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Contents

Events

Albums released

Biggest hit singles

Singles released

Published popular music

Classical music

Opera

Musical theater

Musical films

Births

Deaths

Awards

Grammy Awards

Eurovision Song Contest

Events

★ January 1 - ''Top of the Pops'' premieres on BBC television.

★ January 3 - Footage of the Beatles performing a concert in Bournemouth, England is shown on ''The Jack Paar Show''.

★ January 15 - Vee Jay Records files a lawsuit against Capitol Records and Swan Records over manufacturing and distribution rights to Beatles albums. On April 9, Capitol Records is granted an injunction restraining Vee Jay Records from further manufacturing, distributing or advertising recordings by the Beatles.

★ January 18 - The Beatles appear on the ''Billboard magazine'' charts for the first time.

★ February 1 - Indiana Governor Matthew E. Welsh declares the song "Louie, Louie" by the Kingsmen pornographic. He requests that the Indiana Broadcasters Association ban the record. Governor Welsh claimed that hearing the song made his "ears tingle." Publisher Max Firetag offers $1,000 to anyone that can find anything "suggestive" in the song's lyrics.

★ February 7 - The Beatles arrive in the United States and are greeted by thousands of screaming fans at New York's Kennedy Airport.

★ February 9 - The Beatles perform on ''The Ed Sullivan Show'', which breaks television ratings records.

★ February 16 - The Beatles appear on ''The Ed Sullivan Show''.

★ February 22 - Plácido Domingo makes his international breakthrough at the première of Ginastera's ''Don Rodrigo'' in New York City.

★ February 23 - The Beatles appear on ''The Ed Sullivan Show''.

★ March - Capitol Records is bombarded with requests for heavyweight boxing champion Cassius Clay's album, ''I Am the Greatest'', following Clay's defeat of Sonny Liston in February.

★ March 6 - Elvis Presley's 14th motion picture, ''Kissin' Cousins'' is released to theaters.

★ March 14 - Billboard Magazine reports that sales of Beatle records make up 60% of the entire singles market.

★ March 16 - Disc jockey Alan Freed is charged with tax evasion.

★ March 21 - For the first time in history, all Top Ten singles on the UK chart are by British acts.

★ March 24 - John Lennon's first book, ''In His Own Write'' is published.

★ March 27 - The Beatles occupy the top six spots on the Australian pop chart.

★ March 28 - Wax likenesses of The Beatles are put on display in London's Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. The Beatles are the first pop stars to be displayed at the museum.

★ April 4 - The Beatles occupied all five top positions on Billboard's Top Pop Singles chart with their singles "Can't Buy Me Love", "Twist and Shout", "She Loves You", "I Want to Hold Your Hand", and "Please Please Me".

★ April 11 - The Beatles hold 14 positions on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Previously, the highest number of concurrent singles by one artist on the Hot 100 was nine by Elvis Presley, December 19, 1956.

★ April 26 - The Rolling Stones release their eponymous début album

★ May 2 - In the United States, The Beatles' ''Second Album'' climbs to the #1 spot on the LP charts in only its second week of release.

★ July 31 - Country singer Jim Reeves dies in an airplane crash near Nashville.

★ Bob Dylan released his fourth album, ''Another Side of Bob Dylan''.

★ August 22 - The Supremes are on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with the first of five successive number one hits, Where Did Our Love Go.

★ September 16 - ''Shindig!'' premieres on ABC.

★ September 22 - ''Fiddler on the Roof'' opens on Broadway.

★ October 19 - Simon and Garfunkel release ''Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.'', which is initially a total flop upon first release. After release of their second album, ''Sounds of Silence'', in 1966, it hits #30 on the Billboard charts.

★ October 31 - The Supremes are on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with the second of five successive number one hits, Baby Love.

★ December 11 - Sam Cooke is killed under mysterious circumstances in Los Angeles, California. Shortly thereafter, "A Change Is Gonna Come," a song considered by many to be his best, is released.

★ December 19 - The Supremes are on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with the third of five successive number one hits, Come See About Me.

★ Simon and Garfunkel form to record for Columbia Records, marking first time that ethnic names are used in pop music.

★ Dalida is the first star to receive a Platinum Disc in Europe.

★ 11 year old Keith Green becomes the youngest person ever to sign a contract with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) after publishing, recording and releasing the song "The Way I Used to Be".

