Britain’s BBC restricts the airing of Frankie Laine’s "Answer Me" ("Answer Me Lord above") and Lee Lawrence’s "Crying In The Chapel" after religious groups object to the lyrics. Laine’s record would still rise to the top of the UK music chart a week later and stay there for eight weeks in total, while Lawrence’s tune would reach #7.

Elvis Presley made his only commercial when he sang a jingle for Southern Maid Doughnuts on the Louisiana Hayride radio program. Elvis sang "You can get ’em piping hot after four p.m., you can get ’em piping hot. Southern Maid Doughnuts scored the spot, you can get ’em piping hot after four p.m." His reward for making the ad was a box of fresh doughnuts.

Elvis travels to L.A. to begin filming Wild In The Country , in which he portrays a troubled young man from a dysfunctional family who pursues a literary career. When issued in the summer of 1961, the movie under played at the box office, bringing in only $2.5 million dollars after against a production budget of nearly $3 million. It was the only Elvis movie to ever lose money.

Jimmy Dean ‘s "Big, Bad John" becomes the 100th US number one single of the Rock and Roll era. It would prove to be his only chart topper, although he would have another Top Ten record with "P.T. 109" the next year. Jimmy said he wrote the song in an hour and a half while flying to Nashville for a recording session.

During their first promotional visit to the UK, The Beach Boys appear live on TV’s Ready Steady Go! , where they perform "I Get Around" and "When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)".

The Rolling Stones earned their second number-one single in the United States when "Get Off Of My Cloud" rose to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. Written as a follow-up to "(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction", the track staged the peak position for a two-week run after unseating The Beatles’ "Yesterday".

Fontella Bass performs her Billboard #4 scored, "Rescue Me" on the ABC-TV program Shindig! . Also appearing on the show are The Rolling Stones, Billy Joe Royal, The Strangeloves and Jackie Wilson.

With "Good Vibrations" rising up the UK chart, The Beach Boys kick off the first of seven moved out shows at Finsbury Park Astoria in London, England. Over six hundred city buses were adorned with posters announcing their arrival.

The Monkees ‘ $750,000 feature film, Head debuts in New York. Instead of being aimed at their target audience of teeny boppers, the flick contains a dark theme about the manipulation of the group, seemingly pointless walk-on appearances by inappropriate guests, and scenes of Vietnam War atrocities. Reviews are harsh and the picture is a box office disaster. Head ‘s total failure put an end to any studio plans for further films with the band.

Cher scored her first solo US number one scored with "Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves", a song that climbed to #4 in the UK. It was later certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for shipment of one million copies across the United States. It had been four years since she last appeared on the Billboard singles chart with "You Better Sit Down, Kids".

Isaac Hayes’ soundtrack LP "Shaft" hits #1 on the Billboard Top LPs chart. Comprised of mostly instrumental tracks used in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film of the same name, the title song would top the Hot 100 two weeks later. In 2014 the album was added to the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

After a show at Wembley Stadium in London, New York Dolls’ drummer, 21-year-old Billy Murcia, is accidentally suffocated when his girlfriend tries to wake him by forcing him to drink coffee after he passed out from drugs and alcohol. The final gig of their tour, at the Manchester Hardrock, was canceled and the band flew back to New York.

Following a court hearing, music manager Phil Kaufman was fined $300 for orchestrating the theft of singer Gram Parsons’ coffin from Los Angeles International Airport. After intercepting the remains by posing as a mortuary worker, Kaufman transported the body to Joshua Tree National Park and set it ablaze in the desert with gasoline. While the bizarre act drew immense legal scrutiny and forced a theft conviction due to the destruction of the casket, Kaufman maintained that the makeshift cremation fulfilled a solemn death pact to grant his friend’s final wishes.

The Sex Pistols play their first show at St. Martin’s School of Art in London. Organized by bassist Glen Matlock, the performance lasted barely ten minutes as the band blasted through a handful of deafening cover songs using borrowed equipment. The set collapsed into total chaos when the headlining group, Bazooka Joe, unplugged the amplifiers to save their gear from being trashed, triggering a brief physical brawl on stage.

The Steve Miller Band scored their second US number one scored, "Rock’n’ Me". It made #11 in the UK.

Blue Oyster Cult enjoy their biggest scored when "Don’t Fear The Reaper" reaches #12 on the Billboard Hot 100. Dealing with eternal love and the inevitability of death, the song was listed at #397 on Rolling Stone ‘s list of the top 500 songs of all time in 2004.

Boston , the Rock band from the city of the same name, play their hometown for the first time since becoming major stars when they open a two night, moved out stand at the Boston Garden. Over the next nine years they would add four more Billboard Top 40 hits to their catalog, "A Man I’ll Never Be" (#31 in 1979), "Amanda" (#1 in 1986), "We’re Ready" (#9 in 1987) and "Can’tcha Say (You Believe In Me)" (#20 in 1987).

