1965 - The Who
First, back to this week in 1965 when The Who released My Generation. The song reached #2 in the UK, but only #74 in America. What's interesting about this chart anomaly is that later on, Rolling Stone would list the strack as #11 among the Top 500 of All Time. Further, VH1 rated it #13 among history's top 100 Greatest Rock and Roll Songs. So it seems that even a song that is buried in the middle of the top 100's bottom 50 when charting can later distinguish itself on "all time" lists. I think if My Generation had been released 2 or 3 years later, it would have been an American smash as well. Perhaps in 1965 the record buying public, who was busy buying hits from Herman's Hermits, Gerry and the Pacemakers and classic Motown artists and groups, just wasn't ready for it.
My Generation
1971 - John Lennon
In the Fall of 1971 as October became November, John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band's album Imagine was the UK's #1 album and was doing great west of the Atlantic as well. Two tracks on the LP demonstrated that John was still working out his resentment toward Paul McCartney. One was called Crippled Inside, while the other, is featured this week.
How Do You Sleep
1983 - Pink Floyd
This week in 1983 marked Pink Floyd's 491st week on the US album charts with Dark Side of the Moon. That made it the longest charting album in history, surpassing Johnny's Greatest Hits by Johnny Mathis. When it finally slipped from the list in October 1988 it had spent a grand total of 741 weeks on the chart. It could be said that our featured track from the album gets too much radio play on classic rock stations, but who can argue with its success?
Time
Till next time, that's another Classic Track Look Back at rock history. Oh, and don't forget that last week's #rockhistory tweets and links are now Storified!
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