★ Marianne Faithfull's musical career begins.

★ Sonny and Cher begin performing together.

★ MC5 forms.

★ The Mamas & the Papas form.

★ November - A deal with U.K. impresario W. H. Miller lands the Anita Kerr Quartette on Capitol Records for North America.

Albums released

★ ''12 x 5'' - The Rolling Stones

★ ''Ain't That Good News'' - Sam Cooke

★ ''All Summer Long'' - The Beach Boys

★ ''America, I Hear You Singing'' - Frank Sinatra

★ ''Amore Scusami [Amour Excuse Moi)'' - Dalida

★ ''The Animals (UK Album)'' - The Animals

★ ''The Animals (US Album)'' - The Animals

★ ''Another Side of Bob Dylan'' - Bob Dylan

★ ''The Beach Boys' Christmas Album'' - The Beach Boys

★ ''Beach Boys Concert'' - The Beach Boys

★ ''Cuddlebug'' - The Simon Sisters

★ ''Donna The Prima Donna - Dion DiMucci

★ ''The Doris Day Christmas Album'' - Doris Day

★ ''Ella at Juan-Les-Pins'' - Ella Fitzgerald

★ ''Early Orbison'' - Roy Orbison

★ ''The Five Faces of Manfred Mann'' - Manfred Mann

★ ''A Hard Day's Night'' - The Beatles

★ ''Hello, Dolly!'' - Ella Fitzgerald

★ ''Hide and Seekers - The Seekers

★ ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Johnny Mercer Songbook'' - Ella Fitzgerald

★ ''It Hurts to Be in Love'' - Gene Pitney

★ ''It Might As Well Be Swing'' - Frank Sinatra (with Count Basie)

★ ''Joan Baez/5'' - Joan Baez

★ ''Johnny Horton's Greatest Hits'' - Johnny Horton

★ '' The Kinks'' - The Kinks

★ ''Little Old Lady from Pasadena'' - Jan and Dean

★ ''A Love Supreme'' - John Coltrane

★ ''The Manfred Mann Album'' - Manfred Mann

★ ''Meet The Simon Sisters'' - The Simon Sisters

★ ''More of Roy Orbison's Greatest Hits'' - Roy Orbison

★ ''Rock Around the Clock King'' - Bill Haley and the Comets

★ '' The Rolling Stones'' - The Rolling Stones

★ ''Said I To Shostakovitch'' - Tupper Saussy

★ ''The Seekers - The Seekers

★ ''Dance With The Shadows'' - The Shadows

★ ''Simmer Down'' - The Wailing Wailers (Bunny Wailer, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh)

★ ''Sinatra Sings...Academy Award Winners'' - Frank Sinatra

★ ''Surf Surf Surf'' - Bill Haley & His Comets

★ ''Softly, As I Leave You'' - Frank Sinatra

★ ''The Swinger's Guide To Mary Poppins'' - The Tupper Saussy Quartet with Charlie McCoy

★ ''Tears for Dolphy'' - Ted Curson

★ ''The Times They Are a-Changin''' - Bob Dylan

★ ''Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.'' - Simon and Garfunkel

★ ''With a Smile and a Song'' - Doris Day

★ ''With the Beatles'' - The Beatles

Biggest hit singles

The following singles achieved the highest chart positions in 1964.

