30 NOVEMBER
In Music History
1985 "Separate Lives" by Phil Collins & Marilyn Martin hits #1. The song was written by Stephen Bishop and featured in the movie White Nights.
1984 On their morning show, a Houston radio station reports that Bruce Springsteen's concert from the night before is still going on, and that he has just pulled the 250th girl from the audience to join him on "Dancing In The Dark." Some of their more gullible listeners believe it.
1983 Bad Religion release their second full-length studio album Into the Unknown.
1978 Clay Aiken is born Clayton Holmes Grissom in Raleigh, North Carolina. He goes on to place second behind Ruben Studdard on the second season of American Idol.
1976 A live version of Bob Dylan's "Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again" is released as a single with "Rita May" as the B-side.
1975 Country singer Mindy McCready is born in Fort Myers, Florida.
1969 Neil Diamond makes his only appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, where he performs "Sweet Caroline" and "Holly Holy."
1969 Directed by Charles Grodin, the Simon & Garfunkel TV special Songs Of America airs on NBC, getting killed in the ratings by an ice skating presentation. The program has a very political tone, and marks the broadcast debut of the song "Bridge Over Troubled Water."
1968 R&B singer Des'ree is born Desiree Annette Weeks in London, England.
1968 "Love Child" by The Supremes hits #1 in America.
1966 The brilliant but erratic guitarist Jeff Beck officially leaves The Yardbirds after a year and a half in the band. He later forms the Jeff Beck Group.
1965 Paul Wheeler (drummer for Icehouse) is born in Sydney, Australia.
1964 Rapper Jalil Hutchins (of Whodini) is born in Brooklyn, New York.
1962 For the first time, The Beatles make the "favourite group" list in the New Musical Express' reader's poll.
1959 Bobby Darin is quoted by a UPI reporter saying he hopes "to surpass Sinatra in everything he's done."
Michael Jackson Releases Thriller
1982Michael Jackson releases Thriller, which becomes, by far, the best selling album worldwide.
Read more30 NOVEMBER
Featured Events
1991 Billboard changes its methodology for determining the Hot 100, using SoundScan data to track record store sales and BDS information for radio plays. SoundScan, an electronic system that counts record sales when they are rung up, replaces record store reporting, which was typically done with phone calls. BDS is a Shazam-like service that identifies songs played by radio stations, which eliminates the need for stations to report their playlists. The first #1 on the revamped chart is "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss" by P.M. Dawn.
1979 Pink Floyd's album The Wall is released, seeing out the '70s in spectacular fashion as it sells over 13 million copies. The powerful concept album's themes of isolation and despair resonate with legions of fans, and it even spawns a #1 single - "Another Brick In The Wall (part II).More
1977 Bing Crosby's last Christmas special airs. The program was recorded in September, and Crosby died that October. The show is remembered for Crosby's unusual duet with David Bowie, where they sing a modified version of "Little Drummer Boy," with Bowie singing the new "Peace On Earth" lyrics composed by the show's writers.
1974 Elton John's Greatest Hits album hits #1 in America, where it stays for the last five weeks of 1974 and first five of 1975.
1955 Billy Idol is born William Michael Albert Broad in Stanmore, Middlesex, England.
1940 Desi Arnaz marries Lucille Ball. The pair met on the set of the RKO musical Too Many Girls and eloped less than two months after the film's release.
1929 Dick Clark is born in Mount Vernon, New York. Dubbed the "world's oldest teenager," he becomes a cultural icon as the longtime host of American Bandstand and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.
©2024 Songfacts®, LLC