57 years ago today.....Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play....
Yep, 26 May 1967.
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” LP was released.
The landmark album spent 27 weeks at #1 in the United Kingdom and 15 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Top LPs chart in the US, and was #1 around the world in places like Australia, Canada, Norway, Sweden and Germany.
It’s been praised for its innovations in songwriting, production and graphic design, for bridging a cultural divide between popular music and high art, and for reflecting the interests of contemporary youth and the counterculture.
Its release was a defining moment in 1960s pop culture, heralding the Summer of Love, while the album's reception achieved full cultural legitimisation for pop music and recognition for the medium as a genuine art form.
The album was loosely conceptualised as a performance by the fictional Sgt. Pepper band, an idea that was conceived after recording the title track.
A key work of psychedelia, it incorporates a range of stylistic influences, including vaudeville, circus, music hall, avant-garde, and Western and Indian classical music.
The album is full of Beatles classics like “With a Little Help from My Friends”, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”, “Getting Better", “When I’m 64”, “A Day in the Life”, and of course the title track.
In 2020, Rolling Stone placed it at #24 in the magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", after topping the list in 2003 and 2012.
In 1993, Sgt. Pepper was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and ten years later it was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry, honouring the work as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
In 2006, Sgt. Pepper was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 best albums of all time.
Click on the link below to watch “A Day in the Life”:
On this day in 1979, the Kiss single “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #70 (May 26)
According to legend, Kiss were in conflict with their producers, who wanted the band to shift to a more commercial sound.
In response, the band argued that a money-making disco song could be written by anyone in a short time frame.
The story goes that the song's demo was completed in mere hours after the bet.
While the story is unproven, Paul Stanley, who co-wrote the song with Desmond Child and Vini Poncia, has stated that it was a conscious effort on his part to prove how easy it was to write and record a hit disco song.
Although Peter Criss appears in the video and on the album cover, he didn’t actually play on the track.
As with most of the “Dynasty” album, session drummer Anton Fig took his place, as Criss was deemed unfit to play.
Although some hard core Kiss fans considered the song a sellout, it was a huge worldwide hit, going #1 in Canada, France, New Zealand, and the Netherlands; #2 in Australia, South Africa, Switzerland, and Germany; and #11 in the US.
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1984, the Bruce Springsteen single “Dancing in the Dark” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #36 (May 26)
It was the first single released from his 1984 album “Born in the U.S.A.”, and became his biggest hit, peaking at #2 in the US, and helping the album become the best-selling album of his career.
"Dancing in the Dark" was also successful worldwide, becoming Australia's highest-selling single of 1984 (despite only peaking at #5), peaking at #1 in Belgium and the Netherlands, and charting in the Top 10 in many other countries, including the UK, Canada, Ireland, South Africa and Sweden.
The song is listed among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
The recording also won Springsteen his first Grammy Award, picking up the prize for Best Rock Vocal Performance in 1985.
Directed by Brian DePalma, the video was filmed during Springsteen's live concert at the St. Paul Civic Center in Minnesota on the opening date of the Born in the U.S.A. Tour on June 29, 1984, after a pure video shoot the day before.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed the song twice during that show to allow De Palma to get all the footage he needed.
The video is famous as a breakthrough for a young professional actress brought in for the video from New York City, who had already played in “As the World Turns”, named Courtney Cox.
Cox is selected from the audience by Springsteen to come up on stage with him and dance during the song.
The video was Springsteen's first to get heavy airplay on MTV, and it introduced him to a new, mostly younger audience.
As for Cox, a few years later she landed a role on the sitcom Family Ties, and went on to star in the wildly popular TV series Friends.
At subsequent concerts throughout the years, the Boss continued to select an audience member to dance up on stage with him during the song, a la Courtney Cox in the video.
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1973, the Steely Dan single “Reeling In The Years” had peaked on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #11 (May 26)
The single from their 1972 debut album “Can't Buy a Thrill” was written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen.
The guitar solo on the original recorded version, by session player Elliott Randall, was recorded in one take.
According to Classic Rock magazine (January 1999), it was rated by Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page as his favorite solo of all time, scoring it 12/10.
