Music History Today: April 28, 2023

April 28, 2001: Dido peaked at Number 3 on Billboard's Hot 100 with "Thank You."

Dido wrote "Thank You" after meeting her boyfriend, a lawyer named Bob Page, in 1995 and falling for him hard. Eminem sampled the track on his 2000 hit "Stan," which uses the first verse as the hook.

Dido

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Eminem's song is from the perspective of an obsessive fan, giving it a whole new meaning: Stan's life is hopeless, but he's buoyed by the kinship he feels with his hero, whose picture is on his wall. Dido appears in the video as Stan's wife and sang it with Eminem on some of his tour dates. 

Read more: Songfacts

April 28, 1966: Dusty Springfield hit Number 1 on the UK singles chart with "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me."

"You Don't Have To Say You Love Me" was initially an Italian song composed by Pino Donnagio. Springfield heard Donnagio perform it at the San Remo festival and asked her friend Vicki Wickham, who produced the British TV show Ready Steady Go, to write some English lyrics. With the help of Yardbirds manager Simon Napier-Bell, she did. 

Read more: Wikipedia

 

April 28, 1973: David Bowie released "Starman" as a single in the UK.

"Starman" forms part of the Ziggy Stardust story, in which the end of the world lingers just five years away. This song tells of salvation waiting in the sky, as revealed through Starman's messenger, Ziggy Stardust. The song is told from the perspective of a person listening to Ziggy on the radio. 

David Bowie photo by Mick Rock

In 1972, Bowie performed "Starman" on the British TV show Top of the Pops. The singer appeared as the flame-haired Ziggy Stardust, dressed in a multicolored jumpsuit, strummed a blue guitar while moving flirtatiously alongside his guitarist, Mick Ronson. The show catapulted Bowie to stardom. 

Read more: Songfacts

 

April 28, 1979: The  late '70s Latin dance/disco group Foxy entered the top 40 section of Billboard with "Hot Number." The song peaked at 21 and hit Number 4 on the Soul chart.

April 28, 1986: Doctor and the Medics released a cover of Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky." It topped the UK music chart for three weeks and reached Number 69 in the US.

Thank You
Dido