November 1, 1975: Elton John replaced his duet with Neil Sedaka, "Bad Blood," on top the Billboard chart with his own "Island Girl."
“Island Girl” is a song about a sex worker, a tall Jamaican woman who works a street corner near Times Square.
 |
| Elton John |
(sign up to follow by email)
Elton’s narrator is a john who wants to rescue her from her profession and maybe take her back to her homeland. She isn’t interested. Also: Elton’s narrator is presumably black?
Read more: Stereogum
November 1, 1969: "Up on Cripple Creek" by The Band entered the Billboard Hot 100 single's chart.
On November 2, 1969, The Band gave their only performance on The Ed Sullivan Show. The famous host introduced them by saying, “Here are the new recording sensation for youngsters, The Band!” They opened the show by performing the Robbie Robertson-penned song “Up On Cripple Creek,” which was the fifth song on their eponymous second album, and which was released as a single by Capitol on November 29 that year.
Read more: U Discover Music
November 1, 1972: Gilbert O'Sullivan had the top tune on the UK charts with a song called "Clair."
"Clair" is a love song from the point of view of a close family friend who babysits a young girl, though for the first part of the song, the ambiguous words lead one to think that it is a romantic song from one adult to another.
 |
| Gilbert O'Sullivan |
The brief instrumental introduction is the sound of O'Sullivan whistling before he begins his vocal. The real Clair was the three-year-old daughter of O'Sullivan's producer-manager, Gordon Mills.
Read more: Wikipedia
November 1, 1977: Billy Joel released the single "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" from his album The Stranger.
"Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" details the Billy Joel's's disgust with the upwardly mobile bourgeois aspirations of working- and lower-middle-class New Yorkers who take pride in working long hours to afford the outward signs of having "made it."
 |
| Billy Joel |
Characters have stereotypically ethnic names (Anthony, Mama Leone, Sergeant O'Leary, Mr. Cacciatore) and blue-collar jobs. Joel considers their rejection of their working-class roots (trading a Chevy for a Cadillac and buying a house in Hackensack, New Jersey) ultimately futile.
Read more: Wikipedia
November 1, 1986: Anita Baker reaches Number 8 in the US with "Sweet Love."
"Sweet Love" by American Anita Baker is from her second studio album, Rapture. Written by Baker, Louis A. Johnson, and Gary Bias, it was released on as the album's first single. The song was her first big hit single, peaking at number two on the US Billboard R&B chart, number three on the US Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, and number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100 in the fall of 1986. "Sweet Love" won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song at the 29th Annual Grammy Awards.
Read more: Wikipedia
Island Girl
Elton John
Elton John
No comments:
Post a Comment