Click on any date below to see music events for that day. Click here to return to the main history page. You can also check the birthday page for even more music makers born on each day than those highlighted here. Note: there are A LOT of links here to other DMDB pages. Please email Dave’s Music Database with any corrections.
|
November 11894: Billboard magazine hit the newsstands for the first time. It began as a tool for marketing and advertising but rose to become the leading authority on music charts. Read more here. 
1957: Lyle Lovett was born on this day in 1957. He has integrated country, jazz, blues, rockabilly, and other genres into his unique blend of music. He ranks as one of my top 100 favorite acts. Here’s the DMDB list of his top 50 songs. You can also check out the DMDB podcast “The Best of Lyle Lovett, 1986-2022.” 
1969: The Beatles’ Abbey Road hit #1 in the United States. It spent 11 weeks on top, but also topped the UK charts for 18 weeks, 18 weeks in Australia, and 11 weeks in Canada. The album features the classic songs “Come Together,” “Something,” and “Here Comes the Sun.” The album ranks as one of the top-ten albums of all time and is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Albums of All Time. 
November 21958: The soundtrack for South Pacific hit #1 in the UK. It went on to top the UK album chart for 115 weeks, the biggest #1 in the chart’s history. The soundtrack spent 31 weeks at #1 in the United States. The 1949 cast album topped the Billboard album chart for 69 weeks, making it one of the biggest #1 albums in U.S. history. South Pacific is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Albums of All Time. 
1968: Glen Campbell hit the charts with “Wichita Lineman.” It reached #1 on the country and adult contemporary charts and was a #3 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. The song is in the Grammy Hall of Fame and National Recording Registry. It also won Song of the Year from the Academy of Country Music. It ranks in the DMDB’s top 1% of all time and is ranks as one of the top country songs of all time. 2020: “Baby Shark” became the most-watched video of all time on YouTube, surpassing Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito” with more than 7 billion views. It has gone on to rack up 13 billion views total. The children’s campfire song dates back to the 20th century and is in the public domain.
2023: The Beatles released “Now and Then” built around a John Lennon demo from around 1977. It was billed as “their last single.”
November 31956: Elvis Presley hit #1 with “Love Me Tender.” It was the title cut from the first of his 31 movies. The movie was set during the Civil War so the musical director sought out songs from that era. “Love Me Tender” was adapted from a ballad called “Aura Lee” which was published in 1861.
1981: Queen released Greatest Hits. The track listing varied between the U.S. and UK versions but both included the classics “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “We Will Rock You,” “We Are the Champions,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” and “Another One Bites the Dust.” It ranks as one of the top 100 best-selling albums of all time and is one of the longest charting albums ever in both the U.S. and UK. 
1990: The Righteous Brothers hit #1 in the UK with “Unchained Melody” – 25 years after it first charted. The song was a top-five hit in the U.S. upon its original release. It owed its revival to its appearance in the movie Ghost. The song is in the Grammy Hall of Fame and received the Towering Song Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame. It is also featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era, 1954-1999. The song first surfaced in the movie Unchained in 1955. Les Baxter took it to #1 in the United States that year. Roy Hamilton and Al Hibbler both took the song to #1 on the R&B charts. Meanwhile Jimmy Young hit #1 with the song in the UK. All told, five different versions of the song hit #1 on four different charts in three different decades.
November 41954: Chris Difford was born. He and Glenn Tilbrook have been the only mainstays with the group Squeeze since its beginnings in 1975. The new wave group never achieved the success they deserved despite generating classics like “Cool for Cats,” “Up the Junction,” “Pulling Mussels from the Shell,” “Tempted,” and “Black Coffee in Bed.” Here’s a list of the top 50 songs by Difford & Tilbrook as part of Squeeze as well as their solo work. 
1965: The Who charted with “My Generation.” The song is in the Grammy Hall of Fame and is on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s list of “Songs That Shaped Rock”. The song is also featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era, 1954-1999.
1997: Shania Twain released her album Come on Over. It has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide to become one of the top ten best sellers in history. That also makes it the best-selling country album of all time, the best-selling album by a woman, and the best-selling album by a Canadian. 