#	Artist	Title	Year	Chart Entries
1	Roy Orbison	Oh, Pretty Woman	1964	UK 1 - Sep 1964, US BB 1 - Sep 1964, US BB 17 of 1964, US CashBox 4 of 1964, Canada 1 - Aug 1964, Holland 3 - Jan 1965, Norway 1 - Oct 1964, Australia 20 of 1964, Germany 64 of the 1960s, Germany 1 - Jan 1965, Eire 1 - Oct 1964, Europe 83 of the 1960s, South Africa 15 of 1964, Belgium 234 of all time, Rolling Stone 222, 16 in 2FM list, RYM 13 of 1964, DDD 8 of 1964, POP 17 of 1964, RIAA 43, Acclaimed 77, Party 147 of 2007
2	The Beatles	A Hard Day's Night	1964	UK 1 - Jul 1964, US BB 1 - Jul 1964, US CashBox 18 of 1964, Canada 1 - Jul 1964, Norway 1 - Aug 1964, Australia 3 of 1964, Germany 254 of the 1960s, Germany 2 - Sep 1964, Eire 1 - Aug 1964, Australia 1 for 4 weeks, Europe 96 of the 1960s, South Africa 14 of 1964, Rolling Stone 153, RYM 6 of 1964, DDD 11 of 1964, Scrobulate 39 of oldies, Acclaimed 411
3	The Beatles	I Feel Fine	1964	UK 1 - Dec 1964, US BB 1 - Dec 1964, US CashBox 19 of 1965, Canada 1 - Nov 1964, Holland 1 - Jan 1965, Norway 1 - Dec 1964, Australia 8 of 1964, Germany 207 of the 1960s, Germany 3 - Jan 1965, Eire 1 - Dec 1964, Australia 1 for 6 weeks, RYM 8 of 1964, DDD 9 of 1964, Scrobulate 40 of oldies
4	The Animals	House of the Rising Sun	1964	UK 1 - Jun 1964, US BB 1 - Aug 1964, US BB 38 of 1964, US CashBox 53 of 1964, Canada 1 - Aug 1964, France 4 - Oct 1972, Germany 296 of the 1960s, Germany 9 - Jan 1965, Australia 1 for 2 weeks, Europe 7 of the 1960s, Belgium 124 of all time, Rolling Stone 122, 89 in 2FM list, RYM 5 of 1964, DDD 4 of 1964, POP 38 of 1964, RIAA 240, Scrobulate 80 of oldies, Acclaimed 55
5	The Righteous Brothers	You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'	1964	UK 1 - Jan 1965, US BB 1 - Dec 1964, US BB 5 of 1964, US CashBox 7 of 1965, Canada 3 - Jan 1965, Holland 8 - Feb 1965, Europe 92 of the 1960s, Rolling Stone 34, TOTP 23, 2 in 2FM list, RYM 19 of 1964, DDD 1 of 1964, POP 5 of 1964, RIAA 9, Acclaimed 20, Party 223 of 1999

Singles released

★ "All Day and All of the Night" - The Kinks

★ "Anyone Who Had a Heart" - Cilla Black

★ "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" - Manfred Mann

★ "Ferry Cross the Mersey" - Gerry and the Pacemakers

★ "Fever" - Helen Shapiro

★ "Gloria" - Them

★ "Goldfinger" - Shirley Bassey

★ "Happiness" - Ken Dodd

★ "Hello, Dolly! - Louis Armstrong

★ "The House of the Rising Sun" - The Animals

★ "I Get Around" - Beach Boys

★ "I Understand" - Freddie & the Dreamers

★ "I'm Into Something Good" - Herman's Hermits

★ "It's All Over Now" - The Rolling Stones

★ "Just One Look" - The Hollies

★ "Little Children" - Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas

★ "A Little Loving" - The Fourmost

★ "Little Old Lady from Pasadena" - Jan and Dean

★ "A Message To Martha" - Adam Faith

★ "One Way Love" - Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers

★ "Ringo" - Lorne Greene

★ "She Loves You" - The Beatles

★ "(They Call Her) La Bamba" - The Crickets

★ "Tobacco Road" - Nashville Teens

★ "Walk Away" - Matt Monro

★ "We Love You Beatles" - The Carefrees

★ "A World Without Love" - Peter & Gordon

★ "You're No Good" - The Swinging Blue Jeans

★ "You Really Got Me - The Kinks
See also: Hot 100 No. 1 Hits of 1964 (USA)

Published popular music

★ "The Addams Family theme song" w.m. Vic Mizzy

★ "Anatevka" - w. Sheldon Harnick m. Jerry Bock

★ "Anyone Who Had a Heart" w. Hal David m. Burt Bacharach

★ "The Ballad of Gilligan's Island" w.m. Frank DeVol and Sherwood Schwartz

★ "Before the Parade Passes By" w.m. Jerry Herman, from the musical ''Hello, Dolly!''

