Music History

Billboard magazine published an article about Elvis Presley, describing him as a new singer capable of delivering rock songs to both country and R&B audiences.

Billboard reported that independent record companies continued their unprecedented growth, earning approximately $20 million combined in the previous year and beginning to challenge the dominance of the major corporations known as the “Big Seven”.

Elvis Presley appeared on the cover of TV Guide for the first time.

Chicago radio station WAIT began a 12-hour marathon of Elvis recordings at 7 a.m., repeatedly broadcasting 33 of his songs. Listeners called the station, and some postponed dentist appointments, laundry, hanging clothes, or even work because of the broadcast. The mother of a six-month-old child said that her otherwise restless baby peacefully fell asleep while listening to Elvis sing.

After traveling by train from Portland to Los Angeles, Elvis Presley checked into the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. On the same day, The Oregonian published a review of his concert, while the Vancouver Sun published articles about his performance and hairstyle.

During an official U.S. Army press conference at Ray Kaserne barracks in Friedberg, West Germany, 23-year-old Elvis Presley was asked by reporters whether he feared that fans would forget him during his two-year military service. Presley admitted that it was possible but said that he had already achieved success. Meanwhile, his management arranged for pre-recorded singles to be released regularly, keeping him on the charts during his service.

Billboard magazine published an article about the vocal group The Teddy Bears, noting that 18-year-old Phil Spector, writer and arranger of their hit “To Know Him Is to Love Him,” was studying to become a court stenographer. The same issue featured the Best Sellers in Stores chart for the last time, as retail sales data had been incorporated into the new Hot 100 chart.

The Kingston Trio appeared on the cover of Life magazine under the headline “Top Sellers in Albums.” At the time, they had three million-selling LPs: “The Kingston Trio,” “At Large,” and “...from the Hungry i.”

Billboard published the headline „Rock and Roll Ain't Ready For The Ol' Rockin' Chair Yet“ and reported that after an earlier decline in popularity, rock'n'roll was once again gaining listeners' interest thanks to Elvis Presley, Lloyd Price, Fats Domino, The Everly Brothers, The Drifters and Ricky Nelson.

Elvis Presley was photographed by Don Cravens at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel for Life magazine.

Aretha Franklin made her first appearance on the television program “American Bandstand” on August 2, 1962, performing “Don't Cry Baby” and “Try a Little Tenderness.”

The BBC broadcast the documentary “Follow the Beatles,” which featured the group during the filming of “A Hard Day's Night.”

The Beatles arrived in San Francisco to begin their first US tour and were welcomed by 9,000 fans. Because of the crowd, they were taken into a protected area so photographers could photograph them; however, fans pushed against the barrier and The Beatles narrowly escaped before it collapsed.

The Beatles appeared on the cover of LIFE magazine.

Billboard reported that guitar sales in the US and UK had risen sharply as a result of the British Invasion. Sales during the first half of the year were 40% higher than during the same period in 1963, while sales of more expensive models increased by more than 80%. The magazine also reported that guitar sales had reached their highest level since the rise of Elvis Presley.

The controversy over John Lennon’s remark that The Beatles were “more popular than Jesus Christ” spread throughout the United States. Several radio stations began boycotting the group’s music, followed by protests and record burnings.

The Beatles' manager Brian Epstein interrupted his vacation and flew to New York for a television press conference defending John Lennon over his remark that The Beatles were “bigger than Jesus.” He said Lennon's comment had been taken out of context and that Lennon had not intended to boast about the band's fame.

In response to John Lennon's remark that The Beatles were bigger than Jesus Christ, the South African Broadcasting Corporation banned all Beatles recordings from radio broadcasts. Sales of their records in stores remained permitted, and the ban lasted nearly five years.

John Lennon apologized at a press conference at the Astor Towers Hotel in Chicago for his remark that The Beatles were “more popular than Jesus.” The remark was originally published by the London Evening Standard. Lennon explained that he was talking about the intense obsession of fans with the group and that he could have mentioned television, cinema or automobiles instead—anything popular. His remark sparked protests, bans and Beatles record burnings in the US, especially among some Christian communities.

At a press conference in Chicago, John Lennon explained his controversial remark that The Beatles were “more popular than Jesus” and clarified that he had intended to describe the group’s influence on young people in England at the time.

