On this day in 1978, the Meat Loaf (and Ellen Foley) single “Paradise by the Dashboard Light” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #82 (August 12)
This song is a dead-set classic; arguably the greatest rock duet of all time by Loaf and Ellen Foley.
Typically epic music score and clever lyrics by Jim Steinman, and there’s some big names on this one too, with Springsteen’s E-Street Band members Roy Bittan (keyboards and piano) and Max Weinberg (drums), and the song produced by the brilliant Todd Rundgren, who also played guitar and contributed backing vocals to the track.
The baseball play-by-play section was a stroke of genius, and written specifically for ex-New York Yankees shortstop (and announcer when he retired) Phil Rizzuto, who does a great job on the recording.
Meat Loaf convinced his label to give him $30,000 to produce films of live-on-soundstage performances of three of the songs from “Bat Out of Hell” including "Paradise by the Dashboard Light".
Ellen Foley declined to be on the “Bat Out Of Hell tour”, and subsequently Karla DeVito assumed live performance responsibilities, so the music video was created by syncing the video of DeVito's performance to the audio of Foley's vocals.
The 35mm prints of these film clips were then distributed to movie theaters to play before midnight screenings of cult classic musical The Rocky Horror Picture Show, (in which Meat Loaf appeared as Eddie) which generated some hype.
The song went to #1 in the Netherlands, #2 in Belgium, #11 in Canada, and #39 in the US.
And it’s still a popular party favourite around the world to this day…
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1978, the Bob Seger single “Hollywood Nights” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #78 (August 12)
Seger recalled, "The chorus just came into my head; I was driving around in the Hollywood Hills, and I started singing 'Hollywood nights/Hollywood hills/Above all the lights/Hollywood nights.'
It just came right into my head. So I turned right around and drove home, and I’m singing this in my head thinking: “Don’t forget it, don’t forget it! Don’t turn on the radio!."
I went back to my rented house, and there was a “Time” [magazine] with Cheryl Tiegs on the cover...I said 'Let's write a song about a guy from the Midwest who runs into someone like this and gets caught up in the whole bizarro thing’, and I sing it into my little cassette recorder.”
The classic song from his album “Stranger in Town” went to #12 in the US and Canada, #42 in the UK, and #52 in Australia.
Click on the link below to watch a live clip. It’s not the best quality video, but great live energy from Seger and the Silver Bullet Band:
Guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor Les Paul passed away on this day in 2009 (August 12)
He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype, called the Log, served as inspiration for what became the Gibson Les Paul.
Paul taught himself how to play guitar, and while he is mainly known for jazz and popular music, he had an early career in country music.
Paul is credited with many recording innovations. His early experiments with overdubbing (also known as sound on sound), delay effects such as tape delay, phasing, and multitrack recording were among the first to attract widespread attention.
His licks, trills, chording sequences, fretting techniques, and timing set him apart from his contemporaries and inspired many guitarists of the present day.
Paul is one of a handful of artists with a permanent exhibit in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and is the only inductee in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
On August 12, 2009, Les Paul died of complications from pneumonia at White Plains Hospital in White Plains, New York.
An icon.
On this day in 1967, The Box Tops single “The Letter” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #81 (August 12)
It was the group's first and biggest record chart hit, reaching #1 in the US and Canada, #4 in Australia, and #5 in Australia.
Over time it has become a rock classic.
Rolling Stone magazine included the Box Tops original at #372 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time"; the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame added it to the list of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll", and in 2011 the single was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
There have been a number of cover versions over the years, the most famous probably being Joe Cocker's 1970 rendition, which became his first Top 10 single in the US.
Click on the link below to watch the Box Tops original version:
On this day in 1978, the City Boy single “5.7.0.5.” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #81 (August 12)
The British group’s biggest hit from their “Book Early” LP peaked at #6 in Ireland and Norway, #8 in the UK, #11 in Australia and Sweden, #21 in New Zealand, and #27 in the US…
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1972, Daddy Cool played their final gig before splitting up for the first time (August 13)
The iconic Aussie band announced their break-up soon after their return from a US tour, and performed their last gig in front of a packed house at the Much More Ballroom in Melbourne on 13 August 1972.
The entire concert was recorded and released as the double-album “Daddy Cool Live! The Last Drive-In Movie Show”.
Daddy Cool briefly re-formed in 1974, but disbanded again in 1975.
There have been subsequent reformation performances over the 1990s and 2000s.
On 19 November 2014 the original band reformed for what became the final time with Daddy Cool inducted into the Music Victoria Awards Hall of Fame.
