It’s May 2nd and these are some of the things that happened on this day in pop music history:
- In 1981, Sheena Easton started a two-week run at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Morning Train.” The title of the song was changed from “9 to 5” when it was released in the U.S. to avoid confusion with Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5,” which was No. 1 only six weeks earlier.
- In 1997, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery opened in cinemas. The spy spoof starring Toronto’s Mike Myers used Quincy Jones’ “Soul Bossa Nova” as its theme – the same track used as the theme for the Canadian game show Definition.
- In 1987, “(I Just) Died in Your Arms” by Cutting Crew was No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of two weeks. It was the lead single from the British band’s debut album, Broadcast. Frontman Nick Van Eede said the song came to him while having sex with his girlfriend.
- In 1992, Bonnie Raitt was in Boston to receive an honorary doctorate of music from the Berklee College of Music. “I just want to thank you so much,” Raitt told graduates. “I wish you all the best in your endeavour to make it in the business. It is full of people who are self-serving, but who also have such a great desire to change the world and be the conscience of the planet, and do what art is supposed to do, which is to inspire and contribute.”
And that’s what popped on this day.