Gold Record Awarded: Oklahoma Wins First RIAA Honor
The first gold album ever certified went to a musical about farmers and cowboys arguing over fences. March 1958. The RIAA created the award — 500,000 copies sold — and gave it to *Oklahoma!*, a soundtrack that had been sitting on shelves since 1955. Three years of sales, uncounted. The recording industry suddenly needed proof that music moved units, that investments paid off. Broadway cast albums became cash machines. And the template for every platinum plaque hanging in every label office started with "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'."
July 8, 1958
68 years ago
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