Monday July the 14th

ON THIS DAY in 1910
cartoonist William Hanna was born in Melrose New Mexico.  As half of the Hanna-Barbera team, he was responsible for the TV series The Flintstones, Quick Draw McGraw, Huckleberry Hound, The Jetsons, Magilla Gorilla, Jonny Quest, Scooby Doo: Where are You, etc.  He died of throat cancer Mar 22, 2001 at age 90.

In 1912, folk singer and songwriter Woody Guthrie was born in Okemah, Oklahoma. Many regard Guthrie as the greatest contemporary folk composer, and his songs of social comment and protest had a tremendous influence on Bob Dylan and other folk-rock performers. Among the best known of Guthrie's nearly one-thousand compositions are ``This Land Is Your Land'' and ``So Long, It's Been Good To Know You.'' Beginning in 1952, Guthrie spent many years in hospital with a nerve disease which caused his death in 1967.

              
In 1917, broadcast newsman Douglas Edwards was born in Ada Oklahoma.  He became CBS radio's premier news reader, and anchored TV's first network newscast from 1948 to 1962 when Walter Cronkite succeeded him.  He then went back to radio, but continued with a 5 minute midday TV newscast.  He retired in 1988, and died Oct 13, 1990 at age 73.

In 1927, NBC newsman John Chancellor was born in Chicago. (see his death anniversary July 12 1996)

In 1934, country singer and songwriter Del Reeves -- full name Franklin Delano Reeves -- was born in Sparta, North Carolina. His ``Girl on the Billboard'' was a number-one country song in 1965. For a while in the '60s, Reeves had his own syndicated country T-V show, ``Del Reeves Country Carnival.'' He died Jan. 1 2007 at age 72.

                
In 1942, Helen O'Connell and Bob Eberly sang their last duet together as they recorded the soon-to-be-famous Brazil with the Jimmy Dorsey band.  They are pictured above with Dorsey center.

In 1950, the No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit was "Mona Lisa,'' by Nat King Cole. The song, which tops Billboard's pop chart for eight weeks, was featured in the film "Capt. Carey, U.S.A.,'' and sold more than 3 million copies. The song received a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1992.

In 1951, CBS offered viewers the 1st color telecast of a sporting event (a horse race.)

                
In 1955, Winnipeg-born pop singer Giselle Mackenzie had a #1 Billboard hit with 'Hard to Get'.

In 1956, Fats Domino hit #1 on the R&B chart and #3 on the pop chart with his song "I'm In Love Again".

In 1957, funnyman Stan Freberg debuted a new weekly comedy program on CBS radio, in the Jack Benny time slot for the summer.  Freberg was a late entry into the radio program race, though he was well known for many famous radio commercials over the years. The Freberg show only lasted into the fall, with that newfangled contraption, television, being blamed for the show's quick demise.

In 1960, the No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit was "I'm Sorry,'' by Brenda Lee.

              
In 1962, Bobby Vinton's Roses are Red became the top song in the U.S. The song stayed at the top for four weeks and was the first of four #1 hits for Vinton. Roses are Red was also Vinton's first million-seller. He had two others: I Love How You Love Me (which made it to #9 in 1968 ) and My Melody of Love (which hit #3 in 1974.)

In 1967, the Who began their first American tour -- as the opening act for Herman's Hermits.

In 1968, radio announcer Westbrook Van Voorhis (below), the distinctive voice of The March of Time on radio & as a movie short, died of cancer at age 64.
                  

In 1969, Bob Dylan made a surprise appearance with The Band at the Mississippi River Rock Festival. He performed three songs.

In 1970, actor Preston Foster, the B-movie star who went on to headline the TV series Waterfront & Gunslinger, died at age 69.  

In 1973, at Knott's Berry Farm in Southern California, the Everly Brothers broke up after Phil got angry over Don's performance, smashed his own guitar and walked off stage. They reunited eleven years later.

Also on this date in 1973, Clarence White, guitarist with the Byrds, died after being hit by a car in Lancaster, California. He was 29. White joined the Byrds in 1968, after the group had recorded such hits as ``Mr. Tambourine Man,'' ``Turn! Turn! Turn!'' and ``Eight Miles High.''

In 1977, the Sex Pistols performed ``Pretty Vacant'' on the B-B-C television program, ``Top of the Pops.'' They had been banned from the network after cursing during a live interview.

                
In 1979, TV game show host George De Witt, who emceed Name that Tune, Be Our Guest, Seven at Eleven & All in One, died after a heart attack at age 56.

In 1979, more than one-million people filled the Place de la Concorde in Paris for a Bastille Day concert by composer and synthesizer player Jean-Michael Jarre. The Guinness Book of Records says it was a record crowd for an open-air concert.

In 1979, "Bad Girls" by Donna Summer topped the charts and stayed there for 5 weeks.

In 1980, Allen Klein, former business manager for both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, began a prison term for income tax evasion.

              
In 1984, actor Kenny Delmar, who was the announcer as well as Senator Claghorn on NBC radio's Fred Allen Show, died at age 74.

