This Day in Top 40 History: August 1

Breakthrough Hits and Milestones

• 1964: Beatlemania was in full swing — "A Hard Day's Night" by The Beatles hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album of the same name held the top spot on the Billboard 200.
• 1981: Rick Springfield's single "Jessie's Girl" reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. This powerful pop ballad clearly resonated with the masses because it spent 32 weeks on the chart.
• 1989: Madonna released "Cherish" as a single from her fourth album, Like a Prayer. The doo-wop pop song was inspired by William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and it peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
• 2020: Taylor Swift hit No. 1 on the U.K.'s Official Albums Chart with Folklore, an album she wrote earlier in the year at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Swift surprised fans with the album, and it skyrocketed to the top of the charts.

Cultural Milestones

• 1942: The American Federation of Musicians went on strike against major record companies due to disagreements over royalty payments. Union musicians weren't allowed to make commercial recordings for major record companies.
• 1942: Jerome John Garcia, better known as Jerry Garcia, was born in San Francisco, California. He was the leader of The Grateful Dead, whose In the Dark and Wake of the Flood charted in the Top 20 on the Billboard 200. The “Touch of Grey” singer was welcomed into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. 
• 1960: Carlton Douglas Ridenhour, better known as Chuck D, was born in New York. As the frontman of Public Enemy, he has contributed to Top 40 records such as Apocalypse 91. . .Enemy Strikes Black and Fear of a Black Planet. While at it, he has worked with many top-selling artists, including Run D.M.C. and Janet Jackson.
• 1970: Harold "Hype" Williams was born in Queens, New York. He has directed the music videos of many Top 40 singles, including Kanye West's “Heartless,” TLC's “No Scrubs,” Coldplay's “Viva la Vida,” and Ne-Yo's “So Sick.” Williams has also collaborated with multiple Top 40 artists on different films. For instance, he directed the 1998 movie Belly, which starred DMX and Nas.
• 1981: Music Television aired for the first time and played the music video for "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles. MTV changed the way artists promoted music, pushing music videos as a key facet of a successful hit song.
• 1987: Six years after MTV's debut, MTV Europe aired for the first time. The first video shown on the European network was "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits.
• 2014: Directed by James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy premiered in the U.S. with a soundtrack full of 1970s hits. The movie made songs such as "Hooked on a Feeling" popular again with younger generations.

Notable Recordings and Performances

• 1971: George Harrison from The Beatles hosted a charity concert called The Concert for Bangladesh. This show was the first of its kind, setting the stage for other charity gigs such as the iconic 1985 Live Aid concert.
• 2007: Prince started a 21-night concert residency at London's O2 Arena. He sold tickets to the shows for just 31.21 British pounds each.
• 2012: Delivering standout performances of hits such as “Paradise,” “Don't Let It Break Your Heart,” and “Hurts Like Heaven,” Coldplay swept the crowd off their feet at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Michigan. They were on their Mylo Xyloto Tour, which supported their chart-topping record of the same name.  
• 2024: Taylor Swift graced the PGE Narodowy in Warsaw, Poland, where she played a 45-song setlist including “Lavender Haze,” “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart,” and “All Too Well.” She was on The Eras Tour, a trek that saw her perform in front of over 10 million people and grossed more than $2 billion, becoming one of the highest-grossing tours in history. 
• 2025: Toto took their 2025 American Summer Tour to the Hard Rock Live at the Etess Arena in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The setlist for this concert featured some of the band's biggest hits, such as the chart-topping “Africa,” “Hold The Line,” and “Rosanna.” This trek, which celebrated their legacy, featured over 25 shows, with Men at Work and Christopher Cross as the supporting acts.

Industry Changes and Challenges 

• 1971: The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, a comedy variety show starring Cher and Sonny Bono, who were married at the time, premiered. Designed to appeal to younger fans, the show capitalized on the “I Got You Babe” hitmakers' real-life dynamic by portraying them as an affectionate couple with contrasting personalities.
• 1987: Guns N' Roses filmed the video for their single “Welcome to the Jungle.” The clip included footage from the band's live performances and street scenes featuring Slash and Axl Rose shot in Los Angeles, California. When they released the song in September of the same year, the song rose to No. 7 on Billboard's Hot 100. 
• 1994: Word got out that “The Way You Make Me Feel” hitmaker Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley's only child, Lisa Marie Presley, had tied the knot. According to sources, the pair released a statement revealing that their wedding had taken place outside the U.S. weeks earlier. Despite expressing interest in building a family, Jackson and Marie divorced less than two years later, with the latter citing irreconcilable differences.