band’s essence and became a fan favorite.
- 1980: Queen performed one of their most famous concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City, part of their ‘The Game Tour,’ which featured hits like “Another One Bites the Dust” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love.”
- 1991: Nirvana signed with DGC Records and began recording their landmark album ‘Nevermind,’ which would soon revolutionize the music industry and bring grunge into the mainstream.
WEIRD STORIES AND FACTOIDS
The Dancing Plague of 1518: In July 1518, residents of Strasbourg (then part of the Holy Roman Empire) were struck by a sudden and uncontrollable urge to dance, with many dancing for days without rest. The cause of this bizarre phenomenon remains a mystery, with theories ranging from mass hysteria to ergot poisoning.
The Case of Kaspar Hauser: In 1828, a teenage boy appeared in Nuremberg, Germany, claiming to have been raised in total isolation. His mysterious origins and subsequent murder sparked widespread speculation and intrigue, with theories ranging from royal lineage to an elaborate hoax.
The Great Moon Hoax: In 1835, the New York Sun published a series of articles claiming that astronomer Sir John Herschel had discovered life on the moon, including bat-like humanoids and other fantastical creatures. The story was later revealed to be a hoax, but it captivated the public’s imagination at the time.
These stories and facts highlight the strange and often surprising aspects of history that continue to intrigue and entertain us. Whether it’s rock legends making history or the peculiar events that defy explanation, June 20 has proven to be a date rich with memorable moments.
Final note
June 20 in rock history celebrates reinvention, commercial success, and enduring musicianship. From Aerosmith launching their comeback with the Permanent Vacation tour, to Foreigner releasing the hit-filled Double Vision, to the birthday of Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, this day highlights artists who helped define the sound of classic rock.
These moments remind us that longevity in rock music requires talent, resilience, and the ability to evolve. Decades later, these artists continue influencing musicians and entertaining audiences around the world.
And that’s a look at today, June 20, in rock history.
