This Day in ’88: Atlantic Records’ 40th Anniversary

31 years ago today, Atlantic Records celebrated their 40^th anniversary with a concert extravaganza which – although it didn’t play host to every act that called the label home over the course of those four decades – did an outstanding job of pulling together some of their biggest names.

In fact, we don’t even really know what else to offer on this particular event, except to tell you that it took place at Madison Square Garden, it lasted nearly 13 hours, and everybody who performed at the event is listed below, along with the songs that they sang. It’s mindblowing, frankly, and it’s not hyperbole to say that we’ll never see a lineup like that again.

• The Coasters, Yakety Yak
• Crosby, Stills & Nash, Suite: Judy Blue Eyes
• Roberta Flack, Killing Me Softly With His Song
• Phil Collins, In The Air Tonight
• LaVern Baker, Jim Dandy / To Smoke And Drink
• Foreigner, Hot Blooded / Juke Box Hero / Urgent / I Want To Know What Love Is
• Ben E. King. Spanish Harlem / There Goes My Baby / Save The Last Dance For Me
• Average White Band, Pick Up The Pieces
• Ruth Brown, Teardrops From My Eyes
• Debbie Gibson, Staying Together / Foolish Beat / Out Of The Blue / Only In My Dreams / Happy Birthday
• Robert Plant, Heaven Knows / Ship Of Fools / Tall Cool One ~ Custard Pie
• Alan Paul & Tim Hauser, Mack The Knife
• Steve Cropper & Donald Duck Dunn, Last Night
• Carla Thomas, Gee Whiz (Look At his Eyes)
• Paul Rodgers, (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay
• Miki Howard, Try A Little Tenderness
• Paul Shaffer & Carla Thomas, Son Of A Gun
• Sam Moore & Elwood Blues, Everybody Needs Somebody To Love / Soul Man
• Sam Moore, I've Been Loving You Too Long
• Sam Moore, Phil Collins & Elwood Blues, You Don't Know Like I Know / Knock on Wood
• Bob Geldof, You Can't Be Too Strong
• The Spinners, Mighty Love
• Roberta Flack & Peabo Bryson, The Closer I Get to You
• Wilson Pickett, In The Midnight Hour / Land Of 1000 Dances
• The Manhattan Transfer, Birdland
• Genesis, Turn It On Again / Land Of Confusion / Misunderstanding / Throwing It All Away / You Can`t Hurry Love / Shortcut To Somewhere
• Genesis & Mike & The Mechanics, All I Need Is A Miracle
• Genesis, That's All / Tonight Tonight Tonight / Invisible Touch / Turn It On Again (Reprise)
• Crosby, Stills & Nash, Wooden Ships / Our House
• Bee Gees, Lonely Days / Jive Talkin’
• Rascals, Good Lovin' /People Got to Be Free
• Yes, I’ve Seen All Good People / Hold On
• Rufus Thomas, Walking The Dog
• Led Zeppelin, Kashmir / Heartbreaker / Whole Lotta Love / Misty Mountain Hop / Stairway to Heaven