Click on the link below to watch “Come Back Again”:
This week in 1979, the B-52’s self-titled LP debuted on the US Billboard 200 Albums Chart at #141 (August 11)
One thing’s for sure, when the B-52’s released this record, it was like NOTHING else around at the time.
An out-there eclectic mix of stripped back kitsch surf/pop/punk with irresistible rhythms, an anti-popstar-looking lead singer who didn’t really actually sing, and the coolest backup singers on earth,….,,.who looked like they weren’t actually from earth.
“The B-52's” peaked at #59 on the US Billboard 200, but was an instant hit in Australia, topping out at #7.
In 2020, the album was ranked #198 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
John Lennon was known to be a fan of the album.
The debut single from their self-titled debut LP was “Rock Lobster”, written by Fred Schneider and Ricky Wilson.
It was a revelation; a song that was like nothing else that was around at the time.
The quirky track with the cowbell, the sea creature voices, and Ricky Wilson’s driving 60’s surf guitar riff, was recorded on a shoestring budget at Mountain Studios in Atlanta in February 1978, and released as a single on DB Records.
Danny Beard, who owned the label, recalls spending about $700 on the single in a session where one of the keys on Kate Pierson's Farfisa organ didn't work.
According to a "Behind the Vinyl" video with B-52's singer Fred Schneider for CHBM-FM, the song was mostly inspired by a nightclub in Atlanta named 2001, where, instead of having a light show, the club featured a slide show with pictures of puppies, babies, and lobsters on a grill.
Speaking about her brother Ricky’s iconic riff, Cindy Wilson recalled, “I came home one day, and Ricky was just working on his guitar, and he was just laughing to himself. He says, 'I just made up the stupidest riff there ever was.'"
It turned out to be gold, and kick-started the B-52’s career…
“Rock Lobster” was ranked #147 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Click on the link below to watch the clip from Countdown:
On this day in 1980, Devo released the single “Whip It” (August 13)
The fast-paced synth-driven song with the driving beat and the whip cracks, from the band of nerds wearing the red flower pots (“energy domes”) on their heads was impossible to ignore.
It was definitely unique, and a key song in the post punk new wave music landscape, elevating Devo from an underground art-rock outfit into the mainstream.
In the band's forty-plus year history, "Whip It" remains their only song to chart within the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #14.
It also reached #11 in Canada and New Zealand.
Click on the link below to watch:
This song is a dead-set classic; arguably the greatest rock duet of all time by Loaf and Ellen Foley.
Typically epic music score and clever lyrics by Jim Steinman, and there’s some big names on this one too, with Springsteen’s E-Street Band members Roy Bittan (keyboards and piano) and Max Weinberg (drums), and the song produced by the brilliant Todd Rundgren, who also played guitar and contributed backing vocals to the track.
The baseball play-by-play section was a stroke of genius, and written specifically for ex-New York Yankees shortstop (and announcer when he retired) Phil Rizzuto, who does a great job on the recording.
Meat Loaf convinced his label to give him $30,000 to produce films of live-on-soundstage performances of three of the songs from “Bat Out of Hell” including "Paradise by the Dashboard Light".
Ellen Foley declined to be on the “Bat Out Of Hell tour”, and subsequently Karla DeVito assumed live performance responsibilities, so the music video was created by syncing the video of DeVito's performance to the audio of Foley's vocals.
The 35mm prints of these film clips were then distributed to movie theaters to play before midnight screenings of cult classic musical The Rocky Horror Picture Show, (in which Meat Loaf appeared as Eddie) which generated some hype.
The song went to #1 in the Netherlands, #2 in Belgium, #11 in Canada, and #39 in the US.
And it’s still a popular party favourite around the world to this day…
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1978, the Bob Seger single “Hollywood Nights” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #78 (August 12)
Seger recalled, "The chorus just came into my head; I was driving around in the Hollywood Hills, and I started singing 'Hollywood nights/Hollywood hills/Above all the lights/Hollywood nights.'
It just came right into my head. So I turned right around and drove home, and I’m singing this in my head thinking: “Don’t forget it, don’t forget it! Don’t turn on the radio!."
I went back to my rented house, and there was a “Time” [magazine] with Cheryl Tiegs on the cover...I said 'Let's write a song about a guy from the Midwest who runs into someone like this and gets caught up in the whole bizarro thing’, and I sing it into my little cassette recorder.”
The classic song from his album “Stranger in Town” went to #12 in the US and Canada, #42 in the UK, and #52 in Australia.
Click on the link below to watch a live clip. It’s not the best quality video, but great live energy from Seger and the Silver Bullet Band:
Guitarist, songwriter, luthier, and inventor Les Paul passed away on this day in 2009 (August 12)
He was one of the pioneers of the solid-body electric guitar, and his prototype, called the Log, served as inspiration for what became the Gibson Les Paul.
Paul taught himself how to play guitar, and while he is mainly known for jazz and popular music, he had an early career in country music.
Paul is credited with many recording innovations. His early experiments with overdubbing (also known as sound on sound), delay effects such as tape delay, phasing, and multitrack recording were among the first to attract widespread attention.
His licks, trills, chording sequences, fretting techniques, and timing set him apart from his contemporaries and inspired many guitarists of the present day.
Paul is one of a handful of artists with a permanent exhibit in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and is the only inductee in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
On August 12, 2009, Les Paul died of complications from pneumonia at White Plains Hospital in White Plains, New York.
An icon.
On this day in 1967, The Box Tops single “The Letter” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #81 (August 12)
It was the group's first and biggest record chart hit, reaching #1 in the US and Canada, #4 in Australia, and #5 in Australia.
Over time it has become a rock classic.
Rolling Stone magazine included the Box Tops original at #372 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time"; the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame added it to the list of the "500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll", and in 2011 the single was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
There have been a number of cover versions over the years, the most famous probably being Joe Cocker's 1970 rendition, which became his first Top 10 single in the US.
Click on the link below to watch the Box Tops original version:
On this day in 1978, the City Boy single “5.7.0.5.” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #81 (August 12)
The British group’s biggest hit from their “Book Early” LP peaked at #6 in Ireland and Norway, #8 in the UK, #11 in Australia and Sweden, #21 in New Zealand, and #27 in the US…
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1972, Daddy Cool played their final gig before splitting up for the first time (August 13)
The iconic Aussie band announced their break-up soon after their return from a US tour, and performed their last gig in front of a packed house at the Much More Ballroom in Melbourne on 13 August 1972.
The entire concert was recorded and released as the double-album “Daddy Cool Live! The Last Drive-In Movie Show”.
Daddy Cool briefly re-formed in 1974, but disbanded again in 1975.
There have been subsequent reformation performances over the 1990s and 2000s.
On 19 November 2014 the original band reformed for what became the final time with Daddy Cool inducted into the Music Victoria Awards Hall of Fame.
Click on the link below to watch “Come Back Again”:
This week in 1979, the B-52’s self-titled LP debuted on the US Billboard 200 Albums Chart at #141 (August 11)
One thing’s for sure, when the B-52’s released this record, it was like NOTHING else around at the time.
An out-there eclectic mix of stripped back kitsch surf/pop/punk with irresistible rhythms, an anti-popstar-looking lead singer who didn’t really actually sing, and the coolest backup singers on earth,….,,.who looked like they weren’t actually from earth.
“The B-52's” peaked at #59 on the US Billboard 200, but was an instant hit in Australia, topping out at #7.
In 2020, the album was ranked #198 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
John Lennon was known to be a fan of the album.
The debut single from their self-titled debut LP was “Rock Lobster”, written by Fred Schneider and Ricky Wilson.
It was a revelation; a song that was like nothing else that was around at the time.
The quirky track with the cowbell, the sea creature voices, and Ricky Wilson’s driving 60’s surf guitar riff, was recorded on a shoestring budget at Mountain Studios in Atlanta in February 1978, and released as a single on DB Records.
Danny Beard, who owned the label, recalls spending about $700 on the single in a session where one of the keys on Kate Pierson's Farfisa organ didn't work.
According to a "Behind the Vinyl" video with B-52's singer Fred Schneider for CHBM-FM, the song was mostly inspired by a nightclub in Atlanta named 2001, where, instead of having a light show, the club featured a slide show with pictures of puppies, babies, and lobsters on a grill.
Speaking about her brother Ricky’s iconic riff, Cindy Wilson recalled, “I came home one day, and Ricky was just working on his guitar, and he was just laughing to himself. He says, 'I just made up the stupidest riff there ever was.'"
It turned out to be gold, and kick-started the B-52’s career…
“Rock Lobster” was ranked #147 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Click on the link below to watch the clip from Countdown:
On this day in 1980, Devo released the single “Whip It” (August 13)
The fast-paced synth-driven song with the driving beat and the whip cracks, from the band of nerds wearing the red flower pots (“energy domes”) on their heads was impossible to ignore.
It was definitely unique, and a key song in the post punk new wave music landscape, elevating Devo from an underground art-rock outfit into the mainstream.
In the band's forty-plus year history, "Whip It" remains their only song to chart within the Top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #14.
It also reached #11 in Canada and New Zealand.
Click on the link below to watch:
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