Bob Crewe's groovy 1966 instrumental, "Music to Watch Girls By"

[jlw]

[Read the post]

[Bemopolis]

SPOCK DID IT BETTER https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2jWwIitSzY

[Papasan]

Jesus H Christ, I haven’t heard that in eons!

[bathosfear]

I was alive when this was popular, and thought it was Herb Alpert.

[Eksrae]

Great. Now some uptight killjoy is going to label it “The Male Gaze Anthem” and claim that it gave her an eating disorder.

[milliefink]

[Dr_Erick]

I always dug the fuzz in the Satan’s Pilgrims version:

[Nelsie]

Andy William’s cover is the iconic version to me.

[TobinL]

Why do I now feel an urge to lounge on a tropical beach with a nice rum drink in my hand?

[marksgelter]

Crewe was a brilliant songwriter and producer, whose list of credits is staggering. (Wiki it.)

This song turned into another example of the music biz putting up a false front on an artist. Crewe wasn’t known as a perfomer, but the single was so popular that the record company demanded a full album and subsequent tour. The “band” on the album cover is pretty much all models (except for Crewe in the middle), because Crewe and his circle of studio guys were the real performers. The hired band for the tour was much smaller (and probably uglier), and served only as a quick opening act for bigger artists.

The BCG followed this album with “Music to Watch Birds By” for the UK market, and then the soundtrack for “Barbarella”!

[chgoliz]

Me too!

Now that I think about it, instrumentals being in the Top 20 were a thing back then. When was the last time that happened?

Goes to Google…

According to some guy who has too much time on his hands and access to the Internet (third comment):

OK, here’s all 222 Top 20 instrumental hits from 1955 to the present, in chronological order:

11/27/1954 | #2 (1 wk.) - Billy Vaughn & His Orchestra: “Melody of Love”

12/25/1954 | #8 (1 wk.) - David Carroll & His Orchestra: “Melody of Love”

1/22/1955 | #2 (7 wks.) - Johnny Maddox & The Rhythmasters: “The Crazy Otto (Medley)”

1/29/1955 | #19 (1 wk.) - Lenny Dee: “Plantation Boogie”

2/19/1955 | #19 (1 wk.) - Crazy Otto: “Glad Rag Doll”

2/19/1955 | #1 (10 wks.) - Perez Prado & His Orchestra: “Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White”

3/26/1955 | #1 (1 wk.) - Les Baxter & His Orchestra: “Medic”

3/26/1955 | #1 (2 wks.) - Les Baxter & His Orchestra and Chorus: “Unchained Melody”

6/4/1955 | #14 (1 wk.) - The Ferko String Band: “Alabama Jubilee”

7/2/1955 | #18 (1 wk.) - Eddie Barclay & His Orchestra: “The Bandit (O’Cangaceiro)”

8/6/1955 | #1 (4 wks.) - Roger Williams: “Autumn Leaves”

11/26/1955 | #1 (4 wks.) - Nelson Riddle & His Orchestra: “Lisbon Antigua”

1/7/1956 | #8 (2 wks.) - The Dick Hyman Trio: “Moritat (Theme from ‘The Three Penny Opera’)”

1/21/1956 | #11 (2 wks.) - Richard Hayman & Jan August: “Theme from ‘The Three Penny Opera’ (Moritat)”

1/21/1956 | #19 (1 wk.) - Mitch Miller & His Orchestra: “Lisbon Antigua (in Old Lisbon)”

1/28/1956 | #1 (6 wks.) - Les Baxter with His Chorus & Orchestra: “The Poor People of Paris (Jean’s Song)”

2/4/1956 | #17 (1 wk.) - Lawrence Welk & His Sparkling Sextet: “Moritat (Theme from ‘The Three Penny Opera’)”

2/18/1956 | #19 (1 wk.) - Russ Morgan & His Orchestra: “The Poor People of Paris”

3/3/1956 | #16 (1 wk.) - Elmer Bernstein & His Orchestra: “Main Title from ‘The Man with the Golden Arm’”

3/3/1956 | #14 (1 wk.) - Richard Maltby & His Orchestra: “Themes from ‘The Man with the Golden Arm’”

3/3/1956 | #17 (1 wk.) - Lawrence Welk & His Champagne Music: “The Poor People of Paris”

