Hard to believe last regular season road game. Hope everyone has a great weekend.
On this day in 1970, Led Zeppelin released the LP “Led Zeppelin III” went to #1 on the US 200 Albums Chart (October 31)
After a grueling touring schedule, Robert Plant suggested to Jimmy Page that they get away from it all to find inspiration for writing songs for their next, much anticipated album.
He suggested Bron-Yr-Aur, an 18th-century cottage in Snowdonia, Wales, where he had been previously with his family, on a hilltop overlooking the Dyfi Valley, three miles (4.8 km) north of the market town Machynlleth.
Page recalled:
“Robert (Plant) and I went to Bron-Yr-Aur in 1970. We'd been working solidly right up to that point. Even recordings were done on the road.
We had this time off and Robert suggested the cottage. I certainly hadn't been to that area of Wales.
So we took our guitars down there and played a few bits and pieces.
This wonderful countryside, panoramic views and having the guitars ... it was just an automatic thing to be playing.
And we started writing…”
The creative forces in Zeppelin specifically wanted a change in direction, to show they could play any style of music they wanted, and the remote cottage in Wales with beautiful countryside and no running water or electric power, encouraged a slight change of musical direction for the band, and inspiration towards an emphasis on acoustic arrangements.
Page later explained that the tranquillity of Bron-Yr-Aur stood in sharp contrast to the continual touring of 1969, affecting the overall tone of the songwriting and dominance of acoustic guitars.
Led Zeppelin III's original vinyl was packaged in a gatefold sleeve with an innovative cover, designed by Zacron, a multi-media artist whom Page had met in 1963 whilst Zacron was a student at Kingston College of Art.
It became an iconic album cover of the day…
And the album was a worldwide hit, spending four weeks in the #1 spot in the US, also hitting #1 in the UK, Australia, Canada, Italy, Sweden, and Denmark, and going Top 5 in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Norway and Finland.
Click on the link below to watch “Immigrant Song”:
On this day in 1969, the Elvis Presley single “Suspicious Minds” went to #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (November 1)
The song was first written and recorded in 1968 by Mark James, who was also co-writer of "Always on My Mind" (which Presley would later record).
James said that late one night, he was fooling around on his Fender guitar and using his Hammond organ pedals for a bass line and came up with what he thought was a catchy melody…
It wasn’t a hit for James, but it was for Elvis, becoming his eighteenth and last #1 single in the United States.
The song also went to #1 in Australia, Canada, South Africa and Belgium, #2 in the UK and Ireland, and Top 10 in Germany, Norway and the Netherlands.
Fun fact: Future Grateful Dead vocalist and Muscle Shoals session singer Donna Jean Godchaux sang backing vocals on the track.
She also sang backup on Percy Sledge’s #1 hit "When a Man Loves a Woman".
In December 2003, Rolling Stone ranked it #91 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Click on the link below to watch it live in Honolulu:
On this day in 1975, the ABBA single “SOS” broke into the US Billboard Top 20 at #17 (November 1)
The song became ABBA's second Top 20 hit in the United States, eventually peaking at #15.
Reaching #6 and #4 respectively, "SOS" started a run of 18 consecutive Top 10 hits for ABBA in the UK and Ireland.
“SOS" also reached #1 in Australia, Belgium, France, West Germany (where it spent 7 weeks at the top), New Zealand and South Africa, and was a Top 3 hit in Austria, the Netherlands, Norway, Italy (where it became ABBA's most successful hit), Mexico, Rhodesia and Switzerland.
Many other prominent musicians were also fans of the song…
Sex Pistols bass player Glen Matlock has claimed to have been inspired to write the main riff of “Pretty Vacant” after hearing "SOS" on a jukebox.
Ray Davies of The Kinks said that he was taken with the song after seeing the group perform it on the BBC television show “Seaside Special”.
The Who’s Pete Townshend said “I remember hearing "S.O.S". on the radio in the States and realizing that it was Abba.
But it was too late, because I was already transported by it.
I just thought it was such a great sound, you know – great bass drum and the whole thing.”
"SOS" has also been recorded and performed in concert by several prominent artists, including the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ John Frusciante, Peter Cetera, Chris de Burgh, Cher, and Portishead.
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1969, The Beatles LP “Abbey Road” went to #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (November 1)
The cover photo of the band walking across the zebra crossing on Abbey Road outside the studio is possibly the most iconic cover photo in rock.
In 2009, readers of Rolling Stone named “Abbey Road” the greatest Beatles album, a sentiment that has been echoed by many respected critics and music media over the years.
Despite this, John Lennon said that he disliked “Abbey Road” as a whole and felt that it lacked authenticity, calling McCartney's contributions "[music] for the grannies to dig" and not "real songs", and describing the medley as "junk ... just bits of songs thrown together".
