Been under the weather for awhile thank the Good Lord Above for starting to feel better. Thank you all that has given the Ultimate sacrifice.
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Singer and actress Cher, was born Cherilyn Sarkisian in El Centro, California, on this day in 1946 (May 20)
Having sold over 100 million records to date, Cher is one of the world's best-selling music artists.
Her achievements include a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, a “Best Actress” Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, a Cannes Film Festival Award, and the Billboard Icon Award.
Cher is the only artist to date to have a #1 single on a Billboard chart in six consecutive decades, from the 1960s to the 2010s.
She has held US Billboard Hot 100 #1 singles over the longest period of time in history: 33 years, seven months and three weeks between "I Got You Babe", which topped the chart for the first time on August 14, 1965, and "Believe", whose last week at #1 was April 3, 1999.
With "Believe", she became the oldest female artist to have a US #1 song in the rock era, at the age of 52.
“Believe” also became the biggest-selling single of all time by a female artist in the UK.
An outstanding talent spanning generations....
Click on the link below to watch “If I Could Turn Back Time”:
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On this day in 1978, the Kiss LP “Double Platinum” debuted on the US Billboard 200 Album Chart at #75 (May 20)
Many of the tracks on this greatest hits double album were remixed and differed from their original versions.
The album cover was striking, and was packaged with a printed "Platinum Award" thanking the Kiss Army for making the band a "Double Platinum Success".
It peaked at #15 in Canada, #17 in Australia, #19 in New Zealand and Japan, and #22 in the US.
Click on the link below to watch “Strutter ‘78”:
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This week in 1979, the John Stewart song “Gold” debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #78 (May 19)
It was the lead single and biggest hit among three Top 40 singles released from his LP “Bombs Away Dream Babies”, on which Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, both appeared.
Nicks sang backup vocals. Buckingham sang backup vocals, played guitar, and co-produced.
The song was Stewart's first US Top 40 hit, as well as his first chart single in a decade.
The track eventually peaked at #5 in the US and Australia, and #4 in Canada.
Click on the link below to watch:
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On this day in 1972, the Jethro Tull LP “Thick as a Brick” debuted on the US Billboard 200 Album Chart at #13 (May 20)
Another Jethro Tull masterpiece…
The album contains a continuous piece of music, split over two sides of an LP record, and is a parody of the concept album genre.
The original packaging, designed like a newspaper, claims the album to be a musical adaptation of an epic poem by fictional eight-year-old genius Gerald Bostock, though the lyrics were actually written by the band's frontman, Ian Anderson.
“Thick as a Brick” is an absolute classic of the prog rock genre.
Anderson has also said that "the album was a spoof to the albums of Yes and Emerson, Lake & Palmer, much like what the movie Airplane! had been to Airport" and later remarked that it was a "bit of a satire about the whole concept of grand rock-based concept albums".
The album went all the way to #1 in the US, Australia, Canada, and Denmark, #2 in Italy, #3 in Norway and the Netherlands, #4 in Germany and Finland, and #5 in the UK.
Click on the link below to watch Jethro Tull perform “Led Zeppelin’s ‘Whole Lotta Brick’”😉:
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On this day in 1978, “Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture” debuted on the US Billboard 200 Album Chart at #53 (May 20)
This one had people around the world singing along…
It has sold approximately 28 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time, also ranking amongst the biggest selling soundtrack albums of all time.
It went to #1 around the world, in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, France, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Japan, and many other countries…
The song "You're the One That I Want" was a US and UK #1 for stars John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.
The album also featured the title track "Grease", another US #1 written by Barry Gibb of Bee Gees fame, and sung by Frankie Valli of The Four Seasons.
Additional singles from the album were “Sandy”, “Summer Nights”, Greased Lightnin’”, and the ONJ ballad “Hopelessly Devoted to You”.
In the UK, the album remained at the top of the charts for 13 consecutive weeks.
