Be a Disco Lady in April 1976!
A number one hit on the Cash Box Top 100 list in April 1976 was 'Disco Lady' by Johnnie Taylor.
April 1 - Conrail (Consolidated Rails Corporation) is formed by the U.S. government, to take control of 13 major Northeast Class-1 railroads that had filed for bankruptcy protection. Conrail takes control at midnight, as a government-owned and operated railroad until 1986, when it is sold to the public.
April 1 - Apple Computer Company is formed by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak.
April 1 – The Rocky Horror Picture Show is officially re-released as a midnight movie at the Waverly Theater in Greenwich Village in New York City.
April 1 - The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox movie is released.
April 1–2 Helter Skelter, a two-part adaptation of Vincent Bugliosi's book about the Charles Manson case, airs on CBS, with Steve Railsback portraying Manson.
April 5 - Howard Hughes, business magnate, aviator pilot and film producer dies. (born 1905)
April 5 - The Blue Bird movie is released.
April 7 - The Bad News Bears and Sparkle movies are released.
April 9 – Alfred Hitchcock's last film, Family Plot, is released.
April 9 - All the President's Men movie is released.
April 11 - The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea movie is released.
April 12 - ABC airs its first Monday Night Baseball broadcast, taking over the package from NBC.
April 13 – The United States Treasury Department reintroduces the two-dollar bill as a Federal Reserve Note on Thomas Jefferson's 233rd birthday as part of the United States Bicentennial celebration.
April 18 - The 30th Tony Awards is held. Travesties wins Best Play. A Chorus Line wins Best Musical.
April 23 - Stay Hungry movie is released.
April 24 - Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels makes an on-air offer to pay The Beatles $3,000 to reunite on the show. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were apparently watching the show together in New York City and considered walking down to the studio to accept the check. Michaels would raise his offer to $3,200 on SNL's May 22 episode.
April 24 - Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels makes an on-air offer to pay The Beatles $3,000 to reunite on the show. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were apparently watching the show together in New York City and considered walking down to the studio to accept the check. Michaels would raise his offer to $3,200 on SNL's May 22 episode.
April 30 - Muhammad Ali retains heavyweight title with 15-round, unanimous decision on points over Jimmy Young.
Playboy playmate of the month, Denise Michele, and Playgirl man for April, Dennis Ward. Denise also appears on the album cover of Robert Palmer's Some People Can Do What They Like, which was released in October 1976.
1976 Ford LTD Landau
Albums released in April (Name / Artist)
2112 / Rush
Hideaway / America
Live Bullet / Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
Steppin' Out / Neil Sedaka
Still Life / Van der Graaf Generator
Moondawn / Klaus Schulze
Welcome Back / John Sebastian
Blow Your Face Out / The J. Geils Band
Black and Blue / The Rolling Stones
Garvey's Ghost / Burning Spear
Blind Dog at St.Dunstans / Caravan
Greatest Stories Live / Harry Chapin
Ramones / Ramones
Too Old to Rock 'n' Roll: Too Young to Die! / Jethro Tull
Here and There / Elton John
High Voltage / AC/DC
Rastaman Vibration / Bob Marley & The Wailers
Nielsen's top 20 programs for week ending April 11, 1976:
Five Easy Pieces, Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley (all ABC); M-A-S-H (CBS): Welcome Back, Kotter, Barney Miller and Six Million Dollar Man (all ABC); Kojak (CBS): Baretta and Bionic Woman (both ABC); One Day at a Time' (CBS); Streets of San Francisco and Good Heavens (both ABC) All in the Family (CBS); Starsky and Hutch (ABC); Hawaii Five-0 and Sonny and Cher (both CBS): Story of David Part II (ABC); The Jeffersons (CBS): and The Story of David. Part I (ABC).
Thor comic for April:
National Lampoon for April:
Time magazine for April 26th:
Rona Barrett's Hollywood magazine for April:
Spirograph toy from 1976:
'1876' by Gore Vidal moves to the top of the New York Times fiction best seller list.
Peanuts comic strip from April 1976:
Peanuts comic strip from April 1976:
For detailed news/info on what happened each day in April 1976, check out this really good site: ultimate70s.com
