First Top of the Pops

At 6.35 pm on January 1 the premiere of the half hour British TV programme Top of the Pops was shown for the first time. Acts performing included (in order of appearance) Dusty Springfield (I only wanna be with you); The Rolling Stones (I wanna be your man); Dave Clark Five (glad all over); The Hollies (Stay); Swinging Blue Jeans (Hippy hippy shake) and The Beatles (I wanna hold your hand, that week's number one). The programme continued until July 30 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its history, it was broadcast on Thursday evenings on BBC 1. Each show consisted of performances of some of the week's best-selling popular music records, usually excluding any tracks moving down the chart, including a rundown of that week's singles chart. This was originally the Top 20, though this varied throughout the show's history. The Top 30 was used from 1969, and the Top 40 from 1984. The first programme was produced in Studio A at Dickenson Road Studios in Rusholme, Manchester. The presenter was the late and now disgraced Jimmy Savile, with a brief link to Alan Freeman in London to preview the following week's programme. The tape was wiped. Throughout its history, the programme proper always (with very few exceptions) finished with the best-selling single of the week, although there often was a separate play-out track over the end credits.

US Number Ones

December 7, 1963 – January 3, 1964:

The Singing Nun – Dominique

January 4, 1964 – January 31, 1964:

Bobby Vinton – There! I’ve Said It Again

February 1, 1964 – March 20, 1964:

The Beatles – I Want to Hold Your Hand

March 21, 1964 – April 3, 1964:

The Beatles – She Loves You

April 4, 1964 – May 8, 1964:

The Beatles – Can’t Buy Me Love

May 9, 1964 – May 15, 1964:

Louis Armstrong – Hello, Dolly!

May 16, 1964 – May 29, 1964:

Mary Wells – My Guy

May 30, 1964 – June 5, 1964:

The Beatles – Love Me Do

June 6, 1964 – June 26, 1964:

The Dixie Cups – Chapel of Love

June 27, 1964 – July 3, 1964:

Peter and Gordon – A World Without Love

July 4, 1964 – July 17, 1964:

The Beach Boys – I Get Around

July 18, 1964 – July 31, 1964:

The Four Seasons – Rag Doll

August 1, 1964 – August 14, 1964:

The Beatles – A Hard Day’s Night

August 15, 1964 – August 21, 1964:

Dean Martin – Everybody Loves Somebody

August 22, 1964 – September 4, 1964:

The Supremes – Where Did Our Love Go

September 5, 1964 – September 25, 1964:

The Animals – The House of the Rising Sun

September 26, 1964 – October 16, 1964:

Roy Orbison – Oh, Pretty Woman

October 17, 1964 – October 30, 1964:

Manfred Mann – Do Wah Diddy Diddy

October 31, 1964 – November 27, 1964:

The Supremes – Baby Love

November 28, 1964 – December 4, 1964:

The Shangri-Las – Leader of the Pack

December 5, 1964 – December 11, 1964:

Lorne Greene – Ringo

December 12, 1964 – December 18, 1964:

Bobby Vinton – Mr. Lonely

December 19, 1964 – December 25, 1964:

The Supremes – Come See About Me

December 26, 1964 – January 22, 1965:

The Beatles – I Feel Fine

UK Number Ones

 

