May 25,1963: "Surfin' USA" by The Beach Boys made it to Number 3 on the US music hits chart.
The 1963 hit single "Surfin' USA listed Beach Boy Brian Wilson as the sole composer of the track, but the melody was a complete replication of Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Sixteen.”
The Beach Boys |
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For his part, Wilson denied any intentional wrongdoing. "I just took 'Sweet Little Sixteen' and rewrote it into something of our own," Wilson told the Los Angeles Times of the incident in 2015. When Berry accused Wilson of bogarting his melody, The Beach Boys’ manager, Wilson’s father Murray, gave Berry the copyright to the tune in order to avoid a lawsuit.
Read more: Mental Floss
May 25, 1963: "Another Saturday Night" by Sam Cooke peaked at Number 10 on the American music chart.
The song “Another Saturday Night” by Sam Cooke has pathos behind it, and is a classic from this first era of rock and roll. The loneliness expressed in the song makes it one of the great golden oldies.
Cooke wrote the song while touring England in 1962 with Little Richard. It’s also the first song Cooke released after the drowning death of his 18-month-old son Vincent in 1963. “Another Saturday Night” went to #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the R&B Chart in 1963.
Read more: Daily Doo Wop
May 25, 1968: "A Beautiful Morning" by The Rascals hit its highest point at Number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
"A Beautiful Morning" is a song written by Felix Cavaliere and Eddie Brigati and recorded by the Rascals. Coming out in early 1968, it was the group's first single released under that name rather than the Young Rascals.
The Rascals |
The song continued the theme of carefree optimism that had distinguished the previous year's "Groovin'". It was written one morning in Honolulu, Hawaii when the band was invited to perform there by promoter Tom Moffatt.
Read more: Wikipedia
May 25, 1974: "The Show Must Go On" by Three Dog Night made it to Number 4 in the USA.
"The Show Must Go On" is a song co-written by Leo Sayer and David Courtney and first recorded by Sayer. It was covered by Three Dog Night, whose version was released in 1974.
The song uses a circus theme as a metaphor for dealing with the difficulties and wrong choices of life. Early in Sayer's career, he performed it dressed and made up as a pierrot clown. The opening motif quotes Julius Fučík's "Entrance of the Gladiators" which is commonly associated with circus clowns.
Read more: Wikipedia
May 25, 1981: The Pointer Sisters released the single "Slow Hand."
"Slow Hand" was written by Michael Clark and John Bettis. Bettis would later say "the Pointer Sisters were the furthest act from our minds" to record it.
The Pointer Sisters Producer Richard Perry "knew 'Slow Hand' would be an instant smash and would recapitulate and expand on the intimacy of 'Fire'." Like "Fire" - which also featured Anita Pointer on lead - "Slow Hand" peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, for 3 weeks, behind "Endless Love" by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie.
Read more: Wikipedia
Surfin' USA
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