November 51938: Artie Shaw hit #1 for the first of six weeks with “Begin the Beguine.” The song, written by Cole Porter, has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the National Recording Registry. Dave’s Music Database names it the song of the year as well as one of the top 100 tin pan alley songs, and the top 100 standards. It is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Pre-Rock Era, 1890-1953.
1959: Canadian rock singer Bryan Adams was born. He ranks as one of Billboard magazine’s top 100 all-time artists, topping the Hot 100 four times with “Heaven” (1984), “Everything I Do (I Do It for You)” (1991), “All for Love” (with Sting & Rod Stewart, 1993), and “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?” (1995). 
2022: Taylor Swift set chart history when her Midnights album locked down the entire top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. Leading the pack was “Anti-Hero,” which spent 8 weeks at #1 and became her biggest chart-topping song to date. 
November 61854: John Philip Sousa was born. The Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee was known as “The March King.” He topped the charts five times in the 1890s and early 1900s, most notably with “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” 
1942: The Mills Brothers hit #1 for the first of twelve weeks with “Paper Doll.” The song has been called the demise of the big band era. It is in the Grammy Hall of Fame and was named one of the Recording Industry Association of America songs of the 20th century. It is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Pre-Rock Era, 1890-1953.
1948: Glenn Frey was born. Sadly, he passed away in 2016 but he left a phenomenal legacy as a member of the Eagles, taking the lead on songs like “Take It Easy” and the #1 hit “Heartache Tonight.” He was also a successful solo artist, most notably reaching #2 with the hits “The Heat Is On” and “You Belong to the City.” Here’s a list of the top 100 songs by the Eagles, Glenn Frey, and other members of the band. 
November 71969: Led Zeppelin released “Whole Lotta Love,” the first single from their sophomore album. The song is in the Grammy Hall of Fame and on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s list of “Songs That Shaped Rock”. The song is also featured on the DMDB list of the top 100 classic rock songs.
1983: After more than a decade of making music, the progressive-rock band Yes had seemingly hung it up for good. Several of the members got together to form a new band but before they knew it, they’d reformed Yes. They released the album 90125 on this day and it became a top 10, multi-platinum seller in the United States, thanks to #1 hit “Owner of a Lonely Heart” and other radio-friendly songs like “Leave It,” “Changes,” and “It Can Happen.” It ranks as one of my top 100 favorite albums. 
1986: Sid and Nancy was released. The cult movie classic explored the tumultuous relationship between Sex Pistols’ bassist Sid Vicious and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen. Sid was arrested and charged with second-degree murder for stabbing her to death on October 12, 1978. Four months later, he was dead from a heroin overdose. The DMDB ranks this as one of the top music movies of all time. 
November 81971: Led Zeppelin released its untitled fourth album. The album featured classic rock staples “Black Dog,” “Rock and Roll,” and the biggest classic-rock radio hit of all time, “Stairway to Heaven.” The album is one of the top-five bestsellers of all time and appears on multiple best-of lists. It is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Albums of All Time. 
1972: Lou Reed released Transformer featuring production by David Bowie and guitarist Mick Ronson. The album produced some the most memorable songs of Reed’s career, including “Walk on the Wild Side,” “Satellite of Love,” and “Perfect Day.” It was a landmark album in the glam movement and appears on multiple top 100 lists including those by Acclaimed Music, the BBC, Guardian, Mojo, NME, and Virgin Radio. 
2002: 8 Mile opened. The movie tells a somewhat autobiographical tale of rapper Eminem as Jimmy “B-Rabbit” Smith trying to overcome his lower-class financial status and fulfill his dream of a career in hip-hop. The DMDB ranks this as one of the top music movies of all time. 
November 91929: Fats Waller hit the charts with “Ain’t Misbehavin’” While the song only reached #17 on the U.S. pop charts, it became a classic which has been inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame and the National Recording Registry. It ranks in the DMDB top 100 lists of jazz songs, big band songs, cover songs, and standards. It is also featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Pre-Rock Era, 1890-1953.