3/10/1956 | #20 (1 wk.) - Nelson Riddle & His Orchestra: “Port Au Prince”

3/31/1956 | #4 (1 wk.) - George Cates & His Orchestra: “Moonglow and Theme from ‘Picnic’”

3/31/1956 | #1 (3 wks.) - Morris Stoloff & His Orchestra: “Moonglow and Theme from ‘Picnic’”

4/14/1956 | #6 (3 wks.) - Don Robertson: “The Happy Whistler”

5/5/1956 | #19 (1 wk.) - Joe ‘Fingers’ Carr: “Portuguese Washerwoman”

6/9/1956 | #2 (2 wks.) - Hugo Winterhalter & His Orchestra with Eddie Heywood: “Canadian Sunset”

6/16/1956 | #11 (1 wk.) - Eddie Heywood: “Soft Summer Breeze”

7/21/1956 | #8 (2 wks.) - Mitch Miller & His Orchestra: “The Theme from ‘Song for a Summer Night’ (Parts 1 & 2)”

8/4/1956 | #2 (3 wks.) - Bill Doggett: “Honky Tonk (Parts 1 & 2)”

8/18/1956 | #12 (1 wk.) - Helmut Zacharias & His Magic Violin: “When the White Lilacs Bloom Again”

8/25/1956 | #18 (1 wk.) - Billy Vaughn & His Orchestra: “When the White Lilacs Bloom Again”

10/27/1956 | #17 (1 wk.) - Sil Austin: “Slow Walk”

2/16/1957 | #15 (1 wk.) - Roger Williams: “Almost Paradise”

4/15/1957 | #10 (1 wk.) - Ralph Marterie & His Orchestra: “Shish-Kebab”

5/6/1957 | #13 (1 wk.) - Victor Young & His Orchestra: “(Main Theme) Around the World”

5/27/1957 | #12 (1 wk.) - Mantovani & His Orchestra: “Around the World”

8/12/1957 | #14 - Barney Kessel & His Orchestra: “Honey Rock”

11/4/1957 | #4 (1 wk.) - Ernie Freeman: “Raunchy”

11/4/1957 | #2 (1 wk.) - Bill Justis & His Orchestra: “Raunchy”

11/18/1957 | #10 (1 wk.) - Billy Vaughn & His Orchestra: “Raunchy”

12/9/1957 | #5 (3 wks.) - Billy Vaughn & His Orchestra: “Sail Along Silvery Moon”

12/30/1957 | #20 (1 wk.) - Mitch Miller & His Orchestra: “March from the River Kwai & Colonel Bogey”

2/10/1958 | #1 (5 wks.) - The Champs: “Tequila”

2/17/1958 | #20 (1 wk.) - Eddie Platt & His Orchestra: “Tequila”

4/14/1958 | #16 (1 wk.) - Link Wray & His Ray Men: “Rumble”

6/2/1958 | #1 (1 wk.) - Perez Prado & His Orchestra: “Patricia”

6/16/1958 | #6 (2 wks.) - Duane Eddy: “Rebel-'Rouser”

7/28/1958 | #20 (2 wks.) - Billy Vaughn & His Orchestra: “La Paloma”

8/4/1958 | #10 (3 wks.) - Roger Williams: “Near You”

8/11/1958 | #3 (3 wks.) - Cozy Cole: “Topsy II”

8/18/1958 | #7 (2 wks.) - The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra: “Tea for Two Cha Cha”

9/22/1958 | #16 (2 wks.) - The Applejacks: “Mexican Hat Rock”

10/6/1958 | #17 (1 wk.) - The Royaltones: “Poor Boy”

10/20/1958 | #15 (1 wk.) - Duane Eddy: “Cannonball”

11/24/1958 | #10 (2 wks.) - Reg Owen & His Orchestra: “Manhattan Spiritual”

12/22/1958 | #8 (1 wk.) - Ray Anthony & His Orchestra: “Peter Gunn”

12/29/1958 | #5 (1 wk.) - Chris Barber’s Jazz Band: “Petite Fleur (Little Flower)”

2/23/1959 | #5 (2 wks.) - The Virtues: “Guitar Boogie Shuffle”

3/2/1959 | #1 (1 wk.) - Dave ‘Baby’ Cortez: “The Happy Organ”

3/23/1959 | #9 (2 wks.) - Franck Pourcel’s French Fiddles: “Only You (and You Alone) (Loin de Vous)”

