Cliff Richard and the Drifters landed their first British chart-topper as “Living Doll” began a six-week reign atop the UK singles chart. It ended up as 1959’s best-selling single in Britain, moving more than 1.8 million copies. The song only reached number 30 on the American Hot 100, and around this time the backing band renamed themselves the Shadows to avoid clashing with the American group of the same name.

Country star Jim Reeves, famous for his 1960 crossover hit “He’ll Have To Go” (which reached number two), died at 39 when his small plane went down near Nashville. Fellow artists including Chet Atkins and Eddy Arnold took part in the search, and the wreckage wasn’t located until August 2nd. His widow, Mary, spent decades afterward releasing his archived recordings, among them the 1966 UK chart-topper “Distant Drums” — a song that famously kept the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” out of the top spot.

Martha and the Vandellas released “Dancing in the Street,” which would become their signature hit, climbing to number two in the US and number 28 in the UK. Reportedly captured in just two takes, the track was later added to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry on April 12, 2006.

On their first tour of the UK, Sonny and Cher were turned away at the London Hilton over how they were dressed — Sonny in jeans, a white turtleneck, and a shaggy, caveman-style fur vest with matching furry-topped shoes, and Cher in a wide-striped long-sleeve top and bell bottoms. Despite the duo being able to see their own names in the hotel’s register, the front-desk clerk insisted there was no reservation and the hotel was fully booked. The pair spent most of their two weeks in Britain making television and radio appearances instead.

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones appealed the drug convictions handed down by British courts after their February arrest. Richards’ conviction was thrown out entirely, while Jagger’s three-month prison term was reduced to a conditional discharge.

The Beatles recorded the basic tracks for “Hey Jude” on the first day of a two-day London session — a 36-piece orchestra would be layered on the following day.

Elvis Presley kicked off a four-week residency at the International Hotel’s showroom in Las Vegas, earning $1.5 million for the run. The shows were widely praised and effectively launched what became known as his Vegas era.

“Don’t Pull Your Love” by Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds topped the Cashbox Best Sellers chart. Members Dan Hamilton, Joe Frank Carollo, and Tom Reynolds had first tasted success back in 1965 as The T-Bones, whose Top Ten hit “No Matter What Shape” famously soundtracked Alka Seltzer commercials.

James Taylor scored his only number-one single with “You’ve Got a Friend,” written by Carole King. The song went on to win the 1971 Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Male.

Chicago picked up a Gold record for “Chicago V,” their first album to top the Billboard chart. Its single “Saturday in the Park” would climb to number three on the Hot 100 that September and number two on Canada’s RPM chart, though it failed to make an impact in the UK.

George Benson began a two-week run at number one on the Billboard album chart with “Breezin’.” Anchored by the single “This Masquerade,” the LP won Grammys for Best Pop Instrumental Performance and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical, and was nominated for Album of the Year — though it lost to Stevie Wonder’s “Songs in the Key of Life.”

Columbia Records put out Blue Öyster Cult’s “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper,” which would become the band’s biggest hit, eventually reaching number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number seven on the Cashbox chart.

The Starland Vocal Band, who’d topped the charts with “Afternoon Delight” around this time the previous year, launched their own six-week summer replacement television show — which counted a then-unknown David Letterman among its writers and regular guests.

John Phillips, former leader of the Mamas and the Papas, was arrested on drug charges. The following April he was sentenced to eight years in prison and a $15,000 fine, later reduced to 30 days behind bars plus 250 hours of community service delivering anti-drug lectures. At the time, Phillips hadn’t put out new music since 1970’s “John, the Wolfking of L.A.,” an album that peaked at number 181 on the Billboard 200 but did contain his only solo Top 40 hit, “Mississippi.”

The Eagles effectively broke up after Glenn Frey and Don Felder nearly came to blows onstage in Long Beach, California. Tempers had been simmering after Felder’s exchange earlier that day with Senator Alan Cranston. Frey later described the tension: performing “Best of My Love” while both of them privately thought about wanting to kill the other the moment the show ended — the moment, he said, he knew he had to leave the band. Afterward, Felder reportedly smashed a cheap guitar backstage and took off in a limo. The band splintered for the next fourteen years. Frey went on to a strong solo run, placing seven songs on the Billboard Top 40 between 1982 and 1988; Henley matched that with ten charting singles from 1981 to 1992. Felder released the modestly-selling solo album “Airborne” in 1983.

Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” sat at number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Cashbox Best Sellers chart. Commissioned by Sylvester Stallone as the theme for Rocky III, the song earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song and has sold more than five million copies.

John Cougar Mellencamp’s album “Scarecrow” was released through the British label Riva Records. It climbed to number two on Billboard’s Top Pop Albums chart and spun off three Hot 100 singles — “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.” (number two), “Lonely Ol’ Night” (number six), and “Small Town” (number six). The album has since gone 5x Platinum.

Michael Jackson made an unplanned appearance on his London hotel balcony after a 28-year-old man, Eric Herminie, threatened to jump from a building across the street unless he saw the star. Jackson, in Britain for a concert run, waved to him for a couple of minutes before Herminie climbed back inside and was taken into custody.

Jamaica issued a set of postage stamps honoring Bob Marley, who had died of cancer in 1981 at age 36. The series included five individual stamps plus a souvenir sheet featuring various portraits of the reggae icon.

Les Braid, bassist and keyboardist for Merseybeat group The Swinging Blue Jeans, died of cancer at 67. He was central to the band’s 1964 hit “Hippy Hippy Shake,” which reached number two on both the UK Singles Chart and Canada’s CHUM Chart, and number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Former Culture Club frontman Boy George was sentenced to community service picking up litter on New York City streets, after pleading guilty that March to filing a false police report. He’d called in a bogus burglary claim at his lower Manhattan apartment the previous October, and the responding officers discovered cocaine on the premises.

British entertainer Rolf Harris, then 84, sought permission to appeal his conviction for indecent assault. He’d been sentenced on July 4th to five years and nine months for twelve assaults against four girls aged seven to nineteen. His appeal request was denied that October, and he began his sentence at HMP Bullingdon in Oxfordshire before being transferred to HMP Stafford for his own safety. Harris remains best known musically for his 1969 UK number-one single, “Two Little Boys.”

Woodstock 50, planned to mark the 50th anniversary of the original 1969 festival, was officially called off by its organizers just two weeks before it was due to start. In a statement, officials cited “a series of unforeseen setbacks” that made staging the three-day event impossible. The scheduled lineup had included Santana, John Fogerty, John Sebastian, Melanie, The Zombies, Canned Heat, David Crosby, and many others.

A collection of 112 electric and acoustic guitars belonging to Journey co-founder Neal Schon sold for more than $4.2 million through Heritage Auctions. The centerpiece was the 1977 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe in black that Schon played on the band’s chart-topping 1981 album “Escape.”

Paul Cotton, the Poco guitarist who wrote the band’s 1979 hit “Heart of the Night” (which reached number 20), died at 78. He joined the group in 1970 as Jim Messina’s replacement, departed in 1987, then rejoined in the early ’90s and stayed until 2010. Cotton also released five solo albums between 1990 and 2014.