Swinging On a Star by Big Dee Irwin (Dimension Records, 1963)
DiFosco “Dee” T. Ervin Jr. was born in Harlem, New York. He joined the Air Force and while stationed at the Narsarssuak Air Base in Greenland, he formed a singing group, The Pastels. After being transferred to Washington, D.C., they won a contract to Hull Records. Around 1958 The Pastels began to get discharged, a second single, an album and a tour quickly followed, but the Pastels broke up in early 1959.
Ervin began a solo career with Hull Records as Dee Erwin. He ended up at Dimension Records in 1962 under the name Big Dee Irwin. In 1963, he covered the 1944 Bing Crosby song Swinging on a Star as a duet with singer Little Eva. It reached #38 in the U.S. and #7 in the UK. Follow up hits failed to make a bigger impact, but Ervin continued recording for various labels through the end of the 1970s. His final single release was in 1978. He also wrote for R&B greats Ray Charles, Bobby Womack and The Hollies.
Andrew James Simpson, MBE, nicknamed Bart, was an English sailor. He won a bronze medal at the 2007 SAF Sailing World Championships. This led to a qualification to the 2008
Summer Olympics in Beijing where he won Gold. In 2012 he won a Silver at the 2012
Summer Olympics in London. Over his total sailing career, Simpson won two bronze, a gold and a silver at the World Championships, two silver and a bronze at the European Championships and two Olympic medals (a gold and silver).
Tragically, in May 2013, while training for the 34th America’s Cup in San Francisco Bay, Simpson drowned after his boat capsized. Simpson is survived by his wife Leah and their two sons. In 2009, Simpson was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).
Lord of the Flies was William Golding’s debut novel. Initially
it only sold a mere 3,000 copies in the U.S. until early 1960 when it became required reading in many American schools and colleges. Lord of
the Flies has been adapted into three films — two in English
and one in Filipino and a four-part BBC dramatization in June 2013.
Lord of the Flies tell the story
of a group of British boys marooned on an uninhabited island and how they try to create their own society. Golding won a Nobel prize for Literature and was knighted in 1988. He died of heart failure in June 1993. His final novel, The Double Tongue was published posthumously in 1995.
Nabisco brought us Bonkers — chewable rectangular fruit candies with a fruit filling in the mid 1980s. The marketing campaign was quite effective. TV spots showed a series of uptight characters that would get bonked in the head by giant fruit. They would then erupt into raucous laughter. After the commercials stopped running, public interest waned until Nabisco ceased manufacture.
In February 2012, Leaf Brands, LLC (http://www.leafbrands.com) announced that they were acquiring the trademark and would re-introduce Bonkers by the end of the same year. A quick look on the web reveals various press releases regarding the purchase of the trademark, but a close look at Leaf Brands’ website makes no mention of a Bonkers re-introduction…..yet?
Read All About It! was a Canadian educational children’s TV program and episodes were only 15 minutes long. The goal of the show was to educate children in writing, reading and history. Read All About It! was set in the fictional town of Herbertville where Chris (David Craig Collard) had inherited his uncle’s Coach house after said uncle mysteriously disappeared. Chris and his friends Lynne (Lydia Zajc) and Samantha (Stacey Arnold) started a newspaper, The Herbertville Chronicle. The coach house contained two artificially intelligent robots — Otto, a typewriter-like robot that printed its thoughts on paper and Theta, a talking computer with an integrated monitor. The coach house had a transporter that let literary characters and residents of the galaxy Trialviron to be transported in (and out), namely Duneedon (Sean Hewitt), the ruler of Trialviron.
Episodes of Read All About It! were shown in chapter format, like a novel. There were 40 episodes produced over 2 seasons. For fans, don’t hold your breath for DVD releases for Read All About It! or any other TVO produced show. Due to the special “educational” arrangements that TVO had with various unions, it’s unlikely that clearances regarding rights to the show will ever be released. Despite the fact that TVO and the union members would love to release it, the law states that neither side can change the existing contract without agreement from all original parties.