3/30/1959 | #4 (2 wks.) - The Exotic Sounds of Martin Denny & His Orchestra: “Quiet Village”

5/4/1959 | #14 (1 wk.) - Preston Epps: “Bongo Rock”

6/1/1959 | #9 (1 wk.) - Duane Eddy & The Rebels: “Forty Miles of Bad Road”

7/13/1959 | #1 (2 wks.) - Santo & Johnny: “Sleep Walk”

7/20/1959 | #5 (1 wk.) - Johnny & The Hurricanes: “Red River Rock”

8/24/1959 | #4 (2 wks.) - Sandy Nelson: “Teen Beat”

9/7/1959 | #4 (1 wk.) - Ernie Fields’ Orchestra: “In the Mood”

9/14/1959 | #15 (1 wk.) - The Islanders: “The Enchanted Sea”

9/21/1959 | #16 (1 wk.) - Rock-a-Teens: “Woo-Hoo”

11/16/1959 | #17 (2 wks.) - Bill Black’s Combo: “Smokie (Part 2)”

12/21/1959 | #13 (1 wk.) - Spencer Ross: “Tracy’s Theme”

12/28/1959 | #1 (9 wks.) - Percy Faith & His Orchestra: “The Theme from ‘A Summer Place’”

2/1/1960 | #15 (1 wk.) - Johnny & The Hurricanes: “Beatnik Fly”

2/22/1960 | #9 (1 wk.) - Bill Black’s Combo: “White Silver Sands”

5/9/1960 | #4 (2 wks.) - Duane Eddy: “Because They’re Young”

6/6/1960 | #19 (1 wk.) - Billy Vaughn & His Orchestra: “Look for a Star”

6/13/1960 | #18 (1 wk.) - Bill Black’s Combo: “Josephine”

7/4/1960 | #2 (1 wk.) - The Ventures: “Walk – Don’t Run”

7/11/1960 | #10 (3 wks.) - Ferrante & Teicher: “The Theme from ‘The Apartment’ (Jealous Lover)”

7/25/1960 | #19 (1 wk.) - Don Costa & His Orchestra and Chorus: “Never On Sunday”

8/29/1960 | #11 (1 wk.) - Bill Black’s Combo: “Don’t Be Cruel”

9/26/1960 | #2 (4 wks.) - Floyd Cramer: “Last Date”

10/17/1960 | #15 (1 wk.) - The Ventures: “Perfidia”

10/31/1960 | #2 (1 wk.) - Ferrante & Teicher: “Exodus”

10/31/1960 | #1 (3 wks.) - Bert Kaempfert & His Orchestra: “Wonderland by Night”

10/31/1960 | #15 (2 wks.) - Louis Prima: “Wonderland by Night”

11/14/1960 | #16 (1 wk.) - Bill Black’s Combo: “Blue Tango”

11/28/1960 | #1 (2 wks.) - Lawrence Welk & His Orchestra: “Calcutta”

12/5/1960 | #18 (1 wk.) - Duane Eddy: “Pepe”

12/26/1960 | #3 (2 wks.) - The String-A-Longs: “Wheels”

1/9/1961 | #2 (2 wks.) - Jorgen Ingmann & His Guitar: “Apache”

2/6/1961 | #20 (1 wk.) - Bill Black’s Combo: “Hearts of Stone”

2/6/1961 | #8 (1 wk.) - Kokomo: “Asia Minor”

2/20/1961 | #8 (2 wks.) - Ray Charles: “One Mint Julep”

2/20/1961 | #4 (1 wk.) - Floyd Cramer: “On the Rebound”

3/20/1961 | #19 (1 wk.) - Al Caiola & His Orchestra: “Bonanza”

5/15/1961 | #4 (1 wk.) - The Arthur Lyman Group: “Yellow Bird”

5/22/1961 | #8 (1 wk.) - Floyd Cramer: “San Antonio Rose”

6/19/1961 | #3 (2 wks.) - The Mar-Keys: “Last Night”

7/31/1961 | #7 (1 wk.) - Bob Moore & His Orchestra: “Mexico”

10/2/1961 | #8 (1 wk.) - Ferrante & Teicher: “Tonight”

10/16/1961 | #7 (1 wk.) - Sandy Nelson: “Let There Be Drums”

