5 August 1966 – This day in music

It may be just another Saturday, but when you flick through the music history books August 5 was one monumental day. So what was moving and shaking in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and noughties?

1956

From actress and singer to animal activist, Dorris Day was one incredible woman. On August 5 1956 she was leading the UK singles chart with Whatever Will Be Will Be, an Oscar-winning song featured in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1956 film, The Man Who Knew Too Much

1966

Voted in by Rolling Stone readers, Revolver was recently crowned the greatest Beatles album of all time. And they certainly have a strong case. Building on the creativity of Rubber Soul, Revolver introduces psychedelic tracks like Tomorrow Never Knows, as well as complex material like Eleanor Rigby and Indian inspired Love You To. Ringo admits that drugs were starting to play a role, revealing “The songs got more interesting, so with that the effects got more interesting. I think the drugs were kicking in a little more heavily on this album … [Al]though we did take certain substances, we never did it to a great extent at the session. We were really hard workers.”

1965

Speaking of The Beatles. Just one year earlier they were topping the UK charts with Help, the group’s eight consecutive UK No.1 single. Written by John Lennon, it’s was apparently a reaction to the band’s quick rise to fame. “I was fat and depressed and I was crying out for help,” muses Lennon.

1972

August 5 1972 was a big day for Aerosmith, with the band signing with CBS Records for a cool $125,000. After company boss Clive Davis saw them rock out at Max’s Kansas City Club New York he was suitably impressed, and went on to build up one of the greatest rock bands of all time.

1978

Released as the band’s eight US single, Miss You shot the Rolling Stones to No. 1 back in 1978. It was written by Mick Jagger himself and marked the band’s foray into the disco genre.

1984

Are you a diehard Springsteen fan? Is so, August 5 1984 was a big day for The Boss, marking the first of 10 New Jersey shows he played to mark the homecoming of his legendary Born in the USA Tour.

1992

This wasn’t a happy day for Toto, with the band losing drummer Jeff Porcaro at the age of 38. 10 years earlier the band had put themselves on the map with Africa, a ballad that Porcaro co-wrote with vocalist David Paich.

2005

While it definitely wasn’t released in 2005, this year saw Bob Dylan’s Like a Rolling Stone top a poll of music, movies, TV shows and books that supposedly changed the world. Elvis Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel placed second, with icons like Paul McCartney, Noel Gallagher, Keith Richards and Lou Reed all helping to crown the winner.

If there was ever an excuse to throw on Revolver and relive the greatest Beatles album of all time, this is it!