Phonostalgia 50 - 12.06.2008.

11.06.1946 THE INK SPOTS - THE GYPSY - 1
The Ink Spots were a popular black vocal group that helped define the musical genre that led to rhythm & blues and rock and roll, and the subgenre doo-wop. They and the Mills Brothers, another black vocal group of the 1930s and 1940s, gained much acceptance in the white community.

"The Gypsy" is a popular song. It was written by Billy Reid, and published in 1945.
The Gypsy" was originally introduced in the United Kingdom by Reid's orchestra and vocalist Dorothy Squires. In the United States, the song was recorded by The Ink Spots, by Dinah Shore, and by Sammy Kaye's orchestra, becoming a hit for all three.
The recording by The Ink Spots was released by Decca Records as catalog number 18817. It first reached the Billboard magazine charts on May 2, 1946 and lasted 18 weeks on the chart, peaking at #1. [1]
The recording by Dinah Shore was released by Columbia Records as catalog number 36964. It first reached the Billboard magazine charts on May 2, 1946 and lasted 15 weeks on the chart, peaking at #2. This recording was a two-sided hit, with the flip side, "Laughing on the Outside (Crying on the Inside)," reaching #3 the same year. [1]
The recording by Sammy Kaye was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-1844. It first reached the Billboard magazine charts on May 9, 1946 and lasted 10 weeks on the chart, peaking at #4. [1]
The Gypsy was also recorded by Charlie Parker on July 29, 1946, during the famous "Lover" session after which he was committed to the California state mental hospital at Camarillo.
A more recent version, by legendary Memphis record producer and performer Jim Dickinson was included in his 1997 live recording "1000 Footsteps in the Sand", recorded in 1992.

13.06.1948 NAT KING COLE - NATURE BOY - 1
Nathaniel Adams Coles (March 17, 1919 – February 15, 1965), known professionally as Nat King Cole, was a popular American jazz singer-songwriter and pianist.
Cole first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist, then switched his emphasis to singing, becoming one of the most popular and best known vocalists of all time.

"Nature Boy" is a song by eden ahbez, published in 1947. The song tells a fantasy of a "strange enchanted boy... who wandered very far" only to learn that "the greatest thing... was just to love and be loved in return".
The Yiddish songwriter Herman Yablakoff alleged that the melody to "Nature Boy" came from his song "Sveig Mein Härtz" ("Be Still My Heart"). His legal action was ultimately settled out of court.
At any rate, the melody of "Nature Boy" can be clearly heard in multiple passages from Antonín Dvořák's Piano Quintet No. 2 in A, Opus 81 (1887), considered to be one of the greatest pieces of chamber music ever composed.[citation needed]
Either Yablakoff or ahbez or both likely drew their inspiration for the melody from either their experience with the Yiddish theaters in Prague at that time or else from general knowledge of the classics.[citation needed]
The content of the song is based on a 1940s Los Angeles-based group of beatniks called "Nature Boys", of which ahbez himself was part of. They wore long hair and beards, maintaining vegetarian diets and living according to Nature’s Laws.

"Nature Boy" was a primary theme of the score for the 1948 motion picture The Boy with Green Hair. The original version of the song was used for it. The Nat King Cole rendition set the tone for and was used several times in Untamed Heart (1993), which starred Marisa Tomei and Christian Slater.
"Nature Boy" was also featured prominently in Moulin Rouge! as the opening song, as well as a recurring melody throughout the rest of the movie (see below). It was played on the trumpet accompanied by flute in the 2001 film Angel Eyes during a jazz improvisation in a club.
"Nature Boy" features in the French film Peindre ou Faire L'Amour ("To Paint or Make Love"), 2007, starring Daniel Auteuil.
"Nature Boy" was also featured at the end of the second episode of Fox's New Amsterdam, "Golden Boy," 2008.

15.06.1956 PAT BOONE - I'LL BE HOME - UK 1
Charles Eugene Patrick Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer whose smooth style made him a popular performer of the 1950s. His cover versions of African-American rhythm and blues hits had a noticeable impact on the development of the broad popularity of rock and roll. He is also an actor, a motivational speaker, a television personality, and a conservative political commentator.

Hit singles 1956: "Gee Whittakers!" (#19); "I'll Be Home" (#4); "Tutti Frutti" (#12); "Just As Long As I'm With You" (#76); "Long Tall Sally" (#8); "I Almost Lost My Mind" (#1); "Friendly Persuasion" (#5); "Chains of Love" (#20); "Howdy!"(#14)

16.06.1958 JERRY BUTLER - FOR YOUR PRECIOUS LOVE - US 11 - 9
Jerry Butler (born Jerry Butler Jr., December 8, 1939, Sunflower, Mississippi) is an American soul singer and songwriter also known as "The Ice Man" because of his cool demeanour while singing often intensely emotional lyrics. He is also noted as being the original lead singer of the legendary R&B vocal group, The Impressions, as well as a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.

At age 18, Butler wrote the song "For Your Precious Love" and wanted to record a disc. Looking for recording studios, The Impressions auditioned for Chess Records and VeeJay Records. The group eventually signed with Vee-Jay, where they released "For Your Precious Love" in 1958, which became The Impressions' first hit and gold record. Due to conflicts between the group and Vee-Jay, which wanted to bill the group as "Jerry Butler and The Impressions," which neither Butler nor the other group members wanted, he left the group shortly thereafter.

17.06.1962 ORLONS - THE WAH WATUSI - US 2 - 2
The Orlons were an R&B group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that formed in 1960.
The quartet consisted of lead singer Rosetta Hightower, Shirley Brickley, Marlena Davis, and Stephen Caldwell.
Before they became the Orlons, they were an all-girl quintet called Audrey and the Teenettes. They formed in the late 1950s in junior high school and consisted of Hightower, Davis, and three Brickley sisters: Shirley, Jean, and Audrey. However, after the Brickleys' mother did not permit 13-year-old Audrey to sing in certain clubs with the group, she and Jean quit, making the group a trio.
In high school, the group's three remaining members discovered fellow student Stephen Caldwell, who was lead singer of a local group called the Romeos. Impressed, they invited him to join the group in 1960 and named themselves the Orlons as a tongue-in-cheek nod to the friendly rivalry they had with a popular group at their high school, the Cashmeres.[1] (Orlon was a synthetic fibre widely used around that time.)
A high school friend, Dovells lead singer Len Barry, encouraged them to audition for Cameo-Parkway Records at the turn of the decade. The group took his advice in the fall of 1961, but were rejected at first, although the record label eventually signed the group after two more auditions. Cameo executive Dave Appell appointed Hightower as the lead singer, and began writing songs for them.
Before rising to fame with their first national hit, "The Wah-Watusi," the group provided back-up vocals for Dee Dee Sharp's hits "Mashed Potato Time" and "Gravy (for My Mashed Potatoes)." They recorded their own cover versions of those songs for their debut album, The Wah-Watusi.
Davis left the group in August 1963 and Caldwell quit the group in 1964, Sandy Person replaced Davis. A short-lived stint by Yvonne Young was followed by original Teenette, Audrey Brickley, Shirley's sister. By then, the group's popularity had waned in the United States due to misdirection of their record company, Cameo Records. They continued to perform into the late 1960s with success in the UK. They disbanded in 1968 after Hightower decided to stay in England after a tour. Hightower had (and still has) a successful career as a soloist and as an in-demand session singer, backing Joe Cocker, John Holt and other popular artists. She married record producer Ian Green.
In later years, Davis married and found work as an executive secretary, while Caldwell became a Union Shop Steward of the bus drivers' trade union Then became The Administrator of the Unions Legal fund in Philadelphia and served on the Philadelphia Board of Education for 29 years. In 1988, Caldwell and Davis re-formed the group with two new members and performed live on the oldies circuit until Davis's death in 1993.
On October 13, 1977, Shirley Brickley was shot to death by an intruder in her home in Philadelphia. Davis lost a battle with lung cancer on February 27, 1993 (age 48). Audrey Brickley died of acute respiratory distress syndrome on July 3, 2005 (aged 58). Stephen and Jean Brickley still perform as The Orlons with two of Stephen's cousins Albreta Crump and Madeline Morris..

