Radio Show for Nov. 26, 2021
Special Holidays
Record Store Day, Besides being Black Friday today is also Record Store Day. Record Store Day is an event which began in 2007 and is held twice a year in April and Black Friday. It brings together fans, artists and thousands of independent record stores across the world. Besides the United States it’s an event in the UK, Ireland, Mexico, Europe, Japan and Australia. Many special records are pressed specifically for Record Store Day with a list of releases for each country only to shops participating in the event.
National Cake Day…Slide over pies and hot fudge sundaes! Today “cake” takes center stage as the dessert of choice. America’s favorite cakes are Chocolate, Red Velvet, Carrot, and Banana, not far behind the popular Black Forest, and Pineapple Upside Down Cake.
It is believed that the recipe for “Pound Cake” was found in the first US cookbook, “American Cookery” which was published in 1796. “Pound Cake” was traditionally made with a pound each of flour, butter eggs and sugar.
Cake quotes:
*A lot of movies are about life, mine are like a slice of cake…Alfred Hitchcock
*A great empire (like a great cake), is most easily diminished at the edges…Benjamin Franklin
*If you’re trying to create a company, it’s like baking a cake. You have to have all the ingredients in the right proportion…Elon Musk
*You know you’re getting old when you get that one candle on the cake, it’s like, “See if you can blow this out!”…Jerry Seinfeld
Did you know?
The phrase “Let them eat cake” is attributed to Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France before the French Revolution. As the story goes, it was the Queen’s response upon being told that her starving peasant subjects had no bread….she said…”Let them eat cake”.
The phrase “take the cake” originally meant to win a prize. People as far back as the ancient Greeks used the word “cake” to mean a symbolic prize. Over time it grew to have a more negative sarcastic meaning in English, like “I can’t believe this. It just takes the cake.”
“Selling like hotcakes” originated in the 1800’s when simple cornmeal versions were sold at
church bake sales and snapped up by the congregation before they went cold.
Birthdays
Tina Turner…Nov.26, 1939 (81 yrs.)
Tina Turner is an American born (Swiss resident) singer. Often referred to as the “Queen of Rock n’ Roll” she rose to fame as the lead singer of the Ike and Tina Turner duo before launching a successful career as a solo performer.
Tina was born Anna Mae Bullock in Brownsville, Tennessee. Her father worked as an overseer of sharecroppers on a farm. When she was young, her and her siblings were separated when their parents went to work at a defense facility during World War II, Tina went to live with strict, religious paternal grandparents for a short time. She moved again when her Mother left the family permanently.
Bullock joined the cheerleading squad and the female basketball team in high school and after graduation she worked as a nurse’s aide in a hospital.
When she got a little older she and her sister began to frequent nightclubs where she first saw Ike Turner perform with his band in St. Louis. In 1957 she got a hold of the microphone from his band’s drummer and during an intermission she sang a song, when Turner eventually asked her to become a part of the group, “Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm”.
Later she had the chance to record a demo tape with Turner and was heard by the President of R&B Label Sue Records and said that Bullock sounded like “screaming dirt, it was a funky sound.” She eventually changed her name to Tina, and married Ike Turner in 1962. The musical legend began.
Tina Turner has sold over 100 million records worldwide and is one of the best-selling recording artists of all time. She has received 12 Grammy Awards, three Grammy Hall of Fame awards and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards. She is the first black artist and first female to be on the cover of Rolling Stone. She is a two time inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and also a 2005 recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors and Women of the Year award.
Charles Schulz Nov.26, 1922-2000
Charles Monroe “Sparky” Schulz was an American cartoonist and creator of the comic strip “Peanuts”.
Charles was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He loved drawing and sometimes drew his family dog Spike (a pointer not a beagle) who ate unusual things such as pins and tacks. He sent in 1937 a picture of Spike that he drew to “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” and it was published in a syndicated panel captioned “A hunting dog that eats pins, tacks and razor blades is owned by C.F. Schulz.”
Charles skipped two half-grades in Elementary school and was a shy and timid teenager. His drawings were rejected by his high school yearbook.
He spent time in the US army in WWII and saw combat only at the very end of the war. He said he had only once fired his machine gun but forgot to load it, and that the German soldier he could have fired at willingly surrendered.
On returning home from the war he began publishing his cartoons in various newspapers including The Saturday Evening Post.
“Peanuts” was published daily in 2,600 papers in 75 countries, and in 21 languages. In over 50 years Schulz drew almost 18,000 Peanuts comic strips not to mention all the merchandise and product endorsements that followed.
