2008 – MMVIII
It has been designated as the International Year Of:
The Frog
Intercultural Dialogue
Languages
Planet Earth
The Potato
Sanitation
And the Year Of:
Fresh Produce
In January:
+ Petrol reaches 100 US dollars per barrel for the first time.
+ Rage Against The Machine headline the Big Day Out festivals in Australia and New Zealand.
+ Radiohead release ‘In Rainbows’.
+ Basshunter have the Number 1 single with ‘Now You’re Gone’.
+ Actor Heath Ledger dies at the age of 28.
In February:
+ Fidel Castro announces his resignation as President of Cuba.
+ The Spice Girls perform live together for the last show of their ‘The Return of the Spice Girls’ tour in Toronto.
+ Los Campesinos! release ‘Hold On Now, Youngster…’.
+ Duffy has the Number 1 single with ‘Mercy’.
+ Author William F Buckley dies at the age of 82.
In March:
+ A star explodes halfway across the visible universe and becomes the farthest known object visible to the naked eye.
+ The Miami Winter Music Conference is held in Miami Beach Resort & Spa.
+ REM release ‘Accelerate’.
+ Estelle and Kanye West have the Number 1 single with ‘American Boy’.
+ Author Arthur C Clarke dies at the age of 90.
In April:
+ Surgeons at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London perform the first operations with ‘bionic’ eyes, implanting them into blind patients.
+ Scott Weiland leaves Velvet Revolver to reunite with his former band, Stone Temple Pilots, and begin a reunion tour.
+ Portishead release ‘Third’.
+ Madonna has the Number 1 single with ’4 Minutes’.
+ Actor Charlton Heston dies at the age of 84.
In May:
+ An earthquake in China, measuring 8.0 magnitude on the Richter scale, kills more than 69,000 people.
+ The 53rd Eurovision Song Contest is held in Belgrade, Serbia.
+ Scarlett Johansson releases ‘Anywhere I Lay My Head’.
+ The Ting Tings have the Number 1 single with ‘That’s Not My Name’.
+ Actor Sydney Pollack dies at the age of 73.
In June:
+ Bill Gates steps down as the Chairman of Microsoft after three decades to concentrate on philanthropy.
+ ‘Guitar Hero: Aerosmith’ is released, making it the first video game in the ‘Guitar Hero’ series to be based around a single music group.
+ Motley Crue release ‘Saints Of Los Angeles’.
+ Coldplay have the Number 1 single with ‘Viva La Vida’.
+ Musician Bo Diddley dies at the age of 79.
In July:
+ World Youth Day takes place in Sydney, Australia and is attended by Pope Benedict XVI.
+ Numerous Rock Festivals, including Crue Fest, O2 Wireless Festival, T4 On The Beach, Oxegen and T In The Park Festival, take place around the world.
+ Beck releases ‘Modern Guilt’.
+ Dizzee Rascal has the Number 1 single with ‘Dance Wiv Me’.
+ Politician Jesse Helms dies at the age of 86.
In August:
+ Michael Phelps breaks the record for Olympic Gold Medals won at a single Olympics, previously held by Mark Spitz, with eight victories.
+ Lollapalooza Music Festival takes place in Chicago.
+ Bloc Party release ‘Intimacy’ (digital download).
+ Katy Perry has the Number 1 single with ‘I Kissed A Girl’.
+ Musician Isaac Hayes dies at the age of 65.
In September:
+ Hurricane Ike strikes Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba and the United States, killing more than 100 people.
+ Paul McCartney plays a single concert in Israel at Tel Aviv Park for the first time since the Beatles were banned in 1965.
+ Kings Of Leon release ‘Only By The Night’.
+ Kings Of Leon have the Number 1 single with ‘Sex On Fire’.
+ Actor Paul Newman dies at the age of 83.
In October:
+ A global financial crisis strikes resulting in President Bush signing the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, which creates a 700 billion dollar Treasury fund.
+ Britney Spears sets a new record for the largest jump to Number 1 in the Billboard Hot 100 charts when her single, ‘Womanizer’ moves from Number 96 to Number 1 in a single week.
+ AC / DC release ‘Black Ice’.
+ Pink has the Number 1 single with ‘So What’.
+ Singer Dee Dee Warwick dies at the age of 63.
In November:
+ Barack Obama is elected as the 44th President of the United States.
+ Vanilla Ice releases ‘Vanilla Ice Is Back!’.
+ The X-Factor Finalists have the Number 1 single with ‘Hero’.
+ Author Michael Crichton dies at the age of 66.
In December:
+ Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon announce that Blur will reunite for a concert in Hyde Park on 3 July 2009.
+ Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’ becomes the first song to simultaneously reach the Number 1 and Number 2 positions in the UK Singles Chart since 1957 when cover versions by Alexandra Burke and Jeff Buckley hold the top two places in the chart.
+ Leona Lewis has the Number 1 single with ‘Run’.
+ Singer Eartha Kitt dies at the age of 81.
Fresh Produce 2008 Scroll Call
A-Punk – Vampire Weekend
Boom – Zoe & The Buttercups
Colourful Life – Cajun Dance Party
Death To Los Campesinos! – Los Campesinos!
Epic Air Voyage – The Submarines
Far Away – Cut Copy
Going Up The Country – Kitty Daisy & Lewis
Honey Bee – My Federation
I Know A Place – Jay Reatard
Jackie Jackson – Franz Ferdinand
Lights Out – Santogold
Maladies – Windsor For The Derby
Not On Top – Herman Dune
Old White Lincoln – The Gaslight Anthem
Picnic – Young Fresh Fellows
Questions And Answers – Biffy Clyro
Standing Next To Me – The Last Shadow Puppets
That’s What Counts – We Are Scientists
Unsuccessful Club Nights – Cadence Weapon
Vanished (Vinyl Album Version) – Crystal Castles
Would You? – Richard Swift
Wreck My Flow – The Dirtbombs
