Exactly forty years ago, on this day in 1983, the Huey Lewis & the News LP “Sports” debuted on the US Billboard 200 Albums Chart Top 30 at #113 (October 9)
This classic 80s LP spent a total of 160 weeks on the US charts, going all the way to #1 on June 29, 1984, and delivering four US Top 10 hits: "Heart and Soul”, I Want a New Drug", “The Heart of Rock & Roll", and “If This Is It".
Huey Lewis reflected on “Sports”:
“Back in the day you wanted your albums to have a theme, and Sports' theme was really a collection of singles ... It was really a record for its time.
In the 80s, the way radio was programmed, if you didn't have a hit record you weren't going to be able to make any more records.
That was it, period.
So our priority was to come up with hit singles. Every tune we aimed for radio 'cause we didn't know which one was going to be a hit.
We just knew we needed a frickin' hit, period. And fortunately we got 'em…”
“Sports” went on to become the second biggest selling album on Billboard's 1984 end-of-year sales chart, after Michael Jackson's “Thriller”.
It was also a Top 10 album in Canada and Norway, and made it to 19 in New Zealand, #22 in Australia, and #23 in the UK.
Click on the link below to watch “If This Is It”:
On this day in 1977, the Babys single “Isn’t It Time” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #82 (October 8)
The song from the “Broken Heart” LP went on to peak at #13 on the Hot 100, and went to #1 in Australia, #4 in the Netherlands, and #8 in Canada and Belgium.
“Isn’t It Time” is underpinned by some powerhouse backing vocals, courtesy of the three Babettes from Andraé Crouch & The Disciples, Lisa Freeman-Roberts, Myrna Matthews and Pat Henderson.
It was the UK band’s biggest hit, along with 1978’s “Every Time I Think of You”.
Click on the link below to watch the classic clip with John Waite up front for The Babys:
Exactly forty years ago, on this day in 1983, the Romantics single “Talking in Your Sleep” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #90 (October 8)
The song from their “In Heat” LP became the band's most successful single in the US, reaching #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1984, as well as hitting #2 on Billboard's Album Rock Tracks chart.
It also went all the way to #1 in Canada, #5 in Sweden, #14 in Australia, #15 in South Africa, #17 in Belgium, #18 in Germany, #20 in New Zealand and Switzerland, and #24 in the Netherlands.
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1977, The Carpenters single “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #71 (October 8)
The Carpenters' version of the 1976 Klaatu single eventually charted worldwide and appeared on several of their hits compilations.
The song title appears on the Carpenters' version above the tagline "(The Recognized Anthem Of World Contact Day)".
The success of their version led to the duo receiving many letters from people asking when World Contact Day would be held!
The song from the “Passage” LP went to #1 in Ireland, #9 in the UK and Canada, and #32 in the US.
Click on the link below to watch the clip:
On this day in 1982, the Icehouse LP “Primitive Man” debuted on the US Billboard 200 Albums Chart at #185 (October 9)
“Primitive Man” reached #1 in New Zealand, #3 in Australia, #5 in Germany, #31 in Sweden, #64 in the UK, and #129 in the US.
Some great songs on this one, like “Great Southern Land”, “Hey Little Girl” and “Street Cafe”.
After the sensational debut LP (when the band were still called “Flowers”), “Primitive Man” was a brilliant follow-up, still on the synth-pop-rock theme, but with a developing musical maturity in Davies’ songwriting.
Click on the link below to watch my favourite from the album, “Street Cafe”:
Singer, songwriter, and musician John Lennon was born in Liverpool, England, on this day in 1940 (October 9)
His songwriting partnership with Paul McCartney was one of the most prolific, influential, and successful in rock history.
Apart from his work with the legendary Beatles, Lennon also had major success as a solo artist with songs like “Instant Karma!” and peace anthem “Imagine”.
As a performer, writer or co-writer, Lennon had 25 #1 singles in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. “Double Fantasy”, his best-selling album, won the 1981 Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
Rolling Stone ranked him the fifth-greatest singer and thirty-eighth greatest artist of all time.