Joe Public was a new jack swing American group that hailed from Buffalo, New York. Their self-titled debut album contained Live and Learn which peaked at #4. Joe Public was the first R&B group asked to perform on MTV’s Unplugged series. They then backed up both Boyz II Men and Shanice during their Unplugged performances. When Kris Kross appeared on the Arsenio Hall Show, Joe Public was their backing band. In 1994 Joe Public released their sophomore album Easy Come, Easy Go. The two singles Easy Come, Easy Go and Thank You failed to make much impact on the charts. They haven’t been heard of since 1994, but haven’t officially disbanded yet……
This 1984 rock musical drama was Prince’s film debut and was specifically developed to showcase his talents. This was
the only film Prince starred in that he didn’t direct; it was directed by Albert Magnoli. Taking in over $80 million at the box office, Purple Rain has become a cult classic. Purple Rain — despite being nominated for 2 Razzies — won an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score.
The film’s soundtrack spawned two #1 singles, When Doves Cry and Let’s Go Crazy. The title song, Purple Rain hit #2. In the U.S., the soundtrack has sold over 10 million copies; 20 million copies have been sold worldwide.
The sequel, Graffiti Bridge (written, directed and starring Prince) was released in 1990.
True Blue was Madonna’s third studio album. True Blue has been deemed Madonna’s most “girliest” album with lyrics centered on love, dreams, work and life’s disappointments and was dedicated to her then husband Sean Penn. True Blue went straight to #1 in a record-breaking 28 countries, was the world’s top selling album of
1986, was the biggest selling album of the 1980s by a woman and has sold over 25 million copies worldwide. All five singles from True Blue reached the top five on Billboard’s Hot 100 — three of them went to #1. It’s been said that True Blue was the album that turned Madonna from a pop tart into a consummate musical icon.
The first single release was Live to Tell. This pop ballad went to #1 in Canada, Italy and the U.S. (on both the Hot 100 and the Adult Contemporary charts). It also hit #1 on the Eurochart. Live to Tell was used in Penn’s movie At Close Range. Overall, Live to Tell was Madonna’s third number one single and her first adult contemporary hit.
The second single Papa Don’t Preach also went to #1 (in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Norway, the UK and the U.S.) In true Madonna fashion, the single has caused quite the controversy: Family planning organizations felt the song glamorized teen pregnancy while those who oppose abortion felt the song promoted a positive pro life message. Papa Don’t Preach was mostly written by Ben Elliot based on teen gossip he overheard outside his studio. (Madonna did provide additional lyrics for the song.)
The third single, True Blue, hit #1 in Canada, Ireland and the UK. (It only hit #3 on the Hot 100.) Originally written by Steve Bray, Madonna claimed that True Blue was Sean Penn’s favorite expression of his vision of love. Hence, both the single and, in fact, the entire album was a tribute to Penn, whom she was very much in love with at the time.
The fourth single, Open Your Heart, was originally written for Cyndi Lauper. The single never made it to her and ended up with Madonna instead. She altered some lyrics and changed the melody from rock’n’roll to dance-pop and took it to #1 on the Hot 100 and Dance/Club Play charts in the U.S.
The final single, La Isla Bonita, was first offered to Michael Jackson. It ended up with Madonna who tinkered with the lyrics and melody and it became her first single with a Latin influence. Madonna took it to #1 in Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland, the UK, the Adult Contemporary chart in the U.S. and on the Eurochart.
This toy came with strikers and a songbook. You could either use the colored keys on the keyboard that would hit the appropriate
bell or use the striker to ring the bell.
This toy makes regular appearances on eBay, so check there first if you’re looking to
buy.
This ball game became popular in Brooklyn and other inner cities after World War II. It is loosely based on the game of baseball. It is usually played with at least two people.
The “batter” stands in front of the stoop. The “fielders” typically stand near the sidewalk or in the street. The object is to hit the ball off the stoop at such an angle and velocity that it bounces into the air and sails over the heads of the fielders, which results in bigger hits. Like in baseball, you win based on scoring and the most hits in 9 innings. The number of bases scored is determined by the distance traveled by the ball before being caught. If the ball is caught “on the fly,” it’s an out.
There is a professional organization, the Stoopball League of America, that holds an annual world championship in Clinton, Wisconsin each July. Stoop ball also has celeb fans who used to play during their youth: Baseball Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax, sports announcer Marv Albert and singer Billy Joel.