"Happy Trails" 2006...
[The names we've chosen are from radio and records, including many artists who we lost this year. In the case of Al "Grandpa" Lewis, he actually did promotion for Canadian band Melidian]
January: Lou Rawls (72), Wilson Pickett (64)...February: Al "Grandpa" Lewis (95), Curt Gowdy (86), Billy Cowsill (58)...March: Buck Owens (76)...April: Gene Pitney (66), June Pointer (52)..May: Johnnie (Heatwave) Wilder Jr. (56), Freddie Garrity (Freddie and The Dreamers) (69), DJ Long John Wade (66), Desmond Dekker (64)...June: Billy Preston (59)...July: Syd (Pink Floyd) Barrett (59)...August: Richard Barrett (Valentines, production and management) (73), Arthur (Love) Lee (59), Barbara George (63), Mike Douglas (81 on the day he died), Maynard Ferguson (77), Jumpin' Gene Simmons (69)...October: Tom Noonan (Billboard charts, CBS Records, Motown, CBS Records Alumni Association) (78), Freddy Fender (69), DJ, PD Mike Phillips (64)...November: Ed Bradley (65), Casey Coleman (Cleveland sports personality, son of late Ken Coleman) (55), Gerald Levert (40), Paul Mauriat (81), Ruth Brown (78), Buddy (Tree Publishing) Killen (73)...December: Fred Marsden (Gerry & Pacemakers, brother of Gerry Marsden) (66), Ahmet Ertegun (83), Georgia Gibbs (87), James Brown (73) and Dr. Frank (CBS) Stanton (98)...
We lost far too many good people in 2006...
...
The video link of the day is a classic and a keeper. On the date (1968) that The Beatles "White Album" went to #1 for the first of 9 consecutive weeks what better way to mark the occasion then having Jim ("Gomer Pyle) Nabors and Leslie Uggams doing a medley from the LP???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBXWmfs2U28
Timeline Memories...
- [1902] The 1st professional indoor football game is played at MSG with Syracuse beating the Philadelphia Nationals 6-0...
- [1945] Congress officially recognizes "The Pledge of Allegiance"...
- [1958] The Baltimore Colts beat the Giants 23-17 at 8:15 into overtime on a frozen Yankee Stadium field to win the NFL championship in a thriller...
- [1981] Elizabeth Jordan Carr, the first test-tube baby is born in Norfolk (VA). 25-year old Elizabeth now works for a Maine newspaper
"Happy Trails": 1983] Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys drowns while swimming near his boat at Marina del Ray (CA). Ironically, Dennis was the only real surfer in the group. Dennis was only 39...2004] Activist, author and intellectual, Susan Sontag dies from leukemia at 71...
"Double your flavor": 1869] William Finley Semple of Mt. Vernon (OH) patents chewing gum (samples of his product are still displayed under every piece of furniture in the Semple home which is wrapped in tin foil)...
"Another opening, another show": 1944] The musical "On The Town" opens on Broadway featuring the song "New York, New York" (the one that goes "New York, New York is a helluva town")...
The Final Curtain: 1956] After 5 years on television, the final "Ding Dong School" airs on NBC-TV (hosted by Miss Francis Horwich)...1984] The TV Soap, "Edge of Night" fades to black after 28 years...
Released on this date: 1968] "Touch Me" - The Doors...
Hot off the presses: 1973] Alexander Solzhenitsyn publishes "Gulag Archipelago", an expose of the Soviet prison system...
"TIME Man of The Year": 1991] Ted Turner...
[To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources are used in each timeline]...
Commentary...
Joe McCoy comments on our comments about Motown Christmas music: "A few days ago you mentioned that Motown never had a good Christmas song. I beg to differ and submit these: "Someday at Christmas" - Stevie Wonder, "Give Love on Christmas Day" - Jackson 5, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Me" - Supremes plus a good rendition of "Silent Night" by the Temptations." Anyone else who'd like to comment on Berry Gordy's prowess on Christmas music is welcome to send an e-mail...
"Happy Birthday, happy birthday":
Sienna Miller (25), John Legend (28), comedian Seth Meyers (33), Boston Bruin hockey great Ray Bourque (46), Denzel Washington (52), Alex (Boxtops) Chilton (56), Edgar Winter (60), Dame Maggie Smith (72), Johnny Otis (85) and Lou Jacobi (93)...
Timeline Countdown: 4 days until 2007, 9 days until the NFL playoffs, 11 days until the BCS championship game, 38 days until Super Bowl XLI and 49 days until pitchers and catchers...
...
