I mentioned here last week while compiling my own list of Chicago favorites that Chicago had two concerts next week, in Madison Sunday and in Appleton Tuesday.
I have three tickets to Sunday night’s show. I will be going for the fourth time, after the Dane County Coliseum in Madison in 1987, the Fond du Lac County Fairgrounds in 1997, and the EAA in Oshkosh in 2010. The house trumpet and trombone player will be going for their first time.
As you can imagine, I’m pretty amped about this. So maybe some concert music is appropriate here:
You may remember a couple weeks ago I noted the first known meeting of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Today in 1963, upon the advice of George Harrison, Decca Records signed the Rolling Stones to a contract.
Four years to the day later, Stones Keith Richard, Mick Jagger and Brian Jones celebrated by … getting arrested for drug possession.
I noted the 54th anniversary May 2 of WLS in Chicago going to Top 40. Today in 1982, WABC in New York (also owned by ABC, as one could conclude from their call letters) played its last record, which was …
Four years later, the number one song in America was, well, inspired by, though not based on, a popular movie of the day:
The number one single today in 1966 was presumably played on the radio on days other than Mondays:
Today is the anniversary of the last Beatles U.S. single release, “Long and Winding Road” (the theme music of the Schenk Middle School eighth-grade Dessert Dance about this time in 1979):
The number one album today in 1977 was the Eagles’ “Hotel California”:
The number one British album today in 1972 was a Tyrannosaurus Rex double album, the complete title of which is “My People Were Fair and Had Sky in Their Hair … But Now They’re Content to Wear Stars on Their Brows”/”Prophets, Seers & Sages: The Angels of the Ages.” Really.
Today is Cinco de Mayo, so some Mexican rock would be appropriate:
The number one single today in 1962:
I’m unaware of whether the soundtrack of “West Side Story” got any radio airplay, but since I played it in both the La Follette and UW marching bands, I note that today in 1962 the soundtrack hit number one and stayed there for 54 weeks:
Over the last year between the 50th anniversary of Chicago’s forming and its first album, “Chicago Transit Authority,” various music publications have come out with their definition of the top songs in Chicago history.
Between that and Chicago’s upcoming appearances in Madison May 12 and Appleton May 14, I figured I’d create my own list, based only on my own musical preferences (so note the paucity of ballads, even though some people mistakenly believe Chicago does nothing but ballads) and nothing else. (Which, you might notice, are generally based on how the song sounds, not the words or whatever message the song is intended to have.)
First, the less-than-top-10, not necessarily in order of enjoyment:
Number 10 is arguably Chicago’s first song — the first track from their first album:
Number nine is from the ’80s:
Number eight is from their first album, CTA for short:
Number seven is the first Chicago song I remember being a Chicago song:
Number six is from “Hot Streets”:
Number five comes from “Chicago III”:
Number four …
… and number three come from CTA:
Number two, from “Chicago II,” is a song about writing a song:
And number one …
… and, well, number 1A …
… since “Make Me Smile” and “Now More Than Ever” are the first and last movements of “Ballet for a Girl from Buchannon.” (“Colour My World” was in our wedding.)
Steve Prestegard.com: The Presteblog 