Today in Detroit – May 26

• Today in 1967, The Wayne County AFL-CIO and a restauraunt union asked the Detroit Common Council to issue an ordinance to force Detroit drive-in restaurants and theaters to hire police to control “hot-rodders, riffians and trouble-makers”. The Drive-In Restaurant Owners Association attacked the idea during a public hearing, saying it violated the drive-in”s constitutional rights.
• Today in 1972, CBS was the only network not to have a talk show at 11:30. While Johnny was hosting Bill Dana and Barry Sullivan and Dick Cavett was in his ABC run with singer Melba Moore and actor Don Knotts, Channel two played the 1964 blockbuster “Becket”, with Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole, followed at 1:30am by the Bowery Boys 1951 outing, “Let’s Go Navy.”
• Today in 1977, Forced retirement ruffled the feathers of Kentucky Fried Chicken king Col. Harland Sanders. The 86 yrear old said, “I’m dead against it.” He testified along side actress Ruth Gordon and actor Will Geer before the House Select Committee on Aging, which was considering mandatory retirement ages for both government and business.
• Today in 1979, news outlets were reporting the worst air disaster in US history, after an American Airlines DC10 lost an engine and crashed moments after take-off, killing all 270 persons on board. The FAA grounded all DC-10s in June and the aircraft ceased production several years later, tainted by safety and fuel efficiency concerns.
• Today in 1982, The US House of Representatives voted down a balanced budget bill favored by President Ronald Reagan, saying the plan relied on phony numbers and overly optimistic estamates of economnic growth and tax receipts for 1983. The administration also asked congress to raise the national debt celing to $1.25 trillion dollars. The debt ceiling today is slightly below $31.4 trillion dollars.
• Today in 1987, with the words “Hot Weather Hit” printed in bold above the title, the film Ishtar, starring Dustin Hoffman and directed by Warren Beaty was showing at 12 dertroit area theaters. Apparently the rest of the theater going world disagreed with the one positive sentence lifted from Janet Maslin’s review in the New York Times. Ishtar is considered one of the worst movies ever made.

Today in History:

1805 Lewis and Clark first sight the Rocky Mountains
1896 Last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II, crowned
1897 “Dracula” by Irish author Bram Stoker is published by Archibald Constable and Company in London
1922 Vladimir Lenin suffers a stroke
1924 US President Calvin Coolidge signs Immigration law restricting immigration
1927 Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company produce the last (and 15th million) Model T Ford / Tin Lizzie
1969 John Lennon & Yoko Ono release their Unfinished Music LP, also known as Two Virgins. The front and back cover, featuring both in the nude earns a brown wrapper and a ban in many places. The Record fails to chart
1972 US President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev sign SALT accord
1977 George Willig climbs the South Tower of NYC’s World Trade Center, famously fined 1 cent for each of 110 stories he climbed
1989 American radio broadcasters go silent for 30 seconds at 7:42 am to honor the radio industry
2000 Arthur C. Clarke is knighted “for services to literature” at a ceremony in Colombo, Sri Lanka
2002 The Mars Odyssey finds signs of large ice deposits on the planet Mars
2004 The United States Army veteran Terry Nichols is found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing.
2020 Twitter adds warning labels to warn about inaccuracies in US President Donald Trump’s tweets for the first time

Music Released Today:

1962 Brian Hyland, “Sealed With A Kiss”, Teen Idol, [Single], “Summer Job”
1967 The Hollies, “Carrie Anne”, Pop-Rock, Evolution, “Signs That Will Never Change”
1975 Glen Campbell, “Rhinestone Cowboy”, Country-Pop, Rhinestone Cowboy, “Lovelight”
1978 The Cars, “My Best Friend’s Girl” [UK], New Wave Pop-Rock, The Cars, “Moving In Stereo”
1978 The Rolling Stones, “Miss You” [UK], Disco-Pop, Some Girls, “Far Away Eyes”
1987 Richard Marx, “Don’t Mean Nothing”, AA Pop-Rock, Richard Marx, “The Flame Of Love”

