Soundtrack hits stores

On this day in 1976, the first officially released set of live Led Zeppelin tracks hit stores. The album, the soundtrack to the film The Song Remains the Same, debuted on the Billboard charts at No. 5 in its first week.

Meanwhile, the group's feature film opened simultaneously in nine cities worldwide. The Song Remains the Same started playing regularly in the strong Led Zeppelin markets of London, San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, Boston, Atlanta, Toronto, New York and Los Angeles.

The following month, the film opened in many other locations around the world, including in 57 additional U.S. cities. Some theaters were packing midnight showings into 1977 and beyond. The film's regular presence in some countries outlasted even the band itself.

This edition of "On This Day In Led Zeppelin History" was published only weeks prior to the re-release of the soundtrack and DVD, both in upgraded form. Part two of this edition, titled "Bring it on back: Thirty-one years later," concentrates on news surrounding those releases and other topics that were current at the time.