KLUE-AM radio station in Longview, Texas, held a “Beatles Bonfire” event at which Beatles records and other items were destroyed in response to John Lennon's controversial statement that The Beatles were “more popular than Jesus Christ”. The following morning, lightning struck the station's transmission tower, interrupting the broadcast and knocking the news director unconscious.

The London Catholic newspaper The Catholic Herald published an editorial calling John Lennon's recent statement that the group was “bigger than Jesus” generally accurate but “arrogant”. Meanwhile, the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano accepted Lennon's public apology.

The BBC Radio 1 program “Top Gear”, hosted by John Peel and Pete Drummond, was broadcast for the first time. The first episode featured The Move, Traffic, Pink Floyd, Tim Rose, and Tomorrow with Keith West.

American magazine Eye published the lyrics to three Pete Townshend songs: “Party Piece from Rael”, a song from the unfinished rock opera that led to “Rael” from The Who Sell Out; “Joker James”, later recorded for the Quadrophenia soundtrack; and “Join My Gang”.

The Beatles took the photograph for the “Abbey Road” album cover at the crossing outside the Abbey Road studios in London. Photographer Iain MacMillan took six shots, and the entire photo session lasted less than ten minutes. The photograph later became one of the most famous images in music history and also fueled speculation about Paul McCartney's alleged death.

Charles Manson later cited The Beatles as an inspiration for his murder spree, which became one of the darkest chapters associated with the band’s history.

The Beatles had their final professional group photo session at John Lennon's Tittenhurst Park estate.

Janis Joplin made her final television appearance.

New Musical Express published Roger Daltrey’s response to Pete Townshend’s interview of May 31. Daltrey responded sharply to Townshend’s comments about The Who and their performances.

It was reported that Bob Dylan’s bootleg album Great White Wonder had sold more than 350,000 copies worldwide.

The head of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a statement in response to Vice President Spiro Agnew's complaint that radio stations were broadcasting too many songs about drugs. He stated that songwriters were trying to help society understand and deal with its problems, rather than promote the distribution of heroin.

The Eagles, Jim Croce, and Ike & Tina Turner appeared on ABC’s “In Concert” at UCLA in Westwood, California.

Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones was quoted as saying that he had stopped using drugs after a doctor told him he had six months to live.

Steve Anderson set a record for guitar playing. At the age of 22, he played for 114 hours and 7 minutes, beating the previous record by more than four hours.

The Sex Pistols se poprvé objevili na titulní straně britského hudebního týdeníku Melody Maker.

The Beach Boys became the first rock group to appear on the cover of People magazine. The photograph showed the five original members with beards and was accompanied by the headline “Still Riding The Crest, 15 Hairy Years Later.” Solo artists had appeared on the magazine's cover before.

Steven Tyler of Aerosmith appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. The photograph was taken by Annie Leibovitz, who found him tired and exhausted after only two hours of sleep. She arrived at his hotel at six in the morning to take the photograph.

The British music magazine Sounds published letters from readers reacting to Eric Clapton's racist statement during his concert in Birmingham earlier that month. One of the letters criticized Clapton for drawing much of his music from Black music and called him the biggest colonizer of rock music. The letter also called for support of the Rock Against Racism movement, which subsequently became a major movement and organized concerts and festivals in support of tolerance.

The first issue of Musician magazine was published.

The first Buddy Holly Week was held in the UK, organized by his fans in London. Holly had visited the UK only once, during a tour in March 1958.

The Memphis Press Scimitar published an article headlined “Fat and Forty” about Elvis Presley, which enraged him.

Paul McCartney launched “Buddy Holly Week” in the UK to mark the 40th anniversary of Buddy Holly's birth.

Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend and Keith Moon each arrived separately at Universal Studios in Hollywood for a press launch of the new album “Who Are You”. The party was held on the set of the television series “Battlestar Galactica”.

August 24, 1978 is the official publication date shown on the cover of Rolling Stone issue No. 272 featuring Bruce Springsteen.

The Museum of Modern Art in New York opened the Performance Video exhibition, which featured, among others, the music videos “Mickey” by Toni Basil and “Once in a Lifetime” by Talking Heads.

A David Bowie convention, or according to the source variants a worldwide gathering of his fans, was held at the Cunard Hotel in London. According to the source variants, the event presented the largest collection of Bowie memorabilia assembled up to that time, or was the first fan gathering dedicated to Bowie. Among those attending were his former dance teacher, manager, guitarist, archivist, and photographer.