July 2009: Growing up Cuban in the US, the Cuban baseball edition....click to listen...,...
P.S. You can listen to my show. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.
Tuesday, March 03, 1970
July 2009: Growing up Cuban in the US, the Cuban baseball edition
Remember The Supremes!
Our family came to the US in 1964. It didn't take long for my brother and I to get into Top 40 radio, which is what they used to call AM radio stations back then.
Between 1964 and 1967, the US music charts were dominated by British bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Dave Clark 5, The Animals and so on. It was called "The British Invasion"!
Who stood up for the US during that period? What US group battled the British for the top of the charts?
The answer was The Supremes from Detroit with 12 # 1 songs, many gold records and regular TV appearances. They were huge!
Who else but The Beatles had that many # 1 songs? Again, it was The Supremes.
P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).
1931: “The Star-Spangled Banner”
On September 13, 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote the lyrics.
On this day in 1931, President Hoover signed a congressional act making "The Star Spangled banner" the official national anthem of the US.
On this day in 1931, President Hoover signed a congressional act making "The Star Spangled banner" the official national anthem of the US.
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We remember Willie Keeler (1872-1923)
William Henry O’Kelleher was born on March 3, 1872, in Brooklyn, NY. He died in 1923.
He became one of the best hitters of his time, as we see in this report from the SABR: a .341 career batting average and 2,932 hits in 2,123 games. By the way, 85% of his hits were singles!
He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1939.
P.S. You can listen to my show. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.
Songs named after days of the week
What's your favorite song named after a day of the week? Is it Chicago's "Saturday in the park"? Or The Mamas and Papas' "Monday Monday"? According to this great article, Sunday and Saturday have inspired more song titles than any other days. Thursday is the least popular. Only "Sweet Thursday" by Johny Mathis has hit the charts.
Here is the full article:
1. Sunday (30 songs)
“Sunday Barbecue,” Tennessee Ernie Ford, 1958
“Never on Sunday,” Don Costa and His Orchestra and Chorus, 1960
“A Sunday Kind of Love,” Jan & Dean, 1962
“Sunday and Me,” Jay & The Americans, 1965
“Sunday for Tea,” Peter and Gordon, 1967
“Sunday Will Never Be the Same,” Spanky and Our Gang, 1967
“Pleasant Valley Sunday,” The Monkees, 1967
“Sunday Mornin’,” Spanky and Our Gang, 1968
“(The Puppet Song) Whiskey on a Sunday,” The Irish Rovers, 1968
“Sunday Sun,” Neil Diamond, 1968
“Will You Be Staying After Sunday,” The Peppermint Rainbow, 1969
“Sunday,” The Moments, 1969
“Sugar on Sunday,” The Clique, 1969
“Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down,” Ray Stevens, 1969
“(One of These Days) Sunday’s Gonna’ Come on Tuesday,” The New Establishment, 1969
“Sunday Mornin’,” Oliver, 1969
“Sunday Morning Coming Down,” Johnny Cash, 1970
“What Are You Doing Sunday,” Dawn feat. Tony Orlando, 1971
“Beautiful Sunday,” Daniel Boone, 1972
“Sunday Morning Sunshine,” Harry Chapin, 1972
“Another Park, Another Sunday,” The Doobie Brothers, 1974
“Like a Sunday Morning,” Lana Cantrell, 1975
“Sunday Sunrise,” Anne Murray, 1975
“Like a Sunday in Salem (The Amos & Andy Song),” Gene Cotton, 1978
“Saturday Night, Sunday Morning,” Thelma Houston, 1979
“On a Sunday Afternoon,” Lighter Shade of Brown, 1991
“Sunday Morning,” Earth, Wind & Fire, 1993
“Raining on Sunday,” Lighter Shade of Brown, 2003
“That’s What I Love About Sunday,” Craig Morgan, 2005
“Sunday Morning,” Maroon 5, 2005
2. Saturday (23 songs)
“Lonely Saturday Night,” Don French, 1959
“Jukebox Saturday Night,” Nino and the Ebb Tides, 1961
“Another Saturday Night,” Sam Cooke, 1963
“Saturday Night at the Movies,” The Drifters, 1964
“I’ve Got Five Dollars and It’s Saturday Night,” George Jones and Gene Pitney, 1965
“On a Saturday Night,” Eddie Floyd, 1967
“Saturday Night at the World,” Mason Williams, 1969
“Come Saturday Morning,” The Sandpipers, 1969
“Saturday Morning Confusion,” Bobby Russell, 1971
“Saturday in the Park,” Chicago, 1972
“Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting,” Elton John, 1973
“Dancin’ (On a Saturday Night),” Flash Cadillac & The Continental Kids, 1974
“Saturday Night Special,” Lynyrd Skynyrd, 1975
“Saturday Night,” Bay City Rollers, 1975
“Almost Saturday Night,” John Fogerty, 1975
“Saturday Nite,” Earth, Wind & Fire, 1977
“Livingston Saturday Night,” Jimmy Buffet, 1978
