A typical summer day for Motown in the 60's...
That day would consist of having the #1 hit in the country and the release of a summer classic for all summers to come. They were dancing on West Grand Boulevard in the Motor City and the world would soon be "Dancing in the Street" along with Martha and the Vandellas which was released on August 22nd, 1964. Another summer - another Motown hit. Berry Gordy Jr. would top that with a group that would dominate the charts for years when The Supremes had the 1st of 5 consecutive #1 hits on the same date...same year. But the road to the top of the charts began with a thud for The Supremes...
With their 1st 6 releases The Supremes were as cold as, okay let's say the Red Sox. Enter the hit making producers, Holland-Dozier-Holland and as unsuccessful as Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson were producing the most famous girl group in the universe, that's how successfull HDH was with The Supremes. Release #7 was "When The Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes" which peaked at #23 but the boys were just warming up. The next release ("Run, Run, Run") stiffed but then there were 5, count 'em, 5 #1 hits in a row...
"Where Did Our Love Go" was #1 on this date in 1964, followed by "Baby Love", "Come See About Me", "Stop! In The Name Of Love" and "Back In My Arms Again". And by the way, Holland-Dozier-Holland also produced "Dancing In The Street". Berry Gordy never stopped smiling after August 22, 1964...
Ten Timeline Memories...
01) [1865] A patent for liquid soap was received by William Sheppard who discovered that if you leave a bar of soap in a soap dish and never drain it - you get liquid soap (I do that every day)...
02) [1906] The Victor Talking Machine Company of Camden (NJ) begins to manufacture the Victrola. The hand-cranked unit with horn cabinet sold for $200 (which would translate to $200 bazillion today)...
03) [1966] Giant pitcher Juan Marichal (a future Hall of Famer by the way) hits Dodger catcher John Roseboro in the (coconut as Fran Healy would say) head (to you and me) with a bat (HELLO!) during an on-field fight (just another day in the office)...
04) [1970] MCA Records opens the vault and extracts a princely (undisclosed) sum of money to sign Elton John...
05) [1973] Henry Kissinger is named Secretary of State by President Richard Nixon (Kissinger will serve until 1977) and becomes an invaluable foreign affairs consultant forever...
06) [1984] The last VW Rabbit rolls off the assembly line in Westmoreland (PA)...
07) [1986] Kerr-McGee Corporation agrees to pay the estate of the late Karen Silkwood, $1.38 million to settle a 10-year old nuclear contamination lawsuit (too bad Karen wasn't around to see it)...
08) [1989] Huey P. Newton, co-founder of the Black Panthers, is shot to death in Oakland (CA). Tyrone Robinson is later convicted and sentenced to 32 years to life in prison for the murder...
09) [1989] Nolan Ryan (in my eyes, the best pitcher I've ever seen) becomes the 1st major league pitcher to strike out 5,000 batters (Ryan still owns the record for most K's in a career)...
10) [1998] While pursuing Roger Maris's home run record of 61, Mark McGwire admits using an unauthorized substance (he will hit 70 home runs). Mark, you've been given a free ride so far on our "Love to Hate" Top 10 but you'll be on our All-Time list for your usage and sphinx-like testifying before Congress...
Hottest LP: 1964] "The Chipmunks Sing The Beatles" (selling 25,000 a day)...
D-I-V-O-R-C-E: 1966] Cynthia Lennon sues John for divorce on grounds of adultery...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in the timeline]...
"Happy Birthday...happy birthday"...
Tori Amos (43), Cindy Williams (59), "60 Minute"- man Steve Kroft (61), Bill ("The really Big Tuna") Parcells (65), Valerie Harper (66), Baseball Hall of Famer and last Triple Crown Winner Carl Yastrzemski (67), General Norman Schwarzkopf (72) and Science fiction writer Ray Bradbury (86)...
Timeline Countdown: 14 days until Labor Day, 18 until NFL kickoff, 43 until MLB playoffs and 131 days remaining in 2006...
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