Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Has to be listed as one of the greatest albums of all time.
On this day in 1971, Led Zeppelin released their fourth album (November 8)
A classic album in rock history, and argued by some to be Zeppelin’s best…
The album is actually untitled, but commonly known as “Led Zeppelin IV”, and contains the Led Zep classics “Stairway to Heaven”, “Black Dog”, “Rock and Roll”, and “Misty Mountain Hop”, among other brilliant tracks.
"Black Dog" was named after a dog that hung around the country house Headley Grange where the album was recorded, with the famous riff written by Page and Jones, and the a cappella section influenced by Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well".
"Rock and Roll" was a collaboration with the Stones keyboard player Ian Stewart who was assisting with the recording, that came out of a jam early in the recording sessions at Headley Grange, with an intro worked out by Bonzo.
"Misty Mountain Hop" was also written at the Headley Grange recording sessions, and featured Jones playing electric piano, and the title coming from J. R. R. Tolkien's “The Hobbit”.
The “Stairway to Heaven” riff of course, was controversially alleged to be lifted from the 1968 instrumental "Taurus" by the Los Angeles-based rock band Spirit, who toured with Led Zeppelin. After a court case and numerous appeals over the years though, the weight of the law fell in favour of Led Zeppelin.
The album was an absolute worldwide commercial and critical success, and is Led Zeppelin's best-selling, shipping over 37 million copies worldwide.
The 19th-century rustic oil painting on the famous front cover of the album was purchased from an antique shop in Reading, Berkshire by Robert Plant.
The inside illustration, entitled "The Hermit", painted by Barrington Coleby (credited to Barrington Colby MOM on the album sleeve), was influenced by the design of the card of the same name in the Rider–Waite tarot deck.
In 2020, the album was ranked #58 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".
Click on the link below to watch “Stairway to Heaven”:
Still have poster that came inside album. Naked women on bicycles.
Yesterday in 1978, Queen released the LP “Jazz” (November 10)
Again, it was Queen at their most flamboyant, diving in head-first to a variety of musical styles and genres, as fans of their LPs had come to expect.
The album was anchored by the hits “Bicycle Race”, “Fat-Bottomed Girls”, and “Don’t Stop Ne Now”.
In 2006, Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times included it in his list of "The Great Albums," describing it as "a genre-hopping tour of diverse musical styles" and concluded that "What ultimately keeps me coming back to the album, however, is that ambiguous sexual energy running through all 13 tracks; the fact that each of them boasts more hooks than some bands have on an entire album, and the inviting sonic density of it all."
Rolling Stone subsequently featured it on their list of “10 Classic Albums Rolling Stone Initially Panned”, indicating they now regarded the album as a "classic”, and poked fun at their original reviewer that bagged the album.
“Jazz” went to #2 in the UK, #3 in the Netherlands, #5 in Germany, #6 in the US, Norway and Sweden, #7 in France, #8 in Austria, #13 in Canada, and #15 in Australia.
Click the link below to see the clip of “Don’t Stop Me Now” from the album:
On this day in 1973, The Elton John LP “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” went to #1 on the US Billboard charts (November 10)
Elton’s 7th studio LP also reached #1 in Australia, Canada, and the UK, and made Top 10 in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, New Zealand, and Spain.
The double LP has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide and is widely regarded as John's magnum opus.
Among the 17 tracks, the album contains the hits "Candle in the Wind", US #1 single "Bennie and the Jets", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting".
In 2020, the album was ranked #112 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003 when it was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Iconic 70s album cover too…
Click the link for a classic clip of the title track:
On this day in 1978, the Kenny Rogers single “The Gambler” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #84 (November 4)
“On a warm summer's evening….
On a train bound for nowhere….”
Don Schlitz wrote this song in August 1976 when he was 23 years old.
It took two years of shopping the song around Nashville before Bobby Bare recorded it on his album “Bare”, but his version did not catch on and was never released as a single, so Schlitz recorded it himself, but that version failed to chart higher than #65.
Other musicians took notice and recorded the song in 1978, including Johnny Cash, who put it on his album “Gone Girl”.
It was Kenny Rogers, however, who made the song a mainstream success.
