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 Hot 100 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.
• August 26 - The Kinks release their iconic single "You Really Got Me".
• 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.
• November - A deal with UK impresario W. H. Miller lands the Anita Kerr Quartette on Capitol Records for North America.
• 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 make their first recording for Columbia Records.
• 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.

Albums released

You Don't Have to Be a Baby to Cry - Julie London

Biggest hit singles

The following singles achieved the highest chart positions in 1964.

#	Artist	Title	Year	Country	Chart Entries
1	Roy Orbison	Oh, Pretty Woman	1964		UK 1 - Sep 1964, US BB 1 - Sep 1964, Canada 1 - Aug 1964, Norway 1 - Oct 1964, Germany 1 - Jan 1965, Éire 1 - Oct 1964, Holland 3 - Jan 1965, US CashBox 4 of 1964, DDD 8 of 1964, RYM 13 of 1964, South Africa 15 of 1964, 16 in 2FM list, US BB 17 of 1964, POP 17 of 1964, Australia 20 of 1964, RIAA 43, OzNet 62, Germany 64 of the 1960s, Acclaimed 77, Europe 83 of the 1960s, Party 147 of 2007, Rolling Stone 222, Belgium 234 of all time, WXPN 655
2	The Beatles	I Want to Hold Your Hand	1964		UK 1 - Dec 1963, US BB 1 - Jan 1964, US CashBox 1 of 1964, Canada 1 - Jan 1964, Norway 1 - Jan 1964, Germany 1 - Feb 1964, Australia 1 for 5 weeks Jul 1963, Australia 2 of 1963, RYM 2 of 1964, DDD 4 of 1963, South Africa 6 of 1963, US BB 7 of 1964, Global 7 (10 M sold) - 1963, POP 7 of 1964, Rolling Stone 16, RIAA 28, Scrobulate 29 of oldies, Acclaimed 30, Germany 40 of the 1960s, WXPN 350
3	The Animals	House of the Rising Sun	1964		UK 1 - Jun 1964, US BB 1 - Aug 1964, Canada 1 - Aug 1964, Australia 1 for 2 weeks Apr 1964, France 4 - Oct 1972, DDD 4 of 1964, RYM 5 of 1964, Netherlands 3 1964, Poland 6 - Oct 1982, Europe 7 of the 1960s, Germany 9 - Jan 1965, US BB 38 of 1964, POP 38 of 1964, US CashBox 53 of 1964, Acclaimed 55, Italy 66 of 1965, Scrobulate 80 of oldies, 89 in 2FM list, Rolling Stone 122, Belgium 124 of all time, TheQ 227, RIAA 240, OzNet 275, Germany 296 of the 1960s
4	The Beatles	A Hard Day's Night	1964		UK 1 - Jul 1964, US BB 1 - Jul 1964, Canada 1 - Jul 1964, Norway 1 - Aug 1964, Éire 1 - Aug 1964, Australia 1 for 4 weeks Mar 1964, Germany 2 - Sep 1964, Australia 3 of 1964, RYM 6 of 1964, DDD 11 of 1964, South Africa 14 of 1964, US CashBox 18 of 1964, Scrobulate 39 of oldies, Europe 96 of the 1960s, Rolling Stone 153, Germany 254 of the 1960s, Acclaimed 411, OzNet 815
5	The Beatles	I Feel Fine	1964		UK 1 - Dec 1964, US BB 1 - Dec 1964, Canada 1 - Nov 1964, Holland 1 - Jan 1965, Norway 1 - Dec 1964, Éire 1 - Dec 1964, Australia 1 for 6 weeks Jul 1964, Germany 3 - Jan 1965, Australia 8 of 1964, RYM 8 of 1964, DDD 9 of 1964, US CashBox 19 of 1965, Scrobulate 40 of oldies, Germany 207 of the 1960s

Singles released