Music History Today: January 25, 2021

January 25, 2003: Norah Jones' debut album, Come Away With Me, goes to Number 1 in America.

Norah Jones topped the Billboard charts in 2002, and the following year Come Away With Me went on to secure eight Grammy Awards, including Album Of The Year, and in the intervening 12 months it received critical acclaim from just about every quarter.

 (sign up to follow by email)

One critic claimed it was the “most unjazz album Blue Note had ever released”. And to that point in time he was right. But does that matter? Like Ray Charles said, “There’s only two types of music… good and bad.”  

Read more: U Discover Music

January 25, 1960: Bobby Darin had a fast-rising song, "Beyond The Sea," which moved from 74 to 34.  

"Beyond the Sea" is a 1945 contemporary pop romantic love song by Jack Lawrence, with music taken from the song "La Mer" by Charles Trenet. 

Bobby Darin

It's been recorded by many artists, but Bobby Darin's version released in late 1959 is the best known by many, reaching No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, No. 15 on the US R&B Chart, and No. 8 in the UK Singles Chart. in early 1960. 

Read more: Wikipedia

 

January 25, 1963: "Rhythm of the Rain" by The Cascades is released in the UK.

"Rhythm of the Rain" was released in the US in November 1962.  On March 9, 1963, it rose to number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and spent two weeks at number 1 on Billboard's Easy Listening chart. Billboard ranked the record as the number 4 song of 1963.

The Cascades

In March, 1963, the song was a top 5 hit in the United Kingdom and, in May that same year, was a number 1 single in Ireland. In Canada, the song was on the CHUM Chart for a total of 12 weeks and reached number 1 in March 1963. In 1999 BMI listed the song as the 9th most performed song on radio/TV in the 20th century.  

Read more: Wikipedia

January 25, 1965:  "King Of The Road," written by Roger Miller, was released as a single.

On March 27, 1965, Roger Miller's "King of the Road" hit No. 1 on the country charts. 

Roger Miller

The protagonist of "King of the Road" hints at doing nefarious things to get by (he knows "every lock that ain't locked when no one's around") but also knows all the shortcuts to surviving on a tight budget: "I sing, 'Trailers for sale or rent, rooms to let, 50 cents / No phone, no pool, no pets / I ain't got no cigarettes." 

Read more: The Boot

 

January 25, 1975: The Carpenters take the top spot on the charts for one week with their remake of  "Please Mr. Postman."

Nostalgia has always been a force in pop music, and it probably always will be. But nostalgia has never been stronger in pop music than it was at the beginning of 1975. 

The Carpenters

Two of the first three #1 hits from 1975 were covers of iconic ’60s songs: Elton John doing the Beatles’ “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” and the Carpenters doing the Marvelettes’ “Please Mr. Postman.” In between those two songs, Barry Manilow hit #1 with “Mandy,” a cover of a not-iconic song from 1971. 

Read more: Stereogum

 

Don't Know Why
Norah Jones