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Today in rock history: on this date in 1963, one of the most successful singles The Beatles would every release came out. “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” the song that broke Beatlemania wide open in the band’s native England and introduced the Fab Four to American fans made its appearance, and the response was staggering. The single was the very first in British history to receive advance orders at record shops in excess of 1 million copies. The song would, not surprisingly, reach the No. 1 spot on British singles sales charts, a feat that would be repeated soon after on American shores. On a sadder note, on this very date in 2001, Beatles guitarist, singer and songwriter George Harrison lost his battle with cancer and passed away at the age of 58.
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Today in rock history; George Harrison's solo masterpiece, Jimi Hendrix is born and more
Today in rock history: on this date in 1986, Bruce Springsteen’s highly anticipated and long awaited concert box set, Live 1975–85 took over the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s pop albums chart, a position it would hold for seven solid weeks. A career retrospective that collected rare and hard to find recordings was a treasure trove for Springsteen fans all around the world who’d long clamored to have Bruce’s live magic captured on record. The box set was released on multiple formats; vinyl, CD and cassette versions were available of the multi-platinum selling box set which instantly became one of the best selling box sets ever released.
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Today in rock history: on this date in 1979, Michael Jackson was awarded a gold record award for the very first single from his popular Off The Wall album, the dance floor classic “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough.” Four more singles would follow from the album and all would become massive hit singles for Jackson. While other solo recording had done well in the past for the young star, none had approached the success he’d find with this, his fifth solo album, and all the singles that would help make it a No. 1, multi-platinum selling album. With this record, Jackson became the first pop artist to land four singles in the Top 10 from the very same album. “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” is a slick hybrid of disco and pop that sounded fresh and exciting upon its release and still sounds as dynamic as it did in 1979. Off The Wall would pave the way for Jackson’s next outing, the blockbuster album Thriller” which would go on to become the best-selling album of all time.
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Today in rock history: on this date in 1968, former Beatle John Lennon and his future wife, artist Yoko Ono, released the first of their experimental releases: an album entitled Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins. The album is a product of an all-night recording session the two held in Lennon’s personal studio and consists of vocals, spoken dialogue, tape loops, sound effects and instrumentation. The record failed to chart in the UK and only scratched the surface of U.S. sales charts where it was released a few weeks prior. Many retailers refused to carry the record because of its front cover photo of Lennon and Ono completely nude. Those retailers that did carry it chose to do so only when the record was packaged in a brown paper sleeve that concealed the cover photo.
This article appears in Nov 23-30, 2017.