25 Oct 2019
Television Permalink

The Monkees

October 25, 2019

The Monkees were a pop rock quartet assembled by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider in Los Angeles in 1966 for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968. The members were Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork, and Englishman Davy Jones, who were supervised and popularized by Don Kirshner.

At the time of the band's formation, its producers saw The Monkees as a Beatles-like band. At the start, the band members provided vocals, and were given some performing and production opportunities, but they eventually fought for and earned the right to collectively supervise all musical output under the band's name. The group undertook several concert tours, allowing an opportunity to perform as a live band as well as on the TV series. Although the show was canceled in 1968, the band continued releasing records until 1971. The group reached the height of fame from 1966 to 1968, and influenced many future artists. In 1986, the television show and music experienced a revival, which led to a series of reunion tours, and new records featuring various incarnations of the band's lineup.

The Monkees had many international hits which are still heard on pop and oldies stations. These include "I'm a Believer", " Steppin' Stone", "Daydream Believer", "Last Train to Clarksville", and "Pleasant Valley Sunday".

Aspiring filmmakers Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider were inspired by the Beatles' film A Hard Day's Night to devise a television series about a rock 'n' roll group. As "Raybert Productions," they sold the show to Screen Gems television. Rafelson and Schneider's original idea was to cast an existing Los Angeles-based folk rock group, the Lovin' Spoonful. However, the Spoonful were already signed to a record company, which would have denied Screen Gems the right to market music from the show on record. So in September 1965, Daily Variety and The Hollywood Reporter ran an ad to cast the band.

25 Oct 2019
Recording Permalink

The Miracles

October 25, 2019

In memory of singer Bobby Rogers of The Miracles, flowers were placed on his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday, March 4, 2013. The star in category of Recording is located at 7060 Hollywood Blvd. Leron Gubler, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President/CEO and Claudette Robinson, spokesperson for the legendary Motown group, 'The Miracles,' who is also known as the “First Lady of Motown” were on hand to accept the floral arrangement placed on behalf of the Hollywood Historic Trust and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

The Miracles were honored with the 2,381st star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Leron Gubler presided over the ceremony. Guests included Berry Gordy and Stevie Wonder.

7060 Hollywood Boulevard on March 20, 2009.

BIOGRAPHY

The star honorees are the original Miracles' lineup: Bobby Rogers, Ronnie White (posthumously), Pete Moore, Smokey Robinson, and the First Lady of Motown, Claudette Robinson. Gloria White, wife of the late Ronnie White and Billy Griffin, former lead singer of The Miracles were also on hand for the celebration.

The Motown Sound began in 1959 with The Miracles, the very first of Berry Gordy's massively-successful pool of performers. From their unpolished start, they were special, diamonds in the rough. Gordy, already a successful songwriter with hits by the likes of Jackie Wilson and Etta James, heard it in their voices and in the songs scribbled in Smokey's notebook.

With Gordy, The Miracles launched the "Sound of Young America," and the rest is musical history. From their doo-wop roots, with songs like "Bad Girl" and "Got A Job," to the 60's and 70's smashes "Shop Around," "You Really Got A Hold On Me," "Ooo Baby, Baby," "Tears Of A Clown," "Do It Baby" and "Love Machine," The Miracles tore down barriers of intolerance, and got the people of the world dancing.

The group's songwriting talents, close harmonies, precise choreography, and the smooth lead tenor sounds of Smokey Robinson was a combination equivalent to musical dynamite. Add the premier guitar work and songwriting of Marvin Tarplin, career-long companion to The Miracles, and you've got the soundtrack of a generation.

The music has never stopped. Fifty years after they began, original member and beloved tenor/baritone Bobby Rogers still tours and records with a new lineup. Founding members Claudette Robinson and Pete Moore occasionally join them for special performances. She's that lilting voice on the top of the harmonies – her beauty and sweetness made her the crush of countless teenage boys. And yes, she really was the first girl singer ever signed to Gordy's hit-making company. Pete is that irreplaceable smooth, deep bass on the bottom, which made songs such as 'Doggone Right' and 'Got A Job' unforgettable.

Smokey Robinson performs non-stop as a solo artist, his falsetto and charm intact, causing another generation of girls to swoon. Always, all perform in memory of late member Ronnie White.

