Calendar Search Results: fe in it
February 4, 1980 The Ramones release their fifth album, End of the Century, produced by Phil Spector. Dee Dee Ramone claims Spector pulled a gun on him during the sessions.More
January 25, 1980 Alicia Keys is born Alicia Augello Cook in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York. Her background as a classically trained pianist influences her stage name. "It's like the piano keys," she explains, "And it can open so many doors." Her first album, Songs In A Minor, featuring her own compositions, goes to #1 in 2001.
December 3, 1979 Before The Who concert at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, 11 people are trampled to death and dozens are injured in a rush to enter the arena. Like many concerts of the day, there are no reserved seats, a practice known as "festival seating." The resulting controversy (and lawsuits) force promoters to rethink the practice.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
November 19, 1979 Frank Zappa's one and only rock opera, Joe's Garage, is released. The opera mixes styles of blues, jazz, doo-wop, lounge, orchestral, rock, pop and reggae. It draws controversy for profane lyrics but is hailed as a cultural milestone and landmark album. The work also looks forward to Zappa's later crusade against the PMRC with its themes of government censorship, and introduces a few memes into the Zappa lexicon, including "The Central Scrutinizer," "a little green rosetta," and of course, the term "roto-plooker."
October 18, 1979 Ne-Yo is born Shaffer Chimere Smith in Camden, Arkansas, raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. He first breaks through as a songwriter, penning lyrics to Mario's "Let Me Love You" and Beyonce's "Irreplaceable" before scoring a #1 hit of his own in 2006 with "So Sick."
October 4, 1979 Jimmy Buffett appears on the cover of Rolling Stone ahead of his forthcoming Volcano album. The article details his experience recording the Caribbean-flavored tracks near a dormant volcano at George Martin's AIR Studios in Montserrat.More
September 25, 1979 Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Evita makes its debut on Broadway with Patti LuPone after a successful year on London's West End.More
September 23, 1979 The crowd chants, "Hell No, We Won't Glow" at a massive 5-hour anti-nuke rally in New York City's Battery Park, where Crosby, Stills & Nash, Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt are among the performers.More
September 21, 1979 Bruce Springsteen debuts his song "The River" at a show in Madison Square Garden. He is performing as part of Musicians United For Safe Energy (MUSE) in a protest against nuclear power. Other artists that go on before him have to contend with the constant droning of "Broooooooooooooce," as he's the main attraction. Bonnie Raitt doesn't figure out until after her set that the crowd was not booing her, just anticipating Springsteen's performance.
September 19, 1979 James Taylor, Jackson Browne, The Doobie Brothers, Graham Nash and Bonnie Raitt perform at Madison Square Garden for the first of five "no nukes" concerts.More
August 20, 1979 Bob Dylan, a recent convert to Christianity, releases the faith-driven album Slow Train Coming. It includes "Gotta Serve Somebody," which peaks at #24, becoming Dylan's last single to crack the top 40 in the US.More
July 29, 1979 Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers conclude their "Lawsuit Tour" with a show at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. Petty embarked on the tour to raise money for his legal battles with MCA Records.More
July 22, 1979 Little Richard, who has been preaching of his salvation throughout the United States, makes his famous statement, "If God can save an old homosexual like me, he can save anybody."More
July 12, 1979 It's "Disco Demolition Night" at Comiskey Park, where the White Sox and Tigers are playing a doubleheader. The plan is to blow up a bunch of disco albums between games, but it goes horribly wrong when fans become unruly and rush the field, forcing the White Sox to forfeit the second game.More
July 1, 1979 The Sony Walkman debuts in Japan, making music portable.More
June 15, 1979 Unknown Pleasures, the debut long-player from British post-punk band Joy Division, is released. Although it does not chart, it becomes hugely influential and is widely critically acclaimed as one of the defining albums of the post-punk era.More
June 5, 1979 Muddy Waters, 64, marries his third wife, 25-year-old Marva Jean Brooks, in Chicago with Eric Clapton as best man.
May 9, 1979 Jazz singer Eddie Jefferson dies at age 60 when a dancer he once hired and fired shoots him outside of Baker's Keyboard Lounge in Detroit.
March 28, 1979 The day after they are married, Eric Clapton sings "Wonderful Tonight" to his new wife Pattie at his concert in Tucson, Arizona. He wrote the song about her while waiting for her to get ready to go out.
March 27, 1979 Eric Clapton marries George Harrison's ex-wife Pattie, the subject of the song "Layla." Harrison attends the wedding and remains friends with Clapton.More
March 10, 1979 Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" hits #1 on the Hot 100. It becomes a female-empowerment anthem, but the song was written by two men.More
February 15, 1979 Saturday Night Fever and Billy Joel are big winners at The Grammys, with the soundtrack getting Album of the Year and "Just The Way You Are" taking Record of the Year and Song of the Year.More
February 3, 1979 "Y.M.C.A." by The Village People goes to #2 in America, where it stays for three weeks, unable to overtake fellow disco stalwarts "Le Freak" and "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" In many other territories, including Australia, Canada and the UK, the song goes to #1.
January 6, 1979 The Village People appear on American Bandstand, where the crowd does the soon-to-be famous arm movements spelling out "Y.M.C.A." Host Dick Clark makes sure they learn those moves, and they do.More
January 5, 1979 The double-album soundtrack to the film Saturday Night Fever reaches sales of 25 million worldwide, making it the best-selling LP in history.More
December 31, 1978 The Runaways play their final show at Cow Palace, near San Francisco. The all-female hard-rock band have been through several line-up changes, but are finally torn apart through conflict between Joan Jett, who wants to take the band in a glam-rock direction, and Lita Ford who wishes to stay in the hard-rock genre. The band formally split the following April.
December 21, 1978 The Cure release their debut single, "Killing An Arab," an existential song about a man who contemplates the meaning of life after murdering an Arab on a beach. Based on the controversial title, the band faces accusations of provoking anti-Arab sentiment.More
November 12, 1978 Kate Bush releases her sophomore album, Lionheart, featuring the Top 20 UK hit "Wow."
October 21, 1978 Neil Young releases Comes a Time, his 9th studio album. Featuring "Lotta Love," it's certified Gold a little over a month later.
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