NOV 3-9: Historic events this week from U2, Queen, Paul McCartney and Elton John
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NOVEMBER 3, 1979: EAGLES’ THE LONG RUN IS #1
Five weeks after Eagles released The Long Run, it began a 9 week run at #1. It would remain at the top of the charts for the rest of 1979, on its way to 7 million sold, and a Grammy award for “Heartache Tonight.”
NOVEMBER 4, 1988: U2 RELEASES RATTLE AND HUM
U2’s 5x Platinum hybrid studio/live album, Rattle & Hum, featured covers of Bob Dylan and the Beatles as well as the hits “All I Want Is You”, the BB King collaboration “When Loves Comes to Town”, and the #1 hits “Deisre” and “Angel of Harlem.”
NOVEMBER 6, 1995: QUEEN RELEASE MADE IN HEAVEN
Queen’s 15th & final studio album arrived 4 years after Freddie Mercury’s death.
Through his illness, Mercury laid down as many vocal tracks as possible, in hopes Queen would one day finish the songs.
Queen returned to the recordings in ’93 and completed the album in February ’95.
Brian May called Made In Heaven “possibly the best Queen album we ever made.” (MOJO, December 2013)
NOVEMBER 7, 1969: “PAUL’S STILL WITH US”
The Paul Is Dead theory, where a lookalike named Billy Shears was thought to have replaced Paul McCartney in The Beatles after Paul’s “death”, is one of the most complex & intriguing “conspiracies” in music.
LIFE magazine tracked “the missing Beatle” to a Scottish farm where he spent time away from the spotlight. He allowed LIFE to take a photo of him to dispel the rumors that he was dead.
The magazine’s cover declared Paul is still with us.
NOVEMBER 8, 1975: ELTON’S THIRD #1 ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Rock of the Westies was Elton John’s second album of the year, and third #1 album of 1975.
Elton John’s Greatest Hits spent 10 consecutive weeks at #1, which included the first 5 weeks of 1975.
Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, released in May, would spend a total of 7 weeks at the top spot.
A month after its release, Rock of the Westies, featuring the #1 single “Island Girl”, would climb to #1 where it would remain for 3 weeks.