12/11/1961 | #17 (2 wks.) - Ace Cannon: “Tuff”

12/30/1961 | #10 (1 wk.) - Billy Joe & The Checkmates: “Percolator (Twist)”

1/20/1962 | #2 (1 wk.) - Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen: “Midnight in Moscow”

2/3/1962 | #17 (2 wks.) - King Curtis & The Noble Knights: “Soul Twist”

3/3/1962 | #1 (1 wk.) - Mr. Acker Bilk: “Stranger On the Shore”

4/28/1962 | #1 (1 wk.) - David Rose & His Orchestra: “The Stripper”

6/30/1962 | #10 (1 wk.) - Dave ‘Baby’ Cortez: “Rinky Dink”

7/7/1962 | #13 (1 wk.) - Billy Vaughn & His Orchestra: “A Swingin’ Safari”

7/14/1962 | #7 (1 wk.) - Bent Fabric & His Piano: “Alley Cat”

7/28/1962 | #3 (1 wk.) - Booker T. & The MG’s: “Green Onions”

9/15/1962 | #15 (2 wks.) - Stan Getz & Charlie Byrd: “Desafinado”

9/29/1962 | #20 (1 wk.) - Jimmy McGriff: “I’ve Got a Woman (Part 1)”

10/13/1962 | #6 (1 wk.) - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass: “The Lonely Bull (El Solo Torro)”

10/20/1962 | #19 (1 wk.) - The Routers: “Let’s Go (Pony)”

10/20/1962 | #1 (3 wks.) - The Tornadoes: “Telstar”

12/15/1962 | #14 (1 wk.) - Joe Harnell & His Orchestra: “Fly Me to the Moon – Bossa Nova”

12/15/1962 | #8 (1 wk.) - The Rebels: “Wild Weekend”

1/19/1963 | #9 (1 wk.) - Bill Pursell: “Our Winter Love”

2/16/1963 | #4 (2 wks.) - The Chantays: “Pipeline”

3/2/1963 | #10 (2 wks.) - The Mongo Santamaria Band: “Watermelon Man”

5/25/1963 | #5 (1 wk.) - Lonnie Mack: “Memphis”

6/8/1963 | #2 (1 wk.) - The Surfaris: “Wipe Out”

6/22/1963 | #8 (1 wk.) - Kai Winding & His Orchestra: “More”

9/7/1963 | #6 (1 wk.) - Los Indios Tabajaras: “Maria Elena”

9/7/1963 | #2 (1 wk.) - The Village Stompers: “Washington Square”

11/23/1963 | #3 (2 wks.) - The Marketts: “Out of Limits”

12/21/1963 | #4 (1 wk.) - Al Hirt: “Java”

1/18/1964 | #18 (1 wk.) - The Pyramids: “Penetration”

3/7/1964 | #15 (3 wks.) - Robert Maxwell & His Orchestra: “Shangri-La”

3/28/1964 | #15 (2 wks.) - Al Hirt: “Cotton Candy”

6/27/1964 | #8 (2 wks.) - The Ventures: “Walk – Don’t Run '64”

12/19/1964 | #14 (2 wks.) - Alvin Cash & The Crawlers: “Twine Time”

1/9/1965 | #11 (2 wks.) - Bert Kaempfert & His Orchestra: “Red Roses for a Blue Lady”

3/6/1965 | #10 (1 wk.) - Sounds Orchestral!: “Cast Your Fate to the Wind”

4/24/1965 | #12 (1 wk.) - Horst Jankowski & His Orchestra: “A Walk in the Black Forest”

7/17/1965 | #5 (1 wk.) - The Ramsey Lewis Trio: “The ‘In’ Crowd”

9/11/1965 | #7 (1 wk.) - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass: “A Taste of Honey”

11/6/1965 | #11 (2 wks.) - The Ramsey Lewis Trio: “Hang On Sloopy”

11/27/1965 | #3 (1 wk.) - The T-Bones: “No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach’s In)”

12/11/1965 | #11 (1 wk.) - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass: “Zorba the Greek”

1/15/1966 | #16 (2 wks.) - Slim Harpo: “Baby, Scratch My Back”

1/22/1966 | #17 (2 wks.) - The Marketts: “Batman Theme”

6/18/1966 | #18 (2 wks.) - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass: “The Work Song”

