On this day in 1981: R.E.M. appeared at The Scorpio, Charlotte, North Carolina. This show was billed as “Charlotte’s First Gay New Wave Disco and Costume Party”, with the $3 tickets benefitting various gay-lesbian charities. On this day in 1984: Ray Parker Jr. was enjoying his third and final week at #1 on the U.S. […]
Tag: 1981
This Day In 80s Music, August 24th
On this day in 1981: Mark Chapman was given a 20 year jail sentence for the murder of John Lennon. The 25 year old had shot Lennon five times at close range on December 8th, 1980 in front of The Dakota apartment building in New York City. Over the next few months, Chapman would claim […]
This Day In 80s Music, August 15th
On this day in 1981: Diana Ross and Lionel Richie started a nine week run at #1 on the U.S. singles chart with ‘Endless Love’, a #7 hit in the U.K. The song was the title from a film starring Brooke Shields. Ross and Richie recorded the song for Motown, and it was used as […]
This Day In 80s Music, August 8th
On this day in 1981: MTV broadcast its first stereo concert with REO Speedwagon performing in Denver, Colorado, The band had released the album Hi Infidelity ten months earlier and performed the hit singles, ‘Keep On Loving You,’ ‘Take It On the Run’ and ‘Don’t Let Him Go.’ On this day in 1987: U2 scored […]
This Day In 80s Music, August 6th
On this day in 1981: Stevie Nicks released her first solo album ‘Bella Donna’ which contained four top 40 U.S. hits. ‘Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around’, (with Tom Petty), ‘Leather and Lace’, (with Don Henley), ‘Edge of Seventeen’ and ‘After the Glitter Fades.’ On this day in 1982: Pink Floyd’s ‘The Wall’ starring Bob Geldof opened […]
This Day In 80s Music, August 1st
On this day in 1981: On Saturday, August 1, 1981, at 12:01 AM (Eastern Time), MTV was officially launched with the words “Ladies and gentlemen, rock and roll,” spoken by John Lack and played over footage of the first Space Shuttle launch countdown of Columbia (which took place earlier that year) and of the launch […]
This Day In 80s Music, July 25th
On this day in 1980: AC/DC released their sixth internationally released studio album ‘Back In Black’, the first AC/DC album recorded without former lead singer Bon Scott who died on February 19, 1980 at the age of 33. The album has sold an estimated 50 million copies worldwide to date, making it one of the […]
This Day In 80s Music, July 18th
On this day in 1981: Kim Carnes was beginning her NINTH and final week at #1 on the U.S. singles chart with ‘Bette Davis Eyes.’ “Bette Davis Eyes” was written and composed by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon in 1974. It was originally recorded by DeShannon in that year for her album ‘New arrangement’, but […]
This Day In 80s Music, July 16th
On this day in 1981: U.S. singer-songwriter Harry Chapin, who had success in the 70s with ‘Taxi’, ‘W-O-L-D’ and the #1 hit ‘Cats In The Cradle’, was killed at age 38, suffering a cardiac arrest while driving on the Long Island Expressway in New York. His car was hit from behind by a tractor-trailer, causing […]
This Day In 80s Music, July 11th
On this day in 1981: The Specials had their second and final UK #1 single with ‘Ghost Town’. Despite being a song about Coventry, the band chose to film the video of themselves driving a Vauxhall Cresta around some empty London streets. On this day in 1982: Phil Collen, former guitarist with the glam rock […]