On This Day...

by niloc

This is an unexpected post for me. Yesterday was just as any other day. Woke up, went to work, then I read the paper during break. There was a tiny little snippet in the corner that caught my attention:

On this day…
1980 - Led Zeppelin announces their decision to break up.

There were a few other things that also happened on this day, December 4th but this one hit home for me. I would have been 11 years old and I had not discovered Led Zeppelin yet. That would come years later in high school. The 80’s had a lot of great music but I was hungry for something more. I was attending school downtown but was hanging out with a friend around North Toronto a lot. He had a couple of Zeppelin albums and this was a big influence on me. Soon I was buying the albums he did not have to fill in the gaps and was hungry for any info or rare 45’s that I could find. I was a total Zep head.

Page, Plant and Jones decided to call the quits after they lost John Bonham. The band was rehearsing for an American tour but they knew they could not substitute Bonzo. Many other bands have replaced a lost member. The show must go on. But how do you replace a drummer who has been consistently voted the greatest of all time? Despite releasing a number one album on both sides of the Atlantic one year earlier, the band took the graceful way out.

Now it is twenty seven years later. The biggest buzz is Zeppelin’s one off show in England on December 10th. Fans at London’s 02 Arena are in for a hell of a concert as they play tribute to Atlantic Records co-founder Ahmet Ertegun. (I believe Ahmet signed the band) Jason Bonham will be behind the drum kit filling in his father’s shoes. An honour that has been well earned rather than simply inherited.

Led Zeppelin has always done things on their own terms. They achieved everything with very little radio play or praise from the critics. They rarely granted interviews. The Band concentrated on full albums rather than releasing singles. There is a rumor that they may put together a world tour in 2008 with The Cult but I would not count on it if their performance on the 10th is not perfect. They have reunited three times since 1980 with hopes of something more but the timing was never right.

Comments

[motherbumper]

I scrambled for my lighter so I could wave it in the air but baby-proofing has rendered that act difficult. BTW - where did the years go? Damn, was it that long ago?

Led Zeppelin will always, always be a true classic and their creative genius has provided inspiration to countless musicians (both good and bad).

[mamatulip]

There was a raffle held for the reunion concert...you could enter it for a chance to buy tickets. My husband entered, thinking it was a long shot that he'd get picked, and lo and behold, he did. We just couldn't afford the tickets and airfare to London.

[kittenpie]

plus, having seen the Cult a few years ago - well, the old grey mare, she ain't what she used to be.