Author Archives: dcaligari

November 21, 1981 –The Queen/David Bowie collaboration Under Pressure went to No. #1 on the charts in the UK, on this date. Brian May recalled to Mojo magazine October 2008. “It was hard, because you had four very precocious boys and David, who was precocious enough for all of us. David took over the songContinue reading “Under Pressure topped the charts”

November 21, 1980 –After several years delay and hopelessly over budget, MCA Records released seventh studio album by Steely Dan, Gaucho, on this date. MCA tried to recoup the cost of producing Gaucho by selling the album at $9.98 retail, rather than the average rate of $8.98 retail. Donald Fagen and Walter Becker couldn’t helpContinue reading “Gaucho was released”

November 21, 1964 –The upper deck of The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge opened to traffic on this date (at the time it was the world’s longest suspension bridge). And it still takes forever to get to Jersey through Staten Island.

November 21, 1980 –In what was one of the most-watched TV cliffhangers in television history, 350 million viewers worldwide tuned into the television series Dallas to find out who had shot J.R. Ewing at the end of the show’s previous season. As it turned out, he was shot by his wife’s sister, who also wasContinue reading “Who shot JR finally revealed”

November 21, 1992 –Adam Sandler sang The Thanksgiving Song on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update, on this date. Sandler, still two years away from introducing his huge holiday hit The Chanukah Song, celebrated Thanksgiving with a comical ode to the holiday.

November 20, 1973 – The third Peanuts holiday special, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, premiered on CBS-TV on this date. Lucy has limited role in this special: she has her scene where she torments Charlie Brown by yanking away a football as the beleaguered hero attempts to kick it. But that opening scene is the onlyContinue reading “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving premiered”

November 20, 1976 –Former-Beatle George Harrison appeared on Saturday Night Live on this date. This is the episode where the host, Paul Simon, appears in a turkey outfit, during the opening monologue. George Harrison seemed to have misunderstood Lorne Michaels offer of the $3,000 payment for his appearance; Michaels explained to George that the $3,000Continue reading “George Harrison appears on SNL”

November 20, 1999 –John Carpenter became the first world-wide winner of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, on this date. The $1 million question was, “Which of these U.S. Presidents appeared on the television series ‘Laugh-In’?”, with the choices being A) Lyndon Johnson, B) Richard Nixon, C) Jimmy Carter, and D) Gerald Ford. He knewContinue reading “The first millionaire on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire”

November 19, 1980 – Brooke Shields was just 15 when she filmed a series of controversial Calvin Klein television commercials. ABC and CBS banned several of her Calvin Klein jean advertisement because of the highly suggestive question, “Do you know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing,” on this date.

November 19, 1959 –The first episode of Rocky and His Friends aired on this date. The first episode, Part One of the Jet Fuel Formula story arc, was recorded in February 1958. However, subsequent episodes were not recorded until February 1959, using a different soundtrack stock. This led to some notable changes in the performancesContinue reading “Rocky and His Friends premiered”