6/25/1966 | #19 (2 wks.) - Ramsey Lewis: “Wade in the Water”

7/16/1966 | #16 (1 wk.) - The Surfaris: “Wipe Out”

12/17/1966 | #15 (1 wk.) - The Bob Crewe Generation: “Music to Watch Girls By”

12/24/1966 | #11 (2 wks.) - Cannonball Adderley: “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy”

4/15/1967 | #20 (1 wk.) - Whistling Jack Smith: “I Was Kaiser Bill’s Batman”

5/6/1967 | #17 (1 wk.) - The Bar-Kays: “Soul Finger”

12/23/1967 | #1 (5 wks.) - Paul Mauriat & His Orchestra: “Love Is Blue (L’ Amour Est Bleu)”

2/3/1968 | #2 (1 wk.) - Hugo Montenegro & His Orchestra: “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”

5/11/1968 | #2 (3 wks.) - Cliff Nobles & Co.: “The Horse”

5/25/1968 | #1 (2 wks.) - Hugh Masekela: “Grazing in the Grass”

6/8/1968 | #2 (2 wks.) - Mason Williams: “Classical Gas”

6/29/1968 | #17 (1 wk.) - Booker T. & The MG’s: “Soul-Limbo”

10/26/1968 | #9 (2 wks.) - Booker T. & The MG’s: “Hang 'Em High”

11/16/1968 | #3 (1 wk.) - Young-Holt Unlimited: “Soulful Strut”

2/22/1969 | #4 (1 wk.) - The Ventures: “Hawaii Five-0”

3/1/1969 | #6 (2 wks.) - Booker T. & The MG’s: “Time Is Tight”

4/26/1969 | #1 (2 wks.) - Henry Mancini & His Orchestra: “Love Theme from ‘Romeo & Juliet’”

5/31/1969 | #13 (2 wks.) - The Charles Randolph Grean Sounde: “Quentin’s Theme”

7/19/1969 | #16 (2 wks.) - The Electric Indian: “Keem-O-Sabe”

10/18/1969 | #10 (1 wk.) - Ferrante & Teicher: “Midnight Cowboy”

6/27/1970 | #16 (2 wks.) - The Assembled Multitude: “Overture from Tommy (A Rock Opera)”

1/2/1971 | #13 (2 wks.) - Henry Mancini & His Orchestra and Chorus: “(Theme from) Love Story”

10/16/1971 | #6 (3 wks.) - Dennis Coffey & The Detroit Guitar Band: “Scorpio”

12/18/1971 | #6 (1 wk.) - Apollo 100: “Joy”

1/1/1972 | #8 (3 wks.) - The Chakachas: “Jungle Fever”

2/5/1972 | #18 (2 wks.) - Dennis Coffey & The Detroit Guitar Band: “Taurus”

4/8/1972 | #2 (1 wk.) - Billy Preston: “Outa-Space”

5/6/1972 | #11 (1 wk.) - The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards: “Amazing Grace”

6/24/1972 | #9 (1 wk.) - Hot Butter: “Popcorn”

7/8/1972 | #7 (2 wks.) - Gary Glitter: “Rock and Roll (Part 2)”

12/30/1972 | #2 (4 wks.) - Eric Weissberg & Steve Mandell: “Dueling Banjos”

1/20/1973 | #2 (1 wk.) - Deodato: “Also Sprach Zarathustra (Theme from 2001)”

2/17/1973 | #9 (2 wks.) - Focus: “Hocus Pocus”

2/24/1973 | #1 (1 wk.) - The Edgar Winter Group: “Frankenstein”

9/8/1973 | #4 (2 wks.) - Billy Preston: “Space Race”

11/17/1973 | #1 (1 wk.) - The Love Unlimited Orchestra: “Love’s Theme”

2/16/1974 | #1 (2 wks.) - MFSB featuring The Three Degrees: “TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)”

3/9/1974 | #3 (2 wks.) - Marvin Hamlisch: “The Entertainer”

9/7/1974 | #1 (B-side) - Bachman-Turner Overdrive: “Free Wheelin’”

11/23/1974 | #1 (1 wk.) - The Average White Band: “Pick Up the Pieces”

1/11/1975 | #4 (3 wks.) - B.T. Express: “Express”

1/25/1975 | #14 (1 wk.) - Herbie Mann: “Hijack”

3/29/1975 | #10 (1 wk.) - Bazuka featuring Tony Camillo: “Dynomite (Part 1)”

4/5/1975 | #1 (1 wk.) - Van McCoy & The Soul City Symphony: “The Hustle”

5/3/1975 | #10 (2 wks.) - Mike Post: “The Rockford Files”

7/19/1975 | #11 (2 wks.) - The Ritchie Family: “Brazil”

8/9/1975 | #11 (1 wk.) - The People’s Choice: “Do It Any Way You Wanna”

11/1/1975 | #1 (1 wk.) - Rhythm Heritage: “Theme from ‘S.W.A.T.’”

