Today in 1955, Elvis Presley made his TV debut, on “Louisiana Hayride” on KWKH-TV in Shreveport, La.
The number one album today in 1966 was Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass’ “Going Places”:
The number one single today in 1966:
The Grammy Awards premiered today in 1959. The Record of the Year came from a TV series:
Today in 1966, John Lennon demonstrated the ability to get publicity, if not positive publicity, when the London Evening Standard printed a story in which Lennon said:
Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue with that; I’m right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first — rock and roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right, but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It’s them twisting it that ruins it for me.
Lennon’s comment prompted Bible Belt protests, including burning Beatles records. Of course, as the band pointed out, to burn Beatles records requires purchasing them first.
The number one single today in 1967:
Today in 1973, Pink Floyd began its 19-date North American tour at the Dane County Coliseum in Madison.
Today in 1966, Neil Young, Stephen Stills and Richie Furay formed the Buffalo Springfield.
The number one British single today in 1967:
Today in 1971, the South African Broadcasting Corp. lifted its ban on broadcasting the Beatles.
Perhaps SABC felt safe given that the Beatles had broken up one year earlier. (SABC was South Africa’s radio broadcaster, by the way. TV didn’t get to South Africa until 1976.)
The number one British single today in 1961:
The number one single today in 1963:
Today in 1964, the Beatles began filming “A Hard Day’s Night,” and George Harrison met Patti Boyd, who had one line in the movie.
Boyd later would become the subject of an Eric Clapton song (in fast and slow versions), and then Clapton’s wife, and then Clapton’s ex-wife, while inspiring enough songs, between Harrison and Clapton, for an entire album.
The number one single today in 1970 was also the number one single of 1970:
The number one single today in 1976 is the first record I ever purchased, for $1.03 at a Madison drugstore just before it left the WISM radio top 40 list:
Today in 1977, a member of the audience at a Ray Charles concert tried to strangle him with a rope.
The number one single today in 1981:
Birthdays today start with Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones:
Joe South:
Donnie Iris of the Jaggerz:
Ronnie Rosman of Tommy James and the Shondells:
Cindy Wilson of the B-52s:
Ian Stanley played keyboards for Tears for Fears:
Phil Gould of Level 42:
Four deaths of note today: Frankie Lymon in 1968 …
… one-hit-wonder Bobby Bloom in 1974 …
… David Byron of Uriah Heep in 1985 …
… and drummer George Allen “Buddy” Miles, who had the good taste to record with two of the greatest rock guitarists of all time on the same song, in 2008:
The number one single today in 1961:
The number one British single today in 1964 was sung by a 21-year-old former hairdresser and cloak room attendant:
That day, the Rolling Stones made their second appearance on BBC-TV’s “Top of the Pops”:
Today in 1955, Billboard magazine reported that sales of 45-rpm singles …
… had exceeded sales of 78-rpm singles for the first time.
The number one single today in 1966:
The number one album today in 1966 was the Beatles’ “Rubber Soul”:
The number one country and western single today in 1956 was the singer’s number one number one:
The number one British album today in 1984 was the Thompson Twins’ “Into the Gap”:
The number one single today in 1984 was adapted by WGN-TV for its Chicago Cubs games …
… a good choice given that the Cubs that season decided to play like an actual baseball team:
The number one single today in 1973:
Today in 1976, the Eagles’ “Their Greatest Hits” became the first platinum album, exceeding 1 million sales:
Today in 2000, Carlos Santana won eight Grammy Awards for “Supernatural”:
Steve Prestegard.com: The Presteblog 