Pop Culture Heroes Memorial Day - August 16

Several years ago, I designated August 16 as Pop Culture Heroes Memorial Day. Why August 16? One reason is that it is the middle day in a month that doesn't have any holidays. But the main reason is that it is the anniversary of the deaths of both Babe Ruth (died in 1948) and Elvis Presley (died in 1977). This year, I am adding a third important person who died on August 16, Aretha Franklin (2018), to the list of the major pop culture heroes who died on this date. Black and female lives matter! Another white male pop culture hero who died on August 16 quite recently is Peter Fonda (2019).

But I have set up Pop Culture Heroes Memorial Day to honor everyone who achieved fame in various popular culture fields and has since died, no matter what date. Yes, I know that it may be seen as a slap in the face to military and law enforcement heroes, and this year to heroes in the fields of medicine and education. But we have the opportunity to enjoy various forms of popular culture because the military defended our right to do so, law enforcement officers gave us a fairly safe environment in which to enjoy it (most of the time), medical professionals made sure we were healthy enough to appreciate it, and teachers gave us an educational foundation to understand it.

(Except that sometimes when I was in high school in the late 1960s, I surreptitiously had the earphone of my transistor radio attached to my ear, tuning out the teacher while Aretha sang "Think", Elvis sang "Suspicious Minds", or some other favorite song or artist played. Or maybe earlier in the 1960s, one of my classmates had the same setup to listen to the Yankees, now more than 25 years removed from The Babe's playing days, facing the National League champion in the World Series. Any teacher who put up with this was a hero of a special kind.)

Other major league baseball players who died on August 16 include Bobby Thomson (2010), who hit the pennant-winning home run for the New York Giants in 1951; John Roseboro (2002), a long-time catcher with the Dodgers (starting with their last year in Brooklyn) who caught two of Sandy Koufax' no-hitters); and Earl Averill (1983), a Hall of Famer who spent most of his career with Cleveland and had a son named Earl Jr. who also played in the majors. Averill and Ruth both wore #3.

For those of you who do want to observe a military achievement, August 16 is National Airborne Day, which honors the airborne forces of the United States Armed Forces. The first official Army parachute jump was on August 16, 1940.

Entertainers born on August 16 include Madonna, Eydie Gorme, Fess Parker, and both Kathie Lee and Frank Gifford (who was also a Hall of Fame NFL player). Baseball players born on August 16 include Mike Jorgensen (whose claim to fame was often that he was born on the day that Babe Ruth died), Willie "Puddin' Head" Jones (a 1950 Phillies Whiz Kid), and Yu Darvish.

"Think" by Aretha Franklin:

"Suspicious Minds" by Elvis Presley:

Peter Fonda scenes from "Easy Rider":

Bobby Thomson's famous home run - "The shot heard 'round the world:

Most of the YouTube videos about John Roseboro focus on the time an opposing pitcher, who was batting, attacked him on the head with a baseball bat. Here's a funny one featuring several Dodgers. Roseboro is the catcher. Sandy Koufax is the pitcher.

Here is Babe Ruth supposedly calling his shot - a World Series home run:

I Haven't Forgotten This Blog, and Happy Birthday, Anne Murray!

No, I didn't get sick and die from you-know-what! I was waiting for baseball to get underway to have a new Opening Day for this blog. But it hasn't happened and may not happen this year. So I will try to write again starting now. Plus, I'm spending a lot of the time I would have been spending on this blog doing some household projects. I've thrown away a lot of stuff lately. Some days there was so much that the trash can I was using began to split apart. A big package came from Wal Mart today. Someone surprised me with a new trash can! I can't wait to get started on tonight's project in about 45 minutes so I can put it to good use!

I missed so many singer birthdays. Paul Davis on April 21 (and I had salvaged something from my only other attempt at writing a blog to post about him), Glen Campbell (I watched his documentary "I'll Be Me" that day to celebrate), Barbra Streisand on April 24, Tommy James on April 29, Tommy Roe on May 9, songwriter Burt Bacharach on May 12, Stevie Wonder and Ritchie Valens on May 13, Bob Dylan on May 24 (he may not be as interesting to me as Tommy James, but he is certainly worth writing about), John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival) on May 28, and Paul McCartney on June 18. And there may have been others that have slipped my mind for now. I will try to catch up with them in the following weeks with belated birthday posts.

Today, June 20, is Anne Murray's 75th birthday. She has been retired from performing for more than a decade, and I'm not sure she's still recording. She lives in her native Canada, in Toronto. I've thought about doing a post with pictures of street signs that make me think of songs, performers, and sports figures or events. Here's one to honor today's special occasion:

The first song I ever heard by her was "Snowbird", which is still one of my favorite songs by her. I think that the first time I ever heard it was on the morning of Monday, July 27, 1970 (an important date in my life because that night, I saw Neil Diamond in concert for the first time), played by Harv Moore, the morning disc jockey on WPGC in Washington, DC. Here it is:

Over the next few years, she had hits with two songs originally recorded by Loggins and Messina:

"Danny's Song":

And "A Love Song":

She remade a Beatles song, "You Won't See Me", which I read somewhere John Lennon thought was one of the best versions of one of the group's song he had ever heard:

And she remade a Monkees song, "Daydream Believer" (too bad she didn't think to also record their other "Believer" song, because she never did a song written by Neil Diamond):

I could go on posting more of my favorites, but this should be enough for now.

Interesting Baseball Birthdays for April 14

Several interesting baseball players were born on April 14. They include (with some overlapping):

• Three members of the 1990s Atlanta Braves dynasty, including two born in the same year.
• Two players who were born in Cincinnati, won the National League Rookie of the Year Award, and whose last names can be found in the phrase Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird. (She served in office in California from 1977 until 1987, having lost a reconfirmation vote in November 1986.)
• Two Jewish catchers born in consecutive years, one of them on Easter Sunday.

