Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary

On May 14, 1988, the Atlantic Records label held its 40th Anniversary Celebration by staging a non-stop concert lasting almost 13 hours[1] starting at noon and ending just shortly before 1am the following morning at Madison Square Garden, New York. The event was dubbed "It's Only Rock And Roll".

Only artists who had released material on the Atlantic label in the United States performed, spanning the company's forty-year existence. Lavern Baker and Ruth Brown were the longest tenured Atlantic acts to perform, while Debbie Gibson was the most recent.

Some Atlantic signings, who had either officially split up or not performed together for a number of years, re-formed especially to perform. These included The Rascals, Iron Butterfly, and the former members of Led Zeppelin. Other notable performers included Yes, Genesis, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer (representing Emerson, Lake & Palmer), Foreigner, Paul Rodgers, Bob Geldof, Booker T. Jones, Wilson Pickett, The Coasters, The Spinners, Peabo Bryson, The Blues Brothers (featuring Dan Aykroyd and Sam Moore), Roberta Flack, The Manhattan Transfer, Bee Gees, Ben E. King and Vanilla Fudge.[1]

Plans to close the performance with a greatest hits all-star jam were shelved.[2] Instead, the former members of Led Zeppelin were the last act. "No rehearsal and just shambling on," recalled guitarist Jimmy Page.[3]

The concert was broadcast live in the US on FM radio and HBO television; commentary for the latter being provided backstage by comedian Robert Townsend. HBO commenced its live broadcast a few hours into the event and interspersed footage of the concert that had been taped earlier by the network. In so doing, some of the artists' sets were edited or omitted. An edited version aired later that year on ABC hosted by Robert Hays. The audio was recorded by David Hewitt and Stanley Johnston on the Record Plant Black Truck.

Banners heralding the reunion of Led Zeppelin were displayed like tapestry by excited fans – but, to the fans' dismay, were taken down before HBO went with their live feed.

In the United Kingdom, the event was broadcast over four weeks by BBC Two, presented as hour-long episodes. Atlantic issued this production on video as Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary: It's Only Rock 'n' Roll. The release intercut concert footage with highlights of earlier performances, and older footage from the Atlantic archives.