Even the oldest songs are fresh today. When they began, little did they know that they were singing and writing songs that would become music standards. Everywhere we go in the 21st century, their voices and those songs are heard daily.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Recording Permalink

The Munchkins

October 25, 2019

In memory of Munchkin Margaret Pellegrini, flowers were placed on The Munchkins star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Wednesday, August 7, 2013. The star in Motion Pictures category at 6915 Hollywood Boulevard was dedicated on November 20, 2007. “With Love from the Walk of Fame!” Ana Martinez, producer of the Hollywood Walk of Fame signed the card was signed on behalf of the Hollywood Historic Trust and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

The Munchkins from the classic Film The Wizard of Oz were honored with the 2,352nd star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Seven Munchkin-stars attended the event. Honorary Mayor of Hollywood Johnny Grant presided over the ceremony. Guests included Joey Luft, son of the late Judy Garland and sponsor of the star.

6915 Hollywood Boulevard on November 20, 2007.

COMMENTS:

The seven Munchkins who were on hand to accept their award included: Mickey Carroll, Ruth Duccini, Jerry Maren, Margaret Pellegrini, Meinhardt Raabe, Karl Slover and Clarence Swensen. The Munchkins arrived to the ceremony via a "horse-of-a-different-color" drawn carriage led by the Hollywood High School Marching Band.

The Munchkins were the lovable population of Oz in the classic 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz staring Judy Garland. Prior to the ceremony, a special screening of "The Wizard of Oz" was held Monday, November 19, 2007 at Grauman's Chinese Theatre where the movie premiered 68 years ago. The film was shown in True Technicolor in its original format.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures Permalink

The Nicholas Brothers

October 25, 2019

The Nicholas Brothers were a famous African-American team of dancing brothers, Fayard and Harold Nicholas. With their highly acrobatic technique, high level of artistry and daring innovations, they were considered by many the greatest tap dancers of their day. Growing up surrounded by Vaudeville acts as children, they became stars of the jazz circuit during the heyday of the Harlem Renaissance and went on to have successful careers performing on stage, film, and television well into the 1990s.

Fayard Antonio Nicholas was born October 20, 1914 in Mobile, Alabama. Harold Lloyd Nicholas was born March 17, 1921 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The Nicholas Brothers grew up in Philadelphia, the sons of musicians who played in their own band at the old Standard Theater, their mother at the piano and father on drums. At the age of three, Fayard was always seated in the front row while his parents worked, and by the time he was ten, he had seen most of the great African American Vaudeville acts, particularly the dancers, including such notables of the time as Alice Whitman, Willie Bryant and Bill Robinson. Neither Fayard nor Harold had any formal dance training.

They became the featured act at Harlem's Cotton Club in 1932, when Harold was 11 and Fayard was 18. They were the only entertainers in the African American cast allowed to mingle with white patrons.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Recording Permalink

The Beatles

October 25, 2019

The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. From 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. Rooted in skiffle and 1950s rock and roll, the group later worked in many genres ranging from pop ballads to psychedelic rock, often incorporating classical and other elements in innovative ways. The nature of their enormous popularity, which first emerged as the "Beatlemania" fad, transformed as their songwriting grew in sophistication. The group came to be perceived as the embodiment of progressive ideals, seeing their influence extend into the social and cultural revolutions of the 1960s.

With an early five-piece line-up of Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and Pete Best, the Beatles built their reputation in Liverpool and Hamburg clubs over a three-year period from 1960. Sutcliffe left the group in 1961, and Best was replaced by Starr the following year. Moulded into a professional outfit by music store owner Brian Epstein after he offered to act as the group's manager, and with their musical potential enhanced by the hands-on creativity of producer George Martin, the Beatles achieved mainstream success in the United Kingdom in late 1962 with their first single, "Love Me Do". Gaining international popularity over the course of the next year, they toured extensively until 1966, then retreated to the recording studio until their break-up in 1970. Each then found success in an independent musical career. Lennon was shot and killed in 1980, and Harrison died of cancer in 2001. McCartney and Starr remain active.

During their studio years, the Beatles produced what critics consider some of their finest material including the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, widely regarded as a masterpiece. Four decades after their break-up, the Beatles' music continues to be popular. The Beatles have had more number one albums on the UK charts, and held down the top spot longer, than any other musical act. According to RIAA certifications, they have sold more albums in the United States than any other artist. In 2008, Billboard magazine released a list of the all-time top-selling Hot 100 artists to celebrate the US singles chart's fiftieth anniversary, with the Beatles at number one. They have been honoured with 7 Grammy Awards, and they have received 15 Ivor Novello Awards from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. The Beatles were collectively included in Time magazine's compilation of. Aged sixteen, singer and guitarist John Lennon formed the skiffle group The Quarrymen with some Liverpool schoolfriends in March 1957. Fifteen-year-old Paul McCartney joined as a guitarist after he and Lennon met that July. When McCartney in turn invited George Harrison to watch the group the following February, the fourteen-year-old joined as lead guitarist. By 1960, Lennon's schoolfriends had left the group, he had begun studies at the Liverpool College of Art and the three guitarists were playing rock and roll whenever they could get a drummer. Joining on bass in January, Lennon's fellow student Stuart Sutcliffe suggested changing the band name to "The Beetles" as a tribute to Buddy Holly and The Crickets, and they became "The Beatals" for the first few months of the year. After trying other names including "Johnny and the Moondogs", "Long John and The Beetles" and "The Silver Beatles", the band finally became "The Beatles" in August. The lack of a permanent drummer posed a problem when the group's unofficial manager, Allan Williams, arranged a resident band booking for them in Hamburg, Germany. Before the end of August they auditioned and hired drummer Pete Best, and the five-piece band left for Hamburg four days later, contracted to fairground showman Bruno Koschmider for a 48-night residency. "Hamburg in those days did not have rock'n'roll music clubs. It had strip clubs", says biographer Philip Norman.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Radio Permalink