Here is more information on them:

The 1990s Atlanta Braves:

Outfielder David Justice was born in Cincinnati on April 14, 1966. He debuted with the Braves in 1989 but did not play enough games or accumulate enough plate appearances to lose his rookie status. In 1990, still a rookie, he hit .282 with 28 home runs and 78 RBIs, enough to receive the NL Rookie of the Year award. He continued to star with the Braves through 1996, making the NL All Star team in 1993 and 1994. He was then traded to the Cleveland Indians before the 1997 and made the American League All Star team that year. He stayed with Cleveland until the middle of the 2000 season, when he was traded to the New York Yankees. After the 2001 season, he was traded across town to the New York Mets, but a week later, he was traded to the Oakland A's. The 2002 season in Oakland was his last in the major leagues.

Lefthander Steve Avery, born on April 14, 1970, joined the Braves at the age of 20 in 1990. In his first game, he lasted only 2 1/3 innings against the Cincinnati Reds, giving up 8 earned runs. 1990 was the last year the Braves were a bad team that often finished last in the NL West. In 1991, the Braves improved to finish first, and Avery was a major reason. He finished 18-8 with a 3.38 ERA and 137 strikeouts. It looked like Avery, Tom Glavine, and John Smolz would form a "Big Three" starting rotation for years to come in Atlanta. But after an All Star season in 1993, his career went downhill, partly due to injuries. He left the Braves as a free agent after the 1996 season and signed with the Boston Red Sox. After two seasons in Boston, he signed with the Cincinnati Reds, where he spent one season. He did not play in the major or minor leagues in either 2001 or 2002, but he made a brief comeback with the Detroit Tigers in 2003. He posted a 2-0 record for a team that lost 119 games that year, but that was his last big league season.

Righthander Greg Maddux, also born on April 14, 1966, began his major league career with the Chicago Cubs. From 1986 through 1992, he made two All Star teams and showed other signs of becoming a star pitcher. After the 1992 season, he became a free agent and signed with the Braves. Briefly, he formed a "Big Four" with Avery, Glavine, and Smolz, but after Avery's decline, his presence still gave the team a "Big Three". He led the league in ERA his first three seasons in Atlanta and led the league in several other categories during his years in Atlanta, which stretched from 1993-2003. He was an All Star every year from 1994-1998 and in 2000. After becoming a free agent following the 2003 season, he returned to the Cubs. In the middle of the 2006 season, the Cubs traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers. After the 2006 season, he became a free agent again and signed with the San Diego Padres, He returned to the Dodgers late in the 2008 season, after which he retired.

Maddux is the only player born on April 14 in the Baseball Hall of Fame. I strongly feel that he should not be, which brings us to the next category.

Cincinnati natives who won the NL Rookie of the Year Award and whose last names can be found in Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird:

I've already mentioned David Justice.

Pete Rose is baseball's all-time hit leader with 4,256. He also leads in games played with 3,562, plate appearances with 15, 890, and official at-bats with 14,053. He began his career with his hometown Reds in 1963 and finished with the Reds in 1986, having served as player-manager for the last two. He managed the Reds for three more years. He played for the Reds from 1963-1978, the Philadelphia Philles from 1979-1983, the Montreal Expos in 1984, and the Reds again in 1985-1986. He was an All Star 17 times. As someone who is not big on punishments, lifetime bans, tough love, and disqualifications, I strongly feel that Pete Rose must go into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Jewish catchers born in consecutive years:

Jesse Levis was born in Philadelphia on April 14, 1968 (Easter Sunday). He was drafted by his hometown Phillies after high school but decided to play college baseball at the University of North Carolina instead. Three years later, he was drafted by the Cleveland Indians and signed with them. He made his debut in 1992 and shuttled between the Tribe and AAA between then and 1995. Cleveland had Sandy Alomar, Jr., as its first string catcher then, and it was difficult for other catchers to get playing time for the team. Levis was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers (then still in the AL) before the 1996 season. He held down the first-string catcher spot until he was injured in May 1998. He had brief re-appearances with the Indians in 1999 and the Brewers in 2001 before his major league career ended, although he was still playing in the minors in 2003.

(The name Jesse Levis contains the name of one of twin sons born to Mrs. Gladys Presley on January 8, 1935, and an anagram of the name of the other twin son.)

Brad Ausmus, born on April 14, 1969, had a much more substantial career as a predominantly first-string catcher. He played for the San Diego Padres from 1993-mid-1996, then the Detroit Tigers for the remainder of 1996 and 1999-2000, the Houston Astros from 1997-1998 and 2001-2008, and the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2009-2010. He was an All Star in 1999. In 12 of his 18 seasons, he caught in 100 or more games. After his playing career was done, he managed the Tigers from 2014-2017 and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in 2019.

Happy birthday to all of the players who are celebrating today!

Happy Birthday, Diana Ross!

Diana Ross, who first became prominent as the lead singer of the Motown girl group the Supremes, was born in Detroit on March 26, 1944. As a teenager, she sang with other girls who also lived in the housing project where she lived. They formed a group, the Primettes, which later evolved into the Supremes. Originally, group member Florence "Flo" Ballard sang lead, while Diana Ross and Mary Wilson sang backup. But after they signed with Motown, label head Berry Gordy, Jr., decided that Diana would sing lead.

After a few minor hits, the group scored its first #1 record, "Where Did Our Love Go".

Starting with "Where Did Our Love Go", 10 out of 13 singles released by the group reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and 12 of them reached the Top 10. Two of my favorite came in the second half of 1966. Collectively, I call them the "Yuke" songs: "You Can't Hurry Love"

and "You Keep Me Hangin' On".

Suddenly, I am 14 years old again, a tough time in my life, but these two songs were bright spots for me. Both have been hits by other artists since then. The most notable remake of "You Can't Hurry Love" was a hit by Phil Collins that reached the Billboard Top 10 in 1983. Other hit remakes of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" include a Top 10 hit by Vanilla Fudge in 1967 and a Number 1 hit by Kim Wilde in 1986.

