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Today in rock history: on this date in 1979, Michael Jackson released his fifth studio album, the blockbuster release, Off The Wall. While previous Jackson solo albums had done respectably well on sales charts, none had come close to matching the success of some of his earlier works with his brothers in the Jackson 5. Until this one. Off The Wall was an unprecedented success, produced many, many hit singles and was a perfect blend of pop, disco and soul that appealed to so many record buyers of different ages, backgrounds and races. The album’s lead single, “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” (a song that can still pack a dancefloor to this day) and “Rock With You” both climbed as high as no. 1 on the pop charts while the ballad “She’s Out Of My Life” and the title track made it to the top 10 which — at the time — made Off The Wall the first album to ever contain four top 10 singles on it. The record was the first of Jackson’s releases to be produced by maestro Quincy Jones and it set the stage in terms of sound and popularity for Michael’s next release, the all-time best selling album of all time, 1982’s Thriller.
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Today in rock history: on this date in 1984, Red Hot Chili Peppers released its self-titled, debut album. The Los Angeles quartet’s first proper album is widely acknowledged as being one of the records that ignited the funk-rock genre that would soon catch fire thanks to the Peppers and its contemporaries, Fishbone. The record was produced by Gang of Four guitarist Andy Gill and one single was released from it — “Get Up And Jump.” The album wasn’t a huge success although it garnered plenty of airplay on college radio stations across the country. Each release after this, RHCP's first, would bring the Chili Peppers more success and more notoriety until the band's eventual breakthrough in 1992 with Blood Sugar Sex Magik but this is where the RHCP story began.
Today in rock history: on this date in 1985, female music history was made. Although she’d released her sophomore album Like A Virgin in November of the previous year, on this date, Madonna was recognized as being the first female artist to achieve sales exceeding five million copies of a single record sold by a solo female artist. The record was a massive success and it contained several hit singles, started a fashion trend of Madonna-wannabes and made the Michigan native an undeniable star. The Nile Rodgers-produced record was slick, danceable, poppy and seductive and its timing was impeccable. While sales charts were dominated by Madonna’s male contemporaries, this record proved that she was just as capable of being a major factor in the radio and MTV arenas as Michael Jackson, Prince, Bruce Springsteen and Duran Duran were as the male artists who had a stronghold on sales charts at that time. Madonna had arrived, and this record and it's amazing sales numbers proved that.
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Born on this date in 1943 in East Harlem, New York: Veronica Yvette Bennett who the music world would soon know as Ronnie Spector. As the lead singer of legendary girl group The Ronettes, Spector enjoyed a number of hits including the classic smash “Be My Baby” as well as “Baby, I Love You,” “Walking In The Rain” and “So Young.” Despite a tumultuous marriage to record producer Phil Spector, Ronnie persevered and continued to work as a solo artist after the dissolution of her marriage and of her singing group. Ronnie is loved and revered by so many fellow musicians and was often referred to by Ramones lead singer Joey Ramone as being his favorite vocalist of all time (which might have led to Joey and his band covering “Baby, I Love You” on their 1980 “End Of The Century” album). Working with other admirers throughout her solo career, Spector has had the good fortune to collaborate with George Harrison, Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, Marshall Crenshaw and with Eddie Money on this 1986 hit “Take Me Home Tonight” where she contributed prominent vocal duties and was name-called throughout the tune. Happy 74th to this American legend who has influenced music, culture and sound for so many record buyers for decades.
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This article appears in Aug 10-17, 2017.