Calendar Search Results: on about
December 26, 1966 Jimi Hendrix writes the lyrics to "Purple Haze" in his dressing room between performances at London's Uppercrust Club. He claims the song is not about drugs, but inspired by a dream where he was surrounded by a purple haze.
December 23, 1966 Eighteen-year-old Olivia Newton-John makes her film debut in the Australian musical comedy Funny Things Happen Down Under, about a group of kids who stumble upon a formula to make rainbow-colored sheep's wool. Olivia has a minor role but sings "Christmas Time Down Under."
December 16, 1966 The first Jimi Hendrix single is released: "Hey Joe." The song is about a guy shoots his "old lady" after catching her cheating.More
December 3, 1966 The Monkees, who are stars thanks to their TV show, play their first concert. About 8,000 screaming fans show up for the performance in Honolulu, confirming their status as real-life superstars.
August 16, 1966 The Monkees release their first single, "Last Train To Clarksville." It's a lighthearted-sounding song with a somber subtext: The lyric is about a guy who gets drafted into the Vietnam War and wonders if he's ever coming home.
June 14, 1966 Deeming its "butcher cover" in poor taste, Capitol Records recalls the new Beatles album, Yesterday and Today, which is scheduled for release the next day and has already been sent to stores.More
June 11, 1966 Donovan becomes the first rock star busted for drugs by the newly vigilant London drug squad.More
March 28, 1966 Cheryl James (aka Salt of Salt-N-Pepa) is born in Brooklyn, New York City. She meets her future rap partner, Sandra "Pepa" Denton, while working at a Sears call center. The pair, along with Deidra "DJ Spinderella" Roper, challenge the male-dominated hip-hop genre with outspoken lyrics that embrace female sexuality in "Let's Talk About Sex" and "None Of Your Business."
March 4, 1966 John Lennon is quoted in the London Evening Standard saying, "Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now." The remark goes mostly unnoticed, but causes a big stink when it is reprinted in a US publication four months later.
February 26, 1966 Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" climbs to #1 in America.More
January 14, 1966 David Jones issues his first recording under the name "David Bowie." Jones changed his last name to Bowie in order to avoid confusion with the Monkees' Davy Jones. The single is called "Can't Help Thinking About Me" and is credited to David Bowie and the Lower Third.
December 9, 1965 A Charlie Brown Christmas makes its debut, airing on CBS in place of The Munsters. The famous score, which becomes synonymous with the Peanuts, is written by the jazz musician Vince Guaraldi and performed by his trio.More
November 26, 1965 After cleaning a church in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where they had Thanksgiving dinner the day before, Arlo Guthrie and a friend clean up the place, but toss the trash down a hill when they can't find an open dump. They are arrested, fined $25 each, and forced to pick up the garbage. When they return to the church, Guthrie writes "Alice's Restaurant Massacree" about the incident, embellishing some details.More
September 1, 1965 James Brown breaks out some sweet dance moves on the TV show Shindig!, where he performs his hit "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag."More
August 15, 1965 The Beatles play Shea Stadium in New York - home of The Mets - marking the first time a rock band headlines a stadium in America. With Beatlemania in full force, the screaming girls drown out the band in a less-than-intimate, but very memorable performance in front of a sold-out crowd of 56,000.More
June 16, 1965 At Columbia Studios in New York City, Bob Dylan finishes recording "Like A Rolling Stone," a song about a socialite who falls from grace. The Hammond organ comes courtesy of Al Kooper, who later forms Blood, Sweat & Tears.
May 22, 1965 Two months before The Beatles' famous concert at Shea Stadium, The Rolling Stones play a much smaller stadium: Ratcliffe Stadium in Fresno, California, with opening act The Byrds. Attendance is about 4,000, a fraction of the 56,000 who see The Beatles at Shea.
January 2, 1965 Elvis Presley's soundtrack LP Roustabout hits #1.
December 27, 1964 The Supremes appear on the Ed Sullivan Show for the first time, singing "Come See About Me." They would go on to appear 20 more times on Sullivan (14 with Diana Ross), more than any other rock act.
December 3, 1964 The animated TV special Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer debuts on CBS, with Burl Ives as the voice of Sam the Snowman. The special is based on the 1949 song, which has become a perennial favorite.More
November 18, 1964 The ABC show Shindig! features The Supremes (who sing "Baby Love" and "Come See About Me") and The Righteous Brothers (who perform "Little Latin Lupe Lu").
October 27, 1964 The Supremes release "Come See About Me."
October 10, 1964 "Leader Of The Pack," a song by the girl group Shangri-Las about a dreamy boy who dies in a motorcycle accident, enters the chart at #86. Despite the bleak subject matter, it rises to #1 at the end of November.
September 5, 1964 British group The Animals hit #1 in America with "The House Of The Rising Sun," a folk song set in New Orleans about either a brothel or a prison.More
August 22, 1964 After three years without a big hit, The Supremes' "Where Did Our Love Go" hits #1 in the US, the first of five consecutive chart-toppers.More
August 11, 1964 With Beatlemania at a fever pitch, the group's first movie, A Hard Day's Night, debuts in America.More
May 26, 1964 Lenny Kravitz is born in Manhattan, New York, to The Jeffersons actress Roxie Roker and TV executive Sy Kravitz. He releases his debut album, Let Love Rule, in 1989.More
March 26, 1964 Barbra Streisand opens on Broadway in Funny Girl, two months after landing her first Top 10 hit with the show's number "People." More
February 26, 1964 Elvis Presley begins filming his sixteenth movie, Roustabout, in Hollywood.
December 7, 1963 The Singing Nun's "Dominique" hits #1 for the first of four weeks.More
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