Calendar Search Results: be theme
July 3, 1985 Back to the Future, starring Michael J. Fox as a time-traveling teenager, opens in theaters. When he plays "Johnny B. Goode" in 1955 at the "Enchantment Under the Sea" dance, he gives birth to rock and roll. In the real-life present, a new generation gets a lesson in Chuck Berry from the scene.More
February 25, 1985 British synthpop duo Tears For Fears release their sophomore album, Songs From The Big Chair, featuring the hits "Shout" and "Everybody Wants To Rule The World."More
September 14, 1984 At the very first MTV Video Music Awards, Madonna performs "Like A Virgin" in a white wedding gown accessorized by her famous "Boy Toy" belt.More
June 7, 1984 The film Ghostbusters is released. Its theme song bears similarities to Huey Lewis' "I Want a New Drug." Ghostbusters theme writer Ray Parker, Jr. and Huey settle out of court.
May 28, 1983 Apple's Steve Wozniak hosts the second US Festival, intending it to be the "Super Bowl of rock." The lineup is even more impressive than that of its 1982 predecessor, and the attendance is substantially larger. Wozniak splurges on David Bowie with two million dollars of his own money, simply because he "really loves him."More
April 3, 1982 Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager marry. Five days earlier, the songwriters took home Oscars for Best Original Song for their work on "Arthur's Theme (The Best That You Can Do)" from the movie Arthur.
March 29, 1982 "Arthur's Theme (The Best That You Can Do)," sung by Christopher Cross, wins the Academy Award for Best Original Song. Cross wrote the song with Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager (along with Peter Allen, who came up with the line "When you get caught between the moon and New York City") for the film Arthur, starring Dudley Moore and Liza Minnelli.
August 22, 1981 "Girls On Film" hits #5 in the UK, giving Duran Duran their breakthrough hit in Britain. It does not chart on its US release, but surges in popularity after its music video goes into heavy rotation on MTV. The clip, directed by Godley and Creme, has to be heavily edited for TV as it was only intended to be played in nightclubs and features adult themes and nudity.
August 15, 1981 "Endless Love," a duet between Diana Ross and Lionel Richie, tops the Hot 100 for the first of nine weeks. It's the theme song from a movie of the same name, starring Brooke Shields.More
April 4, 1981 Styx hit #1 in the US with Paradise Theatre, a concept album based on the rise and fall of a theatre in Chicago.More
February 21, 1981 The Australian composer Ron Grainer, best known for writing the "Doctor Who Theme," dies at age 58.
February 21, 1981 REO Speedwagon's ninth album, Hi Infidelity, goes to #1 in America, displacing John Lennon's Double Fantasy.More
December 19, 1980 9 to 5, starring Dolly Parton and featuring the classic theme song by the singer (where she uses her fingernails as an instrument), opens in theaters. Parton, in her first acting role, stars alongside Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda as disgruntled secretaries who get even with their sexist boss.More
November 30, 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
May 16, 1978 Joe Walsh releases his fourth album, But Seriously, Folks..., where he indulges in an underwater meal in the artwork.More
February 17, 1978 Kate Bush, a 19-year-old singer-songwriter from Britain, releases her debut album, The Kick Inside. The collection of art pop features the #1 UK hit single "Wuthering Heights."More
October 17, 1977 Lynyrd Skynyrd release Street Survivors, the last album with frontman Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Steve Gaines, as both are killed only three days later after the band's plane goes down en route to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.More
May 25, 1977 George Lucas' space opera Star Wars debuts in theaters, accompanied by an instantly iconic score from John Williams.
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February 4, 1977 Singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw is born in South Fallsburg, New York. After moving to New York City, he signs with Clive Davis' J Records and releases his first album, Chariot, in 2003. The first single, "I Don't Want To Be," becomes the theme song to the TV series One Tree Hill.
December 8, 1976 An updated version of the musical drama A Star is Born debuts in movie theaters, starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, and featuring the Academy Award-winning chart-topper "Evergreen."More
October 11, 1975 Saturday Night - a title later changed to Saturday Night Live - makes its debut on NBC. Music is a big part of the show, and the first episode features two musical guests performing two songs each: Janis Ian doing "At Seventeen" and "In the Winter," and Billy Preston playing "Nothing from Nothing" and "Fancy Lady."More
October 18, 1974 Al Green's "Grits Incident": When a stewardess friend of Green's shows up to meet the singer, he ends up at his Memphis home with her and his companion, Mary Woodson, who is dangerously obsessed with the singer. When Green goes into the bathroom to brush his teeth, Woodson bursts in and pours a pot of boiling grits on him, burning him badly before going in the next room and killing herself with his gun. Green takes these disturbing events as a sign from God and focuses his career on gospel music and preaching.More
May 4, 1974 The Sting soundtrack, featuring Marvin Hamlisch's adaptations of Scott Joplin's ragtime piano tunes, hits #1 in America, where it stays for five weeks.
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December 26, 1973 The horror movie The Exorcist hits theaters, with a portion of the Mike Oldfield instrumental "Tubular Bells" as the theme music. A 3:18 version of the song (it's 25-minutes long on the album) is released as a single, going to #7 in the US.
December 25, 1973 The Sting, a crime caper starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford as con men in 1930s Chicago, debuts in theaters. With Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer" as its theme, the film's soundtrack goes to #1 and revives the ragtime genre.More
May 25, 1973 Mike Oldfield releases "Tubular Bells" in the UK. Part of it becomes theme music for the movie The Exorcist.
February 24, 1973 Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly With His Song" hits #1 for the first of five weeks, a longer run than any other song of 1973. It was written by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel, the guys who wrote the theme songs to Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley.
December 31, 1972 Dick Clark begins a new holiday tradition as his first New Year's Rockin' Eve concert is broadcast on NBC; guests include Three Dog Night and Al Green.More
August 20, 1972 Stax Records commemorates the seventh anniversary of the 1965 Watts riots with a star-studded benefit concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. More than 100,000 fans show up to hear Isaac Hayes, The Bar-Kays, The Staple Singers, and Kim Weston, among others, perform at what becomes known as Wattstax.More
June 19, 1971 Carole King's album Tapestry hits #1 in the US, where it stays for 15 weeks.More
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