Among my New Year’s resolutions is to give more love to my music history series, the oldest recurring feature on the blog – just kidding, I actually don’t believe in making such grand declarations. That said, researching what happened on a specific date over the past 60 to 70 years is fun, so let’s take a look at January 8.
1957: The first-ever rock & roll tour of Australia kicked off at Newcastle Stadium in New South Wales. It featured Bill Haley and His Comets, The Platters, Freddie Bell and The Bell Boys, La Verne Baker and Joe Turner. The tour was organized by American promoter Lee Gordon. Contrary to predictions from local pundits who viewed rock & roll as a passing fad, the tour was a huge success, breaking box office records with more than 300,000 visitors – never bet against rock & roll!
1966: The Beatles’ Rubber Soul album, which had been released in December 1965, hit no. 1 in the U.S. and would stay in the top spot for six consecutive weeks. The band’s 7th no. 1 album in the U.S. remained in the charts there for 56 weeks. The date coincided with the single We Can Work It Out, which started a three-week run at no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the U.S., We Can Work It Out was included on the June 1966 compilation Yesterday and Today, which gained notoriety because of its initial “butcher cover” depicting The Beatles in white coats and covered with decapitated baby dolls and pieces of raw meat.
1970: Marvin Gaye’s 10th studio album That’s the Way Love Is was released on the Tamla (Motown) label. Naming it after Gaye’s previous hit single, which had reached no. 7 and no. 2 on the U.S. pop and R&B charts, respectively, Motown wanted to capitalize on that success. This contributed to Gaye’s growing disillusionment with the label and, together with other factors, eventually led to what arguably was his best album, What’s Going On, released in May 1971. How Can I Forget, co-written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong and first recorded by The Temptations, became the second single single off That’s the Way Love Is.
1972: British pop group The New Seekers, who had been formed in London in 1969, stood at no. 1 on the UK Official Singles Chart with I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing (In Perfect Harmony). Originally, the song was titled True Love and Apple Pie and penned by British hit songwriters Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway. Subsequently, the lyrics were re-written by Cook and Greenaway, together with U.S. advertising executive Bill Backer and U.S. songwriter Billy Davis, for a Coca-Cola TV commercial. The jingle’s popularity led to re-recorded versions by American folk group The Hillside Singers and The New Seekers.
1979: The Canadian government named Rush “Ambassadors of Music”. Ultimate Classic Rock noted The honor came with a plaque presented in Chicago by W.J. Collett, the country’s consul general, which read: “We wish to recognize the international aspect of the music by this talented Canadian musical group and note the interest shown by American audiences in both performances and recordings.” At the time the band, who was founded in 1968 in Toronto, received the honor, they had released six studio albums. From their then most-recent Hemispheres, which appeared in October 1978, here’s the single Circumstances.
2006: American rock band The Strokes hit no. 1 in the UK with their third studio album First Impressions of Earth, their highest charting there to date. While music critics were divided, the album also did pretty well elsewhere, reaching no. 3 in Ireland and Canada, as well as no. 4 in the U.S. and Australia, among others. Here’s Juicebox, which became the lead single in October 2005.
Sources: Wikipedia; Songfacts Music History Calendar; This Day In Music; Ultimate Classic Rock; YouTube
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