Rock Birthdays: Via DrRock.com

1886 Al Jolson / (Asa Yoelson) , Pre-eminent traditional and Tin Pan Alley pop singer, Broadway actor, radio host, comedian, early sound-era movie star and self-proclaimed “World’s Greatest Entertainer,” recorded dozens of still-popular songs, including “Swanee” (1921), “April Showers” (1924) and “I’m Sitting On Top Of The World” (1927), starred in the first “talkie” film, The Jazz Singer (1927), continued to perform and record until his death from a heart attack on 10/23/1950, age 64
1904 George Formby / (George Hoy Booth) , Widely popular Brit stage/screen actor, singing comedian and ukulele player, recorded more than 200 albums and appeared in 20 films, best known for the song “Leaning On A Lamp Post,” died after a heart attack on 3/6/1961, age 56
1920 Peggy Lee / (Norma Deloris Egstrom) , Sultry, distinctive singer, pop-jazz-big band songwriter and actress, “Fever” (#8, 1958), Grammy-winner, worked with Benny Goodman, Randy Newman, Quincy Jones and others, died from complications of diabetes and a heart attack on 1/21/2002, age 81
1922 Frank Guida , Sicilian-American record store owner turned songwriter and record producer credited with crafting the 60s lo-fi, dance-party “Norfolk Sound,” discovered and produced hits for doo-wop/soul Gary U.S. Bonds, including “Quarter To Three” (#1, 1961), also co-wrote and produced “If You Wanna Be Happy” for Jimmy Soul (#1, 1963), died on 5/19/2007, age 85
1926 Miles Davis / (Miles Dewey Davis III) , Jazz bandleader, trumpeter and composer, major influence on jazz and fusion music, 8-time Grammy winner, including his 1970 album Bitches Brew, died on 9/28/1991, age 65
1940 Levon Helm / (Mark Lavon Helm) , Arkansas farm boy, drummer and vocalist with four Canadian bandmates in seminal roots rock The Band (“Up On Cripple Creek,” #25, 1970), issued seventeen solo albums, produced albums for others, acted in nearly two dozens films, including Coal Miner’s Daughter (1980), and hosted the weekly Midnight Ramble music revue at his home near Woodstock, NY, from the late 90s until his death from cancer on 4/19/2012. 1941 Art Sharp , Guitar and vocals for British Invasion pop-rock The Nashville Teens, “Tobacco Road” (#16, 1964)
1942 Ray Ennis , Vocals and guitar for British Invasionn pop-rock The Swinging Blue Jeans, “Hippy Hippy Shake” (#24, 1964)
1944 Verden Allen / (Terence Allen) , Keyboards for early Brit glam-rockers Mott The Hoople, “All The Young Dudes” (#37, 1972)
1945 Garry Peterson , Long-time drummer for Canadian rockers The Guess Who, “American Woman” (#1, 1970) and Bachman-Turner Overdrive, “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” (#1, 1974)
1946 Ronnie Harkai , Drummer for garage/horn rock The Outsiders, “Time Won’t Let Me” (#5, 1966), now a recording engineer, producer and music consultant
1946 Mick Ronson / (Michael Ronson) , Guitarist, songwriter and producer, worked with David Bowie as one of the Spiders from Mars, session work for Bob Dylan, Ian Hunter, Morrissey and others, Rolling Stone magazine’s 64th greatest guitarist of all time, died of liver cancer on 4/29/1993, age 46
1948 Stevie Nicks / (Stephanie Lynn Nicks) , Hugely successful female rock/pop vocalist, achieved fame with blues-rock turned mega-star band Fleetwood Mac, “Go Your Own Way” (#10, 1977), successful solo career, “Talk To Me” (#4, 1985)
1949 Hank Williams, Jr. / (Randall Hank Williams, Jr.) , Country-rock singer/songwriter and guitarist, “Honky Tonkin’” (1982), son of country music legend Hank Williams, Sr.
1964 Lenny Kravitz / (Leonard Albert Kravitz) , Grammy-winning multi-instrumental singer, songwriter, “Fly Away” (#12, 199), session musician and singer with Mick Jagger, Madonna, David Bowie and others
1966 Tommy Stewart , Drummer for funk metal/hard rock Extreme, “More Than Words” (#1, 1991), also with Everclear, Fuel, Halloween and other bands
1968 Phillip Rhodes , Drummer for power-pop Gin Blossoms, “Found Out About You” (Modern Rock #1, 1994), solo

Other Notable Birthdays via OnThisDay.com:

1928 Jack Kevorkian, American pathologist and right-to-die activist, born in Pontiac, Michigan (d. 2011)
1949 Ward Cunningham, American computer programmer and inventor (the wiki), born in Michigan City, Indiana
1951 Sally Ride, American astronaut (first American woman to go to space), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2012)