Rock 'n' Roll History for
October 5


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1958 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
Cliff Richard and The Shadows played their first gig together when they appeared at the Victoria Hall, Hanley, England.

1959 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer releases the film Girls Town, starring Mamie Van Doren, Mel Torme and Ray Anthony. Paul Anka makes his first acting role, and performs "Lonely Boy", "It's Time to Cry", "Girls Town Blues", and "Ave Maria". A scene set in a nightclub features The Platters singing "Wish It Were Me".

October 5
21 year old Paul Evans reaches the Billboard chart for the first time with a novelty song called "Seven Little Girls" (sittin' in the back seat, kissin' and huggin' with Fred). Along with his own recording career, Evans wrote many hits for other artists, including Bobby Vinton's "Roses Are Red" and The Kalin Twins "When".

October 5
Bobby Darin's "Mack The Knife" tops the Billboard Hot 100, where it would stay for the next six weeks.


1961 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
Neil Sedaka records "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen", which will become his eighth US Top 20 hit. He will go on to have thirteen more.

October 5
As a follow up to their US number one smash, "Blue Moon", The Marcels release a similar sounding tune called "Heartaches", which will climb to number seven on the US Pop chart.

1962 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
The Beatles' first single, "Love Me Do", backed with "P.S. I Love You", is released in the UK. The record gets its first radio play the same evening on the EMI-owned Radio Luxembourg and will peak at #17 on the UK chart in December.

1965 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
Johnny Cash was arrested crossing the Mexican border into El Paso, Texas after customs officials found hundreds of pills in his guitar case. He would receive a suspended jail sentence and a $1,000 fine.

October 5
The Beatles travel to EMI's headquarters to receive four Russian-made acoustic guitars and take pictures playing them to send the photo to the factory where they were made. Manager Brian Epstein said, "We have always believed that Russian teenagers were discouraged from listening to our Beat music. Obviously we were wrong." When asked if the group would actually use them onstage, George Harrison replied, "Well, that depends on what kind they are. But we're knocked out with the gesture."

October 5
Henry Mancini's soundtrack to the 1963 film The Pink Panther is certified Gold for sales of 500,000 copies. It had peaked at #8 on the Billboard Pop Album chart, where it enjoyed a run of 41 weeks. The LP was nominated for an Academy Award for best score, but lost to Mary Poppins.

1967 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
The Association's "Never My Love" reached its peak position of number 2 on Billboard's Hot 100. As of the end of 2001, The Recording Industry Association of America listed it as the second most played song in the 20th century with over 7 million radio plays. "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" by The Righteous Brothers was first with over 8 million. To see the rest of the list, see our page on Classic Rock's Most Played Songs.

1970 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
Atlantic Records releases "Led Zeppelin III", which would top both the US and UK album charts. It would include "Immigrant Song", which would rise to #16 in America. The LP would go Platinum in Great Britain for sales of 300,000 and 6X Platinum in America for moving over six million copies.

1974 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
Olivia Newton-John had her first chart topping album with "If You Love Me, Let Me Know", which contained her third US number one single, "I Honestly Love You".

October 5
The Guess Who's "Clap For The Wolfman" peaks at #6 on Billboard's Hot 100. The track featured the voice of legendary disc jockey, Wolfman Jack.

October 5
The Beach Boys went to #1 on the US album chart for the second time with "Endless Summer". The LP, which contained altered versions of "Be True to Your School", "Help Me Rhonda" and "Fun, Fun, Fun", would spend 155 weeks on the Billboard Hot 200, selling over 3 million copies.

1975 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
Harry Chapin's "Cats in the Cradle" is released. It will enter the Hot 100 in November and top the chart just before Christmas.


1976 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
Hall And Oates' second album, "Abandoned Luncheonette", which contained the hit single "She's Gone", is certified Gold just three weeks after its release.