It was released in November 1978 as the title track from his album “The Gambler” which won him the Grammy award for best male country vocal performance in 1980.
In 2018, it was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant."
It’s one of Kenny Rogers signature songs, and has gone on to become a party, pub cover band and karaoke singalong favourite…
Click on the link below to watch Kenny do it live:
This week in 1980, the Devo song “Whip It” broke into the US Billboard Top 20 at #19 (November 1)
The fast-paced synth-driven song with the driving beat and the whip cracks, from the band of nerds wearing the red flower pots (“energy domes”) on their heads was impossible to ignore.
It was definitely unique, and a key song in the post punk new wave music landscape, elevating Devo from an underground art-rock outfit into the mainstream.
In the band's forty-plus year history, "Whip It" remains their only song to chart within the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, going on to peak at #14.
It also reached #11 in Canada and New Zealand.
Click on the link below to watch:
Musician, songwriter and producer Chris Difford was born in London, England, on this day in 1954 (November 4)
Squeeze co-founder, guitarist, vocalist, and primary lyricist, Difford linked with Glenn Tilbrook to create hits like “Cool for Cats” and “Up the Junction”.
After the break-up of Squeeze in 1983, Difford continued writing songs for artists such as Jools Holland and Elvis Costello.
He has also written lyrics for music by Elton John and Wet Wet Wet.
Click on the link below to watch “Cool for Cats”:
On this day in 1979, The Police released the single “Walking On The Moon” (November 4)
The second single from their second album (“Reggatta de Blanc”) was also their second #1 hit in the UK, and made Top 10 in Australia, France, and the Netherlands.
Sting has said that he wrote the song when he was drunk one night after a concert in Munich. The following morning, he remembered the song and wrote it down:
“I was drunk in a hotel room in Munich, slumped on the bed with the whirling pit when this riff came into my head.
I got up and started walking round the room, singing 'Walking round the room, ya, ya, walking round the room'.
That was all.
In the cool light of morning I remembered what had happened and I wrote the riff down.
But 'Walking Round the Room' was a stupid title so I thought of something even more stupid which was 'Walking on the Moon'.”
On this day in 1979, the Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons single “Shape I’m In” debuted on the Australian charts at #88 (November 5)
One of the great sax riffs in Australian rock.
It was Joe Camilleri’ and the band’s second single from the “Screaming Targets” LP after “Hit and Run”.
The song peaked at #22 in Australia, and almost cracked the Top 40 in New Zealand, peaking at #41.
Click on the link below to watch:
Yesterday in 1985, the Eurogliders LP “Absolutely!” debuted on the Australian charts (November 4)
Their third album was their second-highest charting LP, eventually peaking at #7, and remaining in the charts for a massive 47 weeks.
“We Will Together” was the lead single from the album, and the band’s second-highest charting single behind “Heaven (Must Be There)”, also peaking at #7 on the Australian charts for the Perth band.
It was one of three Top 10 singles from the album, including “Can’t Wait to See You” which got to #8.
Click on the link below to watch “We Will Together”:
On this day in 1984, Nik Kershaw released the single “The Riddle” (November 5)
Kershaw’s riddling song from the LP of the same name made it to #3 in the UK, #4 in Poland, #5 in Norway and Sweden, #6 in Australia and New Zealand, #8 in Germany and Belgium, #15 in Switzerland, #18 in France and #19 in the Netherlands.
The video clip of “The Riddle" depicts Kershaw walking through a house shaped like a question mark, making his way through certain obstacles and looking through drawers while singing.
The classic 80s video depicts many references to Lewis Carroll's book “Alice in Wonderland” with an appearance of a young girl exiting the room through a small door, two portly gentlemen who resemble Tweedledum and Tweedledee and an observation made by Kershaw to “Through the Looking Glass”.
At the beginning of the music video Kershaw is seen trying to get through a door with a screwdriver.
The video ends with the camera moving up away from Kershaw to reveal that the question mark is lying in an alleyway, at which point The Riddler from the Batman comics (also seen earlier in the video) comes and picks it up…
Click on the link below to watch:
Has to be listed as one of the greatest albums of all time.
