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March 23, 1980 U2 sign a worldwide deal with Island Records. They get about $100,000 for their first album.
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 24, 1980 The Ants of Adam & The Ants leave to join Bow Wow Wow, whose manager, the punk godfather Malcolm McLaren, presents the offer. Adam Ant had paid McLaren £1000 for musical advice, for which he learned about African beats, but lost his band, which he quickly replaced.
January 16, 1980 Traveling to Japan for a tour with Wings, Paul McCartney packs about half a pound of marijuana in his luggage, which lands him 10 days in a Tokyo jail upon arrival. He had the weed in New York and wanted to bring it with him to smoke on tour, saying, "This stuff was too good to flush down the toilet, so I thought I'd take it with me." After McCartney's arrest, Wings' tour of Japan is immediately canceled. Paul never plays another show with the band.
December 21, 1979 Willie Nelson makes his acting debut in the Sydney Pollack film The Electric Horseman, starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. He also sings five songs for the soundtrack, including the #1 country hit "My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys."More
December 7, 1979 "Christmas Rappin'" by Kurtis Blow becomes the first rap song released on a major label - Mercury Records. It sells about 400,000 copies and provides the template for his next single, "The Breaks," which becomes the first rap Gold record.
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 10, 1979 "Rapper's Delight" by The Sugarhill Gang becomes first rap song to hit the Billboard Hot 100, entering the chart at #84.More
November 6, 1979 Paul Simon kicks off his latest British tour at London's Hammersmith Odeon by offering to buy everyone in the audience a drink. The tab comes to about $2,000.
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 14, 1979 The film version of Quadrophenia, The Who's 1973 rock opera about growing up mod in London, premieres at the Toronto Film Festival.
September 12, 1979 The ABC news program 20/20 runs the special "The Elvis Cover-Up," which alleges that Elvis Presley's death was linked to prescription drugs. When his doctor, George Nichopoulous, is brought to trial, evidence shows that Elvis had prescriptions for about 10,000 doses of drugs just in the year he died (1977).
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 28, 1979 "I Don't Like Mondays" by The Boomtown Rats, a song about a real-life school shooting in America, goes to #1 in the UK for the first of four weeks.
July 14, 1979 Donna Summer's "Bad Girls," a song about prostitutes, hits #1 in America.More
July 1, 1979 The Sony Walkman debuts in Japan, making music portable.More
May 23, 1979 Responding to a wave of lawsuits after refusing to transfer his contract to MCA Records, Tom Petty files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a bold move that halts the legal proceedings and forces MCA to negotiate.More
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 17, 1979 Talking Heads make their first major TV appearance, performing "Take Me to the River" on American Bandstand. The lip-synced performance goes well, but the interview is a little awkward.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
January 29, 1979 16-year-old Brenda Spencer opens fire on Cleveland Elementary School in San Diego, California, from her home across the street, killing two adults and injuring nine kids. When asked why she did it, she replies, "I don't like Mondays," which the Boomtown Rats use as the title for a song about the incident.
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
October 6, 1978 Atlantic Records head Ahmet Ertegun meets with Jesse Jackson, who has beef with The Rolling Stones' "Some Girls," specifically the line, "black girls just want to get f--ked all night."More
October 4, 1978 Tammy Wynette claims that on this day she was kidnapped from a Nashville shopping mall and then beaten and dumped by the side of the road. Wynette struggled with an addiction to prescription pain killers, which contributed to her death in 1998. Her daughter claimed that she made up the story about the kidnapping, possibly to explain bruises inflicted by her husband.
July 29, 1978 The Grease soundtrack hits #1 in the US, thanks to the hits "You're the One That I Want" and "Summer Nights."More
July 1, 1978 The Texxas Jam takes place at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, with Aerosmith, Van Halen, Journey and Ted Nugent performing. 80,000 fans brave the 100 degree heat, cooled down by fire hoses brought in by the organizers. For Aerosmith, it marks a low point in their career as drug use and infighting are about to break up the band, and their performance suffers.
June 18, 1978 Grace Slick takes the stage with Jefferson Starship at the Lorelei Festival in Hamburg, Germany, in a state of drunkenness. After she taunts the crowd with comments about Nazis and World War II, the crowd riots, destroying much of their equipment. Slick does not return to the band until 1983.
May 16, 1978 Joe Walsh releases his fourth album, But Seriously, Folks..., where he indulges in an underwater meal in the artwork.More
May 6, 1978 The model Cheryl Tiegs appears on the cover of Time magazine, inspiring Bob Seger's song "Hollywood Nights."More
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