Historic events this week from Paul McCartney, Led Zeppelin, Tom Petty, Pink Floyd, Poison and Bob Seger
APRIL 30, 1973: PAUL McCARTNEY and WINGS’ RED ROSE SPEEDWAY
Paul McCartney and Wings released two albums in 1973. Red Rose Speedway arrived 7 months before Band on the Run.
Red Rose Speedway is notable for containing the Gold-selling hit single, “My Love”.
The sophomore album from Wings was the band’s first of 4-straight #1 LPs in the US.
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MAY 1, 1976: LED ZEPPELIN’S PRESENCE IS #1
Led Zeppelin’s penultimate album, Presence, spent two weeks at #1 despite not having a charting single in the US.
They were unable to tour for the album because singer Robert Plant was recovering from a car accident.
Plant recorded all of his vocals for Presence while seated in a wheelchair.
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MAY 2, 1995: THE WALL GOES DIAMOND
Pink Floyd’s epic rock opera, The Wall, spent 15 straight week’s at #1.
Helped along by the hits “Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2” and “Comfortably Numb”, the album quickly went Gold.
In May 1995, The Wall was certified Diamond with over 10 million sold in the US.
With each new generation discovering the album, it has sold over 23 million copies in the US alone.
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MAY 3, 1988: POISON’S OPEN UP AND SAY… AHH!
Poison’s sophomore album, Open Up and Say…Ahh!, remains the glam metal band’s biggest album.
The album went 5x Platinum thanks to the hits “Your Mama Don’t Dance”, “Nothin’ But a Good Time” and the #1 single “Every Rose Has Its Thorn”.
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MAY 5, 1978: BOB SEGER’S STRANGER IN TOWN LP
Bob Seger’s second album with the Silver Bullet Band contained the big singles…
…”Still the Same”, “Hollywood Nights”, “We’ve Got Tonite” and the 2x Platinum “Old Time Rock and Roll”.
Stranger In Town went top 5 on its way to selling over 6 million copies.
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MAY 5, 1981: TOM PETTY RELEASES HARD PROMISES
Hard Promises was the last Heartbreakers album to go Top 5 until Mojo (#2) in 2010 and Hypnotic Eye (#1) in 2014.
Featuring Stevie Nicks on “Insider” and “You Can Still Change Your Mind”, the Platinum-selling album is notable for containing Tom Petty’s first #1 song, “The Waiting”.
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MAY 6, 1965: KEITH RICHARDS DREAMS UP “SATISFACTION”
According to legend, Keith Richards wrote “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” in his sleep.
Richards went to bed with his acoustic guitar, and a tape player rolling.
The next morning, without any recollection, he discovered that he’d been playing the iconic riff as he drifted off to sleep.
