Television events
- The Everly Brothers made their second appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, performing “Bye Bye Love” and “Hey Doll Baby.”
- American Bandstand made its national debut on ABC with Dick Clark as host. The show had previously aired locally in Philadelphia from 1952. The Chordettes were the first guests, and the first record played was “That'll Be the Day” by Buddy Holly.
- Chubby Checker made his first television appearance with “The Twist.” The song later reached No. 1 on the U.S. chart and sparked a major dance craze.
- ITV aired the first episode of the influential British music television show “Ready! Steady! Go!”. The premiere featured The Searchers, Jet Harris, Pat Boone, Billy Fury and Brian Poole and The Tremeloes. The show was hosted by Keith Fordyce and 19-year-old Cathy McGowan. It ran until December 1966 and ended after 175 episodes.
- The 100th episode of the British television show “Thank Your Lucky Stars” was broadcast. Performers included Cliff Richard, The Shadows, The Searchers, Brian Poole and the Tremeloes, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, and Alma Cogan.
- Rod Stewart made his first television appearance as a member of The Hoochie Coochie Men on the BBC program “The Beat Room.”
- Pink Floyd film at the ORTF studios in Paris. Footage of the band and London landmarks accompanies their performance of “Let There Be More Light” on the program A L’Affiche Du Monde.
- Gilbert O'Sullivan appeared on the British variety show It's Lulu, performing his third UK hit, “We Will”, which later reached No. 16 on the UK chart.
- A promotional film for Roger Daltrey's performance of “I’m Free” with the London Symphony Orchestra was broadcast on “Top Of The Pops”. The film was shot at Daltrey's farm.
- The vocal group The Manhattan Transfer began a summer replacement variety show, “Manhattan Transfer”, on CBS. The show ran for four episodes.
- NBC aired the special “The Beach Boys: It's O.K.” to mark the group's 15th anniversary. The program featured interviews, comedy sketches and concert footage, with appearances by John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd.
- MTV broadcast its first stereo concert, featuring REO Speedwagon in Denver during their tour for the album “Hi Infidelity”.
- Frank Zappa and Moon Unit Zappa performed “Valley Girl” on “Late Night with David Letterman.”
- NBC premiered the variety television show “Motown Revue”, created in the wake of the success of the television special “Motown 25”. It was cancelled after five weeks.
- No Quarter: Jimmy Page and Robert Plant Unledded, documenting a musical performance by former Led Zeppelin members, premieres on MTV. According to the source, it becomes the highest-rated episode of the Unplugged music series.
- The original members of KISS performed together for the first time since 1980 during the recording of the television special “MTV Unplugged”, when Peter Criss and Ace Frehley joined Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons. The overwhelmingly positive fan response paved the way for the band’s official reunion tour in 1996, which saw the return of their signature costumes and makeup. The special was later released as the album “Kiss Unplugged”.
- Jimmy Buffett hosted President Bill Clinton's birthday celebration at the White House and also performed during the event.
- MTV suspended broadcasting to approximately 500,000 households in Amsterdam after cable operator A2000 demanded that MTV share its previously exclusive channel with two other operators and pay for distribution.
- The final new episode of the talk show “The Magic Hour” was broadcast. Musical guests were Boys II Men, Simply Red, Mary J. Blige and Hanson.
- It was announced that Ice-T would play a detective in the television series “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.”
- The TV series “Weeds” premiered on Showtime, featuring Malvina Reynolds' “Little Boxes” as its theme song.
- The Magic Numbers walked out of a performance on the British music television show “Top of the Pops” after presenter Richard Bacon made derogatory comments about the group. The band left the studio in protest.