Music History Today: June 6, 2023

June 6, 2009: Adam Lambert, the runner-up on the eighth season of American Idol, had two chart entries into Billboard's Hot 100. A cover of Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come" debuted at Number 56. At Number 19 was his take on Tears for Fears' "Mad World." 

Adam Lambert

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June 6, 1964: Chuck Berry flew up the US singles chart, from Number 78 to 43, with "No Particular Place to Go."

When Chuck Berry wrote "No Particular Place to Go," he had nowhere to go. He was in prison. The track is laden with innuendo, although of the tragic kind because herein, our hero cannot unfasten his safety belt. 

Read more: Songfacts

June 6, 1970: Three Dog Night entered the top 40 section of Billboard with "Mama Told Me Not to Come." 

Written by Randy Newman, "Mama Told Me Not to Come" is about a party that left a "bad taste" in the writer's mouth. The drug scene was pretty new to American middle-class youth at that time. Randy Newman explained in a 2017 interview with Rolling Stone:  "It's a guy going to a party, and he's a little scared. The first line," Will you have whiskey with your water or sugar with your tea,", was a vague connection to acid. 

Read more: Songfacts

June 6, 1981: Rush debuted on Billboard's Hot 100 with "Tom Sawyer." 

The lyrics for Rush's hit "Tom Sawyer" are loosely based on a character Mark Twain created in his first novel. In the December 1985 Rush Backstage Club newsletter, drummer and lyricist Neil Peart said:

Rush

"Tom Sawyer was a collaboration between myself and Pye Dubois, who wrote the lyrics for Max Webster. His original lyrics were a portrait of a modern-day rebel, a free-spirited individualist striding through the world wide-eyed and purposeful." 

Read more: Songfacts

June 6,  1987: Dan Hill & Vonda Shepard entered the US singles chart with "Can't We Try." 

Ten years after achieving easy listening domination with his hit "Sometimes When We Touch," Dan Hill's duet was named Billboard's Number 1 Adult Contemporary song of 1987. Vonda Shepard would go on to fame as the musical voice of the hit TV show Ally McBeal. She was 23 years old and working as a backup singer when she got the opportunity to record this song. 

Read more: Songfacts

Mad World
Adam Lambert