March 8, 2008

75 years ago
1933

On the radio
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, starring Richard Gordon and Leigh Lovell, on NBC
Tonight's episode: The Illustrious Client

50 years ago
1958

Hit parade
#1 single in Australia (Kent Music Report): April Love--Pat Boone (4th week at #1)

#1 single in West Germany (Media Control): Der lachende Vagabund--Fred Bertelmann (7th week at #1)

#1 single in France (IFOP): Gondolier--Dalida (4th week at #1)

#1 single in the U.K. (Record Mirror): Magic Moments/Catch a Falling Star--Perry Como (2nd week at #1)

U.S. top 10 (Cash Box)
1 Get a Job--The Silhouettes (2nd week at #1)
2 Don't--Elvis Presley
3 Catch a Falling Star--Perry Como
4 Sail Along Silvery Moon--Billy Vaughn and his Orchestra
5 Short Shorts--The Royal Teens
6 Oh Julie--The Crescendos
7 Sweet Little Sixteen--Chuck Berry
8 Tequila--The Champs
9 26 Miles (Santa Catalina)--The Four Preps
10 Sugartime--The McGuire Sisters

Singles entering the chart were Lollipop, with versions by the Chordettes, and Ronald and Ruby (#43); Lazy Mary (Luna Mezzo Mare) by Lou Monte (#50); Gigi, with versions by Vic Damone, Charles Margulis, and Billy Eckstine (#52); Don't You Know I Love You by Fats Domino (#54); Billy by Kathy Linden (#59); and Bop-A-Lena by Ronnie Self (#60). Gigi was the title song of the movie. Don't You Know I Love You was the other side of Yes, My Darling, which had charted the previous week at #53.

40 years ago
1968

Hit parade
#1 single in New Zealand (RIANZ): Thank U Very Much--The Scaffold

Edmonton's top 10 (CJCA)
1 Love is Blue (L'Amour est Bleu)--Paul Mauriat and his Orchestra (5th week at #1)
2 (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay--Otis Redding
3 Simon Says--1910 Fruitgum Co.
4 The Unicorn--The Irish Rovers
5 Words--Bee Gees
6 Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition was In)--The First Edition
7 Green Tambourine--The Lemon Pipers
8 Itchycoo Park--Small Faces
9 Spooky--The Classics IV
10 Too Much Talk--Paul Revere and the Raiders
Pick of the Week: Ways--The Candymen
New this week: Valleri--The Monkees
Thinking it Over--Del Shannon
If You Can Want--Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
You've Gotta Be Loved--The Montanas
Cotton Candy Sandman--Harpers Bizarre

Curling
In Kelowna, British Columbia, Ron Northcott of Calgary, representing Alberta, defeated Herb Pile's Northern Ontario rink 13-9 to clinch the Brier championship. Mr. Northcott's victory gave him a record of 9 wins and 1 loss; Bob Pickering of Saskatchewan finished second at 8-2, while Prince Edward Island, skipped by Alan Smith of Charlottetown, finished third with a record of 7-3, P.E.I.'s best record ever.

Hockey
NHL
The Detroit Red Wings sold defenceman Doug Barrie to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He had begun the season with the Kansas City Blues of the Central Professional Hockey League, scoring no goals and 6 assists in 32 games before joining the Omaha Knights and scoring 1 goal and 6 assists in 23 games. Mr. Barrie was now transferred to the Tulsa Oilers of the CPHL.

40 years ago
1978

Hit parade
#1 single in the U.K. (New Musical Express): Wuthering Heights--Kate Bush

Hockey
NHL
Vancouver 3 @ Atlanta 8

CHL
Dallas 7 @ Tulsa 3
Fort Worth 3 @ Salt Lake City 2


25 years ago
1983

World events
U.S. President Ronald Reagan, in an address to the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, Florida, characterized the Soviet Union as an "evil empire" and as "the focus of evil in the modern world." Pseudo-Christian fellow traveller Ron Sider had a fit and attempted to get a group together to issue a statement of protest against the content of Mr. Reagan's speech. The reaction of most of those living behind the Iron Curtain was quite different. When word reached them of what Mr. Reagan had said, the people were greatly encouraged that the United States at last had a president who was willing to tell the truth about the Soviet Union.



Died on this date
William Walton, 80. U.K. composer. Among Mr. Walton's works were scores for the Laurence Olivier films Henry V (1945); Hamlet (1948); and Richard III (1956), the first two of which were nominated for Oscars.

20 years ago
1988

Hit parade
Canada's top 10 (The Record)
1 Pump Up the Volume--M/A/R/R/S (3rd week at #1)
2 Could've Been--Tiffany
3 Tell it to My Heart--Taylor Dayne
4 What have I Done to Deserve This?--Pet Shop Boys (with Dusty Springfield)
5 Never Gonna Give You Up--Rick Astley
6 Hungry Eyes--Eric Carmen
7 Need You Tonight--INXS
8 Father Figure--George Michael
9 Hazy Shade of Winter--Bangles
10 I Get Weak--Belinda Carlisle

Father Figure achieved instant notoriety when some television stations refused to show the video because of its steamy content. Two of the top ten were from movie soundtracks; Hungry Eyes was the "other" hit from Dirty Dancing (the Oscar-winning (I've Had) The Time of My Life by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes was the first hit from that movie), while Hazy Shade of Winter was heard at the opening of Less Than Zero.

Mr. Astley's song was his first big hit, while Mr. Carmen's entry was his first top 10 hit in a dozen years. As far as I can recall, M.A.R.R.S. was (were?) a one-hit wonder, which is okay with me, because I never liked that song, anyway.

10 years ago
1998

Died on this date
Ray Nitschke, 61. U.S. football player. Mr. Nitschke was the middle linebacker for the Green Bay Packers from 1958-1972, and anchored the defense of the teams coached by Vince Lombardi that won five National Football League championships (1961-1962; 1965-1967). He was the Most Valuable Player in the 1962 title game, and was voted to the All-Pro team from 1964-1966. Mr. Nitschke played in 190 games and made 25 interceptions for 385 yards and two touchdowns. Mr. Nitschke was voted the greatest linebacker in NFL history in 1969; in 1999 The Sporting News placed him third, behind Lawrence Taylor and Dick Butkus. He was elected to the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 1978. Mr. Nitschke made cameo appearances in two movies: Head (1968) and The Longest Yard (1974). He died of a heart attack while visiting family and friends in Venice, Florida.

James McDougal, 57. U.S. banker. A former friend of Bill and Hillary Clinton in Arkansas, he helped to spark the investigation into their Whitewater real estate dealings. Mr. McDougal, experienced in the ways of the Clintons, predicted that he would die in prison. He suffered cardiac arrest, and what normally would have been a 5-minute ambulance trip to the hospital took 28 minutes, conveniently too late to save Mr. McDougal. Mr. McDougal thus joined Vince Foster and others who met foul play after crossing the liar, war criminal and serial rapist Bill Clinton.