On this day in 1979, the Eagles LP “The Long Run” went to #1 on the US Billboard 200 Albums Chart (November 3)
The legendary band’s sixth studio album was the first Eagles album to feature Timothy B. Schmit, who had replaced founding member Randy Meisner, and the last full studio album to feature Don Felder before his termination from the band in 2001.
It also turned out to be their last studio album as Eagles disbanded in 1980 until 2007's “Long Road Out of Eden” after the band had reformed in 1994.
Some classics on this one, including the title track, “I Can’t Tell You Why”, and “Heartache Tonight" reached #1 on the singles chart and won a Grammy Award.
According to Henley, the title track was in part a response to press articles that said they were "passé" as disco was then dominant and punk emerging, which inspired lines such as "Who is gonna make it/ We'll find out in the long run".
He said that the inspiration for the lyrics was also "irony", as they wrote about longevity and posterity while the group "was breaking apart, imploding under the pressure of trying to deliver a worthy follow-up to ‘Hotel California’”.
The album went all the way to #1 in the US, Australia, Canada, Japan and Sweden, #2 in France and New Zealand, #3 in the Netherlands, and #4 in the UK.
Click on the link below to hear the title track live:
Login to view embedded media
On this day in 1984, the Bryan Adams single “Run to You” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #59 (November 3)
A live concert favourite from the hit “Reckless” LP, “Run to You” peaked at #4 in Canada, #6 the US, #8 in Ireland, #11 in the UK, #14 in the Netherlands and New Zealand, #19 in Belgium, and #24 in Australia.
Adams and songwriting partner Jim Vallance originally wrote the song for Blue Öyster Cult, whose producer Bruce Fairbairn asked them to write something for the band, but BOC turned it down.
The song was then offered to Donnie Van Zant’s band .38 Special, who also rejected it.
Adams originally wrote the riff by jamming on his guitar, but never took it seriously because he had added a "really silly...background vocal part" to the demo which obscured the riff's potential.
After finishing the song, and deciding to record it after producer Bob Clearmountain asked Adams if he had another song they could use on “Reckless”, he brought his entire band into the studio, and he said hearing the whole band play it "was like hearing the song for the first time.
And that first take is what you hear on the album now."
It was the last song written for “Reckless”.
It was Bryan Adams’ first #1 song on the Billboard Top Rock Tracks chart, a position it held for four weeks, spending an additional five weeks at #2 (all behind Don Henley's "Boys of Summer")
Click on the link below to watch:
Login to view embedded media
This week in 1990, the Righteous Brothers single “Unchained Melody” went to #1 on the UK charts (November 3) 25 years after their version was recorded!
"Unchained Melody" is a 1955 song with music by Alex North and lyrics by Hy Zaret.
North wrote the music as a theme for the little-known prison film Unchained (January 1955), hence the song title.
It has since become a standard and one of the most recorded songs of the 20th century, most notably by the Righteous Brothers in July 1965.
The original 1965 Righteous Brothers version made Top 10 in the US, Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.
After appearing in the 1990 box office blockbuster film “Ghost”, the song shot to #1 in Australia, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Austria, and the UK (where it was the biggest selling single of 1990).
A re-recording was also released in the US in 1990 along with the original recording, by different record companies.
For eight weeks, both versions were on the US Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously and the Righteous Brothers became the first act to have two versions of the same song in the Top 20 at the same time!
Login to view embedded media
This week in 1975, the Bruce Springsteen single “Born to Run” debuted on the Australian charts at #91 (November 3)
"Born to Run" was Springsteen's first worldwide single release, although it achieved little initial success outside of the United States, and also his first Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #23.
Elsewhere it peaked at #38 in Australia, and #53 in Canada.
At the time of its release, Billboard described "Born to Run" as "one of the best rock anthems to individual freedom ever created," describing it as "a monster song with a piledriver arrangement" that could become Springsteen's biggest hit yet.
In late 1973, on the road in Tennessee, Springsteen awoke with the title "Born to Run", which he wrote down.
According to Springsteen, this was the first spark of the later song…
Interestingly, the first recording of the song was actually made by Allan Clarke of the British group the Hollies, although its release was delayed, only appearing after Springsteen's own now-famous version.
“Born to Run” ranked #21 on the Rolling Stone list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, the highest entry for a song by Springsteen, and is included in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
Click on the link below to watch:
Login to view embedded media
On this day in 1973, Queen’s debut self-titled LP debuted on the US Billboard 200 Albums Chart at #195 (November 3)
It was the start of something big, but who knew how big it was actually going to get?
At the time, Rolling Stone Magazine wrote, "There's no doubt that this funky, energetic English quartet has all the tools they'll need to lay claim to the Zep's abdicated heavy-metal throne, and beyond that to become a truly influential force in the rock world.
Their debut album is superb."
The album peaked at #24 in the UK, #52 in Japan, #77 in Australia, and #83 in the US.
Bass player John Deacon was credited as "Deacon John", but after the release of the album, he asked to be referred to by his real name.
Drummer Roger Taylor was credited as "Roger Meddows-Taylor", his full name, but that was discontinued after the next album.
This song from the LP was originally written and performed when Queen were still “Smile” pre-Freddie.
Click on the link below to watch “Doing Alright”:
Login to view embedded media
On this day in 1979, The Police LP “Regatta De Blanc” debuted on the US Billboard 200 Albums Chart at #63 (November 3)
One of my all-time favourite drummers Stewart Copeland has said this is his favourite Police LP, and it’s hard to argue.
Copeland recalled, "We just went into the studio and said, 'Right, who's got the first song?'
We hadn't even rehearsed them before we went in!”
In 2012, Reggatta de Blanc was ranked at #372 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
The title track also earned the band their first Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
The LP went to #1 in the UK, Australia, and the Netherlands, #3 in Canada, #4 in New Zealand, #7 in Italy, #16 in Germany and Japan, #21 in Sweden, and #25 in the US.
The Police were a unique trio in the post-punk era, and this album pumped their popularity with their first two UK #1 singles: "Message in a Bottle" and “Walking on the Moon”:
Click on the link below to watch “Message In A Bottle”:
Login to view embedded media
On this day in 1979, the M single “Pop Muzik” went to #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (November 3)
“Pop Muzik” was one of a number of what would be later considered real 80s-style songs, that started emerging in 1979…
M is the British musician Robin Scott, who wrote, produced and sang lead on the track.
He describes the genesis of "Pop Muzik":
“I was looking to make a fusion of various styles which somehow would summarise the last 25 years of pop music.
It was a deliberate point I was trying to make. Whereas rock and roll had created a generation gap, disco was bringing people together on an enormous scale.
That's why I really wanted to make a simple, bland statement, which was, 'All we're talking about basically (is) pop music.'”
It was a worldwide hit.
Not only in New York, London, Paris and Munich…
The song went to #1 in the US, Australia, Canada, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany and Denmark, #2 in the UK, Ireland and Austria, #3 in New Zealand, the Netherlands and Belgium, and #5 in Norway.
David Bowie contributed handclaps to the song.
Yes….you read that correctly!
Bowie was a good friend of Robin Scott and happened to living in Montreux at the time, where the album (“New York-London-Paris-Munich”) was recorded at Queen’s recording studio, Mountain Studios.
Click on the link below to watch:
Login to view embedded media
