Monday December the 3rd


On This Day in 1907  
                                                                                                                          
singer Connee Boswell was born in New Orleans. Paralyzed from the waist down by a childhood accident, the popular singer and actress  always performed sitting down.  She & her two sisters got started at a local radio station. Between 1930 and 1936 the Boswell Sisters were the hottest vocal group in the country, appearing in several movies and as regulars on Bing Crosby's radio program. Then the sister act broke up, and Connee pursued a mildly successful solo career, though Ella Fitzgerald credited Connee as her main influence. She died from cancer Oct. 11 1976 at age 68.
                                                                                            
On this day in 1944, Frank Sinatra was in the Columbia Records studio recording Old Man River.

On this day in 1950, Paul Harvey began broadcasting his news & comment show nationally.

On this day in 1952, Hawaii was treated to its first telecast.  On about a week's delay from the mainland broadcast.

On this day in 1955, Elvis Presley's first release on RCA Victor Records was announced. No, it wasn't Hound Dog or Heartbreak Hotel. The first two sides were actually purchased from Sam Phillips of Sun Records: Mystery Train and I Forgot to Remember to Forget.

On this day in 1956, the No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit was "Singing the Blues,'' by Guy Mitchell. It stayed at No. 1 for 10 weeks. The recording was a pop version of country singer Marty Robbins' song.

On this day in 1961, the Beatles met their future manager Brian Epstein.

On this day in 1965, the Beatles began their final UK concert tour in Glasgow.

On this day in 1966, singer Ray Charles was convicted of possessing heroin and marijuana, given a five-year suspended sentence and fined $10,000.

On the day in 1968, the O'Kaysions received a gold record for Girl Watcher. The song had a promotional reprise in the 1990s as a theme for Merv Griffin's Wheel of Fortune -- with the revamped lyrics, "I'm a Wheel Watcher..."

Also in 1968, Elvis Presley's now famous comeback special was broadcast on NBC. Taped the previous summer, it included Elvis's first appearance before an audience in more than seven years. The special was a powerful performance after years of mediocre movies.  

On this day in 1971, the Montreux Casino in Switzerland burnt down during a Frank Zappa (pictured)gig. Ian Gillan, vocalist of Deep Purple, who was recording in close proximity, was inspired to write the classic "Smoke On The Water" about the incident.

On this day in 1976, seven gunmen broke into singer Bob Marley's house in Jamaica. Marley, his wife, their manager and a house guest were shot and slightly wounded. The gunmen were never caught.

Also in 1976, Pink Floyd released a 40-foot helium-filled pig at Battersea Power Station in England so they could photograph it for their "Animals" album cover. The pig broke loose, and rose to more than five-thousand metres before landing kilometres away in Kent, southeast of London.

On this day in 1977, after 29 weeks in the #1 position on the album charts (a record, literally...), Rumours, by Fleetwood Mac, was replaced in the top spot by the album Simple Dreams, by Linda Ronstadt.
                                                                                                        

Also in 1977, "Mull of Kintyre'' by Wings, led by Paul McCartney, becomes McCartney's first post-Beatles No. 1 single in Britain. The bagpipe-accompanied song becomes Britain's best selling single, eclipsing The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand.''

On this day in 1979, eleven audience members were trampled to death at a concert headlined by the Who at River Front Coliseum, Cincinnati. It was drummer Kenny Jones' first tour with the Who.  Drummer Keith Moon died three months before.

On this day in 1984, Miss America 1971, Phyllis George, (below)wife of the Governor of Kentucky and an heiress to the Kentucky Fried Chicken fortune, signed a multiyear contract with CBS-TV.  Her work as coanchor of the CBS Morning News began in January 1985.
                                                            

Also in 1984, Kenny Rogers earned his 11th platinum L-P -- signifying one-million copies sold -- for "What About Me,'' setting a record for platinum L-P awards.

On this day in 1985, singer Connie Francis was arrested for trespassing and kicking a policeman who removed her from a Delta Airlines plane in Atlanta. She was escorted from the jet when she refused to put out her cigarette during refuelling. Later the same month, Francis was taken to the Miami Health Centre after creating a disturbance at a resort hotel.

Also in 1985, singer Barry Manilow made his acting debut in a T-V movie based on his hit "Copacabana.''

On this day in 1986, a lawsuit was filed against the group Judas Priest and CBS Records, alleging two fans shot themselves after listening to the band's music for six hours.

