OCT 20-26: Historic events this week from Bob Dylan, Meat Loaf, Paul McCartney, Elton John and more
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OCTOBER 20, 1979: DYLAN’S ONLY SNL APPEARANCE
In Saturday Night Live‘s history, Bob Dylan has been a musical guest only once.
He appeared on the program to promote his 19th studio album, Slow Train Coming, performing “When You Gonna Wake Up”, “I Believe in You”, and the Grammy-winning “Gotta Serve Somebody”.
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OCTOBER 21, 1977: MEAT LOAF’S BAT OUT OF HELL
Meat Loaf’s Todd Rundgren-produced debut album has sold 43 million worldwide thanks to top 40 hits “Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad” and “Paradise by the Dashboard Light.”
After Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, Bat Out of Hell is the 3rd longest charting studio album in the UK, having spent 522 total weeks on the UK charts.
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OCTOBER 22, 1969: LED ZEPPELIN II
Led Zeppelin released their first two albums in 1969.
Their 12x Platinum sophomore album contained the classics “Whole Lotta Love”, “Heartbreaker” and “What Is and What Should Never Be.”
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OCTOBER 23, 1990: BACK IN BLACK CERTIFIED DIAMOND
AC/DC’s first album with Brian Johnson was released 5 months after Bon Scott died.
Back in Black was certified Diamond (10 million sold) this week in 1990.
It has since gone Double Diamond with 22 million sold.
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OCTOBER 23, 2007: RAISING SAND BY ROBERT PLANT & ALISON KRAUSS DEBUTS AT #2
Robert Plant’s first collaborative album with Alison Krauss made it’s debut at #2 on the Billboard 200 charts.
Raising Sand is the highest charting album for Plant outside of his work with Led Zeppelin.
The album won 5 Grammys; sweeping all categories in which it was nominated, including Album of the Year & Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album.
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OCTOBER 24, 1979: PAUL McCARTNEY’S RHODIUM ALBUM
“Most Honored Composer and Performer in Music” according to Guinness World Records.
With sales of over 100 million singles & 100 million albums, he was presented with a Rhodium album. The only one of its kind.
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OCTOBER 26, 1970: ELTON JOHN’S FIRST HIT SINGLE
After releasing seven singles between 1968 and 1970, Elton John finally scored a hit.
As the second single from his eponymous second album, “Your Song” reached #8 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and sold 2,000,000 copies on its own.
The Elton John/Bernie Taupin-penned song was first recorded by Three Dog Night, but was not released as a single.
