A Brief History On September 4, 1949, after a concert by African American singer, actor and activist Paul Robeson, riots broke out in the Peekskill, New York location of the concert. World famous for singing, acting, and as a Civil Rights and Trade Union activist, Robeson became the target of hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and White Supremacists. Digging Deeper Paul Robeson was a remarkable man, born in New Jersey in 1898, a time of Jim Crow Laws and segregation, in the state of Woodrow Wilson, a man we now know as a racist. Robeson’s mother was…
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A Brief History On August 20, 1882, Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture made its debut in Moscow. Celebrating the defense of Mother Russia, the “Rodina,” as they say in Russia, against Napoleon’s Grand Armee in 1812, the stirring work is instantly recognizable by the cannons going off before the brass fanfare finale. Here we list 10 wonderful pieces of music that are immediately recognizable to most people, even if they do not know the composer or name of the work. (Note: The order of the list does not denote importance.) Good luck trying to narrow down your choices, as there are so…
A Brief History On August 6, 1917, future actor, composer, and singer Robert Mitchum was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Mitchum would live nearly to age 80 despite being a heavy smoker his entire adult life, with lung cancer and emphysema eventually doing him in. In honor of one of my favorite actors of all time and in a plea to all cigarette smokers out there to quit this life shortening habit, we list 10 Songs with the Word Cigarette(s) in the Lyrics. There are a bajillion of them, including several by Frank Sinatra, The Kinks, Blue Oyster Cult, the Cranberries,…
A Brief History On August 1, 1981, the world of music and television changed forever when MTV made its debut on satellite and cable television, when John Lack announced, “Ladies and Gentlemen, Rock and Roll!” Playing in the background was video of the Space Shuttle Columbia and footage of Apollo 11. A theme song played in the background and then the very first MTV music video followed. Digging Deeper That first video, the answer to the trivia question, “What was the first MTV video?” was the ever so apropos “Video Killed the Radio Star” performed by The Buggles. The television…
A Brief History On July 20, 1971, The Raiders held the top spot on the Rock and Roll charts with “Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian).” Although the word “reservation” appears in the song’s lyrics, nowhere in the song is the title mentioned. Here we list 10 major hit songs that also do not have their title in the lyrics, sometimes making for awkwardness when trying to look up the song or talking about it. Digging Deeper 1. “Indian Reservation”, The Raiders, 1971. Formerly known as Paul Revere and the Raiders, the band actually recorded the song as a lead singer Marc Lindsay…