1972 | 1982 | 1992 | 2002 | 2012

Last year, we brought you five decades of music, from the 1970s through the 2010s, and now we’re bringing it all back with WYEP’s Decades: Volume 2.

Every day the week of May 16th- May 20th, 2022 we’ll be listening to the music of a different decade, beginning with the songs of 1972.

Monday – May 16th

Music History Made in 1972

• Geoge Harrison and Friends’ triple live album “The Concert for Bangladesh” was released in the United Kingdom. He and his wife, Pattie Boyd, were involved in a minor car accident a month after the album’s release.
• David Bowie releases his breakthrough album “The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.” He would go on to sell out his 1st show at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
• Elvis Presley recorded a live album at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was his first live concert in NYC since the 1950s and was one of the best-selling live albums of the 1970s.
• Paul & Linda McCartney and their band Wings were arrested in Gothenburg, Sweden on drug possession charges when customs officials discovered a package of hashish. Police would later find cannabis growing on Paul & Linda McCartney’s farm that same year.
• Muddy Waters won his first GRAMMY for the album “They Call Me Muddy Waters”
• Bruce Springsteen signed his record deal with Columbia Records, and would later go on to record “Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J.” later in the year.
• Smokey Robinson goes solo.
• Keith Richards (Rolling Stones) almost burns down the Playboy Mansion.

Back To The Top

Tuesday – May 17th

Music History Made in 1982

• Ozzy Osbourne reportedly bit the head off a bat on stage.
• The Doobie Brothers split up
• Rod Stewart was mugged at gunpoint on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, CA. The gunman also stole his $50,000 Porsche.
• Decca Records released The Beatles’ audition from 1962, twenty years after Ricards Paul Rowe rejected them. He was quoted as saying “guitar groups are on the way out” and “The Beatles have no future in show business”
• Jamaica issued a Bob Marley postage stamp. A year after he died at the age of 36.
• Marvin Gay released his last studio album “Midnight Love.”
• Michael Jackson releases his 6th studio album, “Thriller”

Back To The Top

Wednesday – May 18th

Music History Made in 1992

• Eric Clapton performed on MTV “Unplugged” at Bray Film Studios in Windsor, England. This recording won six GRAMMY Awards and became his bestselling album and the bestselling live album of all time.

• Courtney Love (Hole) and Kurt Cobain (Nirvana) get married on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii
• Madonna signed a $60-million deal with Time Warner Inc. to create Maverick, an entertainment company.
• Mary J. Blige released her debut album, “What’s the 411?”
• Sinead O’ Conner ripped up a picture of Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Live as a protest against child abuse in the Catholic Church. She was later banned from the show for life.
• Frank Zappa would give his final performance in Frankfurt, Germany, and receive a 20-minute standing ovation.
• Rage Against the Machine’s self-titled, debut album was released.

Back To The Top

Thursday – May 19th

Music History Made in 2002

• The Osbournes premiered on MTV
• American Idol Debuts on Fox.
• Dark Horse Records released “Brainwashed” posthumously. It would be George Harrison’s 12th and final album.
• Lisa “Left Eye” Lopez dies in a car crash at the age of 30.
• Joe Strummer, the lead singer of The Clash, dies at the age of 50.

Back To The Top

Friday – May 20th

Music History Made in 2012

• The infamous hologram of late rapper Tupac was featured on stage with Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre at the Coachella music festival.
• Taylor Swift released “Red”, her 4th studio album.
• Psy’s “Gangnam Style” became the first video to reach one billion views on YouTube.
• We lost a lot of iconic musicians including Whitney Houston, MCA (Adam Yauch) of the Beastie Boys, Donna Summer, Robin Gibb of The Beegees, Andy Williams, Marvin Hamlisch, Davy Jones of The Monkees, and Levon Helm.

Back To The Top