Sixteen-year-old Judy Garland recorded “Over the Rainbow” on an MGM soundstage in Beverly Hills for The Wizard of Oz. It became her signature song and remained part of her live performances for the next three decades.

Bandstand began as a weekday program on Philadelphia’s WFIL-TV with Bob Horn as host. Dick Clark took over after Horn’s 1956 dismissal, guided the renamed American Bandstand onto national television, and eventually turned it into a Saturday institution central to rock-and-roll culture.

Houston police arrested Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, and several others backstage at the Music Hall and fined them for gambling. Many believed the raid reflected resistance to newly integrated audiences rather than the stated offense; the musicians nevertheless returned in time to play the second set without the crowd learning what had happened.

RCA had already received 500,000 advance orders for Elvis’ Christmas Album a week before release, although only 200,000 copies had been pressed. Irving Berlin unsuccessfully campaigned against Presley’s blues-influenced “White Christmas”; the album still spent four weeks at No. 1, later sold more than 17 million U.S. copies, and became Presley’s first Diamond-certified LP.

Little Richard entered Billboard’s Top 40 with “Keep A-Knockin’,” driven by Grady Gaines’s forceful saxophone. The single reached No. 8 during a twelve-week run and marked Richard’s seventh pop-chart appearance in two years.

Elvis Presley recorded “Flaming Star” at Radio Recorders in Hollywood for the film of the same name. It reached No. 14 in May 1961 but appeared only on Britain’s Elvis by Request EP rather than as a standalone single.

Capitol released the Beach Boys’ fourth album, Little Deuce Coupe. Featuring a 1932 Ford supplied by Hot Rod magazine on its cover, the LP peaked at No. 4 during 46 weeks on Billboard’s chart and later went Platinum.

The Beatles appeared from London on a taped edition of the American television show Shindig!, performing “I’m a Loser,” “Boys,” and “Kansas City.”

Police stopped soul singer Joe Tex in Baton Rouge and cited him for watching a television mounted in the dashboard of his new Cadillac while driving. The new safety ordinance made him only the second American motorist formally charged with that particular distracted-driving offense.

Scotland Yard arrested Cass Elliot in London over alleged theft of expensive hotel linens. The accusation was quickly dropped, and later accounts indicated that authorities had used it as a pretext to question her about an associate suspected of drug trafficking.

Promoter Sid Bernstein offered the Beatles an unprecedented $1 million to return to Shea Stadium. The group rejected the proposal, choosing to remain focused on studio work after ending live touring the previous year.

The Association’s “Never My Love” peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100. By the end of 1999, BMI counted more than seven million radio performances, making it the century’s second-most-played song behind the Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.”

José Feliciano performed a slow, jazz-and-blues-influenced acoustic “Star-Spangled Banner” before World Series Game 5 in Detroit. The unconventional rendition provoked thousands of complaints and radio blacklisting that damaged his career, though the Tigers later invited him back to standing ovations in 2010 and 2018.

The Youngbloods received Gold certification for “Get Together.” Chet Powers wrote the song after John F. Kennedy’s assassination; earlier versions appeared through the Kingston Trio, We Five, and Jefferson Airplane before the Youngbloods made it a lasting hit.

Motown released “Got to Be There,” launching 13-year-old Michael Jackson’s solo career while he remained in the Jackson 5. The ballad topped Cashbox, reached No. 4 on Billboard, and climbed to No. 5 in Britain.

A federal appeals court overturned John Lennon’s deportation order, ruling that his 1968 British marijuana conviction lacked the procedural safeguards necessary under U.S. law. The majority opinion also rejected selective immigration enforcement shaped by the Nixon administration’s political hostility toward Lennon.

The Rolling Stones hosted and performed on Saturday Night Live’s fourth-season premiere, delivering a rough-edged “Beast of Burden.” The highly visible appearance helped the single reach its No. 8 Hot 100 peak one month later.

Billboard reported that Marvin Gaye had filed for bankruptcy twice during the year with roughly $7 million in debt. A costly divorce requiring royalties from Here, My Dear to go to Anna Gordy, combined with tax liabilities and addiction, helped push him into European exile.

A London court found Jimmy Page guilty of cocaine possession arising from a December 1981 incident outside Swan Song Records. He received a twelve-month conditional discharge and £100 in court costs during a turbulent period following Led Zeppelin’s breakup.

Alanis Morissette became the first Canadian female solo artist to top the Billboard 200 when Jagged Little Pill reached No. 1. The first chart-topping album for Madonna’s Maverick label eventually went 17-times Platinum in America and sold more than 33 million copies worldwide.

Don Henley and Eagles Ltd. sued Florida internet company Lovearth over domains including donhenley.org and e-a-g-l-e-s.com. The federal action sought control of the addresses under trademark and cybersquatting law rather than copyright law.

Boy George was arrested after calling police with a false report of a burglary at his Manhattan apartment, where officers instead discovered more than 3.5 grams of cocaine. Drug charges were later dropped, but he pleaded guilty to falsely reporting an incident and received a fine plus five days of street-cleaning community service.

Davy Jones told the National Enquirer that he would never reunite with the Monkees and sharply criticized his former bandmates, saying personal satisfaction mattered more than money. He reversed course the following year and announced a reunion.

Barbra Streisand earned her ninth Billboard 200 No. 1 with Love Is the Answer, extending her record for the most chart-topping albums by a woman. The record sold 180,000 copies in its first week.

Spotify added John Lennon’s solo catalogue worldwide, including eight studio albums from Plastic Ono Band through Milk and Honey and the official compilations. His collaborative albums with Yoko Ono were excluded.

Gail Zappa, Frank Zappa’s widow and head of the Zappa Family Trust, died from cancer at 70. After her husband’s 1993 death, she supervised dozens of archival releases and tightly controlled licensing of his image and work.