On July 18th 1980, Billy Joel held the top position of both the US albums and singles charts. His album Glass Houses contained his first and biggest No.1 hit, ‘It’s Still Rock ‘n’ Roll to Me.’ The song conveys Joel’s criticisms of the music industry and press, commenting on new musical styles of the time such as new wave being mere rehashes of older musical styles. It also addresses changing trends and attitudes of the era. The single eventually reached Platinum status from the RIAA for sales of over 1 million copies in the United States.
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Today in Music’s History
On November 14th 1981, The Police had their fourth UK No.1 single with ‘Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic’, a No.3 hit in the US.
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Greatest hits of all time : ABBA
Swedish pop quartet ABBA has sold nearly 400 million albums throughout its 50-year history. Formed in the late ’60s, the first ABBA songs were written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, who met in 1966 before Anni-Frid Lyngstad (also known as Frida) and Agnetha Fältskog completed the lineup in 1969. Their name is an acronym of the first initial in each of their given names. They released eight albums from 1972 through 1981.
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Today Music’s History
In February 13th 2005, readers of UK newspaper The Sun voted George Michael’s ‘Careless Whisper’ as the greatest British pop single of the past 25 years. Oasis came second with ‘Wonderwall’ and Kate Bush third with ‘Wuthering Heights’.
