1960Elvis Presley recorded fourteen gospel songs at RCA’s Nashville studio for His Hand in Mine. The album reached No. 14 on Billboard’s pop LP chart and was certified Platinum in 1992.
1961Philles Records issued its first single, the Crystals’ “There’s No Other Love Like My Baby,” which reached No. 20 early the next year. The label name combined owners Phil Spector and Les Sill.
1964Roy Orbison received his first Gold record for “Oh, Pretty Woman,” a chart-topper in ten countries that sold more than seven million copies worldwide.
1965Patty Duke’s “Say Something Funny,” following her No. 8 hit “Don’t Just Stand There,” entered the Top 40 and eventually reached No. 22.
1965The Beatles’ “Yesterday” reclaimed No. 1 on Cashbox after the Toys’ “A Lover’s Concerto” interrupted its run for one week.
1967Brian Jones pleaded guilty to drug charges from his May arrest and received nine months in prison, spending a night at Wormwood Scrubs before bail. An appeals court later replaced the sentence with a £1,000 fine, three years’ probation, and psychiatric treatment.
1968The MC5 recorded live tracks for Kick Out the Jams at Detroit’s Grande Ballroom. Rob Tyner’s explicit title-song introduction caused controversy and was changed to “brothers and sisters” for the radio-friendly single.
1968Spanky and Our Gang guitarist Malcolm Hale died at 27. Initially attributed to pneumonia, his death was later ruled carbon-monoxide poisoning from faulty home heaters; the group had scored five Top 40 hits in 1967–68.
1970Jim Morrison received six months in jail and a $500 fine for alleged indecent exposure at a Miami Doors concert. The appeal remained unresolved at his death, and road manager Vince Treanor later insisted Morrison only teased the audience.
1970Elton John released Tumbleweed Connection. It reached No. 2 in Britain and No. 5 in America, later earning U.S. Gold and Platinum awards and British Silver certification.
1971John Lennon’s Imagine simultaneously topped the British and American album charts, remaining his most successful LP until Double Fantasy rose to No. 1 after his 1980 murder.
1971Pink Floyd released Meddle in America. It reached No. 3 in Britain but, hindered by weak Capitol promotion, only No. 70 in the United States.
1958The Flamingos recorded “I Only Have Eyes for You” at New York’s Bell Sound Studios. It reached No. 11 on the Hot 100 and later ranked No. 158 on Rolling Stone’s 500 greatest songs list.
1960Elvis Presley’s G.I. Blues entered Billboard’s pop album chart, beginning a run that included ten weeks at No. 1 and 111 weeks overall—his career longevity record until ELV1S: 30 #1 Hits surpassed it in the digital era.
1960Seventeen-year-old Fabian’s “Kissin’ and Twistin’” entered the Hot 100 at No. 99 and disappeared the next week, becoming his final chart record. Seven later singles failed, though he continued acting in films and television into the 1990s.
1962Elvis Presley’s eleventh film, Girls! Girls! Girls!, premiered in Honolulu, where it had been filmed. The musical comedy cast him as a poor fisherman who dreamed of owning his boat.
1963Ed Sullivan saw roughly 3,000 screaming fans welcome the Beatles home at Heathrow after a five-date Swedish tour. Witnessing Beatlemania persuaded him to book their three landmark American television appearances in early 1964.
1964The Supremes earned their second Hot 100 No. 1 with “Baby Love,” only four months after fellow Motown performers had mocked them as the “no-hit Supremes.”
1964Gale Garnett’s “We’ll Sing in the Sunshine” topped Cashbox, reached No. 4 on Billboard, and later won the Grammy for Best Folk Recording. “Lovin’ Place” became her only other American chart entry.
1964Customs officers arrested Ray Charles at Boston’s Logan Airport for heroin possession, his third drug case after 1958 and 1961 incidents. After treatment in Los Angeles he avoided prison but served a year of parole in 1966.