Flo Ballard left the Supremes and was replaced by Cindy Birdsong in 1967. At that point the group name became Diana Ross and the Supremes. The group's records began to peak at lower positions. In 1969, it was announced that Diana Ross would be leaving the group at the end of the year to pursue a solo career. Her last single with the group, "Someday We'll be Together", was only their second Billboard #1 since her name was made part of the group's. I have read that Mary and Cindy didn't even sing on this record. Instead, Diana was backed by a Motown studio girl group, the Andantes. Here's the song:

After Diana Ross left the Supremes, she continued to be a successful recording and performing artist for many years. She also pursued a career as a film star, appearing in such movies as Lady Sings the Blues (for which she received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress), Mahogany, and The Wiz. Her first hit single as a solo artist was "Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)":

Her first #1 solo hit was "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", which is not one of my favorite hits of hers. (I much prefer the version by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.) But I do love her second #1, "Touch Me in the Morning". Yes, another song about touching! Here it is:

In addition to her solo hits, Diana Ross has had duet hits with Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Julio Iglesias, Al B. Sure!, and Rod Stewart.

Instead of "The Most Splendid Time in Sport", Let's Play The Birthday Game!

In the May 11, 1981, issue of Time, the following lines appeared in the article "Happy Playing Billyball", written by staff sportswriter B.J. Phillips:

In the beginning, there was no baseball. But ever since, there have been few beginnings as good as the start of a new baseball season. It is the most splendid time in sport, in part because baseball is about the only sport left—now that football players report to training camp before the Fourth of July, and hockey players start skating in Indian summer—that still has a time and is true to it.

While we're waiting for "the most splendid time" to get underway, whenever that will be, I want to share a research project I did last year on the 25-man Opening Day rosters for each team. I used a mathematical principle that states:

In a room of just 23 people, there’s a 50-50 chance of at least two people having the same birthday.

This is not a math blog, so I won't get into the details right now. You can read more about it on sites such as Better Explained and Wikipedia. But I figured that with 25 men on each roster, the odds were good that at least 15 of the 30 teams would have at least two players with the same birthday. In fact, 17 teams had such pairs, and some even had multiple pairs. One team even had three players with the same birthday!

Here are the teams and the players involved. Some of the players are no longer with the teams with whom they're listed here.

National League East:

Philadelphia Phillies - Rhys Hoskins and Jean Segura, March 17

Washington Nationals - Patrick Corbin and Yan Gomes, June 30

National League Central:

St. Louis Cardinals - Andrew Miller and Matt Wieters, May 21

Cincinnati Reds - Raisel Iglesias and Michael Lorenzen, January 4; Kyle Farmer and Jesse Winker, August 17; Eugenio Suarez and Derek Dietrich, July 18

National League West:

Colorado Rockies - Daniel Murphy and David Dahl, April 1

Los Angeles Dodgers - Ross Stripling and Justin Turner, November 23

San Diego Padres - Phil Maton and Kirby Yates, March 25

American League East:

Boston Red Sox - Ryan Brasier and David Price, August 26; Christian Vazquez and J.D. Martinez, August 21

New York Yankees - Adam Ottavino and Austin Romine, November 22

American League Central:

Cleveland Indians - Adam Cimber and Oliver Perez, August 15; Roberto Perez and Hanley Ramirez, December 23

Minnesota Twins - Ryne Harper and Jake Odorizzi, March 27

Chicago White Sox - Alex Colome and Kelvin Herrera, December 31

Kansas City Royals - Tim Hill, Jorge Lopez, and Alex Gordon, February 10; Brad Keller and Adalberto Mondesi, July 27 (both in 1995)

American League West:

Houston Astros - Chris Devenski and Wade Miley, November 13; Alex Bregman and Jake Marisnick, March 30

Los Angeles Angels - Ty Buttrey and Peter Bourjos, March 31

Seattle Mariners - Chasen Bradford and Domingo Santana, August 5

Texas Rangers - Kyle Dowdy and Rougned Odor, February 3; Shawn Kelley and Nomar Mazara, April 26

The Atlanta Braves, Miami Marlins, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants, Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Rays, Toronto Blue Jays, Detroit Tigers, and Oakland Athletics had none.

I did this exercise in 2017, and exactly half of the 30 teams had matches. One highlight from that one: the Blue Jays had two players born on 19 October and two exactly a week later on 26 October.

2019 American League Rookie of the Year Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros did not debut until June 9, 2019, but even if he had started the season with the Astros or any other team, he would not have had a matching birthday on the team. No players born on his birthday of June 27 were on any 25-man Opening Day rosters in 2019. Stefan Crichton, who appeared with the Diamondbacks but was not on the team's 25-man Opening Day roster, was the only major leaguer born on February 29 to appear in the majors in 2019, so he wouldn't have had a match, either.

Happy Birthday, Elton and Aretha!

Ah! Here are two all-time greats for whom I just need to give a first name, and immediately, those who are familiar with the field know to whom I am referring. Elton John and Aretha Franklin share the same birthday, March 25. (Another person born on March 25 who has had a major effect on my life is writer and activist Gloria Steinem.)

Elton John was born with the name Reginald Kenneth Dwight on March 25, 1947, in Pinner, Middlesex, England. At a young age, he formed a group called Bluesology, for which he played piano. He took his stage name from the names of two members of the group, saxophonist Elton Dean and vocalist Long John Baldry. The 2019 movie about him, Rocketman, incorrectly implies that John came from John Lennon of the Beatles. He also adopted the middle name Hercules.

