This Weekend in Music History

April 26th, 1980 - Blondie is at No.1 with 'Call Me'. It would be the band's biggest selling single to date and was used in the Richard Gere flick 'American Gigolo'. Originally, Stevie Nicks was asked to compose and perform a song for the movie, but when she backed out, the director chose the Blondie hit.

April 26th, 1988 - Mick Jagger appears in White Plains, New York, Federal Court in the copyright infringement case brought on by Patrick Alley, who claims that Mick Jagger's solo track on 'Just Another Night' was a plagiarism of his own song of the same name.  In what was the most rocking court case of all time, Sly Dunbar played drums to show how the beats were different in each song and Mick sang and played demos of his song to show the development of the track. At the end of the week-long trial, Jagger had won the case.

April 27th, 1979 – Stevie Wonder surprises everyone by showing up at a tribute concert to Duke Ellington at UCLA. He plays “Sir Duke” and covers Duke Ellington’s “C-Jam Blues.”

April 27th, 1990 – It was the first day of David Bowie's American dates on the Sound & Vision Tour. Bowie says he will play his old material for one last time and then retire them. This lasts until 2002 when he starts playing his most popular songs again stating that his best work is probably behind him.

April 28th, 1983 – U2 plays an Ice Rink at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. It was during the second leg of their ‘War’ North American tour. The War Tour took place in 1982 and 1983 in support of the group’s third album “War,” and was their first tour as full-time headlining acts.

April 28th, 1999 - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Having many hits through the years and solidifying a style now synonymous with classic rock, they become a part of Americana.