1958: “Chantilly Lace,” by The Big Bopper entered the Billboard singles chart, where it later peaked at #6 in November.

1958: “Poor Little Fool” by Ricky Nelson was the first #1 song on Billboard Magazine’s brand new Hot 100 chart, a list ranking the popularity and chart movement of single releases.

1960: “Shakin’ All Over” by Johnny Kidd & the Pirates reached the top of UK singles chart. While the song was not a hit outside of Europe, it was later covered by other several other groups with greater success.

1963: The Beatles performed at the Queen’s Theatre in Blackpool, England. Rabid fans blocked every entrance, so the group had to go through a construction area and up through scaffolding to the roof, where they were lowered through a trap door.

1964: “You Really Got Me” by the Kinks was released in the UK. Nearly a month later, as the single was just about to hit the top of the UK chart, the song was issued in the US, where it later became their first top 10 hit, reaching #7. The single’s success established them as one of the top British Invasion acts in the US.

1965: Bob Dylan wrapped up sessions for his sixth studio LP, Highway 61 Revisited, recording “Desolation Row” and “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” at Columbia Records’ studios in New York. The album was later released at the end of the month.

1966: The Troggs accomplished the rare feat of having a #1 hit in both the UK and US with two different songs. In the US, “Wild Thing” was in its first week at the top of the Billboard chart, and in the UK, “With a Girl Like You” became their only British #1.

1966: The Temptations released “Beauty Is Only Skin Deep.” The song was first recorded by The Miracles in 1964, but not released as a single. The Temptations’ version became their fifth #1 on Billboard’s R&B chart and their second top 10 record on the Hot 100.

1967: Small Faces released “Itchycoo Park,” a single that was later included on the band’s American album, There Are But Four Small Faces. It was the band’s first and highest charting song in the US, peaking at #16. Largely written by Ronnie Lane, it was one of the first music recordings to feature flanging.

1967: Peter, Paul & Mary released their seventeenth studio album, Album 1700. It reached #15 on the Billboard chart and produced their final hit single, a cover of John Denver’s “Leaving on a Jet Plane.”

1967: Aretha Franklin released her twelfth studio album and second with Atlantic Records, Aretha Arrives.

1968: Tom Jones rose to the top of the UK album chart for the first time with his sixth studio album, Delilah.

1972: Michael Jackson released his second solo studio album, Ben.

1973: Bob Dylan’s soundtrack to the film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid entered the Billboard pop chart on its way to reaching #16 in October.

1976: The Doobie Brothers released “Wheels of Fortune,” the second single from their sixth studio album, Takin’ It to the Streets.

1979: Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, Nicolette Larson, Little Feat, and others put together a benefit concert at the Los Angeles Forum to pay tribute to the Little Feat founder Lowell George, who had died at the end of June, and to raise money for George’s family.

1979: “Don’t Bring Me Down” by Electric Light Orchestra entered the Billboard Hot 100. It became the group’s fifth American top 10 hit and highest-charting song in the US, reaching #4. It was their second #1 hit in Canada and peaked at #3 in the UK.

1984: Prince and the Revolution started twenty-four weeks at the top of the Billboard pop chart with Purple Rain, his sixth studio album, first #1 in the US, and a worldwide top 10 hit.

2002: Bruce Springsteen’s twelfth studio album, The Rising, debuted at the top of the Billboard chart. It was Springsteen’s first studio album in seven years as well as his first with the E Street Band in eighteen years. First-week sales exceeded 520,000 copies and the album earned a Grammy Award for Best Rock Album the following year.

Birthdays Today

Louis Armstrong, trumpeter, composer, singer, and occasional actor who was one of the most influential figures in jazz, was born in New Orleans, LA in 1901.

Elsbeary Hobbs, bass singer and founding member of The Drifters, was born in 1936.

Frankie Ford, rock and R&B singer best known for his 1959 hit “Sea Cruise,” was born Vincent Francis Guzzo, Jr. in Gretna, LA in 1939.

Larry Knechtel, keyboard player and bassist with Bread and a member of Los Angeles session musician collective known as the Wrecking Crew who worked with renowned artists such as the Mamas and the Papas, the Beach Boys, Elvis Presley, and Duane Eddy, and most notably played piano on such songs as Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and bass on The Doors’ “Light My Fire” among others, was born in Bell, CA in 1940.

Timi Yuro, singer, songwriter, and one of the first blue-eyed soul stylists of the rock era, was born Rosemary Timothy Yuro in Chicago, IL in 1940.

David Carr, keyboardist for the Fortunes, was born in Leyton, Essex, England in 1943.

Klaus Schulze, electronic musician and composer, who was briefly a member of Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, and The Cosmic Jokers before launching a solo career, was born in Berlin, Germany in 1947.

Moya Brennan, folk singer, songwriter, harpist, philanthropist, member of Clannad, and older sister of singers Enya and Brídín Brennan, was born Máire Philomena Ní Bhraonáin in Dublin, Ireland in 1952.

Michael Harris, trumpet player in the Phenix Horns, who were the main horns section for Earth, Wind & Fire, Phil Collins, and Genesis, was born in Chicago, IL in 1953.

Vini Reilly, multi-instrumentalist and leader of the Durutti Column who has recorded with artists including Morrissey, Holly Johnson, John Cooper Clark, and The Wake, was born Vincent Gerrard Reilly in Blackley, Manchester, England in 1953.

Ian Broudie, singer-songwriter, founder of The Lightning Seeds, and record producer for groups including Echo & the Bunnymen, The Fall, The Coral, and The Zutons, was born in Liverpool, England in 1958.

Paul Reynolds, former lead guitarist and backing vocalist for A Flock of Seagulls, was born in Liverpool, England in 1962.