Aretha Franklin was born in Memphis on March 25, 1942, but lived much of her life in Detroit, where she died on August 16, 2018. (August 16! I didn't even realize until I typed it just now that Aretha died on the same day of the year as Elvis and The Babe, who most people who follow rock music and baseball, respectively, would know just by those names. In case you don't know, I mean Elvis Presley and baseball great Babe Ruth. And as for people who became famous only by one name, it is also Madonna's birthday.) One thing I love about Aretha is that for almost every song I've ever heard her sing that I also know by another artist, I think that her version is better.

Let's put this to the test. Here's Elton singing "Border Song", which he wrote with his long-time singing partner, Bernie Taupin:

And here is Aretha's version:

Personally, I think that both are great, and I love them both about equally. But I love the organ instrumental break in Aretha's, which puts it over the top for her.

And to conclude this birthday celebration for the two of them, here is a live duet of this song by Elton and Aretha:

What If Elvis Presley Hadn't Died Until Today, March 24, 2020?

What if Elvis Presley had lived until today? What would he have done with the rest of his career, and how would his death today have affected people?

The first thing I want to explain is why I picked March 24, 2020, as the date for Elvis to die after living a good, long life to the age of 85. I could have gone with his 100th birthday, January 8, 2035, or the date in the year in which he would have turned 100 that was the same one on which he died, August 16, 2035.

Here's why. There were 15,561 days between the day on which Elvis was born, January 8, 1935, and the day on which he died, August 16, 1977. And there were 15,561 days between August 16, 1977, and today, March 24, 2020. Since all of these dates were Tuesdays, the weeks between them don't include fractions: 2,223 weeks.

Enough of the math stuff. Let's speculate what Elvis would have continued to do.

Elvis would have continued making records for a very long time, maybe even up to the present time. Maybe he had a new album ready to go that would have been even more anticipated because it was now going to be his last one. At some point, his contract with RCA would have been up. Even if his sales had been in decline, he'd still likely have attracted a decent contract with a label, either RCA or another one.

He would have also continued his live performances on tours and in places like Las Vegas for a few more decades. Maybe at some point in the 2000s, an Elvis Farewell Tour would have drawn fans eager to see him one last time, as well as some first timers who wanted the chance to say that they had seen Elvis Presley perform live. Even after this tour, he may have taken up residence in Las Vegas, Branson, or some other entertainment hotspot and just done shows there.

Elvis hadn't made a movie for eight years at the time of his death. His movies were often done quickly, with thin plots. In the case of It Happened at the World's Fair, for example, what sane parent would trust their young child with a complete stranger (played by Elvis) these days? But some of his best-known hit songs came from his movies, including "Love Me Tender", "Jailhouse Rock", and "Can't Help Falling In Love". That said, it wouldn't have surprised me to have seen Elvis get back into movies with the proper but solid plot and some great songs. One person who may have made a great costar with Elvis is Dolly Parton. Dolly's own film career didn't take off until about three years after Elvis died. Her new cinematic star power may have boosted Elvis' reborn one and vice versa.

Elvis did not perform duets with other singers, unless you count his backup group the Jordanaires. Within a couple of years after his death, duets of singers who didn't normally sing together became an "in" thing. And one of the first singers to be involved in such a recording was the man sometimes called "The Jewish Elvis", Neil Diamond, when he sang "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" with Barbra Streisand, which went all the way to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Streisand continued in this vein with hit duets with artists like Donna Summer and Barry Gibb (of the BeeGees) and eventually released an album of duets. Frank Sinatra, who was as big an artist in his day as Elvis was in his, did two albums of duets in his later years. Elton John, who also is as big an artist in his day as Elvis (early birthday greetings Elton!), has done one. And Kenny Rogers, who really did die in the past week at the age of 81, had duet hits with at least four other artists, including Dolly Parton, and probably more, since I stopped following the hits of the day after around 1988. With Elvis actively recording during those years, I'm sure there would have been many artists, male and female, young and old, who would have loved to have done one or more with Elvis. Elvis duets albums, especially one of love songs or rock and roll hits, would not have been inconceivable.

In fact, some posthumous duets involving dubbing have been made, both officially and unofficially. I remember hearing a version of Linda Ronstadt and Elvis performing "Love Me Tender" on the radio not long after he died. An album of Christmas duets was released in 2008.

Elvis' late 1960s comeback started with a television special aired in November 1968. Elvis would have continued to use TV and videos to keep his career going. While he would probably not have been in regular rotation on MTV or even VH1, he would have had periodic specials, perhaps at Christmas, and direct-to-consumer releases (first on VHS, then on DVD/Blu-Ray, and finally on streaming sources).

The industry that grew up around Elvis after his death would not have happened like it did, at least not in such a large-scale manner. Graceland would still be his home, so it would not have been the tourist attraction that it is today. Sun Studios, where Elvis recorded his early hits, is also a tourist attraction in Memphis. In fact, when I was in Memphis when I should have been home watching the start of the 2008 World Series, I toured Sun Studios but not Graceland. Since it had not been in use for a long time, and it is also famous for early recording sessions by singers such as Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Roy Orbison, this would have still been a tourist stop in Memphis even with Elvis still alive and living there.

There would still be Elvis imitators and tribute acts. You only have to look as far to see that Neil Diamond, who is still alive and was performing live as recently as 2017, who has spawned a good number of such acts through the past 25 or 30 years. Elvis would have done the same.

I don't want to speculate on Elvis' personal life. At the time of his death, his girlfriend was Ginger Alden. Maybe they eventually married, maybe they didn't, and if they did, were they still together? I don't think he would have been too happy when his daughter Lisa Marie married Michael Jackson and would have been relieved when they split.

As for cause of death, I'm going to say that it was not that thing that's going around. He would have likely been reclusive at the end and would not have been exposed to it. More likely, the cause would have been a longer term illness or medical condition, such as dementia, cancer, or heart disease. Because of that thing going around, he would have had a quiet burial at Graceland next to both of his parents, with fan gatherings happening later.

Happy Birthday, Neil Sedaka!