Tex Williams

October 25, 2019

Sollie Paul Williams, known professionally as Tex Williams, was an American Western swing musician from Ramsey, Illinois.

He is best known for his talking blues style; his biggest hit was the novelty song, "Smoke! Smoke! Smoke! ", which held the number one position on the Billboard charts for six weeks in 1947. "Smoke" was the No. 5 song on Billboard's Top 100 list for 1947, and was No. 1 on the country chart that year. It can be heard during the opening scenes of the 2006 movie, Thank You for Smoking.

Williams' backing band, the Western Caravan, numbered about a dozen members. They attained an enviable level of fluid interplay between electric and steel guitars, fiddles, bass, accordion, trumpet, and other instruments. At first they recorded polkas for Capitol Records with limited success. That was changed by the success of "Smoke, Smoke, Smoke" written in large part by Merle Travis.

Williams died of pancreatic cancer on October 11, 1985.

25 Oct 2019
Recording, Television Permalink

The Fifth Dimension

October 25, 2019

The 5th Dimension are an American popular music vocal group, whose repertoire also includes pop, R&B, soul, and jazz.

The 5th Dimension were best-known during the late 1960s and early 1970s for popularizing the hits "Up, Up and Away", "Wedding Bell Blues", "Stoned Soul Picnic", "One Less Bell to Answer", " I Didn't Get to Sleep at All", and "Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In", as well as the eponymous 5th Dimension and The Magic Garden LP recordings.

The five original members were Billy Davis, Jr., Florence LaRue, Marilyn McCoo, Lamonte McLemore, and Ron Townson. They have recorded for several different labels over their long careers. Their first work appeared on the Soul City label, which was started by Imperial Records/United Artists Records recording artist Johnny Rivers. The group would later record for Bell/Arista Records, ABC Records, and Motown Records.

Some of the songwriters popularized by The 5th Dimension later went on to careers of their own, especially Ashford & Simpson, who wrote "California Soul". The group is also notable for having more success with the songs of Laura Nyro than Nyro did herself, particularly in the cases of "Wedding Bell Blues", "Stoned Soul Picnic", and "Save the Country". The group also covered music by well known songwriters such as the song "One Less Bell to Answer", written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. And perhaps best of all, they became great interpreters of the songs and music of Jimmy Webb, who penned their original mega-hit "Up, Up, and Away", including an entire recording of memorable Webb songs called The Magic Garden.

25 Oct 2019
Recording Permalink

The Doors

October 25, 2019

In memory of founding keyboardist and Walk of Famer Ray Manzarek of The Doors, flowers were placed on his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday, May 20, 2013. The star in the category of Recording is located at 6901 Hollywood Boulevard in front of Hard Rock Cafe Hollywood. “RIP Ray.” Ana Martinez, producer of the Walk of Fame signed the card on behalf of the Hollywood Historic Trust and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California. Throughout its existence, the group consisted of vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger. The band took its name from the poet-visionary-artist William Blake, who had written, "When the doors of perception are cleansed, things will appear to man as they truly are.infinite." They were among the most controversial rock acts of the 1960s, due mostly to Morrison's wild, poetic lyrics and charismatic but unpredictable stage persona. After Morrison's death in 1971, the remaining members continued as a trio until finally disbanding in 1973.

Although The Doors' active career ended in 1973, their popularity has persisted. According to the RIAA, they have sold over 32.5 million albums in the US alone. The band has sold 80 to 100 million albums worldwide. Ray Manzarek and Robby Krieger still tour sometimes, with additional musicians, as Manzarek-Krieger, performing Doors songs exclusively.

The origins of The Doors lie in a chance meeting between acquaintances and fellow UCLA film school alumni Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek on Venice Beach in Los Angeles, California in July 1965. Morrison told Manzarek he had been writing songs and, with Manzarek's encouragement, sang "Moonlight Drive". Impressed by Morrison's lyrics, Manzarek suggested they form a band.

