On this day in 1980: Four masked robbers broke in to Todd Rundgren’s New York house and proceeded to steal Hi-Fi equipment and paintings after tying the musician up. It was reported that one of the intruders had been humming his hit ‘I Saw The Light’.
On this day in 1983: KC and the Sunshine Band were at #1 on the U.K. singles chart with ‘Give It Up’. The American disco group’s only U.K. chart topper spent three weeks at #1.
Following the backlash against many disco artists on the charts at the beginning of the 1980s, the song was a comeback hit for the act in the U.S. Epic Records refused to release it; however, the independent Meca Records label showed its support and the song peaked at #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March of 1984. The song had been an even bigger hit in the U.K. several months earlier, where it had hit #1 for three weeks in August of 1983. It went on to become the 18th best-selling single of the year in the U.K. It was the last of the band’s hits in the U.S. and U.K., and the most successful of its 10 U.K. hits.
Here’s what was happening on the U.S. singles chart on this day back in 1983, where The Police were starting their sixth week at #1
1 1 EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE –•– The Police (A&M)-11 (6 weeks at #1) (1)
2 2 SWEET DREAMS (Are Made Of This) –•– The Eurythmics (RCA)-14 (2)
3 3 SHE WORKS HARD FOR THE MONEY –•– Donna Summer (Mercury)-12 (3)
4 7 MANIAC –•– Michael Sembello (Casablanca)-11 (4)
5 4 IS THERE SOMETHING I SHOULD KNOW –•– Duran Duran (Capitol)-11 (4)
6 9 STAND BACK –•– Stevie Nicks (Modern)-11 (6)
7 5 FLASHDANCE…WHAT A FEELING –•– Irene Cara (Casablanca)-20 (1)
8 11 IT’S A MISTAKE –•– Men At Work (Columbia)-7 (8)
9 8 NEVER GONNA LET YOU GO –•– Sergio Mendes (with Joe Pizzulo & Leza Miller) (A&M)-18 (4)
10 13 (Keep Feeling) FASCINATION –•– The Human League (A&M)-12 (10)
11 6 ELECTRIC AVENUE –•– Eddy Grant (Portrait)-18 (2)
12 22 PUTTIN’ ON THE RITZ –•– Taco (RCA)-8 (12)
13 14 HOT GIRLS IN LOVE –•– Loverboy (Columbia)-10 (13)
14 18 CHINA GIRL –•– David Bowie (EMI-America)-11 (14)
15 20 I’LL TUMBLE 4 YA –•– Culture Club (Virgin)-7 (15)
16 19 ROCK OF AGES –•– Def Leppard (Mercury)-10 (16)
17 10 WANNA BE STARTIN’ SOMETHIN’ –•– Michael Jackson (Epic)-12 (5)
18 17 **1999** –•– Prince (Warner Brothers)-23 (12)
19 23 TAKE ME TO HEART –•– Quarterflash (Geffen)-9 (19)
20 21 SAVED BY ZERO –•– The Fixx (MCA)-12 (20)
