1987 in music

Table of contents

1 Events
2 Albums released
3 Top hits on record
4 Published popular music
5 Classical music
6 Opera
7 Musical theater
8 Births
9 Deaths
10 Awards

10.1 Grammy Awards
10.2 Country Music Association Awards
10.3 Eurovision Song Contest

Events

January 3 - Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
January 16 - The Beastie Boys become the first act to be censored by American Bandstand.
January - Steve "Silk" Hurley's innovative "Jack Your Body" becomes the first house music record to top the UK singles chart.
February 6 - Sonny Bono announces his candidacy for mayor of Palm Springs, California
February 14–March 7 - Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer" is the #1 song. It would be 1987's Biggest hit song.
March 7 - The first five Beatles albums, Please Please Me, With the Beatles, A Hard Day's Night, Beatles for Sale and Help are released on Compact disc. Capitol Records decides to release the original UK mixes of the Beatles albums, which means that the first four CDs are released in mono. This marks the first time that many of these mono mixes were available in the US.
March 9 - Carole King is inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in New York City
March 13 - Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
March 13 - In the US, Bryan Adams "Heat of the Night" becomes the first single to be commercially released on cassette. Cassette singles become known as cassingles.
March 27 - Inspired by The Beatles' 1969 rooftop concert, U2 shoots a music video for the song "Where the Streets Have No Name" on a rooftop in Los Angeles, California.
April 23 - Carole King sues the owner of her record company, Lou Adler, claiming that she is owed more than $400,000 in royalties. King also asks for rights to her old recordings.
October 12 - Twisted Sister breaks up
October - electronic data gathering completely replaces the old sales diary technique in compiling the UK singles and albums chart.
October 19 - Mötley Crüe release the song "You're All I Need" as a single. Its lyrics cause MTV to refuse to play its video. Radio stations never play the song either.
November 13 - Sonny and Cher reunite for a performance on Late Night with David Letterman.
Social Distortion returns to record Prison Bound
Jane's Addiction's career begins
Public Enemy's career starts
Paul Oakenfold's career begins
Tori Amos' career begins
Danzig's career begins
Gin Blossoms forms
Mr. Big forms
Nirvana forms
Pennywise forms
Zebra breaks up
Wham breaks up
Hüsker Dü breaks up
Jane's Addiction signs to Warner Bros
Winger signs to Atlantic Records
Kylie Minogue's recording career begins, when her cover version of the Little Eva hit The Loco-Motion spends seven weeks at number one in her native Australia and leads to a contract with UK based record producers Stock Aitken Waterman

Albums released

Compilation - Accept
Classics Live II - Aerosmith
Permanent Vacation - Aerosmith
Among The Living - Anthrax
I'm The Man EP - Anthrax
Strength of Steel - Anvil
Raising Fear - Armored Saint
Heaven on Earth - Belinda Carlisle
Eternal Idol - Black Sabbath
Tunnel of Love - Bruce Springsteen
Into the Fire - Bryan Adams
Speed Metal Symphony - Cacophony
Raise Your Fist and Yell - Alice Cooper
Best Before 1984 - Crass
Electric - The Cult
Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me - The Cure
Hysteria - Def Leppard
Dream Evil - Dio
You're Living All Over Me - Dinosaur Jr
Back For the Attack - Dokken
White Fields - The Escape Club (debut)
Paid in Full - Eric B. & Rakim;
Introduce Yourself - Faith No More
Faster Pussycat - Faster Pussycat
Frehley's Comet - Frehley's Comet
Official Version - Front 242
Funhouse - Funhouse
Faith - George Michael
Once Bitten - Great White
Rock You To Hell - Grim Reaper (final album)
Appetite for Destruction - Guns n' Roses (debut)
I Never Said Goodbye - Sammy Hagar
Music to Strip By - Half Japanese
Wild in the Streets - Helix
Bring the Family - John Hiatt
- Hüsker Dü (final album)
A More Perfect Union - Icon
Rhyme Pays - Ice-T (debut)
Bad - Michael Jackson
Jane's Addiction - Jane's Addiction
Crest of a Knave - Jethro Tull
Priest... Live - Judas Priest
''Keel - Keel
Abigail - King Diamond
Crazy Nights - KISS
1987 (What the Fuck is Going On?) - KLF (Kopyright Liberation Front)/The Jams. Subsequently destroyed after copyright infringement claim
Shaka Zulu - Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Trio - Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton
Running in the Family - Level 42
Terror Rising EP - Lizzy Borden
Visual Lies - Lizzy Borden
Bigger and Deffer - LL Cool J
By the Light of the Moon - Los Lobos
Hurricane Eyes - Loudness
Immaculate Deception - Ludichrist
Strange Weather - Marianne Faithfull
Huevos - Meat Puppets
(The $5.98 EP) Garage Days Re-Revisited - Metallica
Diesel and Dust - Midnight Oil
Girls, Girls, Girls - Mötley Crüe
Rock N' Roll - Motörhead
Perfect Timing - McAuley-Schenker Group (first release after Robin McAuley joined and they changed their name)
Escape From Noise - Negativland
Tribute - Ozzy Osbourne
Taking Over - Overkill
Power Metal - Pantera
Actually - Pet Shop Boys
A Momentary Lapse of Reason - Pink Floyd
Come On Pilgrim - Pixies (debut)
Sign O' the Times - Prince
Yo! Bum Rush the Show - Public Enemy
Randy Travis - Randy Travis
Document - R.E.M
Pleased to Meet Me - The Replacements
Kane Roberts - Kane Roberts (former Alice Cooper guitarist's solo debut)
King's Record Shop - Rosanne Cash
Hold Your Fire - Rush (band)
Hall of the Mountain King - Savatage
Sister - Sonic Youth
Floodland - The Sisters of Mercy
New Again - TexAns
Introducing the Hardline - Terence Trent D'Arby
Bridge of spies - T'Pau
Love Is for Suckers - Twister Sister (final album)
The Joshua Tree - U2
To the Power of 3 - 3
Calm Before The Storm - Venom
Live...in The Raw - W.A.S.P
Live...Animal EP W.A.S.P
Triumph And Agony - Warlock (final album)
Whitecross - Whitecross
Pride - White Lion (2nd album, major label (Atlantic Records) debut)
Whitesnake - Whitesnake
Characters - Stevie Wonder
Contagious - Y&T;
3.V - Zebra
Tattooed Beat Messiah - Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction;

