Author Archives: dcaligari

July 30, 1937 – The Merrie Melodies short, Plenty of Money and You, directed by Friz Freleng, was released on this date. Sloppy Joe’s, a Key West fixture that was beloved by Ernest Hemingway, had its beginning just four years prior, when Prohibition was repealed in 1933.

July 31, 1976 –Blue Oyster Cult single, from their album, Agents of Fortune, (Don’t Fear) the Reaper, was released on this date. (Don’t Fear) The Reaper was written and sung by Blue Öyster Cult’s lead guitarist, Donald Roeser, also known as Buck Dharma. It was rumored to be about suicide, but it actually deals withContinue reading “All our times have come”

July 31, 1966 –The Beatles records were burned in Birmingham, Alabama on this date — only because John Lennon innocently declared that the band happens to be “more popular than Jesus.“ The record burning of course has the opposite effect, as sales of Beatles records dramatically increase (in part to burn them.)

July 30, 1966 – The Dynamic Duo made the jump from the TV scene to the movie scene – Batman, The Movie, premiered in Austin, Texas on this date. Originally planned as the pilot story for the TV series Batman, the film was then made and released between the end of season 1 of theContinue reading “Some days, you just can’t get rid of a bomb!”

July 30, 1982 –One of Ron Howard’s early movie directorial efforts Night Shift, opened on this date. Henry Winkler was scheduled to begin principal photography for this movie in New York City during his holiday hiatus from Happy Days, and would resume the following year, following production of the ninth season of Happy Days. WinklerContinue reading “Night Shift premiered”

July 30, 1932 –Flowers and Trees is a Silly Symphonies cartoon produced by Walt Disney, directed by Burt Gillett and released to theatres by United Artists on this date. It was the first commercially released film to be produced in the full-color three-strip Technicolor process, after several years of two-color Technicolor films. The original workContinue reading “Flowers and Trees premiered”

July 30, 1960 – The Merrie Melodies short, Ready, Woolen and Able, directed by Chuck Jones, starring Ralph the Wolf and Sam Sheepdog, was released on this date. Ralph the Wolf looks much like Wile E. Coyote. The difference is that Ralph Wolf’s nose is red while Wile E. Coyote’s nose is black.

July 30, 1999 – Warner Bros. Feature Animation released the directorial debut of The Iron Giant, featuring the voice of Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick Jr., Vin Diesel, James Gammon, Cloris Leachman, John Mahoney, Eli Marienthal, Christopher McDonald, and M. Emmet Walsh, on this date The scene the Giant’s hand is in the living room watchingContinue reading “The Iron Giant premiered”

July 30, 1966 –The Beatles’ album Yesterday… and Today, went #1 and stayed #1 for five weeks, on this date. The record was released just after John’s infamous interview in which he stated that the Beatles were “bigger than Jesus“, which angered Americans and provoked many bans on their music and public incineration of memorabilia.Continue reading “Asked a girl what she wanted to be”

July 30, 1977 –Andy Gibb’s song, I Just Want to Be Your Everything, reached no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, on this date. This was the first of three #1 singles for Gibb, which made him the first male solo artist with three consecutive #1 singles in the US. The next single was (LoveContinue reading “You and me been finding each other for so long”