A motion picture called The Rose , starring Bette Midler as a self-destructive 1960s Rock star, (transparently based on Janis Joplin) premieres at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards including Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Frederic Forrest), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Bette Midler, in her screen debut), Best Film Editing , and Best Sound . It did not win in any of those categories, but Bette Midler did win two Golden Globe Awards for her performance.

At London’s Hammersmith Odeon, Paul Simon kicks off a tour of the UK by buying a drink for each member of the audience. The act of generosity would cost Paul around £1,000 ($2,000).

The Oscar-winning song from the movie An Officer and a Gentleman , "Up Where We Belong" by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes, led the US scored parade. Although their contrasting styles complimented each other perfectly, the singers had never met each other until the day they cut the song. The tune moved more than one million copies in the US and was recognized by the Recording Industry Association of America as one of the Songs of the Century.

The first single from Michael Jackson’s "Thriller" album, the Paul McCartney duet "The Girl Is Mine" enters the Billboard Hot 100 at #45. Despite heavy criticism from reviewers who described the tune as "wimpy," "tame," and "a sappy duet," the song would rise to #2 on the chart, #1 on the R&B Singles chart, and #8 on the UK’s Official Chart. It was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on January 13, 1983, for shipments of one million copies.

Marvin Gaye’s first release since leaving Motown Records earlier in the year, "Sexual Healing", becomes his 11th and final #1 on the Billboard R&B chart. The song would reach #3 on the Pop chart and #4 in the UK early next year. It would later be listed at #233 on Rolling Stone’s list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

55-year-old Dickie Goodman, of the novelty team Buchanan And Goodman, passed away of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home in North Carolina. The duo used a technique called "break in", where a mock radio reporter would ask questions that were then answered by short snippets from popular scored records. They enjoyed hits with "The Flying Saucer (Back to Earth)" (US #3 in 1956), "Flying Saucer the 2nd" (US #18 in 1957), and "Santa and the Satellite" (US #32 in 1957).

Meat Loaf had the number one song in the US with "I’d Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)". The record was a commercial success around the globe, reaching number one in twenty-eight countries. It was later certified Platinum in the United States for sales of one million copies.

Queen release their fifteenth studio album, "Made in Heaven", mixing new instrumental work to vocals that Freddie Mercury had cut before his death in 1991. The LP would reach the top of eleven different record charts in Europe, but quit climbing the Billboard 200 at #58.

Don Julian, who led The Larks on their 1964 #7 scored "The Jerk", passed away of pneumonia at the age of 61. Although that song was his only chart success, Julian cut several solo albums for a variety of record labels in the 1970s.

59-year-old British singer and actress Marianne Faithfull said that she has fully recovered from breast cancer and planned to resume her postponed world tour. She would go on to release several more acclaimed studio albums over the following decade and a half, with three of those LPs making the United Kingdom’s national music charts between 2008 and 2018.

Meat Loaf was forced to cancel the remainder of his European tour after developing a cyst on his vocal cords. He remained off the concert stage for over seven months, finally resuming his live performing career on June 27, 2008, when he kicked off his "Casa de Carne" tour in Plymouth, England.

Daryl Hall And John Oates launched a law suit against music publisher Warner / Chappell Music in Manhattan Supreme Court, accusing the company of failing to protect the copyright to their 1982 scored "Maneater" after an unidentified singer had sampled the song in a 2006 recording. The legal action was ultimately settled out of court and the terms were kept confidential.

Over thirty-eight years after his death, Elvis Presley rose to the top of the UK album chart for a 12th time with "If I Can Dream", a collection of Elvis classics featuring orchestral re-workings by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. That feat meant that Elvis has had more UK number one albums than any other male solo artist.

BBC Radio 4 gave The Ronettes’ "I’d Much Rather Be With The Girls" its first air-play in the UK, marking their first release in over fifty years. Originally written in 1964 by Keith Richards and Andrew Loog Oldham as "I’d Much Rather Be With The Boys", Ronnie Spector recently cut the song in New York with her late sister Estelle’s daughter and a cousin singing back-up.

Hugh McDowell, cellist for Electric Light Orchestra during their scored making days, passed away after a long illness at the age of 65. The band placed nineteen songs on the Billboard Hot 100 and twenty-six more on the UK Official Chart between 1972 and 1986.

The Beatles’ company, Apple Corps Limited, showed income of £50,244,899 for the twelve months ending in January. That was the equivalent of £137,657 a day, despite the group having split more than fifty years ago. According to the Daily Mirror newspaper, surviving members Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Ringo Starr, along with John Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono and George Harrison’s widow Olivia, received £6.1 million each. — Home Page — Next Day –>