He's only my second favorite singer named Neil who graduated from Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn. But Neil Sedaka, born on March 13, 1939 (not a Friday, but a Monday), has written and sung a lot of great songs. He is another one who should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, if not as a performer, then as a songwriter.

His best-known song is probably "Breaking Up is Hard to Do":

Another of his hits, "Oh! Carol", was written for his friend Carole King, who also became a famous songwriter and singer:

Carole then sang an answer song, "Oh, Neil":

When the British Invasion and other new music styles came along starting in the mid-1960s, Sedaka went through a period in which he didn't have any U.S. hits. But in 1974, with the help of Elton John, he began having hits again. The first one was "Laughter in the Rain":

Neil Sedaka's main songwriting partner in the early part of his career was Howard Greenfield. Later, he wrote songs with Phil Cody. Other artists also had hits with songs he wrote. The second best known one is likely "Where the Boys Are" by Connie Francis, written with Greenfield:

The best known one is likely "Love Will Keep Us Together" by The Captain and Tennille, also written with Greenfield:

Finally, a birthday song, in which both Neils from Abraham Lincoln High School, Sedaka and Diamond, sing one of Sedaka's hits, "Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen":

Happy birthday, sweet 81, Neil Sedaka!

Change of Oasis for Now

Instead of this blog being an oasis from March Madness, as promised earlier, it will instead be an oasis from anything having to do with, well, you know what. I will not be posting about, well, you know what.

But I am really upset over the delay of the baseball season and this unbalanced scheduling from canceled games that will result once (if) the season gets underway! See 1972 and 1995 for examples of this.

I just went to look up the correct spelling of canceled or cancelled. It turns out that the single 'l' is the one that is used in U.S. English. I hope I remember to spell it correctly from now on.

If you thought this was going to be about the rock group Oasis, I'm sorry to disappoint you. I don't know any of their songs.

Happy Birthday, James Taylor!

Happy birthday to James Taylor, who was born on March 12, 1948. I have never been as much of a James Taylor fan as I've been of Neil Diamond, but he has done a lot of enjoyable songs.

What a lot of people might not know is that James Taylor recorded for the Beatles' Apple label before achieving success after signing with the Warner Bros. label. He released an album and a few singles on Apple. His best-known song from this period is "Carolina on my Mind", on which he was joined by Paul McCartney on bass and George Harrison on uncredited background vocals.

His first big hit record was "Fire and Rain":

James Taylor was married to fellow singer Carly Simon from 1972-1983 and sang a few duets with her, including "Mockingbird" (considered to be a Simon recording with Taylor as a guest):

For a while in the late 1970s, James Taylor had hits with remakes of earlier hits. In fact, "Mockingbird" is such a song, having been a hit for Inez and Charlie Foxx in 1963. One such song was a remake of the Drifters' 1963 hit "Up on the Roof", which was written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. This was not the first James Taylor hit that was written by Carole King. She also wrote his 1971 #1 hit "You've Got a Friend". "Up on the Roof" is the only song I know of that was recorded by both James Taylor and Neil Diamond, although I see that Taylor has done the now-obligatory Christmas album. Chances are good that, unless all of the songs on it are originals (doubtful), there's at least one song and probably more on it that Neil Diamond has also done.

Incidentally, I much prefer James Taylor's version of "Up on the Roof" over Neil Diamond's, but I prefer the original hit by the Drifters over both of them. Here are the two James Taylor songs at least partially written by Carole King I mentioned above. First, "You've Got a Friend":

Second, "Up on the Roof":

James Taylor was raised in the Chapel Hill, NC, area. In 2009, I visited relatives who lived in the area. As I drove on U.S. 15 south of town, I noticed a bridge called the James Taylor Bridge. I figured it was named for some politician who had obtained funding for it, but then remembering the singer James Taylor's roots, I wondered if it was named for him. I researched this online after I got home and saw that it was indeed named for him.

Happy Birthday, Mark Lindsay!

Mark Lindsay was the lead singer of the rock band Paul Revere and the Raiders, who had a lot of hit records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Their music often featured a hard rocking beat, but sometimes they sang softer songs.

The Raiders are a group that needs to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but they're not. Like the Monkees, they may have been denied this honor because, in their prime, they appealed to an early and pre-teen audience. Mark in particular appealed to girls. I've felt for several years that there is some sexism involved with Rock Hall of Fame selection, not so much the artists (although I think there is some there, too) but with artists that primarily appealed to female fans being ignored in the voting.

The Raiders' earliest hits were usually covers or remakes of other artists' songs or ones written by notable songwriters of the time such as Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil. Mann and Weil wrote one of their best-known hits, "Kicks":

Another song they did around this time was one written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart that was also recorded by the Monkees, "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone":

Later, Mark Lindsay and group leader and keyboard player Paul Revere began writing most of their songs. Sometimes record producer Terry Melcher (Doris Day's son) collaborated in the songwriting. Here is one of the Lindsay-Melcher songs, "Him or Me - What's It Gonna Be":

Starting in 1969, Mark Lindsay made some solo recordings while remaining a member of the Raiders. The biggest hit among these was "Arizona":

A lesser-known one was "And the Grass Won't Pay No Mind", a song that Elvis Presley also recorded, as well as the guy who wrote it, Neil Diamond:

Finally, in 1971, the Raiders had their biggest hit record, "Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)". It was their only single to go to #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. By the 1970s, the Raiders were doing a lot of songs by outside songwriters again. This one was written by John D. Loudermilk. I will probably do a blog post about his songs one of these days because I think he was underappreciated.

Neil Diamond Singing "I'm a Believer"

As you have read or can read in my other blog post today, Neil Diamond wrote the Monkees' hit record "I'm a Believer". He has also recorded his own version of this song multiple times.

His first version of this song was practically a duplication of the Monkees' hit, possibly even a fleshing-out of his demo version of the song. It was first released on his 1967 album Just for You and has appeared on multiple compilation albums from him since then.