1967: Rolling Stone hit newsstands with its very first issue featuring John Lennon on the cover. The iconic magazine reached a circulation of 1 million, mostly because of its music coverage but also because of reporting through the years on politics and culture. Read more here. 
1970: Derek and the Dominos released their only studio album, Layla & Other Assorted Love Songs. Guitarist and singer Eric Clapton formed the group with guitarist Duane Allman and members of Delaney & Bonnie who he met while touring with Blind Faith. It spawned the song “Layla,” which the DMDB ranks as one of the top 5 classic rock songs of all time. The album is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Albums of All Time. 
November 101967: The Moody Blues released “Nights in White Satin.” The song was a modest hit originally, peaking at #19 in the UK. However, it was rereleased in 1972 and became a #2 hit in the U.S. It was the biggest hit of the band’s career and a highlight of the progressive rock movement. It also ranks as one of the top 100 psychedelic rock songs of all time and is on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s list of “Songs That Shaped Rock”.
1973: Elton John hit #1 for the first of 10 weeks on the Billboard album chart with Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. The album was fueled by multiple hits, including “Bennie and the Jets,” “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting,” “Candle in the Wind,” and the title cut. It ranks in the DMDB lists of the top 100 pop albums and top 100 classic rock albums. It is one of the top 100 best sellers of all time selling 30 million copies worldwide and is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Albums of All Time. 
1975: Patti Smith released Horses. The Grammy Hall of Fame and National Recording Registry album inductee ranks as one of the top 50 punk albums of all time and is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Albums of All Time. 
November 111938: Kate Smith first sang “God Bless America” on network radio. The Irving Berlin classic rose to #5 after charting the next spring and his become one of the top 10 patriotic classics according to the DMDB. It also ranks as one of the top 100 tin pan alley songs and the top 100 standards. It is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Pre-Rock Era, 1890-1953.
1948: Producer Mutt Lange was born. He helmed some of the biggest albums of the 1980s, including AC/DC’s Back in Black, Foreigner 4, and Def Leppard’s Hysteria. In the 1990s, he gained a new audience in the pop/country arena with Shania Twain. Her 1997 Come on Over album sold over 40 million copies worldwide, giving Lange two of the top-ten best-selling albums of all time (the other was Back in Black). 
1995: Smashing Pumpkins topped the chart with the Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. It was named one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s definitive albums. It rates as one of alternative rock’s top 100 albums ever featuring four top-10 hits on the alternative rock charts including “Bullet with Butterfly Wings” and “1979.” 
November 121945: Neil Young was born. He ranks as one of the top 100 music makers of all time. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo act and as a member of Buffalo Springfield (best known for 1966’s “For What It’s Worth”). His highest ranked solo song is “Heart of Gold.” It comes in at #3 on the list of top 100 songs by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. 
1977: The Sex Pistols topped the UK album chart with Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols . It ranks as the #1 punk rock album of all time and has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It is ranked as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s definitive albumsand is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Albums of All Time. 
1983: Lionel Richie hit #1 with “All Night Long (All Night).” It was the lead single from his sophomore solo album, Can’t Slow Down, which would win the Grammy for Album of the Year. The song ranks in the DMDB lists of the top 100 R&B songs and top 100 adult contemporary songs and is featured in the DMDB book Music of the 1980s.
November 131935: Bing Crosby recorded his version of the classic Christmas song “Silent Night.” It only peaked at #7 but has become one of the top 10 best-selling songs of all time with 30 million. It ranks in the top five of the list of all-time Christmas songs. The song is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Pre-Rock Era, 1890-1953.
1965: The soundtrack for The Sound of Music hit #1 in the United States. It only spent two weeks on top, but was Billboard magazine’s album of the year. In the UK it dominated the peak position for 70 weeks, making it the second-longest running #1 album in the UK behind the South Pacific soundtrack. It sold more than 22 million copies to become one of the top 100 best-selling albums of all time. It has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the National Recording Registry. It is also featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Albums of All Time. 
1976: Rod Stewart began an eight-week run atop the Billboard Hot 100 with “Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright).” It ranked as the magazine’s song of the year and is in the top 100 of all time according to Billboard. It also ranks in the top 1% of all time according to the DMDB.
