Today in Music History: KC and the Sunshine Band's 'I'm Your Boogie Man' goes No. 1
June 11, 2020

History Highlight:
Today in 1977, KC and the Sunshine Band became only the second group after The Jackson Five to achieve four U.S. No. 1 singles when "I'm Your Boogie Man" went to the top of the charts. The song was written and produced by Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch, who wrote it about a DJ at a Miami, Florida radio station named Robert W. Walker, who was the first to give their hit single "Get Down Tonight" airplay. The song was also an international chart hit, reaching number one in Canada and charting in Australia (No. 38), Belgium (No. 16), the Netherlands (No. 6), New Zealand (No. 12) and the United Kingdom (No. 41).
Also, Today In:
1949 - Hank Williams made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, where he received an unprecedented total of six encores.
1966 - The Rolling Stones started a two-week run at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with "Paint It Black", the group's third U.S. No. 1 single. It was the first No. 1 hit to feature a sitar on the recording.
1969 - David Bowie released "Space Oddity" just in time for the first Apollo 11 lunar landing (although the single was not played by the BBC until after the Apollo crew had safely returned). The song reached No. 5 in the U.K. chart, but in the U.S, it stalled at No. 124. When it was re-released as a single in 1973, the song reached No. 15 on the Billboard Chart and became Bowie's first hit single in America.
1966 - Janis Joplin joined Big Brother & The Holding Company onstage for the first time at a show in San Francisco.
1977 - As Britain celebrated the Queen's Silver Jubilee, The Sex Pistols reached No. 2 in the singles chart with "God Save The Queen."
2005 - Led Zeppelin founding member and guitarist Jimmy Page was awarded an OBE in the Queen of England's Birthday Honours list, and Queen (the band) founding member and guitarist Brian May was awarded a CBE.
2011 - Pink Floyd's 1973 album Dark Side Of The Moon re-entered the Billboard Album chart at No. 47, reaching the milestone of 1,000 weeks on Billboard's charts.
2015 - The Kinks' frontman and principal songwriter Ray Davies was awarded with a London Legend Award at a ceremony held at the Camden Roundhouse. Davies said, "I accept this on behalf of all the young writers coming through, all the young people embarking on careers and as a symbol of the future."
2016 - Singer Christina Grimmie, who had competed on The Voice, died after being shot in Florida. A man opened fire on her when she was signing autographs after a concert in Orlando. The assailant was tackled by Grimmie's brother then shot and killed himself. The 22-year-old singer died in a local hospital.
2019 - Radiohead avoided a blackmail attempt by releasing 18 hours of music recorded during the making of their classic album OK Computer. Tapes from the sessions had been stolen by hackers who demanded $150,000 for their return. Instead, the band released the tapes in full, with profits going to climate crisis activists Extinction Rebellion. "For 18 pounds you can find out if we should have paid that ransom," said guitarist Jonny Greenwood in a statement.
Birthdays:
Glenn Leonard of the Temptations is 73.
ZZ Top drummer Frank Beard (his real name) is 71.
Steven Drozd, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter for the Flaming Lips and Electric Wurms, is 51.
Stereo MC's singer Rob Birch is 59.
Highlights for Today in Music History are gathered from This Day in Music, Paul Shaffer's Day in Rock, Song Facts and Wikipedia.