On this day in 1971, Led Zeppelin released their fourth album (November 8)
A classic album in rock history, and argued by some to be Zeppelin’s best…
The album is actually untitled, but commonly known as “Led Zeppelin IV”, and contains the Led Zep classics “Stairway to Heaven”, “Black Dog”, “Rock and Roll”, and “Misty Mountain Hop”, among other brilliant tracks.
"Black Dog" was named after a dog that hung around the country house Headley Grange where the album was recorded, with the famous riff written by Page and Jones, and the a cappella section influenced by Fleetwood Mac's "Oh Well".
"Rock and Roll" was a collaboration with the Stones keyboard player Ian Stewart who was assisting with the recording, that came out of a jam early in the recording sessions at Headley Grange, with an intro worked out by Bonzo.
"Misty Mountain Hop" was also written at the Headley Grange recording sessions, and featured Jones playing electric piano, and the title coming from J. R. R. Tolkien's “The Hobbit”.
The “Stairway to Heaven” riff of course, was controversially alleged to be lifted from the 1968 instrumental "Taurus" by the Los Angeles-based rock band Spirit, who toured with Led Zeppelin. After a court case and numerous appeals over the years though, the weight of the law fell in favour of Led Zeppelin.
The album was an absolute worldwide commercial and critical success, and is Led Zeppelin's best-selling, shipping over 37 million copies worldwide.
The 19th-century rustic oil painting on the famous front cover of the album was purchased from an antique shop in Reading, Berkshire by Robert Plant.
The inside illustration, entitled "The Hermit", painted by Barrington Coleby (credited to Barrington Colby MOM on the album sleeve), was influenced by the design of the card of the same name in the Rider–Waite tarot deck.
In 2020, the album was ranked #58 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".
Click on the link below to watch “Stairway to Heaven”:
Still have poster that came inside album. Naked women on bicycles.
Yesterday in 1978, Queen released the LP “Jazz” (November 10)
Again, it was Queen at their most flamboyant, diving in head-first to a variety of musical styles and genres, as fans of their LPs had come to expect.
The album was anchored by the hits “Bicycle Race”, “Fat-Bottomed Girls”, and “Don’t Stop Ne Now”.
In 2006, Jim DeRogatis of the Chicago Sun-Times included it in his list of "The Great Albums," describing it as "a genre-hopping tour of diverse musical styles" and concluded that "What ultimately keeps me coming back to the album, however, is that ambiguous sexual energy running through all 13 tracks; the fact that each of them boasts more hooks than some bands have on an entire album, and the inviting sonic density of it all."
Rolling Stone subsequently featured it on their list of “10 Classic Albums Rolling Stone Initially Panned”, indicating they now regarded the album as a "classic”, and poked fun at their original reviewer that bagged the album.
“Jazz” went to #2 in the UK, #3 in the Netherlands, #5 in Germany, #6 in the US, Norway and Sweden, #7 in France, #8 in Austria, #13 in Canada, and #15 in Australia.
Click the link below to see the clip of “Don’t Stop Me Now” from the album:
On this day in 1973, The Elton John LP “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” went to #1 on the US Billboard charts (November 10)
Elton’s 7th studio LP also reached #1 in Australia, Canada, and the UK, and made Top 10 in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, New Zealand, and Spain.
The double LP has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide and is widely regarded as John's magnum opus.
Among the 17 tracks, the album contains the hits "Candle in the Wind", US #1 single "Bennie and the Jets", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting".
In 2020, the album was ranked #112 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003 when it was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
Iconic 70s album cover too…
Click the link for a classic clip of the title track:
On this day in 1978, the Kenny Rogers single “The Gambler” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #84 (November 4)
“On a warm summer's evening….
On a train bound for nowhere….”
Don Schlitz wrote this song in August 1976 when he was 23 years old.
It took two years of shopping the song around Nashville before Bobby Bare recorded it on his album “Bare”, but his version did not catch on and was never released as a single, so Schlitz recorded it himself, but that version failed to chart higher than #65.
Other musicians took notice and recorded the song in 1978, including Johnny Cash, who put it on his album “Gone Girl”.
