This Month in Rock and Roll-May
By Hunter60
By Hunter60
May 24, 2004: "Mr. Brightside", debut single from the Killers is released: The initial single from the Las Vegas based band, The Killers', debut album "Hot Fuss", brought the band immediate acclaim. Written by vocalist Brandon Flowers and guitarist Dave Keuning, the song eschewed the typical verse – chorus – verse format opting instead for da capo al coda structure. Adding the somewhat odd feel of the song was done by placing rather dispirited and down beat lyrics against an up-tempo melody. The song itself is, in essence, about a woman who cheats on her man and the track takes the listener through a myriad of emotions from anger and jealousy to an eventual sense of resignation. Three different videos have been made for the track and fans have been debating the songs true meaning ever since. The song scored number one in several countries, as well as rising to Number 10 on the Billboard 100 and the Official UK Singles Chart. The track was also nominated for a Grammy in 2004, losing out the Maroon 5.
May 23, 2003: Paul McCartney finally gets to play "Back in the USSR" in Red Square in Moscow. Although several other western musicians had made the trip before and had played the song 'Back In The USSR' (including the Beach Boys, Chuck Berry …etc), it was not until May 23, 2003 that the songs author, Paul McCartney finally had a chance to perform the song in Russia. At the end of a world tour and in front of at least 25,000 fans (it had been rumored that the crowd was over 100,000 but that has been disproven), McCartney took the stage in front of St. Basil's Cathedral. Throughout the set, he played several Beatles classics, Wings songs and new tracks from his then new album 'Driving Rain', but after 22 songs, he launched into 'Back In The USSR". He amped the crowd by shouting "I finally get to do this one here!". It went over so well, McCartney added the track again to the encore.
May 1, 1985: Dire Straits release 'Brothers In Arms". Their fifth and largest selling album, 'Brothers In Arms' was a remarkable recording for several reasons. First, the disc itself was a brilliantly put together affair. From the title track which was a not so subtle anti-war song, to the summer pool party anthem 'Walk Of Life", the hypnotic, melodic and literate 'So Far Away' and the semi-sarcastic send up of the 'new' medium of music videos, 'Money For Nothing", every track on the disc reveals the depth of the ability of Mark Knopfler as a guitarist and the power of the band behind him. Secondly, it was the first album that was recorded with the idea of being released on CD in mind. With a 54-minute running time, fans who bought the disc on vinyl were shortchanged as most of the tracks on the vinyl release were shortened. Finally, 'Brothers In Arms' was the first million selling compact disc.
May 2, 1970: "Spirit In The Sky" by Norman Greembaum becomes a certified hit. Greenbaum, a former member of Dr. West's Medicine Show and Junk Band, scored a worldwide smash with his pop oddity, 'Spirit In The Sky'. According to Greenbaum, he hit upon the inspiration for the track from watching Cole Porter singing a spiritual number and thought 'Hey, I can do that", and sat down and wrote the song. He claims to have written the song in its entirety in 15 minutes. Oddly enough, Greenbaum claims that the song is not really so much a song espousing the Christian religion but rather points to it being a broad statement about faith in general. The song topped the UK charts and rose to Number 3 in the U.S. on May 2, 1970. To date, the track has sold over 2 million copies and has been heard in everything from feature films to commercials. 'Spirit In The Sky' may be a one hit wonder but it clearly has staying power.
Notable May Birthdays
May 1, 1939: Judy Collins
May 4, 1959: Randy Travis
May 4, 1937: Dick Dale
May 6, 1945: Bob Seger
May 8, 1953: Alex Van Halen
May 9, 1944: Richard Furay
May 10, 1946: Dave Mason
May 14, 1962: Ian Astbury
May 17, 1942: Taj Mahal
May 19, 1945: Pete Townsend
May 24, 1941: Bob Dylan
May 25, 1955: John Grimaldi
May 26, 1964: Lenny Kravitz
May 28, 1945: John Fogerty
May 30, 1964: Tom Morrello
[FONT=Tahoma]"All I can do is be me ... whoever that is". Bob Dylan [/FONT]