“Saturday Night, Sunday Morning,” Thelma Houston, 1979
“Saturday Night,” Herman Brood, 1979
“Saturday Love,” Cherelle feat. Alexander O’Neal, 1986
“Saturday (Oooh! Ooooh!),” Ludacris, 2002
“American Saturday Night,” Brad Paisley, 2009
“Saturday,” Rebecca Black, 2013
3. Monday (13 songs)
“Fell in Love on Monday,” Fats Domino, 1961
“Stormy Monday Blues,” Bobby “Blue” Bland, 1962
“Monday, Monday,” The Mamas & The Papas, 1966
“Rainy Days and Mondays,” The Carpenters, 1971
“Come Monday,” Jimmy Buffet, 1974
“If You’re Not Back on Love by Monday,” Millie Jackson, 1977
“I Don’t Like Mondays,” The Boomtown Rats, 1980
“New Moon on Monday,” Duran Duran, 1984
“Manic Monday,” The Bangles. 1986
“Blue Monday 1988,” New Order, 1988
“Blue Monday,” Orgy, 1999
“I Don’t Have to Be Me (‘Til Monday),” Steve Azar, 2002
“Monday Morning Church,” Alan Jackson, 2004
4. Friday (11 songs)
“Friday’s Child,” Nancy Sinatra, 1966
“Friday on My Mind,” Easybeats, 1967
“Black Friday,” Steely Dan, 1975
“Thank God It’s Friday,” Love & Kisses, 1978
“Livin’ It Up (Friday Night),” Bell and James, 1979
“Friday I’m in Love,” The Cure, 1992
“Keep Their Heads Ringin’ (From Friday),” Dr. Dre, 1995
“Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F.),” Katy Perry, 2010
“Friday,” Rebecca Black, 2011
“Last Friday Night,” Glee Cast, 2011
“Friday Night,” Eric Paslay, 2013
5. Tuesday (5 songs)
“Ruby Tuesday,” The Rolling Stones, 1967
“Tuesday Afternoon (Forever Afternoon),” The Moody Blues, 1968
“(One of These Days) Sunday’s Gonna’ Come on Tuesday,” The New Establishment, 1969
“Everything’s Tuesday,” Chairman of the Board, 1970
“Tuesday,” iLoveMakonnen feat. Drake, 2014
6. Wednesday (2 songs)
“Wednesday,” The Royal Guardsmen, 1967
“Waiting for Wednesday,” Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories, 1996
7. Thursday (1 song)
“Sweet Thursday,” Johnny Mathis, 1962
To say the least, this is great stuff the next time you play Trivial Pursuits!
1875: "Carmen" makes it to the stage
Nevertheless, the opera "Carmen" did not get off to a quick start, as we can read in this review :
The controversy that surrounded the debut of Carmen stemmed from its plot, which was drawn from the 1845 novel of the same name by Prosper Mérimée. In the adaptation for Bizet’s opera, Carmen is a wild and beautiful young gypsy girl who is working at a cigarette factory in Seville, Spain, when she captures the attention of a young army corporal named Don José. Though engaged to be married to the sweet and simple country girl Micaëla, Don José is seduced by the exotic Carmen in Act I, imprisoned for helping her escape the police in Act II and ensnared in a smuggling plot after deserting the army over her in Act III. None of which might have raised an eyebrow among 19th-century opera fans if weren’t for the events that follow in Act IV, when Carmen throws Don José over for the glamorous bullfighter Escamillo, inciting a jealous rage in Don José that culminates in his fatally stabbing Carmen outside the bullring in Seville.And that's the story of "Carmen", a very popular opera today.
It was this bloody storyline that caused an uproar within the critical establishment and within the leadership of the Opéra-Comique, which was known for somewhat more family-friendly productions. Even in the face of this controversy, Bizet refused to change the offending plot-points, and the mezzo-soprano Galli-Marié finally agreed to play Carmen. While audience and critical reaction to Carmen was decidedly mixed following its debut on this day in 1875, the opera won important admirers in Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahms and Pyotr Tchaikovsky before the year was over. Georges Bizet, however, died on June 3, 1875, after only 30 public performances of his most important work.
P.S. You can listen to my show. If you like our posts, please look for ”Donate” on the right column of the blog page.
1877: President Hayes and the 1876 recount was finally over
As you may remember from your US history class, the 1876 election was one of the most controversial ever.
Mr. Tilden won the popular vote but Mr. Hayes eventually earned enough electoral votes to become president when Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina finally reported their numbers. The delay was part of a negotiation to get Mr. Hayes to agree to remove federal troops from the South.
On this day in 1877, Mr. Hayes was sworn in as the 19th president of the US in a private ceremony. The public inauguration was held two days later because March 4th was a Sunday.
Mr. Hayes' presidency was very difficult, in part because of the aforementioned election. He was defeated for reelection in 1880.
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