Calendar Search Results: y o u t u b e r
July 2, 1980 Sheena Easton is featured on the BBC show The Big Time, which follows regular people trying to achieve their dreams. With visions of stardom as a singer, she is seen auditioning for EMI, who are suitably impressed and sign her to a deal. Her single "9 To 5" becomes a UK hit two months later and conquers America a year later.
June 27, 1980 Three songs into Led Zeppelin's concert in Nuremberg, drummer John Bonham collapses while beating out the rhythm to "Black Dog" and is rushed to the hospital, abruptly ending the show. Robert Plant jokes that he ate too many bananas before the show, but alcohol is the likely culprit. In September, Bonham dies after a night of drinking.
June 16, 1980 The movie The Blues Brothers, adapted from John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd's classic SNL skit, premieres in Chicago. A love letter of sorts to '60s R&B and soul, it will help re-establish the careers of its musical co-stars, including James Brown, Ray Charles, and Aretha Franklin.
June 13, 1980 The film Roadie, starring Meat Loaf as, yep, a roadie, opens in theaters.More
June 6, 1980 Urban Cowboy, a Western romance film starring John Travolta and Debra Winger, opens in theaters. The mellow country soundtrack spawns hits from Kenny Rogers, Johnny Lee, and Anne Murray, and spurs a trend of pop-leaning fare in country music dubbed the "Urban Cowboy Movement."More
May 20, 1980 The Clash concert in Hamburg, West Germany is plagued by crowd violence. When Joe Strummer smashes one particularly bellicose fan over the head with his guitar, Strummer is arrested, but cleared after a test proves he was not drinking.
May 18, 1980 Battling epilepsy and depression, Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis hangs himself at his home in England.More
May 17, 1980 Weeks after being detained in Tokyo on drug charges, Paul and Linda McCartney appear as musical guests on Saturday Night Live.
May 16, 1980 Elvis Presley's doctor, George Nichopoulous, is arrested for abusing his licence to prescribe controlled drugs. Nichopoulous wrote Elvis prescriptions for over 10,000 doses of narcotics in 1977, the year Elvis died). He is acquitted, but in 1992 the Tennessee Medical Board revokes his license.
May 2, 1980 At the University of Birmingham, England, Joy Division play what transpires to be their final show, two weeks before singer Ian Curtis commits suicide at the age of 23. The show features the band's only live performance of the song "Ceremony," which is later released as the debut single by New Order - a new act formed from the surviving members.
April 28, 1980 Tommy Caldwell (original frontman for The Marshall Tucker Band) dies at age 30 when his Jeep overturns during an accident.
April 19, 1980 The Specials become the first ska band to guest on Saturday Night Live, where they play "Gangsters" and "Too Much Too Young." Their energetic performance wows the crowd but fails to break ska music in America.
April 14, 1980 A New Jersey State assemblyman introduces a resolution to make Bruce Springsteen's "Born To Run" the official state song of New Jersey.
March 29, 1980 Brian Johnson of the band Geordie gets a new, slightly more high-profile gig: replacing the deceased Bon Scott in AC/DC. Johnson's first album with the band is Back In Black, which becomes the second-best selling album worldwide behind Thriller.More
March 22, 1980 Pink Floyd tops the Hot 100 with "Another Brick In The Wall (part II)," which stays a total of four weeks. It's a rare hit single for the band, whose only other Top 40 appearance is "Money," which hit #13 in 1973.More
March 19, 1980 In proceedings against the doctor who supplied the prescription drugs that killed Elvis Presley, Elvis' autopsy is entered as evidence. Dr. George Nichopoulos, who was known as "Dr. Nick" is eventually found guilty of overprescribing the drugs.
March 7, 1980 The Loretta Lynn biopic Coal Miner's Daughter, directed by Michael Apted, debuts in theaters. Sissy Spacek, who does her own singing, wins an Oscar for her portrayal of the country singer. Beverly D'Angelo costars as Lynn's mentor Patsy Cline.More
March 3, 1980 The esteemed auction house Sotheby's holds their first auction of rock memorabilia. Four dollar bills signed by The Beatles are sold for $528.
February 29, 1980 Buddy Holly's iconic glasses, which were lost in the plane crash that killed him in Iowa, are found in evidence by a local sheriff. The glasses were found two months after the crash and turned in to police, where they stayed for the next 21 years.
February 27, 1980 Michael Jackson wins his first Grammy: Best R&B Performance for "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough." Other winners include Donna Summer (Best Female Rock Vocal Performance for "Hot Stuff"), Earth, Wind & Fire (Best R&B Group Vocal Performance for "After the Love Has Gone"), and The Doobie Brothers (Record of the Year and Song of the Year for "What A Fool Believes").
February 19, 1980 AC/DC lead singer Bon Scott dies after a night of heavy drinking. The coroner's report lists "acute alcohol poisoning" as the cause of death, classified under "death by misadventure."More
February 7, 1980 At the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena, Pink Floyd stage the first production of The Wall, an immersive concert performance in which a giant wall is erected on stage as the band plays, representing the alienation between audience and performer.More
February 7, 1980 AC/DC appear on Top of the Pops, where they perform "A Touch Too Much." It's lead singer Bon Scott's last appearance with the band, as he drinks himself to death 12 days later.
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
February 2, 1980 The Specials hit #1 in the UK for the first time with "Too Much Too Young," but they're busy touring America, where their ska sound has yet to find much of an audience.
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.
January 24, 1980 Clever marketing: Pink Floyd advertise their upcoming world tour to promote their album The Wall with a special billboard on Los Angeles' Sunset Strip that is gradually covered up each day with a brick until an entire wall is built over it.
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.
January 9, 1980 At The Fast Lane in Asbury Park, New Jersey, Bruce Springsteen takes the stage with the cover band Atlantic City Expressway to perform his song "The Promised Land." The group's lead singer is a 17-year-old high school kid named John Bongiovi, who later forms the band Bon Jovi.
January 8, 1980 Prince makes his national television debut, performing "I Wanna Be Your Lover" and "Why You Want To Treat Me So Bad" on the NBC variety show Midnight Special.
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