The Brooklyn Bridge’s debut disc, “Worst That Could Happen” peaked at #3. The lead singer was Johnny Maestro, formerly of The Crests, while the backup vocals were done by former members of The Del-Satins, the un-credited group on Dion’s 11 hits from “Runaround Sue” thru “Come Go With Me” (1961-1963).
The quintessential party record “Louis, Louis” by The Kingsmen was declared pornographic by the Governor of Indiana, but an FCC investigation concluded, “the record to be unintelligible at any speed we played it”.
Top Singles:
“Where Or When” Dion & The Belmonts #4 1960
“Rum & Coca Cola” The Andrews Sisters #1 1945
Birthdays:
Bob Shane (The Kingston Trio) 1934
Tommy Duffy (The Echoes) 1944
The Coasters signed with Atco Records and went on to have 19 hits in 15 years.
Top Single:
“Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” The Platters #1 1959
The Collegians Doo Wop classic, “Zoom, Zoom, Zoom” was issued.
“This day the music died”. Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson) died in a plane crash after their last tour date in Clear Lake, Iowa.
Top Singles:
“Baby It’s You” The Shirelles #8 1962
“Green Tambourine” The Lemon Pipers #1 1968
Birthdays:
David Lerchey (The Dell-Vikings) 1937
Charlie James (The Cleftones) 1939
Angelo D’Aleo (The Belmonts) 1940
Dennis Edwards (The Temptations) 1943
The Drifters recorded “Honey Love” (#1 R&B, #21 Pop), their first single at Fulton Recording Studio in N.Y.C. along with their legendary versions of “White Christmas”, “Bells Of St. Mary’s” and the forerunner of “The Twist” “Whatcha Gonna Do” (#2 R&B).
Gene Pitney’s first British tour opened with an appearance on ITV’s “Thank You Lucky Stars”.
Top Singles:
“Speedo” The Cadillacs #4 R&B 1956
“Stayin’ Alive” The Bee Gees #1 1978
Birthdays:
Bernie West (The Five Keys) 1930
John Gambale (The Classics) 1942
Florence LaRue (The 5th Dimension) 1944
The McGuire Sisters fourth single “Pine Tree, Pine For Me” was released becoming their first charter.
Top Single:
Earth Angel” The Penguins #8 1955
Birthday:
Cory Wells (Three Dog Night) 1942
Little Anthony & The Imperials classic “Hurt So Bad” charted en route to #10.
Marvin Gaye’s critically acclaimed “What’s Goin’ On” Was released. It reached #2 Pop and #1 R&B.
Top Singles:
“You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’”
The Righteous Brothers and The Ronettes #1 1965
The Buccaneers “Dear Ruth” was issued by two students working out of a storefront in Philadelphia.
The Beatles first U.S. visit started in New York.
Top Singles:
“Walking In The Rain” Jay & The Americans #19 1970
“50 Ways To Leave Your Lover” Paul Simon #1 1976
Birthday:
Harvey Herskowitz (The Quotations) 1943
The Beach Boys (with Jaguars member Val Poliuto in for Al Jardine) recorded six demo’s including what would become the basic tracks and vocals for their first two singles “Surfin’” and “Surfin’ Safari”.
Peter & Gordon (of “World Without Love” fame) broke up. Peter Ashers went on to manage Linda Ronstadt among others.
Top Singles:
“I Started A Joke” The Bee Gees #6 1969
“Teen Angel” Mark Dinning #1 1960
The Beatles first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
Top Single:
“Hey Paula” Paul & Paula #1 1963
The Chesters debut “The Fires Burn No More” was released. The group went on to become Little Anthony & The Imperials.
After composing the song “The Night The Lights Went Out in Georgia” Bobby Russell offered the tune to Cher, who turned it down. Russell then gave it to his wife Vickie Lawrence who had the #1 hit.
Top Singles:
“Do Something For Me” The Dominoes #6 R&B 1951
“Don’t” Elvis Presley #1 1958
Birthdays:
Jimmy Merchant (Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers) 1940
Nathaniel Mayer (The Fabulous Twilights) 1944
The first Rock & Roll stage show in the Bronx, New York was held at the Opera House Movie Theater featuring The Cadillacs, The Heartbeats, The Valentines and The Bonnie Sisters.
The Beatles played their first U.S. concert at Washington D.C.’s Washington Coliseum along with The Chiffons and Tommy Roe. 8,600 people attended but barely a word was heard from the mop tops who couldn’t compete with the avalanche of teen screams.
Top Singles:
“Adorable/Steamboat” The Drifters #5 R&B 1956
“Kharma Chameleon” Culture Club #1 1984
Birthday John Mills (The Mills Brothers) 1889
The Coasters recorded their 2-sided hit “Searchin’” (#3 Pop, #1 R&B) and “Youngblood” (#8 Pop, #1 R&B) at Hollywood Records in Los Angeles.
Top Single:
“Sincerely” The McGuire Sisters #1 1955
Birthdays:
Gene McDaniels (The Sultans, The Admirals) 1935
Cynthia Philips (Wilson Phillips) 1968
Michael McDonald (The Doobie Brothers) 1954
The Skylines performed their first single “Since I Don’t Have You” on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. Three days later orders for 100,000 copies came in.
Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side Of The Moon” L.P. became rocks longest-running album at 402 weeks. It went on for another 158 weeks (560 total)
Top Singles:
“My Girl” The Temptations #5 1965
“You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” The Righteous Brothers #1 1965
Birthdays:
Gene Ames (The Ames Brothers) 1925
Dorothy McGuire (The McGuire Sisters) 1930
Al Silver started Herald Records which became one of the premier vocal group outlets
of the ’50s with recordings by the Mello-Kings and Nutmegs.
