11 ready-to-read segments for January 25, lead story first. Free to use on air; a quick credit to Today in Tunes is appreciated.
On this day in 1975, 51 years ago: The Carpenters top the Hot 100 with "Please Mr. Postman." The duo's remake of the old Marvelettes song spent a single week at No. 1, taking over from Barry Manilow's "Mandy" before Neil Sedaka's "Laughter in the Rain" moved up. Here's Carpenters with “Please Mr. Postman.”
On this day in 1858, 168 years ago: A royal bride makes Mendelssohn's Wedding March a hit. Queen Victoria's eldest daughter chose the march, written in 1842 for A Midsummer Night's Dream, for her wedding to Prussia's Prince Frederick William. Couples have walked to it ever since.
On this day in 1909, 117 years ago: Richard Strauss's Elektra premieres in Dresden. Built on Hugo von Hofmannsthal's retelling of Sophocles, the one-act opera called for an orchestra of roughly 110 players and pushed harmony into harsh, dissonant territory.
On this day in 1976, 50 years ago: Bob Dylan stages a Houston benefit for Hurricane Carter. The Rolling Thunder Revue played the Astrodome in a second concert backing imprisoned boxer Rubin Carter, with Ringo Starr and Stephen Stills joining Dylan's band and Stevie Wonder among the guest stars.
On this day in 1992, 34 years ago: Color Me Badd score a second No. 1 with "All 4 Love." The vocal group's single borrowed from the Mad Lads' 1966 soul song "Patch My Heart," and it turned out to be their final trip to the top.
On this day in 1759, 267 years ago: Robert Burns is born in Alloway, Scotland. Scotland's national poet gathered and reworked folk songs from across the country and wrote "Auld Lang Syne" in 1788. Burns Night suppers on his birthday still end with everyone singing it.
On this day in 1927, 99 years ago: Antônio Carlos Jobim is born in Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilian composer wrote "Desafinado," "Corcovado" and "The Girl from Ipanema," a song recorded more than 240 times by other artists and a Grammy Record of the Year winner.
On this day in 1938, 88 years ago: Etta James is born in Los Angeles. Born Jamesetta Hawkins, she made the old Glenn Miller tune "At Last" her signature song in 1961 and entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.
On this day in 1981, 45 years ago: Alicia Keys is born in Manhattan. Raised in Hell's Kitchen, she broke through with "Fallin'," which spent six weeks at No. 1, and took home five Grammys in a single night for her debut album.
On this day in 1996, 30 years ago: Rent creator Jonathan Larson dies at 35. An undiagnosed aortic dissection killed him just as his rock musical was starting off-Broadway previews. Rent went on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and three Tonys, including Best Musical.
On this day in 2015, 11 years ago: Greek singer Demis Roussos dies at 68. Once a member of the prog-rock band Aphrodite's Child, he found solo fame with the ballad "Forever and Ever" and sold over 60 million albums.
Every segment comes from a fact checked against the source linked with it. Spot a problem? Email hello@todayintunes.com.