A Little Switcheroo
May 17, 2021
Summer Breeze Weekend
May 21, 2021
It’s Throwback Thursday! Here’s what happened this week in Boss rock n’ roll history.
May 16th 1964, Mary Wells started a two-week run at No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with “My Guy.” In 1966, Bob Dylan released his album “Blonde on Blonde,” which reached No.9 on the U.S. charts and No.3 in the U.K. In 1987, U2 started a three-week run at No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with “With or Without you.” This was the group’s first No.1.
May 17th 1964, Bob Dylan made his first major concert U.K. appearance at the Royal Festival Hall in London with an afternoon show. In 1975, Elton John was awarded a Platinum Record for sales of a million copies of the LP “Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy,” the first album ever to be certified Platinum on the day of its release. Also in 1975, Led Zeppelin played the first of five sold-out shows to 17,000 fans at Earls Court Arena London England. In 1986, Whitney Houston started a three-week run at No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Greatest Love Of All.” This was Houston’s third U.S. No.1.
May 18th 1967, The Beatles were selected to represent the U.K. for the first-ever worldwide satellite broadcast. The group was shown recording a song written especially for the occasion. In 1985, Simple Minds went No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Don’t You Forget About Me.” In 1993, Janet Jackson released Janet. The album sold 350,000 copies in the first week, the highest for a female artist at that time.
May 19th 1973, Stevie Wonder went No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with “You Are The Sunshine Of My Life.” This was his third single on the U.S. No.1 and won Stevie a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. Also in 1973, Paul Simon released the single “Kodachrome” named after the 35mm film Kodachrome. The song went No.2 on the U.S. singles chart. In 1990, Madonna started a three-week run at No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Vogue,” becoming the singer’s eighth U.S. No.1 and seventh U.K. No.1 hit.
May 20th 1970, the final feature film involving The Beatles, “Let It Be” premiered in London and Liverpool a week after the U.S. release. In 1978, Paul McCartney went No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with “With A Little Luck,” which was his sixth solo U.S. No.1.
May 21st 1977, Stevie Wonder started a three-week run at No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Sir Duke.” The tribute to Duke Ellington was his sixth U.S. No.1. In 1979 Elton John started a tour of Russia. He played eight concerts, making him the first Western star to do so. In 1983, David Bowie went No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Let’s Dance.” This was Bowie’s first single to reach No.1 on both sides of the Atlantic.
May 22nd 1965, The Beatles went No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Ticket To Ride,” the group’s eighth U.S. No.1. In 1971, The Rolling Stones started a four-week run at No.1 on the U.S. charts with their album “Sticky Fingers.” This was the group’s second U.S. No.1 album. 1976, Wings started a five-week run at No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Silly Love Songs.” This was McCartney’s fifth U.S. No.1 since leaving The Beatles.
