1956 : Elvis Presley’s double sided hit ‘Don’t Be Cruel / Hound Dog was released. The single went to No.1 on the US chart, where it stayed for 11 weeks – a record that would not be broken until 1992’s Boyz II Men hit ‘End of the Road’.

1956 : Richard Goodman and Bull Buchanan, recording as Buchanan and Goodman, enter the charts with “Flying Saucer,” which is the first song to use what’s called the “Break In” technique, dropping in bits of other hit songs throughout. The song would eventually peak at #3.

1958 : Elvis Presley’s “Hard Headed Woman” is certified gold

1962 : Neil Sedaka started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with ‘Breaking Up Is Hard To Do’, his first US No.1 as an artist. It reached No.7 on the UK chart.

1963 : The Kingston Trio appear as the celebrity “mystery guests” on CBS-TV’s What’s My Line?.

1964, The Beatles started recording their fourth album (‘Beatles For Sale’, not yet titled), at EMI studios in London, England.

1964 : Recorded on this day, The Beatles – “Baby’s In Black”

1964 : The Beatles’ first film, A Hard Day’s Night, has its US premiere in New York City.

1964 : The High Numbers, (later to become The Who), played at The Railway Hotel in Harrow, England. Just before the band were due on stage, Roger Daltrey’s father-in law came into the venue and dragged the singer outside and hit him. The band started their set and Daltrey appeared back on stage after the fight.

1966 : At a press conference held at The Astor Towers Hotel in Chicago, John Lennon apologized for his remarks that The Beatles were ‘more popular than Jesus’. Lennon told reporters “Look, I wasn’t saying The Beatles are better than God or Jesus, I said ‘Beatles’ because it’s easy for me to talk about The Beatles. I could have said ‘TV’ or ‘Cinema’, ‘Motorcars’ or anything popular and would have got away with it’’.

1967 : The Small Faces, The Move, Marmalade, Paul Jones, Pink Floyd, Amen Corner, Donovan, Zoot Money, Cream, Jeff Beck, John Mayall, Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac and The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown all appeared at this years UK Reading festival. An advance 3 day ticket cost £2. Arthur Brown’s trademark flaming helmet burnt out of control and organizer Harold Pendleton’s father-in-law had to douse the flames with a pint of beer.

1969 : Diana Ross holds a party for 350 at Beverly Hills’ Daisy Club to announce her discovery of the singing group The Jackson 5 — even though Gladys Knight actually recommended them to Motown head Berry Gordy. That night, the group gains even more exposure by performing at the first Miss Black America pageant.

1972 : The mayor of San Antonio, TX, declares today “Cheech and Chong Day” after the popular comedy duo, although neither was born anywhere near the city.

1973 : Rather than join Paul McCartney in traveling to Nigeria to record the band’s latest album, Band On The Run, Henry McCullough and Denny Seiwell both quit Wings, forcing Paul, wife Linda, and Denny Laine to record the album as a trio.

1976 : Keith Moon trashes a hotel room – no surprise there. But this time The Who drummer is hospitalized after beating up his room at the Fountainbleau Hotel in Miami.

1979 : The Knack started a five-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘Get The Knack’.

1979 : Led Zeppelin played their last ever UK show when they appeared at Knebworth House, England. The set list included: The Song Remains The Same, Celebration Day, Black Dog, Nobody’s Fault But Mine, Over The Hills And Far Away, Misty Mountain Hop, Since I’ve Been Loving You, No Quarter, Hot Dog, The Rain Song, White Summer/Black Mountainside, Kashmir, Trampled Under Foot, Sick Again, Achilles’ Last Stand, In The Evening, Stairway To Heaven, Rock And Roll, Whole Lotta Love and Communication Breakdown.

1980 : Johnny Cash sings a duet of “Jackson” with Miss Piggy on The Muppet Show. He deeply offends Rowlf the dog with his song “Dirty Old Egg-Sucking Dog.”

1984 : Ray Parker JR. started a three week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with the theme from the film ‘Ghostbusters’. Parker who had been a session guitarist for Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye was accused of plagiarizing the melody from Huey Lewis and the News song ‘I Want a New Drug’, resulting in Lewis suing Parker, the pair settled out of court in 1985.

1986 : The Monkees, who are on a reunion tour, have an amazing 6 albums on the Billboard 200. The highest is The Monkeees at #92.

1987 : Rolling Stone magazine declares The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band the best album of the last twenty years.

1989 : Bruce Springsteen joins Ringo Starr onstage at a concert in New Jersey, where they perform Get Back, Long Tall Sally, Photograph and With A Little Help From My Friends.

1992 : The vast Mall of America opens in Bloomington, MN with Ray Charles on hand to sing his famous version of America The Beautiful.

1997 : Sonny West, Red West, Lamar Fike and Marty Lacker, four of the biggest members of Elvis’ “Memphis Mafia,” recall the King in a one-time-only webchat.

1999 : Kiss arrived on Hollywood Boulevard to unveil their star on The Walk Of Fame. The band had released over 30 albums and sold over 80 million records world-wide.

1999 : Four music festivals took place in Cornwall, England for the full solar eclipse. James, The Levellers, Van Morrison, Kula Shaker and the Happy Mondays were all appearing at various events.

2001 : Black Sabbath, Linkin Park, Slipknot and Marilyn Manson all appeared at the Ozzfest at PNC Bank Arts Centre, New Jersey.

2002 : Bruce Springsteen started a two week run at No.1 on the US album chart with ‘The Rising’, the singers fifth US No.1. Also No.1 in the UK.

2008 : Karl Wiosna from Graig, near Pontypridd in Wales had his stereo equipment and music collection destroyed after being served with a noise abatement notice, which he later admitted breaching. Environmental health officers were alerted by neighbor who complained about the unacceptable volume Wiosna was playing his Cher and U2 records. Two tape and record decks, a radio and CD’s were seized and destroyed by the council, he was also fined £265.