This Day in Music
Michael Fitzgibbon
A fair warning to be ourselves, hanging out with octopi, and Elvis is at SeaTac, in this 150th Substack publication of This Day in Music.
Be Yourself Tonight
1985: “Be Yourself Tonight,” the fourth studio album from the Scottish-English pop duo Eurythmics, is released to positive critical reviews.
It was also a hit with fans, and went to No. 1 in Australia, No. 3 in the U.K., No. 3 in Canada, and No. 9 in the U.S., on its way to becoming the highest-selling studio album from the duo at 2.5 million units.
The LP includes the hit singles “Would I Lie To You,” “There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart),” “Sisters Are Doing It for Themselves,” which features Aretha Franklin, and “It's Alright (Baby's Coming Back),” all of which made the Top-10 in various European markets.
“Would I Lie to You” went to No. 1 in Australia, and “There Must Be an Angel (Playing with My Heart)” reached No. 1 in the U.K.
Fair Warning
1981: American hard-rockers Van Halen release their fourth studio album, “Fair Warning.” Though the album sold modestly by Van Halen’s standards at only 2.5 million copies (!), it was well-received by critics and often tops fans’ lists of best albums by the group.
Indeed, it is one of the band’s best songwriting efforts and includes the hits “Unchained,” “Mean Street,” and “So This is Love?” It peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, and was certified Platinum in Canada, and 2x Platinum in the U.S.
I would rank this record as the second-best by Van Halen, behind their 1978 debut.
Duke’s Birthday
1899: Legendary American jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader Edward Kennedy Ellington, known more famously as Duke Ellington, is born in Washington, D.C. Though he left us in 1974 at the age of 75, we still celebrate Sir Duke’s birthday, today being his 127th.
Octopus’s Garden
1969: Ringo Starr records his vocal parts for “Octopus's Garden,” one of only two songs written solely by him and recorded by The Beatles. It would of course appear on their penultimate and legendary studio release, “Abbey Road.”
In 2014, Ringo wrote a children's book by the same title based on the song, and illustrated by Ben Cort.
The Daily Elvis
1973: While on tour in the great northwest, Elvis takes time at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SeaTac) to sign autographs for adoring fans.
