Thursday January the 10th


ON THIS DAY in 1904
actor/dancer Ray Bolger was born Raymond Wallace Bulcao in Dorchester Mass.  Besides his iconic movie role as the Tin Woodsman in Wizard of Oz, on TV Bolger hosted the Bell Telephone Hour & played Grampa on The Partridge Family, among dozens of guest appearances. He succumbed to cancer Jan 15, 1987 five days after his 83rd birthday.  

On this day in 1908, actor/director Paul Henreid was born in Trieste, Austria-Hungary (now Italy.)  After a successful bigscreen acting career (Casablanca, Goodbye Mr. Chips), he directed many episodes of TV's Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Schlitz Playhouse, Big Valley, The Iron Horse & Bracken's World.  He died of pneumonia Mar 29, 1992 at age 84.

On this day in 1914, actress Polly Rowles was born in Philadelphia. She was cast in recurring roles in the TV series The Defenders, The Nurses, and Somerset.  She also appeared more than once in the anthologies US Steel Hour, Alcoa Hour, Philco TV Playhoiuse, Kraft TV Theatre and Studio One.  She died Oct 7 2001 at age 87.  

On this day in 1927, singer Johnnie Ray was born in smalltown Oklahoma. Credited with a style that was a forerunner to rock & roll, his hits included Cry, Please, Mr. Sun, The Little White Cloud That Cried, Walkin' My Baby Back Home, and Just Walking in the Rain.  A lifelong alcoholic he died of liver failure Feb 24, 1990 at age 63.

Also this day in 1927, singer & program host Gisele MacKenzie was born Marie LaFeche in Winnipeg.  After having her own daily CBC radio show the high points of her career include starring on TV's Your Hit Parade & playing the violin on the Jack Benny Show.  She also had a top 10 hit recording, Hard to Get.  She died Sep 5, 2003 at age 76.

On this day in 1927, Lee Philips was born in Brooklyn. After starring in The Adventures of Ellery Queen in the 1959 TV season & dozens of guest roles, he turned to directing, on series such as My World & Welcome to It, The Governor & JJ, Gidget, The Waltons, The Practice, and Diagnosis Murder.  He died March 3 1999 of progressive supranuclear palsy, at age 72.

On this day in 1939, actor/singer Sal Mineo was born in The Bronx.  Although his breakthrough roles were on the big screen (Rebel Without a Cause, The Gene Krupa Story) he was seen on TV in dozens of guest roles before his life was cut short.  He was stabbed to death in a homicide behind his apartment building Feb 12, 1976 at age 37.

On this day in 1943, singer/songwriter Jim Croce was born in South Philadelphia.
                                                                        
His hits include  You Don't Mess Around with Jim, Time in a Bottle, Bad, Bad Leroy Brown, & I've Got a Name. He left us at age 30 when he was killed in plane crash Sep 20, 1973.

On this day in 1943, the quiz show, "The Better Half", was first heard on Mutual radio. The wartime radio program brought four married couples to compete in stunts involving traditional concepts of, er, "manhood" and "womanhood". Tom Slater (Twenty Questions) was the first emcee.

On this day in 1945, Erskine Hawkins & his Orchestra waxed a classic for Victor Records, "Tippin' In".

On this day in 1949, vinyl records were introduced by RCA (45 rpm) and Columbia (33.3 rpm).  RCA's entry was a new 7-inch, 45 rpm phonograph record. Soon, the 45, the record with the big hole in the middle, would change the pop music business. RCA even manufactured a record player that played only 45s -- with a fat spindle that made "stacking wax" real simple.

On this day in 1949, the Jewish family show "The Goldbergs", already a radio favorite, made its debut on CBS TV.

Also this day in 1949, actress Teresa Graves was born in Houston.  She was a regular on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, then starred in TV's Get Christie Love.  She died tragically in a house fire in 2002, aged only 54.

On this day in 1953, "Don't Let the Stars Get in Your Eyes" by Perry Como topped the charts and stayed there for 5 weeks.

On this day in 1956, Elvis Presley recorded his first tunes as an RCA Victor artist. Recording in Nashville, Elvis sang "Heartbreak Hotel", "I Was the One", "I'm Counting On You", "I Got a Woman" and "Money Honey". "Heartbreak Hotel" was #1 by April 11, 1956 and stayed there for eight weeks.

On this day in 1958, Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire" reached #1 on the country and r&b charts, #2 on the pop chart.

On this day in 1960, Marty Robbins' hit tune, "El Paso", held the record for the longest #1 song to that time. The song ran 5 minutes and 19 seconds, giving many radio station Program Directors fits; because the average record length at that time was around 2 minutes, and formats didn't allow for records much longer than that.  

On this day in 1961, author Dashiell Hammett, who gave us the radio series Sam Spade, and radio & TV's The Thin Man, died from throat cancer at age 66.

On this day in 1964, the US version of the British hit  "That Was The Week That Was" premiered.

                                                                          
On this day in 1967, National Educational Television, the forerunner of the Public Broadcasting Service, operated as a true network for the first time as it carried President Lyndon B. Johnson's State of the Union address across the US on 70 stations.

On this day in 1969, Elvis Presley's single, "Don't Cry Daddy", entered the Top 10 on the pop charts.  If you listened to this song carefully, you'd hear a vocal duet with country artist Ronnie Milsap.

On this day in 1971, "Masterpiece Theatre" premiered on PBS with host Alistair Cooke. The introduction drama series was "The First Churchills."

