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On this day in music, March 28, 1981, Blondie scored their fourth No.1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Rapture.” Their 20th single, which appeared on album Autoamerican, spent two weeks at the top spot and broke ground as the first No.1 hit in the US to feature a rap section. Combining new wave and disco elements, plus rapping by frontwoman Debbie Harry, the song also gave a shout-out to hip-hop trailblazers like Fab Five Freddy (who made a cameo in the music video) and Grandmaster Flash. In addition to Freddy, the video for “Rapture” featured appearances by NYC graffiti artist Lee Quiñones and downtown art sensation Jean-Michel Basquiat.

In 2014, tickets for Kate Bush’s Before The Dawn series of concerts sold out in less than 15 minutes. Scheduled to take place in August and September of that year, the dates marked the London singer-songwriter’s first live shows since her Tour Of Life performances in 1979. Such was the demand, that Bush’s website, along with those of some ticket agencies, crashed. The singer, who said she was “completely overwhelmed by the response,” added seven extra dates to her itinerary.

In 2018, George Ezra’s second studio album, Staying at Tamara’s, topped the UK charts. It was that year’s biggest-selling album in the UK and was nominated for British Album of the Year at the 2019 BRIT Awards.

In 1974, 69-year-old blues singer and guitarist, Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup, died of a stroke. Crudup scored six Top 10 R&B hits in the 1940s, including “Rock Me Mama,” but was best known for 1947’s “That’s All Right,” which Elvis Presley popularized in 1954 by releasing it as his debut single for Sun Records.

In 1970, folk duo Simon & Garfunkel scored their sole UK No.1 with “Bridge Over Troubled Water.”

In 2021, British record producer and electronics boffin Malcolm Cecil died at the age of 84. Although he began his music career as a jazz bassist, Cecil was best remembered for his pioneering synthesizer programming work alongside fellow producer Robert Margouleff. Together, they worked on albums by Stevie Wonder, including 1973’s Inner Visions. During the same decade, Cecil contributed his sonic magic to records by the Isley Brothers, Gil Scott-Heron, and Steve Hillage.

In 2001, the hip-hop artist, producer, and record executive born Sean Combs, who went under the stage names Puffy and Puff Daddy, told MTV that in the future, he wanted to be known as P. Diddy. Four years later, he simplified his name to “Diddy.”

In 1964, London’s waxworks museum Madame Tussauds honored pop stars for the first time by unveiling lifelike sculptures of The Beatles.

BORN ON MARCH 28

1941: Charlie McCoy (Harmonica player)
1945: Chuck Portz (The Turtles)
1948: Milan Williams (The Commodores)
1954: Reba McEntire
1965: Steve Turner (Mudhoney)
1969: Cheryl “Salt” James (Salt-N-Pepa)
1976: Dave Keuning (The Killers)
1986: Lady Gaga

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