"The Wah-Watusi" (US 2) Album (1): 1962: The Wah-Watusi (US #80)

14.06.1964 STAN GETZ & ASTRUD GILBERTO - THE GIRL FROM IPANEMA - US 5 - 10
Stanley Gayetzky (February 2, 1927 in Philadelphia – June 6, 1991 in Malibu, California), usually known by his stage name Stan Getz, was an American jazz saxophone player. Known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, Getz's prime influence was the wispy, mellow tone of his idol, Lester Young. In 1986, however, Getz said: "I never consciously tried to conceive of what my sound should be..."
In 1986, he was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame.
Astrud Gilberto (born March 29, 1940) is a Brazilian singer best known for her samba and bossa nova music, most famously as the vocalist on the Grammy Award winning song "The Girl from Ipanema".
The Girl from Ipanema, Album: Getz/Gilberto (Recorded 18.03.1963)
João Gilberto (born João Gilberto Prado Pereira de Oliveira on June 10, 1931 in Juazeiro, Bahia) is a Grammy Award-winning Brazilian singer and guitarist. He is credited with having created the bossa nova beat and is known as the "Father of Bossa Nova." His seminal recordings, including many songs by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, established the new musical genre in the late 1950s.

"The Girl from Ipanema" ("Garota de Ipanema") is a well-known bossa nova song, a worldwide hit in the mid-1960s that won a Grammy for Record of the Year in 1965. It was written in 1962, with music by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Portuguese lyrics by Vinicius de Moraes with English lyrics written later by Norman Gimbel. When sung by female artists it is typically rendered as "The Boy from Ipanema".
The first commercial recording was in 1962, by Pery Ribeiro. The version performed by Astrud Gilberto, along with João Gilberto and Stan Getz, from the 1963 album Getz/Gilberto, became an international hit. Numerous recordings have been used in movies, sometimes as an elevator music cliché (for example, near the end of "The Blues Brothers" and "Hitman" when agent 47 shoots a small team of SWAT soldiers whilst they are traveling in an elevator).
In 2004, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.

Album Getz/Gilberto (Recorded 18.03.1963), is a jazz bossa nova album released by the American saxophonist Stan Getz and the Brazilian guitarist João Gilberto, featuring composer and musician Antonio Carlos Jobim, in 1964.
Its release created a bossa nova craze in the United States, and subsequently internationally. It brought together Stan Getz, who had already performed the genre on his LP Jazz Samba, João Gilberto (one of the creators of the style), and Jobim, a celebrated Brazilian songwriter (and also one of the main creators of the genre), who wrote most of the songs in the album.
It became one of the best-selling jazz albums of all times, and turned singer Astrud Gilberto, who sang on the track of "The Girl from Ipanema" and "Corcovado", into an international sensation.
It won the 1964 Grammy Awards for Best Album of the Year, Best Jazz Instrumental Album - Individual or Group and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. "The Girl from Ipanema" also won the award for Best Record of the Year in 1965.
JazzTimes (11/94, pp.88-89) - "...essential for all serious jazz collections...served as proof that it is possible for music to be both artistically and commercially successful...this relatively sparse setting with the great Getz perfectly fit the music, resulting in a true gem..."
Vibe (12/99, p.158) - Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 454 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

13.06.1965 JAY & THE AMERICANS - CARA, MIA – US 4 – 11
Jay and the Americans were a pop music group popular in the 1960s. Their initial lineup consisted of John "Jay" Traynor, Howard Kane (né Kirschenbaum), Kenny Vance (né Rosenberg) and Sandy Deanne (né Yaguda).
The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2002.

They were discovered while performing in student venues at New York University in the late 1950s. They auditioned for Leiber and Stoller, who gave the group its name. In the manner of the time, Leiber and Stoller wanted to extend this to "Binky Jones and the Americans", but Traynor declined to be known as Binky Jones his whole career. He instead offered up "Jay", a family nickname, and it suited everyone.
With Jay Traynor singing lead, they first hit the Billboard charts in 1962 with the tune "She Cried", which reached #5 (later covered by The Shangri-Las, Aerosmith, and others). The next two singles didn't fare nearly as well, and Traynor left the group. David Black (né Blatt) of The Empires took his place (after first agreeing to adopt the name Jay Black), and Empires' guitarist Marty Sanders (né Kupersmith) also joined. Black sang lead for the rest of the group's popular existence, that is, until 2006.
They returned to the charts in 1963 with "Only In America", a song originally meant for The Drifters. Other notable hits for Jay and the Americans were "Come a Little Bit Closer" in 1964, which hit #3, and "Cara Mia" in 1965, which hit #4. They also recorded a commercial for H.I.S. Slacks and a public service announcement for the Ad Council, featuring a backing track by Brian Wilson and Phil Spector.
In 1968, they recorded an album of their favorite oldies called Sands of Time, which included "This Magic Moment", which was originally done by the Drifters. The single went to #9 in January 1969 (Black was astounded and claims that he much prefers the version by the Drifters). This was the last top ten record for Jay and the Americans, although a follow-up album, Wax Museum, in January 1970, did yield the #19 hit single "Walkin' In The Rain", first recorded by The Ronettes. Their next singles failed to chart, and the band grew apart, but the demand for appearances remained.

"Cara Mia" is a popular song published in 1954. The title means "my beloved" in Italian. The United Kingdom singer David Whitfield first recorded the song with the Mantovani Orchestra in 1954. This recording made the charts in the United States, and in the UK it was the first record to spend ten weeks in the #1 slot on the charts. In 1965 it was recorded by Jay and the Americans for a #4 chart hit in the USA.
Authorship of the song was credited to "Tulio Trapani and Lee Lange." In reality Lee Lange was a pseudonym for David Whitfield's producer Bunny Lewis, and Tulio Trapani was the nom de plume of the song's co-writer and arranger Mantovani.

