'80s Metal History (June 29th)

Happy Birthday to Dokken singer Don Dokken (June 29, 1953).

June 29, 1985: Canadian thrashers Exciter headlined the Variety Theatre in Cleveland with openers Ripper and Megadeth. One fan who attended said Dave Mustaine's amp caught fire and the crowd chanted "piss on it!" 😁

June 29, 1984: After making an in-store appearance at Pennylane Records, Slayer played the Norway Center in Seattle with Portland's Wild Dogs and local band Metal Church.

Late-June 1987: Great White released their third studio album "Once Bitten" in North America (October 19th in the UK) featuring US Top 10 rock hit "Rock Me", power ballad "Save Your Love" and fan favorites "Lady Red Light" and "All Over Now" that brought them a broader audience.

Great White "Once Bitten" release information source: [US] The Hard Report radio trade publication spotlight - June 26, 1987; Billboard Magazine ad - July 4, 1987; [UK] Kerrang! - September 17, 1987; Kerrang! review - October 31, 1987.

June 29, 1985: RATT's second studio album "Invasion Of Your Privacy" debuted at No. 29 on the US Billboard Top Pop Albums chart. A hot get that summer with singles "Lay It Down" and "You're In Love", it would rise to No. 7 a month later.

June 29, 1991: Powered by singles "Monkey Business" and "Wasted Time", Skid Row's second album "Slave To The Grind" debuted at No. 1 on the US Billboard Top Pop Albums chart, the first metal album to do so in the Nielsen SoundScan era.

June 29, 1980: Three months after auditioning and getting the offer to sing for AC/DC, Brian Johnson performed his first concert with the band in Belgium, part of six warm-up shows before the start of the "Back In Black" world tour.

June 29, 1973: Scorpions played their first gig with guitarist Uli Jon Roth at a festival in Vechta, Germany. He was originally intended as a temporary replacement for Michael Schenker, who had just left to join UFO, but not long after, Roth's band "Dawn Road", that included bassist Francis Bucholz, joined singer Klaus Meine and guitarist Rudolf Schenker in "the new" Scorpions.

June 29, 1991: 3/4 of the Big 4 of thrash metal laid waste to Philadelphia. The "Clash Of The Titans" tour featured Megadeth, Slayer and Anthrax. There may have been talk of a "Big 4" tour back then but Metallica was not on board.

June 29, 1982: Opening with "Murders In The Rue Morgue", "Wrathchild" and "Run To The Hills", Iron Maiden's "Beast On The Road" tour took a bite out of the Big Apple with a killer show at The Palladium.

Here it is... DIO album No. 2 is coming.