Artist	Song Title	Weeks at Number One	Date
The Beatles	I Feel Fine	5	08-12-1964
The Rolling Stones	Little Red Rooster	1	01-12-1964
The Supremes	Baby Love	2	17-11-1964
Roy Orbison	Oh Pretty Woman (2nd time)	1	10-11-1964
Sandie Shaw	Always Something There To Remind Me	3	20-10-1964
Roy Orbison	Oh Pretty Woman	2	06-10-1964
Hermans Hermits	Im Into Something Good	2	22-09-1964
The Kinks	You Really Got Me	2	08-09-1964
The Honeycombs	Have I The Right	2	25-08-1964
Manfred Mann	Do Wah Diddy Diddy	2	11-08-1964
The Beatles	A Hard Days Night	3	21-07-1964
The Rolling Stones	Its All Over Now	1	14-07-1964
The Animals	House Of The Rising Sun	1	07-07-1964
Roy Orbison	Its Over	2	23-06-1964
Cilla Black	Youre My World	4	26-05-1964
The Four Pennies	Juliet	1	19-05-1964
The Searchers	Dont Throw Your Love Away	2	05-05-1964
Peter and Gordon	World Without Love	2	21-04-1964
The Beatles	Cant Buy Me Love	3	31-03-1964
Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas	Little Children	2	17-03-1964
Cilla Black	Anyone Who Had A Heart	3	25-02-1964
The Bachelors	Diane	1	18-02-1964
The Searchers	Needles and Pins	3	28-01-1964
The Dave Clark 5	Glad All Over	2	14-01-1964

Three Protest Songs

January, Only a pawn in their game, Bob Dylan

March, Mississippi Goddam, Nina Simone

December, A change is goona come, Sam Cooke (who died that month)

Anti-war Songs

In 1964 there were many anti-wr songs including
"There but for Fortune" "One More Parade" and "Talkin' Vietnam" by American Phil Ochs
"Universal Soldier" and "Now That The Buffalo's Gone" by Canadian Buffy Sainte-Marie
"With God on Our Side" by Bob Dylan
"Apache Tears" and "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" by Johnny Cash
"What Did You Learn in School Today?" by American Tom Paxton

Goldfinger

This year saw the release of the third James Bond film with Sean Connery in the tite role. The previous ones were Dr No and From Russia with love. Gold Finger was based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Ian Fleming. It also starred Honor Blackman as Bond girl Pussy Galore and Gert Fröbe as the title character Auric Goldfinger, along with Shirley Eaton as the iconic Bond girl Jill Masterson. It is said that Fleming took the name from architect Ernő Goldfinger. Shirley Bassey sang the song Goldfinger at the beginning.

Aswan Dam, Egypt

In 1964 the first dam construction stage was completed and the reservoir started filling

Mary Poppins

The American musical fantasy film Mary Poppins was released August 27, 1964, to critical acclaim and commercial success. It was the highest-grossing film of 1964 and, at one time, Disney's highest-grossing film ever. It received 13 Academy Awards nominations and won five (Best Actress [Julie Andrews]; Film Editing; Original Music Score; Visual Effects; Original Song [Chim Chim Cher-ee]). Mary Poppins is considered Walt Disney's crowning live-action achievement, and is the only one of his films which earned a Best Picture nomination in his lifetime.

Director: Robert Stevenson; Producer: Walt Disney; Songs written and composed by the Sherman Brothers; Screenplay: Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi. Based on P. L. Travers's book series Mary Poppins.

The film was shot entirely at Walt Disney Studios, Burbank, California, using painted London background scenes.

Richard Burton marries Elizabeth Taylor

The actors Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor married (for the first time) in Montreal, Canada, on March 15, 1964.

Boston Strangler Arrested

It was in this year that Albert Henry DeSalvo (1931-1973) was arrested. He was an American rapist and serial killer in Boston, Massachusetts, who purportedly confessed to being the "Boston Strangler," the murderer of 13 women in the Boston area from 1962 to 1964. In 1967, DeSalvo was imprisoned for life for committing a series of rapes. However, his murder confession has been disputed and debate continues as to which crimes he actually committed.

In 1968, a film about the murders, The Boston Strangler, was released, with DeSalvo being portrayed by Tony Curtis.

In July 2013, DNA was matched between seminal fluid found at the rape and murder of Mary Sullivan and DNA obtained from DeSalvo's nephew, linking DeSalvo to the murder of Sullivan and excluding 99.9% of the remaining population. Authorities exhumed DeSalvo's remains later that month and confirmed the DNA match.