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Today in rock history: on this date in 1969, Elvis Presley returned to the top of the U.S. singles charts after a long drought with “Suspicious Minds.” It had been seven years since Presley had scored a No. 1 hit as he’d fallen out of favor as the 1960s progressed. This single was viewed as his comeback, and made him a viable draw again as it returned him to the limelight and to public awareness. The song was Elvis’s 18th No. 1 single and the very last one he’d score before his death in 1977.
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Weddingbahn: This Tampa couple had full-on Kraftwerk nuptials — look
Today in rock history: on this date in 1974, one of the most important and influential electronic albums of all time was released: Germany’s Kraftwerk released its fourth full-length album, the brilliant Autobahn. The record introduced the futuristic and ultra-modern synthesizer outfit to an audience Kraftwerk hadn’t been able to reach with its three previous highly-experimental releases. The album’s groundbreaking title track, all 22 minutes of it, took up one whole side of the record yet, somehow, was pared down to just over three minutes when released as a single. The album did extremely well all around the world, including in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada where it managed to crack the top five on albums sales charts in those regions. The completely unique and original music Kraftwerk created was highly influential in the creation of early 1980s electro funk music and as well as in the overall rise and significance of electronic music.
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Today in rock history: on this date in 1972, one of Britain’s leading glam rock bands, Slade, released its third studio album, the enormously successful Slayed?. At the height of the success of David Bowie and T. Rex in England, Slade appealed to glam rockers and hard rock fans alike and scored a steady string of hit singles in their wake. This record, Slade's most successful, contained the hits “Mama Weer All Crazee Now" and “Gudbuy T'Jane" which went to No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, on U.K. singles charts. The album also went to No. 1 in England and remained on British LP charts for a whopping 34 weeks.
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Today in rock history: on this date in in 1973, British art rock/glam rock band Roxy Music released its third album, Stranded. The band’s future was uncertain after founding member, keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist, Brian Eno left the lineup after the release of its sophomore album. The band carried on without the musical ingenuity of Eno (who’d embarked on his own successful solo career) and replaced him with keyboardist/violinist Eddie Jobson. Ironically, in retrospect, Eno has regarded this fantastic album as what he feels is the best release of the band’s solid catalog. Another No. 1 seller in England, the band sold unimpressively in the States by and large because American audiences hadn’t caught up to the quirky, offbeat sound and style of Roxy Music. The very first record on which lead singer Bryan Ferry assumed all songwriting duties alone included the British hit single “Street Life” as well as the Roxy classics “Psalm, ” “Mother of Pearl” and “Just Like You”.
