Compact Discs Hit The Music Market

A revolution in recorded music was born, as the first albums available on compact disc, or CD for short, hit the U.S. market in March of 1983. The CD offered sound quality unparalled in recorded music history, as it was virtually distortion·free. The technology used digital "samples" of sound bites read by a laser "stylus". A special CD player was required to play CD's, costing, at first $900. The actual disc was smaller than a vinyl 45 RPM record, and all of an album was played on only one side of the disc, as opposed to 2 sides for vinyl.

Sony was the first electronics manufacturer to offer both the CD and the player to the U.S. Market. The first album offered for sale on CD was Billy Joel's 1978 release 52nd Street.

The Police Do It Twice!

During the Rock Albums Chart's early years, The Police, in 1983, become the first artist to score the most weeks at number one during the year on both the Album Rock Tracks charts AND the Hot 100 pop chart! With the single Every Breath You Take, The Police become the first band to accomplish the feat on both charts.

This song parallels their success of their top·selling album Sychronicity, their top album ever! The band would soon break up, as frontman, Sting, pursued a successful solo career.