October 24 Rock And Roll History

It's a great day for rock and roll history facts, click here to find out more!

On this day in 1970, Pink Floyd's "Atom Heart Mother" was at the top of the U.K. album, making it the group's first #1 LP. It didn't perform quite so well in the U.S., peaking at #55, but the album went gold in 1994.

In 1973, John Lennon took more legal action against the U.S. government, stating that his phone had been tapped and that he was under constant surveillance.

In 1979 on this day, all nine of Led Zeppelin's albums were on the Billboard Top 200 as a result of the September release of In Through the Out Door, the band's first new album in three years. The albums' positions ranged from the #90 spot, with Led Zeppelin IV, and In Through at #1.

In 1980, Paul McCartney was a awarded a rhodium-plated medallion by the British government for being named the best-selling songwriter and recording artist in history by the Guinness Book of Records. Since 1962, McCartney had written or co-written 43 songs that sold millions of copies and sold over 100 million records.

In 1988, Fantasy Records' case against John Fogerty went to court. The label had stated that Fogerty plagiarized his own song, "Run Through the Jungle," when he wrote "The Old Man Down the Road" in 1985, which was released on the Warner label. Fogerty had signed the rights to the songs that were recorded on Fantasy when Creedence Clearwater Revival first signed with Fantasy. At the trial, he used an acoustic guitar to demonstrate the other songs that had used the same short series of notes that appeared in both recordings. Fogerty ended up winning the dispute.

In 1989, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced that it would be inducting (among others) the Who, Simon & Garfunkel, the Kinks, the Four Seasons, Holland/Dozier/Holland, and Carole King.

And in 2006, Def Leppard reissued Hysteria, their best-selling album, as a two-CD package to celebrate its 20th anniversary. The release included a remastered edition of the original album, as well as a bonus disc containing non-album tracks that were issued at around the same time.