13.06.1965 OTIS REDDING - I'VE BEEN LOVING YOU TOO LONG - 21 – 6
Otis Ray Redding, Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an influential American deep soul singer. According to the website of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (where he was inducted in 1989), Redding's name is "synonymous with the term soul, music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of funky, secular testifying.

I've Been Loving You Too Long, Album (3): Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul, 15.09.1965.

"I've Been Loving You Too Long" (sometimes issued as "I've Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)") is a song written by Otis Redding and Jerry Butler. It appeared as the A-side of a 1965 hit single by Otis Redding - and subsequently appeared on his third album, Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul. The B-side of the single "Just One More Day," was also a minor hit, reaching #15 on the R&B and #85 on the pop singles charts.

The first cover of the song was a recording by The Rolling Stones in 1965 - shortly after Redding's original version became a hit. It was included on the Stones' first live album, Got Live if You Want It!, but was overdubbed with screaming girls. Redding's profile among white audiences - especially in Europe - was considerably advanced by the exposure given to one of his compositions by the Stones. Returning the compliment - Otis Redding covered a Rolling Stones song "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" - written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
The most widely known cover version of the song was by Ike and Tina Turner in 1968. It was the lead track from their 1968 Blue Thumb album entitled "Outta Season". The Turners can be seen performing the tune in the live concert video of The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter". The Turner's version differs from the original greatly. During the live concert, and briefly on the audio, the Turners insert a provocative, seductive conclusion of the song. This is the call and response done by the duo:
Ike: You can make me do anything you want me to do... Tina: You can make me do anything you want me to do. Ike: And I'll say... Tina: And I'll...I'll even say anything you want me to say. Ike: Buy you... Tina: I'll buy you anything you want me to buy you. Ike: If ya... Tina: If you just stay and make..and make love to me...
After this dialogue Tina Turner is handling the microphone in a raunchy way. Ike is making suggestive, pornographic slurping noises while playing the guitar. The song ends with Tina having a simulated "orgasm", while yelling "Come on baby, sock it, sock it, sock it to me baby-Oh Oh Ohhhh baby!". Their version peaked at number 23 on the R&B charts and number 68 on the Pop.
Another cover of the song (in 1969) was Barbara Mandrell's debut single as an artist. Etta James covered it on her 1997 album, Love's Been Rough On Me; (she also covered the B-side, "Just One More Day" of the original Redding single, on her "Otis Redding Medley" on the album, Live From San Francisco (1994)).
Australian solo artist, Johnny Diesel, covered the song on his 1992 album The Lobbyist. It was issued as a single in the same year, and became a Diesel favourite, also appearing on his compilation album, Rewind - The Best Of. The song was also covered by the British band, Tindersticks, and appeared on their album, Donkeys 92-97.
The track also appeared as part of a medley, with "Drown in My Own Tears" and "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby", on Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen album.

Album (3): Otis Blue: Otis Redding Sings Soul is the third album by soul singer Otis Redding and is considered by many critics to be Redding's first great album. Recorded in April and July of 1965, it was released September 15th of that same year. An expanded reissue was released in April 22nd of 2008. Four of the tracks had already or would later be released as singles.

Otis Blue includes covers of three songs by Sam Cooke, Redding's idol, who died the previous December in 1964. Their styles couldn't have been more different; Cooke smooth and sure, Redding raw and pleading. But Redding's versions of "Shake" and "A Change Is Gonna Come" show how Cooke's sound and message helped shape Redding's Southern soul sound. Redding's singing reaches a new level of expressiveness with this as well as with covers of B.B. King's "Rock Me Baby" and the Motown hit "My Girl". Also featured is Redding's rendition of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", a song epitomizing the fully formed Stax/Volt sound and which Mick Jagger and Keith Richards originally wrote in tribute to and imitation of Redding's style. Redding had never heard the original before he recorded his version only two months after the Stones' single was released, and changed some of the words, including singing "satisfaction" as "satisfashion". Redding said, "I use a lot of words different than the Stones' version. That's because I made them up".

"Respect" was a Redding original which became much more famous with Aretha Franklin's cover version. The album opener and B-side to his "Respect" single, "Ole Man Trouble", is a sign of Redding's emerging mature and reflective side that was to culminate in the posthumous "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay". "I've Been Loving You Too Long", co-written with Jerry Butler, was Redding's biggest hit until "The Dock of the Bay". The emotional album closer, "You Don't Miss Your Water", was written by fellow Stax mate William Bell four years prior to this recording and is given a deep soul treatment with a passionate shout by Redding as is Solomon Burke's "Down in the Valley". The album, with the exception of "I've Been Loving You Too Long", was recorded in a 24-hour session in July by Redding and the Stax house band, which included Isaac Hayes and Booker T. & the MG's, among others.

Otis Blue is regarded by many as one of the greatest soul albums of all time and ranks near the top of many "best album" lists in disparate genres. NME ranked it 35 on their list of the "Greatest Albums of All Time". [1] The album was also ranked 74 on the Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list, 92 on Time magazine's list of the All-Time 100 Greatest Albums, and included in Q magazine's Best Soul Albums of All Time list. Rolling Stone magzine later described the album as "Redding's true dictionary of soul, a stunning journey through the past and future vocabulary of R&B....documenting a masterful artist rising to...the immense challenge of his times."[2]


Side One
1. "Ole Man Trouble" (Redding) – 2:55
2. "Respect" (Redding) – 2:05
3. "A Change Is Gonna Come" (Cooke) – 4:17
4. "Down in the Valley" (Berns, Burke, Chivian, Martin) – 3:02
5. "I've Been Loving You Too Long" (Redding, Butler) – 3:10

Side Two
1. "Shake" (Cooke) – 2:35
2. "My Girl" (Robinson, White) – 2:52
3. "Wonderful World" (Cooke, Adler, Alpert) – 3:00
4. "Rock Me Baby" (King, Josea) – 3:20
5. "Satisfaction" (Jagger, Richards) – 2:45
6. "You Don't Miss Your Water" (Bell) – 2:53

11.06.1967 PETULA CLARK - DON'T SLEEP IN THE SUBWAY - 5 – 7
Petula Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932), is an English singer, actress and composer best known for her upbeat popular international hits of the 1960s, especially "Downtown". With more than 70 million records sold worldwide, she is the most successful British female solo recording artist and is cited as such in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Don't Sleep in the Subway / Here Comes the Morning; Album These Are My Songs

"Don't Sleep in the Subway" was a 1967 single by Petula Clark. In it, the narrator advises her sweetheart against storming out after an argument due to his over-active male ego. If he does, he will "sleep in the subway" or "stand in the pouring rain" merely to prove his point.
The song was cobbled together from three different pieces of music previously composed by Hatch. As the tune progresses, its changes in musical style - from pop to symphonic to a Beach Boys-like melody for the chorus - are obvious. This song uses the chord progression most familiar from the classical piece Pachelbel's Canon.
Contrary to popular belief, the subway of the title doesn't refer to a mass transit system, but rather to underground pedestrian tunnels known as "subways" used to cross wide, heavily-trafficked streets in major United Kingdom cities.
The song, released in April 1967, peaked at #5 on the US charts in June and proved to be Clark's last US Top Ten single. It charted at #1 in Australia, #3 in Rhodesia, #5 in Canada, #7 in New Zealand, #10 in South Africa, #12 in the UK, and #16 in Germany [1]. It was later covered by Frank Sinatra.
The title was used as part of a candidate's name in the Monty Python Election Night Special sketch. It was sung by Michael Palin as Cardinal Richelieu impersonating Petula Clark on the show-within-a-show Historical Impersonations.
Clark frequently has cited it as her favorite Hatch composition and continues to include it in her concert repertoire.

16.06.1968 5TH DIMENSION - STONED SOUL PICNIC - 3 – 12
The Fifth Dimension, also known as The 5th Dimension, is an American popular music vocal group, whose repertoire also includes pop, R&B, soul, and jazz.
The Fifth Dimension were best-known during the late 1960s and early 1970s for popularizing the hits "Up, Up and Away" and "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In."
The five original members were Billy Davis, Jr., Florence LaRue, Marilyn McCoo, Lamonte McLemore, and Ron Townson. They have recorded for several different labels over their long career. Their first work appeared on the Soul City label, which was started by Imperial Records/United Artists Records recording artist Johnny Rivers. The group would later record for Bell/Arista Records ABC Records and Motown Records.
Some of the songwriters popularized by The Fifth Dimension later went on to careers of their own, especially Ashford & Simpson, who wrote "California Soul". The group is also notable for having more success with the songs of Laura Nyro than Nyro did herself, particularly in the cases of "Wedding Bell Blues", "Stoned Soul Picnic", and "Save the Country". The group also covered music by well known songwriters such as the song "One Less Bell To Answer" written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David.

Stoned Soul Picnic, Album (3): Stoned Soul Picnic, Recorded 11.03. – 19.06.1968

Stoned Soul Picnic is the third album by American pop group The 5th Dimension, released in 1968 (see 1968 in music). Early versions of the album had a lyric sheet inserted in the sleeve.

16.06.1968 HERB ALPERT - THIS GUY'S IN LOVE WITH YOU - US 1 - 4
Herbert "Herb" Alpert (born March 31, 1935) is an American musician most associated with the group variously known as Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass or as Herb Alpert's Tijuana Brass or just TJB for short. He is also famous for being a recording industry executive — he is the "A" of A&M Records (a recording label he and business partner Jerry Moss founded and eventually sold). Alpert's musical accomplishments include five number one hits, twenty-eight albums on the Billboard charts, eight Grammy Awards, fourteen Platinum albums and fifteen Gold albums.[1] As of 1996, Alpert had sold 72 million albums worldwide.

This Guy's in Love with You, Album (10): The Beat of the Brass, 1968.

"This Guy's in Love with You" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David and recorded by Herb Alpert. Although known primarily for his trumpet playing as the leader of the Tijuana Brass, Alpert sang lead vocals on this solo recording, as the song's range is narrow enough to accommodate Alpert's vocal skills.
Alpert originally sang "This Guy's in Love with You" on a 1968 television special. In response to numerous viewer telephone calls, the song was released as a single and reached #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in June of that year, remaining in the top position for four weeks. It was not only Alpert's first #1 record, but it was also the first #1 record for his A&M record label. For the single's B-side, Alpert chose "A Quiet Tear," an album track from his first album in 1962, The Lonely Bull.
Eleven years later Alpert would become the first (and only) artist to reach the top of the Hot 100 with both a vocal performance and an instrumental performance ("Rise", 1979).

The Beat of the Brass was the tenth album release by the popular 1960s instrumental group Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. The album was released on the heels of a television special by the same title.
It includes Alpert's only major vocal hit, "This Guy's In Love With You".
The album was reissued by Shout! Factory on August 16, 2005.

11.06.1969 BEATLES - BALLAD OF JOHN & YOKO - UK 1 - 3
The Beatles were a pop and rock group from Liverpool, England formed in 1960. Primarily consisting of John Lennon (rhythm guitar, vocals), Paul McCartney (bass guitar, vocals), George Harrison (lead guitar, vocals), and Ringo Starr (drums, vocals) throughout their career, The Beatles are recognised for leading the mid-1960s musical "British Invasion" into the United States. Although their initial musical style was rooted in 1950s rock and roll and homegrown skiffle, the group explored genres ranging from Tin Pan Alley to psychedelic rock. Their clothes, styles, and statements made them trend-setters, while their growing social awareness saw their influence extend into the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s. After the band broke up in 1970, all four members embarked on solo careers.

The Beatles are one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the history of popular music. The Beatles are the best-selling musical group in history. In the United Kingdom, The Beatles released more than 40 different singles, albums, and EPs that reached number one, earning more number one albums (15) than any other group in UK chart history. This commercial success was repeated in many other countries; their record company, EMI, estimated that by 1985 they had sold over one billion records worldwide.[1] According to the Recording Industry Association of America, The Beatles have sold more albums in the United States than any other band.[2] In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked The Beatles number one on its list of 100 Greatest Rock & Roll Artists of All Time. According to that same magazine, The Beatles' innovative music and cultural impact helped define the 1960s, and their influence on pop culture is still evident today.

Ballad of John and Yoko / B: Old Brown Shoe Released 30.05.1969 (UK)

"Ballad of John and Yoko" is a song released by The Beatles as a single in May 1969. Primarily written by John Lennon, the song was attributed, as was the custom, to the Lennon/McCartney songwriting team. It chronicled the events surrounding Lennon's marriage to Yoko Ono and their subsequent activities together, including their famous first Bed-In, and demonstration of bagism. It was released while the couple was in the middle of their second Bed-In. It was recorded just before the main sessions commenced for the Abbey Road album.
The song is a ballad in the traditional sense of a narrative poem in a song, not in the sense used in modern pop music where the term usually refers to a slow, sentimental love song. It was the seventeenth and final UK number one single for The Beatles. The song is included on the Beatles' Past Masters, Volume Two CD.

The "Ballad of John and Yoko" was performed by Lennon and Paul McCartney; George Harrison was on holiday, and Ringo Starr was filming The Magic Christian. Lennon had a sudden inspiration for the song and called on McCartney, suggesting the two of them record it immediately without waiting for the other Beatles to return.

Lennon was on lead vocal, and played two lead guitars, acoustic guitar and percussion (beating on the back of an acoustic guitar). McCartney sang harmony vocals and played bass, drums, piano, and maracas. The outro guitar riff was inspired by the Dorsey and Johnny Burnette song, "Lonesome Tears in My Eyes", notably covered by The Beatles in their early years and released on the album Live at the BBC.

