Author Archives: dcaligari

July 22, 1916In San Francisco, on this date, some 50,000 people marched in a Preparedness Day parade (the largest parade ever held in the city), supporting the US intervention in World War I. The event was sponsored by business leaders and opposed by labor. A bomb went off on Market St. during the parade andContinue reading “The 1916 San Francisco bombing”

July 22, 1977 –Stiff Records released Elvis Costello’s debut studio album, My Aim Is True, produced by Nick Lowe, on this date in the UK. The musicians who were featured on the album were uncredited on the original release (due to contractual difficulties), although the backing band was made up of members of the bandContinue reading “My Aim Is True dropped”

July 22, 1964 –One of Hitchcock’s most underrated (and sexually twisted) films, Marnie opened on this date. After rehearsing just a few scenes with Sean Connery, Tippi Hedren asked Alfred Hitchcock, “Marnie is supposed to be frigid, have you seen him?” referring to the young Connery. Hitchcock’s reply was reportedly, “Yes, my dear, it’s calledContinue reading “Marnie premiered”

July 22, 1959 –Either considered the worst or greatest film ever made, Ed Wood Jr’s sci-fi classic, Plan 9 from Outer Space, starring Bela Lugosi, Gregory Walcott, Mona McKinnon, Tor Johnson, Vampira and narrated by Criswell, opened in the US on this date. Bela Lugosi appears in footage shot just before his death, but withContinue reading “Grave Robbers from Outer Space!”

August 3, 1926 – July 21, 2023:I have a simple life. I mean, you just give me a drum roll, they announce my name, and I come out and sing. In my job I have a contract that says I’m a singer. So I sing. Anthony Dominick Benedetto, the last great saloon singer has passed.Continue reading “Tony Bennett”

July 21, 1899 –Ernest Hemingway was born on this date. He was young at the time of his birth. It was fine to be young. He drove an ambulance in the first world war. It wasn’t called the first world war then. It was called the war. It was one of those times when peopleContinue reading “Never go on trips with anyone you do not love.”

July 21, 1990 – Roger Waters staged an over-sized version of Pink Floyd’s The Wall near the Berlin Wall, on this date, to celebrate the actual wall’s fall several months earlier. Shot on Potsdamer Platz, the no man’s land between East and West Germany, the producers didn’t know if the area would be filled withContinue reading “The Wall performed in Berlin”

July 21, 1979 –Robert Palmer released a cover version of the Moon Martin song, Bad Case Of Loving You, on this date. Known by most as “Doctor, Doctor,” this is one of many songs in the blues/rock tradition that compares the singers’ love to a medical condition. Apparently, Palmer got hooked on whatever the doctorContinue reading “Bad Case Of Loving You dropped”

July 21, 1977 –Despite protests, The Sex Pistols made their first appearance on the UK music show Top Of The Pops where they lip-synched to their third single, Pretty Vacant (which was released three weeks prior); The performance helped push the song up the charts to No.7. The Sex Pistols would probably not have beenContinue reading “The Sex Pistols appearance on Top of the Pops”

July 21, 1989 –Orion Pictures‘ comedy UHF, (written by and) starring Weird Al Yankovic, David Bowe, Fran Drescher, Victoria Jackson, Kevin McCarthy, Michael Richards, Gedde Watanabe, Kevin McCarthy, Anthony Geary, Emo Philips and Trinidad Silva opened in US theatres on this date. The soundtrack features many of Yankovic’s signature song parodies, as well as aContinue reading “UHF premiered”