Friday, June 23, 2017

23 JUNE

In Music History

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2016After a trial in which the three living members of Led Zeppelintestified, a jury rules that they are not guilty of plagiarizing the intro of "Stairway To Heaven" from the 1968 song "Taurus" by the band Spirit.
2013Bobby 'Blue' Bland dies of an undisclosed illness at age 83.
2006Kevin Richardson of Backstreet Boys leaves the group to pursue other interests.
2004St. Andrews University in Scotland presents Bob Dylan with an honorary doctorate in Music.
2003Diana Ross pleads not guilty to drunk driving charges in Tucson after being discovered with a 0.2 BAC, claiming that the arresting officer threatened her with injury if she didn't take the breath test.
2000Michael Jackson is sued by a German promoter for $21 million after the singer cancels two once-in-a-lifetime millennial New Year's concerts.
1990Actor Gary Busey, best-known for his lead role in the controversial 1978 biopic The Buddy Holly Story, purchases one of Buddy's guitars, complete with tooled leather case made by the rocker, in auction for approximately $240,000.
1984Duran Duran's "The Reflex" hits #1 in America. This version is a remix of the album cut done by Chic's Nile Rodgers.
1984Duffy (Amie Ann Duffy) is born in Gwynedd, Wales. Her 2008 album, Rockferry, is a worldwide smash, but her 2010 follow-up, Endlessly, is a disappointment and she retreats from the public eye.More
1980The Rolling Stones release Emotional Rescue.
1979Supertramp's LP Breakfast In America hits #1.
1977Jason Mraz is born in Mechanicsville, Virginia.
1976Paul McCartney wraps up the Wings Over America tour at the Forum in Los Angeles, marking the last time the ex-Beatle would tour until 1989.
1975At a stop in Vancouver on his Welcome To My Nightmare tour, Alice Cooper falls from the stage and breaks six ribs.
1975Jefferson Starship releases Red Octopus.
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Tiffany Begins Her Mall Tour

1987
15-year-old Tiffany starts her Mall Tour at the Bergen Mall in Paramus, New Jersey, performing what in November will be her #1 hit, "I Think We're Alone Now."
Tiffany recorded her self-titled debut album a year earlier with her producer/manager, George Tobin. She was signed to MCA records, who released the album but didn't know how to promote it, since radio stations had little interest in unknown teenaged singers. They come up with a novel idea: a mall tour.

It makes sense, since the mall is where you are likely to find 15-year-old girls, and it's where Tiffany can find an audience. "Mall Tours" have been around for a while, but they are promotional vehicles for products, with marketers setting up stations in the hubs to peddle their wares. One of these tours, "The Beautiful You: Celebrating The Good Life Shopping Mall Tour '87," is already on the road, so MCA arranges for Tiffany to join.

She does three sets a day every weekend, singing over pre-recorded backing tracks for about 20 minutes, then doing interviews and greeting onlookers. Her first weekend in Paramus, she sells about 60 copies of the album and intrigues the media, which starts covering her story at every stop. She makes 10 stops on the tour before heading back to high school in Norwalk, California, for her junior year. By the last stop in Littleton, Colorado, she is a featured attraction and "I Think We're Alone Now" is starting to garner airplay. On November 7, the song hits #1 in America, and in January 1988, the album hits the top spot, making her the youngest woman (at 16) ever to top that chart.

During the tour, Tobin shoots footage that is used to make the music video for "I Think We're Alone Now," which gets a lot of attention on MTV. Tiffany follows up with "Could've Been," which also climbs to #1 in February. In June, she starts a 6-week arena tour. Her opening act: New Kids on the Block.

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