Randall was only at the session on an invite from Skunk Baxter.
In 2016 the solo was ranked the 40th best guitar solo of all time by the readers of Guitar World magazine.
The cruisy track went to #11 in the US, #15 in Canada, and #62 in Australia.
Although it’s one of their most popular songs, according to Rolling Stone, September 17, 2009, Donald Fagan said, "It's dumb but effective." Walter Becker added, "It's no fun."
Click on the link below to watch it live:
Singer, songwriter and musician Neil Finn was born in Te Awamutu, Waikato region, North Island, New Zealand, on this day in 1958 (May 27)
Neil Finn left New Zealand to join older brother Tim in Split Enz, and became an official member of the band on 7 April 1977.
By 1980, he was sharing lead singing duties with Tim, and wrote their first international hit, "I Got You".
Neil contributed significantly to the band's later albums, and even briefly assumed leadership in the band's final days when Tim left Split Enz in 1984.
After the breakup of Split Enz in 1984, Finn formed a new band called The Mullanes (Mullane being both his middle name and his mother's maiden name) with Split Enz drummer Paul Hester, guitarist Craig Hooper (of The Reels), and bass player Nick Seymour (younger brother of Hunters & Collectors leader Mark Seymour) who Neil met on the final Split Enz tour.
Hooper left just before they recorded their first album, at which time the band was renamed Crowded House, inspired by the rental home they shared while recording in Los Angeles.
With Neil Finn at the helm, Crowded House went on to enjoy worldwide acclaim, with a string of hits including “Don't Dream It's Over" (1987: US #2; Canada and New Zealand #1), “Something So Strong” (1987: US #7, NZ #3), “Better Be Home Soon” (1988: Australian and NZ #2, Canada #8), and "Weather With You" (1992: UK #7, NZ #9).
After releasing four albums, “Crowded House”, “Temple of Low Men”, “Woodface”, and “Together Alone”, the group broke up in 1996 and, soon after, released their greatest hits album “Recurring Dream”.
After Crowded House split, Finn embarked on a solo career, releasing a number of albums, and in 2007, Crowded House reformed, with new drummer Matt Sherrod replacing the late Paul Hester.
On 15 April 2018, Fleetwood Mac announced that Finn had joined the band along with Heartbreakers' lead guitarist Mike Campbell, and I’m happy to say I had the opportunity to watch them a couple of years ago.
Finn was brilliant as usual…
Nice to see that Neil Finn’s sons Liam and Elroy now play with him in Crowded House too…
Click on the link below to watch Split Enz doing “I Got You”:
This week in 1979, the Suzi Quatro single “If You Can’t Give Me Love” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #81 (May 26)
This was another from the Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn hit factory, and was included on her album “If You Knew Suzi....”
The follow-up to the mega-hit “Stumblin’ In” duet with Chris Norman went to #2 in Ireland, #3 in South Africa, #4 in the UK, #5 in Germany, #10 in Australia, #14 in New Zealand, #45 in the US, and #55 in Canada.
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1977, the Sex Pistols released the single “God Save The Queen” (May 27)
A brilliant anti-establishment song with maximum shock value at the time, and excellent timing of its release.
The controversial track was released during Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee in 1977, and was banned from being played on the BBC.
In addition to the BBC, the single was also banned by the Independent Broadcasting Authority which regulated Independent Local Radio, and some major retailers (including Woolworth's and WH Smith) refused to stock it.
Despite this it still made it to #2 on the official UK charts, selling an amazing 150,000 copies the first week it was released.
Many believe that it should rightfully have been #1 on the UK charts, with accusations by some that the charts had been "fixed" by the BBC.
Before the Sex Pistols changed labels and signed with Virgin, 25,000 copies of "God Save the Queen" had been pressed on the A&M label.
However after A&M dropped the band (following a litany of transgressions) only a week after officially signing them, they destroyed virtually all copies.
Those few copies that survived are among the most valuable and highly collectible records of all time.