He then recorded a new version with an updated arrangement and some new lyrics that was released on his 1980 album September Morn.

Most recently, he released a slow version on his 2010 album Dreams.

During his 2012 concert tour, he sang both the slow version and the traditional uptempo one back-to-back.

The Monkees recorded three other songs that Neil Diamond wrote. Davy Jones sang lead on the other three, "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You", "(Look Out) Here Comes Tomorrow", and "Love To Love". I have seen Micky Dolenz perform "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" in concert; he has also done other songs that originally featured another Monkee singing lead. Of these three, Neil has only recorded "Love to Love". It was on his first album, The Feel of Neil Diamond, released in 1966, and was never available on CD until the 2011 release, The Bang Masters: 1966-1968. He performed "(Look Out) Here Comes Tomorrow" during his 2005 concert tour and "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You" in some late 1960s shows in places such as New York City's Bitter End.

Happy Birthday, Micky Dolenz!

Last week, I posted on the anniversary of Monkee Davy Jones' death. Today, let's observe the birthday of fellow Monkee Micky Dolenz, who is one of the two surviving Monkees (along with Michael Nesmith, following the death last year of Peter Tork).

Micky Dolenz was born George Michael Dolenz, Jr., in Los Angeles on March 8, 1945. He had a career as a child actor in the 1950s, starring in a show called Circus Boy. My mother told me that I watched this show, but I don't remember it. I was only 4 and 5 years old at the time. Dolenz' stage name at the time was Micky Braddock. By the time he tried out for the Monkees almost ten years later, he had gone back to the Dolenz name.

Micky sang lead on the Monkees' first two hit records, "Last Train to Clarksville", written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, and "I'm a Believer", written by Neil Diamond. Boyce and Hart wrote a whole bunch of songs that the Monkees recorded, including the theme song to their T.V. show. On the  show, he appeared as the band's drummer. When the group members won the right to play their own instruments, he continued as such, even though his initial desire was to be a guitarist.

In the late 1960s, the Monkees were not highly regarded by many of the people who wrote about rock music. I think that this was partly due to their fanbase at the time mainly being female and in their early or pre-teens. But about twenty years later, they were finally recognized as being early examples of music videos and reality TV, even though their shows were scripted. Many of their songs have become classics, including both of their "Believer" songs, the other one being "Daydream Believer", on which Davy Jones sang lead. Many have been covered by other artists over the years. "I'm a Believer" has been featured in at least two movies. The Monkees' original version was in the 1999 film Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. A remake by Smash Mouth and a partial performance of the song by Eddie Murphy's donkey character were highlights of the 2001 motion picture Shrek.

In recent years, Micky has done a lot of touring, sometimes as part of Monkees reunions, sometimes own his own, and sometimes as part of package tours, such as the Happy Together tour. In his solo and package tour shows, his finale has been "I'm a Believer". He introduces it by telling the younger audience members that he, "did it before Shrek."

But the Monkees are still not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Has their early bad press remained to haunt them?

Here are some of his most memorable Monkees songs:

"Last Train to Clarksville":

"(I'm not Your) Steppin' Stone", written by Boyce and Hart, which was the B-side of "I'm a Believer" but was also a hit record:

A solo version of "I'm a Believer" from the 21st century:

Neil Diamond has done his own version of this song. In fact, he has recorded it in three different styles. Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart had a brief period of recording success in the late 1960s building upon their work with the Monkees. Following that, the two of them toured with Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz as Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart.

Happy Birthday, Brian Hunter!

Today is the 64th day of the year. This means that today is the birthday of Brian Hunter, a veteran outfielder who was in the Philadelphia Phillies' 2001 training camp in Clearwater, FL, and who was born on the 64th day of the year.

But wait a minute! The Phillies had two veteran outfielders named Brian Hunter in training camp that year! Which one do I mean?

Well, it can be either one, depending on whether it is leap year or not.

Brian Raynold Hunter was born on March 4, 1968, the 64th day of that year, since it was a leap year. So today really is his birthday, since it's also a leap year. He debuted in the majors on May 31, 1991, for the Atlanta Braves. I used to see him on Braves games on TBS when he was with the team from 1991-1993 and again in 1999-2000. In between those two stints, he played for four other teams, although he did not play in the majors at all in 1997. He was claimed off waivers from the Braves by the Phillies in 2000. He went to spring training with them the following year but was released. That was the end of his major league career. Brian Raynold Hunter batted righthanded and threw lefthanded, which is not that common among non-pitchers.

Brian Lee Hunter was born on March 5, 1971, the 64th day of that year, since it was not a leap year. So his birthday is really tomorrow. He debuted in the majors on June 27, 1994, with the Houston Astros. (No Hall of Famers have been born on June 27, and there is no chance for one any time soon unless Jim Edmonds somehow convinces some veterans voters or Yordan Alvarez overcomes the Astros' issues and continues the promise he showed as the AL Rookie of the Year last year). Brian Lee Hunter played for the Astros in 1994-1996 and then finished his career with them in 2002-2003. In between, he played for five other teams, including the 2001 Phillies, having made the club out of spring training.

Believe it or not, I know of one other situation in which two players with the same name who were active at the same time had post-February 28 birthdays a day apart, but because the one born on the earlier date was born in a leap year, and the other wasn't, they were born on the same numbered day of the year. (During my career as a computer programmer, we called the number day of the year a "Julian date". So today is Julian date 064, or actually 20064 or 2020064.) I may make you wait until December 13 to let you know who they are, but I may tell you this sooner.

I promised no March Madness stuff on my blog, but if you want to read it elsewhere, check out A Look Back at March Madness in the 2010s.

