The #96 Album of All-Time in the Rock Era--"Brothers in Arms" by Dire Straits

The next album in the Top 100 is from Dire Straits, their Brothers in Arms album.

Brothers in Arms has sold 9 million copies; it was the first CD to sell a million copies and also was the first album to sell more CD's than LP's.  The album topped the charts for nine weeks, spent an impressive 36 weeks in the Top 10 and 97 weeks total.  It's Track Rating is 8.77, one of the lowest in the Top 100, so clearly the album made it into the Top 100 largely because of sales and chart performance.  In fact, the track rating on this album is not nearly as good as the Dire Straits album, but this is the one that makes it into the Top 100 because the album-buying public has purchased this one instead.  Another factor contributing to its rating is its honors--the album won Grammies for Best Engineered Recording, Best Rock Performance By a Duo or Group and Best Surround Sound Album.

1.  "So Far Away" (Knopfler) --5:12

2.  "Money for Nothing" (Knopfler, Sting) --8:26

3.  "Walk of Life" (Knopfler) --4:12

4.  "Your Latest Trick" (Knopfler) --6:33

5.  "Why Worry" (Knopfler) --8:31

6.  "Ride Across the River" (Knopfler) --6:58

7.  "The Man's Too Strong" (Knopfler) --4:40

8.  "One World" (Knopfler) --3:40

9.  "Brothers in Arms" --6:55

The group consisted of Mark Knopfler on guitars and vocals, John Illsley on bass and vocals, Alan Clark on keyboards, Guy Fletcher on keyboards and vocals and drummer Terry Williams. Additional musicians on the album were Omar Hakim on drums, Jack Sonni on guitar, Michael Brecker on saxophone, Randy Brecker and Dave Plews on horn, Malcolm Duncan on tenor sax, Neil Jason and Tony Levin on bass, Michael Mainieri on vibraphone, and of course Sting, who famously sings "I Want My MTV" on "Money for Nothing".

Brothers in Arms was recorded from November 1984 to March 1985 at AIR Studios in Montserrat and London and the Power Station in New York City and produced by Mark Knopfler and Neil Dorfsman. Dorfsman engineered the album while John Dent mastered it.  It was released on May 13, 1985 by Vertigo Records in the U.K. and Warner Brothers in the United States.


Dire Straits has the #96 Album--Brothers in Arms.

This Date in Rock Music History: May 5

1900:  The Billboard (known today as Billboard), in its sixth year, switched production to weekly rather than monthly.
1956:  The Elvis Presley album Elvis becomes the first rock LP to top the Album chart.

1956:  Elvis scored the first #1 of his career with "Heartbreak Hotel".
1958:  Elvis Presley had the top R&B song with "Wear My Ring Around Your Neck".
1962:  Chris Montez recorded "Last Dance".










1962:  One of the great folk rock artists enjoyed their first hit on this date as Peter, Paul & Mary debuted on the chart with their first single--"Lemon Tree".
1962:  Dee Dee Sharp was #1 on the R&B chart with "Mashed Potato Time".
1962:  Mr. Acker Bilk had a huge Easy Listening hit with "Stranger On The Shore".  It was atop the Adult chart for the third out of seven weeks in a row.








1962:  The Shirelles marched to #1 with "Soldier Boy".  Dee Dee Sharp saw an opening and took advantage with "Mashed Potato Time", former #1 "Johnny Angel" from Shelley Fabares was third, followed by Mr. Acker Bilk and "Stranger On The Shore" and Elvis Presley's previous #1, "Good Luck Charm".
1968:  Buffalo Springfield split after a concert at the Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, California.








1969:  The Beatles released the single "Get Back" on Apple Records.












1969:  United States President Richard Nixon awarded Stevie Wonder with the Distinguished Service Award for Wonder's commitment to employment of the handicapped.
1972:  America, the Kinks, Donovan, the Grateful Dead, Dr. John, Captain Beefheart, Wishbone Ash, Country Joe MacDonald, New Riders of the Purple Sage and Brinsley Schwarz were among the performers at the three-day Bickershaw Festival in Wigan, Lancashire, England which began on this date. 
1972:  "Pillow Talk" by Sylvia was #1 for a second week on the R&B chart.
1972:  Paul Simon, Chicago and Carole King performed at a benefit for U.S. Presidential candidate George McGovern.  Michelle Phillips, Mama Cass, Judy Collins, Goldie Hawn and Jack Nicholson would all do similar benefits around the country.  Why do you suppose most of the talented entertainers support Democrats?   
1973:  Paul Simon released the album There Goes Rhymin' Simon on Columbia Records.






1973:  Paul Simon released the single "Kodachrome".
1973:  A crowd of 56,800 turned out in Tampa Stadium in Florida to see Led Zeppelin.  
1973:  Aloha from Hawai'i via Satellite by Elvis Presley was the new #1 album in the land.  Houses of the Holy by Led Zeppelin was at #2 with The Best of Bread at #3.  









                                                   Stealer's Wheel tried to get unstuck...


1973:  "Tie A Yellow Ribbon 'Round The Ole Oak Tree" by Tony Orlando & Dawn was #1 for the third week in a row, with "The Cisco Kid" by War hanging around at #2.  Sweet's "Little Willy" climbed to 3 while Stevie Wonder was heading for the top with "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life".  The rest of the Top 10:  the former #1 "The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia" by Vicki Lawrence at #5, Dobie Gray made a strong move from 11-6 with "Drift Away", Stealers Wheel had #7--"Stuck In The Middle With You", Donny Osmond was stuck at 8 with "The Twelfth Of Never", the Carpenters fell to 9 with "Sing" and the Edgar Winter Group had a monster hit with "Frankenstein".
1974:  The Stilettoes, who would later become Blondie, made their public debut at CBGB's in New York City.
1979:  "Love Is The Answer" by England Dan & John Ford Coley led the way on the Adult Contemporary chart.






1979:  "Reunited" by Peaches and Herb was #1 on the R&B chart for the second out of four consecutive weeks it would spent at the top.










                                                Frank Mills took his song and ran with it...


1979:  Peaches & Herb took "Reunited" all the way to the top on this date, taking over from "Heart Of Glass" by Blondie.  Frank Mills was next with "Music Box Dancer" with the former #1 "Knock On Wood" from Amii Stewart in fourth.
1984:  Duran Duran owned the #1 U.K. song with "The Reflex".
1984:  Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders and Jim Kerr of Simple Minds were married in New York City's Central Park.
1984:  "Hello" from Lionel Richie was the #1 song on the AC chart for the fifth straight week.

1984:  Phil Collins had the #1 song for a third week with "Against All Odds (Take  A Look At Me Now)".  Lionel Richie was second again with "Hello", while the Thompson Twins were next with "Hold Me Now".  Kenny Loggins followed with "Footloose" and Rick Springfield was up to #5 with "Love Somebody".  The rest of the Top 10:  Willie Nelson & Julio Iglesias with "To All the Girls I've Loved Before", the Cars scored their ninth career hit with "You Might Think", Tracey Ullman's "They Don't Know", Deniece Williams moved into the Top 10 with "Let's Hear It For The Boy" and Culture Club tumbled with "Miss Me Blind".

1986:  Cleveland, Ohio was named as the site for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Really too bad they tarnished it by electing far too many members.
1988:  Pepsi became the first company to buy commercial time in the Soviet Union, purchasing television airtime to show five minutes of commercials, including two showing Michael Jackson's famous commercial.  The commercials were set to run May 17-21.  (Note:  some websites erroneously say the commercial aired on this date.  An article in the newspaper 'The Los Angeles Times' and other newspapers on May 6 may have confused the website owners.  The article never said the commercials were run the previous day.  Rather, they said that Pepsi bought the airtime and that the commercials would air in the Soviet Union on May 17-21.) 
1990:  A tribute concert to John Lennon was at the Pier Head Arena in Merseyside, England.  Tom Petty, Ringo Starr, Jeff Lynne, Al Green, Joe Walsh, Natalie Cole, Lou Reed, Joe Cocker, Lenny Kravitz, and Wet Wet Wet performed.
1990:  The talented En Vogue debuted on the chart with their first single--"Hold On".


   
                                "Back on My Feet Again", from Bolton's sixth album...


1990:  Sinead O'Connor was solidly at #1 on the Album chart with I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got and Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 #2.  Soul Provider from Michael Bolton was #3, followed by MC Hammer at 4 with Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em.  The rest of the Top 10:  Paula Abdul with Forever Your Girl, Bonnie Raitt's Nick of Time coming in at #6, Violator from Depeche Mode #7, Heart moving into the Top 10 with Brigade, Pump from Aerosmith at #9 and the debut from Alannah Myles at #10.







                                                  Aerosmith was still going strong...

1990:  "Nothing Compares 2 (sic) U (sic)" by Sinead O' Connor held on to #1 for a third week.  Calloway was second with "I Wanna' Be Rich", Michael Bolton found himself at #3 with "How Can We Be Lovers" and Madonna moved from 12 to 4 with "Vogue".  Heart was up with "All I Wanna' Do Is Make Love To You".  The rest of the Top 10:  Jane Child and "Don't Wanna' Fall In Love", Babyface with "Whip Appeal", Lisa Stansfield dropped with "All Around The World", Aerosmith's 18th career hit "What It Takes" and Janet Jackson moved from 17 to 10 with "Alright".








1990:  Rod Stewart  and Ronald Isley remained at the #1 spot on the Adult Contemporary chart for the third week with "This Old Heart Of Mine".
1992:  The Beach Boys appeared on the ABC-TV show Full House.
1995:  Drummer Steven Adler of Guns N' Roses was arraigned in Van Nuys (California) Municipal Court on heroin possession.








