On This Day, October 11 in Music History
EVENTS ON OCTOBER 11 IN MUSIC HISTORY
On this day October 11 in 1961 – Collegiate folk group The Highwaymen scored their first and only No.1 hit on the US singles chart with their version of the African-American work song ‘Michael Row the Boat Ashore’.
1962 – A week after the song’s release, The Beatles made their debut on the UK Singles chart with ‘Love Me Do’. The record peaked at No.17 in Britain while in the US it wasn’t released until two years later in 1964 when it instantly became a No.1 hit.
1967 – The Bee Gees started a four-week run at number one on the UK Singles chart with ‘Massachusetts’.
1969 – Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg topped the UK Singles chart with “Je t’aime… moi non plus“. However, due to the sexually explicit lyrics, the song was banned on multiple radio stations, including the BBC. Seven years later, the duo made an erotic movie inspired by their chart topping single.
1975 – Neil Sedaka scored his first number one singe on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with ‘Bad Blood’. The song features Elton John on backing vocals.
1975 – Rod Stewart hit number one in the UK for the first of two consecutive weeks with his sixth studio album ‘Atlantic Crossing’.
1976 – Singer and songwriter Donna Summer released her fourth studio album ‘Four Seasons of Love’. The album peaked at No.29 in the US and was certified Gold by the RIAA.
1980 – English rock band The Police went to No.1 on the UK Albums chart with ‘Zenyatta Mondatta’. The album was well-received worldwide and it features the hit singles ‘De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da’ and ‘Don’t Stand So Close to Me’.
1986 – With ‘When I Think of You’, Janet Jackson started a two-week run at number one in the US on this day October 11.
1986 – With ‘True Blue’, Madonna scored her second number one single of the year in the UK. She previously topped the Singles chart with ‘Papa Don’t Preach’.
1997 – Vocal harmony group Boyz II Men topped the US Billboard 200 chart with their fourth studio album ‘Evolution’.
1997 – Alternative rock band The Verve went to number one in the UK with their breakthrough third studio album ‘Urban Hymns’. They topped the chart for five weeks straight.
The Verve – Bittersweet Symphony
1997 – Elton John started an incredible fourteen-week stint at No.1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 with the double A-side ‘Candle in the Wind 1997’/Something About the Way You Look Tonight’.
2003 – The hip hop duo OutKast reached number one in the United States with their fifth studio album ‘Speakerboxxx/The Love Below’.
2003 – Pop singer Dido started a four-week run at number one on the UK Albums chart with ‘Life for Rent’.
2008 – The number one single in the United Kingdom on this day was ‘So What’ by pop singer P!nk. She topped the Singles chart for three weeks straight.
2014 – The collaborative album ‘Cheek to Cheek’ by Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga topped the US Billboard 200 chart. The album was a worldwide hit and it earned the duo a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album.
2014 – With his debut studio album ‘Wanted on Voyage’, singer-songwriter George Ezra went to number one in the UK.
2014 – Meghan Trainor‘s debut single ‘All About That Bass’ started a four-week run at number one in the UK.
BORN ON OCTOBER 11 IN MUSIC HISTORY
1919 – American jazz drummer and bandleader Arthur Blakey was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
1932 – American country music singer-songwriter Dorothy “Dottie” West was born in McMinnville, Tennessee. She became the first female country singer to win a Grammy with her 1965 Top10 hit ‘Here Comes My Baby Back Again’.
1943 – Country music singer Gary Gene Watson was born in Texas, US. Best known for his hit singles ‘Fourteen Carat Mind’, ‘Farewell Party’ and ‘Love in the Hot Afternoon’.
1946 – American rock and soul singer Daryl Franklin Hohl also professionally known as Daryl Hall was born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. He’s the co-founder and lead vocalist of the pop rock duo Hall & Oates.
1950 – Saxophonist Andrew Paul Woolfolk was born in Texas, US. Best known as a longtime member of the popular multi-genre band Earth, Wind & Fire.
1957 – American drummer Blair Cunningham was born in Memphis, Tennessee. Best know for his collaborations with artists such as Paul McCartney, Tina Turner, The Pretenders, Mick Jagger, etc.
1957 – Welsh musician Jonathan “Jon” Langford was in Newport, Wales. Best known for his work with the bands The Three Johns, The Mekons, and The Waco Brothers.
1970 – American rapper and DJ Lana Michele Moorer also known as MC Lyte was born in Brooklyn, New York.
1992 – Controversial rapper Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar also known by her stage name Cardi B was born in New York City. She’s one of the best-selling female rappers of all time.