Keyboardist Manzarek was in a band called Rick & the Ravens with his brothers Rick and Jim Manzarek, while drummer John Densmore was playing with The Psychedelic Rangers, and knew Manzarek from meditation classes. In August, Densmore joined the group and, along with members of The Ravens and bass player Pat Sullivan, recorded a six-song demo in September 1965. This has since then circulated widely as a bootleg recording. That month the group recruited guitarist Robby Krieger, and the final lineup ? Morrison, Manzarek, Krieger and Densmore ? was complete. The band took their name from a line in William Blake's poem The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, according to the currently festival-touring documentary on The Doors, When You're Strange.

25 Oct 2019
Motion Pictures, Recording Permalink

The Andrews Sisters

October 25, 2019

 In memory of singer Patty Andrews of The Andrews Sisters, flowers were placed on her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Wednesday, January 30, 2013 . The star in category of Recording is located at 6834 Hollywood Blvd. “Rest in Peace, Patty Andrews!” The card was signed on behalf of the Hollywood Historic Trust and the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

 

See the Hollywood Walk of Fame Star Ceremony announcement
 

The Andrews Sisters were a prolific and hugely successful close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras, consisting of three actual sisters LaVerne, Maxene and Patty ? Laverne Sophia, contralto and redhead, Maxene Angelyn, soprano and brunette, and Patricia Marie "Patty" Andrews mezzo-soprano lead singer and blond. Their harmonies and songs are still in train today, covered by entertainers such as Bette Midler, the Puppini Sisters and Christine Aguilera. Throughout their long career, the sisters had sold over well over 75 million records. The group was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1998. Their hit number Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, can be considered an early recording of rhythm and blues or jump blues.

In 2008 and 2009 the BBC produced a one hour show of the history of the Andrews Sisters from growing up in Mound, Minnesota through to the present. The American premier of the show was June 21, 2009 in Mound. Also in 2008 Mound, Minnesota dedicated "The Andrews Sisters Trail". They spent summers in Mound with their uncles Pete and Ed Solie who had a grocery store there. Maxene Andrews always said that the summers in Mound created a major sense of "normalcy" and "a wonderful childhood" in a life that otherwise centered around the sisters' careers. The Westonka Historical Society has a large collection of Andrews Sisters memorabilia. They are survived by Patty the youngest at 92.

The sisters were born in Minnesota to a Greek immigrant father and a Norwegian American mother, Olga "Ollie" Andrews and Peter Andreas who took the name of Andrews. Patty, the youngest and the lead singer of the group, was only seven when the group was formed, and just 12 when they won first prize at a talent contest at the local Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis, where LaVerne played piano accompaniment for the silent film showings in exchange for free dancing lessons for herself and her sisters. Once the sisters found fame and settled in California, their parents lived with them in a Brentwood estate in Los Angeles until their deaths. Several cousins from Minnesota followed them west. The sisters returned to Minneapolis at least once a year to visit family and friends and/or to perform.

25 Oct 2019
Recording Permalink

The Beach Boys

October 25, 2019

See the Hollywood Walk of Fame Star Ceremony announcement
 

The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961, who gained popularity for their close vocal harmonies and lyrics reflecting a Southern California youth culture of cars, surfing, and romance. Brian Wilson's growing creative ambitions later transformed them into a more artistically innovative group that earned critical praise and influenced many later musicians.

The group was initially composed of singer-musician-composer Brian Wilson, his brothers, Carl and Dennis, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. This core quintet was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 1988.

The Beach Boys have often been called "America's Band", and Allmusic has stated that "the band's unerring ability. made them America's first, best rock band." The group has had thirty-six U.S. Top 40 hits and fifty-six Hot 100 hits, including four number-one singles. Rolling Stone magazine listed The Beach Boys as number 12 in the. According to Billboard, in terms of singles and album sales, The Beach Boys are the No.-1-selling American band of all time.

Many changes in both musical styles and personnel have occurred during their career, notably because of Brian Wilson's mental illness and drug use and the deaths of Dennis and Carl Wilson in 1983 and 1998, respectively. Extensive legal battles between members of the group have also played their part. After the death of Carl Wilson, founding member Al Jardine left to pursue a solo career. Currently, the surviving members of The Beach Boys continue to tour in three separate bands: "The Beach Boys Band" with Love, Bruce Johnston, and a rotation of backing musicians; Al Jardine's "Endless Summer Band" with Jardine, his sons, and several former Beach Boys backup musicians; and Brian Wilson with a 10-piece band including members of The Wondermints and Jeff Foskett, who toured with the Beach Boys in the 1980s and 1990s as a backing guitarist/singer.