Some Music February 29 Trivia

Unfortunately, when I think of any connections between February 29 and pop music, the first thing that comes to mind is that Davy Jones died on this date in 2012. Davy Jones was a member of The Monkees, the band that starred in a sitcom from 1966-1968 and several hit records during that time period. While their peak period of success lasted only two years, their music and TV shows have endured over the years. Sadly, another Monkee, Peter Tork, died in February 2019. The other two Monkees, Mike Nesmith, who shares Davy Jones' December 30 birthday, and Micky Dolenz, are still performing. Dolenz even appeared in my neck of the woods a week ago, but I wasn't able to attend that show. I have seen him perform multiple times in recent years.

Davy Jones sang lead on a few of the Monkees' hit records, including "A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You", which was written by Neil Diamond.

The other Monkees didn't want to do this song, so they walked out ("guys, don't you walk out, we've got a song to sing", to paraphrase some lyrics to this song). The Monkees were trying to get more control over their music, including playing their own instruments. So not only was Davy Jones singing lead on this record, he was the only Monkee singing on it. The other voices are said to belong to Carole King (whose own recording career hadn't taken off yet) and Neil Diamond himself.

Another famous Monkees song with Davy Jones on lead vocal is "Daydream Believer" (not to be confused with another of their hits, "I'm a Believer", on which Micky sang lead and which was also written by Neil Diamond).

This one features all four Monkees, probably with Micky, Mike, and Peter playing instruments.

A fact you may not know about Davy Jones is that before he came to the U.S. from his native England, he played the Artful Dodger in the original stage production of Oliver! in London. He then reprised his role in the original Broadway production of this musical. But when it was time to make the movie version, he was probably too busy with the Monkees to be the Artful Dodger once again. The role went to another English actor/singer, Jack Wild. The producers of the Oliver! movie must have done a lot of things right because it got the Best Picture Oscar for 1968. Unfortunately, Jack Wild died on March 1, 2006. Yes, just like Davy Jones, he passed away on the day after February 28. And just like Davy, he was born on the 30th of the month, in September.

There was once a Major League baseball player named Davy Jones. He was an outfielder who played in 1901-1904, 1906-1913, and 1918 for six different teams including the Pittsburgh Rebels of the short-lived Federal League. This Davy Jones was born and died on the 30th of the month: He was born on June 30, 1880, and died on March 30, 1972.

Speaking of Oliver!, Davy Jones and other cast members appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show on February 9, 1964. This particular episode of this show is most famous for being the one in which the Beatles made their American TV debut. February 1964, like February 2020, had five Saturdays. This only happens every 28 years. Thus it also happened in 1992 and will happen again in 2048. Since 1962, the Billboard charts have had Saturday dates. During the height of Beatlemania, their song "I Want to Hold Your Hand" held down the #1 spot on the Hot 100 all five weeks in February 1964.

In 1960, the Billboard charts bore Monday dates, and February 29 fell on a Monday that year. The #1 song that week was "The Theme From 'A Summer Place'" by Percy Faith.

Now on to music people born on February 29. Adam Sandler noted in "The Chanukah Song" that Dinah Shore lit candles on the menorah. Every four years, she could have blown out the candles on her birthday cake, since she was born on February 29, 1916. Here's her biggest hit record, "Buttons and Bows", which won the Best Song Oscar for 1948, when it was sung by Bob Hope in The Paleface.

Gretchen Christopher of the group the Fleetwoods was born on February 29, 1940. Here is one of the group's biggest hits, "Come Softly to Me".

In the classical music field, composer Gioachino Rossini was born on February 29, 1792. One of his most famous compositions is the "William Tell Overture". This piece has been adapted into several popular music pieces, including:

The theme song to the radio and TV show The Lone Ranger:

A hit song by Patti Page, "Now That I'm In Love":

The song "Happy Anniversary" performed on The Flintstones:

The instrumental break of "The Lone Teen Ranger", performed by Paul Simon under the name of Jerry Landis, a few years before he had hits as half of Simon and Garfunkel:

And finally a superb guitar instrumental by Glen Campbell:

Some Baseball February 29 Trivia

February 29 doesn't fall during the baseball season, but it does fall during spring training. There have probably been some newsworthy items such as free agent signings, veterans cut, someone ending a holdout, or significant injuries on this date, but I'll just focus on births and deaths of major league players.

So far, there have only been 14 major leaguers who were born on February 29. I am a longtime fan of 20th and 21st century baseball who generally hasn't followed 1800s baseball. I also don't always understand newly prominent statistics such as WAR, OPS, and WHIP. But I hope to learn more about these areas as I grow my blog. Two of these 14 players only appeared in the 1800s. I do know that the higher the WAR, the better, and that negative WAR values are possible.

I have come up with a composite full name taken from some of the major leaguers born on February 29:

Albert "Al" Leonard Long

This covers 5 of the 14 players born on Leap Day.

Albert "Al" - This name covers both extremes, the Leap Day baby with one of the longest Major League careers and one with one of the shortest. Third baseman Al Rosen, born in 1924, appeared in 1,044 games from 1947-1956, all with the Cleveland Indians. His best season was 1953, when he won the American League MVP award. As of now, Rosen is the only Jewish Major Leaguer who was born on February 29. Righthander Al Autry, born in 1952, appeared in only one game, in September 1976. Starting the second game of a doubleheader for the Atlanta Braves against the Houston Astros, he went five innings and gave up three runs, all earned, for a 5.40 career ERA. Fortunately for him, the Braves had scored four runs by then. That 4-3 lead stood, so Autry won his only game in the majors. Autry had been a prospect with the Kansas City Royals for a few years before being traded to the Braves a year earlier, spending some spring training camps with one of the Royals' top pitchers at the time, Steve Mingori, who was born on February 29, 1944.

Leonard - This name covers the two Leap Day babies with the highest career WAR so far, the aforementioned Al Rosen and Pepper Martin, born Johnny Leonard Roosevelt Martin in 1904, while Theodore Roosevelt was President of the United States. Martin played in 1928, 1930-1940, and 1944, all for the St. Louis Cardinals. He was mainly an outfielder, playing all three positions, but like Rosen, he played third base, too. He was a member of the Cardinals' Gashouse Gang of players in the 1930s.

