Two weeks after cracking the Billboard R&B Top Ten, Chuck Berry’s “Maybellene” entered the Top 100 chart at #13, eventually peaking at #5. It’s now regarded as one of the pioneering singles of Rock ’n’ Roll.

Fats Domino’s “I Want to Walk You Home” entered the Billboard singles chart, where it would climb to #8. Despite racking up eighteen million-selling singles over his career, Domino never landed a #1 hit.

Five weeks after entering the Billboard Hot 100, Elvis Presley’s “A Big Hunk Of Love” reached #1. The song had been recorded in four takes on June 10, 1958, during Elvis’s only recording session while serving in the US Army, and the released version was spliced together from takes three and four.

Four members of The Platters — David Lynch, Tony Williams, Alex Hodge, and Paul Rabi — were arrested at the Sheraton Gibson Hotel in Cincinnati. Acting on a tip from a hotel employee, detectives found the men with four 19-year-old women, three of whom were white, and charged the group with aiding and abetting prostitution, lewdness, and assignation. All were acquitted that December, but the incident did serious damage to the group’s career.

14-year-old Helen Shapiro became the youngest female artist to top the UK chart when “You Don’t Know” hit #1. Her first four singles all reached the top three in Britain.

Comedian Allan Sherman released “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadda,” a comedy bit set to music from Ponchielli’s “Dance of the Hours,” which had first appeared on his album “My Son the Nut.” Sherman based the song on his own son’s real experience at a summer camp called Camp Champlain — where the boy desperately wanted to come home, then later begged to go back. The record reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, and in 2020 was added to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

13-year-old Little Stevie Wonder held the #1 song in America with “Fingertips – Pt. 2,” the first live recording to top the Billboard Pop Singles chart since Johnny Standley’s 1952 comic monologue “It’s in the Book.”

With the bubblegum pop craze in full swing, The 1910 Fruitgum Co., a group from Linden, New Jersey, entered the Billboard Top 40 with their second hit, “1, 2, 3 Red Light.” The single climbed to #5 over a thirteen-week run and was certified a million-seller that September.

Guitarist Mason Williams topped the Cashbox chart with his own composition, “Classical Gas.” Williams, then head writer for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, would go on to win three Grammy Awards the following year and, in 1991, receive an RIAA Citation of Achievement for surpassing five million broadcast performances.

Cream’s third album, “Wheels Of Fire,” hit #1 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart. The two-disc set paired a studio record with a live one and climbed to #3 in the UK, while its main single, “White Room,” reached #6 in the US and #28 in the UK.

Jim Morrison’s trial over allegedly exposing himself onstage in Miami began at the Dade County Courthouse. He was found guilty, and Judge Goodman sentenced him to six months of hard labor plus a $500 fine for public exposure, along with sixty days of hard labor for profanity. His lawyer immediately filed an appeal, and Morrison was released on $50,000 bond. He died in Paris on July 3, 1971, before the legal matter was resolved; the Florida Clemency Board granted him a full pardon in December 2010. Members of The Doors’ staff maintained that Morrison never actually exposed himself.

Paul and Linda McCartney, along with Wings drummer Denny Seiwell, were arrested backstage at the Scandinavium Hall in Gothenburg, Sweden for marijuana possession. They were fined the equivalent of $1,800 and released.

Roberta Flack scored her third US #1 with “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” a track she ended up mixing herself after her producer quit midway through her fifth album. In a subtle nod to her situation, she credited herself as producer under the name Rubina Flake.

John Denver’s eighth studio album, “Back Home Again,” spent one week atop the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart. Featuring the hits “Annie’s Song” (US #1, UK #1), “Back Home Again” (US #5), and “Thank God I’m A Country Boy” (US #1), the album went Gold in England and 3x Platinum in America.

Vocal group The Manhattan Transfer began hosting a self-titled summer replacement series on CBS. The variety show ran for four weeks, showcasing the group’s talents; by year’s end they’d score the first of their four Billboard Hot 100 hits, “Operator,” which reached #22.

Elton John kicked off the first of seven sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden in New York, generating $1.25 million in ticket revenue and breaking the record set by The Rolling Stones the year before. He was promoting his current single with Kiki Dee, “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” alongside his live album, “Here and There.”

Sixteen years after its release, Ricky Nelson’s single “Travelin’ Man” was certified Gold by the RIAA for surpassing 500,000 copies sold. Jerry Fuller wrote the song with Sam Cooke in mind, but Cooke’s manager passed on the demo, which eventually made its way to Nelson. His version hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on May 29, 1961, released on Imperial Records as a double A-side with “Hello Mary Lou,” which reached #9 on the same chart; together they peaked at #2 in the UK, Nelson’s biggest British hit. He was backed by Joe Osborn on bass, James Burton on guitar, and The Jordanaires on vocals.

Michael Jackson’s fifth studio album, “Off The Wall,” was released by Epic Records, charting at #3 in America and #5 in Britain on the strength of four Top Ten singles: “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough” (US #1, UK #3), “Rock With You” (US #1, UK #7), “Off the Wall” (US #10, UK #7), and “She’s Out of My Life” (US #10, UK #3). Despite its popularity, the album received only two Grammy nominations, with Jackson winning Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male, for “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough.”

Jimmy Buffett served as master of ceremonies and performed at President Bill Clinton’s birthday celebration at the White House.

Elvis’s daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, married actor Nicolas Cage at a resort in Hawaii. She had previously been married to musician Danny Keough and later to Michael Jackson. Cage filed for divorce just 108 days later, on November 25, 2002, with the split finalized on May 26, 2004 — meaning the divorce proceedings lasted longer than the marriage itself.

63-year-old Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts confirmed he was being treated for throat cancer. He underwent radiotherapy and the cancer went into remission, though the disease would ultimately claim his life on August 24, 2021, at age 80.

Barbara George, an American R&B singer who reached #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1961 with “I Know (You Don’t Love Me No More),” died at age 63. Though two more of her singles charted the following year, she never matched that first hit’s success and had largely stepped away from music by the early 1980s.

Isaac Hayes, the pioneering singer, songwriter, and musician behind the Academy and Grammy-winning “Theme From Shaft,” was found dead at his Memphis home after an apparent stroke, at age 65. Hayes was a key creative force at Stax Records, co-writing iconic hits like “Soul Man” and “Hold On, I’m Comin’.”

The Monkees cancelled their nine remaining tour dates, citing “business issues.” Three of the original members — Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones, and Peter Tork — had reunited for the tour after a decade apart.

71-year-old Neil Diamond received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, dedicated at 1750 N. Vine Street, directly in front of the iconic Capitol Records Building.

Eydie Gormé, the celebrated nightclub and television vocalist, died at Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center at age 84 following a brief, undisclosed illness. While best known for her 1963 hit “Blame It on the Bossa Nova” (#7), Gormé charted six other Hot 100 entries between 1956 and 1964.

Columbia House, the mail-order music club once known for offering eight albums for a dollar, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after nearly two decades of declining sales. Founded in 1955 by CBS’s Columbia Records division, the retailer saw its business steadily eroded first by Napster, then iTunes, Amazon, and Netflix. Longtime rival BMG acquired the company in 2005 and shut down its mail-order operations in 2009.