In the UK, the album debuted at #1 where it remained for 11 weeks before being displaced for one week by the Rolling Stones' “Let It Bleed”. The following week (which was Christmas), “Abbey Road” returned to the top for another six weeks (completing a total of 17 weeks) before being replaced by “Led Zeppelin II”.
Altogether, it spent 81 weeks on the UK albums chart.
In the US, the album spent 11 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Top LPs chart.
In Japan, it was one of the longest-charting albums to date, remaining in the top 100 for 298 weeks during the 1970s.
The iconic LP was also #1 in Australia, Canada, Spain, Italy, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
Interestingly, Alan Parsons worked as an assistant engineer on the album. He later went on to engineer Pink Floyd's landmark album “The Dark Side of the Moon” and produce many popular albums himself with the Alan Parsons Project.
In 2020, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the album at #5 on its list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", the highest Beatles record on the list…
On this day in 1980, the Pat Benatar single “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” broke into the US Billboard Top 40 at #25 (November 1)
The song was written by Eddie Schwartz, a struggling guitarist living in Toronto.
Pat Benatar allegedly heard the song through a wall at the Chrysalis offices being played by a Chrysalis record company executive who was previewing material from a publishing company called ATV he was about to go and work for.
Schwartz later went on to become a successful producer, moving to Nashville and working with the likes of Joe Cocker, Carly Simon, and The Doobie Brothers.
The second single from her second album “Crimes of Passion” eventually peaked at #9 in the States, giving Benatar her first US Top 20 hit.
It also went To #10 in Canada and #33 in Australia, but failed to chart elsewhere.
It has, of course, gone on to become a fan favourite, and a classic pop rock track from the early 80s era.
Click on the link below to watch:
Exactly forty-seven years ago this month, Hot Chocolate released the single “You Sexy Thing” (October 1975)
The 70s dance floor favourite from their self-titled LP made it to #2 in the UK and New Zealand, #3 in the US, #4 in Australia and Ireland, #5 in the Netherlands, #6 on the US Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart, #7 in Canada, and #10 in Norway.
Billboard ranked it the #22 song for 1976.
The song has been featured in a host of hit films, such as “The Full Monty”, “Reservoir Dogs”, “Boogie Nights”, “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo”, “Dude, Where's My Car”, “About Schmidt”, and “Grown Ups”…
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1970, Led Zeppelin released the LP “Led Zeppelin III” went to #1 on the US 200 Albums Chart (October 31)
After a grueling touring schedule, Robert Plant suggested to Jimmy Page that they get away from it all to find inspiration for writing songs for their next, much anticipated album.
He suggested Bron-Yr-Aur, an 18th-century cottage in Snowdonia, Wales, where he had been previously with his family, on a hilltop overlooking the Dyfi Valley, three miles (4.8 km) north of the market town Machynlleth.
Page recalled:
“Robert (Plant) and I went to Bron-Yr-Aur in 1970. We'd been working solidly right up to that point. Even recordings were done on the road.
We had this time off and Robert suggested the cottage. I certainly hadn't been to that area of Wales.
So we took our guitars down there and played a few bits and pieces.
This wonderful countryside, panoramic views and having the guitars ... it was just an automatic thing to be playing.
And we started writing…”
The creative forces in Zeppelin specifically wanted a change in direction, to show they could play any style of music they wanted, and the remote cottage in Wales with beautiful countryside and no running water or electric power, encouraged a slight change of musical direction for the band, and inspiration towards an emphasis on acoustic arrangements.
Page later explained that the tranquillity of Bron-Yr-Aur stood in sharp contrast to the continual touring of 1969, affecting the overall tone of the songwriting and dominance of acoustic guitars.
Led Zeppelin III's original vinyl was packaged in a gatefold sleeve with an innovative cover, designed by Zacron, a multi-media artist whom Page had met in 1963 whilst Zacron was a student at Kingston College of Art.
It became an iconic album cover of the day…
And the album was a worldwide hit, spending four weeks in the #1 spot in the US, also hitting #1 in the UK, Australia, Canada, Italy, Sweden, and Denmark, and going Top 5 in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Norway and Finland.
Click on the link below to watch “Immigrant Song”:
On this day in 1969, the Elvis Presley single “Suspicious Minds” went to #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (November 1)
The song was first written and recorded in 1968 by Mark James, who was also co-writer of "Always on My Mind" (which Presley would later record).
James said that late one night, he was fooling around on his Fender guitar and using his Hammond organ pedals for a bass line and came up with what he thought was a catchy melody…
It wasn’t a hit for James, but it was for Elvis, becoming his eighteenth and last #1 single in the United States.