November 141952: The first British music chart was published in New Musical Express. The first #1 song was Al Martino’s “Here in My Heart.” Read more here. 
1960: Ray Charles hit #1 with “Georgia on My Mind.” The song was a cover of a song written and recorded by Hoagy Carmichael thirty years earlier. The song is a Grammy Hall of Fame inductee and makes DMDB top 100 lists of jazz songs, R&B songs, tin pan alley songs, covers, and standards. It is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era, 1954-1999.
1987: The soundtrack for Dirty Dancing hit #1 for the first of 18 weeks. It featured the #1 hit “I’ve Had the Time of My Life” as well as top 10 hits “Hungry Eyes” and “She’s Like the Wind.” It also featured hits from the ‘50s and ‘60s like the Five Satins’ “In the Still of the Nite (I’ll Remember),” Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs’ “Stay” and the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby.” The album sold 32 million copies worldwide ranking it as one of the top 20 best sellers of all time. 
November 151960: Etta James released her version of “At Last.” It was initially written for the 1941 film Sun Valley Serenade. Glenn Miller took the song to #2 in 1942 and Ray Anthony repeated the feat a decade later. However, it was James’ version which became the classic. It has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and National Recording Registry. It ranks in the top 100 of DMDB lists of blues songs, covers, jazz songs, love songs, and R&B songs.
1980: Kenny Rogers hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Lady.” It also topped the country and adult contemporary charts and ranks in the DMDB’s lists of top adult contemporary songs and country songs of all time.
2002: Standing in the Shadows of Motown was released on this day in 2002. The documentary focused on the Funk Brothers, who served as the Motown house band from 1959 to 1972. They backed the The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight & the Pips, the Miracles, the Supremes, the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, and others. Check out the DMDB’s list of the top Motown songs here. 
November 161968: Jimi Hendrix hit #1 on the Billboard album chart with Electric Ladyland . It was the third and final studio album released during his lifetime. It ranks as one of the top 100 classic rock albums, fueled by classic-rock-radio staples “Crosstown Traffic,” “Voodoo Child (Slight Return),” and “All Along the Watchtower.” The Grammy Hall of Fame inductee is also featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Albums of All Time. 
1974: Lynyrd Skynyrd charted with “Free Bird,” more than a year after it was first released on the band’s debut album. The record company thought it was too long for a single, but eventually released an edited version. It is the longer version, however, which is generally played at radio today. It ranks in the top 5 on the DMDB lists of the top classic rock songs as well as the list of Southern rock songs.
1996: The Spice Girls debuted atop the UK album chart with their first album, Spice . Propelled by 4 #1 hits in the UK, including “Wannabe,” the album spent 15 weeks on top there, making it one of the all-time biggest UK #1 albums. It also hit #1 in the U.S. and 15 other countries. It went on to become the best-selling album of 1997 and one of the best-selling albums of all time with 27 million copies. It is also the biggest selling girl-group album of all time. 
November 171984: Wham! hit #1 in the U.S. with “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.” In the UK, the song topped the charts back in June and the group had three top-ten hits before that. However, this was the big arrival for the pop duo in the U.S. As a solo artist, George Michael would go on to even bigger heights with eight #1 songs. “Wake Me Up” makes the DMDB lists of top party songs and earworms.
1998: Garth Brooks release Double Live , which was, well, a double live album (not the most original title). The collection featured 25 songs total – including 3 new songs and 15 which had topped the country charts. The album ranks amongst the top 100 all time of country albums and live albums. 
2003: The Red Hot Chili Peppers released their Greatest Hits album. The group formed in 1983 and gained what could be called a cult following throughout the ‘80s. This collection focuses more on their commercial output of the ‘90s, covering hits like “Under the Bridge,” “Give It Away,” “Scar Tissue,” “Californication,” and “By the Way.” For an overview of these Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees’ full career, check out the DMDB podcast, “The Best of the Red Hot Chili Peppers (1983-2022).” 