Rolling Stone ranked "God Save the Queen" #175 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and it is also one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
Click on the link below to watch:
This week in 1986, the Van Halen single “Dreams” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #55 (May 24)
During an interview with Hagar for Rolling Stone featuring questions from fans, Hagar said that "Dreams", along with "Right Now", were his favorite Van Halen songs, with "Dreams" being his most favorite if you pushed him.
The song has also been redone by Hagar by his solo band, becoming a slower, more contemplative song, performed acoustically instead of the original album's faster-paced rock arrangement.
Despite the face that it didn’t break into the Top 20 anywhere in the world, “Dreams” has become an enduring rock song of the era, due to its inspirational lyrics, soaring vocals, and signature Eddie Van Halen guitar work.
Producer and ex-Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones recalled: "I was able to push Sammy to new heights – literally.
He was singing so high that he was hyperventilating. He almost passed out."
The song from the hit album “5150” peaked on the charts at #22 in the US, #51 in Australia, #53 in Germany, #62 in the UK, and #85 in Canada.
Click on the link below to watch it live:
or click on the link below to watch the studio version clip:
or click on the BLUE ANGELS clip:
Exactly fifty-six years ago this month, Eric Burdon and The Animals released the single “Sky Pilot” in the US (May 1968)
A "Sky Pilot" is a military chaplain, hence the lyric "He blesses the boys as they stand in line” as he blesses a body of troops just before they set out on an overnight raid or patrol, and then retires to await their return.
The song has the chaplain telling the soldiers that they are fighting for a greater cause, as they are "soldiers of God."
During those last verses, the "Soldiers of God" had done well defeating the enemies, for the good of their country, however, they return with tears in their eyes, having second thoughts about their mission…
At the end of the song, one of the soldiers who returns realizes the words of the chaplain go against what he learned in the Bible: "Thou shalt not kill."
Because it was so long (7.27), it was spit over both sides of the 7” single, and not particularly radio-friendly for the day.
Despite that, the song from the LP “The Twain Shall Meet” peaked at #7 in Australia and Canada, #14 on the US Billboard chart, and #40 in the UK.
Click on the link below to watch:
Yep, 26 May 1967.
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” LP was released.
The landmark album spent 27 weeks at #1 in the United Kingdom and 15 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Top LPs chart in the US, and was #1 around the world in places like Australia, Canada, Norway, Sweden and Germany.
It’s been praised for its innovations in songwriting, production and graphic design, for bridging a cultural divide between popular music and high art, and for reflecting the interests of contemporary youth and the counterculture.
Its release was a defining moment in 1960s pop culture, heralding the Summer of Love, while the album's reception achieved full cultural legitimisation for pop music and recognition for the medium as a genuine art form.
The album was loosely conceptualised as a performance by the fictional Sgt. Pepper band, an idea that was conceived after recording the title track.
A key work of psychedelia, it incorporates a range of stylistic influences, including vaudeville, circus, music hall, avant-garde, and Western and Indian classical music.
The album is full of Beatles classics like “With a Little Help from My Friends”, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”, “Getting Better", “When I’m 64”, “A Day in the Life”, and of course the title track.
In 2020, Rolling Stone placed it at #24 in the magazine's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", after topping the list in 2003 and 2012.
In 1993, Sgt. Pepper was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and ten years later it was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry, honouring the work as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
In 2006, Sgt. Pepper was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 best albums of all time.
Click on the link below to watch “A Day in the Life”:
On this day in 1979, the Kiss single “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #70 (May 26)
According to legend, Kiss were in conflict with their producers, who wanted the band to shift to a more commercial sound.
In response, the band argued that a money-making disco song could be written by anyone in a short time frame.
The story goes that the song's demo was completed in mere hours after the bet.
While the story is unproven, Paul Stanley, who co-wrote the song with Desmond Child and Vini Poncia, has stated that it was a conscious effort on his part to prove how easy it was to write and record a hit disco song.
Although Peter Criss appears in the video and on the album cover, he didn’t actually play on the track.
As with most of the “Dynasty” album, session drummer Anton Fig took his place, as Criss was deemed unfit to play.
