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December 26, 1963 –The Beatles release their first hit single in the United States: I Want To Hold Your Hand with I Saw Her Standing There on the b-side. It’s their first single issued by Capitol Records; within months the group becomes a Stateside sensation.

December 26, 1981 –AC/DC had their second straight #1 album as For Those About to Rock We Salute You went to No. 1 on the Billboard Charts on this date. The name of the album was inspired by a book Angus Young read, entitled ‘For Those About to Die, We Salute You‘, about Roman gladiators.

December 26, 1957 – The Ingmar Bergman classic Wild Strawberries, starring Victor Sjostrom, opened in Sweden on this date. Ingmar Bergman wrote the movie with Victor Sjöström in mind. He and the production company agreed that there would be no movie without Sjöström. Bergman didn’t dare to call his idol Sjöström himself about the movieContinue reading “Smultronstället premiered”

December 26, 1951 –The film that introduced Akira Kurosawa to world audiences, Rashomon, starring Toshiro Mifune and Machiko Kyo, opened in the US on this date. During shooting, the cast approached Kurosawa en masse with the script and asked him, “What does it mean?” The answer Akira Kurosawa gave at that time and also inContinue reading “Rashomon premiered”

December 26, 1975 –Eric Idle’s TV series, Rutland Weekend Television aired their Christmas Special with guest star George Harrison, on the BBC2 on this date. George Harrison begins to sing his hit My Sweet Lord before breaking into The Pirate Song on the special.

If you’re keeping score, you currently have two turtledoves and a pair of partridges in their respective pear trees (four gifts – remember we’re counting the partridge and a pear tree as a unit. Begin taking extra copies of free daily newspapers – you’ll need it in a major way. (The gift, the two turtleContinue reading “The gifts still seem charming”

Tonight’s the first night of Kwanzaa. Although it may seem like it, Kwanzaa is not a religious holiday; it is a celebration of heritage and culture. Kwanzaa means “first fruit” in Swahili.

December 25, 1973 –Slade, Suzi Quatro and 10cc are among the performers on the BBC Top Of The Pops Christmas special, which first premiered on this date. The show’s dancers do a routine with dogs to Gilbert O’Sullivan’s Get Down, leading to rumors that the “bad dog baby” in the song was Sullivan’s misbehaving poochContinue reading “A blast from the past”

December 25, 1968 –CBS gave their viewers a two-fer treat when A Beverly Hillbilly’s Christmas at Hooterville first aired on this date The episode includes the entire Clampett clan along with Mr. Drucker and Miss Hathaway, but also features multiple characters from the Beverly Hillbillies spin-off shows Green Acres and Petitcoat Junction.

December 25, 1967 – The Monkees gave their fans a treat with their episode The Christmas Show when it first aired on this date. Butch Patrick, who plays Melvin, is better known to audiences as Eddie Munster from The Munsters, a show, which had finished its run in 1966, the year The Monkees started.