Author Archives: dcaligari

May 4th is known as Star Wars Day. You get it – May the Fourth be with you. Oh, never mind.

May 4, 1973 – Bruce Jay Friedman’s Off-Broadway play, Steambath debuted on PBS, on this date. Valerie Perrine became the first woman to display (on purpose) her nipples on American network television. Perrine is also seen taking a shower from the side and her butt was in full view. Only 24 PBS stations were adventurousContinue reading “Please ask your folks if you can watch this”

May 3, 1980 –The Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band single Against The Wind began a six week run at No.1 on the Billboard charts on this date. Bob Seger won the 1980 Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal Grammy award for this song.

May 3, 1947 – Sylvester tried to have Tweety Bird for lunch for the first time in the Looney Tunes cartoon, Tweetie Pie, which premiered on this date (Yeah, yeah, I know Sylvester is called Thomas but it’s Sylvester just the same. In 1948, with the cartoon Scaredy Cat, his name was changed to Sylvester,Continue reading “Sylvester and Tweety’s first pairing”

May 3, 1966 –Johnny Carson played the new party game Twister with Eva Gabor on the Tonight Show on this date. Gabor and Carson got tied up in knots, the studio audience went hysterical and Twister went on to sell more than three million copies over the next year.

May 3, 1964 –Gerry and the Pacemakers make their US TV debut, performing Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying on The Ed Sullivan Show on this date. Gerry & the Pacemakers were the second group be signed by manager Brian Epstein (after The Beatles). They were part of the Merseybeat sound emanating from Liverpool,Continue reading “… The night’s the time for all your tears …”

May 3, 1937 – A short little southern lady wrote a novel for her own amusement, and with solid support from her husband, she kept her literary efforts a secret from all her friends. She would hide the voluminous pages under towels, disguising them as a divan, or hide pages in her closets or underContinue reading “A Pulitzer for a controversial novel”

Ukuleles will get you through times with no money better than money will get you through time with no ukulele Today is Play Your Ukulele Day!

May 2, 1997 –New Line Cinema released Jay Roach’s mega-hit Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery starring Mike Myers, Elizabeth Hurley, and Michael York, on this date. Mike Myers has revealed in interviews that the Austin Powers character was created based on a couple of instances involving his family. His father loved watching British comediesContinue reading “Oh, behave …”

May 2, 1946 –James M. Cain’s excellent crime thriller, The Postman Always Rings Twice, opened on this date. The on-set sexual tension between John Garfield and Lana Turner was clear to all involved with the film. Their first day together, he called out to her, “Hey, Lana, how’s about a little quickie?” to which sheContinue reading “The Postman Always Rings Twice premiered”