1997:  Bruce Springsteen was awarded the Polar Music Prize by Sweden.
2002:  The plug was pulled on an interview with Ted Nugent on a Denver radio station after Nugent used derogatory racial terms for both Asians and Blacks.  We of course now know what type of low life scum he is.
2005:  "Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Stefani was the #1 song.
2005:  Justin Timberlake underwent an operation at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles to remove nodules from his throat.
2008:  Jerry Wallace ("Primrose Lane" from 1959) died of congestive heart failure in Corona, California at the age of 79.

2011:  Nigel Pickering, singer, songwriter, founder, bassist and guitarist with Spanky & Our Gang, died at the age of 80 in St. Augustine, Florida after a long struggle with liver cancer.


Born This Day:
1934:  Ace Cannon, saxophonist who gave us "Tuff" and played for Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and the Oak Ridge Boys, was born in Grenada, Mississippi.
1934:  Johnnie Taylor ("Disco Lady") was born in Crawfordsville, Arkansas; died of a heart attack in Dallas, Texas May 31, 1999, shortly after his 65th birthday.  (Note:  Taylor frequently said he was born in either 1937 or 1938.  The official date of his birth was not revealed until after his death, according to the book 'Encyclopedia of Arkansas Music' by Ali Welky and Mike Keckhaver, and 'MTV'.)  

 

1948:  Bill Ward, drummer for Black Sabbath, was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England.  (Note:  some websites, including 'Billboard' say Ward was born in Aston, Birmingham.  Some say he was born in Birmingham, West Midlands.  Birmingham did not become part of the county of West Midlands until 1974 with the Local Government Act, well after Ward was born.  Aston is an area, not a city, and Birmingham is a city, not a county.  Ward was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire.) 
1951:  Rex Goh, guitarist for Air Supply, was born in Singapore.
1962:  Kevin Paul Mooney, bass guitarist with Adam & the Ants, was born in Greenwich, London, England.
1963:  Ian McCulloch, lead singer of Echo and the Bunnymen, was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England.  (Note:  some websites claim that Ian McCullough was the lead singer of the group and that he was born on this date.  No one with that name was ever with Echo and the Bunnymen.  The correct spelling of the lead singer is McCulloch.) 
1966:  Shawn Drover, drummer for Megadeth, was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
1981:  Craig David was born in Southampton, Hampshire, England.
1989:  Chris Brown was born in Tappahannock, Virginia.

The #97 Album of All-Time in the Rock Era--"Learning To Crawl" by the Pretenders

This great album was the third in the career of the Pretenders.  That it was done at such high quality following the deaths of both lead guitarist James Honeyman-Scott and bassist Pete Farndon is remarkable.  It was released on January 17, 1984 by Sire Records, a division of Warner Brothers/Elektra/Asylum--WEA International).







The album reached as high as #5 and registered 42 weeks on the album chart.  It has one of the lowest sales figures of the Top 100 (1 million copies sold) but generated strong airplay statistics and an outstanding Track Rating.  No less than five hit singles emerged from the album, led by "Back on the Chain Gang" and "Middle of the Road".  "A Thin Line Between Love and Hate", "2000 Miles" and "Show Me" were the other singles.  In addition, three other tracks from the album--"My City Was Gone", "Thumbelina" and "Time the Avenger" received considerable airplay on rock stations.  That's eight out of ten songs on the album that were popular with the public, a figure that is tough to beat for most other albums.  Add in a Track Rating of 9.25 and for your money, you're getting nearly a home-run record.  


Both the songwriting and the singing of Chrissie Hynde had matured considerably.  She had a daughter (Natalie) who was learning to crawl at the time of the album (hence its title) and Honeyman-Scott was her boyfriend.  His death was devastating to her and the rest of the band, but she emerged stronger as a person and more polished as an artist.  Still, it is hard to believe that she could put out such an incredible performance under such difficult circumstances.

1.    "Middle of the Road" (Chrissie Hynde) – 4:08
2.    "Back on the Chain Gang" (Chrissie Hynde) – 3:44
3.    "Time the Avenger" (Chrissie Hynde) – 4:47
4.    "Watching the Clothes" (Chrissie Hynde) – 2:46
5.    "Show Me" (Chrissie Hynde) – 4:00
6.    "Thumbelina" (Chrissie Hynde) – 3:12
7.    "My City Was Gone" (Chrissie Hynde) – 5:14
8.    "Thin Line Between Love and Hate" (Richard Poindexter, Robert Poindexter & Jackie Members) – 3:33
9.    "I Hurt You" (Chrissie Hynde) – 4:27
10.    "2000 Miles" (Chrissie Hynde) – 3:30

 Learning to Crawl was recorded from 1982-1983 at Air studios in London.  It was produced by Chris Thomas and engineered by Steve Churchyard.  Billy Bremner played lead guitar on "Back on the Chain Gang" and "My City Was Gone".  Tony Butler helps out with bass guitar.  Andrew Bodnar played bass and Paul Carrack (formerly of Ace, Squeeze and Roxy Music and later Mike and the Mechanics) played piano on the song "Thin Line Between Love and Hate". 






The album is a testament of overcoming tragedy to endure and, in fact, achieve greatness.  At #97, the Pretenders and Learning To Crawl.