June 27: Michael Jackson Scored His First #1 Record in the U.K. on This Date in 1981

0 Posted by - June 27, 2022 - BLACK MUSIC, LATEST POSTS, On This Date

By Victor Trammell

Photo credits: Motown Records

Michael Jackson recorded the song “One Day in Your Life” for his 1975 album Forever, Michael.

Due to the commercial interest generated by the sales of Michael Jackson’s successful 1979 album Off the Wall—despite the fact that Jackson had released that album on Epic Records rather than Motown—it was later released on March 25, 1981, as a single from the Motown compilation album of the same name.

The song’s lyrics were written by Renée Armand and its music was composed by Sam Brown III.

Although it was not a major smash in the US, it was a larger hit in the UK. That is where it became Michael Jackson’s first solo song to top the UK Singles Chart. Starting on June 27, 1981, it spent two weeks at the top of the UK charts. Additionally, it was the number-one single in Ireland.

It performed well on the singles charts in South Africa. On the Motown label, it was made available. Later, it rose to become the UK’s sixth-best-selling single in 1981. This song, according to Robert Christgau, is a love ballad that is “as credible as the rockers” on its own terms.

Five years earlier, Johnny Mathis’ cover of the song for his Feelings album made the U.S. and Canadian charts.

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