In 1986, Paul McCartney released "Press."

In 1988, Michael Jackson launched his first British tour with a two-hour concert at Wembley Stadium in London. Jackson rode over the heads of 72-thousand screaming fans in a cradle suspended from a crane. The audience included Diana Ross, Boy George and Terence Trent D'Arby.

              
In 1987, musician Steve Miller got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 1989, singer Cyndi Lauper released the first close-captioned video, for ``My First Night Without You.''

In 1990, one of the shock jock's several forays into TV, "The Howard Stern Summer Show" premiered on WWOR-TV in New York City.

In 1992, Australian-born singer and actress Olivia Newton-John announced she had breast cancer. Her publicist said doctors expected a full recovery.

              
Also in 1992, actress Nell Carter, who starred in the TV sitcom Gimme a Break, underwent brain surgery.

In 1993, a Texas judge sentenced a gang member to death after a jury rejected defence arguments that rap music prompted 19-year-old Ronald Ray Howard to kill a state trooper. Police said Howard, who was driving a stolen car, was listening to a tape by Tupac Shakur moments before shooting the trooper.

In 1995, George Michael announced the settlement of his long running dispute with Sony and that he had been released from his contract.

In 1996, the three-day Eden music festival in Bowmanville, Ontario ended on a sour note when organizers shut it down four hours early. Officials cited safety concerns in having 30-thousand fans leave the Mosport Raceway after dark. But it was later revealed the promoter cut things short because he didn't have enough money to pay many of the bands performing on the final day. About 55-thousand people, many of them gate crashers, turned up over the three days to hear 61 bands, including the Tragically Hip, the Goo Goo Dolls and Spirit of the West.

In 1998, Arista Records president Clive Davis hosted a party in Central Park for Canadian Sarah McLachlan, whose album "Surfacing," had just gone triple platinum.

                
Also in 1998, Mariah Carey used her celebrity status to try to help police find a missing 13-year-old girl. The Grammy award-winning singer joined the family of Christina Williams at a Beverly Hills, Calif., hotel to tape a public service announcement about the girl who disappeared a month earlier while walking her dog. Carey volunteered her services after learning that the missing girl from Seaside, Calif., was a fan.


Today's Birthdays:

Actor Dale Robertson (Tales of Wells Fargo, Death Valley Days, Dynasty) is 85.

Actor Harry Dean Stanton (Big Love, Dead Man's Walk) is 82.

Actress Nancy Olson (Paper Dolls, Kingston: Confidential) is 80.

Actress-singer Polly Bergen (Commander in Chief, War & Remembrance) is 78.

Longtime Chicago Cub broadcaster Steve Stone (now doing White Sox radio) is 71.

Actress Lynn Loring (Fair Exchange, The FBI, Return to Peyton Place) is 65.

Actor/director Eric Laneuville (Room 222, St Elsewhere) is 56.

Voice actor Jerry Houser (A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, Tale-Spin, Danger Rangers) is 56.

Rocker Chris Cross of the British electronic rock group Ultravox is 56.

Actor Stan Shaw (Roots:Next Generations, Heaven & Hell:North & South Book III) is 56.

Actor Jackie Earle Haley (Wait Till Your Father Gets Home, Valley of the Dinosaurs) is 47.

Actor Matthew Fox (Lost, Party of Five) is 42.

Keyboardist Ellen Reid of Crash Test Dummies is 42.

Singer-guitarist Tonya Donelly (Belly) is 42.

Actress Missy Gold (Benson) is 38.

Singer Tameka Cottle of Xscape is 33.

Musician taboo of Black Eyed Peas is 33.


Chart Toppers:

July 14th

1949
Some Enchanted Evening - Perry Como
Bali Ha’i - Perry Como
Again - Gordon Jenkins
One Kiss Too Many - Eddy Arnold

1958
The Purple People Eater - Sheb Wooley
Hard Headed Woman - Elvis Presley
Poor Little Fool - Ricky Nelson
Guess Things Happen that Way - Johnny Cash

1967
Windy - The Association
Little Bit o’ Soul - The Music Explosion
Can’t Take My Eyes Off You - Frankie Valli
All the Time - Jack Greene

1976
Afternoon Delight - Starland Vocal Band
Kiss and Say Goodbye - The Manhattans
I’ll Be Good to You - Brothers Johnson
The Door is Always Open - Dave & Sugar

1985
A View to a Kill - Duran Duran
Raspberry Beret - Prince & The Revolution
The Search is Over - Survivor
Forgiving You was Easy - Willie Nelson

1994
I Swear - All-4-One
Any Time, Any Place/And On and On - Janet Jackson
Don’t Turn Around - Ace of Base
Wink - Neal McCoy

2003
Miss Independent - Kelly Clarkson
Crazy In Love - Beyoncé Knowles featuring Jay-Z
I Know What You Want - Busta Rhymes & Mariah Carey featuring The Flipmode Squad
Beer for My Horses - Toby Keith (with Willie Nelson)