Music History Today: January 28, 2021

January 28, 1968: Sarah McLachlan was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Canadian singer/songwriter Sarah McLachlan debuted in 1988 with her piano-based folk-pop, which went on to gain her a devoted following, a number of Juno and Grammy Awards, and placement in the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. 

Sarah McLachlan

(sign up to follow by email)

She also founded Lilith Fair, a concert tour that helped usher other female songwriters into the mainstream during the late '90s, while maintaining her own presence on the charts. 

Read more: Allmusic

January 28, 1978: "Slip Slidin' Away" by Paul Simon peaked at Number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

"Slip Slidin' Away" is a 1977 song written and recorded by Paul Simon which appears on his compilation album Greatest Hits, Etc. It was one of two new songs to appear on the album, the other being "Stranded in a Limousine." Backing vocals on the song are provided by The Oak Ridge Boys.  

Read more: Wikipedia

January 28, 1978: A remake of the Kinks' biggest hit, "You Really Got Me," was Van Halen's first single and debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart on this date.

On this date, a young California band took the Kinks' 1964 groundbreaking song, "You Really Got Me," and somehow made it their own. On Jan. 28, 1978, Van Halen released their cover of the Ray Davies-penned track as a single. Their debut album arrived a few weeks later.

Van Halen

"I’ll never forget hearing 'You Really Got Me' at two o’clock in the morning the very first time on the radio," Eddie Van Halen said in 1998. "I ran and woke up my mom and dad, going, 'We’re on the radio! We’re on the radio!'” 

Read more: Ultimate Classic Rock

January 28, 1978: Rod Stewart was in the Number 4 position on Billboard Hot 100 with "You're In My Heart." 

Billboard Magazine declared that "You're in My Heart" should become "Stewart's biggest easy listening hit" and felt the vocal style was similar to that of "The Killing of Georgie".

Rod Stewart

The lyrics mention two of Stewart's favorite football teams in the phrase "Celtic, United". The inner sleeve to the album Foot Loose & Fancy Free also pictures artwork with the names Glasgow Celtic and Manchester United drifting out of a car stereo. 

Read more: Wikipedia

January 28, 1984: Genesis reached the Top 10 with "That's All!"

"That's All" was intended as an attempt to write a simple pop song with a melody in the style of The Beatles. Phil Collins acknowledged in a subsequent interview that the song also features one of his attempts at a "Ringo Starr drum part".

Genesis

The song begins with Tony Banks playing the main riff of the song on a Yamaha CP-70 electric grand piano. The other keyboards used on this song are a Sequential Circuits Prophet-10 for organ pads and a Synclavier II for the organ solo in the middle section. 

Read more: Wikipedia

Arms of an Angel
Sarah McLachlan