1955: “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley & His Comets became the first rock and roll recording to hit the top of Billboard’s pop charts was well as charts around the world. The song stayed at #1 in the US for eight weeks.

1956: WFIL in Philadelphia introduced young disc jokey Dick Clark as the new host of the record hop show Bandstand. When the show went national on ABC, it was rechristened American Bandstand.

1958: Johnny Cash followed suit with former Sun Records labelmate Carl Perkins and signed with Columbia Records. Cash remained with Columbia for the next thirty years of his life and released over sixty albums with the label.

1963: Martha and the Vandellas’ second single, “Heat Wave,” was released. By mid-September, the song became their first #1 on the Billboard R&B chart.

1964: The Animals’ rendition of the folk standard “House of the Rising Sun” became the group’s first British #1. Stateside success soon followed, and the record reached the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in early September.

1964: “Good Times” by Sam Cooke was released. Written by songwriting team Hugo & Luigi, it reached #1 on the Cash Box R&B chart and #11 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1965: Sonny and Cher released their debut single, “I Got You Babe,” from their first studio album, Look at Us. In August, the song went to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for three weeks and also topped the Canadian and UK charts.

1965: “It’s the Same Old Song,” the second single from the Four Tops’ second album, Four Tops Second Album, was released.

1968: Both “You’re All I Need to Get By” and “Keep On Lovin’ Me Honey” were released as singles from the second duet album by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, You’re All I Need.

1969: The Beatles began recording “Maxwell’s Silver Hammer” at EMI Studios in London.

1970: After tensions in the group culminated in the brief firing and reinstatement of Stephen Stills, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young broke up after a concert in Bloomington, Minnesota. Although they continued to collaborate in various ways, the band’s members didn’t perform together again until their reunion tour in 1974.

1971: Deep Purple released their fifth studio album, Fireball, in the US ahead of its UK release in September. It became the band’s first of two albums to reach #1 in the UK.

1972: After a short tour of UK universities, Paul McCartney and his new band Wings played the first show of their Wings Over Europe Tour at the Centre Culturel de Châteauvallon in Ollioules, France.

1972: Edgar Winter, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Faces, Humble Pie, the J. Geils Band, and Three Dog Night were among the groups that played at Concert 10 at the at Pocono International Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. The two-day event attracted 200,000 people and despite inclement weather, represented a successful revival of the American summer rock festival.

1974: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young kicked off their reunion tour at the Seattle Center Coliseum. Instigated and directed by promoter Bill Graham, the ambitious 30-date tour had the band perform at baseball and football stadiums across America, with a couple shows in Canada, and a final show at Wembley Stadium in England.

1976: “Suffragette City” by David Bowie was released in the UK as a single after it initially was issued as the B-side of “Starman,” the lead single from his fifth studio album, The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

1977: “Don’t Stop,” the third single from Fleetwood Mac’s eleventh studio album, Rumors, entered the Billboard Hot 100, where it eventually reached #3. On the Cash Box chart, the song went all the way to #1.

1980: Carly Simon released “Jesse,” the lead single from her ninth studio album, Come Upstairs.

1983: The Police started an 8-week run at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with “Every Breath You Take,” the band’s only #1 hit on the chart. The song also spent four weeks at the top of the UK singles chart and won Song of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 26th Grammy Awards the following year.

1985: Sting released “If You Love Somebody Set Them Free,” the first single from his first solo studio album, The Dream of the Blue Turtles.

1986: Billy Joel released The Bridge, his tenth studio album and last with producer Phil Ramone, bassist Doug Stegmeyer, and rhythm guitarist Russell Javors. Guests on the album include Ray Charles and Steve Winwood, who were both major influences on Joel.

1988: Steve Winwood’s fifth solo album, Roll With It, entered the Billboard chart, where it remained for 31 weeks, on its way to becoming his first #1 LP in August. It was also his highest charting album in Britain, where it reached #4.

1995: The Grateful Dead performed their final concert with Jerry Garcia at Soldiers Field in Chicago as the last stop on the band’s summer tour.

Birthdays Today

Norman Pickering, engineer and inventor best known for creating the modern Pickering phonograph cartridge and the Pickering pickup, was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1916.

Alan Dale, pop and rock singer, was born Aldo Sigismondi in Brooklyn, NY in 1925.

Lee Hazlewood, country and pop singer, songwriter, and record producer known for his work with Duane Eddy in the 1950s and Nancy Sinatra in the 1960s, was born Barton Lee Hazelwood in Mannford, OK in 1929.

Keith “Mac” MacLeod, singer-songwriter and musician who played alongside acts including Mick Softley, Maddy Prior, John Renbourn, The Other Side, Argent, and Silverlining, lead power trio Hurdy Gurdy, and was a significant influence on Donovan, was born in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England in 1941.

Donald McPherson, songwriter and member of The Main Ingredient, was born in 1941.

Mitch Mitchell, drummer for The Jimi Hendrix Experience, was born John Graham Mitchell in Ealing, Middlesex, England in 1946.

Gwen Guthrie, soul, R&B, and pop singer-songwriter and pianist who has been a backup singer for Aretha Franklin, Billy Joel, Stevie Wonder, Peter Tosh, and Madonna and wrote songs made famous by Ben E. King, Angela Bofill, and Roberta Flack, was born in Okemah, OK in 1950.

Marc Almond, singer-songwriter, solo artist, and Soft Cell vocalist, was born in Southport, Lancashire, England in 1957.

Jim Kerr, founder and lead singer of Simple Minds, was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1959.

Ronnie Bowman, bluegrass singer, songwriter, solo artist, and member of the Lonesome River Band and Band of Ruhks, was born in Mount Airy, NC in 1961.

Courtney Love, singer, songwriter, actress, and lead singer for Hole, was born in San Francisco, CA in 1964.

Jack White, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, solo artist, and founder of The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather, and Third Man Records, was born John Anthony Gillis in Detroit, MI in 1975.