Click on the link below to watch many of the songs from the album on the “Grease Megamix”:
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This week in 1979, the Abba single “Does Your Mother Know?” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #83 (May 19)
Written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, the demo for "Does Your Mother Know" featured Björn on guide vocal, and the band decided they liked him singing the track so much, they stuck with it.
The rocky number from their sixth album “Voulez-Vous” became a Top 10 hit in the UK, Australia, and the Netherlands, and Top 20 in the US and many other countries around the world...
Click on the link below to watch:
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Hawaiian singer, songwriter and musician Israel Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on this day in 1959 (May 20)
Israel is known and loved for the simple and touching vocal and ukulele mashup of “Over The Rainbow/What A Wonderful World” from the early 90s that has featured in so many tv and film soundtracks.
The song is also often chosen to be played at private, sentimental family celebrations around the world.
Suffering chronic heart and respiratory issues as a result of his weight, Israel passed away in 1997 aged just 38....
Click on the link to watch “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”:
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This week in 1981, the INXS single “The Loved One” peaked on the Australian charts at #18 (May 18)
The original version by Australian band The Loved Ones went to #2 on the charts back in 1966.
The song was always an INXS live show favourite, and was re-recorded by the band for their 1987 LP “Kick”.
In 2001 "The Loved One" (original version) was selected as #6 on the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA)'s list of Top 30 Australian songs of all time.
Great song, and this is a cool version from Countdown in 1981…
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Singer, songwriter, musician and producer Joe Camilleri was born Joseph Vincent Camilleri in Malta on this day in 1948 (May 21)
One of the most respected performers in Australian music, Camilleri was the third of ten children, whose family moved to Australia when he was two.
His mother called him Zep, which went on to become his band name when Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons formed in 1975.
His songs have become much-loved features of the Australian musical landscape over the years, with the sax dominated “Hit and Run” and “Shape I’m In”, and the quirky “Taxi Mary” all from the Jo Jo Zep years; and later with the Black Sorrows songs like “Harley and Rose”, “Hold On to Me”, and "Chained to the Wheel".
In addition to his work with Jo Jo Zep and the Black Sorrows, his side projects have included bands like The Revelators, Bakelight Radio, the Voodoo Sheiks, and Here Comes The Night.
Beginning in the late 1970s, Camilleri also produced recordings for other artists including The Sports, Paul Kelly & the Dots, Renée Geyer and Ross Wilson, and can also be heard as a session musician and/or vocalist on recordings by numerous Australian recording acts, including Skyhooks, Tim Finn, Icehouse and Mondo Rock.
Camilleri was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame in 2007.
He continues to perform with The Black Sorrows, and they released their 19th studio album,”Saint Georges Road”, in September 2021.
Click on the link below to watch Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons Countdown performance of “Shape I’m In”:
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On this day in 1977, the Fleetwood Mac LP “Rumours” went to #1 on the US Billboard 200 Album Chart (May 21)
This wonderful, eclectic, emotional musical rollercoaster was famously born out of the band’s relationship turmoil, and is arguably one of the best albums of all time.
“Dreams”, “Don’t Stop”, “Never Going Back Again”, “Go Your Own Way”, “The Chain”, “Songbird”, “Gold Dust Woman”, “I Don’t Want To Know”, “You Make Loving Fun”.....just a classic piece of vinyl.
“Rumours” was an instant commercial success, selling over 10 million copies worldwide within just a month of its release, and becoming the band's first #1 album on the UK Albums Chart, also topping the US Billboard 200.
It was also #1 in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the Netherlands, and South Africa.
The record has received a Diamond Award from the Recording Industry Association of America for a 20× platinum certification or 20 million copies shipped, making it, as of 2021, tied for the eleventh highest certified album in US history.
In 2003, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
In 2018, it was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry, being deemed "culturally, historically, or artistically significant" by the Library of Congress.
In 2020, Rumours was rated the seventh-greatest album of all time in Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".
Mick Fleetwood has called “Rumours” “the most important album we ever made", because its success allowed the group to continue recording for years to come.
Click on the link below to watch Fleetwood Mac play “The Chain” live:
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