Music History Today: January 30, 2022

January 30, 1988: REM entered Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart with  "It's the End of the World as We Know It."

“It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” was built from the melody of an earlier, more straightforward R.E.M. track, 1985’s “Bad Day.”

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A demo of “Bad Day (PSA)” was rejected for the band’s 1986 album Life's Rich Pageant. By 1987, the group had reworked the song: increasing its tempo, opening with that call-to-arms drumbeat, and retrofitting the lyrics. 

Read more: Financial Times

January 30, 1965: "A Change is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke entered the US Top 100 singles.

An “Imagine” for Black people that came seven years before John Lennon dropped what might be his most-enduring post-Beatles classic, “A Change Is Gonna Come” is the song for which Sam Cooke is now best remembered. 

Sam Cooke

It first appeared on his album “Ain’t That Good News,” which was released in February of 1964, 10 months before the 33-year-old Cooke was shot to death in an L.A. motel under still-mysterious circumstances. 

Read more: Variety

January 30, 1971: The Bee Gees peaked at Number 3 on the US chart with "Lonely Days."

Well before the Brothers Gibb became mega-stars with their music for the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever, Barry, Robin and Maurice were huge pop stars.

The Bee Gees

They were born on the Isle of Man and then grew up in Manchester, England before moving to Australia in the late 1950s. After releasing a dozen singles there, the Bee Gees had earned their first worldwide hit with the 1967 song “New York Mining Disaster 1941.” 

Read more: Best Classic Bands

January 30,  1982: Buckner & Garcia entered the American Top 40  with the novelty hit "Pac-Man Fever."

"Pac-Man Fever" is a hit single by Buckner & Garcia. Capitalizing on the video game craze of the early 1980s, the song, about the classic video game Pac-Man, peaked at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States in March 1982. 

Read more: Wikipedia

 

January 30, 1999: Third Eye Blind peaked at Number 5 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart with "Jumper." 

"Jumper" was written solely by front-man Stephan Jenkins.

Third Eye Blind

Jenkins intended to write a song about the perils of bullying, with the song's narrative focusing on a "friend who’s gay jumping off a bridge and killing themselves". This narrative was inspired by a friend of band manager Eric Godtland who committed suicide in high school. 

Read more: Wikipedia

It's the End of the
 World as We Know It
R.E.M.