On this day in 1973, the Elton John single “Crocodile Rock” went to #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (January 3)
The single from his 1973 album “Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player” became Elton’s first US #1, staying in the top spot for three weeks.
It also went to #1 in Canada, New Zealand, Italy and Switzerland, #2 in Australia, #3 in Germany, Belgium and Norway, #5 in the UK and #6 in South Africa.
The song was inspired by John's discovery of leading Australian band Daddy Cool and their hit single "Eagle Rock", which was the most successful Australian single of the early 1970s (with 1,000,000 sold), remaining at #1 for a record of 10 weeks.
Elton heard the band do the song on his 1972 Australian tour, and was greatly impressed by it.
A photo included in the album packaging features John's lyricist, Bernie Taupin, wearing a "Daddy Who?" promotional badge.
Classic rock song!
Click on the link below to watch a brilliant clip of “Crocodile Rock” from back in the day:
On this day in 1959, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, together with pilot Roger Peterson (February 3)
This tragic day in rock history became known as "The Day the Music Died" after the line in Don McLean’s 1971 classic "American Pie".
At the time, Buddy Holly and his band, consisting of Waylon Jennings, Tommy Allsup, and Carl Bunch, were playing on the "Winter Dance Party" tour across the Midwest, which included rising artists Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and Dion and the Belmonts.
After stopping at Clear Lake to perform, and frustrated by the freezing weather conditions, Holly chose to charter a plane to reach their next venue in Moorhead, Minnesota.
Richardson, suffering from flu, swapped places with Waylon Jennings from Holly’s band, taking his seat on the plane.
Ritchie Valens asked Holly’s guitarist Tommy Allsup for his seat on the plane, and the two agreed to toss a coin to decide.
Bob Hale, a disc jockey with Mason City's KRIB-AM, was emceeing the concert that night and flipped the coin in the ballroom's side-stage room shortly before the musicians departed for the airport.
Valens won the coin toss for the seat on the flight.
Soon after takeoff, late at night and in poor, wintry weather conditions, the pilot lost control of the light aircraft, a Beechcraft Bonanza, which subsequently crashed into a cornfield, killing all four on board.
A tragic and momentous event in rock history…
Click on the link below to watch Buddy Holly song “Oh Boy”:
OR
The Big Bopper sing “Chantilly Lace”:
OR
Ritchie Valens sing “La Bamba”:
This week in 1975, the Frankie Valli single “My Eyes Adored You” debuted on the UK Singles Chart at #39 (February 1)
The song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan was originally recorded by The Four Seasons in early 1974, but the Motown label balked at the idea of releasing it, the recording was sold to lead singer Frankie Valli for $4000.
It proved to be a smart purchase for Valli, as the song went to #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in March 1975, becoming his first US solo #1.
It was ranked by Billboard as the #5 song for 1975.
“My Eyes Adored You” also went to #1 in New Zealand, #2 in Canada, #3 in Australia, #4 in Ireland, and #5 in the UK.
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1978, Gerry Rafferty released the single “Baker Street” (February 3)
Rafferty was in Stealer’s Wheel (of “Stuck in the Middle” fame), but issues after the break-up meant that for three years, Rafferty was unable to release any material.
After the disputes were resolved in 1978, he recorded his second solo album, “City to City”, which included the epic worldwide smash hit “Baker Street", with the iconic sax riff (played by Raphael Ravenscroft), and cracking guitar solo (played by Hugh Burns).
Songfacts reports that Ravenscroft was reportedly paid only £27 for his sax contribution. The check that he was given bounced, so the musician framed the useless payment and hung it on his solicitor's wall.
And yeah, Baker Street was actually a real place.
Rafferty explained to Martin Chilton at the Daily Telegraph:
“Everybody was suing each other, so I spent a lot of time on the overnight train from Glasgow to London for meetings with lawyers.
I knew a guy who lived in a little flat off Baker Street.
We'd sit and chat or play guitar there through the night."
Ultimately, “Baker Street” was one of the songs that defined the late 70s era, peaking at #1 in Australia, Canada, and South Africa, #2 in the US and Switzerland, #3 in the UK, Ireland and Germany, #4 in New Zealand and Austria, and #9 in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Rafferty commented on how profitable his biggest song had been, stating: "Baker Street still makes me about £80,000 a year. It's been a huge earner for me. I must admit, I could live off that song alone".
For “Baker Street”, Rafferty received the 1978 Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1984, the Eurythmics LP “Touch” went to #1 on the UK Albums Chart (February 4)
Preceded by the single "Who's That Girl?", “Touch” was recorded and mixed in about three weeks at Eurythmics' own London studio facility, The Church.