★ "Bewitched theme song" w.m. Howard Greenfield and Jack Keller

★ "Chapel Of Love" w.m. Phil Spector, Ellie Greenwich & Jeff Barry

★ "Chim Chim Cher-ee" w.m. Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman

★ "Dear Heart" w. Jay Livingston & Ray Evans m. Henry Mancini

★ "Do You Love Me?" w. Sheldon Harnick m. Jerry Bock

★ "Feed the Birds" w.m. Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman from the film ''Mary Poppins''

★ "Gimme Some" w. Lee Adams m. Charles Strouse

★ "Glad All Over" w.m. Dave Clark & Mike Smith

★ "Goin' out of My Head" w.m. Teddy Randazzo & Bobby Weinstein

★ "Golden Boy" w. Lee Adams m. Charles Strouse

★ "Hang on Sloopy" w.m. Bert Russell & Wes Farrell

★ "Have I the Right" w.m. Ken Howard & Alan Blaikley

★ "Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte", m. Frank DeVol from the film of the same name

★ "If I Were a Rich Man" w. Sheldon Harnick m. Jerry Bock. Introduced in the musical ''Fiddler on the Roof'' by Zero Mostel. Performed by Topol in the 1971 film version.

★ "Invisible Tears" w.m. Ned Miller and Sue Miller

★ "It's Over" w.m. Roy Orbison & Bill Dees

★ "Let's Go Fly a Kite" w.m. Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman from the film ''Mary Poppins''

★ "Matchmaker, Matchmaker" w. Sheldon Harnick m. Jerry Bock

★ "Miracle of Miracles" w. Sheldon Harnick m. Jerry Bock

★ "Now I Have Everything" w. Sheldon Harnick m. Jerry Bock

★ "Oh, Pretty Woman" w.m. Roy Orbison & Bill Dees

★ "Pass Me By" w. Carolyn Leigh m. Cy Coleman. Introduced by Digby Wolfe in the film ''Father Goose''

★ "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" w.m. Jerry Herman, from the musical ''Hello, Dolly!''

★ "So Long, Dearie" w.m. Jerry Herman, from the musical ''Hello, Dolly!''

★ "A Spoonful of Sugar" w.m. Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman from the film ''Mary Poppins''

★ "Style" w. Sammy Cahn m. Jimmy Van Heusen from the film ''Robin And The Seven Hoods''

★ "Sunrise, Sunset" w. Sheldon Harnick m. Jerry Bock

★ "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" w.m. Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman from the film ''Mary Poppins''

★ "That's Life" w.m. Dean Kay & Kelly Gordon

★ "To Life" w. Sheldon Harnick m. Jerry Bock

★ "Tradition" w. Sheldon Harnick m. Jerry Bock

★ "Where Did Our Love Go?" w.m. Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland and Edward Holland

★ "A World Without Love" w.m. John Lennon and Paul McCartney

★ "Zorba's Dance" m. Mikis Theodorakis

Classical music

★ Eyvin Andersen - ''Concerto for violin and orchestra ''

★ Aaron Copland - ''Music for a Great City''

★ George Crumb - ''Four Nocturnes (Night Music II)'' for violin and piano

★ Mario Davidovsky

★
★ ''Electronic Study No. 3''

★
★ ''Synchronisms No. 2'' for flute, clarinet, violin, cello and tape

★
★ ''Synchronisms No. 3'' for cello and electronic sound

★ Henri Dutilleux - ''Métaboles''

★ David Lumsdaine - ''Annotations of Auschwitz'' (cantata with words by Peter Porter)

★ Dmitri Shostakovich - ''String Quartet No.9 in E flat major, Op.117''

★ Dmitri Shostakovich - ''String Quartet No.10 in A flat major, Op.118''

★ James Tenney - ''Music for Player Piano''

Opera

★ Luciano Berio - ''Traces''

★ Benjamin Britten - ''Curlew River''

★ Alberto Ginastera - ''Don Rodrigo''

★ Robert Ward - ''The Lady from Colorado''

Musical theater

★ ''Hello, Dolly!'' (Jerry Herman) - Broadway production opened at the St. James Theatre on January 16 and ran for 2844 performances

★ ''What Makes Sammy Run?'' - Broadway production opened at the 54th Street Theatre on February 27 and ran for 540 performances

★ ''Funny Girl'' (Jule Styne and Bob Merrill) - Broadway production opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on March 26 and ran for 1348 performances

★ ''Anyone Can Whistle'' - Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre on April 4 and ran for 9 performances

★ ''Fiddler on the Roof'' (Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick) - Broadway production opened at the Imperial Theatre on September 22 and ran for 3242 performances

