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January 29, 1981 –Dolly Parton’s theme song for the film 9 to 5 went to No. 1 on the Billboard Charts on this date, In a 2009 interview with 60 Minutes, Parton talked about the unlikely inspiration for this song: her fingernails. She had very long, acrylic nails, and discovered that when she rubbed themContinue reading “9 to 5 topped the charts”

January 28, 1995 –TLC started a four week run at No.1 on Billboards singles chart with Creep, the group’s first US No.1 hit. The song made No.6 in the UK the following year. This was written and produced by the Atlanta-based producer Dallas Austin. Though he had already made a name for himself working alongsideContinue reading “Creep topped the charts (Not the Radiohead version)”

January 28, 1956 –Elvis Presley appeared on the Dorsey brothers’ TV program Stage Show, singing Shake, Rattle and Roll, on this date. It was Elvis‘ first network television appearance.

January 28, 1953 –J. Fred Muggs joined NBC’s Today Show on this date. Please note: any resemblance between Mr. Muggs and any of my nephews is purely coincidental.

January 28, 1977 –Star of TV’s Chico and the Man, Freddie Prinze has a violent allergic reaction to lead on this date. Despondent over his upcoming divorce and battling a major drug addiction, Prinze, shot himself in the head days earlier, died on this day. He was 22 years old.

The United Nations General Assembly designated this date, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. On this annual day of commemoration, the UN urges every member state to honor the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and millions of other victims of Nazism and to develop educationalContinue reading “Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented”

January 27, 1984 –Cyndi Lauper released the second single, Time After Time, from her debut album She’s So Unusual on this date. Cyndi Lauper wrote this song with Rob Hyman, who also sang backup. Hyman was in a Philadelphia band with Eric Bazilian and Rick Chertoff. When Rick took a job as a staff producerContinue reading “If you’re lost you can look and you will find me …”

January 27, 1991 –The little remembered TV series, Davis Rules, starring Randy Quaid and Jonathan Winters premiered on ABC TV on this date. (The series moved to CBS TV for its’ second and final season.) The show premiered right after the Super Bowl in 1991.

January 27, 1976 –Laverne and Shirley, a spinoff from Happy Days, starring Penny Marshall as Laverne De Fazio and Cindy Williams as Shirley Feeney, premiered on ABC-TV on this date. Various Happy Days cast members have talked about the vicious fights next door on set of Laverne and Shirley, so loud that they would listenContinue reading “The first time most American heard ‘Schlemiel and Schlimazel’”

January 26, 1973 –Elton John’s sixth studio album, Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player, was released on this date. It was his second straight No. 1 album in the US. According to Elton John: The Definitive Biography, here’s how the album got its title: While in Los Angeles, Elton was introduced to theContinue reading “Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player went on sale”