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January 11, 1983 –Painting bad landscapes was never so easy when The Joy of Painting featuring Bob Ross premiered on this date. Bob made three copies of every painting he made. The first copy always hid off screen, and Ross referred to it while the cameras rolled. Ross painted a third copy when filming finished.Continue reading “The Joy of Painting premiered”

January 10 1948 –Musician and front man of the rock band Steely Dan, Donald Fagen, was born on this date. After the death of his friend and co-founder of Steely Dan, Walter Becker, Fagen continues to tour as Steely Dan.

January 10, 1949 (This date is under much debate) –45 RPM’s – the term for the record format introduced by RCA on this date. This soon became the standard format used for vinyl “singles” for several decades. (Kids, RPM stands for “revolutions per minute.”) Just think, all that pleasure from just 7″.

Hold on. Life will get warmer. There are 69 days until Spring (Although we haven’t really had any snow in NYC. I’m sure I’ve brought a kinahora upon us.) Not to upset anyone but there are 299 until the presidential election.

January 10 1927 –The film Metropolis opened in Berlin on this date. It was the most expensive silent film of the time, adjusting for inflation, the budget for Metropolis (7m Reichsmarks) ran around $230 million (2016). (The film went into public domain last year.) Much to Fritz Lang’s dismay, Adolf Hitler and Joseph Goebbels wereContinue reading “One of the most influential Sci-Fi films premiered”

January 10, 1999 –David Chase’s landmark series about the lives of gangsters and their existential angst, The Soprano, starring James Gandolfini, Edie Falco, and Lorraine Bracco debuted on HBO on this date. After the pilot aired, a real-life “wise guy” told James Gandolfini never to wear shorts again. The encounter seems to have been incorporatedContinue reading “The Sopranos premiered 25 years ago”

January 9, 1981 –Jesus saves and (insert your favorite sports figure here) scores. Hockey Hall of Famer, Phil Esposito, said he would call it quits as a hockey player after the New York Rangers-Buffalo Sabres hockey game. It was a game that seemed like it might never end – both teams skated to a 3-3Continue reading “Esposito retired as a player”

January 9, 1965 –The Beatles album Beatles 65, started a nine week run at No.1 on the US album charts, the group’s fourth No.1, on this date. Beatles ’65 includes eight of the fourteen songs from Beatles for Sale and also includes I’ll Be Back from A Hard Day’s Night and the single I FeelContinue reading “Beatles 65 topped the charts”

January 9, 1997 –Based on the original BBC series, which premiered in 1979, Antiques Roadshow premiered on your local PBS station, on this date. In 2001, PBS began airing the original BBC version of Antiques Roadshow in the United States. In the United States, the BBC version is titled Antiques Roadshow UK to differentiate itContinue reading “That tchotchke is worth how much?”

January 9, 1959 –The TV Western, Rawhide, with Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates premiered on CBS-TV on this date. Clint Eastwood used the same gun and wore the same boots as in his “Spaghetti Westerns” A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. He also woreContinue reading “Keep them doggies rollin’”