Friday, April 30, 2021

Music History Today: May 1, 2021

May 1, 1978: Boney M's double-sided hit -  "Rivers Of Babylon / Brown Girl In The Ring" - was certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry.

"Rivers of Babylon" is a Rastafari song written and recorded by Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of the Jamaican reggae group The Melodians in 1970. The lyrics are adapted from the texts of Psalms 19 and 137 in the Hebrew Bible. 

Boney M
Boney M.

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It was covered in 1978 by Germany-based disco band Boney M., with a version that was released as a single. Boney M.'s release stayed at the no. 1 position in the UK for five weeks and was also the group's only significant US chart entry, peaking at no. 30 in the Pop charts. 

Read more: Wikipedia

May 1, 1965:  "I Know a Place" by Petula Clark peaked at Number 3 on Billboard's How 100 chart.

"I Know a Place,"  written by Tony Hatch was released by Petula Clark as the follow-up to "Downtown," which it strongly resembles both in musical structure and the story conveyed by the lyrics. 

Petula Clark
Petula Clark

It became Clark's second consecutive Top Ten hit in the United States. The American recording industry honored her with a Grammy Award for "Best Contemporary (R&R) Vocal Performance of 1965 – Female" for the song. 
Read more: Wikipedia

May 1, 1971: Put Your Hand in the Hand by Ocean peaked at Number 2 on the USA hit chart.

Put Your Hand in the Hand was originally written for Anne Murray but was not released as a single. It wasn’t until the group Ocean released the song as their first single that it became a hit. The single skyrocketed to #2 on the Billboard Charts with the album reaching #1 in Canada and #2 in the USA, selling over 2 million copies. 
Read more: Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame

 

May 1, 1976: The Bellamy Brothers' "Let Your Love Flow" hit Number 1 in America.

Back in 1976, the Bellamy Brothers cut a country-pop crossover hit that's stood the test of time, "Let Your Love Flow." Neil Diamond roadie Larry E. Williams wrote the song, which both Diamond and Johnny Rivers passed on recording. 

Bellamy Brothers
Bellamy Brothers

Pop and folk performer Gene Cotton became the first artist to release the surefire hit when it appeared on his 1976 album For All the Young Writers. Yet just as "The Gambler," a song recorded first by Bobby Bare and Johnny Cash, failed to reach its chart potential without Kenny Rogers' magic touch, Williams' song needed Florida siblings David and Howard Bellamy. 

Read more: Wide Open Country

 

May 1, 1999: TLC topped the US music chart with their hit "No Scrubs."

"No Scrubs" was released Feb. 2, 1999, as the lead single of TLC's third studio album, FanMail. The track locked up the No. 1 position on Billboard's Hot 100 for four weeks and stayed on the chart for months. 

TLC
TLC

Group member Chilli Thomas says she knew it would be a hit the first time she heard it, because even though the term was regional, the idea was universal. "A scrub is just a bum guy, you know?" she says. "You don't want to bring him home." 

Read more: NPR

Rivers Of Babylon
Boney M 

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