Charlie Brown, the principal character of Peanuts, was named after a co-worker at ‘Art Instruction, Inc.’
Did you know?
*Schulz loved “Citizen Kane” and watched the movie over 40 times.
*Charles was very active in senior ice-hockey tournaments and formed “Snoopy’s Senior World Hockey Tournament” and was awarded the Lester Patrick Trophy for outstanding service to the sport of hockey in the U.S.
*Charles’ favorite artist was Andrew Wyeth and had a passion for classical music, his favorites being Beethoven and Brahms.
*In 1988, two gunmen in ski masks entered his home through an unlocked door. Planning to kidnap his wife but failed when their daughter drove up to the house which prompted them to flee. The police were notified and the crime was believed to be kidnap for ransom. No one was hurt.
Charles Schulz was nominated for 8 Primetime Emmy Awards and won one.
Paul Desmond Nov. 25, 1924-1977
Paul Emil Breitenfeld was an American Jazz alto saxophonist and composer best known for his work with the Dave Brubeck Quartet. In addition to his work with Brubeck he led several groups and collaborated with Gerry Mulligan and Chet Baker. He was one of the most popular musicians to come out of the ‘cool jazz scene’.
Desmond was born in San Francisco. His father was a pianist, organist, and composer who accompanied silent films in movie theaters and for live theatrical productions. His mother was emotionally unstable and suffered mental illnesses throughout his upbringing.
Desmond studied clarinet at the age of twelve thru high school. During attending college he began playing alto saxophone.
After serving WWII, following his discharge Paul changed his last name to Desmond. He said after hearing singer Johnny Desmond he thought he had such a great name, he said “it’s so smooth and yet so uncommon.” He started working in the Bay Area as a back-up musician and worked occasionally for Dave Brubeck. They had met in 1944 while still in the military. In 1976 he played 25 shows in 25 nights with Brubeck, touring the United States in several cities by bus.
Paul worked several times during his career with saxophonist and band leader Gerry Mulligan, appeared at the New Orleans Jazz Festival and also collaborated with Chet Baker.
Paul claimed his musical style “is like a dry martini”.
Desmond enjoyed reading works by Timothy Leary and Jack Kerouac and also dabbled in some LSD usage. He was known to be addicted to Dewar’s Scotch Whiskey and Pall Mall cigarettes. He also frequently took amphetamines and in the 70’s known to use cocaine. It is said that with his dependency problems he would sometimes need a vitamin B12 shot just to go on playing during his later career.
He died in 1977 from lung cancer.
Patrick Nagel ….Nov. 25, 1945-1984
Patrick Nagel was an American artist and illustrator and created popular illustrations on board, paper and canvas, his work is considered Art Deco and Pop in style. He is best known for his work for Playboy magazine and the music group Duran, Duran for whom he designed the cover of their best-selling album, Rio.
Nagel was born in Dayton, Ohio and was raised and spent most of his life in the LA area. After serving in the US Army in Vietnam he attended the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Cal State University, Fullerton.
He worked as a graphic designer for ABC television and began work as a freelance artist or major corporations and magazines including Architectural Digest, Rolling Stone and Harper’s Magazine, to name a few. Patrick produced album covers for recording artists such as Tommy James, Thelma Houston and Duran Duran, as well as commercial clients Lucky Strike cigarettes, Ballantine’s Whiskey and Budweiser.
He contributed to Playboy magazine between 1975 and 1984 regularly contributing with one painting being published every issue.
Nagel in 1977 made his first image for Mirage Editions printing many images most famously being those of ‘Nagel Women’ as well as celebrity portraits including Joan Collins and Joanna Cassidy.
Nagel’s manager Karl Bornstein, president of Mirage Editions attempted to continue publication of Nagels’ works but succeeded only in exploiting the brand.
Nagel died in 1984 after a 15 minute ‘aerobic-athon’ celebrity fundraiser for the American Heart Association. He died from a heart attack and a further autopsy revealed that he had a congenital heart defect that was undetected his entire life.
Ricardo Montalblan …Nov. 25, 1920-2009
Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montablan y Merino was a Mexican film and television actor. He became known for performances in a variety of genres, from crime, and drama to musicals and comedy. He portrayed Armando in the “Planet of the Apes” in the early 1970’s, the galactic villain ‘Khan’ in the film “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” as well as playing ‘Mr. Roarke’ on the television series “Fantasy Island” from 1977-1984. He was also the spokesman in Chrysler automobile advertisements which he praised the “rich Corinthian leather” used for Cordoba’s interior.
Ricardo was born in Mexico City. As a teenager he moved to Los Angeles then on to New York City in 1940 and earned a minor role in a play.
