Today in 1970, The Jackson 5 went to No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "I Want You Back". The song was originally written for Gladys Knight & the Pips and was the first of four No. 1's for the group. It appeared on the The Jackson 5's first album Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5 and was ranked 121st on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Also, Today In:
1970 - American blues musician Slim Harpo died of a heart attack while recording in London at age 46. He had the 1966 U.S. No. 16 single "Baby Scratch My Back". The Rolling Stones, Pretty Things, Yardbirds and Them all covered his songs.
1972 - Joan Baez received a Gold record for her album Any Day Now, with songs written entirely by Bob Dylan.
1976 - ABBA knocked Queen from the U.K. No. 1 position on the U.K. singles chart with "Mamma Mia". Queen's single "Bohemian Rhapsody" had enjoyed a nine-week run at the top of the charts, and by coincidence, Queen's single contains the famous "mamma mia, mamma mia, mamma mia let me go" line.
1979 - With Bo Diddley as their opening act, The Clash began their first U.S. tour.
1981 - Blondie had their third No. 1 single with "The Tide Is High".
1986 - "Down And Out In Beverly Hills" opened. The film co-starred Little Richard.
2015 - R&B singer/songwriter Don Covay passed away at the age of 78. His most successful recordings include "Mercy, Mercy" (1964), "See-Saw" (1965), and "It's Better to Have (and Don't Need)" (1974). He also wrote "Pony Time'", a U.S. No. 1 hit for Chubby Checker, and "Chain of Fools", a Grammy-winning song for Aretha Franklin.
2017 - English singer, bassist, and songwriter John Wetton died in his sleep at his home in Dorset, U.K. from colon cancer. He rose to fame with bands Mogul Thrash, Family, King Crimson, Roxy Music, Uriah Heep, and Wishbone Ash. After his period with King Crimson, Wetton formed U.K., and later he was the frontman and principal songwriter of the supergroup Asia. Their biggest hit "Heat of the Moment", reached No. 4 in the U.S. in 1982.
2019 - Harold Bradley, the American country and pop guitarist, died at age 93. As a session musician into the 1970s, he performed on hundreds of albums by country stars such as Patsy Cline, Willie Nelson, Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley and Slim Whitman. Bradley was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2006 and is believed to be one of the most recorded instrumentalist in history.
Birthdays:
John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, is 64.
British singer-songwriter Lloyd Cole is 59.
Jason Cooper, drummer for The Cure, is 53.
Justin Timberlake is 39.
Marcus Mumford, lead singer of Mumford and Sons, is 33.
