April 1976: America Release TODAY'S THE DAY

It was February 1976 when the band America holed up with legendary Beatles producer George Martin at the Caribou Ranch studio in Colorado to record sixth studio album, Hideaway.

Among the tunes they came up with included emotive mid-tempo tune "Today's the Day," which served as the album's lead single. Released April 28, 1976, the melodic song made a solid chart run, peaking at #23 on the Hot 100 for the week of July 10, 1976. The #1 song in America that week: Starland Vocal Band's "Afternoon Delight."

The harmonious track had a more impressive run on the Adult Contemporary chart, hitting #1 for two weeks in the summer of 1976.

According to America's Dan Peek, who wrote the song, "Today's the Day" inadvertently inspired Rod Stewart to write one of his biggest hits. Peek had invited Stewart over to his home studio, where he shared the music America was tinkering with at the time.

"I played 'Today's the Day,' the song I had been working on," he revealed in his book, An American Band: the America Story. "Rod said that he liked it, and that it gave him an idea for a song. Of course, after his recording of 'Tonight's the Night' came out, I laughed when I remembered what he'd said. I'm sure I probably smacked my forehead and said: 'Why didn't I think of that?'"