He appeared in musicals and as an extra as a member of a singing chorus and got lead role in a film in 1941. Ricardo returned to Mexico after learning his mother was ill. There he acted in a dozen Spanish-language films and became a star in his homeland.
He later got to be very popular with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, starred with Esther Williams, Frank Sinatra, Shelley Winters, Lana Turner, Anne Bancroft and Rhonda Fleming and worked under directors Dory Schary and John Sturges to name a few.
Montalban made appearances in television such as “The Ford Television Theatre”, “General Electric Theatre”, “Dick Powell Theatre”, “Wagon Train”, “Chevron Hall of Stars”, “Burke’s Law” and “Dr. Kildare” as well as on the Broadway stage.
Ricardo’s best known television role was that of Mr. Roarke on “Fantasy Island” from 1977-1984. It included his sidekick Tatoo (Herve’ Villechaize). His role as the villain “Khan” in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” is considered the greatest role of his career, and, to settle the debate…his muscular chest in that film was his own. He explained on Johnny Carson that he was able to achieve the look by doing a lot of push-ups.
Ricardo won one Primetime Emmy award in 1978 for “TV’s How the West Was Won” and Life Achievement Award in 1994 from the Screen Actors Guild.
Ricardo played in over 30 films and many television appearances.
Short List of Ricardo Montalban films
Fiesta 1947, (musical drama) director Richard Thorpe, starred Esther Williams, Mary Astor and Cyd Charisse
Sayonara 1957, (drama) director Joshua Logan, starred Marlon Brando, James Garner, film nominated for ten AA awards and won four.
Cheyenne Autumn 1964, (western) director John Ford, starred Richard Widmark, James Stewart, Carroll Baker, Edward G. Robinson, film nominated for one Oscar (Best Cinematography)
The Singing Nun 1966, (musical drama) director Henry Koster, starred Debbie Reynolds, Greer Garson, film nominated for one Oscar (Best Music)
Escape from the Planet of the Apes ,1971, (sci-fi adventure) director Don Taylor, starred Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Sal Mineo, film nominated for two AA awards and won an Honorary Award for John Chambers for Make-up.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, 1982, (sci-fi) director Nicholas Meyer, starred the Star Trek cast
“Wrath of Khan” trivia
*The scenic view of San Francisco through Kirk’s apartment window was a painting originally created for the film “The Towering Inferno”.
*The computer simulation of ‘Genesis’ transforming a dead planet into a habitable one is the first complete computer generated sequence ever used in a feature film.
*The moving ‘star field’ during the title sequence was filmed by putting the camera in the center of the floor of a local planetarium, aimed up.
*Remember when Lucille Ball vetoed the Desilu Board’s decision not to produce Star Trek, the Original Series in 1966. She thought this was an interesting idea, the rest is history.
*At one point, Ron Howard was approached to direct this film. He turned it down though he was a huge fan of the series.
Honorable Mentions
Robert Goulet…Nov, 26, 1933-2007
Robert was an American singer and actor, he originated the role in the Broadway musical Camelot. He was an Academy Award winner and Grammy Award winner with a career spanning almost six decades.
NASA Nelly….The Gulf Breeze Incident, or…. Who Placed That Fake UFO In The Attic?
On This Day
The film “Casablanca” was premiered on Nov. 26, 1942 at Hollywood Theatre, NYC and released across the country the following January. The film was directed by Michael Curtiz, starred Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid. (Curtiz also directed Mildred Pierce, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Mystery of the Wax Museum, to name a few). Casablanca was nominated for eight Oscars and won three which included Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay.
FDR establishes modern Thanksgiving Holiday on Nov.26, 1941. He signed a bill on this day officially establishing the fourth Thursday in November as “Thanksgiving Day”.
New York’s original Penn Station opens to the public on Nov. 27, 1910 with over 100,000 visitors on the first day. It was commissioned by the Pennsylvania Railroad billing itself the be the standard railroad of the world.
The above-ground structure would remain until 1962 as it was deteriorating. Many picketed in front of the station to protest its demise. During this time the Landmarks Preservation Commission was created, LPC is the largest municipal preservation agency in the nation protecting NYC’s historically significant buildings.
On Nov.28, 1964 spacecraft Mariner 4 carried out the first successful flyby of the planet Mars returning the first pictures of the Martian surface. Mariner 4 is an interplanetary probe that was launched by NASA and JPL. It was the fourth of a series of spacecraft designed to fly past planets and became the first to fly past Mars. It provided the first close up photos of the planet, the first photos of any planet from space.
