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Today in rock history: on this date in 1977, Saturday Night Fever, the major motion picture that popularized the rising fame disco music was enjoying, opened. What fans didn’t expect was a sometimes dark drama that chronicled the lonely, empty existence the main character in the film, Tony Manero, experiences as a well-known and skilled dancer inside the disco but a regular joe in everyday life. Featuring young actor John Travolta in the title role, the former television sitcom actor suddenly found himself lauded as a skilled dramatic actor and was recognized with an Academy Award nomination for his impressive performance. The film catapulted disco music, disco dancing and white three piece suits into the stratosphere thanks to its stylistic look and the monster album that accompanied it and became one of the best-selling and most popular film soundtracks of all time. The film was a major blockbuster making millions in box office revenues and helped make The Bee Gees, who were responsible for most of the music on the 2-LP soundtrack album, become international musical superstars.
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Today in rock history; Burning Spear's Marcus Garvey, Sandinista by The Clash and more
Today in rock history: on this date in 1979, The Clash released its 2-LP masterpiece, London Calling. After growing tired of the trappings of punk rock, the band opted to broaden its horizons and ambitiously tackle other styles of music on this landmark album — and the results were staggering. Jumping from the rockabilly rumble of the Vince Taylor-penned rocker “Brand New Cadillac” to the reggae-soaked “Guns of Brixton” and the all-out rock firepower of “Death or Glory,” the album showed the world that this band was limitless and that its ambition and power were unmatched by any band of the time. Often regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time, this flawless record is certainly the one that’s usually pointed to when discussing the band’s finest hour. Featuring one of the most recognizable and iconic rock photographs on the front cover, the snapshot captures bassist Paul Simonon about to smash his guitar onto the ground at The Palladium in New York City during a Clash show. As legend goes, Simonon was frustrated that security guards at the venue were forbidding audience members to stand up from their seats during the performance and what resulted was photographer Pennie Smith catching this moment superbly although, admittedly, she didn’t want the shot used as the album’s cover for fear that the photo was too out of focus. The album sleeves had been printed and ready to be stuffed with the two vinyl discs of music inside when a sudden track listing shift was made. Guitarists, singers and co-songwriters Mick Jones and Joe Strummer wrote and recorded a song after the album’s completion that was to be used as a giveaway single with British music magazine New Musical Express. However, the band’s management and representatives thought the song was too good to be used as a throwaway and, at the eleventh hour, it was decided that the catchy pop song, "Train in Vain (Stand by Me)" would instead be tacked on to the tail-end of the record. Initial pressings of the album didn’t include the song on the track listing on the backside of the cover but, nonetheless, the song appeared as the final track of the album and became the band’s first bona fide hit single in the U.S.
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Today in rock history: on this date in 1968, after releasing several hit singles, soul music superstar Marvin Gaye scored his first ever No. 1 hit record when his rendition of the classic “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” rose to the top of the charts. After only two weeks of being released this, Gaye’s 15th single release, became the very first of his records to reach the No. 1 spot. Written by the famed Motown Records writing partners Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong in 1966, Marvin Gaye was not the first artist to record this recognizable classic. Before he made it his own, both Gladys Knight and the Pips and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles recorded their own versions of the song that has for decades been associated with Marvin Gaye thanks to his smooth, soulful rendition.
Today in rock history: on this date in 1987, You’re Living All Over Me the second full-length release by college rock favorites Dinosaur Jr. was released. Originally credited to the band’s original moniker, simply Dinosaur, the band and its then record label, SST Records, was forced to recall early pressings of the album in order to re-release it under the band’s new handle thanks to an impending lawsuit. Widely recognized as one of the band’s most significant albums and a landmark of the 1980s indie-rock movement, the record is also credited with being highly influential in the rise of the sub-genre known as shoegaze as evidenced by its impact on leaders of that sound, My Bloody Valentine. When released, the CD version of the album contained a bonus track: a cover of Peter Frampton’s 1970’s FM rock staple “Show Me The Way” which was drenched in singer and guitarist J Mascis’ unique and abstract guitar work. Read our review of the band's March 2017 set at State Theatre here.
This article appears in Dec 14-21, 2017.