Brand New Key - Melanie Safka

Brand New Key is a pop song written by folk singer Melanie Safka.  Taken from her album "Gather me" it reached #1 on the Billboard hot 100 in December 1971 - January 1972.  The song became known as "The Rollerskate Song" and was her biggest hit.  The song is a lighthearted song written in the point of view of a girl who is trying to get the attention of a boy.

 

Watch Brand New Key 

In The News 

• The Indo-Pakistani war of 1971 begins on December 3rd as Pakistan attacks nine Indian airbases. The following day India launches a massive invasion of East Pakistan.
• On December 7th, U.S. President Richard Nixon orders the 7th Fleet to move towards the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean.
• The John Sinclair Freedom Rally is held at the University of Michigan. Performers include John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
• Born: Ricky Martin, Puerto Rican singer, in San Juan
• Born: Dido, English singer (as Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O'Malley Armstrong), in London

Sports

• In the longest game in NFL history, the Miami Dolphins beat the Kansas City Chiefs
• In the final of the 1971 Tangerine Bowl, held in Orlando, Florida, the Toledo Rockets of the Mid-American Conference defeat the Richmond Spiders of the Southern Conference 28–3.

In The Movies

• Dirty Harry is released December 23rd.  James Bond's next installment, Diamonds are Forever, and the movie Gumshoe open to great reviews.

 Watch Diamonds are Forever 1971 trailer.. 

Television

The top 20 shows in television in 1971

1. All in the Family
2. The Flip Wilson Show
3. Marcus Welby, M.D.
4. Gunsmoke
5. ABC Movie of the Week
6. Sanford and Son
7. Mannix
8. Funny Face
9. Adam 12
10. The Mary Tyler Moore Show
11. Here's Lucy
12. Hawaii Five-O
13. The Medical Center
14. NBC Mystery Movie
15. Ironside
16. The Partridge Family
17. The F.B.I.
18. The New Dick Van Dyke Show
19. The Wonderful World of Disney
20. Bonanza

Invisible Touch - Genesis

Invisible Touch is the 13th studio album by the band Genesis, released in 1986.  The albums title track reached the #1 spot on the US chart in July 1986 and was the only song by Genesis ever to reach the top spot in the USA.

watch Invisible Touch - Genesis video

In The News

• The movie Aliens opens in theatres
• Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, marries Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey.
• New steps are taken toward an AIDS vaccine.  Scientists have found a way to alter the AIDS virus so it no longer destroys its primary target in the body's immune system. They say the result could be a vaccine to prevent the deadly disease or a potential lifesaving therapy for infected people.

Sports 

• The 1986 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 57th playing of the ... The game was held on July 15, 1986 at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas.
•  The 1986 Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh, Scotland for the second time.  The games were held from 24 July-2 August 1986.

Movies

The hit movies Alien, Psycho 3, Haunted Honeymoon and Maximum Overdrive are the top releases of the month...

Television  - The top 20 tv shows of 86

1.  The Cosby Show
2. Family Ties
3. Cheers
4. Murder, She Wrote
5. The Golden Girls
6. 60 Minutes
7. Night Court
8. Growing Pains
9. Moonlighting
10. Who's the Boss?
11. Dallas
12. Newhart
13. Amen
14. 227
15. (tie) Matlock
16. (tie) CBS Sunday Night Movie
17. (tie) NBC Monday Night Movie
18. NFL Monday Night Football
19. Kate & Allie
20. NBC Sunday Night Movie

While My Guitar Gently Weeps - The Beatles

"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is a song written by George Harrison of The Beatles which is from the double album simply titled "The Beatles" . The song was released on the 22nd of November, 1968.

Recently the song was ranked at #135 of the Rolling Stone Top 500 songs of all time and #7 on their list of top 100 Beatles songs. Inspiration for the song came to Harrison while he was reading the book "I Ching".  He was inspired by the book's Eastern concept that everything is relative to everything else and he was opposed to the western view that things were merely coincidental.   Taking this idea of relativism, Harrison committed to write a song based on the first words he saw upon opening a random book. Those words were “gently weeps”, and he immediately began the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kk3Sez9TC9E&feature=related 

On 29 November 2001, the date of Harrison's death, NBC Nightly News used this song instead of their traditional lead in drumming for the introductory background music to the newscast. 

Take On Me - Aha

"Take on Me" is a song by the Norwegian band a-ha. The song was written by the band members, produced by Alan Tarney and released on the groups first studio album Hunting High and Low which was released in 1985. The original song Take on Me was released in 1984 and took three releases to chart in the United Kingdom, reaching number two on the UK singles chart in November 1985. In the United States the song went to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in October 1985.  The acclaimed music video was the band's claim to fame. The video features the band in a pencil-sketch animation combined with live-action. The video won six awards, and was nominated for two others at the 1986 MTV music video awards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EXxMlIExpo

So as you listen to the song and watch the video here is what was happening in October 1985..........

Other chart toppers were

October 12 - October 18:
Oh Sheila - Ready For the World

October 19 - October 25:

Take On Me - a-ha

October 26 - November 1:

Saving All My Love For You - Whitney Houston

Sports

The 1985 World Series began on October 19, 1985 and ended October 27. The American League champion Kansas City Royals played against the National League champion St. Louis Cardinals, winning the series four games to three. The Series was popularly known as the "Show-Me Series", or the "I-70 Showdown Series," as both cities are in Missouri connected by Interstate 70

Movies 

Top grossing new releases include Commando (Arnold Schwarzenegger), Silver Bullet (Corey Haim), and Krush Groove(Blair Underwood).
As well Arnold Schwarzenegger and Don Johnson grace the covers of People magazine and Bruce Springsteen and Steven Spielberg appear on the cover of the Rolling Stone magazine.

Television

The top twenty shows of the Television season include...

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 7. 9. 10. 10. 12. 12. 14. 15. 16. 17. 17. 19. 20.

The Cosby Show Family Ties Murder, She Wrote 60 Minutes Cheers Dallas (tie) Dynasty (tie) The Golden Girls Miami Vice Who's the Boss? Night Court CBS Sunday Night Movie Highway to Heaven Kate & Allie NFL Monday Night Football Newhart (tie) Knots Landing (tie) Growing Pains You Again? 227

And that was a what was happening in October of 1985 when the band a-ha was hitting the nation with their #1 single.  Come back tomorrow for another song and another day in history... 
 

Im creating this blog purely out of boredom.  I wanted to combine my love of music and history and put it down in writing.  I will be taking a different song daily and featuring it in my blog...  if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them.  Send me a facebook message if you have me as a friend or email me anytime...  shannon2681@gmail.com.  I look forward to making this a fun fact blog where we can all listen to good music and take a look back at that day in history.  Some of us will take a run down memory lane and others will get a chance to learn new and interesting facts and trivia tidbits that happened before their time.  I encourage and welcome any corrections or opinions on ways to make this blog better..  Hopefully you enjoy.  Thank You 
Shannon.