Chapter 01 — Today in music
On a day like today August 28
1965
Electric Dylan at Forest Hills: the tour of boos marches on
On August 28, 1965, a month after the Newport scandal, Bob Dylan played the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in New York: the acoustic half was cheered, the electric half with The Hawks met with boos and projectiles. Dylan did not concede a single note. That stubbornness, repeated night after night for a year, ended up winning the war for rock's freedom.
Bob Dylan
1964
The Delmonico night: Dylan meets the Beatles and pop changes course
On August 28, 1964, journalist Al Aronowitz introduced Bob Dylan to the Beatles at New York's Hotel Delmonico, in the middle of the band's American tour. The evening left legendary anecdotes — Ringo smoking the entire first joint unaware he was meant to share it, and McCartney jotting down philosophical revelations that by morning read only there are seven levels. Beyond the smoke, the meeting was a decisive exchange: Dylan pushed the Beatles toward introspective lyrics, and they nudged him toward electricity. Folk and pop were never separate compartments again.
The Beatles
Bob Dylan
1976
'Hot on the Tracks' tops the chart while the Commodores were still funk
On August 28, 1976, the Commodores' 'Hot on the Tracks' topped the R&B albums chart. They were still a hard Alabama band signed to Motown, capable of playing 'Machine Gun' without a single word sung, and this record carried 'Just to Be Close to You'. Two years later a Lionel Richie ballad would take them to number one overall and change their direction for good.
Commodores
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1986
Florence Welch is born, British pop's ceremonial gale
On August 28, 1986, Florence Welch was born in London — the torrential voice of Florence + the Machine. With 'Dog Days Are Over' and 'Shake It Out' she returned a ritual dimension to stadium pop: harps, tribal drums and the physical surrender of a medium in trance. A confessed heir of Kate Bush and Stevie Nicks, she keeps the tradition of rock's priestesses alive.
Florence Welch
Florence + the Machine
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2010
'Love the Way You Lie' owns the summer with a song about domestic violence
On August 28, 2010, Eminem's 'Love the Way You Lie' with Rihanna had been at number one in the United States for weeks. It described an abusive relationship from the inside, and the discomfort was double: Rihanna had been assaulted by her partner the previous year, in a case that filled months of press. The song sold millions and opened a debate, still unresolved, about what pop can narrate without celebrating.
Eminem
Rihanna
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1928
Vilayat Khan is born: the sitarist who rivalled the Beatles' teacher
On August 28, 1928, Vilayat Khan was born in what is now Bangladesh. He was Ravi Shankar's great rival and developed gayaki ang, a technique that makes the sitar imitate the human voice. When the West discovered Indian music through George Harrison, nearly all the attention went to Shankar. Khan refused his country's official honours on principle and declined to chase the foreign market.
Vilayat Khan
Ravi Shankar
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1948
Danny Seraphine is born: the drummer who made Chicago's rock swing
On August 28, 1948, Daniel Peter Seraphine was born — founding drummer of Chicago, the band that fused rock, jazz and horns with symphonic ambition. Raised in the Italian streets of the city that named the group, he brought sophisticated swing to hits like 25 or 6 to 4 and Make Me Smile. His technique made him a benchmark of fusion drumming, admired by generations of session players. With Chicago he sold tens of millions of records before his controversial exit in 1990.
Danny Seraphine
Chicago
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1949
Hugh Cornwell is born: the sardonic voice of The Stranglers
On August 28, 1949, Hugh Cornwell was born in Tufnell Park, London — guitarist and vocalist of The Stranglers for their first sixteen years. A trained biochemist who abandoned a doctorate in Sweden for rock, he brought the literate irony that set the band apart within the punk wave. His deep voice signed classics like No More Heroes, Peaches and Golden Brown, a number two on the British charts. He left the group in 1990 for a long solo career, but his shadow still defines the Stranglers sound.
Hugh Cornwell
The Stranglers
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1982
'Eye of the Tiger' completes six weeks on top thanks to Sylvester Stallone
On August 28, 1982, Survivor's 'Eye of the Tiger' closed six consecutive weeks at number one in the United States. Stallone wanted Queen's 'Another One Bites the Dust' for 'Rocky III' and couldn't get the rights, so he commissioned a Chicago band to make something similar. Out came a song so effective it broke free of the film and now plays in every gym on the planet. Commissions produce classics too.
Survivor
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2004
An album debuts at number one with its author serving a ten-year sentence
On August 28, 2004, Shyne's 'Godfather Buried Alive' debuted at number one on the R&B, hip-hop and rap charts. He had recorded it before going to prison: he was serving ten years for a shooting at a New York club in 1999, the night Puff Daddy and Jennifer Lopez were acquitted and he was not. Belize, his birth country, deported him on release. He never recovered the career that album announced.
Shyne
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