Billboard reviewed Little Richard’s “Tutti Frutti” as a rapid-fire novelty with nonsense words. Its pounding sound and uninhibited delivery became a model both for his later records and for rock and roll itself.

Sun Records founder Sam Phillips used proceeds from selling Elvis Presley’s contract to launch WHER in Memphis, America’s first all-female radio station. Women presented records and news and sold and produced commercials from a tiny pink-and-purple studio nicknamed the Doll Bin; the call letters lasted until 1972.

Bobby Helms recorded “Jingle Bell Rock.” It entered Billboard’s Top 10 by December, sold more than a million copies, became a Christmas standard, and was later recorded by roughly one hundred artists.

While serving with the U.S. Army, Elvis Presley attended Bill Haley and His Comets’ Stuttgart concert in uniform, then went backstage for photographs and time with the band.

British singer Michael Holliday died from a suspected drug overdose at 38. Despite No. 1 hits “The Story of My Life” and “Starry Eyed,” he privately struggled with severe stage fright and depression.

? and the Mysterians’ “96 Tears” reached No. 1 on Billboard two weeks after topping Cashbox. The singer who guarded his identity as Question Mark was Rudy Martinez of Michigan’s Saginaw Valley.

The Ronettes’ “I Can Hear Music” entered the Hot 100 at No. 100 and disappeared after one week, nearly two years after their last Top 40 hit. The Beach Boys’ 1969 cover later reached No. 24 in America and No. 10 in Britain.

Hair opened off-Broadway at New York’s Public Theater. The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical moved to Broadway in April 1968 for 1,750 performances, while songs from its cast album became major hits and advanced composer Galt MacDermot’s career.

Scepter released B.J. Thomas’s “Hooked on a Feeling.” It entered Billboard in December and reached No. 5 in America but did not chart in Britain.

Neil Diamond received a Gold record for “Cracklin’ Rosie,” his first U.S. No. 1 and third million-selling single.

Duane Allman died just short of his twenty-fifth birthday after losing control of his motorcycle while avoiding a lumber truck in Macon, Georgia. The influential guitarist’s death came as the Allman Brothers Band celebrated the breakthrough success of At Fillmore East.

The Who’s Quadrophenia went Gold in America only three days after release, based on $1 million in wholesale sales. The double album remained on the U.S. chart thirty-four weeks and the British chart eleven weeks.

Apple released John Lennon’s Mind Games. Despite a hostile Rolling Stone review, the album reached No. 9 in America and No. 13 in Britain; its title single reached No. 18 and No. 26 respectively.

Elvis Presley held his final studio session using an RCA mobile unit in Graceland’s Jungle Room. Among the difficult recordings was “Way Down,” his final single released before his death, later No. 18 in America and No. 1 in Britain.

Paul Davis’s “I Go Crazy” entered the Top 40 on its way to No. 7. Davis placed eight songs there from 1974 to 1982, including No. 6 “’65 Love Affair.”

Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon logged its 491st Billboard chart week, surpassing Johnny Mathis’s previous longevity record. By leaving the chart in 1988 it had accumulated a record 741 weeks.

Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers topped America’s pop chart with the Bee Gees composition “Islands in the Stream,” co-produced by Barry Gibb.

Deep Purple released Perfect Strangers, its first studio album in nine years. It included “Knocking at Your Back Door,” which reached No. 61 in America and No. 68 in Britain.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced the Byrds, LaVern Baker, John Lee Hooker, the Impressions, Wilson Pickett, Jimmy Reed, and Ike and Tina Turner for induction at its January 1991 New York banquet.

Paul Anka played himself on The Simpsons, helping Lisa defeat giant advertising mascots by singing the comic acoustic number “Just Don’t Look,” which persuaded Springfield to stop giving them attention.

Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, and John Entwistle reunited the Who for the first time in two years at Las Vegas’s MGM Grand to launch Pixelon. The company promised a mass internet broadcast, but dial-up-era limitations caused widespread streaming failures.

University of Cincinnati researcher James Kellaris proposed that persistent “earworms” act like a cognitive itch relieved by repeating the tune, citing songs such as “YMCA” and “Who Let the Dogs Out.”

Forbes figures put Michael Jackson’s posthumous earnings near $90 million, third behind Yves Saint Laurent and Rodgers and Hammerstein; Elvis Presley ranked fourth at $55 million.

Heatwave lead singer Keith Wilder died in his sleep at 65. The funk group was known for “Boogie Nights,” “Always and Forever,” and “The Groove Line,” all American Top 20 hits.