Music History Today: November 19, 2021

November 19, 1983: "In the Mood" by Robert Plant entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

With his 1983 single, “In The Mood”, Robert Plant appeared to have embraced the ’80s without quite letting go of the Led Zeppelin legacy. 

Robert Plant

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The track, which also appeared on his surprisingly excellent LP, The Principle of Moments, is a gorgeous ballad powered by gently swelling synthesizers and some very “Zep-adjacent” guitar riffing courtesy of Robbie Blunt. 

Read more: DJD-Mac

November 19, 1966: The Supremes took over at the top spot on the Billboard single' chart with "You Keep Me Hangin’ On."

“You Keep Me Hangin’ On” was Holland-Dozier-Holland’s attempt to write a rock song. Their take on the genre doesn’t actually sound anything like ’60s rock, but it’s a whole lot better and more interesting than most of the actual rock songs of the era. 

Read more: Stereogum

 

November 19, 1973: Emerson, Lake, & Palmer release their fourth studio album, Brain Salad Surgery in the UK. 

Emerson, Lake & Palmer's most successful and well-realized album (after their first), and their most ambitious as a group, as well as their loudest, Brain Salad Surgery was also the most steeped in electronic sounds of any of their records.

 

Greg Lake's "Still...You Turn Me On," the album's obligatory acoustic number, was his last great ballad with the group, possessing a melody and arrangement sufficiently pretty to forgive the presence of the rhyming triplet "everyday a little sadder/a little madder/someone get me a ladder." 

Read more: Allmusic

 

November 19, 1977: Van Morrison's "Moondance" debuts on the US single's chart.

"Moondance" was written and developed while Morrison was living in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Van Morrison

He has commented, "With 'Moondance' I wrote the melody first. I played the melody on a soprano sax and I knew I had a song so I wrote lyrics to go with the melody. That's the way I wrote that one." 

Read more: Wikipedia

November 19, 1988: Bon Jovi had a Number 1 hit in the US when "Bad Medicine" topped the single's chart.

“Bad Medicine” came from Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, and Desmond Child, the songwriting team responsible for both “You Give Love A Bad Name” and “Livin’ On A Prayer.” Sambora has said that the song was about him, which tracks. Jon Bon Jovi’s love life was pretty stable. 

Read more: Stereogum

In the Mood
Robert Plant