Motley’s ‘Theatre,’ Guns N’ Roses and More

On this day in rock history, Motley Crue released their third studio album, Guns N’ Roses joined forces with the Terminator and Kiss found a way to kiss their own asses.

Here’s a rundown of rock history’s biggest June 21 anniversaries:

June 21, 1948: Birth of the 12″ Vinyl Album

On June 21, 1948 Columbia Records introduced the 12 inch vinyl album at a press conference in New York City. According to WhatHiFi, the company had spent much of the previous decade developing a storage format that could hold 20 minutes of music per side.

June 21, 1966: Jimmy Page Joins the Yardbirds

After turning down the band on two previous occasions, Jimmy Page played his first show as a member of the Yardbirds on June 21, 1966 at London’s Marquee Club. Oddly enough he initially played bass for the group before switching to guitar alongside Jeff Beck. Beck departed the group shortly thereafter, and after a couple more years the group morphed into Led Zeppelin.

June 21, 1982: Paul McCartney Releases “Take It Away”

The second single from 1982’s Tug of War, “Take It Away” was a Top 10 hit for the former Beatle and featured Ringo Starr on drums.

 

June 21, 1982: Crosby, Stills and Nash Release ‘Daylight Again’

Five years after their last studio album together, Crosby, Stills and Nash released Daylight Again, which began life as a Stills-Nash album and as such actually does not feature Crosby on several songs. The album spawned the hits “Wasted on the Way” and “Southern Cross.”

Read More: How Crosby, Stills and Nash Sorta Reunited for ‘Daylight Again’

 

June 21, 1986: Motley Crue Change Up Their Style for ‘Theatre of Pain’

Motley Crue made some big changes for their third studio album, trading the heavy metal riffing of Shout at the Devil for pop-friendly glam rock on Theatre of Pain. Although Vince Neil would later express extreme displeasure with the amount of filler on the album, it gave them two big massive hits with the ballad “Home Sweet Home” and a cover of Brownsville Station’s “Smokin’ in the Boys Room.”

June 21, 1991: Guns N’ Roses Team Up With the Terminator

Guns N’ Roses fans got their first taste of the band’s upcoming Use Your Illusion albums when “You Could Be Mine” was released to help promote Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator 2: Judgement Day. The action star appeared in character in the song’s video, with his cyborg T-800 humorously declaring the band members to be a “waste of ammo.”

 

June 21, 1994: Kiss Make Their Own Tribute Album

Rather than wait around for somebody else to assemble a star-studded tribute album for them, Kiss took on the job themselves, recruiting an eclectic group of musicians including Lenny Kravitz, Anthrax and Garth Brooks to cover their most famous songs for the amusingly titled Kiss My Ass.

More June 21 Rock History Anniversaries:

On this day in 1987, Judas Priest released their second live album, creatively titled Priest…Live!, which chronicled the previous year’s Fuel for Life tour. Two years later, the Who launched their overstuffed and widely criticized The Kids are Alright tour. In 1993 the Smashing Pumpkins introduced the world to their triumphant Siamese Dream album with the single “Cherub Rock” and in 1994 John Mellencamp released the stripped-down album Dance Naked. Last and possibly least, on June 21, 2011 Maroon 5 honored Mick Jagger with their hit single “Moves Like Jagger.”