Brooklyn Music Milestones – October 2012

Nov. 3, 1962: The Crystals start a two-week run at No.1 on the U.S. singles chart with He’s A Rebel. It was the third of the group’s six top 20 hits.

Nov. 5, 1988: The Locomotion by Brooklyn songwriting duo Gerry Goffin and Carole King becomes the first song to reach the Top 5 in three different renditions as Kylie Minogue’s version hits No. 3 on the charts. Originally a number one hit for Brighton Beach’s Little Eva in 1962, the song was also a chart-topper for Grand Funk Railroad in 1974.

November 12, 1996: Bedford-Stuyvesant rapper Lil’ Kim releases her debut studio album, Hard Core. It debuts at number 11 on the Billboard 200 and number one on Billboard‘s Top R&B Albums, and would go on to be certified double platinum.

Nov. 15, 1980: For the third straight November, Barbra Streisand has a hit duet on the charts.Guilty with Barry Gibb will eventually rise to number three, a tad short of chart-toppers You Don’t Bring Me Flowers with Neil Diamond, 1978, and No More Tears (Enough Is Enough)with Donna Summer, 1979.

Nov. 15, 1986: Five years after Edward R. Murrow High School senior Adam “MCA” Yauch co-founded what would evolve into the Beastie Boys, the group releases its first album, Licensed to Ill. It would become the first hip-hop LP to top the Billboard albums chart.

December 3, 1994: During the Weekend Update segment of Saturday Night Live, Adam Sandler performs The Chanukah Song for the very first time. A later recording of the song would become a holiday season staple on several New York radio stations.