9/21 Entertainment History

“When we started the series, we thought it might go a year. I only hope that I can regain my own identity once I decide that Perry and I have come to the parting of the road. All I know is that I work, eat and sleep Perry Mason.”
~ Raymond Burr

ROCK & ROLL HISTORY

1962 – A year and a half before the Beatles hit America, The Springfields became the first British group to reach the Top 20 in the U.S. when Silver Threads and Golden Needles peaked at that position.
Dusty Springfield, the lead singer in that group, would later have a remarkable solo career.

1966 – After seven months, four studios, and a cost of more than $50,000 (at that point the greatest sum ever spent on a single), Brian Wilson completed the production of The Beach Boys’ Good Vibrations.
Personnel Factoid: Only one member of the band actually played an instrument on the recording. Dennis Wilson played a Hammond organ at the 2:13-2:56 mark.
The rest of the backing track was supplied by the Wrecking Crew of session musicians with one notable exception.
Paul Tanner, a former member of the Glenn Miller Orchestra played an Electro-Theremin, an instrument he had developed that mimicked the sound of the Theremin – which it was mistakenly confused with.
Tanner also played it on the opening title theme music of the 1963-66 CBS-TV comedy series My Favorite Martian.

1968 – Gary Puckett & The Union-Gap released Over You.
It would become the group’s fourth consecutive million-selling single and reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Rock Factoid: The band’s name was Puckett’s idea. He was a Civil War buff and suggested the band dress in Union uniforms to cut a more striking look. Remembering the small town of Union Gap, next to Yakima, Washington where he’d grown up, Puckett suggested calling the band The Union Gap.
No one else in the band liked it but hey, it was better than the name they had been using … Gary and The Remarkables.

1968 – The Jimi Hendrix Experience released All Along The Watchtower. The Bob Dylan cover peaked at #20 and would be the only Top 40 hit for Hendrix.

1968 – Jeannie C. Riley became the first female performer to top the Billboard Country and Pop charts simultaneously, with Harper Valley P.T.A.

1979 –Cheap Trick released their Dream Police album.
It remains the group’s most commercially successful studio album, going to #6 on the Billboard 200 Album chart and contained a pair of Top 40 singles: Dream Police (#26) and Voices (#32).

MOVIE/TV HISTORY

1957 – Perry Mason, starring Raymond Burr (with Barbara Hale as legal secretary Della Street), premiered on CBS.
The program ran for nine seasons and became one of the five most popular shows on television. In fact it still airs in syndication today.
Mom Factoid: William Hopper, who played detective Paul Drake, was the son of Hedda Hopper, one of America’s best-known gossip columnists.
Seeing Double Factoid: Instead of showing a clip from Season 1, I am including a clip from Season 9 (The Case of The Dead Ringer) in which Burr appeared in his regular role as Perry and also played Mr. Grimes, a drunk, a troublemaker, and the spitting image of Perry Mason.

1968 – Adam-12 premiered on NBC.
The series, co-created by Robert Cinader and Jack Webb – the latter of whom also created and starred in Dragnet – aired for seven seasons and followed the exploits of LAPD officers Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) and Jim Reed (Kent McCord).

1974 – Actor Walter Brennan died from emphysema at the age of 80.
He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor three times: Come And Get It, Kentucky, The Westerner, and was nominated for a fourth for Sergeant York.
In 1962, Brennan recorded Old Rivers which incredibly became a top 5 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, Easy Listening, and Hot C&W Sides charts.
All of that aside, he is best remembered for his role on television’s The Real McCoys.

SPORTS HISTORY

1955 – In his last fight, undefeated world heavyweight boxing champion Rocky Marciano knocked out light heavyweight Archie Moore in the 9th round.
Marciano finished his career with a 49-0 mark, including 43 knockouts.

1964 – Cincinnati Reds’ Chico Ruiz stole home to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 1-0.
No one thought much about it at the time but the Phillies loss was the beginning of an unbelievable 10-game losing streak that saw the team blow a 6 ½ game lead in the National League standings and give the St. Louis Cardinals the pennant.

1970 – Monday Night Football debuted on ABC. The original trio in the booth were Howard Cosell, Keith Jackson and “Dandy Don” Meredith.
ABC Sports producer Roone Arledge had tried to lure Curt Gowdy and then Vin Scully to ABC for the play-by-play role, but settled for Jackson after they proved unable to break their respective existing contracts with NBC and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Frank Gifford would replace Jackson in 1991.
By the way, the Cleveland Browns defeated the New York Jets, 31-21.

1982 – NFL players began a 57-day strike.
The players’ union had demanded a wage scale based on percentage of gross revenues be implemented. The owners balked, resulting in the players walking out and not returning until seven regular-season games had been lost.
When a collective bargaining agreement had been ratified and the players had received a 5-year, $1.28-billion package plus incentives, the season resumed on Nov. 21.
As a result of the strike, the season schedule was reduced from 16 games to 9 and the playoffs expanded to 16 teams (eight from each conference) for a “Super Bowl tournament.” which ended with the Washington Redskins defeating the Miami Dolphins in the Super Bowl.

2008 – At Yankee Stadium, the New York Yankees defeated the Baltimore Orioles in the final game to be played in “The House That Ruth Built.”

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