Oct 10th in Pop History
On this day, October 10th, in:
• 1995 - Peter Frampton releases Frampton Comes Alive II. The album is the sequel to his 1976 smash Frampton Comes Away - the best-selling live album in history
Frampton Comes Alive! II is a 1995 live album by English musician Peter Frampton. It is a sequel to his 1976 multi platinum album Frampton Comes Alive!
The sequel album contains live versions of many of the songs from his 1980s and 1990s solo albums, consciously avoiding his 1970s hits. However, contrary to Jerry Pompili's introductory comments on the album, lightning didn't strike twice and the album sold poorly. The album reached # 121 on the UK Albums Chart and failed to chart in the US. So since this 90s album was a bit anticlimactic, let’s say a few words about the original — the giant success album.
The 1976 double live album, Frampton Comes Alive! was a breakthrough record for Peter Frampton, after four solo albums with little commercial success. A great testimony to perseverance. Instead of “the third time’s a charm,” maybe the fifth time is the one. It sure was for Frampton, who if you don’t know him, is a popular English rocker, singer, songwriter, and producer (at least he was crazy popular in the 70s and 80s). But he’s still around doing his thing to this day.
This record was the best-selling album of 1976, selling over 8 million copies in the US alone, and becoming the best-selling live album ever, with estimated sales of 11 million. Overall Peter Frampton has sold more than 16 million records so far.
He was born in Beckenham, England, a district of greater London. He first became interested in music when he was seven years old. He found his grandmother's banjolele (a cross between a banjo and a ukulele) in the attic one day, and taught himself to play. Something of a musical prodigy, he taught himself guitar at age 7, and then studied ipiano. Within the next few years, he mastered complex jazz, blues and rock riffs. His influences included Cliff Richard, The Beatles, and American rockers Buddy Holly, the Ventures, and Jimi Hendrix.
Frampton is best known for such hits as Breaking All the Rules, Show Me the Way, Baby, I Love Your Way, and l’m in You, to name a few. These songs remain basic staples for airplay on classic rock radio to the current day. Three of the above songs, from Frampton Comes Alive! reached the Top 15 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album itself debuted on the charts at 191. It climbed all the way to # 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart by April 1976, where it stayed for a full 10 weeks.
It was voted "Album Of The Year" in the 1976 Rolling Stone readers poll. It stayed on the chart for 97 weeks and was still No. 14 on Billboard’s 1977 year-end album chart. It was ranked No. 41 on Rolling Stone's "50 Greatest Live Albums of All Time" list. Readers of Rolling Stone ranked it No. 3 in a 2012 poll of all-time favourite live albums.
Well, Peter Frampton became one of the huge heartthrob/ teen idol rockers of the classic rock era, packing out whole stadiums full of screaming, singing fans. In 1976, both Billboard and Rolling Stone magazines named him Artist of the Year.
So now, pretend you’re a 70s child and get in touch with your inner post-modern, post-hippie, almost post-disco rockstar groupie self. Or maybe just watch Almost Famous again. Then dive into some great 70s rock/pop with one of the big names of the era.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome Peter Frampton. Here are some classic tracks:
Peter Frampton on Spotify:
Check out these videos for some classic live performances from back in the day:
Baby I Love Your Way • Midnight Special 1975
Show Me The Way • Midnight Special 1975
And continuing on October 10th…
• 1902 - The Gibson Mandolin Guitar Company was formed. Gibson's first electric guitar, the ES-150, was produced in 1936
• 1939 - The real Eleanor Rigby died in her sleep of unknown causes at the age of 44. The 1966 Beatles' song that featured her name wasn't written about her, as Paul McCartney’s first draft of the song named the character Miss Daisy Hawkins. Eleanor Rigby's tombstone was noticed in the 1980s in the graveyard of St. Peter's Parish Church in Woolton, Liverpool, a few feet from where McCartney and Lennon had met for the first time in 1957
Also, on this day in…
• 1956 - Elvis Presley’s ‘Love Me Tender' entered the charts for a 19 week stay, peaking at # 1 for 5 weeks
• 2007 - Radiohead takes an innovative approach with the release of their 7th album, In Rainbows, by offering it as a pay-what-you-want download. Most people pay nothing
