On this day in 1980: Paul McCartney was jailed for nine days in Tokyo for marijuana possession after being found with 219g on his arrival at Narita Airport in Japan. McCartney said in 2004. “This stuff was too good to flush down the toilet, so I thought I’d take it with me.”
On this day in 1988: 24 years after The Beatles first topped the chart, George Harrison went to #1 on the U.S. singles chart with ‘Got My Mind Set On You’ an old favorite of George’s that was originally recorded by James Ray in 1962. In the U.K., Harrison’s version spent four weeks at #2.
The first time Harrison heard the song was during a visit to his sister in the United States in 1963, five months before the Beatles first appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. His sister lived in the countryside of Illinois. While there, Harrison visited record shops and bought a variety of albums. One was James Ray’s 1962 album that contained the song “I’ve Got My Mind Set on You.” In January 1987, Harrison began recording the song at his Friar Park home studio, with Jeff Lynne producing and playing bass and keyboards, Jim Keltner on drums, Jim Horn on sax, and Ray Cooper on percussion.
Of Harrison’s three #1 singles in the U.S, it was both the only song not written or composed by Harrison himself. Not only was it the last U.S. #1 hit by Harrison, but, as of 2020, the last from any of the ex-Beatles in the U.S. When the song hit #1, it broke a three-way tie between Harrison, John Lennon and Ringo Starr, all of whom had two #1 hit singles as solo artists (McCartney had 7 solo #1s at that point in time). It also happened to be the #1 single in the U.S. the week immediately preceding the induction of The Beatles into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, making Harrison one of the few inductees to have an active single on the U.S. charts at the time of induction. Billboard ranked the song at #3 for the entire year of 1988.
Here’s a look at the complete Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 from this day back in 1988:
1 2 GOT MY MIND SET ON YOU –•– George Harrison – 13 (1)
2 1 SO EMOTIONAL –•– Whitney Houston – 12 (1)
3 5 THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEEL –•– Michael Jackson – 9 (3)
4 6 NEED YOU TONIGHT –•– INXS – 13 (4)
5 14 COULD’VE BEEN –•– Tiffany – 8 (5)
6 12 HAZY SHADE OF WINTER –•– The Bangles – 10 (6)
7 11 CANDLE IN THE WIND –•– Elton John – 11 (7)
8 9 TELL IT TO MY HEART –•– Taylor Dayne – 15 (8)
9 3 FAITH –•– George Michael – 13 (1)
10 4 IS THIS LOVE –•– Whitesnake – 13 (2)
11 16 SEASONS CHANGE –•– Expose – 8 (11)
12 8 CHERRY BOMB –•– John Cougar Mellencamp – 13 (8)
13 7 SHAKE YOUR LOVE –•– Debbie Gibson – 16 (4)
14 17 THERE’S THE GIRL –•– Heart – 11 (14)
15 22 I WANT TO BE YOUR MAN –•– Roger – 10 (15)
16 20 I COULD NEVER TAKE THE PLACE OF YOUR MAN –•– Prince – 10 (16)
17 23 HUNGRY EYES –•– Eric Carmen – 11 (17)
18 21 CRAZY –•– Icehouse – 14 (18)
19 13 CATCH ME (I’M FALLING) –•– Pretty Poison – 17 (8)
20 10 DON’T YOU WANT ME –•– Jody Watley – 16 (6)
