On this day in 1980: John Lennon was shot five times by 25 year old Mark David Chapman outside the Dakota apartment building in New York City where John and Yoko lived. Chapman had been waiting for Lennon outside the Dakota apartment since mid-morning and had asked for (and freceived) an autograph from Lennon earlier in the day. Lennon was pronounced dead from a massive loss of blood at 11.30pm. Chapman has since said he shot the former Beatle because he wanted to “steal” his fame — stating that now he was a bigger nobody than he was before. He also revealed he planned the killing for three months and considered murdering other celebrities who he thought were “phonies.”
On this day in 1984: Hall & Oates started a two week run at #1 on the U.S. singles chart with “Out of Touch.”
The song was released as the lead single from their 12th studio album ‘Big Bam Boom’ on October 4, 1984, by RCA Records. This song was their sixth and last Billboard Hot 100 #1 single, topping the chart for two weeks in December 1984. It also became the duo’s 14th consecutive top 40 hit since 1980.
According to John Oates, he came up with the chorus while randomly playing around with a synthesizer that he did not know how to use. He thought it could be a song for The Stylistics, having a Philly sound. But in the studio the next day a co-producer told him it should be a hit for Hall & Oates themselves. Oates and Hall then co-wrote the verse.
Here’s a look at the complete Top 20 on the U.S. singles chart from this day back in 1984:
1 2 OUT OF TOUCH –•– Daryl Hall & John Oates (RCA)-11 (1 Week at #1) (1)
2 1 WAKE ME UP BEFORE YOU GO-GO –•– Wham! (Columbia)-14 (1)
3 3 I FEEL FOR YOU –•– Chaka Khan (Warner Brothers)-14 (3)
4 7 THE WILD BOYS –•– Duran Duran (Capitol)-6 (4)
5 6 ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT –•– Cyndi Lauper (Portrait)-10 (5)
6 10 NO MORE LONELY NIGHTS –•– Paul McCartney (Columbia)-9 (6)
7 11 SEA OF LOVE –•– The Honeydrippers (Es Paranza)-9 (7)
8 8 PENNY LOVER –•– Lionel Richie (Motown)-10 (8)
9 13 COOL IT NOW –•– New Edition (MCA)-12 (9)
10 14 WE BELONG –•– Pat Benatar (Chrysalis)-7 (10)
11 21 LIKE A VIRGIN –•– Madonna (Sire)-4 (11)
12 5 BETTER BE GOOD TO ME –•– Tina Turner (Capitol)-13 (5)
13 15 I CAN’T HOLD BACK –•– Survivor (Scotti Brothers)-13 (13)
14 9 STRUT –•– Sheena Easton (EMI-America)-16 (7)
15 4 PURPLE RAIN –•– Prince & The Revolution (Warner Brothers)-10 (2)
16 18 VALOTTE –•– Julian Lennon (Atlantic)-8 (16)
17 17 IT AIN’T ENOUGH –•– Corey Hart (EMI-America)-11 (17)
18 19 WALKING ON A THIN LINE Huey Lewis & The News (Chrysalis)-8 (18)
19 12 CARIBBEAN QUEEN (No More Love On The Run) –•– Billy Ocean (Jive)-18 (1)
20 24 ALL I NEED –•– Jack Wagner (Qwest)-8 (20)
