Calendar Search Results: on about
February 22, 1983 Styx release Kilroy Was Here, a concept album about a dystopian future where rock and roll is banned and technology has run amok.More
December 5, 1982 Keri Hilson is born in Decatur, Georgia. She sings on about a dozen hits from 2005-2011, including Timbaland's "The Way I Are" and her own "Knock You Down," but leaves the industry at the height of fame to battle depression. She returns with another album in 2025 and becomes an advocate for mental health in hip-hop.
November 30, 1982 Michael Jackson releases Thriller, which becomes, by far, the best selling album worldwide.More
October 2, 1982 "Jack And Diane," a little ditty about two American kids growin' up in the heartland, hits #1 in America. It's the first and only #1 on the tally for John Cougar, who later reverts to his real name, John Mellencamp.
October 1, 1982 In Tokyo, Sony introduces the first digital compact-disc player, which sells for about $650.
September 3, 1982 Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak throws the US Festival "for a few thousand friends" in hopes of uniting people through music and technology. A crowd of at least 200,000 shows up in the blistering heat of San Bernardino, California, for three days of music, tech-geekery, and dust... a whole lot of dust. Fleetwood Mac, performing for the first time in two years, headlines a bill that also includes The Police and the Grateful Dead.More
July 1, 1982 Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five release the early rap classic "The Message." It's the first hip-hop hit with lyrics about struggle in the inner city.
June 21, 1982 The first "Fête de la Musique," a music festival also known as "World Music Day," is launched in Paris. Unlike corporate festivals, this one is about street music, and free to the public. The festival returns every June 21 and spreads throughout the world in various forms.
March 27, 1982 "Pac-Man Fever," a song about the arcade game that has America enthralled, cracks the Top 10, becoming the only song about a video game ever to do so.More
March 20, 1982 The duo Buckner & Garcia appear on American Bandstand to perform their hit single "Pac-Man Fever," the first successful song about a video game.More
March 6, 1982 Beauty and the Beat hits #1 in America, making The Go-Go's the first all-girl band with a #1 album.More
December 28, 1981 The cost of a two song 45-rpm single reaches $1.98 (about the same as the cost of downloading two songs today).
December 26, 1981 The AC/DC album For Those About to Rock We Salute You goes to #1 in America for the first of three weeks. It's their first #1 album in that country (their previous album, Back In Black, was a slow build and reached just #4), and their last until Black Ice in 2008.
December 3, 1981 At a show in Hartford, Connecticut, AC/DC is prohibited from firing their cannons during "For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)," as police enforce an ordinance banning stage weaponry.
November 23, 1981 AC/DC release the album For Those About to Rock We Salute You, their follow-up to Back In Black. The title track, complete with custom cannons, becomes their regular encore.
November 21, 1981 "Physical" by Olivia Newton-John hits #1 in the US. The sweaty aerobics anthem stays at the top spot for 10 weeks, making it the biggest hit of 1981.More
September 25, 1981 The Rolling Stones start their US tour with a concert at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, where they play to a crowd of 90,000. The tour is sponsored by musk maker Jovan, establishing a new paradigm for corporate involvement.More
July 19, 1981 The mayor of Odessa, Texas, declares today Roy Orbison Day in honor of the singer. (Orbison was actually from Wink, a microscopic town about 35 miles west.)
May 10, 1981 Kraftwerk release their eighth studio album, Computer World, featuring prescient songs about the influence of computers on society.More
March 28, 1981 Blondie's "Rapture" hits #1 on the Hot 100, becoming the first chart-topper with a rap.More
February 21, 1981 REO Speedwagon's ninth album, Hi Infidelity, goes to #1 in America, displacing John Lennon's Double Fantasy.More
February 7, 1981 "Celebration" by Kool & the Gang goes to #1. It becomes the de-facto party song to celebrate just about any festive event, but there's a deeper meaning many don't know about: It was inspired by a passage in the Quran where angels gather to celebrate the creation of humankind.
January 15, 1981 Phil Collins plays "In The Air Tonight" on Top of the Pops with a paint can and brush nearby as props, seemingly a reference to the painter with whom his first wife cheated on him.More
January 15, 1981 Stevie Wonder leads a rally in Washington to get Martin Luther King's birthday declared an official holiday. He performs his song "Happy Birthday," written for King, which becomes a rallying call for the movement.More
December 27, 1980 Weeks after his death, John Lennon's "(Just Like) Starting Over" goes to #1 in America.More
December 25, 1980 Michael Jackson calls Paul McCartney to wish him Merry Christmas and suggest they write some songs together. They end up recording three duets together (including the lead single to Thriller), but their friendship ends when Jackson buys the publishing rights to many of the Beatles songs co-written by McCartney.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
December 8, 1980 John Lennon, 40 years old, is shot and killed outside his apartment in New York City.More
July 25, 1980 AC/DC release Back In Black, their first album without lead singer Bon Scott, who died five months earlier.More
April 19, 1980 Blondie's "Call Me," a song about a prostitute written for the film American Gigolo, hits #1 in America.
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