Music History Today: April 3, 2022

April 3, 2010: "Telephone" by Lady Gaga & Beyonce topped out at Number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Originally written by Lady Gaga and several collaborators for Britney Spears “Telephone” appeared on “The Fame Monster,” a more adventurous coda to Gaga’s debut album, “The Fame.”

Lady Gaga's "Telephone"

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Though Spears was reportedly considered again as a potential guest star, the featured artist ended up being the woman Gaga joined on the 2007 track “Video Phone (Remix)”: Beyoncé. 

Read more: New York Times

April 3, 1965: Jr. Walker and the All-Stars made it to Number 4 in the US with "Shotgun."

The sound of the bullet being fired, the percussion kicking in, and that lyrical saxophone: they were the irresistible ingredients of “Shotgun,” the instrumental that made Jr. Walker and the All Stars famous. This exciting piece of mid-60s Motown made its debut on the US pop and R&B charts on February 13, 1965. 

Read more: U Discover Music

 

April 3, 1971: The second week on the Billboard Hot 100, Bread skyrocketed into the Top 40, from Number 72 to 49, with the hit song "If." 

"If" was written by American singer-songwriter David Gates in 1971. Originally popularized by his group Bread, it charted at No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 when released as a single in 1971 and No. 6 in Canada.

It also spent three weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. Easy Listening chart, and one week at the top of the Canadian AC chart. In the U.S., Bread's tune was the shortest song title to become a top ten hit until 1993, when Prince hit No. 7 with "7", and Britney Spears reached No. 1 with "3" in 2009. 

Read more: Wikipedia

April 3, 1976:  Henry Gross' "Shannon" moved into the American Top 40 chart. 

"Shannon" was a song written about the passing of Beach Boy Carl Wilson's Irish Setter of the same name. The song went gold and became a worldwide hit. The second single, "Springtime Mama," sold just short of gold. This was Gross' first album and first hit on the new Lifesong Record label. 

Read more: Songfacts

April 3, 1982: A big mover this week, from Number 70 to 50, was "The Beatles Movie Medley."

Capitol Records took advantage of a pair of very time-specific trends with "The Beatles Movie Medley": A surge in home-video viewing and the brief chart interest in compilation singles.

The Let It Be film had just been released on VHS, LaserDisc and Betamax, while A Hard Day's Night was returning to theaters. Bootlegs of Help! were becoming widespread. Meanwhile, the "Stars on 45 Medley" rose to the top of the charts in the summer of 1981 with a Dutch John Lennon soundalike singing snippets of several Beatles songs. 

Read more: Ultimate Classic Rock

Telephone
Lady Gaga & Beyonce