Elton John won't ever let the sun go down on him...
Life couldn't be better for Elton John in 2006. He starts a two-month tour in a week that begins in Europe and ends with 10-days in Las Vegas at Caesar's Palace. His "The Captain and the Kid" LP shipped this week and he also has a song on "From The Big Apple To The Big Easy: The Concert For New Orleans" LP which was released this week. Life is good. His run in the U.S. had a beginning though and it happened 36 years ago today...
Elton was a bearded 23-year old rocker complete with bell bottoms and a bright red t-shirt when he hit the stage at The Troubador in West Hollywood, opening for the "immortal" David Ackles. If you're wondering if Elton was good in his U.S. debut, we'll turn to someone who was there to give us the answer. The L.A. Times put it like this: "Rejoice. Rock music has a new star who was in almost every way, magnificent. He's going to be one of Rock's biggest and most important stars". Rolling Stone called the opening night of a week-long performance "among the top 20 concerts that changed Rock and Roll"...
Elton John's record sales exceed 250 million. His 50 Top 40 hits, including 6 #1 hits and 16 Top 10 hits, has made him one of the most successful musicians of all time. In 1994 Elton was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 1998 he was knighted. What's left ? I mean, what does he do for an encore ? I'm sure he'll think of something. Stay tuned...
Ten Timeline Memories...
(01) [1949] NBC Radio debuts "Father Knows Best". The show moves to TV in 1954...
(02) [1952] Tiger righthander Virgil Trucks becomes only the 3rd pitcher in major league history to throw 2 no-hitters in the same season with a 1-0 shutout of the Yankees at Yankee Stadium (strangely enough, Trucks will finish the season with a 5-19 record for the lowly Tigers)...
03) [1960] The AFL in their inaugural season decide to place the names of the players on the back of their uniforms...
(04) [1984] Truman Capote dies of liver disease at 59 at the home of friend and former wife of Johnny Carson, Joanne Carson...
(05) [1985] The Mets' Dwight "Doc" Gooden at 20 becomes the youngest pitcher to win 20 games (Doc will finish the season at 24-4)...
(06) [1991] "Cheers" and "LA Law" are the big winners at the 43rd Emmy Awards (the 2006 Emmy Awards are on this weekend)...
(07) [1993] Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman is indicted by a federal grand jury for terrorist activities, one of which was the World Trade Center bombing...
(08) [1994] Jimmy Buffett's plane flips over after taking off from the Nantucket airport. Buffet will swim to safety (and then proceeds to get 'wasted away again in Margaritaville')...
(09) [2001] 22-year old Latina singer Aaliyah and 8 others are killed when their plane crashes in Marsh Harbor in the Abacos Islands of northern Bahamas (the overloaded plane appeared to have engine trouble)...
(10) [2003] Tennis champion Pete Sampras announces his retirement at a news conference at the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows.
Released on this date: 1973] "Ramblin' Man" - Allman Brothers...1975] "Born To Run" (LP) - Bruce Springsteen...1976] "Boston" (LP) - Boston...1979] "Cars" - Gary Numan...1986] "Graceland" (LP) - Paul Simon...
D-I-V-O-R-C-E-D: 1994] Billy Joel and "Uptown Girl" Christie Brinkley...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday"...
Claudia Schiffer (36), Jo Dee Messina (36), Billy Ray Cyrus (45), Elvis Costello (52), Gene Simmons (57), Baseball HOFer Rollie Fingers (60), Walter (O'Jays) Williams (63), Tom Skerritt (73), Regis Philbin (75), Sean Connery (76), Monty Hall (85) and Van Johnson (89)...
[Timeline Countdown: 11 days until Labor Day, 15 days until NFL kickoff, 40 days until MLB playoffs, 128 days remaining in 2006 and as of this writing...The Mets magic # is: 22]
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Saturday, August 26, 2006...
Ten Timeline Memories...
(01) [1873] Dr. Lee DeForest is born. He's the inventor of the audion tube which makes broadcasting possible (all bow down to the good doctor)...
(02) [1873] The school board of St. Louis (MO) authorizes the 1st U.S. public kindergarten...
