Sept 16th in Pop History
On this day, September 16th, in:
• 2006 - 65 year-old Bob Dylan became the oldest person to top the Billboard 200 albums chart when Modern Times went to # 1.
FROM LINER NOTES:
Modern Times is Bob Dylan's 32nd studio album, released on August 29, 2006 by Sony BMG.
Modern Times became the singer-songwriter's first # 1 album in the U.S. since 1976's Desire. At age 65, Dylan became the oldest living person at the time to have an album debut at the summit of the Billboard 200 album chart. In other words, it entered at number one! The record sold 191,933 copies in its first week. NOTE: Just to be clear, it didn’t climb it’s way up to # 1, but it entered the chart in the top spot!!! (Please forgive the redundancy, but I find that to be mind-blowing!) (Btw, Neil Diamond has now also more recently earned the title). Modern Times also reached # 1 in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Denmark, Norway and Switzerland, debuted at # 2 in Germany, Austria and Sweden. And it reached # 3 in the UK and The Netherlands. The album has sold over 4 million copies worldwide.
Modern Times was Dylan's third straight album (following Time out of Mind and Love and Theft) to be met with nearly universal praise from fans and critics. It continued its predecessors' tendencies toward blues, rockabilly and pre-rock balladry, and was self-produced by Dylan under the pseudonym "Jack Frost.”
“Modern Times is the work of an untamed artist who, as he grows older, sees mortality as something to accept but not bow down to, the sound that refuses to surrender to corruption of the soul and spirit. It's more than a compelling listen; it's a convincing one.”
(Thom Jurek of allmusic.com)
Btw, YES, I am aware that I have done 3 Bob Dylan posts in 10 days. I can’t help it — when an icon like Dylan does 70 albums over 60 years, there’s going to be a lot of music history there to talk about! Plus I received for my birthday last month from my family, a massive 700 page volume* discussing every detail of the brilliant music career of Bob Dylan. Regarding Dylan trivia, I am armed and dangerous… (and sleep deprived!)
* Bob Dylan: All The Songs, Philippe Margotin & Jean-Michel Guesdon
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And continuing on Sept. 16th…
• 1970 - Jimi Hendrix performed for the final time, appearing with Eric Burdon and War at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club (47 Frith Street) in London
• 1972 - Mac Davis reached # 1 on the Easy Listening chart with Baby Don't Get Hooked On Me
Also, on this day in…
• 1984 - The TV series Miami Vice makes its debut with a two-hour episode that includes a scene featuring the Phil Collins hit In The Air Tonight
• 1996 - Sheryl Crow released the single If It Makes You Happy