Although some hard core Kiss fans considered the song a sellout, it was a huge worldwide hit, going #1 in Canada, France, New Zealand, and the Netherlands; #2 in Australia, South Africa, Switzerland, and Germany; and #11 in the US.
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1984, the Bruce Springsteen single “Dancing in the Dark” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #36 (May 26)
It was the first single released from his 1984 album “Born in the U.S.A.”, and became his biggest hit, peaking at #2 in the US, and helping the album become the best-selling album of his career.
"Dancing in the Dark" was also successful worldwide, becoming Australia's highest-selling single of 1984 (despite only peaking at #5), peaking at #1 in Belgium and the Netherlands, and charting in the Top 10 in many other countries, including the UK, Canada, Ireland, South Africa and Sweden.
The song is listed among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
The recording also won Springsteen his first Grammy Award, picking up the prize for Best Rock Vocal Performance in 1985.
Directed by Brian DePalma, the video was filmed during Springsteen's live concert at the St. Paul Civic Center in Minnesota on the opening date of the Born in the U.S.A. Tour on June 29, 1984, after a pure video shoot the day before.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed the song twice during that show to allow De Palma to get all the footage he needed.
The video is famous as a breakthrough for a young professional actress brought in for the video from New York City, who had already played in “As the World Turns”, named Courtney Cox.
Cox is selected from the audience by Springsteen to come up on stage with him and dance during the song.
The video was Springsteen's first to get heavy airplay on MTV, and it introduced him to a new, mostly younger audience.
As for Cox, a few years later she landed a role on the sitcom Family Ties, and went on to star in the wildly popular TV series Friends.
At subsequent concerts throughout the years, the Boss continued to select an audience member to dance up on stage with him during the song, a la Courtney Cox in the video.
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1973, the Steely Dan single “Reeling In The Years” had peaked on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #11 (May 26)
The single from their 1972 debut album “Can't Buy a Thrill” was written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen.
The guitar solo on the original recorded version, by session player Elliott Randall, was recorded in one take.
According to Classic Rock magazine (January 1999), it was rated by Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page as his favorite solo of all time, scoring it 12/10.
Randall was only at the session on an invite from Skunk Baxter.
In 2016 the solo was ranked the 40th best guitar solo of all time by the readers of Guitar World magazine.
The cruisy track went to #11 in the US, #15 in Canada, and #62 in Australia.
Although it’s one of their most popular songs, according to Rolling Stone, September 17, 2009, Donald Fagan said, "It's dumb but effective." Walter Becker added, "It's no fun."
Click on the link below to watch it live:
Singer, songwriter and musician Neil Finn was born in Te Awamutu, Waikato region, North Island, New Zealand, on this day in 1958 (May 27)
Neil Finn left New Zealand to join older brother Tim in Split Enz, and became an official member of the band on 7 April 1977.
By 1980, he was sharing lead singing duties with Tim, and wrote their first international hit, "I Got You".
Neil contributed significantly to the band's later albums, and even briefly assumed leadership in the band's final days when Tim left Split Enz in 1984.
After the breakup of Split Enz in 1984, Finn formed a new band called The Mullanes (Mullane being both his middle name and his mother's maiden name) with Split Enz drummer Paul Hester, guitarist Craig Hooper (of The Reels), and bass player Nick Seymour (younger brother of Hunters & Collectors leader Mark Seymour) who Neil met on the final Split Enz tour.
Hooper left just before they recorded their first album, at which time the band was renamed Crowded House, inspired by the rental home they shared while recording in Los Angeles.
With Neil Finn at the helm, Crowded House went on to enjoy worldwide acclaim, with a string of hits including “Don't Dream It's Over" (1987: US #2; Canada and New Zealand #1), “Something So Strong” (1987: US #7, NZ #3), “Better Be Home Soon” (1988: Australian and NZ #2, Canada #8), and "Weather With You" (1992: UK #7, NZ #9).
After releasing four albums, “Crowded House”, “Temple of Low Men”, “Woodface”, and “Together Alone”, the group broke up in 1996 and, soon after, released their greatest hits album “Recurring Dream”.
