Today it's an all 1974 special with Bowie, Dolly, Elvis and McCartney...

Dolly Parton
Dolly, before a show in London; May 1977. (Keystone/Getty Images)
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6/08/1974 (41 years ago today) - David Bowie's third Number One LP in the U.K., "Diamond Dogs", starts the first of four-weeks at the top and it continues Bowie's on-going run of "artistic controversies" -- this time it's the album's cover art, which features Bowie as a grotesque half-man/half-dog, the full painting of which (when you spread open the gate-fold sleeve) clearly shows the hybrid's genitalia! Woof! This semi-startling work, clearly doomed to be "air-brushed-out", was originally painted by Belgian artist Guy Peellaert, who followed up with the cover art for The Rolling Stones' "It's Only Rock And Roll" LP. Very few copies of the Bowie release ever made it into circulation, making the first-edition "Diamond Dogs" album a mighty-hard-to-find-and-very-expensive collector's item.

6/08/1974 (also 41 years ago today) - Dolly Parton is at No. 1 on the U.S. country chart with her version of an original composition titled "I Will Always Love You"; yes, it's the same song that became Whitney Houston's worldwide chart-topping smash in 1992 from "The Bodyguard" film. What's fascinating about the song's history, though, is that it was Elvis Presley who first wanted to record it back in the day. Dolly was more than interested in letting Elvis have it until Presley's manager, the ever-greedy/always-annoying Colonel Tom Parker, told her it was "standard procedure" for songwriters to sign over half the publishing rights to any song that Elvis recorded. Dolly "politely" refused. Wish I'd been there for that one, really...

6/08/1974 (one more time for 41 years ago today) - Paul McCartney & Wings go to Number One on the U.S. singles chart with "Band On The Run" (his third solo U.S. chart-topper; it only makes it to No. 3 in England). Paul later says that it was George Harrison who (unwittingly) contributed the line "If we ever get out of here" when he said it during one of The Beatles many, many, many business meetings! Way to go, George!

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"Bitter-sweet memories/That's all I have/And all I'm taking with me...", xoxo.

 

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