Tommy’s Coffee Break Calendar for February 27th

The Pink and "The Piper" -- She didn't get to enjoy her No. 1 status... -- No surprise, the Grammys sucked in the old days, too...

2/27/1967 (53 years ago today) - At London's Abbey Road studios, Pink Floyd are nearing completion of their debut album "The Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" -- There's only one song by Roger Waters ("Take Up Thy Stethoscope And Walk") and two group-composed instrumentals (most notably, the future-classic "Interstellar Overdrive"); the remaining eight tracks were all written by Syd Barrett (including the psychedelic-era-defining "Astronomy Domine", plus "Lucifer Sam", "Matilda Mother", "The Scarecrow" and the very influential "Bike") -- For a record that's just over half-a-century old, it still sounds amazing. Interesting side-note-fact: they did the entire LP while The Beatles were -- literally -- down the hall making "Sgt. Pepper". A weird but interesting start to Floyd's career...

2/27/1971 (49 years ago today) - It's her best record, no doubt about it: Five months after her death, Janis Joplin starts a nine-week run at No. 1 with her second and final studio solo album "Pearl" -- Blues rock, soul blues, R&B, funk rock, Americana, whatever you wanna file it under, the LP is practically a perfect 'Greatest Hits' compilation: "Move Over", "Cry Baby", "Me And Bobby McGee", "Get It While You Can" and "Mercedes Benz", the legendary one-minute-46-second acapella piece that would turn out to be the last song she recorded before passing away. Bottom line: pretty much a masterpiece must-have album...

2/27/1980 (40 years ago today) - We were yawning during the whole show...: Winners at the Grammy Awards this evening include Billy Joel's "52nd Street" (Album of the Year), Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" (Best Disco Record, an actual category), Kenny Rogers' "You Decorated My Life" (Best Country Song), and, somewhat strangely, the award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Female went to Donna Summer for "Hot Stuff". Look, we actually like Donna Summer, you just can't call it rock...

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"Get it, want it, need it, hold it...", xoxo!