Music History Today: March 28, 2021

March 28, 1986:  Lady Gaga was born in New York City.

Lady Gaga's debut album, 2008's The Fame, reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The album featured a pair of No. 1 singles: "Just Dance" and "Poker Face."

Lady Gaga 2019 Grammy 

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Gaga won her first two Grammys at the 52nd Grammy Awards for Best Dance Recording ("Poker Face") and Best Dance/Electronic Album (The Fame). She also made her first performance appearance on the Grammy stage that same year, singing a medley that included "Poker Face" and "Speechless" and "Your Song" in a duet with Elton John. 

Read more: GRAMMY

March 28, 1964: Jan and Dean's "Dead Man's Curve" entered the American Top 40 chart.

"Dead Man's Curve" is a 1964 hit song by Jan and Dean detailing a teen street race gone awry. It reached number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

Jan and Dean

According to the song, the race starts at Sunset and Vine between a Corvette Sting Ray and a Jaguar XKE, traveling on West Sunset Blvd. going west, passing North La Brea Ave., North Crescent Heights Blvd., and North Doheny Dr. 

Read more: Academic

 

March 28, 1967: Van Morrison recorded "Brown Eyed Girl." 

An enduring hit here and across the Atlantic, Brown Eyed Girl — captured on its 22nd take — has now been played on radio in the US 10 million times, earning the Belfast man special recognition at the Broadcast Music Inc awards in London this week.

Van Morrison

According to Morrison, the single, produced by Bert Berns and first released in mid-June 1967, was originally entitled Brown Skinned Girl. Morrison changed the name to Brown Eyed Girl when he had finished recording it.

Read more: Belfast Telegraph

 

March 28, 1970: A Detroit band called Frijid Pink saw their cover version of The Animals' 1964 hit "House Of The Rising Sun" peak at Number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Frijid Pink is an American psychedelic/blues rock, formed in 1967. Their first two singles on Parrot label went unnoticed, but their third single, a cover of the Animals’ “House Of The Rising Sun” – broke into the Top 10 in 1970.  Their self-titled debut was a Top 20 hit on the Billboard 200 chart that same year. 

Read more: Mental Itch

March 28, 1981: Blondie's first Number 1 rap song, "Rapture," began a two-week run at the top. 

The rap on Blondie’s “Rapture” is that it’s the first rap song that ever went to #1 in the US. That’s a significant milestone, but it’s a misleading one, too. 

Blondie

“Rapture” isn’t really a rap song. It’s a stretch to refer to what Debbie Harry does on “Rapture” as rapping. Instead, she does a sleepy and absurdist deadpan spoken-word thing, icily muttered half on the beat.  

Read more: Stereogum

 

Poker Face
Lady Gaga