Music History Today: July 11, 2022

July 11, 1970: Melanie, with the Edwin Hawkins Singers, peaked at Number 6 with "Lay Down (Candles In the Rain)."

When the 22-year-old Melanie Safka stepped out onto the stage on at Woodstock, just before 11 PM, she was greeted by the audience lighting candles to  beat back the rain that had been falling. 

Melanie

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Melanie performed a successful set and also had the inspiration for her first Top 10 hit. She got some assistance on the song from the Edwin Hawkins Singers, who had their own gospel hit with their arrangement of “Oh Happy Day” two years earlier.

Read more: American Songwriter

July 11, 1964: Recorded in just one take in May, The Animals' "House of the Rising Sun" topped the UK chart.

Rolling Stone included The Animals' "House of the Rising Sun" on its list of the greatest songs of all time. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ranks the 1964 hit one of the songs that shaped rock and roll.

The Animals

And in 1999, the song was granted a Grammy Hall of Fame award. But if there ever was an unlikely candidate for a number one hit, this is it. The Animals didn't even come up with this song themselves. 

Read more: Schmoop

July 11, 1981: The Greg Kihn Band had a Top 40 hit when "The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)" moved from Number 43 to 39 on the US music chart.

"The Breakup Song (They Don't Write 'Em)"was the first hit for The Greg Kihn Band and their biggest until they scored with "Jeopardy" in 1983. 

The Greg Kihn Band

It celebrates the quality of breakup songs in rock's earlier times, as the narrator laments both his recent breakup and the fact that they don't write good breakup songs anymore. 

Read more: Songfacts

July 11, 1987: The Whispers' "Rock Steady" moved into the Top 40 section of Billboard's Hot 100.  

"Rock Steady" has been the Whispers' highest charting single on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, peaking at Number 7. It was their second and final number one on the Hot Black Singles Chart. 

Read more: Wikipedia

July 13, 1991: Michael W. Smith topped out at Number 6 on Billboard's Hot 100 with "Place In This World."

"Place In This World," from contemporary Christian music artist Michael W. Smith's 1990 album Go West Young Man, was his first attempt at mainstream success. The message of the song proved to be meaningful to a lot of people. It lasted 21 weeks on the overall chart. 

Read more: Wikipedia

Lay Down
(Candles In the Rain)
Melanie