Sept 23rd in Pop History
On this day, September 23rd, in:
• 1968 - Steppenwolf released the single Magic Carpet Ride. It was on their 1968 album The Second. It was the lead single from that album, peaking at number three, and staying on the charts for 16 weeks, longer than any other Steppenwolf song.
Steppenwolf was a Canadian-American rock band, prominent from 1968 to 1972. The group was formed in late 1967 in Los Angeles by lead singer John Kay, keyboardist Goldy McJohn, and drummer Jerry Edmonton, all formerly of the Canadian band The Sparrows. Guitarist Michael Monarch and bass guitarist Ruston Moreve were recruited via notices placed in L.A.-area record and musical instrument stores.
Steppenwolf sold over 25 million records worldwide. They released seven Gold albums and one Platinum album, and had 13 Billboard Hot 100 singles, of which seven were Top 40 hits, including three Top 10 successes: Born to Be Wild, Magic Carpet Ride, and Rock Me. Steppenwolf enjoyed worldwide success from 1968 to 1972, but clashing personalities led to the end of the core lineup.
Today, John Kay is the only original member, having been the lead singer since 1967. The band was called John Kay & Steppenwolf from 1980 to 2018. Their songs have been licensed for use in thirty-seven motion pictures and thirty-six television programs, so far to date. For decades the group continued on touring, and continued to focus on the future. However, on November 22nd, 2019, Kay announced that the band's Oct. 14th, 2018 show was their last.
If you want to know what pure rock music was all about in the 1960s, this is it! It’s fun “classic rock” to listen to. Only one requirement - you must turn up the volume. That will unleash the full time travel sequence to transport you immediately to the Summer of 1968! Be careful, and have fun! 🙂🚀
Check out Magic Carpet Ride on Spotify:
Here are a couple of videos:
This is Steppenwolf doing Magic Carpet Ride (a live performance from 1969):
Here is Steppenwolf doing Born to Be Wild (another live performance from 1969):
And continuing on Sept. 23rd…
• 1974 - Elvis Presley goes on a $100,000 shopping spree in Memphis and buys six Lincoln Continentals and five Cadillacs and distributes them among his friends
• 1977 - Steely Dan released the best album of their career — Aja
On this day in…
• 1995 - Michael Jackson made it four weeks atop the R&B chart with You Are Not Alone
• 2013 - Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California was shut down for a 15-song set by Paul McCartney on the roof of the El Capitan Theatre. An estimated crowd of 10,000 listened from the street