The song also went to #1 in Australia, Canada, South Africa and Belgium, #2 in the UK and Ireland, and Top 10 in Germany, Norway and the Netherlands.
Fun fact: Future Grateful Dead vocalist and Muscle Shoals session singer Donna Jean Godchaux sang backing vocals on the track.
She also sang backup on Percy Sledge’s #1 hit "When a Man Loves a Woman".
In December 2003, Rolling Stone ranked it #91 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Click on the link below to watch it live in Honolulu:
On this day in 1975, the ABBA single “SOS” broke into the US Billboard Top 20 at #17 (November 1)
The song became ABBA's second Top 20 hit in the United States, eventually peaking at #15.
Reaching #6 and #4 respectively, "SOS" started a run of 18 consecutive Top 10 hits for ABBA in the UK and Ireland.
“SOS" also reached #1 in Australia, Belgium, France, West Germany (where it spent 7 weeks at the top), New Zealand and South Africa, and was a Top 3 hit in Austria, the Netherlands, Norway, Italy (where it became ABBA's most successful hit), Mexico, Rhodesia and Switzerland.
Many other prominent musicians were also fans of the song…
Sex Pistols bass player Glen Matlock has claimed to have been inspired to write the main riff of “Pretty Vacant” after hearing "SOS" on a jukebox.
Ray Davies of The Kinks said that he was taken with the song after seeing the group perform it on the BBC television show “Seaside Special”.
The Who’s Pete Townshend said “I remember hearing "S.O.S". on the radio in the States and realizing that it was Abba.
But it was too late, because I was already transported by it.
I just thought it was such a great sound, you know – great bass drum and the whole thing.”
"SOS" has also been recorded and performed in concert by several prominent artists, including the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ John Frusciante, Peter Cetera, Chris de Burgh, Cher, and Portishead.
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1969, The Beatles LP “Abbey Road” went to #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (November 1)
The cover photo of the band walking across the zebra crossing on Abbey Road outside the studio is possibly the most iconic cover photo in rock.
In 2009, readers of Rolling Stone named “Abbey Road” the greatest Beatles album, a sentiment that has been echoed by many respected critics and music media over the years.
Despite this, John Lennon said that he disliked “Abbey Road” as a whole and felt that it lacked authenticity, calling McCartney's contributions "[music] for the grannies to dig" and not "real songs", and describing the medley as "junk ... just bits of songs thrown together".
In the UK, the album debuted at #1 where it remained for 11 weeks before being displaced for one week by the Rolling Stones' “Let It Bleed”. The following week (which was Christmas), “Abbey Road” returned to the top for another six weeks (completing a total of 17 weeks) before being replaced by “Led Zeppelin II”.
Altogether, it spent 81 weeks on the UK albums chart.
In the US, the album spent 11 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Top LPs chart.
In Japan, it was one of the longest-charting albums to date, remaining in the top 100 for 298 weeks during the 1970s.
The iconic LP was also #1 in Australia, Canada, Spain, Italy, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
Interestingly, Alan Parsons worked as an assistant engineer on the album. He later went on to engineer Pink Floyd's landmark album “The Dark Side of the Moon” and produce many popular albums himself with the Alan Parsons Project.
In 2020, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the album at #5 on its list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", the highest Beatles record on the list…
On this day in 1980, the Pat Benatar single “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” broke into the US Billboard Top 40 at #25 (November 1)
The song was written by Eddie Schwartz, a struggling guitarist living in Toronto.
Pat Benatar allegedly heard the song through a wall at the Chrysalis offices being played by a Chrysalis record company executive who was previewing material from a publishing company called ATV he was about to go and work for.
Schwartz later went on to become a successful producer, moving to Nashville and working with the likes of Joe Cocker, Carly Simon, and The Doobie Brothers.
The second single from her second album “Crimes of Passion” eventually peaked at #9 in the States, giving Benatar her first US Top 20 hit.
It also went To #10 in Canada and #33 in Australia, but failed to chart elsewhere.
It has, of course, gone on to become a fan favourite, and a classic pop rock track from the early 80s era.
Click on the link below to watch:
Exactly forty-seven years ago this month, Hot Chocolate released the single “You Sexy Thing” (October 1975)
The 70s dance floor favourite from their self-titled LP made it to #2 in the UK and New Zealand, #3 in the US, #4 in Australia and Ireland, #5 in the Netherlands, #6 on the US Billboard Hot Soul Singles chart, #7 in Canada, and #10 in Norway.
Billboard ranked it the #22 song for 1976.
The song has been featured in a host of hit films, such as “The Full Monty”, “Reservoir Dogs”, “Boogie Nights”, “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo”, “Dude, Where's My Car”, “About Schmidt”, and “Grown Ups”…
Click on the link below to watch:
