On this day in 1971, Carole King released the LP “Tapestry” (February 10)
This ageless, iconic album was a massive commercial success, touching the emotions of countless music fans over the decades…
It spent 15 consecutive weeks at #1 on the US Billboard 200, and to date, Tapestry still holds the record for most consecutive weeks at #1 by a female solo artist.
The album also spent almost an astonishing 6 years on the US Billboard 200 (318 weeks), in which it spent 302 consecutive weeks.
Second only to Pink Floyd's 724 weeks with “The Dark Side of the Moon”.
For more than 40 years, Tapestry held the record for the longest charting album by a female solo artist in the US until Adele's 21 broke the record in 2017.
“Tapestry” was also very successful across the world.
In Canada, it spent 9 weeks at #1, and also topped the charts in Japan and Spain, peaking at #3 in Australia, and #8 in Norway.
The album also went to #4 in the UK, and spent 136 weeks in the Top 100.
It has sold an estimated 25 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.
in 2020, it was ranked #25 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Along with being selected Album of the Year, it also received Grammys for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Record of the Year ("It's Too Late"), and Song of the Year ("You've Got a Friend"), making King the first solo female artist to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year, and the first woman to win the Grammy Award for Song of the Year.
“Tapestry” was added to the National Recording Registry to be preserved in the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important."
The classic cover photograph was taken by A&M staff photographer Jim McCrary at King's Laurel Canyon home.
It shows her sitting in a window frame, holding a tapestry that she'd hand-stitched herself, with her cat Telemachus at her feet.
The lead singles from the album—"It's Too Late" and "I Feel the Earth Move"—spent five weeks at #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Easy Listening charts, and it also contains songs like “You've Got a Friend", “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?", and “You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman".
Click on the link below to watch a great live version of “It’s Too Late”:
On this day in 1978, Van Halen released their self-titled debut LP (February 10)
To this day, “Van Halen” remains one of the band’s two best-selling albums, along with “1984”.
"We didn't have a ton of material," recalled bass player Michael Anthony, "so we basically just took our live show and all the songs we knew and went for it.
The whole album only took a couple of weeks.”
The album contains fan favourites including "Runnin' with the Devil", "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love", "Jamie's Cryin'", their cover version of the Kinks "You Really Got Me", and the instrumental "Eruption".
The liner notes thank Kiss bass player Gene Simmons, who financed a three track demo tape to try and attract record company interest in the band.
“A lot of people stick me on their [thanks list], even though I don't deserve it," Simmons remarked. "One that I did deserve to be on was that first Van Halen record – the guys still owe me a couple thousand bucks!
But I love 'em."
It peaked at #17 in Australia, #18 in Canada, #19 in the US, #22 in New Zealand, and #34 in the UK.
In 2006, Guitar World readers ranked it #7 on a list of the Greatest Guitar Albums of All Time.
In 2013, Rolling Stone listed the album at #27 of the 100 Best Debut Albums of All Time.
In 2020, Rolling Stone, listed it among The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, at #292.
David Lee Roth said it’s his favourite Van Halen record…
Click on the link below to watch “You Really Got Me”:
On this day in 1979, the Rod Stewart LP “Blondes Have More Fun” went to #1 on the US Billboard 200 Albums Chart (February 10)
Old school fans of Rockin’ Rod weren’t happy with his ninth studio album’s commercial “disco” leanings, but it was a resounding success, and its lead single "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" was one of Stewart's biggest hits, peaking at #1 in both the UK and US.
Stewart said:
“It was frightening, stirring up so much love and hate at the same time: most of the public loved it; all of the critics hated it.
I can understand both positions."
The album went all the way to #1 in the US, Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden, #2 in Norway, #3 in the UK, #4 in the Netherlands, #9 in Germany, and #10 in Austria.
Click on the link below to watch “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy”:
On this day in 1979, the Linda Ronstadt single “Just One Look” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #80 (February 10)
Linda Ronstadt’s cover of the song co-written by American R&B singers Doris Troy and Gregory Carroll, was the third single from her album “Living in the USA”.
It did best in Australia, cracking the Top 40 and peaking at #38.
It also spent eight weeks on the US Billboard Hot 100, reaching #44, and #46 in Canada.
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1979, the Rod Stewart single “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” went to #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (February 10)
The song from the “Blondes Have More Fun” LP was written by Stewart, Carmine Appice and Duane Hitchings, though it incorporates the melody from the song "Taj Mahal" by Jorge Ben Jor and the string arrangement from the song "Put Something Down On It" by Bobby Womack.
The song was criticised by many as a betrayal of Stewart's blues-oriented rock roots, due to its disco-like arrangement, but Stewart and others were quick to point out that other widely respected artists, such as Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones, had also released disco-type songs.
In a 2007 interview, co-writer Duane Hitchings commented:
“We Rock and Roll guys thought we were dead meat when that movie [Saturday. Night Fever] and the Bee Gees came out.
The Bee Gees were brilliant musicians and really nice people. No big egos.
Rod, in his brilliance, decided to do a spoof on disco. VERY smart man.
There is no such thing as a ‘dumb’ super success in the music business.”
The song went all the way to #1 in the US, Australia, the UK, Canada, Portugal and Spain.
In 2004 Rolling Stone ranked “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy” #301 in its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Click on the link below to watch the clip:
On this day in 2014, Queen made UK chart history, by becoming the first act to sell six million copies of an individual album, with their 1981 “Greatest Hits” LP (February 11)
As of July 2022, “Greatest Hits” has spent over 1000 weeks on the UK Albums Chart, and has been certified 23× platinum with sales of over seven million copies, making it the best-selling album of all time in the UK.
“Greatest Hits” peaked at #8 on the Billboard 200 in November 2020, the second-slowest ascent to the Top 10 of the US album chart in history, taking over 39 years to crack the Top 10.
The record is held by another legendary act with a royal name: Nat King Cole, whose “The Christmas Song” took 55 years!
Among the longest charting albums in the US, as of November 2020, it has spent over 400 weeks on the Billboard 200, and has been certified 9× platinum in the US.
The album has also been certified 15× platinum in Australia, 10× platinum in New Zealand.
With total sales of over 25 million copies, it’s one of the best-selling albums of all time…
Do you have a copy?
Click on the link below to watch “Fat Bottomed Girls” from the album:
On this day in 1978, the Kate Bush single “Wuthering Heights” debuted on the UK Singles Chart at #42 (February 11)
I’m not sure what’s more impressive, the fact that she wrote this aged just 18, or that she recorded the vocal track in only one take....
“Wuthering Heights” was based on the famous Emily Brontë novel, and with it, Kate Bush became the first female artist to have an entirely self-penned #1 hit in the UK, with the song staying at the top for a month.
"Wuthering Heights" also spent three weeks at #1 in Australia, five weeks at #1 in New Zealand, and also topped the charts in Ireland and Portugal.
Her debut single from her debut album “The Kick Inside” also reached the Top 10 in Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland, as well as the Top 20 in Austria and West Germany.
Fun fact: Kate Bush and Emily Brontë were both born on 30 July, Bush in 1958 and Brontë in 1818, 140 years apart.
Hauntingly beautiful and unique song....
Click on the link below to watch one of the classic clips released to promote the song:
On this day in 1980, the KC and the Sunshine Band single “Please Don’t Go” went to #1 on the Australian charts (February 11)
The song written by Harry Wayne Casey and bass player/producer Rick Finch was also the band’s fifth and final #1 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100, and their sixth and final #1 hit in Canada, also peaking at #3 in the UK and New Zealand, #4 in Norway, #5 in Ireland, #7 in the Netherlands, #9 in Belgium, and #15 in Italy.
The ballad was the very first #1 hit of the 1980s on the US Billboard Hot 100.
In a Songfacts interview with Casey, he recalled:
"Near the end of 1978, I was kind of anti-disco believe it or not, and I was trying to change a little bit from 'That's The Way (I Like It)' and 'Shake Your Booty' and all that.
I was in the studio waiting for the next session to start, I'm sitting at the piano and I just start playing these chords, and I remember how beautiful they were.
I decided that was the song I was going to record that day, and that became 'Please Don't Go.'”
Finch parted ways with KC & The Sunshine Band soon after this was released, telling Songfacts:
“If you listen very closely when I'm producing the vocal on that, you'll hear the conviction in KC's voice, because that was the absolute last song that I did produce for KC & The Sunshine Band.
And then I left, and the managers recommended that KC get rid of the band and just make it a solo career.
So he goes and signs this deal with Epic, I came back for a few minutes to help patch up a song here or there, like 'Give It Up.'"
Click on the link below to watch “Please Don’t Go”:
On this day in 1984, the Thompson Twins single “Hold Me Now” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #73 (February 11)
The song went on to become a worldwide hit, and Thompson Twins member Alannah Currie reflected, “The biggest trouble that we've had basically is that the song, "Hold Me Now" was a huge hit, it was really big here, it was really big all over the world.
Which is great, but it was just an accidental thing. It was just a song that we wrote.
But after that then, we got everybody—managers, the record company—on our back to write "Hold Me Now, Part 2" and harassing you to try and find a formula.
But we can't really.
We'll never find a formula for what we did. And that upsets some of them.”
The track from the “Into the Gap” LP made it to #3 in the US, Australia and Canada, #4 in the UK and New Zealand, #7 in Germany, and #8 in South Africa.
Click on the link below to watch the clip:
Singer, songwriter and musician Sheryl Crow was born in Kennett, Missouri, on this day in 1962 (February 11)
Crow has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide, and has come up with classic hits such as "All I Wanna Do" (1994) and "If It Makes You Happy" (1996).
She has also won nine Grammy Awards (out of 32 nominations) from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
Crow also toured with Michael Jackson as a backing vocalist during his Bad tour 1987–1989, and has recorded background vocals for the likes of Stevie Wonder, Belinda Carlisle, Jimmy Buffett, and Don Henley.
Click on the link below to watch “All I Wanna Do”:
This ageless, iconic album was a massive commercial success, touching the emotions of countless music fans over the decades…
It spent 15 consecutive weeks at #1 on the US Billboard 200, and to date, Tapestry still holds the record for most consecutive weeks at #1 by a female solo artist.
The album also spent almost an astonishing 6 years on the US Billboard 200 (318 weeks), in which it spent 302 consecutive weeks.
Second only to Pink Floyd's 724 weeks with “The Dark Side of the Moon”.
For more than 40 years, Tapestry held the record for the longest charting album by a female solo artist in the US until Adele's 21 broke the record in 2017.
“Tapestry” was also very successful across the world.
In Canada, it spent 9 weeks at #1, and also topped the charts in Japan and Spain, peaking at #3 in Australia, and #8 in Norway.
The album also went to #4 in the UK, and spent 136 weeks in the Top 100.
It has sold an estimated 25 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.
in 2020, it was ranked #25 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Along with being selected Album of the Year, it also received Grammys for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, Record of the Year ("It's Too Late"), and Song of the Year ("You've Got a Friend"), making King the first solo female artist to win the Grammy Award for Record of the Year, and the first woman to win the Grammy Award for Song of the Year.
“Tapestry” was added to the National Recording Registry to be preserved in the Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important."
The classic cover photograph was taken by A&M staff photographer Jim McCrary at King's Laurel Canyon home.
It shows her sitting in a window frame, holding a tapestry that she'd hand-stitched herself, with her cat Telemachus at her feet.
The lead singles from the album—"It's Too Late" and "I Feel the Earth Move"—spent five weeks at #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Easy Listening charts, and it also contains songs like “You've Got a Friend", “Will You Love Me Tomorrow?", and “You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman".
Click on the link below to watch a great live version of “It’s Too Late”:
On this day in 1978, Van Halen released their self-titled debut LP (February 10)
To this day, “Van Halen” remains one of the band’s two best-selling albums, along with “1984”.
"We didn't have a ton of material," recalled bass player Michael Anthony, "so we basically just took our live show and all the songs we knew and went for it.
The whole album only took a couple of weeks.”
The album contains fan favourites including "Runnin' with the Devil", "Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love", "Jamie's Cryin'", their cover version of the Kinks "You Really Got Me", and the instrumental "Eruption".
The liner notes thank Kiss bass player Gene Simmons, who financed a three track demo tape to try and attract record company interest in the band.
“A lot of people stick me on their [thanks list], even though I don't deserve it," Simmons remarked. "One that I did deserve to be on was that first Van Halen record – the guys still owe me a couple thousand bucks!
But I love 'em."
It peaked at #17 in Australia, #18 in Canada, #19 in the US, #22 in New Zealand, and #34 in the UK.
In 2006, Guitar World readers ranked it #7 on a list of the Greatest Guitar Albums of All Time.
In 2013, Rolling Stone listed the album at #27 of the 100 Best Debut Albums of All Time.
In 2020, Rolling Stone, listed it among The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, at #292.
David Lee Roth said it’s his favourite Van Halen record…
Click on the link below to watch “You Really Got Me”:
On this day in 1979, the Rod Stewart LP “Blondes Have More Fun” went to #1 on the US Billboard 200 Albums Chart (February 10)
Old school fans of Rockin’ Rod weren’t happy with his ninth studio album’s commercial “disco” leanings, but it was a resounding success, and its lead single "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" was one of Stewart's biggest hits, peaking at #1 in both the UK and US.
Stewart said:
“It was frightening, stirring up so much love and hate at the same time: most of the public loved it; all of the critics hated it.
I can understand both positions."
The album went all the way to #1 in the US, Australia, New Zealand, and Sweden, #2 in Norway, #3 in the UK, #4 in the Netherlands, #9 in Germany, and #10 in Austria.
Click on the link below to watch “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy”:
On this day in 1979, the Linda Ronstadt single “Just One Look” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #80 (February 10)
Linda Ronstadt’s cover of the song co-written by American R&B singers Doris Troy and Gregory Carroll, was the third single from her album “Living in the USA”.
It did best in Australia, cracking the Top 40 and peaking at #38.
It also spent eight weeks on the US Billboard Hot 100, reaching #44, and #46 in Canada.
Click on the link below to watch:
On this day in 1979, the Rod Stewart single “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” went to #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 (February 10)
The song from the “Blondes Have More Fun” LP was written by Stewart, Carmine Appice and Duane Hitchings, though it incorporates the melody from the song "Taj Mahal" by Jorge Ben Jor and the string arrangement from the song "Put Something Down On It" by Bobby Womack.
The song was criticised by many as a betrayal of Stewart's blues-oriented rock roots, due to its disco-like arrangement, but Stewart and others were quick to point out that other widely respected artists, such as Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones, had also released disco-type songs.
In a 2007 interview, co-writer Duane Hitchings commented:
“We Rock and Roll guys thought we were dead meat when that movie [Saturday. Night Fever] and the Bee Gees came out.
The Bee Gees were brilliant musicians and really nice people. No big egos.
Rod, in his brilliance, decided to do a spoof on disco. VERY smart man.
There is no such thing as a ‘dumb’ super success in the music business.”
The song went all the way to #1 in the US, Australia, the UK, Canada, Portugal and Spain.
In 2004 Rolling Stone ranked “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy” #301 in its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Click on the link below to watch the clip:
On this day in 2014, Queen made UK chart history, by becoming the first act to sell six million copies of an individual album, with their 1981 “Greatest Hits” LP (February 11)
As of July 2022, “Greatest Hits” has spent over 1000 weeks on the UK Albums Chart, and has been certified 23× platinum with sales of over seven million copies, making it the best-selling album of all time in the UK.
“Greatest Hits” peaked at #8 on the Billboard 200 in November 2020, the second-slowest ascent to the Top 10 of the US album chart in history, taking over 39 years to crack the Top 10.
The record is held by another legendary act with a royal name: Nat King Cole, whose “The Christmas Song” took 55 years!
Among the longest charting albums in the US, as of November 2020, it has spent over 400 weeks on the Billboard 200, and has been certified 9× platinum in the US.
The album has also been certified 15× platinum in Australia, 10× platinum in New Zealand.
With total sales of over 25 million copies, it’s one of the best-selling albums of all time…
Do you have a copy?
Click on the link below to watch “Fat Bottomed Girls” from the album:
On this day in 1978, the Kate Bush single “Wuthering Heights” debuted on the UK Singles Chart at #42 (February 11)
I’m not sure what’s more impressive, the fact that she wrote this aged just 18, or that she recorded the vocal track in only one take....
“Wuthering Heights” was based on the famous Emily Brontë novel, and with it, Kate Bush became the first female artist to have an entirely self-penned #1 hit in the UK, with the song staying at the top for a month.
"Wuthering Heights" also spent three weeks at #1 in Australia, five weeks at #1 in New Zealand, and also topped the charts in Ireland and Portugal.
Her debut single from her debut album “The Kick Inside” also reached the Top 10 in Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland, as well as the Top 20 in Austria and West Germany.
Fun fact: Kate Bush and Emily Brontë were both born on 30 July, Bush in 1958 and Brontë in 1818, 140 years apart.
Hauntingly beautiful and unique song....
Click on the link below to watch one of the classic clips released to promote the song:
On this day in 1980, the KC and the Sunshine Band single “Please Don’t Go” went to #1 on the Australian charts (February 11)
The song written by Harry Wayne Casey and bass player/producer Rick Finch was also the band’s fifth and final #1 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100, and their sixth and final #1 hit in Canada, also peaking at #3 in the UK and New Zealand, #4 in Norway, #5 in Ireland, #7 in the Netherlands, #9 in Belgium, and #15 in Italy.
The ballad was the very first #1 hit of the 1980s on the US Billboard Hot 100.
In a Songfacts interview with Casey, he recalled:
"Near the end of 1978, I was kind of anti-disco believe it or not, and I was trying to change a little bit from 'That's The Way (I Like It)' and 'Shake Your Booty' and all that.
I was in the studio waiting for the next session to start, I'm sitting at the piano and I just start playing these chords, and I remember how beautiful they were.
I decided that was the song I was going to record that day, and that became 'Please Don't Go.'”
Finch parted ways with KC & The Sunshine Band soon after this was released, telling Songfacts:
“If you listen very closely when I'm producing the vocal on that, you'll hear the conviction in KC's voice, because that was the absolute last song that I did produce for KC & The Sunshine Band.
And then I left, and the managers recommended that KC get rid of the band and just make it a solo career.
So he goes and signs this deal with Epic, I came back for a few minutes to help patch up a song here or there, like 'Give It Up.'"
Click on the link below to watch “Please Don’t Go”:
On this day in 1984, the Thompson Twins single “Hold Me Now” debuted on the US Billboard Hot 100 at #73 (February 11)
The song went on to become a worldwide hit, and Thompson Twins member Alannah Currie reflected, “The biggest trouble that we've had basically is that the song, "Hold Me Now" was a huge hit, it was really big here, it was really big all over the world.
Which is great, but it was just an accidental thing. It was just a song that we wrote.
But after that then, we got everybody—managers, the record company—on our back to write "Hold Me Now, Part 2" and harassing you to try and find a formula.
But we can't really.
We'll never find a formula for what we did. And that upsets some of them.”
The track from the “Into the Gap” LP made it to #3 in the US, Australia and Canada, #4 in the UK and New Zealand, #7 in Germany, and #8 in South Africa.
Click on the link below to watch the clip:
Singer, songwriter and musician Sheryl Crow was born in Kennett, Missouri, on this day in 1962 (February 11)
Crow has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide, and has come up with classic hits such as "All I Wanna Do" (1994) and "If It Makes You Happy" (1996).
She has also won nine Grammy Awards (out of 32 nominations) from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.
Crow also toured with Michael Jackson as a backing vocalist during his Bad tour 1987–1989, and has recorded background vocals for the likes of Stevie Wonder, Belinda Carlisle, Jimmy Buffett, and Don Henley.
Click on the link below to watch “All I Wanna Do”:
