Calendar Search Results: pop songs
June 16, 1967 The first Monterey International Pop festival begins at the County Fairgrounds in Monterey, California. It's the first of many big Rock festivals, with The Who, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and The Animals among those performing. Many consider it the beginning of the "Summer of Love."More
May 13, 1967 Pop singer Melanie Thornton (of La Bouche) is born in Charleston, South Carolina.
April 17, 1967 Liz Phair is born in New Haven, Connecticut; she is raised by her adoptive parents in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Winnetka, Illinois. She becomes a '90s indie-rock icon with her debut album, Exile In Guyville, a feminist treatment of the Rolling Stones' Exile On Main St.More
February 5, 1967 Pop Stars And Drugs – Facts That Will Shock You screams the headline of the British newspaper News of the World. The article describes LSD parties thrown by The Moody Blues and attended by Pete Townshend, Ginger Baker and other prominent rock stars, and claims that Mick Jagger took Benzedrine tablets and lured girls back to his apartment to smoke hash. Jagger sues for libel, as it was actually Brian Jones with the Benzedrine. The paper responds by staking out Jagger and tipping police to drug activity at Keith Richards' Redlands estate. On February 12, police raid the place, arresting Jagger, Richards and Marianne Faithfull on drug charges.
December 23, 1966 With union rules ending the practice of lip-synching on British TV, the popular show Ready Steady Go! broadcasts its last show with guests, featuring The Who, Mick Jagger and Eric Burdon.
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
November 27, 1966 Mia Farrow is the mystery guest on the popular game show What's My Line?, surprising her new husband Frank Sinatra, who sits blindfolded on the panel. Sinatra was a mystery guest earlier in the night.
September 12, 1966 The Monkees TV show makes its debut, with four actors chosen to portray a pop band based on The Beatles. While The Monkees are a fictional band, they become very real and eventually play on their own recordings instead of studio musicians.More
July 28, 1966 At the Boys Club in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, The Beach Boys perform "God Only Knows" for the first time. In September, it peaks at an underwhelming #39, but slowly swells in stature and is eventually recognized as one of the greatest pop songs ever made.
June 20, 1966 Bob Dylan releases the "thin, wild mercury" sound of Blonde on Blonde, rock's first double album. Minds are blown.More
February 26, 1966 Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" climbs to #1 in America.More
September 21, 1965 The Moody Blues take part in the "Pop From Britain" concert at Royal Albert Hall in London, making their first major performance. They had recently signed with The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein, who got them the gig.
September 16, 1965 The Dean Martin Show makes its debut, with Martin using his hit "Everybody Loves Somebody" as the theme song. The popular variety show runs until 1974 and introduces us to a group of backup dancers called The Golddiggers. Martin coins a new nickname for guest Frank Sinatra when he refers to his pal as "Chairman of the Board."
September 15, 1965 Ford offers factory-installed 8-track tape players in its Mustang, Thunderbird and Lincoln models. This marks the first time 8-track players are widely available, so you can only get the tapes in auto parts stores or Ford dealers. The players have a tendency to chew up the tapes, leading to 8-track roadkill as drivers throw the tangled tapes out their windows.More
July 20, 1965 Bob Dylan releases "Like A Rolling Stone." At 6:13, it's twice as long as the average pop song, but it nonetheless becomes Dylan's first big hit and one of his most popular songs.
July 5, 1965 Motown President Berry Gordy, Jr. appears on the popular TV show To Tell The Truth. The Supremes perform after his identity is revealed.
May 21, 1965 Ten years into the Rock Era, it looks like it's here to stay. Time magazine reports on the rock revival with the cover story, "Rock 'n' Roll: The Sound of the Sixties."More
May 6, 1965 At a hotel in Clearwater, Florida, Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones can't sleep because there's a guitar riff running through his head. He rolls a tape, falls asleep and wakes up the next morning to find he's recorded the riff to "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction."More
May 1, 1965 Spike Jones, known for satirical takes on classics and popular songs, dies at age 53 of emphysema.
January 12, 1965 Rob Zombie is born Robert Cummings in Haverhill, Massachusetts. He works as a production assistant for the popular children's series Pee-Wee's Playhouse before forming the band White Zombie.
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 27, 1964 Disney releases Mary Poppins, a Sherman Brothers musical featuring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. It's the first movie role for Andrews, who is already a Broadway star. Her portrayal of the title character earns her the Academy Award for Best Actress.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
April 25, 1964 Synthpop singer Andy Bell (of Erasure) is born in Dogsthorpe, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England.
January 1, 1964 BBC-TV premieres a new musical variety show entitled Top Of The Pops, kicked off by The Rolling Stones' "I Wanna Be Your Man," followed by lip-synced performances from Dusty Springfield, The Dave Clark Five, The Hollies and The Swinging Blue Jeans.More
November 17, 1963 Headmaster John Weightman of Surrey Grammar School in Guildford, England, bans the popular Beatle "moptop" haircuts, explaining that "this ridiculous style brings out the worst in boys physically. It makes them look like morons."
June 4, 1963 Pop Goes The Beatles debuts on the BBC. the band is a big draw on the network, but this is the first time they get their own show, where they perform, take requests, and crack jokes. They record a rock version of "Pop Goes The Weasel" for the theme song. It lasts 16 episodes.
May 17, 1963 The very first Monterey Folk Festival begins at the Monterey Fairgrounds in California. Over the weekend, Bob Dylan makes his first West Coast performance, Jerry Garcia's band wins an amateur competition, and Janis Joplin draws a crowd on the second stage.More
April 18, 1963 After a Beatles performance at Royal Albert Hall in London for the radio show Swingin' Sound '63, Paul McCartney meets the actress Jane Asher. They become one of the most popular couples in England and get engaged, but they never marry and split up in 1968. This relationship inspires several Beatles songs, including "All My Loving" and "I'm Looking Through You."
October 31, 1962 The "Monster Mash" rules the airwaves, becoming the most popular Halloween song of all time.More
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