1/10/1976 | #18 (1 wk.) - The Salsoul Orchestra: “Tangerine”

3/20/1976 | #14 (1 wk.) - Brass Construction: “Movin’”

3/27/1976 | #20 (2 wks.) - Rhythm Heritage: “Barretta’s Theme (Keep Your Eye On the Sparrow)”

5/15/1976 | #1 (1 wk.) - Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band: “A Fifth of Beethoven”

8/14/1976 | #8 (2 wks.) - Barry DeVorzon & Perry Botkin, Jr.: “Nadia’s Theme (The Young & The Restless)”

4/9/1977 | #1 (1 wk.) - Bill Conti & His Orchestra: “Gonna Fly Now (Theme from ‘Rocky’)”

6/25/1977 | #10 (1 wk.) - John Williams & The London Symphony Orchestra: “Star Wars (Main Title)”

7/23/1977 | #1 (2 wks.) - Meco: “Star Wars Theme / Cantina Band”

12/10/1977 | #13 (2 wks.) - John Williams & Orchestra: “Theme from ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’”

1/28/1978 | #4 (1 wk.) - Chuck Mangione: “Feels So Good”

1/13/1979 | #3 (1 wk.) - Frank Mills: “Music Box Dancer”

6/28/1979 | #1 (2 wks.) - Herb Alpert: “Rise”

1/5/1980 | #18 (2 wks.) - Chuck Mangione: “Give It All You Got”

5/31/1980 | #18 (2 wks.) - Meco: “The Empire Strikes Back (Medley)”

8/8/1981 | #10 (2 wks.) - Mike Post: “The Theme from ‘Hill Street Blues’”

10/17/1981 | #10 (2 wks.) - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra: “Hooked On Classics”

11/28/1981 | #1 (1 wk.) - Vangelis: “Chariots of Fire (Main Title)”

3/16/1985 | #3 (3 wks.) - Harold Faltermeyer: “Axel F”

8/10/1985 | #15 (1 wk.) - David Foster: “Love Theme from ‘St. Elmo’s Fire’”

8/24/1985 | #1 (1 wk.) - Jan Hammer: “Miami Vice Theme”

3/21/1987 | #4 (1 wk.) - Kenny G: “Songbird”

10/15/1988 | #13 (1 wk.) - Kenny G: “Silhouette”

10/14/1989 | #11 (1 wk.) - Jive Bunny & The Mastermixers: “Swing the Mood”

5/4/1991 | #11 (2 wks.) - David A. Stewart & Candy Dulfer: “Lily Was Here”

12/5/1992 | #18 (2 wks.) - Kenny G: “Forever in Love”

4/27/1996 | #7 (2 wks.) - Adam Clayton & Larry Mullen: “Theme from Mission: Impossible”

12/25/1999 | #7 (1 wk.) - Kenny G: “Auld Lang Syne (The Millenium Mix)”

11/23/2002 | #2 - Kenny G: “Auld Lang Syne (Freedom Mix)”

[chgoliz]

So, 16 in the last 35 years, as opposed to 206 in the 26 years prior.

[marksgelter]

That cover is actually from the “best of” pressing; it’s pretty much a combo of the original and the UK albums. It has a slightly different photo from the original, which was cropped badly. They chopped off heads, and almost entirely cut out the tympani player. Plus they apparently thought Bob needed a tambourine in order to be a “part of the band”.

[thaumatechnicia]

On Kronos Quartet’s really excellent album Nuevo, there’s a piece of music by Juan García Esquivel, Mini Skirt:

[TobinL]

omg kronos quartet + esquivel! this day is now officially awesome.

[bathosfear]

MTV launched in 1981. That’s right when it dies off.

[chgoliz]

Video killed the radio star…