One door closes, another door opens...
The paths of two recording careers passed in the night on this date in music history and it all began on January 5th, 1959. That was the date that Coral Records released the last Buddy Holly record. Less than a month later Buddy Holly would be the stuff of legends and immortalized on "the day that music died", February 3rd, 1959...
The adage of one door closing and another door opening rang true 14 years later when Columbia Records introduced us to Bruce Springsteen with the release of his debut album "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J."...
Buddy Holly's release was the two-sided hit, "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" and a prophetic "Raining in My Heart". The world was introduced to "The Boss" on this date in 1973 with "Greetings from Asbury Park, N.J." which received more critical acclaim than it did sales, selling barely 25,000 in its first year of release but the album heralded a legend that would be finely honed in years to come...
Buddy Holly and Bruce Springsteen. One door closes, another door opens...
More January 5 Memories...
1896) Austrian Wilhelm Roentgen (does this sound like ray gun to you too ?) discovers the type of radiation that becomes known as the X-ray...
1920) The Red Sox sell Babe Ruth to the Yankees for $125,000 (read my commentary about the rumor about the financing of the play "No, no Nanette". It has been disputed in a new book)...
1933) Construction begins on the Golden Gate Bridge...
1940) The 1st test of FM radio is heard by the FCC. It would be a year before radios with FM capability belonging to the public would hear the new static free signals. The 1st FM transmitter went into operation in 1941...
1948) Warner Brothers-Pathe shows the 1st color newsreel. The footage contains the Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl highlights...
1957) Jackie Robinson retires rather than play for the crosstown rival Giants, a team he was traded to by the Dodgers...
1959) Coral Records releases last Buddy Holly single (feature story)...
1960) Marty Robbins is #1 with "El Paso"...
1961) "Mr. Ed" debuts as a syndicated show. It will join the CBS-TV Network in October...
1965) The Supremes record "Stop! In the Name of Love"...
1970) "All My Children" premieres on ABC-TV...
1973) Bruce Springsteen's "Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J." is released (feature story)...
1975) "The Wiz" opens at the Majestic Theater on Broadway...
1976) The MacNeil-Lehrer Report premieres on PBS...
1980) KC & the Sunshine Band are #1 with "Please Don't Go"...
1986) The Patriots beat the Raiders 27-20 in an AFC Divisional playoff game...
1994) Former House Speaker Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill dies in Boston at 81...
1997) The Patriots beat Pittsburgh 28-3 in an AFC Divisional playoff game...
1998) Former pop-star turned politician Sonny Bono is killed when striking a tree while skiing in South Lake Tahoe, California. Bono was 62...
2000) The INS rules that 6-year old Elian Gonzalez belongs with his father, paving the way for his return to Cuba...
2004) Britney Spears ends her 2-day marriage to childhood friend Jason Alexander (duh)...
2004) After 14 years of denials, Pete Rose publicly admits that he bet on baseball while manager of the Cincinnati Reds (but you never bet on any of your own team's games, right Pete ?)...
To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...
Happy Birthday To...
1925) Legendary St. John basketball coach Lou Carnesecca...
1928) Walter F. Mondale...
1930) Robert Duvall...
1942) Charlie Rose...
1946) Diane Keaton...
1948) Ted ("Isaac" of the "Love Boat") Lange...
1950) Blondie guitar player Chris Stein...
1953) Pamela Sue Martin...
Commentary...
So did Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sell Babe Ruth to the Yankees to satisfy his "No, No Nanette" jones ? The answer to that is "no-no" according to a new book being published called "The Baseball Uncyclopedia" (Emmis Books). Needham, Mass. (the town I called home when living in the Bay State) lawyer Howard Bloom and Barrington, Rhode Island's Michael Kun not only dispute that myth but also such items as whether or not Don Zimmer really does have a metal plate in his head. Ditto the answer to "No, No Nanette". And was the "Baby Ruth" bar really named after the daughter of President Grover Cleveland ? You're catching the drift, no again...
This looks like a must-read when it's published next month. Thanks to Christina Pazzanese, a Boston Globe correspondent for alerting us to this book. You can click on Christina's article at www.boston.com
This is the 5th day of 2006 with only 360 remaining prooving once again that time flies when you're having fun...
