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July 23, 1979 –Electric Light Orchestra dedicated the release, on this date, of the single Don’t Bring Me Down from their album Discovery to Skylab which had crashed back to Earth on July 11, 1979. (The song is the first ELO song without any strings.) Don’t Bring Me Down became the biggest hit ELO everContinue reading “Don’t Bring Me Down first went on sale”

July 23, 1987 –Columbia Pictures released the biopix about Richie Valens, La Bamba, starring Lou Diamond Phillips, Esai Morales, Rosanna DeSoto, and Elizabeth Peña, on this date. Ritchie Valens’ family were so attached to Lou Diamond Phillips that when he was shooting the scene where Valens gets on the airplane that led him to hisContinue reading “La Bamba premiered”

July 23, 1950 –The Singing Cowboy Gene Autry’s series The Gene Autry Show, co-starring Pat Buttram, sponsored by Wrigley’s Doublemint Gum, premiered on CBS-TV, on this date. Two-thirds of the way through the first season’s production, Pat Buttram was severely injured in an explosion and was hospitalized for several months. In order to complete theContinue reading “The Gene Autry Show first aired”

July 23, 1904 –At the turn of the last century, ice-cream men were a breed apart. It was hard work making ice-cream and the rewards were few. “You don’t choose ice cream,” they said, “ice cream chooses you.” Well, Charles E. Menches was an ice-cream man. They say it ran in his veins. (They sayContinue reading “The story of the ice cream cone”

July 23, 1885 –One of the most famous residents of West 122th Street and Riverside Drive made a most fateful decision on this date. He decided to give up the ghost. In 1881, Ulysses S. Grant, American general, the eighteenth President of the United States and famous horseback riding drunk, purchased a house in NewContinue reading “The passing of President Grant”

July 22nd is Spooner’s Day, honoring Reverend William Archibald Spooner, a 19th Century British clergyman, who was born on this date in 1844. Spoonerisms are usually a two-word phrase in which the first letters (and occasionally the initial vowels) of the words are reversed. Reverend Spooner was adept at the art of the oopsy linguae,Continue reading “Is it kisstomary to cuss the bride?”

July 22, 1951 –It’s the premiere episode of Dogs In Space – Two Russian dogs, Dezik and Tsygan, were the first canines to make a sub-orbital flight in history on this date. The Russian space program used dogs quite often to determine whether a particular space mission would be safe for humans. Little know fact:Continue reading “A beloved classic returns”

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. The film played for years in relative obscurity (to some) onContinue reading “Can you prove that it didn’t happen?”

July 22, 1964 – One of Hitchcock’s most underrated (and sexually twisted) films, Marnie premiered on this date. Alfred Hitchcock, following his usual practice, bid for the movie rights to Winston Graham’s novel anonymously, so as to keep the price down. However, in this instance, the scheme backfired; the anonymity of the purchaser made GrahamContinue reading “Marnie premiered”

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. Elvis Costello quit his day job at Elizabeth Arden on July 5, 1977. I guess he’d made a living since then.