MTV, the 24-hour music video channel, launches a second video venture;
christened VH-1, the new music channel programs music clips designed to appeal to pop fans aged 25 to 49.
JAN. 11
”Rock in Rio,” a 10-day music festival billed as the biggest rock event ever staged, kicks off in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with tickets priced at $5 a day. More than 1 million people attend the first four concerts, featuring such acts as Iron Maiden, Queen, Men at Work, Scorpions, James Taylor, Yes and a number of Brazilian artists.
Legendary Chicago blues man Willie Dixon files a complaint against rock group Led Zeppelin, claiming that Zep`s 1970 hit single, ”Whole Lotta Love,” was based on Dixon`s 1962 composition ”You Need Love.” Why did Dixon wait so long to take action? ”He just found out about it. He doesn`t listen to the radio except for blues programs,” explains Dixon`s manager, Scott Cameron. The case is scheduled to go to court in June, 1986.
JAN. 14
”Do They Know It`s Christmas?” by Band Aid–a group of mostly British pop musicians from such groups as the Boomtown Rats, Duran Duran, U2 and Wham! who teamed up to raise money for African famine relief–becomes the best-selling British single ever, outselling the previous record-holder, Wings`
”Mull of Kintyre.”
JAN. 26
John Prine, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Arlo Guthrie, Fred Holstein, David Bromberg, Richie Havens, Bryan Bowers and a host of other performers team up for a concert at Arie Crown in memory of longtime Chicago singer-songwriter Steve Goodman, who died in September, 1984, at age 36; proceeds from the show are donated to leukemia research.
JAN. 28
Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Lionel Richie, Kenny Rogers, Michael Jackson, Willie Nelson and 40 other major American pop artists –calling themselves USA for Africa–gather secretly at A & M Recording Studios in Los Angeles to record ”We Are the World” as part of the effort to raise money for African famine relief. The project originated in December, 1984, during a conversation between singer Harry Belafonte and talent manager Ken Kragen, who represents Richie, Rogers and other pop acts.
FEB. 7
Top Polish rock group Lady Pank becomes the first Communist bloc band to sign with a major American label when the quintet inks a deal with MCA Records. The group`s moment in the spotlight of capitalism is short-lived;
their American debut album, ”Drop Everything,” drops out of sight almost immediately after its release later in the month.
FEB. 26
Tina Turner consolidates her comeback-queen status by winning three Grammy Awards. Turner`s ”What`s Love Got to Do with It?” is named Record of the Year; she also wins the Female Pop Vocal Performance and Female Rock Vocal Performance awards. Lionel Richie`s ”Can`t Slow Down” takes Album of the Year honors; Cyndi Lauper is named Best New Artist.
MARCH 11
The single, ”We Are the World,” arrives in record stores; it soon reaches the No. 1 spot on Billboard`s pop singles chart and sells more than 4 million copies. All proceeds from the project are donated to the USA for Africa Foundation, organized to aid the hungry in Africa and the U.S.
APRIL 1
The ”We Are the World` album, featuring the title hit single plus unreleased tracks by various artists who performed on the single and others who did not attend the Jan. 28 recording session, is released; it goes on to top the U.S. pop album chart and sell more than 3 million copies.
APRIL 7
British pop duo Wham!, whose hit song, ”Careless Whisper,” has been covered by a number of Cantonese pop groups, performs a concert at the Peking People`s Gymnasium, becoming the first major Western rock act to play China. Ticket prices for the group`s show are standard for Chinese concerts–around 50 cents each.
JUNE 5
Members of the Parents` Music Resource Center (PMRC), a group of congressional wives concerned about rock songs` references to sex, drugs, violence and the occult, meet with representatives of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), a music industry trade organization, seeking a detailed rating system for records. They demand that labels ”reassess” their contracts with artists ”who engage in violence, substance abuse and/or explicit sexual behavior in concerts where minors are admitted.” The record industry balks and a heated controversy begins.