The Platters sued their label, Mercury records, after amassing 32 hits because the label refused to issue singles not sung by lead Tony Williams who left the group in 1960. As the debate raged Mercury released 12 more 45’s through 1964, all old previously recorded material.
Top Singles:
“Love Machine” The Miracles #8 1976
“Celebration” Kool & The Gang” #1 1981
Birthday:
Phyllis McGuire (The McGuire Sisters) 1931
The Marcels recorded seven songs for their first legendary L.P. including “Most Of All”, “Sunday Kind Of Love”, “Peace Of Mind” and the international Doo Wop hit “Blue Moon”.
Joe Turner recorded the classic “Shake, Rattle & Roll” six months before Bill Haley’s hit version.
Top Singles:
“Worst That Could Happen” The Brooklyn Bridge #5 1969
“Everyday People” Sly & The Family Stone #1 1969
The Crystals embarked on a British tour backed by Manfred Mann.
Top Single: :
“Stagger Lee” Loyd Price #1 1959
The Beach Boys first single “Surfin’” hit the national charts reaching #75.
Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little 16” charted on its way to #2.
Top Single:
“Duke Of Earl” Gene Chandler & The Dukays #1 1962
Birthdays:
Orville “Hoppy” Jones (The Ink Spots) 1905
Mickey McGill (The Dells) 1937
The Mills Brothers recorded what would become their biggest hit “Paper Doll”. Released in May it took 14 months to reach #1, but when it did it stayed there for 12 weeks selling 6 million copies.
Bill Haley & The Comets album “Rock Around The Clock” became the first Rock & Roll L.P. to make the Pop album charts.
Top Singles:
“It’s Almost Tomorrow” The Dream Weavers #10 1956
“The Great Pretender” The Platters #1 1956
Birthday:
Herman Santiago (Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers) 1941
Three Dog Night’s “Never Been To Spain” became their 8th Top 10 record when it peaked at #5 today
Top Single:
“Shop Around” The Miracles #1 R&B 1961
Birthdays:
Bob Engemann (The Lettermen) 1936
William McClain (The Cleftones) 1938
Smokey Robinson (The Miracles) 1940
Bobby Rogers (The Miracles) 1940
Detroit’s Riviera Theater hosted a show featuring Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers, The Five Keys, The Jewels and The Bonnie Sisters who had just charted with “Cry Baby”. The trio were not sisters but were nurses at New York’s Bellevue Hospital.
Involved in a five-car crash on the #10 freeway in Los Angeles Barry Manilow signed autographs for police and fan while waiting for his Range Rover to be towed.
Top Singles:
“The Boy From New York City” The Ad Libs #10 1965
“This Diamond Ring” Gary Lewis & The Playboys
Birthdays:
Manny Chaves (The Jaguars) 1937
Barbara Ellis (The Fleetwoods) 1940
The 5th Dimension’s 14th top 100 singe and first Bell Records “The Declaration” charted.
Aretha Franklin charted in a duet with George Michael on “I Knew You Were Waiting”. It was her first #1 in 20 years.
Top Singles:
“The Psychedelic Shack” The Temptations #8 1970
“9 to 5” Dolly Parton #1 1981
The Clovers recorded “Don’t You Know I Love You” their first of 21 R&B hits over the next 9 years. Written by Atlantic Prexy Ahmet Ertegun, he recorded the song demo by singing into a Times Square recording booth microphone as Ertegun could neither play an instrument or write music.
Florence Ballard, the original lead singer of The Supremes,
died of a heart attack nine years after being forced out of the trio.
Top Singles:
“What Kind Of Fool” The Tams #9 1964
“Theme From A Summer Place” Percy Faith #1 1960
Birthdays:
Bobby Hendricks (The Drifters)
1938 Robert Edwards (The Intruders) 1942
The Chiffons mega-hit “He’s So Fine” was the first vocal group #1 in rock history to be produced by another vocal group, The Tokens of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” fame.
Top Single:
“The Way We Were” Barbara Streisand #1 1974
The Aquatones debut single “You” was released.
After seeing them perform at London’s Saville Theatre, British manager Robert Stigwood signed the new group who called themselves The Bee Gees.
Top Singles:
“Love Train” The O’Jays # 1 R&B 1971
“Get A Job” The Silhouettes #1 1957
The Coasters “Down In Mexico” (#8 R&B) and
The Willows “Church Bells May Ring” (#62 Pop, #11 R&B) were released.
Filming started on “Eight Arms To Hold You” the second Beatles film.
Soon after the title was changed to “Help”.
Top Singles:
“That’s What Friends Are For” Dionne & Friends #1 1985
“There I’ve Said It Again” Bobby Vinton 31 1964
Birthday: Etta James (Peaches)
The Coasters recorded their 13th hit “Wake Me, Shake Me” (#51 Pop, #14 R&B) in New York City. Thirty years later to the day cornel Gunter of The Coasters was shot and killed while in his car in Las Vegas. He was scheduled to perform at the Lucky Lady Hotel that night,
Top Single:
“My World Is Empty Without You” The Supremes #5 1966
Birthdays:
Chuck Harris (The Playmates) 1930
Don Ciccone (The Critters) 1946
The Moonglows magical “Secret Love” and The Royals classic “Work With Me Annie” were issued. The Royals went on to become Hank Ballard & The Midnighters.
The 7 inch single took the lead in sales for the first time over the 78 RPM single. The 45 as it was called was introduced in 1949.
Top Single:
“There’s A Moon Out Tonight” The Capris #3 1961
“Pony Time” Chubby Checker #1 1961
The Carolinas recorded their classic “Let It Please Be You”.
Top Single:
“This Magic Moment” The Drifters #12 R&B 1960
Birthday:
Marty Sanders (Jay & The Americans) 1941