Category: Milestones

Milestones: Happy Mondays’ Shaun Ryder is 48 today; watch vintage ‘Step On’ performance

Shaun Ryder — leader of Factory Records troublemakers Happy Mondays — celebrates his 48th birthday today, and to mark the occasion, here’s a vintage live performance of the band’s biggest hit: ‘Step On,’ their cover of John Kongos’ 1971 single ‘He’s Gonna Step On You Again.’

Milestones: Tears For Fears’ Roland Orzabal is 49 today; watch ‘Head Over Heels’ live in ’83

Today we commemorate Tears For Fears co-founder Roland Orzabal’s 49th birthday with this choice 1983 clip of the band performing ‘Head Over Heels’ sandwiched between two halves of ‘Broken’ (the latter of which, at that point, had been released as ‘We Are Broken’ on the B-side of ‘Pale Shelter’).

Milestones: Daniel Ash is 53 today; watch Love and Rockets’ ‘Mirror People’ live in 1987

In honor of Daniel Ash — he of the ’80s trifecta of Bauhaus, Tones on Tail and Love and Rockets — who turns 53 today, we dug up one of the only vintage Love and Rockets live clips we could find on YouTube, this admittedly grainy, but certainly rare, footage of the band performing ‘Mirror People’ at London’s Town & Country Club in 1987.

Milestones: Kate Bush is 52 today; watch 'Running Up That Hill' with David Gilmour

Milestones: Kate Bush is 52 today; watch ‘Running Up That Hill’ with David Gilmour

Today we commemorate the 52nd birthday of the incomparable Kate Bush with what’s arguably her most indelible song: ‘Running Up That Hill,’ performed with David Gilmour at 1987’s ‘Secret Policeman’s Third Ball.’

Milestones: Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore is 52 today; here’s a dose of ‘Teen Age Riot’

Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore turns 52 today, and to commemorate, we offer this clips of the band tearing through its iconic 1988 single “Teen Age Riot” last year on the U.K. talk show ‘Later… With Jools Holland.’

Milestones: Depeche Mode’s Martin L. Gore is 49 today; watch him sing ‘Enjoy the Silence’

To commemorate Depeche Mode songwriter Martin L. Gore’s birthday — he turns 49 today — we present this rare solo performance of one of his best-loved songs, ‘Enjoy the Silence.’

Milestones: U2 at Live Aid 25 years ago today

Milestones: U2 at Live Aid 25 years ago today

Today marks the 25th anniversary of Live Aid, the Bob Geldof-organized African famine relief concert that remains one of the cultural signposts of the ’80s. For readers of this site, the event is perhaps best remembered as the tipping point in U2’s ascent from college-rock upstarts to global superstars.