Category Archives: Uncategorized

April 27, 1969 –Joe Cocker made his first U.S. TV appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, on this date. Together with the Grease Band, Cocker performed a cover of Dave Mason’s Feelin’ Alright. The song would end up being a two-time charting hit for Cocker — in 1969 and again in 1972. Cocker included aContinue reading “Joe Cocker’s first time”

Today is Arbor Day. The holiday is celebrated on the last Friday of April  – The first Arbor Day took place on April 10, 1872 in Nebraska. It was the brainchild of Julius Sterling Morton (1832-1902), a Nebraska journalist and politician originally from Michigan.  Throughout his long and productive career, Morton worked to improve agriculturalContinue reading “The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn”

April 26, 1978 – The concert billed as The Band’s “farewell concert appearance“, was held on November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. The concert film, The Last Waltz, directed by Martin Scorsese, starring members of the band and many of their friends, opened in the US on this date. The Band’s managementContinue reading “The Last Waltz premiered”

April 26, 1956 –Godzilla debuted in America on this date. (Gojira premiered in Japan on November 3, 1954.) The American version of the film had 40 minutes of the original excised (mostly the content dealing with World War II or the anti-nuclear message,) and had 20 minutes of the masterful deadpan stylings of Raymond Burr.Continue reading “It’s clearly a red letter day at our house”

April 26, 1988 – The pilot episode of China Beach, starring Dana Delaney, Nan Woods, Michael Boatman, and Marg Helgenberger, premiered on ABC TV on this date. (For some reason this series has almost faded into obscurity.) Several of the storylines, and even some of the dialogue were taken directly from the experiences and recollectionsContinue reading “We were back in Nam (again)”

April 26, 1967 –CBS broadcast the documentary, Inside Pop – The Rock Revolution, with the host Leonard Bernstein, on this date. The program marked the first time that television presented pop music as a legitimate art form.

April 26, 1933 –I’m glad I was born when I was. My time was the golden age of variety. If I were starting out again now, maybe things would happen for me, but it certainly would not be on a variety show with 28 musicians, 12 dancers, two major guest stars, 50 costumes a weekContinue reading “Carol Burnett”

April 25, 1955 –Captiol Records released the ninth studio album by American vocalist Frank Sinatra, In the Wee Small Hours, on this date. The album is a collection of melancholy ballads, with arrangements by Nelson Riddle, was an early example of a concept album and helped popularize the 12-inch format for non-classical recordings.

April 25, 1974 –Steely Dan’s most successful single, (it charted at #4,) Rikki Don’t Lose That Number, was released on this date. The Rikki of the title is Rikki Ducornet, a New York writer and artist. Steely Dan co-front Donald Fagen met her while both were attending Bard College, a small liberal arts school locatedContinue reading “What was that number again?”

April 25, 1992 – The final episodes of Who’s the Boss, aired on this date on ABC-TV. The original ending for the series, as proposed by the writers, was for Angela and Tony to get married. ABC executives, however, balked at this ending and were supported by Tony Danza, who was against having Tony andContinue reading “Tony and Angela were together one last time”