Long - Sometimes it is a long time between the births of two Leap Day babies who become Major League ballplayers. There were none born in 1964, 1968, or 1972. But Long also happens to be the last name of both the sole player born on February 29, 1960, and the only one born on February 29, 1976. Righthander Bill Long, born in 1960, pitched in 1985 and 1987-1991, mainly for the Chicago White Sox and also for the Chicago Cubs and the Montreal Expos. Outfielder Terrence Long, born in 1976, played in the majors from 1999-2006. He was the runner-up for Rookie of the Year in 2000 with the Oakland A's, after a brief debut with the New York Mets the previous year. He also played for the San Diego Padres, Kansas City Royals, and New York Yankees. Terrence Long is so far the only African-American Major Leaguer born on February 29.

The only two Leap Day babies to have appeared in the Major Leagues since Terrence Long were both born in 1992. Lefthander Gerardo Concepcion appeared in three games for the 2016 Cubs, although he was no longer on the active roster for their historic World Series win that year. A native of Cuba, Concepcion is the only Hispanic Major Leaguer born on February 29 as of now. Righthander Stefan Crichton appeared in the majors for the Baltimore Orioles in 2017 and the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2019. He is in training camp with the Diamondbacks this spring, so his big league career could continue in 2020 or later. I don't know where Concepcion is following his release by the Cubs in 2017.

Only one Major Leaguer has died on February 29, Ernie Courtney, who passed away 100 years ago today in 1920. (I hope I don't jinx anyone by saying this!) He played in 1902-1903 for four different teams and then in 1905-1908 for the Philadelphia Phillies. His primary positions were third base, first base, and left field.

Some sources, including his Wikipedia entry, show the death date for Lena Blackburne (born Russell Aubrey Blackburne on October 23, 1886, in Clifton Heights, PA, not far from Philadelphia) as February 29, 1968. Baseball Reference, which I used to find data for this article, shows it as February 28, 1968. In addition to his playing career as an infielder with the Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Braves, and Philadelphia Phillies and his time spent as a manager and coach with a few teams, his claim to fame is that he discovered a special use for the clay from the Delaware River to take the shine off of baseballs before each game. This method is still used today.

Leap Year Beginning

Welcome to my new blog. I thought February 29 would be a good day to start it, although I may regret it if I want to mark my first anniversary next year. I hope it will last through a first year.

The baseball elements of this blog will contain a lot of trivial baseball curiosities, such as players with the same name, from the same hometown, or with the same birthday.

I am also going to cover popular music from 1955 until sometime in the 1985-1988 time frame. I stopped following the hits of the day by 1989 for various reasons. The last new song I remember is "The Living Years" by Mike + the Mechanics, although I know a handful of ones from later, including "Who Let the Dogs Out", "The Macarena", and "Happy" by Pharrell Williams. I may sometimes talk about pre-1955 songs, including classical music.

No, this is not going to be about Neil Diamond and only Neil Diamond! But one focus of this blog that I have planned is on other artists' recordings or other performances of songs he's written. Another is on other artists' recordings of songs he didn't write but has recorded or performed somewhere (such as in concert or on TV), especially original versions and versions that were hits by other artists.

My focus will be less on the most popular artists and more on lesser-known or less-highly-regarded artists than most pop/rock music writers. I have long said that I find Tommy James and the Shondells to be more fascinating than Bob Dylan. This line should give you some indication of what I want to say in this blog. But artists such as the Beatles and Elvis Presley will show up here simply because I do have things to say about them. In fact, just as I plan to do with Neil Diamond, I plan to have a focus on other artists' recordings or performances of songs any of the Fab Four wrote and a focus on other artists' recordings of songs the group recorded but were not written by any of them. I have a special bit of Elvis trivia planned for March 24 if this blog lasts that long.

I'll also cover other topics that may interest me (and I hope you, too). I am not what you'd consider to be a film buff, and I am not much of a reviewer/critic. But I am on the verge of finishing up a project I began in July 2017 of watching every Best Picture Oscar winner. I'll have some comments on these films, as well as those in another project I've been pursuing of watching one person's opinion of the 25 Best Baseball Movies. I've been watching those in roughly descending order, starting with #25. I have five films to go in each category. The DVDs from Netflix for both Eight Men Out and Spotlight are sitting in my living room, waiting for me to watch them in the coming days. I have other movie projects planned, plus I'll be catching up with others I've missed or want to see again. In addition to these two projects, I just completed a mini one in the past several days of watching both the original (1960) and remake (1986) versions of [The] Little Shop of Horrors. This was for a program sponsored by the Abington Township Library System in Montgomery County, PA.

I'll probably put in things related to NFL football, NHL hockey, and NBA and WNBA basketball. I don't have enough interest in soccer (some of you may call this "football"), golf, tennis, boxing, wrestling, auto racing, and college and most Olympic sports. I may take an interest in Olympic baseball this year and will be rooting for the Israeli team. Consider this blog to be an oasis from the constant coverage of March Madness when it comes up in a few weeks and the Olympics this summer.

I am a longtime member of Toastmasters International and will probably say a few things in support of this organization. Toastmasters, in the new Pathways program, has an elective presentation on creating a blog that I may do in the next few months if I keep this blog going.

Some things you won't find in this blog:

• Politics and some other sensitive issues
• Religion
• Stories about all the bad stuff that's happened in my life, assuming there were bad things that happened, unless they relate to something covered by one of the other topics. An example would be something like (made up example), "This is one of my all-time favorite Elton John songs, but unfortunately, I associate it with the first time I ever got fired from a job."

That's enough for now. This should get better once I get the hang of making entries. If I have enough time later, I will make a post with some Leap Day trivia.