November 181909: Johnny Mercer was born. The legendary Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee ranks as one of the top 100 acts of all time. He wrote lyrics to more than 1500 songs including “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” and “Baby It’s Cold Outside.” He was a co-founder of Capitol Records and received 19 Grammy nominations. 
1957: Danny & the Juniors topped the Billboard charts for the first of 7 weeks with “At the Hop.” The song ranks as one of the top 5 doo-wop songs of all time and makes the Recording Industry Association of America songs of the 20th century as well as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s list of “Songs That Shaped Rock”.
1967: Cream hit the UK charts with their album Disraeli Gears. The Grammy Hall of Fame inductee featured “Sunshine of Your Love,” “Strange Brew,” and “Tales of Brave Ulysses.” It makes the DMDB lists of the top 100 classic rock albums and top psychedelic rock albums of all time. 
November 191905: Tommy Dorsey was born. The big band leader and trombonist ranks as one of the top 100 acts of all time. He reached #1 nineteen times, including 1942’s “I'll Never Smile Again,” which featured Frank Sinatra on vocals. Click here to see Tommy Dorsey’s top 100 songs. 
1964: The Supremes hit #1 in the UK with “Baby Love.” They were the first all-female group to do so. The DMDB ranks it as one of the top girl group songs, love songs, Motown songs, and R&B songs.
2002: Shania Twain released her fourth album, Up! It was her first #1 album in the United States, which is surprising considering that the predecessor, 1997’s Come on Over , sold 40 million copies. Up! was certified as 11 times platinum, making it her third consecutive album to reach 10 million in sales. The album will be featured in the upcoming DMDB book, The Top 100 Albums of the 21st Century. 
November 201889: Composer Gustav Mahler conducted the first performance of his first symphony, also known as “Titan”. Two different performances of it have been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It ranks as one of the the top 100 classical works of all time and one of the the top 25 symphonies. 1966: Kevin Gilbert was born. While most probably don’t know the name, he’s one of my favorite acts. He worked with NRG, Giraffe, Toy Matinee, and Kaviar but had his greatest success as one of the songwriters and musicians behind Sheryl Crow’s Tuesday Night Music Club. He won a Grammy for Record of the Year as one of the songwriters on Crow’s “All I Wanna Do.” Here’s my list of my personal top 20 favorite songs of Kevin Gilbert. 
1989: Kate Bush released the single “This Woman's Work” from her album The Sensual World. However, the song was introduced more than a year and a half earlier on the soundtrack for the John Hughes film She’s Having a Baby. It is one of my personal top 100 favorite songs. A montage from the movie set to the song shows Kevin Bacon’s reaction to finding out there are complications with his wife’s (Elizabeth McGovern) pregnancy. It makes for a stunning video.
November 211947: Thelonious Monk recorded “Round Midnight.” According to JazzStandards.com, it is the most-recorded jazz standard written by any jazz musician. The Grammy Hall of Fame song makes the list of the Recording Industry Association of America songs of the 20th century. The DMDB ranks it as one of the top 5 jazz songs of all time.
1981: Olivia Newton-John topped the Billboard Hot 100 with “Physical.” The song spent 10 weeks at #1, becoming Billboard’s song of the year and the biggest chart-topper of the decade. The song’s then sexually-risque lyrics garnered the song a lot of attention and got it banned by some radio stations. It has been called one of the sexiest songs of all time (Billboard) and one of the worst songs of all time (AOL Radio). The song is featured in the DMDB book Music of the 1980s.
2015: Chris Stapleton hit #1 on the Billboard general album chart and country album chart with Traveller . It spent 29 weeks atop the country album chart and won Album of the year from both the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association. The DMDB ranks it as one of the top 100 country albums of all time. The album will be featured in the upcoming DMDB book The Top 100 Albums of the 21st Century. 
November 221899: Hoagy Carmichael was born. The Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee is best known for “Stardust.” It is in the Grammy Hall of Fame and National Recording Registry. The version by Artie Shaw is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Pre-Rock Era, 1890-1953. 
1968: The Kinks released their sixth album, Village Green Preservation Society. It was the last to feature their original lineup. The album only reached #47 in the UK and didn’t even chart in the US, but ranks as one of the top 1000 albums of all time and has been called “The foundation of generations of British guitar pop” (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic.com). 
