Author Archives: dcaligari

June 11, 1977 – Electric Light Orchestra’s record Telephone Line reached #7 on the Billboard Charts in the US, giving the band its first gold single. ELO’s first manager was Don Arden. When he lost interest in the group, he gave them to his daughter Sharon who ran Jet Records. Sharon married Ozzy Osbourne aContinue reading “Hello, how are you?”

June 11, 1966 –The song Paint It Black by the Rolling Stones hit No. 1 on the charts, on this date. On this track, Stones guitarist Brian Jones played the sitar, which was introduced to pop music by The Beatles on their 1965 song Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown). Brian Jones cemented the popularityContinue reading “I see a red door and I want to paint it black”

June 11 is an important day for American football fans, and it seems almost destined to someday become a national holiday. It marks the birthdays of Vince Lombardi (1913) and Joe Montana (1956). Mr. Lombardi played at Fordham University and worked as a Latin and chemistry teacher in New Jersey before becoming the head coachContinue reading “Please celebrate responsibly”

June 11, 1962 –The musical comedy/variety TV special starring Julie Andrews & Carol Burnett, Julie & Carol at Carnegie Hall, aired on CBS TV on this date. At one point Carol Burnett “accidentally” hit’s Julie Andrews‘ in the stomach while taking a bow (this was scripted as part of the number they had just performed).Continue reading “Julie and Carol at Carnegie Hall premiered”

June 11, 1937 – The Marx Brothers film, A Day at the Races, premiered on this date. The Grand Steeplechase sequence at the end had to be shot twice. Both times a crew member persuaded Chico Marx to gamble on it and not only to bet on the outcome of a rigged non-race, but toContinue reading “If I held you any closer, I’d be in back of you …”

June 10, 1966 –The Beatles song Paperback Writer was released in UK, on this date. This claimed the top spot in the US for two non-consecutive weeks; it was interrupted for one week by Frank Sinatra’s Strangers in the Night.

Today is National Black Cow Day – Everybody grab a root beer float today and run around to celebrate. Especially if you add bourbon to the drink. According to several websites, the Black Cow was made by Frank J. Wisner, of Cripple Creek, Colo., in 1893. He was already making sodas for the people ofContinue reading “It s all about enjoying the bubbly and sweet moments.”

June 10, 1953 –Arguably, one of the worse films ever (save those of auteur Ed Wood), Robot Monster was released upon an unsuspecting public, on this date. Released to negative critical response and weak box-office, the title was quickly changed to Monster From Mars. The film, however, illustrates clearly that the monster is from theContinue reading “Robot Monster premiered”

June 10, 1991 – The last episode of the second season of Twin Peaks: Beyond Life and Death aired on ABC TV on this date. In the 2014 book Reflections: An Oral History of Twin Peaks by Brad Dukes, Jules Haimovitz (who was the president and COO of Spelling Entertainment while Twin Peaks was on)Continue reading “It still didn’t make much sense”

June 9, 1978 –The Rolling Stones‘ 14th British and 16th American studio album, Some Girls, was released on this date. The album cover was a parody of a newspaper ad for wigs, but the women wearing the wigs were celebrities like Raquel Welch, Lucille Ball, and Farrah Fawcett. They had to remove the famous womenContinue reading “I’ve been holding out so long …”