It was Kenny Rogers, however, who made the song a mainstream success.
It was released in November 1978 as the title track from his album “The Gambler” which won him the Grammy award for best male country vocal performance in 1980.
In 2018, it was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or artistically significant."
It’s one of Kenny Rogers signature songs, and has gone on to become a party, pub cover band and karaoke singalong favourite…
Click on the link below to watch Kenny do it live:
This week in 1980, the Devo song “Whip It” broke into the US Billboard Top 20 at #19 (November 1)
The fast-paced synth-driven song with the driving beat and the whip cracks, from the band of nerds wearing the red flower pots (“energy domes”) on their heads was impossible to ignore.
It was definitely unique, and a key song in the post punk new wave music landscape, elevating Devo from an underground art-rock outfit into the mainstream.
In the band's forty-plus year history, "Whip It" remains their only song to chart within the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, going on to peak at #14.
It also reached #11 in Canada and New Zealand.
Click on the link below to watch:
Musician, songwriter and producer Chris Difford was born in London, England, on this day in 1954 (November 4)
Squeeze co-founder, guitarist, vocalist, and primary lyricist, Difford linked with Glenn Tilbrook to create hits like “Cool for Cats” and “Up the Junction”.
After the break-up of Squeeze in 1983, Difford continued writing songs for artists such as Jools Holland and Elvis Costello.
He has also written lyrics for music by Elton John and Wet Wet Wet.
Click on the link below to watch “Cool for Cats”:
On this day in 1979, The Police released the single “Walking On The Moon” (November 4)
The second single from their second album (“Reggatta de Blanc”) was also their second #1 hit in the UK, and made Top 10 in Australia, France, and the Netherlands.
Sting has said that he wrote the song when he was drunk one night after a concert in Munich. The following morning, he remembered the song and wrote it down:
“I was drunk in a hotel room in Munich, slumped on the bed with the whirling pit when this riff came into my head.
I got up and started walking round the room, singing 'Walking round the room, ya, ya, walking round the room'.
That was all.
In the cool light of morning I remembered what had happened and I wrote the riff down.
But 'Walking Round the Room' was a stupid title so I thought of something even more stupid which was 'Walking on the Moon'.”
On this day in 1979, the Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons single “Shape I’m In” debuted on the Australian charts at #88 (November 5)
One of the great sax riffs in Australian rock.
It was Joe Camilleri’ and the band’s second single from the “Screaming Targets” LP after “Hit and Run”.
The song peaked at #22 in Australia, and almost cracked the Top 40 in New Zealand, peaking at #41.
Click on the link below to watch:
Yesterday in 1985, the Eurogliders LP “Absolutely!” debuted on the Australian charts (November 4)
Their third album was their second-highest charting LP, eventually peaking at #7, and remaining in the charts for a massive 47 weeks.
“We Will Together” was the lead single from the album, and the band’s second-highest charting single behind “Heaven (Must Be There)”, also peaking at #7 on the Australian charts for the Perth band.
It was one of three Top 10 singles from the album, including “Can’t Wait to See You” which got to #8.
Click on the link below to watch “We Will Together”:
On this day in 1984, Nik Kershaw released the single “The Riddle” (November 5)
Kershaw’s riddling song from the LP of the same name made it to #3 in the UK, #4 in Poland, #5 in Norway and Sweden, #6 in Australia and New Zealand, #8 in Germany and Belgium, #15 in Switzerland, #18 in France and #19 in the Netherlands.
The video clip of “The Riddle" depicts Kershaw walking through a house shaped like a question mark, making his way through certain obstacles and looking through drawers while singing.
The classic 80s video depicts many references to Lewis Carroll's book “Alice in Wonderland” with an appearance of a young girl exiting the room through a small door, two portly gentlemen who resemble Tweedledum and Tweedledee and an observation made by Kershaw to “Through the Looking Glass”.
At the beginning of the music video Kershaw is seen trying to get through a door with a screwdriver.
The video ends with the camera moving up away from Kershaw to reveal that the question mark is lying in an alleyway, at which point The Riddler from the Batman comics (also seen earlier in the video) comes and picks it up…
Click on the link below to watch:
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