On This Date, July 25th in 1971: T. Rex reached the #1 position on the UK singles charts with the song “Get It On” (from the album Electric Warrior, which is awesome). The group’s second #1 single spent four weeks at the top. “Get It On” is better known by the title “Bang a Gong” here in the US, because we are such fucking prudes when it comes to sex. Jeez.
On This Date, June 24th, in 1967: Procol Harum’s “A Whiter Shade of Pale” entered the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart where it would later peak at Number 5 (In the UK it hit #1 on June 8th). Lyrically inspired a party the band members attended where everyone was tripping on LSD (I’m pretty sure The Beatles were at that party) the song was written by the band around a melody composed by the group’s organist, Matthew Fisher, who was inspired by the chord progression of Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Orchestral Suite in D,” composed between 1725 and 1739. As of 2009, “A Whiter Shade Of Pale” is the most played song in the last 75 years in public places in the UK. What a great song.
On this Date in 1982: The Clash released their nineteenth single, “Straight To Hell” as a double-A side which included “Should I Stay Or Should I Go?” In the U.S., “Should I Stay Or Should I Go?” was the feature track and reached the #45 spot on the singles chart. When “Straight to Hell” was re-released in 1991 with a different B side, it reached the #1 spot in the U.K. “Straight to Hell” is my favorite song by The Clash. Clash vocalist Joe Strummer also starred in the 1987 Alex Cox film Straight To Hell, which took its name from the song.
Thanks to The P5 Blogspot: This Day in 80s Music for the tip!
Alice Cooper Was a Band
On This Date, August 12th in 1972: The band called Alice Cooper (Dennis Dunaway, Neal Smith, Glen Buxton, Michael Bruce and Vincent Furnier) reached the top of the U.K. singles chart with “School’s Out,” which spent three weeks on top. It was the band’s only number one single in the U.K.
