On This Date In Music

1973 - Deep Purple release "Smoke On The Water" as a single in America. The song, considered an add-on to fill space on the album, first appeared in March 1972 on Machine Head.

 1973 - Chicago's Chicago VI LP hits No. 1 for the first of five weeks in the US.

 

1979 - ‘I Don't Like Mondays' gave The Boomtown Rats their second UK No. 1 single, for four weeks. Bob Geldof wrote the song after reading a report on the shooting spree of 16-year-old Brenda Ann Spencer, who fired at children playing in a school playground across the street from her home in San Diego, California. She killed two adults, (the principal and a custodian), and injured eight children and one police officer. Spencer showed no remorse for her crime, and her full explanation for her actions was "I don't like Mondays, this livens up the day." Charged as an adult, she pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and assault with a deadly weapon, and was sentenced to life in prison with a chance of parole after 25 years. She remains imprisoned at the California Institution for Women in Chino. Her next opportunity for a parole hearing will be in 2025.