He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (in 1997) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (twice, as a member of the Beatles in 1988 and as a solo artist in 1994, both times in the first year of eligibility)…
Click on the link below to watch “Imagine”:
John Entwistle was born in London, England on this day in 1944 (October 9)
Without question one of the greatest rock bass players in music history, Entwistle was famous for his calmness on stage while mayhem went on all around him; Daltrey swinging his mic around wildly, Townshend leaping about windmill thrashing his guitar, and Moon going berserk behind the kit.
The Who's studio recordings seldom did justice to Entwistle's playing, in part because he was better heard in concert, where he and Pete Townshend frequently exchanged roles, with Entwistle providing rapid melodic lines and Townshend anchoring the song with rhythmic chord work.
At the same time, Townshend noted that Entwistle provided the true rhythmic timekeeping in the band, while Keith Moon, with his flourishes around the kit, was more like a keyboard player. In 1989, Entwistle pointed out that, by modern standards, "the Who haven't got a proper bass player."
Entwistle was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Who in 1990.
In 2000, Guitar magazine named him "Bassist of the Millennium" in a readers' poll.
He was voted as the greatest bassist of all time in a 2011 Rolling Stone magazine readers' poll.
Entwistle passed away in 2002, aged 57…
Click on the link below to marvel at his work on “My Generation”:
Jackson Browne was born Clyde Jackson Browne in Heidelberg, Germany, on this day in 1948 (October 9)
Browne moved to the US when he was 3, and after graduating high school joined the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
After leaving the band, Browne wrote songs for the likes of Nico from the Velvet Underground, Joan Baez, the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, the Byrds, and others, including “Take it Easy” that he wrote with Glenn Frey.
He also worked with Warren Zevon as a producer.
His 1977 LP “Running on Empty” contains some of his most popular songs, such as the title track, and fan favourite "The Load-Out/Stay"
In 1982, he released the single "Somebody's Baby" from the “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” soundtrack, which became his biggest hit, peaking at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 1985, he sang a duet with Clarence Clemons in a song called "You're a Friend of Mine".
In 2015, Rolling Stone ranked him as 37th in its list of the "100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time".
On March 14, 2004, Browne was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Bruce Springsteen.
On June 7, 2007, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Browne is still making music to this day, his latest, and fifteenth studio LP released this year on July 23, 2021..
Click on the link below to watch “Running on Empty”:
This classic 80s LP spent a total of 160 weeks on the US charts, going all the way to #1 on June 29, 1984, and delivering four US Top 10 hits: "Heart and Soul”, I Want a New Drug", “The Heart of Rock & Roll", and “If This Is It".
Huey Lewis reflected on “Sports”:
“Back in the day you wanted your albums to have a theme, and Sports' theme was really a collection of singles ... It was really a record for its time.
In the 80s, the way radio was programmed, if you didn't have a hit record you weren't going to be able to make any more records.
That was it, period.
So our priority was to come up with hit singles. Every tune we aimed for radio 'cause we didn't know which one was going to be a hit.
We just knew we needed a frickin' hit, period. And fortunately we got 'em…”
“Sports” went on to become the second biggest selling album on Billboard's 1984 end-of-year sales chart, after Michael Jackson's “Thriller”.
It was also a Top 10 album in Canada and Norway, and made it to 19 in New Zealand, #22 in Australia, and #23 in the UK.
Click on the link below to watch “If This Is It”:
On this day in 1977, the Babys single “Isn’t It Time” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #82 (October 8)
The song from the “Broken Heart” LP went on to peak at #13 on the Hot 100, and went to #1 in Australia, #4 in the Netherlands, and #8 in Canada and Belgium.
“Isn’t It Time” is underpinned by some powerhouse backing vocals, courtesy of the three Babettes from Andraé Crouch & The Disciples, Lisa Freeman-Roberts, Myrna Matthews and Pat Henderson.
It was the UK band’s biggest hit, along with 1978’s “Every Time I Think of You”.
Click on the link below to watch the classic clip with John Waite up front for The Babys:
Exactly forty years ago, on this day in 1983, the Romantics single “Talking in Your Sleep” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #90 (October 8)
The song from their “In Heat” LP became the band's most successful single in the US, reaching #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1984, as well as hitting #2 on Billboard's Album Rock Tracks chart.
It also went all the way to #1 in Canada, #5 in Sweden, #14 in Australia, #15 in South Africa, #17 in Belgium, #18 in Germany, #20 in New Zealand and Switzerland, and #24 in the Netherlands.