On this day in 1987, the 200th episode of "Knots Landing" aired.          

On this day in 1988, the song "Baby I Love Your Way - Freebird Medley" by Will to Power topped the charts ... but only stayed #1 for a week.

On this day in 1994, Elizabeth Meyer, the wife of actor Paul Michael Glaser (Starsky & Hutch), died of AIDS at 47.  She had received tainted blood in a 1981 transfusion, and unwittingly infected her two children in childbirth. 7 yr old Ariel died in 1988.

Also this day in 1994, the song "On Bended Knee", by Boyz II Men, hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The smash was #1, off and on, for the next two months.  

On this day in 1997, the newest album by Pearl Jam, "Yield" was prematurely leaked in full by a broadcast from Syracuse, N.Y. radio station WKRL.

On this day in 1999, actress Madeline Kahn died of ovarian cancer in New York. She was 57.  She had starred in movies, in TV series, (Oh Madeline, Cosby, New York News) as well as being an amazing talk show guest.

On this day in 2003, Canadian broadcast pioneer Allan Waters died in his sleep at the age of 84. Waters founded 1050/CHUM in Toronto, once one of this country's most prominent Top 40 radio stations.

Also in 2003, veteran Canadian songwriter Gordon Lightfoot was inducted to the inaugural Canadian Songwriters Hall Of Fame in Toronto. Also inducted were four deceased Canadian songwriters -- Hank Snow, Alfred Bryan, Flix Leclerc and Madame Bolduc. And 12 songs were awarded the first spots in the hall, including Lightfoot's "If You Could Read My Mind''.


Today's Birthdays:

Country singer Ferlin Husky is 82.

Singer Andy Williams is 80.  

Singer Jaye P. Morgan (Gong Show, Fay) is 76.

Actress Mary Alice (A Different World, All My Children) is 66.

Rock singer Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath) is 59.

Toronto-born actress Heather Menzies (Logan;s Run, Dragnet) is 58.

Rocker Mike Stock (Stock, Aitken & Waterman) is 56.

Country musician Paul Gregg (Restless Heart) is 53.

Actor Steven Culp (Desperate Housewives, West Wing, JAG) is 52.

Edmonton-born Melody Anderson (Jake & the Fatman, All My Children, St. Elsewhere) is 52.

Actress Daryl Hannah (Final Days of Planet Earth, The Last Don) is 47.

Actress Julianne Moore (Edge of Night, As the World Turns, I'll Take Manhattan) is 47.

Actor Brendan Fraser (Scrubs, King of the Hill, Simpsons) is 39.

Singer Montell Jordan is 39.

Actor Royale Watkins (Built to Last) is 38.

Actor Bruno Campos (Soul Food) is 34.

Actress Holly Marie Combs (Charmed, Picket Fences) is 34.

Actress Lauren Roman (Bold & the Beautiful, All My Children) is 32.

Actress Anna Chlumsky (Miracle in the Woods) is 27.

Actor Brian Bonsall (Star Trek: the Next Generation, Family Ties) is 26.

Actor Michael Angarano (Will & Grace) is 20.


Chart Toppers

December 3

1948
Buttons and Bows - Dinah Shore
On a Slow Boat to China - The Kay Kaiser Orchestra (vocal: Harry Babbitt & Gloria Wood
You Were Only Fooling - Kay Starr
One Has My Name (The Other Has My Heart) - Jimmy Wakely

1956
Singing the Blues - Guy Mitchell
Blueberry Hill - Fats Domino
True Love - Bing Crosby & Grace Kelly
Singing the Blues - Marty Robbins

1964
Leader of the Pack - The Shangri-Las
She’s Not There - The Zombies
Mr. Lonely - Bobby Vinton
Once a Day - Connie Smith

1972
Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone - The Temptations
I Am Woman - Helen Reddy
If You Don’t Know Me by Now - Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes
She’s Too Good to Be True - Charley Pride

1980
Woman in Love - Barbra Streisand
Another One Bites the Dust - Queen
He’s So Shy - Pointer Sisters
If You Ever Change Your Mind - Crystal Gayle

1988
Baby, I Love Your Way/Freebird Medley (Free Baby) - Will To Power
Look Away - Chicago
How Can I Fail? - Breathe
I Know How He Feels - Reba McEntire