9/17 Entertainment History

Before you discover what happened in the world of entertainment on September 17, you will notice a small change in the format. I have slightly rearranged the column, dividing it into three separate categories. Yeah, it’s a little more work on my end but that has never stopped me. 🙂

ROCK & ROLL HISTORY

1955 – Tennessee Ernie Ford recorded ‘Sixteen Tons’ at Capitol’s Melrose Avenue Studios in Hollywood.
With Ford’s snapping fingers and a unique clarinet-driven pop arrangement by his music director, Jack Fascinato, Sixteen Tons – a cover of Merle Travis’ original 1947 recording – spent ten weeks at #1 on the country charts and seven weeks at #1 on the pop charts.

1967 – The Who appeared on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.
At the conclusion of performing My Generation, an explosion was planned but drummer Keith Moon had planted a massive dose of explosives without telling the rest of the band.
The resulting flash nearly blew guitarist Pete Townshend’s head off and has been blamed – at least in part – for Pete’s subsequent hearing loss.

1972 – Billy Joel recorded Piano Man at Devonshire Sound Studios in Los Angeles.
When originally issued as a single, the song – which peaked at #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 – was considered too long by record executives so two verses were cut in half and spliced together for the release as a single, which lasted 3:05.
Rock Factoid Joel’s The Entertainer’ mentioned that event by singing, “It was a beautiful song, but it ran too long. If you’re gonna have a hit, you gotta make it fit. So they cut it down to 3:05.”

MOVIE/TV HISTORY

1961 – Car 54, Where Are You? premiered on NBC.
The series – which ran for two seasons – focused on the misadventures of New York City Police Department officers Gunther Toody (Joe E. Ross) and Francis Muldoon (Fred Gwynne), assigned to Patrol Car 54.
Car Factoid: The police cars used for the series were actually bright red and white, which appeared as the proper shade of gray for an NYPD car on black-and-white film.

1963 – The Fugitive premiered on ABC.
As played by David Janssen, Dr. Richard Kimble’s search for the one-armed man responsible for his wife’s death lasted four seasons.

1964 – Bewitched premiered on ABC.
The series ran for eight years.

1964 – Goldfinger, the third installment in the James Bond series, premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square Theatre in London.
The film – starring Sean Connery, Gert Frobe and Honor Blackman – was filmed on a budget of $3 million and registered $125 million at the box office.
Shirley Bassey’s recording of the film theme song reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100.

1965 – Hogan’s Heroes premiered on CBS. The prisoner of war comedy series lasted six seasons.

1966 – Mission Impossible premiered on CBS. The series ran for seven seasons.

1972 – M*A*S*H premiered on CBS. The series won 14 Emmy Awards during its 11-year run.

1983 – 20-year-old Vanessa Williams became the first African American to win the Miss America crown.
A scandal later erupted when nude photos surfaced of Williams that had reportedly been shot when she worked for a photographer before her pageant days.
She was forced to resign her title in July 1984.

1984 – Actor Richard Basehart died at the age of 70 following a series of strokes.
He starred in several films, including He Walked By Night, Hitler, and Moby Dick, but is best remembered for his role of Admiral Harriman Nelson in the television series Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea.

1997 – Richard “Red” Skelton, who had a 70-year career as an entertainer and artist, died at the age of 84.
The Red Skelton Show made its television premiere in 1951 on NBC. By 1954, Skelton’s program moved to CBS, where it was expanded to one hour and renamed The Red Skelton Hour in 1962.
Despite high ratings, the show was cancelled by CBS in 1970, as the network believed that more youth-oriented programs were needed to attract younger viewers. It was a strange decision, as his program had been one of the top ten highest rated shows for 17 of the 20 years he was on television.
“I just want to be known as a clown,” he once said, “because to me that’s the height of my profession. It means you can do everything – sing, dance and above all, make people laugh.”
Personal Opinion: Red Skelton had two attributes that set him apart: a talent for mime that could and did transcend the barrier of language, and the gift of evoking tears as readily as laughter – matchless abilities that are the hallmark of all great clowns.
And of course, there was also this…

SPORTS HISTORY

1941 – Stan Musial made his major league debut for the St. Louis Cardinals, going 2-for-4 in game two of a double header against the Boston Braves.
Musial spent his entire 22-season career in St. Louis, batting .331, with 475 home runs and 1,951 RBI, and won three World Series championships, three MVP titles and seven batting titles.

1961 – Fran Tarkenton played his first NFL game as he came in off the bench for the Minnesota Vikings and threw four touchdown passes.
The future Hall of Fame quarterback led Minnesota to a 37-13 win over the Chicago Bears 37-13 in the Vikings’ first game in the NFL.

Compiled by Ray Lemire ©2005-2020 RayLemire.com / Streamingoldies.com. All Rights Reserved.