On this day in 1982: Paul McCartney scored his fifth UK #1 album with ‘Tug Of War’. The album featured the duet with Stevie Wonder ‘Ebony & Ivory’, which was inspired by McCartney hearing comedian Spike Milligan say “black notes, white notes, and you need to play the two to make harmony, folks!”, (the ebony (black) and ivory (white) keys on a piano).

Also on this day in 1982: Vangelis went to #1 on the U.S. singles chart with ‘Chariots Of Fire’, his only U.S. #1. Vangelis was accused of plagiarizing ‘Chariots of Fire’ from a song by fellow Greek composer Stavros Logaridis called ‘City of Violets’. Vangelis won in court by convincing the judge to allow him to bring his keyboard setup into the court to demonstrate his method of composing by improvising new music.

 It was written and recorded by Vangelis for the soundtrack of the 1981 film ‘Chariots of Fire.’ It has been covered by numerous performers and used for various television programs and sporting events. “Chariots of Fire” stayed #1 for one week on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1982, after climbing steadily for five months (it made #1 in its 22ndweek on the chart), and to date remains the only piece by a Greek artist to top the U.S. charts.

Here’s a look at the complete top 20 on the U.S. singles chart from this day back in 1982:

1 2 CHARIOTS OF FIRE –•– Vangelis (Polydor)-22 (1 week at #1) (1)
2 3 EBONY AND IVORY Paul McCartney with Stevie Wonder (Columbia)-5 (2)
3 1 I LOVE ROCK ‘N ROLL Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (Boardwalk)-14 (1)
4 5 DON’T TALK TO STRANGERS –•– Rick Springfield (RCA)-10 (4)
5 4 FREEZE-FRAME –•– The J. Geils Band (EMI-America)-12 (4)
6 8 867-5309/JENNY –•– Tommy Tutone (Columbia)-16 (6)
7 6 WE GOT THE BEAT –•– The Go-Go’s (I.R.S.)-15 (2)
8 9 ’65 LOVE AFFAIR –•– Paul Davis (Arista)-11 (8)
9 10 I’VE NEVER BEEN TO ME –•– Charlene (Duncan) (Motown)-13 (9)
10 11 DID IT IN A MINUTE –•– Daryl Hall and John Oates (RCA)-8 (10)

11 13 GET DOWN ON IT –•– Kool and the Gang (De-Lite)-11 (11)
12 14 THE BEATLES MOVIE MEDLEY –•– The Beatles (Capitol)-7 (12)
13 15 THE OTHER WOMAN –•– Ray Parker, Jr. (Arista)-8 (13)
14 16 ALWAYS ON MY MIND –•– Willie Nelson (Columbia)-10 (14)
15 20 HEAT OF THE MOMENT –•– Asia (Geffen)-4 (15)
16 21 DON’T YOU WANT ME –•– The Human League (A&M)-10 (16)
17 17 GOIN’ DOWN –•– Greg Guidry (Columbia)-13 (17)
18 7 DO YOU BELIEVE IN LOVE Huey Lewis and the News (Chrysalis)-14 (7)
19 23 EMPTY GARDEN (Hey Hey Johnny) –•– Elton John (Geffen)-8 (19)
20 22 HANG FIRE –•– The Rolling Stones (Rolling Stones)-8 (20)