SIR DUKE - STEVIE WONDER - 1977

SIR DUKE – Stevie Wonder

#1 April 16, 1977

NEWS

• The space shuttle Enterprise, sitting atop a Boeing 747, went on its maiden flight above the Mojave Desert
• Jimmy Carter was sworn in as the 39^th President of the United States
• Gary Gilmore becomes first person executed in United States since 1967.
• British Airways introduces a regular supersonic Concorde service between London and New York. 
• The U.S. returns the Panama Canal back to Panama
• The first oil flows through the Trans Alaskan Oil Pipeline and we finished building the World Trade Center in New York.

FADS and ENTERTAINMENT

• MOVIES: “Star Wars” “Annie Hall” and “Saturday Night Fever”.
• TV:  “Laverne & Shirley” “60 Minutes”  and “Roots”
• Oakland Raider’s are Superbowl XI Champs. The cost of the Superbowl ad $125,000.
• The first ever Quadraphonic concert took place in London by Pink Floyd. Fleetwood Mac's Grammy-winning album Rumours is released.
• Kids were playing with the Atari 2600 console, Star Wars toys, and Slime.
• Slim Fast began selling, The Chia Pet was introduced, and the e.p.t pregnancy test was available 
• Hotties were Farrah Fawcett, Suzanne Somers, Lynda Carter, Cheryl Tieg and Christie Brinkley.  
• Apple introduces the Apple II computer
• Popular sayings were “We are two wild and crazy guys”- Steve Martin and Dan Aykroyd from SNL, “Well, Excuuuuuse Me”- Steve Martin and “May the Force be with you”-Harrison Ford.

DEAD

• A plane crash in Mississippi with members of Lynyrd Skynyrd on board kills Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines, Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray.
• Elvis Presley: January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977
• Groucho Marx: October 2, 1890– August 19, 1977
• Freddie Prinz

#1@1

• Found on the album Songs in the Key of Life.
• This song was written in tribute to Jazz legend Duke Ellington who died in 1974. He was a huge influence on Wonder as he was also a pianist.
• The lyrics also refer to Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Louis Armstrong, and Ella Fitzgerald,
• Stevie Wonder performed this recently at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Concert (June 4, 2012.)
• Here’s Stevie Wonder and ”Sir Duke” your #1@1 on from  April 1977.