The song's working title was "The Ballad of John and Yoko (They're Going to Crucify Me)".
It is sometimes listed as "The Ballad of John and Yoko" and sometimes with the shorter title "Ballad of John and Yoko". For example, the picture disc single released in the UK on 30 May, 1969 shows the latter wording on the A-side and the former wording on the B-side of the disc.
Both the song and the circumstances surrounding its rushed recording and release were unusual for the Beatles, and reflect the unhappy status of the band in its final months. Lennon had been unhappy that A-sides for the band's singles over the previous two years had been McCartney compositions, with his songs relegated to B-sides. He had also been angry that the other band members had been cool to the presence and influence of Yoko Ono in the recording studio. The release of this song as single seems to have been a gesture to temporarily appease Lennon, and indeed he did remain with the Beatles long enough to complete the Abbey Road album, before quitting the band in September 1969.
The song was banned by several US radio stations,[3][4] due to the words "Christ" and "crucify" in Lennon's lyric, "Christ, you know it ain't easy, you know how hard it can be; The way things are going — they're gonna crucify me."
These allusions, in combination with Lennon's controversial "Jesus" comment in 1966, might have contributed to the fact that it reached number one in the UK but not in the US.
Additionally, the then-current Spanish government objected to the song due to its statement that Gibraltar was "near Spain" (the status of Gibraltar being a hot issue between the UK government and Franco's dictatorship at the time). This caused it to be dropped from the track lists of Beatles Again (not replaced) and The Beatles 1967-1970 (where it was replaced by the Let It Be version of "One After 909").

13.06.1970 MUNGO JERRY - IN THE SUMMERTIME - UK 1 - 7
Mungo Jerry are an English folk/classic rock group whose greatest success was in the early 1970s, though they have continued throughout the years with an ever-changing line-up, always fronted by Ray Dorset. They are remembered above all for their hit "In the Summertime". Their name was inspired by the poem Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer, from T. S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats.

In the Summertime / B: Mighty Man, Album (2): Electronically Tested, Released March 1971

"In the Summertime" is a song recorded in 1970 by the British pop-blues band Mungo Jerry. Written by the group's leader Ray Dorset, this song, which celebrates the carefree days of summer, reached the No. 1 position on charts around the world (including seven weeks in the UK) and #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in the US. It is considered one of the highest selling recordings of all time with an estimated 23 million copies sold[citation needed].
It was unusual because the initial UK release, on Dawn Records (a new label launched by Pye), was a maxi-single, playing at 33 rpm (whereas singles generally played at 45 rpm), including an additional song, Mighty Man on the A-side, and a much longer track, Dust Pneumonia Blues, on the B-side. As it was housed in a picture sleeve (something which only became commonplace about eight years later), and only sold at a few pence more than the normal 45 rpm two-track single, it was considered excellent value for money. Small quantities of 45 rpm discs, on the light blue Pye record label, were pressed for use in jukeboxes, and these are now rare collectors' items.

Electronically Tested is the second album by Mungo Jerry. The UK release was on Dawn Records, and it appeared with slightly different track listings in other countries, as many territories outside the UK had already added the group’s first hit ‘In The Summertime’ to the running order on the eponymous first album. All songs were written by the group's front man Ray Dorset, apart from an extended version of the Willie Dixon blues standard 'I Just Wanna Make Love To You'. In some other countries, pressings included the Paul King song, ‘Black Bubonic Plague’, and the album was also retitled 'Memoirs of a Stockbroker', as the UK title (taken from an advertisement for contraceptives) was deemed a little too risqué.
Recent reissues on CD (for example that on Repertoire, 1991) have included bonus tracks featuring tracks from the maxi-singles that did not appear on album at the time.
Ray Bissiker, 'Bizz', who guested on recorder, was also the group's roadie.

13.06.1971 JEAN KNIGHT - MR. BIG STUFF - US 2 - 2
Jean Knight (born Jean Caliste on January 26, 1943 in New Orleans, Louisiana), is an African-American soul/R&B/funk singer, best known for her 1971 Stax Records hit, "Mr. Big Stuff."

1/5 single; Mr. Big Stuff (US1; R&B1); Album: Mr. Big Stuff

In May of 1970. she went to Malaco Studios in Jackson, Mississippi for a recording session in which she recorded "Mr. Big Stuff." After the session was finished, the song was given to several national labels, who all rejected it. But when King Floyd's hit "Groove Me" (also recorded at Malaco Studios) became a #1 R&B hit in early 1971, Stax Records remembered Knight's recording of "Mr. Big Stuff," reconsidered, and released it. The song proved to be an instant smash in 1971, reaching #2 on the pop charts and becoming a #1 R&B hit. It went double-platinum and received a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female; it lost to Aretha Franklin's version of "Bridge Over Troubled Water." The next year, Knight was named the "Most Promising Female Vocalist". An album of the same name proved to be fairly successful. A couple more minor hits followed, but disagreements with her producer and Stax terminated Knight's involvement with Stax.


11.06.1972 CORNELIUS BROTHERS & SISTER ROSE - TOO LATE TO TURN BACK NOW - US 2 - 2
Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose was a family soul singing group from Dania Beach, Florida that attained brief popularity in the early 1970s. The original members were the siblings Carter Cornelius, Eddie Cornelius, and Rose Cornelius. Their sister, Billie Jo Cornelius, was added later.
The group hit the pop charts in 1971, with the single "Treat Her Like a Lady" (US R&B Top 20, Billboard Hot 100 #3) and hit again in 1972 with "Too Late to Turn Back Now" (US R&B #5, Hot 100 #2) both written by Eddie Cornelius.
However, the group failed to find any further success on the scale of their first two singles, although two releases, "Don't Ever Be Lonely" and "I'm Never Gonna Be Alone Anymore" reached the Billboard top 40. Their final charting single was "Since I Found My Baby" in 1974, from their third and last album. Their records were all produced by Bob Archibald at The Music Factory in Miami.
The group broke up in 1976 when Carter joined a black Hebrew sect in Miami and adopted the name Prince Gideon Israel. He wrote, recorded and mixed the sect's music and videos for the next 15 years. He was working on a comeback song to return to the pop field when he died of a heart attack in November 1991.
Eddie Cornelius became a born-again Christian and later an ordained pastor. He still continues to sing, produce and write music that reflects his faith in God.

Too Late to Turn Back Now" (US2; R&B 5)

17.06.1972 DON MCLEAN - VINCENT - UK 1 - 2
Donald McLean (born October 2, 1945 in New Rochelle, New York) is an American singer-songwriter. He is most famous for his 1971 album American Pie, containing the renowned songs "American Pie" and "Vincent".

Vincent, Album: American Pie, October 1971

"Vincent" is a song by Don McLean written as a tribute to Vincent van Gogh. It is also known by its opening line, "Starry Starry Night", a reference to van Gogh's painting Starry Night. The song describes different paintings by van Gogh.
Don McLean wrote the lyrics in 1971 after reading a book about the life of the artist. The following year, the song became the #1 hit in the UK and #12 in the USA. For several years, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam played the song daily. A copy of the sheet music is in a safe beneath the museum, along with a set of van Gogh's paint brushes, the hat he wore while painting Starry Night, and various other items.
In 2000, PBS aired Don McLean: Starry, Starry Night, a concert special that was filmed in Austin.

The song clearly demonstrates a deep-seated admiration for not only the work of van Gogh, but also for the man himself. The song includes references to his landscape works, in lines such as "sketch the trees and the daffodils" and "morning fields of amber grain" - which describe the amber wheat that features in several paintings. There are also several lines that may allude to van Gogh's self portraits: perhaps in "weathered faces lined in pain / are soothed beneath the artist's loving hand", McLean is suggesting that van Gogh may have found some sort of consolation in creating portraits of himself. There is, too, a single line describing van Gogh's most famous set of works, Sunflowers. "Flaming flowers that brightly blaze" draws not only on the luminous orange and yellow colours of the painting, but also creates powerful images of the sun itself, flaming and blazing, being contained within the flowers and the painting.
As far as the song goes as a tribute to van Gogh as the man himself, the song reflects on the lack of recognition that van Gogh received. In each chorus, McLean says "They would not listen / they did not know how / perhaps they'll listen now," except in the final verse, McLean says "They would not listen / They're not listening still / Perhaps they never will". This is the story of van Gogh: unrecognised as an artist until after his death. The lyrics suggest that van Gogh was trying to "set [people] free" with the message in his work. McLean feels that this message was made clear to him: "And now I understand what you tried to say to me", he sings. Perhaps it is this eventual understanding that inspired McLean to write the song.
It is also thought that the song intends to portray van Gogh's tough relationship with his family. They were a wealthy family who did not accept him for his schizophrenia ("for they could not love you") and never understood his will to help the poor. It is thought that van Gogh felt that in killing himself he would make the point to his parents. This is seen in the line "Perhaps they'll listen now". Many believe that the song is a touching tribute to van Gogh in respect of the hardship he faced with regards to his mental illness and his admirable good natured ways.
There are also references to van Gogh's sanity and his suicide. Throughout his life, van Gogh was plagued with mental disorders, particularly depression. He "suffered for his sanity" and eventually "took his life, as lovers often do". The word "lover" puts into context how McLean saw the relationship of van Gogh with his art - a relationship of love. This love was strong enough for van Gogh to persevere with his art even without acceptance from his contemporaries: "For they could not love you, but still your love was true".

"Vincent" has been featured on the soundtracks of several TV shows, including Heart of Greed, Nip/Tuck, and The Simpsons.
The song was a favorite of the rapper and activist Tupac Amaru Shakur, who was born the year it was written. He wrote a poem dedicated to Vincent Van Gogh, to whom he felt a deep connection.
The Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam played the song daily in the 1970s and a copy of the sheet music, together with a set of Van Gogh's paint brushes, is buried in a time capsule beneath the museum.
In a 2001 McSweeney's Internet Tendency piece, humorist Kevin Guilfoile reinterpreted the song's lyrics in a carefully constructed conceit: ignoring all accepted connections with Van Gogh, he interprets its lyrics as being about American football.
This song was the favourite of the legendary Irish footballer George Best and was sung at his funeral in 2005 by Brian Kennedy.

Cover versions:

Josh Groban on his debut album, Josh Groban.
The artist Chloë Agnew, a member of the Celtic Woman musical group, released a version of this song on her CD Walking In The Air.
Tori Amos covered this song live on various dates during her 2002-2003 and 2005 tours.
Julie Andrews sings the song in an episode of The Julie Andrews Hour.
Justin Hayward in his solo album Classic Blue with Mike Batt.
This song is covered by Declan Galbraith in his 2006 album Thank You.
Brian Kennedy sang the song at George Best's funeral.
The punk band NOFX released a version of this song on a rarities and b-sides double album.
Jane Olivor covered the song on her 1977 album First Night.
This song was covered by Alan Smith, introduced as "Ya Greetin Faced Sh*te", in 2002, in Glastonbury.[citation needed]
The band Spot 1019 released a version of this song on their 2002 CD In Her Satanic Majesty's Secret Service Entrance.
Chyi Yu covered the song on her 1988 album Whoever Finds This, I Love You.
Chet Atkins covered this song in a fingerstyle guitar arrangement.
Rick Astley covered this song on his 2005 album Portrait.
Julio Iglesias covered this song in his album My Life: The Greatest Hits (disc 1).
Vonda Shepard for the TV show Ally McBeal and its companion album, Heart and Soul.
Garth Brooks performed an acoustic version of this song during his November 12, 2007 concert in Kansas City, MO.
Roberto Vecchioni, an italian singer-songwriter, released an italian covered version of this song on his 2000 album Canzoni e cicogne.

American Pie is the title of a 1971 music album by Don McLean, best known for its title track about The Day the Music Died. The third track, "Vincent," is a tribute to the famed artist Vincent Van Gogh.
The original 1971 LP is dedicated to Buddy Holly [1], and the 1980 reissue is dedicated to Frankie Angulo.[2] The original United Artists Records inner sleeve featured a free verse poem written by McLean about the late William Boyd, also known as Hopalong Cassidy, along with a picture of Boyd in full Hopalong regalia. This sleeve was removed within a year of the album's release.

17.06.1973 PINK FLOYD - MONEY - 13 - 9 – US
Pink Floyd are an English rock band that initially earned recognition for their psychedelic or space rock music, and, as they evolved, for their progressive rock music. They are known for philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative cover art, and elaborate live shows. One of rock music's most successful acts, the group have sold over 200 million albums worldwide including 74.5 million albums in the United States alone.
Pink Floyd had moderate mainstream success and were one of the most popular bands in the London underground music scene in the late 1960s as a psychedelic band led by Syd Barrett; however, Barrett's erratic behaviour eventually forced his colleagues to replace him with guitarist and singer David Gilmour. After Barrett's departure, singer and bass player Roger Waters gradually became the dominant and driving force in the group in the late-1970s, until his eventual departure from the group in 1985. The band recorded several albums, achieving worldwide success with The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977), and The Wall (1979). In 1985, Waters declared Pink Floyd "a spent force", but the remaining members, led by Gilmour, continued recording and touring under the name Pink Floyd. Although they were unsuccessfully sued by Waters for rights to the name, they again enjoyed worldwide success with A Momentary Lapse of Reason (1987) and The Division Bell (1994). Eventually they reached a settlement out of court with Waters allowing them use of the name. Waters performed with the band for the first time in 24 years on 2 July 2005 at the London Live 8 concert.

Money, 23.06.1973. Album: The Dark Side of the Moon, 17.03.1973.

"Money" is the sixth track[1] from British progressive rock band Pink Floyd's 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon. It is the only song on the album to hit the top 20 in the United States charts. On the original LP, it opened the second side of the album. It was written by Roger Waters.
"Money" is notable for its introductory passage of cash registers dinging and coins clinking, much like "Time". However, unlike "Time", the 'money' sounds were recorded specifically for the album, and are featured in a 7/4 beat ryhthm.

The Dark Side of the Moon is a concept album by the British progressive rock band Pink Floyd. It was released on March 17, 1973 in the U.S. and March 24, 1973 in the UK.
The Dark Side of the Moon builds upon previous experimentation Pink Floyd had done, especially on their album Meddle. Its themes include old age, conflict and insanity; the latter possibly inspired by the deteriorating mental state of their former band leader Syd Barrett. The album is notable for its use of musique concrète and conceptual, philosophical lyrics, as found in much of Pink Floyd's work.
The band's most successful release, The Dark Side of the Moon spent 741 consecutive weeks (14 years) on the USA-based Billboard 200 album chart, the longest duration of any album in history.[2] Additionally, the album holds the record of spending the highest amount of time on the Billboard charts, staying there for more than 1,500 weeks (almost 29 years). It is one of three albums tied for the claim of second highest selling album globally of all time, selling forty million or more units.[3] In addition to its commercial success, The Dark Side of the Moon is often considered to be the group's defining work,[4] and is still frequently ranked by music critics as one of the greatest and most influential albums of all time.

12.06.1977 FLEETWOOD MAC - DREAMS - US 1 - 1
Fleetwood Mac are a British/American rock band formed in 1967, who have had high turnover of personnel and varied levels of success. From the band's inception through the end of 1974, no incarnation of Fleetwood Mac lasted as long as two years.
The only member present in the band from the very beginning is its namesake drummer Mick Fleetwood. Bassist John McVie, despite his giving part of his name to the band, did not play on their first single nor at their first concerts. Keyboardist Christine McVie has, to date, appeared on all but two albums, either as a member or as a session musician (and also supplying the artwork for the album Kiln House).
The two most successful periods for the band were during the late 1960s British blues boom, when they were led by guitarist Peter Green; and from 1975-87, with more pop-orientation, featuring Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. The band enjoyed more modest success in the intervening period between 1971 and 1974, with the line-up that included Bob Welch, and also during the 1990s which saw more personnel changes before the return of Nicks and Buckingham, and more recently, the departure of Christine McVie.

Dreams / Songbird, 24.03.1977; Album (13): Rumours, 04.02.1977.

"Dreams" is a song written by singer Stevie Nicks, for her group Fleetwood Mac's 1977 album, Rumours. The song was the only U.S. number one hit for the group, and remains one of their best known songs. In the lyrics, a woman warns a man that he can be driven mad by loneliness in the wake of a broken love affair.
The members of Fleetwood Mac were experiencing emotional upheavals while recording Rumours. Drummer Mick Fleetwood was going through a divorce. Bass player John McVie was separating from his wife, keyboard player Christine McVie. Guitarist Lindsay Buckingham and Nicks were ending their eight-year relationship. "We had to go through this elaborate exercise of denial," explains Buckingham to Blender Magazine, "keeping our personal feelings in one corner of the room while trying to be professional in the other." [1] These circumstances inspired the writing of "Dreams."
Nicks wrote the song at the Record Plant studio in Sausalito, California, in early 1976. "One day when I wasn't required in the main studio," remembers singer Stevie Nicks to Blender, "I took a Fender Rhodes piano and went into another studio that was said to belong to Sly, of Sly & the Family Stone. It was a black-and-red room, with a sunken pit in the middle where there was a piano, and a big black-velvet bed with Victorian drapes."
"I sat down on the bed with my keyboard in front of me," continues Nicks. "I found a drum pattern, switched my little cassette player on and wrote 'Dreams' in about 10 minutes. Right away I liked the fact that I was doing something with a dance beat, because that made it a little unusual for me."
When Nicks played the song to the rest of the group, they decided to record it the following day. Only a basic track was recorded at Sausalito. Recording assistant Cris Morris remembers that "all (they) kept was the drum track and live vocal from Stevie — the guitars and bass were added later in Los Angeles.

Rumours is the thirteenth album by rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1977 (see 1977 in music). It was the second album recorded with this lineup, following the successful self-titled Fleetwood Mac album. In December 1976, prior to the release of the album, Reprise released the single "Go Your Own Way". In 1978, it won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. As of 2007 the album has sold more than 30 million copies[1], and is on the list of best-selling albums of all time.
In the two years since the previous album, things had become rather difficult within the group. Mick Fleetwood separated from his wife Jenny. Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, who were in a relationship when they joined the group, were separated, and John McVie and Christine McVie also separated, although all five remained in the band. This meant that, as Stevie Nicks later pointed out, long hours were spent and some very awkward times were had between people who would otherwise not be in each others' lives. Christine McVie later remarked that they were all writing about each other, hence the title of the album. They didn't realize this immediately, but finally realizing that they had created such a good album together lifted them out of their misery.
"Go Your Own Way" was believed by Nicks to be a gloomy reference to the break-up of their relationship, and she and Buckingham argued about it. "Dreams" was her attempt to be more optimistic. The song was the only U.S. number one hit for the group, and remains one of their best-known songs. "You Make Loving Fun" referred to an affair between Christine McVie and the group's lighting director. "Gold Dust Woman" was a reference to Stevie Nicks's own struggle with drugs. "Don't Stop" was written by Christine McVie after her divorce with John McVie, and it provided an optimistic outlook on their newly-separated lives.
"Oh Daddy" was almost certainly a reference to Mick Fleetwood, the spiritual father of the group who largely held it together, and the only member who was a parent at the time. "Songbird" Christine McVie described as "a little anthem" and said it was for "all of us". It took a long time to record because it had to be one continuous take.[citation needed] The final section of "The Chain" was written first, but at that point there wasn't a song for it to be the end of. Stevie Nicks had written that quite separately, and as she put it "gave it to them". Lindsey Buckingham then had an idea about how it should begin and the first section was re-recorded.
Rumours won a Grammy award in 1978 for Album of the Year for 1977, and spent 31 weeks at the top of the Billboard Music Charts, in spite of some critical panning for perceived pandering to mainstream tastes. By 2003, the album had sold more than 19 million copies in the United States alone and was certified by the RIAA.
In the 1990s, "Songbird" was covered by the late Eva Cassidy, an American singer popular in Britain. Her version became very popular in the United Kingdom.
In 2001, the TV network VH1 placed it at number 16 on the list of the greatest albums of all time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 25 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.. In 2006, Q magazine readers voted Rumours the 68th greatest album of all time.

11.06.1978 ANDY GIBB - SHADOW DANCING - US 1 - 7
Andy Gibb (Manchester, March 5, 1958 – Oxford, March 10, 1988) was an English singer and teen idol, and the youngest brother of Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb, also known as the Bee Gees.

Shadow Dancing; Album (2): Shadow Dancing, 1978 (US 7)

"Shadow Dancing" is a song by Andy Gibb that reached #1 for seven weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978. According to Billboard's Book Of Number One Hits, Gibb became the first solo artist in the history of the U.S. pop charts to have his first three singles hit the number-one spot. Additionally, "Shadow Dancing" was listed by Billboard as being the number one single of 1978.
The song was written by Andy and his brothers (Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb) in Los Angeles, while the trio of brothers were working on the film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. "And one night," Andy would recall, "while we were relaxing, we sat down and we had to start getting tracks together for the album" (also titled Shadow Dancing, which would eventually hit #7 on the U.S. album charts). "So we literally sat down and in ten minutes, we had a group going, (singing) the chorus part. As it says underneath the song, we all wrote it, the four of us."
While Andy Gibb would have three more Top 10 hits in the U.S., this would be his final chart-topping hit in America.

