On the 6th of November 1982 the “Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes” song Up Where We Belong, from the movie An Officer And A Gentleman, went to number 1 in America. It also topped the charts in Canada and South Africa.
Category: Flashback
On 2 November 1978 “The Police” released their debut album. The working title for the album had been “Police Brutality” but it was changed to Outlandos d’Amour to make it sound more romantic. The album initially performed poorly due to low exposure and an unfavourable reaction from the “BBC” to its first two singles, Roxanne and Can’t Stand Losing You, owing to their subject matters, prostitution and suicide. However the international success of Roxanne led to a re-release of the single in the UK almost making the top 10. A subsequent re-release of Can’t Stand Losing You nearly topped the chart. It stranded at number 2 thanks to I Don’t Like Mondays by the “Boomtown Rats.”
On 31 October 2000 American rock band “Lifehouse” released their debut album No Name Face. The album’s first single, Hanging by a Moment, was written by lead singer “Jason Wade.” He was only 21 years old when it was released, and while many “Lifehouse” fans were his age, many more were older, earning the song airplay not only on Rock and Pop radio, but on Adult Contemporary stations as well. It became the most-played song on American radio in 2001. Hanging by a Moment peaked at number 1 in Australia and also made the top 10 in New Zealand.
This week in 1978 the movie version of The Wiz, which debuted as a Broadway stage production in 1975, hit theaters. The re-imagining of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz featured an all-black cast including Diana Ross as Dorothy and Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow. The movie marked Michael Jackson’s acting debut. A special single edit of A Brand new day (Everybody Rejoice), one of the songs from The Wiz, peaked at number one on the charts in Belgium and The Netherlands.
Michael Emile Telford Miller was born on 16 October 1937. He was popular in the United Kingdom in the late 1950s and early 1960s as the leader of “Emile Ford & the Checkmates” who had chart topping hit in late 1959 with What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For, a song originally written for a Broadway production in 1916. It went to number one in the UK, Norway and Australia.
On 12 October 1997 American singer-songwriter John Denver died at age 53 in a single-fatality crash while piloting a recently purchased light plane. He was a pilot with over 2,700 hours of experience. Post-accident investigation showed that the leading cause of the accident was Denver’s inability to switch fuel tanks during flight. John Denver had four number one hits on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. He recorded and released approximately 300 songs, about 200 of which he composed.
“The Outfield” were an English rock band based in London, England. The band achieved success in the mid-1980s and are best remembered for their hit single Your Love. The band’s lineup consisted of guitarist John Spinks, vocalist and bass player Tony Lewis, and drummer Alan Jackman. They had the unusual experience for a British band enjoying commercial success in the US, but not in their homeland. Their debut album Play Deep made the top 10 on the US album chart in 1985 and, although further notable releases followed, it would be their most successful.
This month in 1978 Dolly Parton became the first country singer to pose for Playboy. She appeared on the cover of the October issue wearing a Playboy bunny outfit (complete with ears) but had refused to pose nude for the magazine. She did the photo shoot for a different kind of exposure as she was looking to break through to a wider audience. It worked, as two years later she starred in the movie 9 To 5 and scored a number 1 USA Hot 100 hit with the title song. As for why she didn’t “get naked,” Dolly said, “I’m not that brave, nor do I look that good.”
Driver’s Seat is a song by British band “Sniff ‘n’ the Tears” that appears on their 1978 debut album Fickle Heart. The song, which is not really about the joys of driving, was a moderate hit in a number of countries. It is about the fragmented and conflicting emotions that occur after the end of a relationship.The band is considered a one-hit wonder as Driver’s Seat was their only hit, except in the Netherlands where they had a second Top 40 single. A 12 inch version was released on A Best Of Sniff ‘n’ the Tears in 1991. The song appeared at number 1 on the Dutch Top 40 that same year as a result of its use in a “Pioneer” commercial.
Born on the 2nd of October 1951 Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner is the son of a milkman. In his young years Gordon helped his father with the milk deliveries. After leaving school in 1969, spending one term at the University of Warwick, working as a bus conductor, building labourer and tax officer, he went and got a teaching qualification. He earned a nickname when a fellow musician thought he “looked like a wasp” in his yellow-and-black striped sweater. “Sting” was working as a schoolteacher when his band “The Police” hit the big time.