Skip Navigation

February 2009, This Day In Rock

Number This

Mon, Feb 09, 2009

Looking at a numeric day in rock.

Number This
Everywhere we look we find numbers.  They are used in everything we do, no matter how hard we wanted believe in algebra class "I will NEVER use this in the real world."
 
Music is no different.  It is made up of beats and measures which boil down to --- Numbers.  Whether an album goes gold or platinum is based on, you guessed it --- Numbers.  And I'm sure you've already put 2 and 2 together to figure out that our facts today have a common denominator in --- Numbers.
 
This first fact gives me a feeling of deja vu as I jokingly used a video for this song last week in a fact about Richie Sambora and Heather Locklear's separation.  This day in 1962, Breakin Up Is Hard To Do was recorded by Neil Sedaka.  This would be his first #1 hit and his 5th top ten hit in the US.
 
In 1964, we have 2 events to look at.  On this day, the very sexy bassist for Skid Row, Rachel Bolen, who hit #4 in the US and #12 in the UK with 18 and Life, was born.  So, a very happy birthday to Rachel who turns 45 today.
 
The 2nd thing to take place on this day in 1964 was that The Beatles appeard on the Ed Sullivan Show, performing 5 of their songs, including I Wanna Hold Your Hand, which held the current #1 spot.  The show was viewd by an estimated 73 MILLION people.  The studio, which held 728 audience seats recieved over 50,000 applications from hopeful fans.
 
In 1976, Paul Simon finally reached a #1 solo single since ending his 13 year collaboration with Art Garfunkel, with 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover.
 

 
And finally, in 1981, at the age of 55, Bill Haley died of a heart attack.  Over the span of his career, he sold over 60 million records.
 
Whether we love math or hate it, numbers define a huge part of our make up.  We see numbers in every aspect of our lives.  From the number of heart beats we will have in our lives, to number of times we listen to our favorite song.  We are surround by the endlessness that is numbers.
Please login to post your comments.