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1977, The Carpenters single “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #71 (October 8)
The Carpenters' version of the 1976 Klaatu single eventually charted worldwide and appeared on several of their hits compilations.
The song title appears on the Carpenters' version above the tagline "(The Recognized Anthem Of World Contact Day)".
The success of their version led to the duo receiving many letters from people asking when World Contact Day would be held!
The song from the “Passage” LP went to #1 in Ireland, #9 in the UK and Canada, and #32 in the US.
Click on the link below to watch the clip:
On this day in 1982, the Icehouse LP “Primitive Man” debuted on the US Billboard 200 Albums Chart at #185 (October 9)
“Primitive Man” reached #1 in New Zealand, #3 in Australia, #5 in Germany, #31 in Sweden, #64 in the UK, and #129 in the US.
Some great songs on this one, like “Great Southern Land”, “Hey Little Girl” and “Street Cafe”.
After the sensational debut LP (when the band were still called “Flowers”), “Primitive Man” was a brilliant follow-up, still on the synth-pop-rock theme, but with a developing musical maturity in Davies’ songwriting.
Click on the link below to watch my favourite from the album, “Street Cafe”:
Singer, songwriter, and musician John Lennon was born in Liverpool, England, on this day in 1940 (October 9)
His songwriting partnership with Paul McCartney was one of the most prolific, influential, and successful in rock history.
Apart from his work with the legendary Beatles, Lennon also had major success as a solo artist with songs like “Instant Karma!” and peace anthem “Imagine”.
As a performer, writer or co-writer, Lennon had 25 #1 singles in the Billboard Hot 100 chart. “Double Fantasy”, his best-selling album, won the 1981 Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
Rolling Stone ranked him the fifth-greatest singer and thirty-eighth greatest artist of all time.
He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame (in 1997) and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (twice, as a member of the Beatles in 1988 and as a solo artist in 1994, both times in the first year of eligibility)…
Click on the link below to watch “Imagine”:
John Entwistle was born in London, England on this day in 1944 (October 9)
Without question one of the greatest rock bass players in music history, Entwistle was famous for his calmness on stage while mayhem went on all around him; Daltrey swinging his mic around wildly, Townshend leaping about windmill thrashing his guitar, and Moon going berserk behind the kit.
The Who's studio recordings seldom did justice to Entwistle's playing, in part because he was better heard in concert, where he and Pete Townshend frequently exchanged roles, with Entwistle providing rapid melodic lines and Townshend anchoring the song with rhythmic chord work.
At the same time, Townshend noted that Entwistle provided the true rhythmic timekeeping in the band, while Keith Moon, with his flourishes around the kit, was more like a keyboard player. In 1989, Entwistle pointed out that, by modern standards, "the Who haven't got a proper bass player."
Entwistle was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Who in 1990.
In 2000, Guitar magazine named him "Bassist of the Millennium" in a readers' poll.
He was voted as the greatest bassist of all time in a 2011 Rolling Stone magazine readers' poll.
Entwistle passed away in 2002, aged 57…
Click on the link below to marvel at his work on “My Generation”:
Jackson Browne was born Clyde Jackson Browne in Heidelberg, Germany, on this day in 1948 (October 9)
Browne moved to the US when he was 3, and after graduating high school joined the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
After leaving the band, Browne wrote songs for the likes of Nico from the Velvet Underground, Joan Baez, the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt, the Byrds, and others, including “Take it Easy” that he wrote with Glenn Frey.
He also worked with Warren Zevon as a producer.
His 1977 LP “Running on Empty” contains some of his most popular songs, such as the title track, and fan favourite "The Load-Out/Stay"
In 1982, he released the single "Somebody's Baby" from the “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” soundtrack, which became his biggest hit, peaking at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In 1985, he sang a duet with Clarence Clemons in a song called "You're a Friend of Mine".
In 2015, Rolling Stone ranked him as 37th in its list of the "100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time".
On March 14, 2004, Browne was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Bruce Springsteen.
On June 7, 2007, he was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Browne is still making music to this day, his latest, and fifteenth studio LP released this year on July 23, 2021..
Click on the link below to watch “Running on Empty”:
