Earlier this week, Chuck took over the Forgotten Hits Web Page to talk about the anniversary of the release of The Beatles' Smash Hit "Something" ... the first time (and ONLY time) that George Harrison commanded the A-Side of one of their singles. It premiered on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart on October 18th, 1969.
And now, he gives us a reason to celebrate the anniversary of another Rock And Roll Classic Hit.
That's because during this week in 1977, Queen's single "We Are The Champions" first appeared on the pop charts ...
And, of course, the B-Side to that single was the classic rock stadium anthem "We Will Rock You." Rock Radio and Top 40 Radio nearly ALWAYS segued those two songs together, which is the way they appeared on Queen's album "News Of The World," also out this week in '77. (Incredibly, despite EXTENSIVE airplay, "We Will Rock You" never officially charted on The Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles Chart. Boy, they SURE have changed the way the charts are compiled today!!! By today's standards, "We Will Rock You" would have been #1 for a month!!!) For the record, "We Are The Champions" topped out at #4 in Billboard ... and "Something" only reached #3, while the B-Side of THAT record, "Come Together" earned the #1 Ranking!!!
You guys picked "We Will Rock You" / "We Are The Champions" (yes, it earned your votes as the medley) as your 11th Most Essential Classic Rock Song of All Time in our Forgotten Hits Poll a couple of years ago. (Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" topped that list of Top 3333 Favorites ... and the band placed 23 titles on that countdown, including NINE titles in The Top 1000.)
Anyway, I turn things over again to our good buddy, CB! (Which just makes me want to say 10-4, Good Buddy!)
Take it away, Chuck!
Today we shine our Golden Forgotten Hits Music Spotlight on this week in 1977, when Queen released their sixth studio album, “News of the World,” noteworthy because of its opening track, “We Will Rock You!”
Remarkably, it was also during this very week in an unrecorded year in medieval times, that those four words were actually first spoken during a major military event of the day.
Immediately after that hurling rock hit its mark, a traveling minstrel who happened to be in the castle at that very moment, shouted, “IT’s a HIT!”
Chuck, who would most certainly know, also notes that on the bottom of that projectile was a roughly hand-scrawled trademark, “W L S, the World’s Largest Stone!”
And, hence, “The Rock of Chicago” was launched.
All this from CB ( which stands for "Chuck Dah-Buell-Ell-Ess!" )