After Crowded House split, Finn embarked on a solo career, releasing a number of albums, and in 2007, Crowded House reformed, with new drummer Matt Sherrod replacing the late Paul Hester.
On 15 April 2018, Fleetwood Mac announced that Finn had joined the band along with Heartbreakers' lead guitarist Mike Campbell, and I’m happy to say I had the opportunity to watch them a couple of years ago.
Finn was brilliant as usual…
Nice to see that Neil Finn’s sons Liam and Elroy now play with him in Crowded House too…
Click on the link below to watch Split Enz doing “I Got You”:
This week in 1979, the Suzi Quatro single “If You Can’t Give Me Love” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #81 (May 26)
This was another from the Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn hit factory, and was included on her album “If You Knew Suzi....”
The follow-up to the mega-hit “Stumblin’ In” duet with Chris Norman went to #2 in Ireland, #3 in South Africa, #4 in the UK, #5 in Germany, #10 in Australia, #14 in New Zealand, #45 in the US, and #55 in Canada.
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1977, the Sex Pistols released the single “God Save The Queen” (May 27)
A brilliant anti-establishment song with maximum shock value at the time, and excellent timing of its release.
The controversial track was released during Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee in 1977, and was banned from being played on the BBC.
In addition to the BBC, the single was also banned by the Independent Broadcasting Authority which regulated Independent Local Radio, and some major retailers (including Woolworth's and WH Smith) refused to stock it.
Despite this it still made it to #2 on the official UK charts, selling an amazing 150,000 copies the first week it was released.
Many believe that it should rightfully have been #1 on the UK charts, with accusations by some that the charts had been "fixed" by the BBC.
Before the Sex Pistols changed labels and signed with Virgin, 25,000 copies of "God Save the Queen" had been pressed on the A&M label.
However after A&M dropped the band (following a litany of transgressions) only a week after officially signing them, they destroyed virtually all copies.
Those few copies that survived are among the most valuable and highly collectible records of all time.
Rolling Stone ranked "God Save the Queen" #175 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and it is also one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
Click on the link below to watch:
This week in 1986, the Van Halen single “Dreams” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #55 (May 24)
During an interview with Hagar for Rolling Stone featuring questions from fans, Hagar said that "Dreams", along with "Right Now", were his favorite Van Halen songs, with "Dreams" being his most favorite if you pushed him.
The song has also been redone by Hagar by his solo band, becoming a slower, more contemplative song, performed acoustically instead of the original album's faster-paced rock arrangement.
Despite the face that it didn’t break into the Top 20 anywhere in the world, “Dreams” has become an enduring rock song of the era, due to its inspirational lyrics, soaring vocals, and signature Eddie Van Halen guitar work.
Producer and ex-Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones recalled: "I was able to push Sammy to new heights – literally.
He was singing so high that he was hyperventilating. He almost passed out."
The song from the hit album “5150” peaked on the charts at #22 in the US, #51 in Australia, #53 in Germany, #62 in the UK, and #85 in Canada.
Click on the link below to watch it live:
or click on the link below to watch the studio version clip:
or click on the BLUE ANGELS clip:
Exactly fifty-six years ago this month, Eric Burdon and The Animals released the single “Sky Pilot” in the US (May 1968)
A "Sky Pilot" is a military chaplain, hence the lyric "He blesses the boys as they stand in line” as he blesses a body of troops just before they set out on an overnight raid or patrol, and then retires to await their return.
The song has the chaplain telling the soldiers that they are fighting for a greater cause, as they are "soldiers of God."
During those last verses, the "Soldiers of God" had done well defeating the enemies, for the good of their country, however, they return with tears in their eyes, having second thoughts about their mission…
At the end of the song, one of the soldiers who returns realizes the words of the chaplain go against what he learned in the Bible: "Thou shalt not kill."
Because it was so long (7.27), it was spit over both sides of the 7” single, and not particularly radio-friendly for the day.
Despite that, the song from the LP “The Twain Shall Meet” peaked at #7 in Australia and Canada, #14 on the US Billboard chart, and #40 in the UK.
Click on the link below to watch:
Last edited:
