DJ Fred’s Rock N’ Roll Factoids For October 12th [VIDEOS]

It was on this date in 1957 that Little Richard (he invented rock n' roll, at least according to himself, he did) denounced rock and roll, saying that it was the music of the devil!

The flamboyant one was on a tour of Australia at the time and to prove his point threw four diamond rings valued at $8000 into Sydney's Hunter River.  Little Richard had a change of heart after an engine on his tour plane had caught fire, and at that point began to sing gospel.  Five years later he would begin to play rock and roll again, proving that he truly was tutti friutti, or at least knew where the $ was.

Cheap Thrills, the album by Big Brother And The Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin hit #1 on this date in 1968.  The band originally wanted to call the album Sex, Dope and Cheap Thrills, but the record company acting like someone's conservative father who just ended a twenty year career in the military said "no."  Downer man.  The group also want a picture of themselves naked and lying together in bed on the cover, but THE MAN said no to this too. Bummer dude.  Anyway, the album featured a kick ass version of Summertime, and of course the classic Piece Of My Heart.

On this date in 1969 a Detroit DJ got a call from a listener that said if you listen to the end of the Beatles song Strawberry Fields Forever you'll hear John Lennon say "I buried Paul," which fueled the rumor that McCartney was dead even further.  No one questioned how a skinny assed musician could actually grab a shovel and dig six feet down by himself.

Rod Stewart and the Faces played their last live gig together on this date in 1975 at the Nassau Coliseum, Long Island. Of course that is not necessarily true now that the band got back together this year for the  a charity benefit concert aiding in the fight against prostate cancer in England. Forty years ago the band members didn't worry about prostate cancer, now they do, although after watching the video lung cancer doesn't seem to be a concern.

Tragic news on this date in 1978, when Sid Vicious, the leader of the Sex Pistols called the cops from the Chelsea Hotel in New York City to say that someone had just stabbed his girlfriend.  Vicious would eventually be charged with her murder, but would die from a heroin overdose before the case went to trial.

On this date in 1997 John Denver died when his handmade aircraft crashed off the coast of off the coast of Monterey Bay, California.  The plane piloted by the then 53 year old musician had run out of gas, and apparently John had too.

In 2005, while performing thirty feet above the stage on a spiraling drum kit in Casper, Wyoming, Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee was burned in a errant pyrotechnics explosion.  The wild man suffered burns to his arms and face.  This Sunday night in Bangor Lee will again mount the skins and spin from the sky, let's hope that all goes well.