February 18

1977: Manfred Mann hits #1 with Blinded By The Light, written by Bruce Springsteen.

1968: Guitarist David Gilmour replaces Sid Barrett in Pink Floyd.

1964: The Beatles meet Muhammad Ali (then called Cassius Clay) while in Miami for a concert.

1959: Ray Charles records What’d I say?  The song had evolved in concert as a call-and-response between Charles and his female back-up singers. It becomes Charles’ biggest hit to date, reaching #1 on the R&B and #6 on the pop charts.

1956: The Platters are #1 with The Great Pretender.

1933: Yoko Ono is born.  She records several albums with her husband, John Lennon.  Lennon and Ono put the finishing touches on Walking on Thin Ice the night he was killed. His guitar parts were the last music he ever recorded. Less than a month after his murder, the song was released as a single and became Ono’s first hit, peaking at #58.

Songs of The Day:

Blinded By The Light (Manfred Mann); What’d I Say (Ray Charles); The Great Pretender (The Platters); Walking On Thin Ice (Yoko Ono)