Thursday, December 24, 2020

Music History Today: December 25, 2020

December 25, 2016: George Michael died of heart failure, aged 53, in bed at his riverside home in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. 

Although he died in December 2016, it took a few months to complete the autopsy and investigation into George Michael’s sudden passing. 

George Michael

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In March 2017, the Oxfordshire senior coroner determined that George Michael’s cause of death was an enlarged heart combined with inflammation.

Read more: Who

December 25, 1954: Annie Lennox was born in Aberdeen, Scotland. 

Between 1977 and 1980, she was the lead singer of The Tourists, a pop group and her first collaboration with Dave Stewart. Lennox and Stewart's second group was the duo Eurythmics, where she first found international fame.

Annie Lennox

She became known for her androgyny, and had big hits including 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This),' 'There Must Be an Angel,' 'Love Is A Stranger,' 'Here Comes the Rain Again' and 'Who's That Girl?.' 

Read more: Smooth Radio

 

December 25, 1965: The Dave Clark Five's "Over And Over" hit Number 1 in the US.

Not too many bands are named after their drummers, but in the case of the Dave Clark Five, it fit. Clark wasn’t just the drummer; he was the band’s manager and producer as well. 

Dave Clark Five
Dave Clark Five

The band had a few genuinely exciting pop moments — one of which, the 1964 single Glad All Over,” turned out to be their only UK #1.

Read more: Stereogum

December 25, 1971: Melanie's "Brand New Key" hit Number 1 in America for the first of three weeks.

Melanie Safka was a real-deal folk singer who was mostly an unknown when she performed at Woodstock in 1969. Playing that festival led her to wrote “Lay Down (Candles In The Rain),” her first American hit.

Melanie
Melanie

When Melanie wrote “Brand New Key,” she didn’t necessarily think of it as a single. But “Brand New Key” ended up being memorable enough to overshadow everything else she ever did.  

Read more: Stereogum

December 25, 1989: Cher had her last US Top Ten single for nine years when "Just Like Jesse James" hit Number 8. She didn't crack the Top Ten again until "Believe" in 1998.

"Just Like Jesse James" is Cher's nineteenth album, Heart of Stone. The title is a reference to legendary Wild West bandit Jesse James. 

Desktop Wallpaper  Cher

Cellphone Wallpaper  Cher

Cher has stated during concert performances that she personally never much liked the song despite its successful chart performance.

Read more: Wikipedia

Faith
George Michael

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