This Day in Top 40 History: December 17
Keri Hilson’s No Boys Allowed came out on this day in 2010. The album featured collaborations with top-performing artists, including J. Cole and Chris Brown. Its most notable hit was…
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Keri Hilson's No Boys Allowed came out on this day in 2010. The album featured collaborations with top-performing artists, including J. Cole and Chris Brown. Its most notable hit was "Pretty Girl Rock," which reached No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100. When many music lovers look back on Dec. 17, countless other events come to mind, including significant cultural moments and industry changes.
Cultural Milestones
Dec. 17 has witnessed plenty of significant cultural moments:
- 1965: The Supremes opened for "The Man That Got Away" singer Judy Garland at the first event held at the Houston Astrodome. About 60,000 fans congregated at the venue to enjoy the show. In the years that followed, many Top 40 artists graced the Astrodome, including Elvis Presley, The Jackson 5, The Rolling Stones, and Madonna.
- 1969: "Tiptoe Thru the Tulips with Me" hitmaker Tiny Tim and Victoria Mae "Miss Vicki" Budinger tied the knot on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. The ceremony took place in front of a live audience, and more than 45 million viewers tuned in to witness the couple exchange vows. It would become the second-most-watched episode of the program after Carson's 1992 final installment, which attracted over 50 million viewers.
- 1982: Karen Carpenter of the Carpenters performed for the last time in public at the Buckley School in California, where she sang Christmas carols for the kids. Unfortunately, she died from heart failure in Feb. 1983.
- 1991: A judge in Manhattan ruled against Biz Markie, who had sampled several bars of Gilbert O'Sullivan's "Alone Again (Naturally)" in his "Alone Again" song without permission. Markie was found guilty of copyright infringement and ordered to pay a $250,000 fine. The ruling established that artists must seek approval to use samples in their own music. "Alone Again (Naturally)" had dominated the Billboard Hot 100 for six non-consecutive weeks in 1972.
Industry Changes and Challenges
These events from Dec. 17 changed the music industry in various ways:
- 1977: Elvis Costello was slapped with an 11-year ban from Saturday Night Live after he abruptly halted his performance of "Less Than Zero" in favor of "Radio Radio" without the producers' permission. The latter song peaked at No. 29 on the U.K. Singles Chart. Costello would not appear on SNL again until 1989.
- 1997: Greg Flores and Michael Robertson unveiled MP3.com, enabling independent Top 40 artists to upload their songs and connect with fans. The platform allowed them to retain full rights and exit at any time, unlike traditional record labels.
Did you know that Jimi Hendrix inspired Elvis Costello to switch songs when he appeared on SNL? The "Purple Haze" hitmaker had made a similar move on the Happening for Lulu show in 1969.
Dawn Palmer-QuaifeWriter
