On This Date, June 13th in 1970: The Beatles reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for the twelfth and last time with “The Long and Winding Road,” which spent two weeks on top. The album from which it was culled, Let It Be, also spent four weeks at the top of the album chart. On a personal note, Let it Be was the first album I ever bought with my own money when I was a kid, and I still have that copy.
On This Day In 1967: The Beatles released the groundbreaking concept album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The album was a worldwide critical and commercial success, spending a total of 27 weeks at the top of the UK Album Chart and 15 weeks at number one on the American Billboard 200. A defining album in the emerging psychedelic rock style, Sgt. Pepper was critically acclaimed upon release and won four Grammy Awards in 1968. Often recognized by prominent critics and publications as one of the most influential albums in the history of rock music, Sgt. Pepper frequently ranks at or near the top of published lists of the greatest albums of all time. In 2003, the album was placed at number 1 in the Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
And the lamb lies down on Broadway
Early morning Manhattan
Ocean winds blow on the land
The Movie-Palace is now undone
The all-night watchmen have had their fun
Sleeping cheaply on the midnight show
It’s the same old ending, time to go
Get out!
It seems they cannot leave their dream
There’s something moving in the sidewalk steam
And the lamb lies down on Broadway
Nightime flyers feel their pains
Drugstore takes down the chains
Metal motion comes in bursts
but the gas station can quench that thirst
Suspension cracked on unmade road
The truckers eyes read Overload
And out on the subway
Rael Imperial Aerosol Kid
Exits into daylight, spraygun hid
And the lamb lies down on Broadway
The lamb seems right out of place
Yet the Broadway street scene finds a focus in its face
Somehow its lying there
Brings a stillness to the air
Though man-made light, at night is very bright
There’s no whitewash victim
As the neon dims, to the coat of white
Rael Imperial Aerosol Kid
Wipes his gun, he’s forgotten what he did
And the lamb lies down on Broadway
Suzanne tired her work all done
Thinks money-honey-be on-neon
Cabman’s velvet glove sounds the horn
And the sawdust king spits out his scorn
Wonder women draw your blind!
Don’t look at me! I’m not your kind
I’m Rael!
Something inside me has just begun
Lord knows what I have done
And the lamb lies down on Broadway
On Broadway
They say the lights are always bright on Broadway
They say there’s always magic in the air
On This Date, November 14th in 1979: Public Image Ltd released their second album, Metal Box, which included the singles “Careering,” “Memories” and “Swan Lake” (aka “Death Disco”). It reached the #18 spot on the U.K. albums chart. The album is sometimes referred to as The Public Image Reel owing to its unique packaging: three 12-inch records in a film canister embossed with the group’s PiL logo.
Continue reading Public Image Ltd Release Metal Box
On This Date, September 15th, in 1981: Thomas Dolby released his second solo single, “Europa And The Pirate Twins,” from his debut album, The Golden Age Of Wireless. The single reached the #48 spot on the U.K. singles chart and the #67 spot on the U.S. singles chart. In “Europa And The Pirate Twins” Dolby makes use of a fantastic word economy to tell the story of a man who pines for a long-lost adolescent friendship with a woman who has grown up to become a famous starlet. For my money, it is one of the most gorgeous and painfully sentimental songs every written.