Music History Today: May 23, 2021

May 23, 1979: Kiss released the studio album Dynasty, which contained the hit "I Was Made for Lovin' You."

Gene Simmons discussed his hatred for the Kiss hit “I Was Made for Lovin’ You,” saying that he resented the way he had to sing while performing it.

KISS

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The 1979 song remains controversial among fans because it saw the band adopting a disco beat, while rumors persist that it was written after Paul Stanley set a wager that it would be easy to write a disco hit in a short space of time. Regardless, the single sold more than a million copies and remains part of their set list today. 

Read more: Ultimate Classic Rock

May 23, 1964: Millie Small's "My Boy Lollipop" entered Billboard's Hot 100, where it stayed for 12 weeks and climbed to Number 2.

Millie Small was still in her teens when she released the now-classic ‘My Boy Lollipop’ and paved the way for multiple Jamaican genres to take over on an international scale.

Millie Small

The first version of ‘My Boy Lollipop’, however, popped up around a decade before Small’s. The very first cut of the song was written by Robert Spencer of Harlem doo-wop group The Cadillacs – titled ‘My Girl Lollypop,’ it caught the attention of the notorious New Jersey music mogul and mobster Gaetano Vastola. 

Read more: NME

May 23, 1979: Sister Sledge's "We Are Family" was certified Platinum.

Before 1979's We Are Family, Sister Sledge wasn't a huge name in the R&B/disco world.

Sister Sledge

The group had enjoyed a small following and scored a few minor hits, including "Love, Don't You Go Through No Changes on Me" in 1974 and "Blockbuster Boy" in 1977. But it wasn't until We Are Family that the Philadelphia siblings finally exploded commercially, and the people they have to thank for their commercial success are Chic leaders Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards. 

Read more: Allmusic

 

May 23, 1981: Smokey Robinson peaked at Number 2 with "Being With You."

In “Being With You”, Smokey Robinson is clearly not moved by what others think about his love interest as he repeatedly states that he doesn’t care. The narrator, in the first verses of the song, emphasizes on the fact that he is not bothered about people’s reactions to his relationship or his lover. In fact, all he is concerned about is being with this person. 

Read more: Song Meanings & Facts

May 23, 1987:  Lady In Red by Chris DeBurgh peaked at Number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

"The Lady in Red" is a song by British-Irish singer-songwriter Chris de Burgh. The song was written in reference to his wife Diane, who used to come and watch him perform at his parents' hotel. 

It was released on the album Into the Light. On the British TV series This Is Your Life, de Burgh said that the song was inspired by the memory of when he first saw Diane, and how men so often cannot even remember what their wives were wearing when they first met. 

Read more: Wikipedia

I Was Made for Lovin' You
KISS