1967: 19 year old Arlo Guthrie released an album called "Alice's Restaurant". When the eighteen minute long title song premiered at the Newport Folk Festival, it helped foster a new commitment among the '60s generation to social consciousness and activism. Arlo went on to star in the 1969 Hollywood film version of Alice's Restaurant, directed by Arthur Penn.
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1976: Van Morrison's 1970 album, "Moondance" is awarded a Gold record. The LP, which made it to #29 on the Hot 200, contained two hits: the title track and "Into the Mystic", and would be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
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1968: The Spiral Staircase record their million selling tune, "More Today Than Yesterday", which will reach #12 on the Billboard chart and #7 on the Cash Box Best Sellers list the following Spring. Unfortunately, about 18 months following the single's release, after issuing one album and a couple of more singles, the group disbanded due to management issues and squabbles over finances.
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1962: The Four Seasons' "Big Girls Don't Cry" reaches the top spot on the Billboard singles chart, just as their first hit, "Sherry" did earlier in the year. Songwriter Bob Crewe later said that he was inspired to write the song after he heard actor John Payne use the phase "big girls don't cry" in a 1956 movie called Slightly Scarlet. In the UK, the song reached #13.
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1968: B.J. Thomas' "Hooked On A Feeling" is released. It will enter the Billboard chart in December and climb to #5, but was not a hit in the UK.
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