Author Archives: dcaligari

August 5, 1978 –The Rolling Stones had their eighth US No.1 hit with the single Miss You, on this date. The song was written by Mick Jagger after jamming with keyboardist Billy Preston during rehearsals for forthcoming club dates the Stones were playing.

It’s St. Sithney Day. He is the patron saint of mad dogs Make of this what you wish: A Breton folk story, states that God asked Sithney to be the patron saint of girls seeking husbands, but Sithney said he would rather be the patron saint of mad dogs and get some rest. (And youContinue reading “Never trust your dog to guard your sandwich”

August 4, 1958 –The Billboard Hot 100 was published for the first time on this date. The first number-one song of the Hot 100 was Poor Little Fool by Ricky Nelson. The song was written by 17-year-old Sharon Sheeley when she was still attending high school in Newport Beach, California. Female songwriters were rare atContinue reading “I used to play around with hearts”

August 04, 1956– The Merrie Melodies short, Rocket-bye Baby, directed by Chuck Jones, was released on this date. One of the few Looney Tunes where Mel Blanc doesn’t do any voices. Instead, Daws Butler, famous for the voices of Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound and other characters in the Hanna-Barbera library, and June Foray, most famousContinue reading “Rocket-bye Baby premiered”

August 4, 1954 –Douglas Sirk’s first Technicolor gift for film goers, Magnificent Obsession, was released on this date. Rock Hudson never knew that Jane Wyman had served as an FBI informer under the code name T-10, providing the names of actors within the motion picture industry whom they believed to be communist sympathizers.

August 4, 1942 –The Paramount Picture film, Holiday Inn, directed by Mark Sandrich and starring Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby was released in theaters on this date. Kemmons Wilson, who founded the Holiday Inn motel chain in 1952, named it after this movie. Strangely enough, White Christmas was not expected to be a hit song.Continue reading “If you’re burdened down with trouble”

August 3, 1968 –The revisionist Western film, Hang ‘Em High, directed by Ted Post and starring Clint Eastwood, Inger Stevens, Ed Begley, and Pat Hingle, was released on this date. Clint Eastwood’s first leading role in a Hollywood film. He was already 38 years old. Hang ‘Em High is also notable for being Eastwood’s firstContinue reading “Hang ‘Em High premiered”

August 3, 1929 – Four famous vaudevillian performers took a chance on the new medium of ‘talking pictures‘ with the general release of the film, The Cocoanuts, starring the Four Marx Brothers — Chico, Groucho, Harpo and Zeppo, on this date,. When The Marx Brothers were shown the final cut of the film, they wereContinue reading “Here is a viaduct leading over to the mainland.”

July 30, 1946 – The Merrie Melodies short, Bacall to Arms, directed by Bob Clampett, was released on this date Originally, the audio track for the To Have and Have Not parody featured the actual audio of Bogart and Bacall from the film. However, the Warner Bros. legal department informed the producers that they couldContinue reading “Bacall to Arms premiered”

August 03, 1947– The Merrie Melodies short, A Pest in the House, directed by Chuck Jones, and starring Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd, was released on this date The film is notable for featuring a sort of “in-between” interpretation of Daffy Duck. He is not necessarily the zany, impish interpretation used famously by Tex AveryContinue reading “A Pest in the House premiered”