Today in Music History: December 7 & 8
December 7 has already proven itself to be an explosive day in history. There was no warning of the event that pierced the calmness, deafening the scene with what can only be described as dastardly on this day in 1941. While on December 7, 1941, bombs wreaked havoc on Pearl Harbor, this day throughout the decades has exploded on the music scene with a plethora of No.1 hits, singles and albums. Today in Music History steps back a day to explore the chart toppers, then, moves on into December 8.1963 The Singing Nun started a four week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Dominique', it reached No.7 on the UK chart. The song sold over 1.5 million copies in the US, winning a Grammy Award for the year's best Gospel song.
1967 Otis Redding went into the studio to record '(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay'. The song went on to be his biggest hit. Redding didn't see its release; he was killed three days later in a plane crash.
1974 Barry White was at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'You're The First, The Last, My Everything', the singers first UK No.1. Originally written in the 1950's as a country song with the title 'You're My First, You're My Last, My In-Between.'
1974 Carl Douglas started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Kung Fu Fighting'. The song was recorded in 10 minutes, had started out as a B-side and went on to sell over 10 million.
1979 The Police had their second UK No.1 single with 'Walking on the Moon', taken from their second album 'Reggatta De Blanc'. The video for the song was filmed at Kennedy Space Center interspersed with NASA footage.
1985 Mr Mister started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Broken Wings', a UK No.4 hit.
1991 George Michael and Elton John were at No.1 in the UK with a live version of 'Don't Let The Sun Go down On Me', (a hit for Elton in 1974). All proceeds from the hit went to aids charities.
1991 Michael Jackson started a 7 week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Black Or White', his 12th solo No.1, also a No.1 in the UK.
1996 Australian singer Peter Andre scored his second No.1 UK single when 'I Feel You'. Andre scored a further 4 Top 10 hits by the end of 1998.
1996 Toni Braxton started a 11 week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Un-Break My Heart'. Written by Dianne Warren it gave Braxton her second US solo No.1, a No.2 hit in the UK.
2008 Leona Lewis went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Run’ which became the fastest-selling digital-only track.
1963 The Beatles second album 'With The Beatles' started a 21-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart. It replaced their first album 'Please Please me' which had been at the top of the charts since it's release 30 weeks previously. Also today, all four Beatles appeared on BBC TV's 'Juke Box Dury'. Some of the songs The Beatles judged were ‘Kiss Me Quick’ by Elvis Presley, ‘The Hippy Hippy Shake’ by the Swinging Blue Jeans. ‘Did You Have a Happy Birthday’ by Paul Anka and ‘Where Have You Been All My Life’ by Gene Vincent.
1968 The Beatles 'White Album' started a seven-week run at No.1 on the UK chart. The double set was the first on the Apple label and featured 'Back In The USSR', 'Dear Prudence', and the Harrison song 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps.'
1991 U2 went to No.1 on the US album charts with 'Achtung Baby'. Featuring 'One', Zoo Station', 'The Fly' and 'Even Better Than The Real Thing'.
2003 Britney Spears was at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘In The Zone’ the singer's fourth US No.1 album. The singer broke her own record from being the first female artist to have three albums enter the US chart at No.1 to being the first female artist to have 4 albums enter at No.1 consecutively.
2008 Take That went to No.1 on the UK album after selling over 432,000 copies of their new album The Circus. Britney Spears' album Circus, released on the same day as Take That's album entered the chart at number four.
December 8...Singles
1961 The Beach Boys first single 'Surfin' was released on Candix Records, a small label based in Los Angeles. On the strength of the song’s performance in the Southern California market, Capitol Records signed the group. Other surfing songs would follow: 'Surfin’ Safari,' 'Surfin’ U.S.A.,'and 'Surfer Girl.'
1979 Styx went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Babe', the group's only US No.1, a No.6 hit in the UK.
1984 Frankie Goes To Hollywood were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'The Power Of Love'. The group's third No.1 of the year and final UK No.1. This made them the first group since Gerry And The Pacemakers to have a UK No.1 with their first three singles.
2003 Eminem scored his fourth UK No.1 single with 'Lose Yourself'.Albums...
1973 Roxy Music had their first UK No.1 album when 'Stranded' went to the top for one week. The sleeve featured Playboy's Playmate of The Year, model Marilyn Cole, (who was the magazines's first full-frontal nude centerfold).
Yes, it really happened on December 8...
1963 Frank Sinatra Jr was kidnapped at gunpoint from a hotel in Lake Tahoe. He was released two days later after his father paid out the $240,000 ransom demanded by the kidnappers, who were later captured, and sentenced to long prison terms. In order to communicate with the kidnappers via a payphone the senior Sinatra carried a roll of dimes with him throughout this ordeal, which became a lifetime habit, he is said to have been buried with a roll of dimes.
1969 Mick Jagger was quoted saying 'I don't really like singing very much, I enjoy playing the guitar more than I enjoy singing and I can't play the guitar either'.
1969 On trial in Canada on drug possession charges, Jimi Hendrix told a Toronto court that he had only smoked pot four times in his life, snorted cocaine twice and took LSD no more than five times. Telling the jury that he had now 'outgrown' drugs. They found the guitarist not guilty.
2013 Metallica played a gig inside a dome at the Argentine Antarctic Base Carlini, thus becoming the first band ever to play on all seven continents.
And the music goes on beating to the rhythm of the changing times...
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