1964For the first time since January, the Beatles had no song on the Hot 100, ending a remarkable stretch in which fourteen records appeared through five labels.
1970Michelle Phillips married Dennis Hopper after meeting during The Last Movie. Substance abuse, paranoia, and erratic behavior helped end the union after eight days when she filed for divorce, making it one of rock’s shortest marriages.
1970James Taylor’s Sweet Baby James went Gold as “Fire and Rain” reached No. 3. Its autobiographical lyrics referred to childhood friend Suzanne Schnerr’s suicide and the collapse of his earlier band, the Flying Machine.
1975Queen released “Bohemian Rhapsody,” beginning a nine-week UK No. 1 run; it initially reached No. 9 in America. A 1991 British reissue and its use in Wayne’s World drove the song back to No. 2 on the Hot 100 in 1992.
1894William Donaldson and James H. Hennegan published their first edition of Billboard as "A monthly resume of all that is new, bright and interesting on the boards." The eight page magazine was "devoted to the interests of advertisers, poster printers, bill posters, advertising agents & secretaries of fairs." It later began reporting on circuses, carnivals, vaudeville and…
1955An R&B group called The Famous Flames, led by singer James Brown , cut their first demo of "Please, Please, Please" at radio station WIBB in Macon, Georgia. It would lead to their signing with Nathan King's Federal Records, where they re-cut the song in February, 1956 and watched it climb to #5 on both the Billboard Best R&B Sellers In Stores and Most Played R&B by Jockeys…
1956A Rock 'n' Roll oddity happened when two different versions of the same song, "Cindy, Oh Cindy", climbed to the Top Ten of the Billboard chart. Eddie Fisher's version sat at #10 and proved to be his last Top 40 entry, while the rendition by Vince Martin And The Tarriers climbed to #9 and was the only time they made the list.
1959After cracking the Billboard Top 40 three times while with Atlantic Records, Ray Charles signs with ABC-Paramount, where he would have twenty-four more Billboard hits.
1959For the first time since 1954, Elvis Presley doesn't have a record on any of the Billboard charts. He is currently in Germany serving with the US Army and won't leave active duty until March 5th, 1960.
1964The Dave Clark Five appear on The Ed Sullivan Show singing their newest release, "Anyway You Want It". Sullivan likes them much better than The Rolling Stones, saying that unlike the latter, the DC5 are "nice, neat boys."
1964The Nashville Teens ' rendition of "Tobacco Road" climbed to its peak position of #14 on the Billboard Hot 100. Oddly enough, the band wasn't really from Nashville, they were actually from Weybridge, Surrey, England. Their two vocalists had already aged out of their teenage years.
1965A Rolling Stones ' concert at the Rochester Community War Memorial was canceled by police just seven minutes into the set after thousands of frenzied fans rushed the stage. Rather than waiting for the crowd of 3,500 to restore order, the local police chief pulled the plug due to safety concerns, cutting the performance short after just six songs.
1966Three Elvis Presley albums are certified Gold by the RIAA: his 1956 debut album, "Elvis Presley", "Elvis' Golden Records, Vol. 2" and "Elvis' Golden Records, Vol. 3".
1968George Harrison issued "Wonderwall Music", marking the first solo album by a Beatle and the debut LP for Apple Records. The experimental Indian-Western instrumental soundtrack featured contributions from Ringo Starr and Eric Clapton. Despite failing to chart at all in the United Kingdom, the release achieved moderate commercial traction overseas, peaking at #49 on the Billboard Top LPs…
1969"Suspicious Minds" reaches the top of the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Elvis Presley 's 18th and final US number one scored during his lifetime. Elvis had cut the song in a 4 AM to 7 AM session last January, with the eighth take being the keeper. The song climbed to #2 in the UK, and thirty years later was enshrined into the Grammy Hall Of Fame.
1969The Beatles earned their 13th number-one album in the United States when "Abbey Road" went to the top of the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart. issued just a month prior, the LP would go on to spend eleven weeks at the peak position.