Top hits on record

"Livin' on a Prayer" - Bon Jovi
"Somebody Save Me" - Cinderella
"(I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight" - Cutting Crew
"Beds Are Burning" - Midnight Oil
"Walk Like An Egyptian" - The Bangles
"Shake You Down" - Gregory Abbott
"Wild Nights, Hot & Crazy Days" - Judas Priest
"I Knew You Were Waiting for Me" - Aretha Franklin & George Michael
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" - U2
"I Think We're Alone Now" - Tiffany
"Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" - Starship
"I Wanna Dance With Somebody (who loves me)" - Whitney Houston
"La Bamba" - Los Lobos
"With or Without You" - U2
"Where the Streets Have No Name" - U2
"Alone" - Heart
"Faith" - George Michael
"Luka" - Suzanne Vega
"Heaven Is A Place On Earth" - Belinda Carlisle
"Don't Dream It's Over" - Crowded House
"Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" - Genesis
"You Can Call Me Al" - Paul Simon
"Free" - Stryper
"China in your hand" - T'Pau
"Hot Love" - Twisted Sister
"Wait" - White Lion
"Here I go Again" - Whitesnake

Published popular music

"Children Will Listen" w.m. Stephen Sondheim
"The Time Of My Life" w.m. Franke Previte, Donald Markowitz & John DeNicola

Classical music

Juan Maria Solare - Doce variaciones 1987 (for piano)

Opera

John Adams - Nixon in China
Friedrich Cerha - Der Rattenfänger (The Pied Piper)

Musical theater

Anything Goes Broadway revival
Bless the Bride London revival
Cabaret (Kander and Ebb) - Broadway revival
Dreamgirls Broadway revival
Into the Woods Broadway production
Les Misérables Broadway production
Oil City Symphony Broadway production
Starlight Express (Andrew Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe - Broadway production

Births

March 9 - Bow Wow
May 21 - Ashlie Brillault
September 7 - Evan Rachel Wood
September 28 - Hilary Duff
Chloe Hanslip, violinist

Deaths

January 15 - Ray Bolger, actor, of cancer
February 4 - Liberace, US pianist
April 2 - Buddy Rich, brain tumor
April 7 - Maxine Sullivan, US singer
May 3 - Dalida commits suicide
May 4 - Paul Butterfield, drug overdose
May 11 - Peter Tosh is murdered
October 19 - Jacqueline Du Pre, English cellist
October 28 - Woody Herman, US bandleader
December 10 - Jascha Heifetz, violinist

Awards

The following artists are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: The Coasters, Eddie Cochran, Bo Diddley, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Bill Haley, B. B. King, Clyde McPhatter, Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Smokey Robinson, Big Joe Turner, Muddy Waters, and Jackie Wilson