★ ''Golden Boy'' - Broadway production opened at the Majestic Theatre on October 20 and ran for 569 performances

★ ''She Loves Me'' - London production opened at the Lyric Theatre on April 29 and ran for 189 performances

★ ''Maggie May'' London production opened at the Adelphi Theatre on September 22 and ran for 501 performances

★ ''Robert and Elizabeth'' - London production opened at the Lyric Theatre on October 20 and ran for 948 performances

★ ''Little Me, the musical'' - London production opened at the Cambridge Theatre on November 18 and ran for 334 performances

★ ''Salad Days'' (Julian Slade) - London revival

Musical films

★ ''A Hard Day's Night'' starring The Beatles

★ ''Mary Poppins'' starring Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, Glynis Johns and David Tomlinson

★ ''My Fair Lady'' starring Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn

★ ''Robin and the Seven Hoods'' starring Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.

★ ''The Umbrellas of Cherbourg'' (''Les Parapluies De Cherbourg'')

★ ''The Unsinkable Molly Brown'' starring Debbie Reynolds and Harve Presnell

★ ''Viva Las Vegas'' starring Elvis Presley and Ann Margaret

Births

★ January 5 - Grant Young, Soul Asylum

★ January 10 - Brad Roberts, Crash Test Dummies

★ January 11 - Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen, composer

★ January 29 - Roddy Frame, Aztec Camera

★ February 4 - Noodles of The Offspring

★ February 5 - Duff McKagan of Guns N' Roses

★ March 19 - Yoko Kanno, composer

★ March 20 - Tracy Chapman

★ April 12 - Amy Ray, Indigo Girls

★ April 16 - Dave Pirner, Soul Asylum

★ April 17 - Maynard James Keenan, Tool

★ April 25 - Andy Bell, Erasure

★ May 26 - Lenny Kravitz

★ May 30 - Tom Morello, Rage Against the Machine & Audioslave

★ May 31 - Darryl McDaniels, Run D.M.C.

★ June 6 - Jay Bentley, Bad Religion

★ June 13 - Robbie Merrill, Godsmack

★ June 22

★
★ Dicky Barrett, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones

★
★ Mike Edwards, Jesus Jones

★ July 20 - Chris Cornell, Soundgarden & Audioslave

★ July 22 - Will Calhoun, Living Colour

★ August 1 - Adam Duritz, Counting Crows

★ August 17 - Colin James

★ September 7 - Eazy-E, NWA

★ September 23 - Koshi Inaba, B'z

★ September 27 - Stephan Jenkins, Third Eye Blind

★ September 30 - Robby Takac, Goo Goo Dolls

★ October 5 - Dave Dededer, Presidents of the United States of America

★ October 6 - Matthew Sweet

★ October 7 - Sam Brown

★ October 10 - Neneh Cherry

★ October 20 - Jim Sonefeld, Hootie & The Blowfish

★ November 6

★
★ Corey Glover, Living Colour

★
★ Greg Graffin, Bad Religion

★ November 14

★
★ Joseph Run Simmons, Run DMC

★
★ Nic Dalton, The Lemonheads

★ November 24 - Tony Rambola, Godsmack

★ December 8 - Sandy Burnett, record producer

★ December 13 - Hideto Matsumoto (Hide)

Deaths

★ January 15 - Jack Teagarden

★ February 25 - Johnny Burke, lyricist

★ May 10 - Carol Haney, dancer and choreographer

★ July 31 - Jim Reeves, American country singer, in a plane crash

★ August 14 - Johnny Burnette

★ September 28 - Nacio Herb Brown

★ October 10 - Eddie Cantor

★ October 15 - Cole Porter

★ November 5 - Buddy Cole

★ November 30 - Don Redman, US arranger, bandleader and saxophonist

★ December 2 - Sam H. Stept, (67), Russian-born US songwriter, pianist and conductor

★ December 9 - Edith Sitwell, poet and collaborator of William Walton

★ December 11 - Alma Mahler

★ December 11 - Sam Cooke, singer

Awards

Grammy Awards

★ Grammy Awards of 1964

Eurovision Song Contest

★ Eurovision Song Contest 1964
''See also:''
1963 in music,
other events of 1964,
1965 in music and the list of 'years in music'