Thursday, October 21, 2021

Music History Today: October 21, 2021

October 21, 1978: "My Best Friend's Girl" by The Cars entered the Billboard Hot 100 single chart.
Written by Ric Ocasek, “My Best Friend’s Girl” was – despite presumptions to the contrary – not based on a true story.  
The Cars

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He acknowledged to Rolling Stone some years later, “I just figured having a girlfriend stolen was something that happened to a lot of people.” 
Read more: Rhino
October 21, 1958:  Buddy Holly recorded for the final time; "True Love Ways," "Moondreams," "It Doesn't Matter Anymore," and "Raining In My Heart." 
"Moondreams" was written by Norman Petty and released in 1957 by The Norman Petty Trio. Featured musicians are Petty on organ, Buddy Holly on guitar, Vi Petty on piano, Mike Mitchell on percussion and the Picks on backing vocals.

Buddy Holly
Buddy Holly

It was one of the four songs recorded by Buddy Holly in a session on October 21, 1958 with the Dick Jacobs orchestra, the other tracks being "True Love Ways", "Raining in My Heart", and "It Doesn't Matter Anymore". This version of "Moondreams" was released on The Buddy Holly Story, Vol. 2 and as the B-side to "True Love Ways" (May 20, 1960) in the UK. 
Read more: Wikipedia

October 21, 1967: Spanky & Our Gang moved from 88 to 50 with "Lazy Day."
“Lazy Day” rose to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the Canadian RPM Magazine Chart. It’s cheerful and upbeat with nice vocal harmonies and is considered to be an example of sunshine pop. There are lovers in the park with daisies and balloons. It’s a happy sound for the 1960s. “Lazy Day” sold more than one million copies. 
Read more: Pass the Paisley

October 21, 1972: The Temptations' "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" moved from Number 83 to 54.
Originally recorded by the Undisputed Truth, “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” only reached No. 63 on Billboard’s pop chart and No. 24 on the R&B chart when released in early 1972.

The Temptations 1972
The Temptations 1972

Re-recorded by the Temptations in mid-1972 with a new arrangement, the psychedelic-soul ballad about parental abandonment became a No. 1 pop hit. The song won two Grammys and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999. 

October 21, 1977: Meat Loaf released the Bat Out of Hell album.
There is no other album like Bat Out of Hell, unless you want to count the sequel. This is Grand Guignol pop -- epic, gothic, operatic, and silly, and it's appealing because of all of this.

Bat Out of Hell album cover

Jim Steinman was a composer without peer, simply because nobody else wanted to make mini-epics like this. And there never could have been a singer more suited for his compositions than Meat Loaf, a singer partial to bombast, albeit shaded bombast. The compositions are staggeringly ridiculous, yet Meat Loaf finds the emotional core in each song. 
Read more:  Allmusic

The Cars
My Best Friend's Girl

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