Today in rock history: On this date in 1978, The Police got a major break when it was hired to appear in an American television commercial for Wrigley’s chewing gum. Each member agreed to bleach their hair blond to portray a more unified look, and The Police kept the look as its single “Roxanne” catapulted the group to global notoriety. The weird part is that there’s not really any video of the spot ever airing at all.
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Today in rock history: On this date in 1975, Average White Band’s funk classic “Pick Up the Pieces” was at No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Hot 100. The mostly instrumental song became a huge dance hit and was a mainstay on both pop and urban radio playlists. The album from which the song hailed, AWB, also went No. 1 spot on pop album charts in the U.S..
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Today in rock history: On this date in 1992, Shakespears Sister — a duo consisting of former Bananarama member Siobhan Fahey and singer-songwriter Marcella Detroit (known for co-writing one of Eric Clapton’s biggest hits, “Lay Down Sally”) — started an eight week run at No. 1 on the U.K. singles chart with its biggest hit, “Stay.”
Today in rock history: On this date in 1992, renowned British music magazine New Musical Express (AKA NME) published the what its list of the five greatest debut rock albums of all time. The poll was met with some opposition, but the final list is made up of five undeniably brilliant and groundbreaking first efforts by some of the most influential rock acts of all time. The five titles, in order from No. 1 to No. 5: Patti Smith’s Horses, Joy Division’s Unknown Pleasures, MC5’s Kick Out The Jams, The Jesus and Mary Chain’s Psychocandy and Television’s Marquee Moon.
