Author Archives: dcaligari

June 22, 1965 –The first screenplay of Woody Allen that was produced, What’s New Pussycat?, starring Peter O’Toole, Peter Sellers (and co-starring Woody Allen) opened in the US on this date. Groucho Marx was to have played Dr. Fassbender when Warren Beatty was attached to the project.

June 22, 1984 –The atmospheric black-comedy, The Pope of Greenwich Village, starring Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Daryl Hannah, and Geraldine Page, opened on this date. Rickie Lee Jones had originally written and recorded an instrumental demo as a theme, but it was rejected in favor of Frank Sinatra’s Summer Wind. The demo, which retained theContinue reading “The Pope of Greenwich Village premiered”

June 21, 1982 –Paul McCartney released the single Take It Away from his album Tug of War, on this date. The video looks like it’s about the discovery of McCartney’s group Wings, although they had broken up by then. The song is Paul McCartney’s most successful as a solo artist in the early ‘80s.

June 21, 1977 –Marvin Gaye’s song Got To Give It Up, reached the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, replacing Dreams by Fleetwood Mac, on this date. This song was the subject of a landmark court case filed by Marvin Gaye’s estate in 2013 against the writers of Robin Thicke’s hit Blurred Lines.Continue reading “Got To Give It Up topped the charts”

June 21, 1977 – Martin Scorsese’s homage to movie musicals – New York, New York, opened on this date. Robert De Niro learned to play the saxophone (in three months) in order to make his performance look more authentic. Unfortunately, his sax playing still had to be overdubbed and it is veteran jazz musician GeorgeContinue reading “New York, New York premiered”

June 21, 1997 –The first Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) game was played on this date, with the New York Liberty taking on the Los Angeles Sparks at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California. A crowd of 14,284 watched as Sparks guard Penny Toler scored the first basket in WNBA history. The Liberty defeatedContinue reading “Start of the WNBA”

June 21, 1969 –In an ill-advised attempted to make the British royal family seem more ‘approachable‘, the BBC airs the documentary Royal Family, on this date. Created at the behest (I absolutely love the word behest,) of Queen Elizabeth, eager to humanize the Royal Family at a time of social upheaval, it only aired twice.Continue reading “(Unfortunately) The Royal Family premiered”

June 20, 1966 –The Beatles released their ninth album issued on Capitol Records and twelfth American release overall, Yesterday and Today, with the amended cover, on this date. The original release of the album Yesterday and Today by the Beatles, with the so-called “Butcher cover”, is one of the most widely recognized valuable albums inContinue reading “Yesterday and Today”

June 20, 1992 –Mariah Carey’s cover of the Jackson 5 classic I’ll Be There, became her 6th US No.1 hit single on this date. Recorded for her MTV Unplugged special, it’s the first song from the MTV acoustic showcase to become a hit.

June 20, 1941 – Advertised as their farewell film (they went on to appear in two more,) The Big Store, starring the Marx Brothers and Margaret Dumont (in her final appearance in a Marx Bros. film) premiered on this date. This film made MGM the modest profit of $33,000 according to studio records. But, itContinue reading “The Big Store premiered”