16.06.1979 ANITA WARD - RING MY BELL - UK 1 - 2
Anita Ward (born December 20, 1956 in Memphis, Tennessee) is an African-American singer.
Before signing a recording contract, Anita Ward obtained a degree in psychology from Rust College in Holly Springs, Mississippi, and had become a schoolteacher. While recording her first album, record company owner Frederick Knight presented her with a song he had written the previous year for singer Stacy Lattisaw. Ward did not like the song, but Knight insisted that a dance track was needed to capitalize on the current disco trend, and Ward relented. The song, which was originally a juvenile-targeted tune about teens talking on the telephone, was rewritten with more "adult" lyrics, and the result was the single "Ring My Bell" which reached number one in Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom in 1979. Disputes with Frederick Knight, a car accident, and the fading appeal of disco music halted Ward's career, and she came to be regarded as a one hit wonder. Only one other single of hers made the Billboard charts in the U.S., "Don't Drop My Love," which halted at #87.
On New Year's Eve 2002 she performed "Ring My Bell" in New York City's Times Square before a crowd of revelers as part of the city's official celebration.
On New Years's Eve 2005, Anita performed in Memphis, Tennessee at Bealstreet. She sang her number one classic hit "Ring My Bell" and several other disco hits.
She has also appeared in Zagreb, Croatia on January 4, 2006, the night before the FIS World Cup slalom race on nearby Sljeme with some other groups and singers from disco era (Nile Rodgers & Chic, Village People, Thelma Houston and Rose Royce).

Ring My Bell / B: Make Believe Lovers (US1; UK1; R&B1); Album: Songs Of Love, 1979.

"Ring My Bell" is a popular disco song by Anita Ward. Released in 1979, the song hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100, Ward's only major hit. It also reached number one on the UK Singles Chart.
"Ring My Bell" has been covered by many artists since its original release, including Ann Lee, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince, Tori Amos, Blood Sisters, Dynamic Duo, D'Flow Production Squad, Collette, Saïan Supa Crew, INOJ, Pato Fu, The Countdown Singers and Joey Boy. It has also been remixed many times over and is considered a disco-era classic.

Anita Ward's version played in the 1981 movie Playgirl, 1998 movie The Waterboy, 1999 movie Mystery Men, 2001 movie Corky Romano, 2007 movie Are We Done Yet?.

13.06.1981 SMOKEY ROBINSON - BEING WITH YOU - UK 1 - 2
William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is noted for being one of the primary figures associated with Motown Records, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy. As both a member of Motown group The Miracles and a solo artist, Robinson recorded thirty-seven Top 40 hits for Motown between 1960 and 1987, and also served as the company's vice president from 1961 to 1988.

Being with You, Album (11.Motown): Being with You, 17.02.1981.

"Being with You" is a song recorded by Smokey Robinson and is the title-track from his 1981 album, Being with You (album).
The song was a number one hit in the UK for two weeks in June 1981, becoming Robinson's second UK #1 single and his first as a solo artist. It would mark his last appearance on the UK charts. In the US, the song reached #2 behind "Bette Davis Eyes" by Kim Carnes.

12.06.1982 ADAM ANT - GOODY TWO SHOES - UK 1 - 2
Adam Ant (born Stuart Leslie Goddard on 3 November 1954) is an English musician, who gained popularity as the lead singer of 1980s New Wave/post-punk group Adam & the Ants and later as a solo artist. He is also an actor, having appeared in two dozen films or television episodes between 1985 and 1999.

Goody Two Shoes / Red Scab; Album (1): Friend or Foe, October 1982

"Goody Two Shoes" is a popular song by Adam Ant. The song was released on the album Friend or Foe in 1982. The title phrase is a disparaging term for someone who is overly virtuous or conformist.
Following the dissolution of Adam and the Ants in early 1982, Adam Ant pursued a solo career. His debut as a solo artist, "Goody Two-Shoes" was written by Adam Ant and Marco Pirroni and produced by Ant, Pirroni and Chris Hughes. The song details his frustration with press intrusion, which was reinforced by the video and his clean cut image.
The song was an instant hit reaching #1 on the UK singles chart for two weeks in June 1982 and later repeating the feat in Australia. Despite the success this was his third and final #1 single. The song was his first and biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US peaking at #12.
Punk band Unwritten Law later covered this song. The original version, by Adam Ant, was featured in the film Hot Fuzz.

Friend or Foe was the first solo album by Adam Ant, released after Adam & the Ants disbanded in early 1982. Friend or Foe also became Adam Ant's most successful solo album giving him the hit song "Goody Two-Shoes" which peaked at #1 on the UK charts, and at #12 in the USA; along with the innovative video, this made him a crossover (over the Atlantic) star. The traditional Ant sound was augmented by newer, more rockabilly-influenced guitar as well as new beats, such as the Bo Diddley beat on the fan favourite "Place in the Country". Other hits produced from the record were "Desperate But Not Serious" (UK #33) and "Friend or Foe" (UK #9) A remastered version was released in 2005, featuring 12 additional tracks.

16.06.1985 BRYAN ADAMS - HEAVEN - US 1 – 2
Bryan Adams (born Bryan Guy Adams on November 5, 1959) is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter, musician and photographer. Some of his best-known albums are Reckless, 18 til I Die, and Waking Up the Neighbours. Adams has been nominated three times for Academy Awards for his songwriting in films

Heaven; Album (4): Reckless, 05.11.1985.

"Heaven" is a power ballad written by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance and was first released in 1983 on the soundtrack album for A Night In Heaven, a film about a male stripper.
Adams refused to release the song in conjunction with the film and waited to re-release it in 1984 on his own album Reckless. The song was finally released in 1985 as a single with the song Diana on the b-side. The single became Adams' first number-one on the United States Billboard Hot 100. It reached number thirty-eight in the UK Singles Chart that year.
The track featured Journey drummer Steve Smith on drums and was recorded in NYC during a day off in the middle of a tour they were doing together.

Reckless is the fourth album by Canadian rock musician Bryan Adams. Reckless became one of Adams's most successful albums, and brought him his highest popularity yet. Released in 1984 by A&M Records and produced by Adams and Bob Clearmountain (who also engineered), the album peaked at #1 on the Billboard charts and sold over 5 million copies in the US on the strength of 6 hit singles: "Summer of '69", "Somebody", "Run to You", "One Night Love Affair", the Tina Turner duet "It's Only Love", and finally Adams's first # 1 hit, "Heaven".
The album was originally released on Adams's 25th birthday (November 5, 1984) simultaneously with a video.