The third studio LP from Annie Lennox & Dave Stewart was the duo's first #1 album in the UK, also peaking at #1 in New Zealand, #3 in Canada, #4 in Australia, #7 in the US, #8 in Norway, and #9 in the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden.
In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked “Touch” at #492 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".
Click on the link below to watch “Here Comes The Rain Again”:
On this day in 1980, the Player [1] single “Space Invaders” debuted on the Australian charts at #76 (February 4)
The novelty song based on the wildly successful, game-changing 1978 video game Space Invaders, was written by Australian songwriters Russell Dunlop and Bruce Brown, recording under the band name Player One (commonly stylised as Player [1]).
According to Brown: "We actually went out with a machine before we did the record and recorded all the sound effects of it and had a little fiddle around with it".
The song peaked at #3 in Australia, ending up as the seventh best selling single for 1980, and spending 28 weeks on the charts.
It also went to #20 in New Zealand, and was released internationally.
The single and album were released in the US under the band name Playback, which Brown and Dunlop had used for other projects, to avoid confusion with the US band Player…
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1985, the Little River Band LP “Playing to Win” debuted on the Australian albums chart (February 4)
LRB’s eighth studio album was the second with the great John Farnham on lead vocals, and also the second with brilliant keyboard player David Hirschfelder.
It was also the legendary Aussie band’s first album without founding guitarist Beeb Birtles, and the first with ex-Cold Chisel drummer Steve Prestwich behind the kit.
On the charts, “Playing to Win” performed only modestly by LRB standards, peaking at #18 in New Zealand, #38 in Australia, and #75 in the US.
The title track and lead single from the album went to #59 on the Australian Singles Chart, #15 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and #60 on The Billboard Hot 100.
Click on the link below to watch the title track:
On this day in 1984, the Slade single “Run Runaway” debuted on the UK Singles Chart at #54 (February 4)
Despite forming in 1966 and having a plethora of hit records on the UK and elsewhere, “Run Runaway” was Slade’s breakthrough hit in the United States, where it reached #20 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
The big and bouncy track also got to #1 on the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks Chart, #4 in Sweden, #6 in Poland, #7 in the UK and Norway, #8 in Ireland, #13 in Canada, #17 in Australia, #19 in Germany, and #21 in New Zealand.
One of the very few rock tracks featuring bagpipes, and a jig in the middle of the song!
Click on the link below to watch the extended clip shot at Eastnor Castle in Ledbury, Herefordshire:
The single from his 1973 album “Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player” became Elton’s first US #1, staying in the top spot for three weeks.
It also went to #1 in Canada, New Zealand, Italy and Switzerland, #2 in Australia, #3 in Germany, Belgium and Norway, #5 in the UK and #6 in South Africa.
The song was inspired by John's discovery of leading Australian band Daddy Cool and their hit single "Eagle Rock", which was the most successful Australian single of the early 1970s (with 1,000,000 sold), remaining at #1 for a record of 10 weeks.
Elton heard the band do the song on his 1972 Australian tour, and was greatly impressed by it.
A photo included in the album packaging features John's lyricist, Bernie Taupin, wearing a "Daddy Who?" promotional badge.
Classic rock song!
Click on the link below to watch a brilliant clip of “Crocodile Rock” from back in the day:
On this day in 1959, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and "The Big Bopper" J. P. Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, together with pilot Roger Peterson (February 3)
This tragic day in rock history became known as "The Day the Music Died" after the line in Don McLean’s 1971 classic "American Pie".
At the time, Buddy Holly and his band, consisting of Waylon Jennings, Tommy Allsup, and Carl Bunch, were playing on the "Winter Dance Party" tour across the Midwest, which included rising artists Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, and Dion and the Belmonts.
After stopping at Clear Lake to perform, and frustrated by the freezing weather conditions, Holly chose to charter a plane to reach their next venue in Moorhead, Minnesota.
Richardson, suffering from flu, swapped places with Waylon Jennings from Holly’s band, taking his seat on the plane.
Ritchie Valens asked Holly’s guitarist Tommy Allsup for his seat on the plane, and the two agreed to toss a coin to decide.
Bob Hale, a disc jockey with Mason City's KRIB-AM, was emceeing the concert that night and flipped the coin in the ballroom's side-stage room shortly before the musicians departed for the airport.
Valens won the coin toss for the seat on the flight.
Soon after takeoff, late at night and in poor, wintry weather conditions, the pilot lost control of the light aircraft, a Beechcraft Bonanza, which subsequently crashed into a cornfield, killing all four on board.
A tragic and momentous event in rock history…
Click on the link below to watch Buddy Holly song “Oh Boy”:
OR
The Big Bopper sing “Chantilly Lace”:
OR
Ritchie Valens sing “La Bamba”:
This week in 1975, the Frankie Valli single “My Eyes Adored You” debuted on the UK Singles Chart at #39 (February 1)
The song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan was originally recorded by The Four Seasons in early 1974, but the Motown label balked at the idea of releasing it, the recording was sold to lead singer Frankie Valli for $4000.
