Monday, July 5, 2021

Music History Today: July 6, 2021

July 6, 1974: "Tell Me Something Good" by Rufus featuring Chaka Kahn makes a big move from Number 58 to 43 on the US singles chart.

"Tell Me Something Good" by Rufus and Chaka Khan was written by Stevie Wonder. The single was a hit in the United States, peaking at number three on the Billboard Hot 100.

Rufus featuring Chaka Kahn album cover

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It was among the earliest hits to use the guitar talk box, by Tony Maiden. Jason Elias of AllMusic described the song as "a rare instance of an artist like Stevie Wonder giving away a tune that he could have had a big hit with himself." Rufus won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo, Group or Chorus for the song at the 17th Annual Grammy Awards in 1975. 

Read more: Wikipedia

July 6, 1963: The Essex had the Number 1 song on Billboard's chart with "Easier Said Than Done."

The Essex weren’t a professional singing group. They were people with stressful jobs, blowing off steam.

The Essex 1963
The Essex

All five members of the group were active-duty Marines when they recorded “Easier Said Than Done,” their first single and only #1 hit. Two of them had met when stationed in Okinawa, and they really became a band when they were transferred to the North Carolina base Camp LeJeune. 
Read more: Stereogum

 

July 6, 1968: Gladys Knight and the Pips peaked at Number 40 with their version of "It Should Have Been Me."

"It Should Have Been Me" is a 1963 song written by William "Mickey" Stevenson and Norman Whitfield for Kim Weston It has been performed by Yvonne Fair, Gladys Knight & the Pips and Adeva among others. Knight's version peaked at number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968.  
Read more: Wikipedia

 

July 6, 1974: Jim Stafford debuted on the Hot 100 single's chart at Number 84 with "Wildwood Weed."

"Wildwood Weed" "Wildwood Weed" was the fourth of four U.S. Top 40 singles from his eponymous debut album. It's a story about farmers, two brothers, who take a sudden interest in a common wildflower on their farm and discover, after one of them begins chewing a piece, its enjoyable hallucinogenic and mind-altering properties. They begin to cultivate the plant in earnest; however, federal agents raid their farm and destroy their crop. Nevertheless, the men are undeterred because they have saved a supply of seeds. 

Read more: Wikipedia

 

July 6, 2009: Lady Gaga released the single "Paparazzi" from her album The Fame.

“Paparazzi” acts as a capstone to Lady Gaga's ode to fame, honing in on the rise and fall of the celebrity and the balance between love and success. 

Lady Gaga "Paparazzi"
Lady Gaga

Peaking at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming a certified four-time platinum hit, the anthem has become an essential part of Gaga’s catalogue. Reaching its peak on the Billboard Hot 100 two weeks before the hallmark hit “Bad Romance” was released, “Paparazzi,” in many ways, kept the momentum of Gaga’s still-developing career. 

Read more: Pop Crave

 

Tell Me Something Good
Rufus & Chaka Kahn 

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