On This Date in Music

1965 - A Charlie Brown Christmas makes its debut, airing on CBS in place of The Munsters. The famous score, which becomes synonymous with the Peanuts, is written by the jazz musician Vince Guaraldi and performed by his trio.

 

1972 - The Moody Blues' Seventh Sojourn album hits No. 1 in America, where it stays for five weeks.

1978 - The Blues Brothers release their first single, a cover of "Soul Man." The original is by Sam & Dave, whom the Blues Brothers (John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd) emulated to create their act.

1978 - Steely Dan's Greatest Hits album enters the charts.

1989 - Billy Joel started a two week run at No. 1 on the US singles chart with 'We Didn't Start The Fire'. Its lyrics are made up from rapid-fire brief allusions to over a hundred headline events between 1949 (Joel was born on May 9 of that year) and 1989, when the song was released on his album Storm Front.