It proved to be a smart purchase for Valli, as the song went to #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in March 1975, becoming his first US solo #1.
It was ranked by Billboard as the #5 song for 1975.
“My Eyes Adored You” also went to #1 in New Zealand, #2 in Canada, #3 in Australia, #4 in Ireland, and #5 in the UK.
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1978, Gerry Rafferty released the single “Baker Street” (February 3)
Rafferty was in Stealer’s Wheel (of “Stuck in the Middle” fame), but issues after the break-up meant that for three years, Rafferty was unable to release any material.
After the disputes were resolved in 1978, he recorded his second solo album, “City to City”, which included the epic worldwide smash hit “Baker Street", with the iconic sax riff (played by Raphael Ravenscroft), and cracking guitar solo (played by Hugh Burns).
Songfacts reports that Ravenscroft was reportedly paid only £27 for his sax contribution. The check that he was given bounced, so the musician framed the useless payment and hung it on his solicitor's wall.
And yeah, Baker Street was actually a real place.
Rafferty explained to Martin Chilton at the Daily Telegraph:
“Everybody was suing each other, so I spent a lot of time on the overnight train from Glasgow to London for meetings with lawyers.
I knew a guy who lived in a little flat off Baker Street.
We'd sit and chat or play guitar there through the night."
Ultimately, “Baker Street” was one of the songs that defined the late 70s era, peaking at #1 in Australia, Canada, and South Africa, #2 in the US and Switzerland, #3 in the UK, Ireland and Germany, #4 in New Zealand and Austria, and #9 in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Rafferty commented on how profitable his biggest song had been, stating: "Baker Street still makes me about £80,000 a year. It's been a huge earner for me. I must admit, I could live off that song alone".
For “Baker Street”, Rafferty received the 1978 Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically.
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1984, the Eurythmics LP “Touch” went to #1 on the UK Albums Chart (February 4)
Preceded by the single "Who's That Girl?", “Touch” was recorded and mixed in about three weeks at Eurythmics' own London studio facility, The Church.
The third studio LP from Annie Lennox & Dave Stewart was the duo's first #1 album in the UK, also peaking at #1 in New Zealand, #3 in Canada, #4 in Australia, #7 in the US, #8 in Norway, and #9 in the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden.
In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked “Touch” at #492 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".
Click on the link below to watch “Here Comes The Rain Again”:
On this day in 1980, the Player [1] single “Space Invaders” debuted on the Australian charts at #76 (February 4)
The novelty song based on the wildly successful, game-changing 1978 video game Space Invaders, was written by Australian songwriters Russell Dunlop and Bruce Brown, recording under the band name Player One (commonly stylised as Player [1]).
According to Brown: "We actually went out with a machine before we did the record and recorded all the sound effects of it and had a little fiddle around with it".
The song peaked at #3 in Australia, ending up as the seventh best selling single for 1980, and spending 28 weeks on the charts.
It also went to #20 in New Zealand, and was released internationally.
The single and album were released in the US under the band name Playback, which Brown and Dunlop had used for other projects, to avoid confusion with the US band Player…
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1985, the Little River Band LP “Playing to Win” debuted on the Australian albums chart (February 4)
LRB’s eighth studio album was the second with the great John Farnham on lead vocals, and also the second with brilliant keyboard player David Hirschfelder.
It was also the legendary Aussie band’s first album without founding guitarist Beeb Birtles, and the first with ex-Cold Chisel drummer Steve Prestwich behind the kit.
On the charts, “Playing to Win” performed only modestly by LRB standards, peaking at #18 in New Zealand, #38 in Australia, and #75 in the US.
The title track and lead single from the album went to #59 on the Australian Singles Chart, #15 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and #60 on The Billboard Hot 100.
Click on the link below to watch the title track:
On this day in 1984, the Slade single “Run Runaway” debuted on the UK Singles Chart at #54 (February 4)
Despite forming in 1966 and having a plethora of hit records on the UK and elsewhere, “Run Runaway” was Slade’s breakthrough hit in the United States, where it reached #20 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
The big and bouncy track also got to #1 on the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks Chart, #4 in Sweden, #6 in Poland, #7 in the UK and Norway, #8 in Ireland, #13 in Canada, #17 in Australia, #19 in Germany, and #21 in New Zealand.
One of the very few rock tracks featuring bagpipes, and a jig in the middle of the song!
Click on the link below to watch the extended clip shot at Eastnor Castle in Ledbury, Herefordshire:
