Music History Today: December 2, 2021

December 2, 2000: NSYNC peaks at Number 5 with "This I Promise You."

This I Promise You" by NSYNC was released in November 2000 as the final single from their second album, No Strings Attached.

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Richard Marx was asked by A&R executive David Novik if he had any songs that he could give to NSYNC, which he specifically requested for a ballad. Initially, the song was written with a three-person girl group in mind, which Marx quickly finished after writing the harmonies specifically for NSYNC. 

Read more: Wikipedia

December 2, 1966: The Kinks peaked at Number 13 on the Billboard single's chart with "A Well Respected Man."

As the first “well- oriented” song that lead singer Ray Davies wrote, “A Well Respected Man” was by far one of the more successful singles that the Kinks released.

The Kinks

t's included on the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame’s list of 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. Based upon a negative experience Davies had with an upperclassman at a resort, the lyrics seem to mock the individual that he felt did not live up to his appearance.  

Read more: Society of Rock

December 2, 1967: The Cowsills peaked at Number 2 with "The Rain, The Park and Other Things."

"The Rain, the Park & Other Things" is a psychedelic pop song with music and lyrics co-written by Artie Kornfeld and Steve Duboff.

 

It reached #2 on the Billboard charts, kept from the #1 spot by "Daydream Believer" by The Monkees. And, like the Monkees, the Cowsills did not play on their earliest recordings. Studio musicians were brought in to provide the music for this song and many of the earlier singles. 

Read more: Wikipedia

December 2, 1971: "Misty Mountain Hop" by Led Zeppelin from the album Led Zeppelin IV is released in the US as the B-side of "Black Dog."

Beyond the sawing riffs and building-rattling stomps, there was always something a little hippie-dippie about Led Zeppelin. One critic memorably described lyrical detours like "Misty Mountain Hop" as "dated flower-child gibberish." 

Robert Plant & Jimmy Page

"Misty Mountain Hop" managed to unapologetically combine all three of these basic elements – the stomps, for sure, and the sawing riff and (most certainly) the hippie-dippie stuff: Plant places himself amid a real-life July 1968 rally in London's Hyde Park where protesters encouraging the legalization of marijuana where dispersed by police. 

Read more: Ultimate Classic Rock

December 2, 2000: The 'boy band' competition was in full swing with NSYNC peaking at Number 6 with "This I Promise You" and Backstreet Boys at Number 9 with "Shape of My Heart."

The lead single from Black & Blue, this soft ballad was written by a trio of Swedish songwriters: Max Martin, Rami Yacoub and Lisa Miskovsky.

Backstreet Boys

The flawed narrator hopes his love interest will forgive him for his errant ways. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, but lost to U2's "Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of." 

Read more: Songfacts

This I Promise You
NSYNC