Don McLean’s “American Pie” hit #1

American Pie Don McLean

Writer(s): Don McLean (see lyrics here) First Charted: November 19, 1971 Peak: 14 US, 14 CB, 15 GR, 15 HR, 13 AC, 2 UK, 15 CN, 15 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.6 UK, 1.6 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): 3.0 radio, 170.8 video, 362.11 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: February 3, 1959, is often called “the day the music died” because of a plane crash that killed early rockers Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper. Although singer/songwriter Don McLean doesn’t mention any of them by name, he immortalized the legendary trio with his epic song “American Pie.” McLean has stated that Holly “was the first and last person I ever really idolized as a kid.” FB Holly was, in fact, McLean’s inspiration for taking up the guitar in the first place. TB McLean learned of the tragedy while folding newspapers for his paper route. WK McLean lamented that by 1964 Holly had been largely forgotten, but as McLean said, “I didn’t forget him.” TB In fact, he acknowledged that in writing the song’s first verse, he “exorcised his long-running grief over Holly’s death.” WK The song expresses a general theme about the death of idealism in the 1960s, BBC but its lyrics maintained enough ambiguity to inspire radio stations to devote entire shows to analyzing “American Pie.” HL It has been amusingly suggested that one could “obtain a doctorate by writing on its hidden meaning.” HL McLean has done little to help in the interpretations, saying merely that it was an “attempt at an epic song about America and I used the imagery of music and politics to do that.” KN “American Pie” was an epic in more than just theme; its nearly eight-and-a-half minute running time meant that the song was split into two parts to fit on the 45 RPM single format of the day. Initially, some stations played only the first side, but as the song grew in popularity, stations succumbed to playing it in its entirety. WK Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for Don McLean BBC BBC Radio 2 (2004). “Sold on Song Top 100” FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 305. HL Michael Heatley and Spencer Leigh. (1998). Behind the Song: The Stories of 100 Great Pop & Rock Classics. London, England: Blandford Books. Page 62. KN Steve Knight (2007). The Top 25 Rock Songs of All-Time are… TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 132. WK Wikipedia First posted 1/5/2012; last updated 11/26/2022.

David Bowie released “Changes”

Changes David Bowie

Writer(s): David Bowie (see lyrics here) Released: January 7, 1972 First Charted: April 8, 1972 Peak: 41 US, 38 CB, 37 GR, 28 HR, 30 RR, 49 UK, 32 CN, 80 AU, 1 DF (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 34.5 video, 111.3 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: “Changes” was released to promote David Bowie’s Hunky Dory album, but didn’t exactly take the charts by storm, stalling at 66 on the Billboard Hot 100. A 1975 rerelease didn’t fare much better with the song peaking just outside the top 40. In his native UK, the song didn’t chart until after Bowie’s death. Bowie hadn’t expected much of the song; he wrote it as a throwaway parody of a nightclub song. However, audiences kept chanting for it at concerts, drawn in by lines like, “These children that you spit on as they try to change their worlds/ Are immune to your consultations/ They’re quite aware of what they’re going through.” SF Rock songwriters typically were “at pains to place themselves in some tradition or ar another, whether it was blues or folk music or Modernist poetry. With ‘Changes,’ Bowie announced that his artistic personality was in flux; its future shape would be mercurial and respect no rules.” TC Rock’s chameleon “had barely begun to show the world his wardrobe of disguises.” RS500 Fans took to it “as the theme song for the man who’d already given them Hippie Bowie, Mod Bowie and Bluesy Bowie.” RS500 The song became one of his best-known, often viewed “as a manifesto for his chamelonic personality” WK and “penchant for artistic reinvention.” SF Bowie was facing some pretty big changes when he wrote the song. His wife, Angela, was pregnant with their first child and Bowie, who’d had a good relationship with his own dad, was excited about impending fatherhood. SF He also embraced change in his approach to songwriting; he started using keyboards in his writing, which made for new melody and structure possibilities. SF Meanwhile, guitarist Mick Ronson arranged the strings and Bowie decided to play saxophone on the track. SF Rick Wakeman, later of Yes, played piano on the track. SF In 2004, Australian singer/songwriter Butterfly Boucher covered the song for the Shrek 2 movie. Bowie appears as a guest vocalist on the track. Resources: DMDB Encyclopedia entry for David Bowie TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Pages 348-9. RS500 Rolling Stone (2011). “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 1/4/2020; last updated 12/26/2022.