Author: Scott Westerman
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Goldfinger: The Best Bond Film?
Two perennial questions for James Bond fans: Who is your favorite Bond and what is your favorite Bond movie? On December 22, 1964, the third film in the long running series, “Goldfinger,” starring Sean Connery, Shirley Eaton, Gert Fröbe, and Honor Blackman, had its North American premiere in New York City.Some Bond trivia: Gert Fröbe’s English…
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Born In The USA Outruns Thriller
On December 21st, 1985, Bruce Springsteen‘s album, “Born in the USA” passed Michael Jackson‘s “Thriller” to become the second-longest lasting album in the Billboard Top 10. It remained there for 79 weeks, a tenure surpassed only by the original Broadway cast album of “The Sound of Music” at 109 weeks.What LP holds the distinction of…
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Who was Irene Hervey?
This week’s edition of “Remembering a Forgotten Star” features prolific actress Irene Hervey, who died on December 20, 1998. She was born Beulah Irene Herwick on July 11, 1909. Under the stage name Irene Hervey, she was a ubiquitous face on screen, appearing in more than fifty films and numerous television series over a career spanning five…
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Doing things for the right reasons
“Always question your motivation. Why you decide to do something is much more important than what you ultimately do.” What are the factors that impact the decisions you make in life? Are you in pursuit of purpose or personal glory? This has been on my mind lately as I’ve witnessed several incidents where chasing status…
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The Music Man Debuts on Broadway
On December 19, 1957, he original Broadway production of Meredith Willson’s musical “The Music Man,” starring Robert Preston, Barbara Cook as Marian, Eddie Hodges as Winthrop, Pert Kelton as Mrs. Paroo, Iggie Wolfington as Marcellus Washburn and David Burns as Mayor Shinn, opened at New York’s Majestic Theatre for 1,375 performances.Where was Shirley Jones? She didn’t appear on the scene until the film was…
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I Am Woman
On December 18, 1972, Australian Singer, Helen Reddy struck gold with her liberation anthem, “I Am Woman“. The tune was written by Reddy in collaboration with singer/songwriter Ray Burton.Here’s how she came up with the idea:”I couldn’t find any songs that said what I thought being woman was about. I thought about all these strong…
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What we listened to this week in 1964
From this week in 1964 at WKNR, in Detroit. It was definitely the cold and flu season as evidenced by the Vicks Cough Drop ad on the back of the guide.Data courtesy Keener13.com. This week’s forgotten classic. A one hit wonder from Julie Rogers called “The Wedding”. The British sensation had two more top 40…
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On TV the week of December 16, 1967
I regularly check in with ItsAboutTV.com to see what I was watching back in the day. December 16 1967 was a Saturday night and we were perusing TV guide to preview Sunday’s top shows, Ed Sullivan (CBS) and the Hollywood Palace (ABC). Here are the guest lineups for each:Ed Sullivan: Scheduled: Joel Grey of the…
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Remembering Walt
On this day in 1966, Cartoonist, film producer and master imagineer, Walt Disney died of acute circulatory collapse caused by lung cancer at age 65.At the time, the LA Times noted that Disney, “..won 31 Academy Awards, and more than 900 other citations from presidents, kings and queens, world statesmen and neighborhood service clubs.”His creative…
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Social Media and Podcasting are the new Broadcasting!
Just when us old radio guys think the business is dead, it reinvents itself.Our parents lamented when long form radio programs transferred to Television. It took visionaries like Todd Storz and Gordon Mclendon to reinvent the medium as a jukebox with personality.That worked for many years, until consolidation and the high prices paid for radio…