Top Ten Most Memorable Moments Ever

In a press conference in 1966, John Lennon was asked what his views on modern Christianity were. He answered "I don't relaly know. Christianity will go, it will fade away.. we're more popular than Jesus now", a typically cynical Lennon comment. He was misquoted by nearly every major paper in America as saying that the Beatles were "greater than Jesus". Activists, who had long been waiting for an excuse to protet the Beatles, organized mass burnings of albums, photos and press releases. Between the burnings, the stress of touring and the overall craziness that they had created, the Beatles decided to stop touring, which marked a new era in music production. Their last performance was at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, in 1966.

July 22, 1967, in Detroit, seventy-four blacks were arrested for drinking after hours. As the police cruisers sped away, someone threw a full wine bottle at one of the cars, breaking the windshield. The officer jumped out, only to be pelted with rocks, and jumped back in. This marked the beginning of the Motor City riots, a two-day series of looting, burning and killing that left 42 dead, 2,250 injured and 5,557 arrested. 16,000 men of the American Armed Forces had to be brought in. These riots spread to other black communities in the surrounding Michigan cities, and eventually to other major American cities like Phoenix, Hartfor, Milwaukee and Chicago. All told, about 41% of cities over 100,000 had experienced racial violence. It was called the "Long Hot Summer". Artists rose up from the streets and created soul, the new black music that was intended to be the voice of the black people. It was the song of the streets, and it was started by the "Black Day in July".

The best is still to come next week as we finish with the top five. Until then, rock on!

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