August 1 Music et al
Moondog Alan Freed
August 1, 1954: Moondog Jubilee Alan Freed, working as a disc jockey in New York, throws the “Moondog Jubilee of Stars Under the Stars” at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York. The performing line-up included black artists Fats Domino and Muddy Waters. (Pop History Dig article) (see February 23, 1955)
August 1 Music et al
Bob Newhart
August 1 – September 25, 1960: comedian Bob Newhart’s The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart comedy album is Billboard #1.
August 1 Music et al
Hard Day’s Night
August 1 – 14, 1964: “A Hard Day’s Night” #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. (see Aug 11)
August 1 Music et al
Atlantic City Pop Festival
August 1 – 3, 1969: Atlantic City (NJ) Pop Festival took place at the Atlantic City Race Track. (see Atlantic City for expanded story)
August 1 Music et al
Ann Arbor Blues Festival
August 1 – 3, 1969: a group of University of Michigan students decided it would be cool to have a blues festival. They were right. (see AABF for more)
August 1 Music et al
Concert for Bangladesh
August 1, 1971: George Harrison and Ravi Shankar organized and hosted The Concert for Bangladesh raising nearly a quarter of a million dollars for the hungry of the poor country. The concert ushered in a new type of proactive political activism (Live for Live Music article) (Beatles, see Sept 9; Bangladesh, see Dec 16; concert movie, see March 23, 1972)
August 1 Music et al
MTV
August 1, 1981: MTV (Music Television) made its debut at 12:01 a.m. The first music video shown on the rock-video cable channel was, appropriately, Video Killed the Radio Star, by the Buggles. MTV’s original five veejays were Martha Quinn, Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, J.J. Jackson and Alan Hunter. MTV changed the way that popular music was presented from the traditional way of simply listening to watching as well as listening. (MTV, see March 1983; CM, see July 29, 1987)