30
Featured Events
1979Pink Floyd's album The Wall is released, seeing out the '70s in spectacular fashion as it sells over 13 million copies. The powerful concept album's themes of isolation and despair resonate with legions of fans, and it even spawns a #1 single - "Another Brick In The Wall (part II).More
1977Bing Crosby's last Christmas special airs. The program was recorded in September, and Crosby died that October. The show is remembered for Crosby's unusual duet with David Bowie, where they sing a modified version of "Little Drummer Boy," with Bowie singing the new "Peace On Earth" lyrics composed by the show's writers.
1959Cherie Currie is born in Encino, California. As lead singer of The Runaways she is at the core of the LA party scene in the late 1970s, leading to a lifelong struggle with drug addiction. After leaving the band acrimoniously she has a short solo career as a musician - recording with her twin sister, Marie - before becoming an actress and later a chainsaw sculptor.More
1940Desi Arnaz marries Lucille Ball. The pair met on the set of the RKO musical Too Many Girls and eloped less than two months after the film's release.
1929Dick Clark is born in Mount Vernon, New York. Dubbed the "world's oldest teenager," he becomes a cultural icon as the longtime host of American Bandstand and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.
30
In Music History
2017Westbury New Road, where Rihanna grew up in Barbados, is renamed Rihanna Drive in her honor.More
2012At the Uptown Theatre in Napa, California, 76-year-old Glen Campbell plays his final concert. It's the last stop on his Goodbye Tour, which began in September 2011 after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The tour runs much longer than expected, but when Campbell becomes disoriented during the show and struggles to get through eight songs, it becomes clear he can no longer perform.
2011Robin Thicke's dad, actor Alan Thicke, publishes an article in The Huffington Post titled "Boomerology 101: Gangster Father," where he discusses Robin's success despite his "life as the son of a White Canadian Sitcom Dad, aka 'Street Cred Death.'"
2011J. Blackfoot (of The Soul Children) dies of pancreatic cancer at age 65.
2011Dubstep artist Skrillex is unexpectedly nominated for five Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist - a first in Grammy history for a DJ.
2010Seven months after being released from jail after serving three years for tax evasion, Ronald Isley of The Isley Brothers releases the album Mr. I, with contributions from Lauryn Hill and T.I.
1998Grant Gee's documentary Meeting People Is Easy, which follows Radiohead on their OK Computer tour, is released. The title is an ironic reference to the misanthropic nature of the band.
1997The X-Files episode "The Post-Modern Prometheus" includes a Cher storyline, and culminates in the main characters attending her concert. Cher couldn't appear in the episode (a lookalike was used), but three of her songs were featured: "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)," "Walking in Memphis" and "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves."
1996"Tiptoe Through The Tulips" singer Tiny Tim (real name: Herbert B. Khaury) dies of a heart attack at age 64.
1991Billboard changes its methodology for determining the Hot 100, using SoundScan data to track record store sales and BDS information for radio plays. SoundScan, an electronic system that counts record sales when they are rung up, replaces record store reporting, which was typically done with phone calls. BDS is a Shazam-like service that identifies songs played by radio stations, which eliminates the need for stations to report their playlists. The first #1 on the revamped chart is "Set Adrift On Memory Bliss" by P.M. Dawn.
1985"Separate Lives" by Phil Collins & Marilyn Martin hits #1. The song was written by Stephen Bishop and featured in the movie White Nights.
1978Clay Aiken is born Clayton Holmes Grissom in Raleigh, North Carolina. He goes on to place second behind Ruben Studdard on the second season of American Idol.
1976A live version of Bob Dylan's "Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again" is released as a single with "Rita May" as the B-side.
1975Country singer Mindy McCready is born in Fort Myers, Florida.
Michael Jackson Releases Thriller
1982
Michael Jackson releases Thriller, which becomes, by far, the best selling album worldwide.
Jackson worked on the album with Quincy Jones, who produced his 1979 breakthrough solo album, Off The Wall. Recording didn't start in earnest until July 1982, and the schedule was tight: Jones' previous gig working on Donna Summer's self-titled album ran long, so they had just eight weeks to cobble together Thriller.
The lead single, "The Girl Is Mine," a lightweight duet with Paul McCartney, was done, but the next eight tracks were recorded at a furious pace.
Jones brought back the same gang that made Off The Wall so successful, including engineer Bruce Swedien, bass player Louis Johnson (of The Brothers Johnson), keyboard man Greg Phillinganes and horn player Jerry Hey. Members of the band Toto were also enlisted, as was Rod Temperton, who wrote three songs on Off The Wall, including "Rock With You" and the title track.
Jones and his crew used any means necessary to create a stunning sound, often with three rooms going at once at Westlake Studios in Los Angeles. For "Billie Jean," Jackson recorded some of his vocals through cardboard tubes; for "Beat It," Jones purloined Eddie Van Halen for the guitar solo. The title track featured another unexpected guest star: master of horror Vincent Price, who brought the "hounds of hell" to the proceedings and added the maniacal laugh.
Jackson wrote four of the tracks: "The Girl Is Mine," "Billie Jean," "Beat It," and album opener "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'." Rod Temperton added three - "The Lady in My Life," "Baby Be Mine" and "Thriller" - Steve Porcaro added "Human Nature," and Jones wrote "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" with James Ingram. Seven of these tracks are released as singles, starting with "The Girl Is Mine" to feed off of McCartney's star power. All of them make the Top 10 in America.
The album cost about $750,000 to make and earned Jackson at least $100 million. Its success is stunning. In America, it spends 37 weeks at #1 and becomes the best selling album of all time. Worldwide sales are impossible to tally with any accuracy, but nothing else is even close. It also breaks the color barrier on MTV, as Jackson becomes the network's biggest star.
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