1994: Pearl Jam released their third album, Vitalogy . It came out on vinyl two weeks before its CD release. It became the second fastest-selling album in history up to that point - second only to Pearl Jam’s previous album, Vs. It reached #1 on the Billboard album chart and charted six songs on the mainstream rock and alternative rock charts, including “Better Man,” “Not for You,” and “Spin the Black Circle.” 
November 231889: The jukebox was invented. The original version looked nothing like what became popular in the 1950s. It could only play one song and four patrons at a time could listen via stethoscope-like tubes. Read more here. 1946: Nat “King” Cole’s “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” first charted. The Mel Torme-penned tune has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and the National Recording Registry and given the Songwriters Hall of Fame Towering Song Award. It is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Pre-Rock Era, 1890-1953 and ranks as one of the top 5 all-time Christmas songs.
1957: Jerry Lee Lewis charted with “Great Balls of Fire.” The song peaked at #2 on the pop chart, #3 on the R&B chart, and #1 on the country chart. It has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and ranks as one of the top rock-n-roll origin songs. It is also featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era, 1954-1999.
November 241923: W.C. Handy charted with “St. Louis Blues,” the most recorded blues song of all time. His original version is in the Grammy Hall of Fame and National Recording Registry as well as the Recording Industry Association of America songs of the 20th century. It also ranks as one of the top 100 standards and one of the top 100 tin pan alley songs. The 1925 version by Bessie Smith and Louis Armstrong is in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Pre-Rock Era, 1890-1953.
1950: Guys and Dolls opened on Broadway. With lyrics and music by Frank Loesser, the musical about New York gamblers introduced songs like “A Bushel and a Peck” and “Luck Be a Lady.” It won the Tony for Best Musical. The cast album reached #1 on the Billboard album chart and has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and National Recording Registry. 
1958: Ritchie Valens first charted with “La Bamba.” The song only reached #22 on the Billboard charts but became a staple of early rock and roll. The song has been inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame and National Recording Registry. When a biopic on Valens came out in 1987, a cover of the song by Los Lobos went all the way to #1, proving the song still had legs.
November 251976: The Band performed their farewell concert with an all-star lineup of guests including Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Muddy Waters, Neil Young and more. Billed as The Last Waltz, it was released in 1978 as a film documentary directed by Martin Scorsese. Michael Wilmington of the Chicago Tribune called it, “The greatest rock concert movie ever made – and maybe the best rock movie, period.” The DMDB ranks this as one of the top music movies of all time. 
1984: 36 artists gathered as Band Aid to record “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” The charity song by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure went to #1 in the UK and sold more than 11 million copies worldwide. The song won an Ivor Novello Award and ranks as one of the top 10 all-time Christmas songs.
2013: The soundtrack to the Disney movie Frozen was released. It ended up spending 13 weeks on top of the Billboard album chart and sold 10 million copies worldwide. It ranks as one of the top 100 soundtracks of all time and the album’s surprise hit, “Let It Go,” ranks in the top 5 of the list of top Disney songs of all time as well as one of the top 100 earworms of all timeand top children’s songs of all time. 
November 261939: Tina Turner was born. I recorded a podcast celebrating the music of the two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, including “River Deep, Mountain High” and her 1984 #1 hit “What’s Love Got to Do with It?.” Check out the podcast here. 
1955: Little Richard hit the charts with “Tutti Frutti.” It was a #2 R&B hit but only reached #17 on the pop charts. However, the Grammy Hall of Fame and National Recording Registry has become one of the most important songs of all time, ranking in the top 5 on the DMDB’s list of top rock-n-roll origins songs.
