N THIS DAY IN MUSIC HISTORY:
1978 - The Fleetwood Mac album Rumours went No. 1 in the U.S. About the album, Allmusic says this: "the kind of album that transcends its origins and reputation, entering the realm of legend -- as their professional career took off, the personal side unraveled...these personal tensions fueled nearly every song. You're eavesdropping on the bandmates singing painful truths about each other, spreading nasty lies and rumors and wallowing in their grief, all in the presence of the person who caused the heartache".
1978 - Van Halen released their first single, a cover of The Kinks' ‘You Really Got Me’. The Kinks' Dave Davies has claimed to dislike Van Halen's rendition of the song and stated of how a concert-goer once approached him after a live Kinks show and congratulated him on performing a "great cover of the Van Halen song."
1985 - With the stars in town for the American Music Awards, "We Are The World" is recorded in Los Angeles, with cameras rolling for the video. The project actually started as a concert for famine relief in Africa, but turned into a song, written by Lionel Ritchie and Michael Jackson. The recording is a remarkable confluence of goodwill and serendipity: Quincy Jones, who produced the session, carried so much respect that even the biggest stars were happy not only to participate, but to check their egos at the door, as Jones requested. Among those taking part: Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Hall & Oates, The Jacksons, Billy Joel, Kenny Loggins, Bette Midler, Willie Nelson, The Pointer Sisters, Lionel Richie, Smokey Robinson, Kenny Rogers, Diana Ross, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner and Stevie Wonder.
1985 - Jimmy Buffett opens his first Margaritaville retail store, named for his 1977 hit, in Key West. It sells beach-inspired apparel like Caribbean Soul t-shirts and flip-flops. "Margaritaville is a state of mind, a place we can all escape to where you'll always be on island time... It's in the tropics somewhere between the Port of Indecision and Southwest of Disorder".
2016 - Two founding members of Jefferson Airplane, lead singer Signe Anderson and guitarist Paul Kantner, die on the same day, both at 74. Anderson left the group in 1966 after recording their first album - she was replaced by Grace Slick.
Birthdays:
Jamaican electronics musician King Tubby was born today in 1941.
Robert Wyatt of Soft Machine is 76.
William Nelson of Funkadelic is 70.
Sarah McLachlan is 53. (Photo by Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images for ELLE)
Lawrence Muggerud, aka DJ Muggs with Cypress Hill, is 53.
Rapper and producer Rakim is 53.
On This Day In Music History is sourced from This Day in Music, Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock, Song Facts, Margaritaville.com, and Wikipedia.