Music History Today: October 15, 2020

October 15, 1988: UB40 reached Number 1 with "Red Red Wine" taking over from Def Leppard's "Love Bites."

"Red, Red Wine" had been included on the Neil Diamond’s second album Just For You, released in the summer of 1967. 

UB40

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In 1969 Jamaican singer Tony Tribe’s cover reached No. 46 in the UK. Then in 1983, "Red, Red Wine" landed in the in-tray of British pop-reggae giants UB40. They didn’t associate it with Diamond. 

Read more: U Discover Music

October 15, 1966: Although they would have hits into the 1980s, "Reach Out I'll Be There" by The Four Tops is their last Number 1 song in America.

The Four Tops‘ “Reach Out I’ll Be There” was released on August 18, 1966. It was on the charts in no time.

The Four Tops

It made No.1 pop when it took over at the Hot 100 summit from the Association’s “Cherish.” As its two-week reign ended there, it started another on the R&B register, and a three-week run at the UK summit.  

Read more: U Discover Music

October 15, 1971: Ricky Nelson played the seventh annual Rock 'n' Roll Revival Show in New York. 

Rick Nelson was playing in a Rock and Roll revival show in 1971 at Madison Square Gardens with other artists such as Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, and Bobby Rydell. 

 

He started off with some of his old songs, the fans responded enthusiastically. But when he played “Country Honk” a country version of the Rolling Stones “Honky Tonk Women,” he heard booing and eventually left the stage. He wrote the song "Went To a Garden Party" about the experience.

Read more: Power Pop

October 15, 1973: Elton John released the single "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." 

He was already a star, but 1973’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road made him a mega-star.

 A double-album overstuffed with hit singles and fascinatingly diverse album tracks, it seems even more impressive when you consider that it was recorded in just two weeks in France. 

Read more: American Songwriter

October 15, 1977: Debbie Boone's "You Light Up My Life" hits Number 1 for the first of 10 weeks.

Commercially, “You Light Up My Life” was a monster. Debby Boone, the young woman who sang it, was not famous. Her father Pat was.

Debbie Boone

But it had been 16 years since he’d hit #1 with “Moody River.” Like a lot of hit songs, “You Light Up My Life” came from a movie, but that movie, also called You Light Up My Life, was not a big hit. 

Read more: Stereogum

Red, Red Wine
UB40