We begin with what is not a music anniversary: Today in 1950, Paul Harvey began his national radio broadcast.

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The number one album today in 1967 was the Monkees’ “Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn and Jones Ltd.,” the group’s fourth million-selling album:

The number one single today in 1978:

Today in 1984, MTV carried the entire 14 minutes of “Thriller” for the first time:

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The number one single today in 1958:

The number one British single today in 1966:

The number one single today in 1973:

Today in 1987, a Kentucky teacher lost her U.S. Supreme Court appeal over her firing for showing Pink Floyd’s movie “The Wall” to her class over its language and sexual content.

The school board that fired the teacher apparently figured that they don’t need her education.

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The number one single today in 1968:

The number one bad single today in 1971 (shut your mouth):

Britain’s number one single today in 1985:

Today in 1997, Danbert Nobacon of Chumbawamba was arrested and jailed overnight in Italy for … wearing a skirt.

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The number one single today in 1969 reached number one because of both sides, including one of the first songs about the singer’s future ex-wife:

The number one album today in 1986 was Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s “Live/1975–85”:

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The number one single today in 1960:

The number one (for the second time) single today in 1963:

The number one single today in 1964:

The number one British single today in 1970:

Today in 1991, Nirvana did perhaps the worst lip-synching effort of all time of its “Smells Like Teen Spirit” for the BBC’s “Top of the Pops”:

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The number one album today in 1965 was Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass’ “Whipped Cream and Other Delights”:

The number one single today in 1966 was this one-hit wonder:

The number one British album today in 1976 was Glen Campbell’s “20 Golden Greats”:

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Today in 1967, the Beatles’ “Hello Goodbye” promotional film (now called a “video”) was shown on CBS-TV’s Ed Sullivan Show. It was not shown in Britain because of a musicians’ union ban on miming:

One death of odd note, today in 1973: John Rostill, former bass player with the Shadows (with which Cliff Richard got his start), was electrocuted in his home recording studio. A newspaper headline read: “Pop musician dies; guitar apparent cause.”

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Today in 1969, John Lennon returned his Member of the Order of the British Empire medal as, in his accompanying note,  “a protest against Britain’s involvement in the Nigeria–Biafra thing, against our support of America in Vietnam and against ‘Cold Turkey’ slipping down the charts.”

The number one single today in 1972 should have been part of my blog about the worst music of all time:

Today in 1976, The Band gave its last performance, commemorated in Martin Scorsese’s film “The Last Waltz”:

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The number one single today in 1968:

The number one single today in 1973:

The number one British single today in 1976:

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