Atlantic Records releases "Led Zeppelin III", which would top both the US and UK album charts. It would include "Immigrant Song", which would rise to #16 in America. The LP would go Platinum in Great Britain for sales of 300,000 and 6X Platinum in America for moving over six million copies.

"Abbey Road", the last album recorded by The Beatles, enters the UK charts at number one. The LP would go on to be the group's biggest seller in Britain, although "The Beatles" (the white album) sold more in North America.

Then in 2019…

"Abbey Road" returned to number one in the UK nearly fifty years after it first topped the British album charts. The gap of 49 years and 252 days set a new UK chart record for an album's return to number one. "It's hard to believe that Abbey Road still holds up after all these years," tweeted Sir Paul McCartney, "but then again, it's a bloody cool album."

Sinead O'Connor did her career some major damage when she appeared on US TV's Saturday Night Live and held up an 8" x 10" color photo of Pope John Paul II, ripped it into pieces and said, "Fight the real enemy." Over the next few days the NBC switchboard in New York received thousands of calls denouncing O'Connor's performance. The network and the show's executive producer, Lorne Michaels, both denied any knowledge of O'Connor's plan and said she had performed the song differently in rehearsal. Catholic groups expressed outrage at the act and called it patently offensive to people of all religious beliefs. NBC has never again aired the O'Connor performance.

Pink Floyd release their fifth studio album, "Atom Heart Mother" in the UK. It will become the band's first LP to reach #1 in Great Britain, while it climbed to #55 in the US, eventually going Gold there.

Brian Epstein signs his management contract with The Beatles. John Lennon and Ringo Starr signed for themselves and Harold Harrison and James McCartney do so on behalf of their underage sons. The agreement gave Epstein a 25% cut of the group's earnings provided that they made more than $400 each per week.

George Harrison and David Crosby guest star as themselves in the first episode of season five of The Simpsons.

Grand Funk scored their first number one record when "We're An American Band" hit the top of Billboard's Hot 100. The song was sung by drummer Don Brewer rather than Mark Farner, who usually took lead vocals.

The Beatles had not only their biggest hit, but also the largest selling record of the 1960s when "Hey Jude" reached the top of the US charts. The song, written by Paul McCartney for John's son Julian, would stay at number one in America for nine weeks and sell over eight million copies. In 1996, Julian paid £25,000 for the recording notes to the song at an auction

Carlos Santana had his first taste of success when his debut LP entered Billboard's Hot 200. The album would eventually climb to #4 and stayed on the chart for over two years, aided by the #9 hit single "Evil Ways". In the UK, it reached #26.

The Grateful Dead's "Touch Of Grey" peaks at #9 on the US singles chart, becoming their only Billboard chart hit.

Queen make a guest appearance on US TV's Saturday Night Live, where they perform "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "Under Pressure".

Jimi Hendrix moved from the United States to the UK, where he would spend the next nine months touring and recording before returning home to play the Monterey International Pop Festival in California. One of the first things he does after arriving in England is to legally change his name from James to Jimi.

Steely Dan release their sixth studio album, "Aja" (pronounced "Asia"). The LP would peak at #3 on the Billboard 200 and #5 in the UK, becoming the band's most commercially successful album. It spawned three hit singles, "Peg" (#11), "Deacon Blues" (#19), and "Josie" (#26).

The Who kick off what they say is their farewell tour, a forty date trip that will gross $23 million. They would reunite in 1985

Jimi Hendrix's "All Along the Watchtower" is released in the US where will become his only Top 40 hit single, topping out at #20. In the UK the song will reach #5 and be awarded a Platinum Record for sales of 600,000

The Bay City Rollers appeared on the Saturday Night Variety Show with Howard Cosell and performed their just released record, "Saturday Night", which would climb to number one in the US by the first week of January.

Can't find the Cosell video, so the one posted is from a different performance.

On the strength of the single "Start Me Up", The Rolling Stones album "Tattoo You" started a nine week run at #1 on the Billboard album chart. Primarily composed of out-takes from previous recording sessions, some dating back a decade, it is the last Rolling Stones album to reach the top position of the US charts.

"Play That Funky Music" by a Steubenville, Ohio quintet called Wild Cherry topped the Billboard Pop chart. It was the first of five chart singles for the band who took their name from a box of cough drops.

The Doors perform on The Ed Sullivan Show. Even though he agreed to change some of the words to "Light My Fire", Jim Morrison sings "Girl, we couldn't get much higher" anyway. A furious Sullivan vowed that the band would never appear on his show again. Morrison reportedly just shrugged and said, "We just did the Sullivan show."

The Savoy Hotel in London played host to the 1970 Melody Maker Poll Awards, where Led Zeppelin displaced the Beatles in the most popular group category. (The first time the Beatles had not been ranked #1 in eight years). Robert Plant was also voted best male vocalist.

John Bonham and Robert Plant make a rare appearance on TV, interviewed for BBC's Nationwide.

Melody Maker stopped publication in December, 2000 after seventy-three years.

The Ford Motor Company becomes the first auto maker to offer an 8-track tape player as an option in their Mustang, Thunderbird and Lincoln models. Tapes were initially only available at auto parts stores, as home 8-track equipment was still a year away. The format's popularity declined in the 1980s, although Cheap Trick's "The Latest" was issued on 8-track in 2009, as was Dolly Parton's "A Holly Dolly Christmas" in 2020.

Big Brother And The Holding Company's LP, "Cheap Thrills" enters the Billboard 200, where it will stay for twenty-nine weeks, including eight at #1. The album would later be inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame and was ranked at #372 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time in 2020

Peter Frampton's fourth solo album, "Frampton", goes Gold. It's his commercial breakthrough LP containing the hits "Show Me the Way" and "Baby I Love Your Way".