On this day in 1972, Al Goodman, the orchestra leader for Fred Allen in the final years of his radio show, and for TV's Colgate Comedy Hour, died at age 81.

                                                                                                                          
On this day in 1976, C.W. McCall's "Convoy" was the #1 single in the U.S. -- on both pop and country charts. "Ah, breaker one-nine, this here's the Rubber Duck ... You gotta copy on me, Pig Pen, c'mon? Ah, yeah, 10-4, Pig Pen, fer shure, fer shure. By golly, it's clean clear to Flag Town, c'mon. Yeah, that's a big 10-4 there, Pig Pen, yeah, we definitely got the front door, good buddy. Mercy sakes alive, looks like we got us a convoy..."

Also this day in 1976, bluesman Howlin' Wolf died in a hospital near Chicago following brain surgery. His biggest hit was the 1951 song "How Many More Years,'' which featured Ike Turner on piano. He was a major influence on musicians like Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones.

                                                                        
On this day in 1979, musician Richard Carpenter ("The Carpenters") entered a chemical dependency treatment center in Topeka, Kansas.

On this day in 1980, James Garner starred in the last original episode of "Rockford Files" on NBC TV.

On this day in 1981, actor Richard Boone died of throat cancer at 63.  He was Paladin in Have Gun Will Travel, and also starred in two other TV series, Medic, & The Richard Boone Show.

On this day in 1982, comedian/actor Paul Lynde died at 55...the cause, cardiac arrest resulting from extreme substance abuse.  Lynde was best known as the centre square in Hollywood Squares, but also was featured in the cast of Bewitched & The Paul Lynde Show.

On this day in 1984, Cyndi Lauper became the first female recording artist since Bobbie Gentry [1967] to be nominated for five Grammy Awards.

On this day in 1985, Ted Nugent appeared as an actor on TV's "Miami Vice."

On this day in 1991, Clint Black joined the Grand Ole Opry.

On this day in 1994, English actor Michael Aldridge, known in North America for his role in Last of the Summer Wine, died at age 73.

On this day in 1995,  "The Late Late Show" with Tom Snyder premiered on CBS following David Letterman.
                                                                    

On this day in 1997, James Brown got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Also this day in 1997, the syndicated "Entertainment Tonight" aired its 4,000th episode.

On this day in 1999, HBO began airing the award-winning series "The Sopranos."

On this day in 2000, singer Melissa Etheridge ended speculation about the paternity of the children the rock star shared with partner Julie Cypher, announcing that David Crosby was the children's father.  

On this day in 2002, Ethan Zohn was announced as the winner of CBS' "Survivor 3."
                                                                                                                                
On this day in 2003, George Strait was inducted into the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame in Fort Worth.

On this day in 2005, CBS fired four executives following the release of an independent investigation into a "60 Minutes Wednesday" story about U.S. President George W. Bush's military service. The investigation said a "myopic zeal" led to the story being aired that was neither fair nor accurate. Forged documents had been used for proof in the story.


Today's Birthdays:

Record producer Jerry Wexler is 91.

Blues artist Eddy Clearwater is 73.

Rocker "Rompin'" Ronnie Hawkins (The Band) is 73.

Singer Scott McKenzie is 69.

Singer Frank Sinatra Junior is 64.

Singer Rod Stewart is 63.  

English musician Bob Lang (Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders) is 62.

Singer-keyboardist Donald Fagen of Steely Dan is 60.

Actor William Sanderson (Deadwood, Newhart) is 60.

Singer Pat Benatar is 55. Guitarist Michael Schenker (Scorpions) is 53.

Singer Shawn Colvin is 52.

Singer-guitarist Curt Kirkwood of Meat Puppets is 49.

Actor Evan Handler (Studio 60, Sex & the City) is 47.

TV hostess Julie Moran (Entertainment Tonight, ABC's Wide World of Sports) is 46.

Singer Brad Roberts of Crash Test Dummies is 44.

Actress Trini Alvarado (Sensibility & Sense, Dreams Don't Die) is 41.

Guitarist Matt Roberts of 3 Doors Down is 30.

Rapper Chris Smith of Kris Kross is 29.

Actress Sarah Shahi (Life, The L-Word) is 28.


Chart Toppers

January 10

1946
Symphony - The Freddy Martin Orchestra (vocal: Clyde Rogers)
It Might as Well Be Spring - The Sammy Kaye Orchestra (vocal: Billy Williams)
I Can’t Begin to Tell You - Bing Crosby with the Carmen Cavallaro Orchestra
White Cross on Okinawa - Bob Wills

1954
Oh! My Pa-Pa - Eddie Fisher
Changing Partners - Patti Page
The Gang that Sang ‘Heart of My Heart’ - The Four Aces
Bimbo - Jim Reeves

1962
The Lion Sleeps Tonight - The Tokens
The Twist - Chubby Checker
Peppermint Twist - Joey Dee & The Starliters
Walk on By - Leroy Van Dyke

1970
Raindrop Keep Fallin’ on My Head - B.J. Thomas
Someday We’ll Be Together - Diana Ross & The Supremes
I Want You Back - The Jackson 5
Baby, (Baby I Know You’re a Lady) - David Houston

1978
How Deep is Your Love - Bee Gees
Baby Come Back - Player
You’re in My Heart (The Final Acclaim) - Rod Stewart
Take This Job and Shove It - Johnny Paycheck

1986
Say You, Say Me - Lionel Richie
Party All the Time - Eddie Murphy
That’s What Friends are For - Dionne & Friends
Morning Desire - Kenny Rogers