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Today in rock history: on this date in 1984, hard rock band Van Halen released its sixth studio album, the aptly titled 1984. The record was an enormous success for the quartet and produced four hit singles: among them, the catchy pop tune “Jump” which became Van Halen’s first ever No. 1 hit on Billboard’s singles chart. Other singles culled from the album include “Panama,” “I’ll Wait” (which was co-written with ex-Doobie Brother, Michael McDonald) and “Hot For Teacher” which had an accompanying music video that instantly became an MTV favorite. The album climbed as high as No. 2 on American sales charts and stayed there for five weeks. Keeping it from reaching the top spot was Michael Jackson’s blockbuster Thriller album which was unmatched in terms of record sales at that time. The album was one of two VH records that achieved Diamond status which translates to sales topping ten million copies sold. The other was the band’s breakout self-titled debut album released in 1978.
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Today in rock history; Happy Birthday Michael Jackson
Today in rock history: on this date in 1944, guitarist Jimmy Page was born in Heston, Middlesex, England. As a young man, the guitar phenom became a highly sought after session musician around London and contributed his axe work to early records by The Who and The Kinks. Page soon became a member of top blues-influenced rock band The Yardbirds before breaking away to form his own band, the rock behemoth, Led Zeppelin. Page’s guitar work helped make Led Zepp’s albums some of the most beloved and enduring hard rock records of all time. Page has been inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: both as a member of The Yardbirds and of Led Zeppelin whose first album was released fifty years ago this year.
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Today in rock history: on this date in 1969, the debut album by British pop band Badfinger was released. Magic Christian Music featured songs from the 1969 British comedic film The Magic Christian, but the album was not intended as an official soundtrack for the film. The movie featured gifted actor Peter Sellers as well as Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr. Magic Christian Music featured the essential pop classic “Come and Get It” which was written by another Beatle, Paul McCartney, who also produced the track along with other selections on this fine album. Other songs from the record date back to the days when the band were called The Iveys before changing its name to Badfinger.
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Today in rock history: on this date in 1967, pop rock band The Monkees released its second album, More of the Monkees. The album was released while the band’s self-titled 1966 debut album was still riding high on the charts. Coincidentally, it was More of the Monkees that knocked the band’s first album out of the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s pop albums chart. Benefiting from the exposure its weekly prime time sitcom brought the band, The Monkees became one of the best-selling groups of the era. The best-known single from the album was the Neil Diamond-penned pop classic “I’m A Believer” which also hit No. 1 on Billboard’s pop singles chart. More of the Monkees went on to sell over five million copies and was the highest-selling pop album in the U.S. for the year of 1967.
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This article appears in Jan 4-11, 2018.