February 8, 1975: Queen debuted with their first single, "Killer Queen."
Featured on their 1974 album Sheer Heart Attack, Queen’s “Killer Queen” was the band’s first international hit, reaching #2 in the UK and becoming their very first US hit.
(sign up to follow by email)
It’s a song about a high class call girl with tastes for everything from Moët et Chandon to French perfume and fast cars, and there’s absolutely no one better to share her story than a 28-year-old Freddie Mercury. Filmed shortly after the release of Sheer Heart Attack, Queen’s 1974 appearance on Top Of The Pops goes down as one of their most underrated, by far.
Read more: Society of Rock
February 8, 1958: The Diamonds had their best-selling record in the United States with "The Stroll." The song reached Number 4 on the Billboard Pop chart and Number 5 on the R&B chart.
Although plenty of the old dance routines are rarely observed nowadays, it’s still interesting to learn about them and how the whole dance culture slowly evolved over time. Like most of the ’50s dances, the Stroll comprises of simple dance routines that anyone could do as the 1950s focused more on enjoying social interaction whilst on the dance floor.
Read more: See It Live
February 8, 1960: Mark Dinning's "Teen Angel" began a two-week run at Number 1.
In the early weeks of 1960, romance-induced death was apparently the cool thing in pop music. Before Mark Dinning’s “Teen Angel” hit #1, the two songs that reached the top spot both told stories of death by love’s misadventure.
In Marty Robbins’ “El Paso,” the narrator died by gunshot because he couldn’t bear to not see his love again: “My love is stronger than my fear of death.” And in Johnny Preston’s “Running Bear,” both main characters drown in the river that keeps their tribes apart. But as far as pure melodrama goes, neither hit can compete with “Teen Angel,” a song absolutely blatant in its pursuit of tears.
Read more: Stereogum
February 8, 1975: "Fire" by the Ohio Players took the Number 1 spot.
On 8 February 1975, the Ohio Players enjoyed one of their finest hours of crossover success when the single ‘Fire,’ which had topped the R&B chart two weeks earlier, moved to the top of the Billboard Hot 100.
They’d crossed over before, notably with two top 20 singles, ‘Funky Worm’ and ‘Skin Tight,’ that both won gold certification. ‘Funky Worm’ was their first R&B No. 1; after a change of label from Westbound to Mercury, and some adjustments in personnel, ‘Fire’ was the second. In all, the group scored an impressive total of five soul bestsellers.
Read more: U Discover Music
February 8, 1992: "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred took the top of the Billboard charts.
At an industry panel in 1992, radio host Rick Dees explained the popularity of Right Said Fred’s tongue-in-cheek disco confection “I’m Too Sexy”:
 |
| Right Said Fred |
“Everyone is so busy they don’t have time to devote to memorize [rap songs]. With Right Said Fred you know he is too sexy for a dozen things, and in a week I can memorize that.”
Read more: Rolling Stone
Killer Queen
Queen
No comments:
Post a Comment