Music History Today: March 2, 2021

March 2, 1991: Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game" peaked at Number 6 on the US chart.

“Wicked Games” is about loving someone who isn’t good for you, and Isaak has publicly stated where he got his inspiration for the song from: 

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“This one I wrote really late at night and it was written in a short time, because I remember that a girl had called me and said, ‘I want to come over and talk to you,’ and ‘talk’ was a euphemism. And she said, ‘I want to come over and talk to you until you’re no longer able to stand up.’” 

Read more: Story of Song

March 2, 1967: At the ninth annual Grammy Awards, Song of the Year went to John Lennon and Paul McCartney's "Michelle." 

“Michelle” was never released as a single by The Beatles. A version of the song was released by the duo David & Jonathan in 1966, but it only reached #18 on the charts which wasn’t high enough to make it onto the survey.

The Beatles

“A lot of people said ‘Michelle’ would have made a good single,” Paul McCartney stated in interview. “We always used to think for a single we’d have to have something pretty fast. So when we did ‘Michelle,’ we all thought it was okay, but we just didn’t want it out as representative of us at the time."

Read more: The Beatles Book

March 2, 1974: Olivia Newton-John won the Best Female Vocal Country Performance Grammy for "Let Me Be There." 

Two years after the single "If Not for You" hit the Top 25 on the Uni label, the MCA imprint re-released most of the If Not for You album, along with Newton-John's second U.S. hit, "Let Me Be There," and titled the disc after the new smash.

Olivia-Newton John

With seductive blue ink shadowing her beautiful face and the word Olivia splashed atop the cover, the company created a collector's item with the original LP, a respect from the aficionados that couldn't have been predicted in the '70s, and well-deserved credibility for the popular artist. 

Read more: Allmusic

March 2, 1974: "Seasons in the Sun" by Terry Jacks captured the top charts for the first of three weeks. 

Before “Seasons In The Sun” was “Seasons In The Sun,” it was “Le Moribond,” a bittersweet 1961 death song from the Belgian poet and composer Jacquel Brel. 

Terry Jacks

Brel, a layered songwriter, wrote it as a chanson about warmth and despair and anger, letting them all sit comfortably next to one another. A dying man sings goodbye to the world — his friends, his pastor, his wife. But as he sings goodbye, he also sings that he knows about his wife’s affair with one of his friends. 

Read more: Stereogum

 

March 2, 1988: U2 won their first Grammy Awards, taking Album of the Year and Best Performance by Rock Duo or Group with Vocal for The Joshua Tree.

The plot of The Joshua Tree is essentially an immigrant’s tale: Four guys from Ireland set off to find America, and what they discovered left them both invigorated and outraged. 

U2

While the lyrics to U2‘s 1987 opus give voice to their ever-expanding social conscience, the roots of The Joshua Tree are planted firmly in blues, gospel and folk – with an outsider’s edge. Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr. were strangers in a strange land, and this sense of otherness is prevalent throughout the album. 

Read more: Rolling Stone

 

 Wicked Game
Chris Isaak