DEC 24-30: Historic events this week from Poison, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, The Beach Boys and Neil Young

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DECEMBER 24, 1988: “EVERY ROSE HAS ITS THORN” IS #1
Poison’s only #1 song reached the top spot on Christmas Eve.

It remained at #1 for three weeks before being unseated by Bobby Brown’s “My Prerogative.”

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DECEMBER 26, 1968: LED ZEPPELIN’S FIRST US TOUR
Thanks to a cancellation by the Jeff Beck Group, Led Zeppelin began their first North American tour in Denver, as the opening act for Vanilla Fudge.

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DECEMBER 26, 1981: AC/DC’S FIRST US #1 ALBUM
Believe it or not, AC/DC’s Back In Black, didn’t make it to #1 in the US. It peaked at #4.

For Those About to Rock (We Salute You) unseated Foreigner’s 4 for three weeks, before 4 regained the top spot.

For Those About to Rock would remain their only US #1 album until Black Ice in 2008 and Power Up in 2020.

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DECEMBER 28, 1983: DENNIS WILSON DIES
With a BAC of 0.26, the Beach Boy dove from his yacht into the marina and began retrieving his ex-wife’s items he’d thrown overboard 3 years prior.

After several dives, he experienced shallow water blackout, and never resurfaced.

He was 39.

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DECEMBER 29, 1982: NEIL YOUNG RELEASES TRANS
The vocoder vocal effect had fans scratching their heads with the release of Trans.

“My son’s severely handicapped & was trying to find a way to communicate. That’s what Trans is all about. On that record, you know I’m saying something but you can’t understand what it is. That’s the exact feeling I was getting from my son.” – Neil Young