1979 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
A little more than a year after the death of drummer Keith Moon, The Who's "The Kids Are Alright" is awarded Platinum status by the R.I.A.A.

1981 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
Jud Strunk, comedian and singer / songwriter who appeared on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, died in a small plane crash in the state of Maine. He was 45. Strunk scored a number 14 hit with "Daisy A Day" in 1973,

1982 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
Twenty years after its first release, EMI Records re-issues The Beatles' "Love Me Do" in the UK. It will rise to #4 by the end of the month.

1985 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
Brian Keenan, the drummer for The Chambers Brothers on their 1968, #11 hit, "Time Has Come Today", suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 42.

1992 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
Temptations singer Eddie Kendricks died of cancer, a year after having one lung removed. He was 52.

1999 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
Roger Daltrey announced that The Who were reforming, making their first performance in Las Vegas. The show was also being planned to be broadcast live on the internet.

October 5
Paul McCartney releases his first album since the death of his wife Linda in April 1998. Entitled "Run Devil Run", the CD is a collection of Rock oldies along with new McCartney songs.


2005 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
Michael Jackson filed a lawsuit against concert promoter Marcel Avram to prevent arbitration over a disputed concert contract from 1999.

2006 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
Jeffrey Borer, the man who admitted secretly videotaping Michael Jackson on a private jet, was sentenced to six months of home detention and fined $10,000. Borer, who was the owner of private jet firm XtraJet, had instructed an employee to buy and install two video recorders on the plane.

2007 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
The recording industry won a key fight against illegal music downloading when a federal jury found a Minnesota woman guilty of sharing copyrighted music online and levied $220,000 in damages against her. In the first such lawsuit to go to trial, the record companies accused the woman of downloading the songs without permission and offering them online through a Kazaa file-sharing account. The Recording Industry Association of America has filed over 26,000 similar lawsuits since 2003.

2009 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
Elvis Presley's grandson, 17-year-old Benjamin Keough, was offered a $5 million contract by Universal Records to record up to five albums, according to Britain's Daily Telegraph.

2010 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
The three surviving members of John Lennon's first band The Quarrymen were booked to play a special charity concert for Amnesty International, just yards from the late Beatle's former home at the Dakota Apartments in New York, to mark his 70th birthday.

2011 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
David Cassidy filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Sony, claiming he has not been paid royalties for sales of Partridge Family merchandise which bear his image, including lunch boxes, magazines and board games. In January, 2015, Cassidy would win the lawsuit and be awarded $158,000.

2012 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
Art Garfunkel was forced to scrap the remainder of his comeback tour due to ongoing voice problems. The singer was diagnosed with vocal paresis in 2010, prompting he and his former partner Paul Simon to cancel a planned reunion tour.


2013 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
John Lennon's star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame was discovered to have been defaced with graffiti. After a call to Walk Of Fame authorities, the damage was quickly repaired.

2015 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
Stevie Wonder's divorce from fashion designer Kai Millard was finalized after several years in court. The pair were married in 2001, but split in 2009 and Stevie filed for divorce in 2012.

2017 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
74-year-old Jerry Yester, a member of The Lovin' Spoonful since 1969, was arrested by the Cyber Crimes Unit of the Boone County Sheriff's Department in Harrison, Arkansas on 30 counts of possession of child pornography. He was released after posting $35,000 bond and kicked out of the band a week later.

2018 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
Rod Stewart scored his ninth UK chart topping album with "Blood Red Roses". At second place on the list was Cher's covers album of ABBA classics, "Dancing Queen".

2022 - ClassicBands.com

October 5
A letter signed by John Lennon on the day of his murder went up for bid on the auction website Gotta Have Rock and Roll. The typed document was sent by the late musician to his accountant, Barry Nichols. In it, three people were listed as proxy voters, permitting them to vote at the Apple Corps Limited Annual General Meeting, due to take place nine days later in London. The letter was expected to fetch between $50,000 and $70,000.



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