1989: MTV Unplugged premiered. The show gave major artists chances to perform familiar songs in an acoustic vein and showcase interesting new versions of songs and eclectic covers. Eric Clapton and Tony Bennett each won Grammys for Album of the Year from their performances. The resulting album from Nirvana was a #1 hit with more than 10 million sales worldwide. Mariah Carey’s performance of the Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There” was a #1 song. Read more here. November 271896: Richard Strauss’ classical work Also Sprach Zarathustra premiered. The work has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and National Recording Registry. The opening of the piece has been immortalized in the sci-fi classic film 2001: A Space Odyssey. 1942: Jimi Hendrix was born. Although he died in 1970 at only 27 years old, he left one of rock’s greatest legacies. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and Grammy Lifetime Achievement award recipient ranks #1 on the DMDB’s list of top guitarists of all time. Here are his top 25 songs: 
1976: The Sex Pistols hit the British charts with “Anarchy in the U.K.” The protest song was banned by British radio and the band’s label, EMI, pulled the single and dropped the band. The DMDB ranks it as the #2 punk song of all time (only behind the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop”).
November 281925: The Grand Ole Opry premiered on WSM radio in Nashville. The live performances of primarily country musicians were instrumental in establishing the city as the nation’s country music capital. It is America’s longest-running radio program. Read more here. 1929: Berry Gordy, Jr. was born. The Motown founder ranks as one of the top 100 music makers of all time and the #1 executive of all time. Among his numerous lifetime achievement honors are induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame, an American Music Award of Merit, a Grammy Trustees Award, a Kennedy Center honoree, and the Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Award. Click here for the top 100 Motown songs of all time. 
2009: Jay-Z topped the Billboard Hot 100 with “Empire State of Mind.” Complex magazine said the duet with Alicia Keys “replaced Frank Sinatra’s ‘New York, New York’ as the city’s go-to anthem.” It won the Grammy for Rap Song of the Year, makes the DMDB’s list of top 100 rap songs of all time, and is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Digital Era (2000-2019).
November 291959: “Mack the Knife” won Record of the Year at the second Grammy ceremony. Bobby Darin was in the middle of an eventual nine-week run at #1 with his cover of a song about a bloodthirsty gangster that originated in the 1928 musical The Threepenny Opera. The song had charted multiple times, but Darin’s version became the most celebrated and most successful. The DMDB ranks it in the top 100 of big band songs, Broadway tunes, covers, rock and roll origin songs, and standards. The Grammy Hall of Fame and National Recording Registry inductee is also featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era, 1954-1999.
1975: Queen topped the British charts with “Bohemian Rhapsody” – for the first time. It reclaimed the top spot in 1992 after the death of Queen’s lead singer Freddie Mercury and a prominent role in the movie Wayne’s World. The song was one of the most complicated and expensive to ever be recorded - but also ranks as one of the top 10 of all time according to the DMDB. It is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Rock Era, 1954-1999.
2014: Taylor Swift dethroned herself from the Billboard Hot 100 when “Blank Space” replaced “Shake It Off” as the #1 song. The American Music Award winner for single of the year was Swift’s second official single from her 1989 album and her biggest hit up to that point. The song about Swift’s image as a maneater who only dated for songwriting material is featured in the DMDB book The Top 100 Songs of the Digital Era (2000-2019).
November 301963: The Beatles topped the British album chart with their second UK album release, With the Beatles. It spent 21 weeks on top but wasn’t released in the United States. As was common practice at the time, the American version of the album jettisoned some of the original album cuts in favor of singles, including “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” to craft Meet the Beatles, the album that launched Beatlemania in the U.S. 
1974: Elton John topped the Billboard album chart for the first of 10 weeks with Greatest Hits. It featured classics such as “Your Song,” “Rocket Man,” “Bennie and the Jets,” and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.” The collection was named Billboard’s album of the year and received the Juno Award for international album of the year. It ranks as one of the most successful compilations of all time with more than 27 million copies sold worldwide. 
1977: Bing Crosby’s Christmas special, Merrie Olde Christmas, aired. It featured an iconic duet with David Bowie on the familiar “The Little Drummer Boy” alongside the newly-penned song “Peace on Earth.” The newer song came about because Bowie hated “Little Drummer Boy” so the writers penned the latter within an hour. Bing died between the recording of the song in September and the airing of the special two months later.
Resources/Related Links:First posted 12/2/2023; last updated 12/25/2023. |
No comments:
Post a Comment