JUNE 7
The Grateful Dead, avatars of the late `60s San Francisco rock sound, celebrate their 20th anniversary.
JUNE 15
Al Green, Rance Allen, Albertina Walker and other gospel artists are featured in the first Thomas A. Dorsey Gospel Festival held at the South Shore Country Club Park. Rev. Dorsey, a Chicago composer known worldwide as the
”father of gospel music,” is credited with coining the term ”gospel music” and writing more than 800 songs, including ”Precious Lord, Take My Hand.”
JUNE 20
Cornerstone `85, a three-day Christian music/teaching festival featuring such acts as Kerry Livgren A.D., Rez Band, Steve Taylor, Daniel Amos and Larry Norman, opens at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Grayslake.
JULY 2
Pete Seeger, Tom Paxton and Chicago-area folk singers share the bill at the first City of Chicago/WFMT Folk Festival at the Petrillo Music Shell in Grant Park. The free concert is dedicated to the memory of Steve Goodman.
JULY 13
Live Aid, the most ambitious and star-studded live music event in pop history, is held simultaneously in London`s Wembley Arena and Philadelphia`s JFK Stadium to raise money for African famine relief. An estimated 1.6 billion viewers in 156 countries watch the all-star concerts on television. Project organizer Bob Geldof–the Boomtown Rats vocalist who also spearheaded 1984`s Band Aid recording session in which British recording stars teamed up to raise money for African famine relief–is later nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
AUG. 9
Bruce Springsteen, riding a roll of popularity that saw his ”Born in the U.S.A.” album sell more than 10 million copies and become Columbia Records`
best-selling album ever, performs in Soldier Field before 70,000 fans.
SEPT. 13
Don Henley`s ”Boys of Summer” takes Best Video of the Year honors at the 2d Annual MTV Video Music Awards ceremony at New York`s Radio City Music Hall.
SEPT. 19
The Senate Committee on Commerce begins hearings on the question of whether rock records containing songs with explicitly sexual or violent lyrics should be required to display lyric sheets or warnings alerting parents to possibly objectionable content. Among those testifying in favor of artistic freedom are Dee Snyder of Twisted Sister and Frank Zappa.
SEPT. 20
The Musical Majority, a hastily assembled committee of recording artists
(among them John Cougar Mellencamp, Gene Simmons, Glenn Frey, Daryl Hall and John Oates) and others in the music industry concerned about artistic freedom, issues a statement denouncing the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee hearings on the proposed record rating system.
OCT. 16
”Sun City,” an anti-apartheid song featuring more than three dozen big- name rock, rap, reggae, jazz, rhythm and blues, Latin and African artists is released. Written by Little Steven Van Zandt, who organized the project (known as Artists United Against Apartheid), the tune uses the South African luxury resort of Sun City as a symbol for racial and social injustice and calls for performers to boycott the entertainment complex. Proceeds from sales of the single and album by the same name (released Oct. 25) are earmarked for anti-apartheid causes.
NOV. 1
The battle of the RIAA versus the PMRC and the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) over ”objectionable” rock lyrics ends with an official announcement that 20 RIAA member labels will identify albums containing references to ”explicit sex, explicit violence, or explicit substance abuse” with a parental advisory notation. Several record labels, including A & M, Geffen and MCA, say they will not participate in the program; many rock artists protest the agreement as tacit artistic censorship.
NOV. 2
”Miami Vice” becomes the first TV soundtrack to hit No. 1 on the Billboard album chart since 1959, when ”The Music from Peter Gunn” occupied the top spot. The album stays in the No. 1 spot for six weeks and sells more than 2 million copies.
DEC. 6
When a malfunctioning circuit breaker twice disrupts the sound at his Madison Square Garden show, rocker John Cougar Mellencamp tells the crowd,
”This one`s on me,” and offers to refund concertgoers` $17.50 ticket price despite the fact that he performs for two hours once the sound problems are ironed out. Neither Madison Square Garden nor Mellencamp will reveal how many fans took him up on his unprecedented offer.
