It’s February 19th and these are some of the things that happened on this day in pop music history:
- In 1995, Roxette became the first Western act since Wham! a decade earlier to perform in Beijing. The pop duo were allowed to entertain more than 15,000 fans at the Workers Indoor Arena after agreeing to censor lyrics in “Sleeping in My Car.”
- In 1974, the first American Music Awards aired on TV. Hosted by Michael Jackson and Donny Osmond, the show’s pop winners included Diana Ross, The Carpenters and Helen Reddy.
- In 1981, George Harrison was ordered to pay ABKCO Music $587,000 U.S. for the “subconscious plagiarism” of “He’s So Fine” in his song, “My Sweet Lord.”
- In 1975, Daniel Patrick Adair was born in Vancouver, B.C. After recording an album with an instrumental band called Martone in 1999, he became a studio and touring drummer for 3 Doors Down. Adair then joined Nickelback.
- In 1983, Kajagoogoo earned their first (and only) No.1 single in their native UK with “Too Shy,” a song co-produced by Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran.
- In 1957, Johann Hölzel was born in Vienna. As Falco, he went on to become the first Austrian artist to top the charts in the U.S. and UK (with 1985’s “Rock Me Amadeus”). He had other hits like “Vienna Calling” and “Der Kommissar” before he died in a car crash in 1998.
- In 1983, “Baby, Come to Me” by Patti Austin and James Ingram went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Originally included on Austin’s 1981 album, Every Home Should Have One, the song only became a hit after it was featured on General Hospital.
- In 1996, Michael Jackson’s performance of “Earth Song” at the Brit Awards was crashed by Jarvis Cocker of Pulp, who ran on stage and “mooned” (fully clothed) the King of Pop for “pretending to be Jesus.”
- In 1977, Manfred Mann’s Earth Band went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Blinded By The Light.” The song also topped the chart in Canada.
And that’s what popped on this day.