(03) [1939] The 1st televised major league baseball games are shown on experimental W2XBS. It's a double-header between the Brooklyn Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds...
(04) [1947] The Brooklyn Dodger pitcher Don Bankhead becomes the 1st black pitcher in major league baseball...
(05) [1957] Ford rolls out the 1st Edsel (1958 model). The last Edsel rolls out at the end of November of '59 (1960 model)...
(06) [1964] The Democratic National Convention nominates LBJ for a full term with Hubert H. Humphrey as his running mate in Atlantic City (living in AC at the time, I remember seeing both candidates at their palacial rental waiting to be escorted to the Convention Hall for their coronation)...
(07) [1970] Duane Allman starts recording as a member of Eric Clapton's new band, Derek & The Dominoes...
(08) [1974] Charles Lindbergh dies of cancer on the Hawaiian island of Maui (Lindbergh was 72)...
(09) [1986] Jennifer Levin is found strangled in Central Park. Preppie Killer Robert Chambers eventually confesses but uses a "rough sex" defense. He will serve 15 years (the 1st 5 in solitary) and is released at age 36 in August of '05. Chambers was sentenced to 100 days in jail for possession of heroin and cocaine recently...
(10) [2003] Investigators conclude that NASA's overconfident management and inattention to safety doomed the space shuttle Columbia as much as damage to the craft did...
Released on this date...[1967] "Purple Haze" - Jimi Hendrix (brave souls that we were at WRKO this was a big hit for us when no one else played it)...
On the cover of Rolling Stone...[1976] Aerosmith...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday"...
Macaulay Culkin (26), Bob Cowsill (57), Lee Trevino (58), Valerie Simpson (58), Tom Ridge (who will paint the town "red") (61), Geraldine Ferraro (71), Celtic great Tommy Heinsohn (72), former Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee (85)...
[Timeline Countdown: 10 days until Labor Day, 14 days until NFL kickoff, 39 days until MLB playoffs and 127 days remain in 2006]
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Sunday, August 27, 2006...
Ten Timeline Memories...
(01) [1859] The 1st oil well is successfully drilled in the U.S. by Colonel Edwin L. Drake near Titusville (PA) (where ???)...
(02) [1921] The owner of Acme Packing Company bought a pro-football team for the town of Green Bay (WI). J.E. Clair pays tribute to those who worked at his plant by naming the team: The Green Bay Packers (to this day it's still the only professional team owned by a community)...
(03) [1961] "Francis The Talking Mule" is mystery guest on "What's My Line" (how the devil did Francis sign in ?)...
(04) [1966] Elvis Presley invites the Beatles over to his Bel Aire house to jam. It's the 1st and last meeting of the pop icons...
(05) [1976] Sex-change tennis player Renee Richards is denied admission to the U.S. Open in Forest Hills ("let's see, do we put him/her in the men's competition or women's ???")...
(06) [1982] 23-year old Rickey Henderson steals his 119th base, breaking Lou Brock's season record (although he hasn't been in MLB for a while, Henderson still holds the career record for stolen bases with 1,406)...
(07) [1984] President Reagan announces his "Teacher in Space" project. Although 11,000 teachers applied, Christa McAuliffe of New Hampshire is selected but loses her life in the Challenger tragedy. In 2003 NASA tried to renew Reagan's committment, an on-going project...
(08) [1990] Texas rocker Stevie Ray Vaughan (who took his brother Jimmie's seat) and 3 members of Eric Clapton's crew are killed in a helicopter crash in Wisconsin in bad weather...
(09) [1992] John Lennon's handwritten lyrics to "A Day In The Life" are sold for $87,000 at auction...
(10) [2001] Work begins on the future site of a WWII memorial in Washington (DC)...
Released on this date: 1965] "Highway 61 Revisited" (LP)...1966] "Cherish - Association...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used]...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday"...
Paul (Pee Wee Herman) Reubens (54), Tuesday Weld (63), Daryl ("The Captain") Dragon (64), Tommy Sands (69) and Ira ("Rosemary's Baby") Levin (77)...
[Timeline Countdown: 9 days until Labor Day, 13 days until NFL kickoff, 38 days until MLB playoffs and 126 days remain in 2006]
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