Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry, episode 004: The Great Led Zeppelin Heist

By Alan Cross Corus Radio

Posted December 5, 2023 9:17 am EST

2 min read

This article is more than 2 years old and some information may not be up to date.

WATCH: Alan Cross, Corus Entertainment’s own “professional music geek” celebrated the 1,000th episode of his renowned syndicated radio show and podcast, ‘The Ongoing History of New Music’. It turned 30 this year. Farah Nasser reports – Dec 16, 2023

In the spring of summer of 1973, Led Zeppelin was the biggest live act in the world. On May 4, they started a two-leg, 34-date tour of North America, their ninth time on the continent. And they began to break records.There were 53,000 at the first show in Atlanta. The second show—played at Tampa Stadium in Florida—58,600 fans showed up, breaking the attendance record for a gig by a single band set by The Beatles at Shea Stadium in 1965.The tour wound through the U.S. South, out to the West Coast, and then back through the north, popping up to Vancouver for one Canadian show. The final three shows were booked for Madison Square Garden in New York on July 27^th, 28^th, and 29^th. These nights were also reserved for the filming of a concert film that would become The Song Remains the Same.The first two shows—a Friday and Saturday—went off without a hitch. All they had left was one more concert on Sunday night and then they could go home.The band was exhausted. They were performing three hours a night. Drugs and alcohol and groupies and dealers were everywhere. They had their own private jet which allowed the parties to continue between gigs.Meanwhile, the money flowing in was unlike anything any other act had ever seen. Peter Grant, the band’s scary manager, had insisted that Zeppelin be paid in cash. Only he and road manager Richard Cole ever saw the money…So who stole nearly $200,000 from the band’s hotel the night of that final gig? It’s The Great Led Zeppelin heist, the largest-ever hotel cash robbery in the history of New York City. Have I got a story for you.Get Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry wherever you get your podcasts.And one more thing: As of this week, both Uncharted and The Ongoing History of New Music will be heard back-to-back overnights five days a week on these Corus news stations:Showtimes (all times local)

- Toronto: AM 640 (4-5am)
- London: 980 CFPL (4-5am)
- Hamilton: 900 CHML (4-5am)
- Vancouver: 980 CKNW (1-2am)
- Edmonton: 630 CHED (1-2am)
- Calgary: QR77 (770 AM and 107.1 FM) (1-2am)
- Winnipeg: 680 CJOB (1-2am)

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