Keener 13

Notable:

The compact disc turns 40 this month — in March 1983, the CD revolutionized the we consumed music. CD sales peaked in 2000, when *NSYNC was topping the charts with “No Strings Attached.” But the media isn’t going away anytime soon. In 2021, CD sales increased for the first time since 2004.

Got an Electric Vehicle? Many people don’t realize the different levels of “fast-charging.” Even the fastest chargers don’t always deliver juice as fast as advertised.

Finland is the happiest country in the world, according to the 11th World Happiness Report, from the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. The U.S. ranks 15th. The bottom-ranked countries were Lebanon (136) and Afghanistan (137), which are beset by political instability and conflict. “Despite the magnitude of suffering and damage in Ukraine, life evaluations … remained high … supported now by a stronger sense of common purpose, benevolence, and trust in Ukrainian leadership,” the 166-page report says.

Drivers on Woodward Avenue will see lane closures between 8 Mile and I-696 starting this week and through the fall. Construction is beginning on the Woodward “road diet” project for sidewalk upgrades, new bike lanes and resurfacing. Follow up to the minute Detroit Traffic here.

Is beer better in cans or in bottles? It depends on the beer.  Here’s what the survey says. 

Thinking about Spring Cleaning? Here are 15 essential tools via Nice News.

Miss Ernie? Listen to this classic 1963 Detroit Tiger broadcast, George Kell’s final on the radio. It features a Tiger win in Baltimore and an early appearance by Denny McLain on the mound.

In Concert:

March 22 – John Mayer – Little Caesar’s Arena
March 24=25 – The Detroit Symphony – Symphony Hall
March 29 – Bruce Springsteen – Little Caesar’s Arena
March 31 – Molly Hatchet – District 142 – Wyandotte
April 8 – Vanessa Carlton – The Ark – Ann Arbor
See the full Detroit Area Concert Calendar

Today in History:

1882 – Polygamy was outlawed in America by the U.S. Congress.
1934 – The first Augusta National Invitation Tournament, as professional golf’s Masters Tournament was originally known, began in Augusta, Georgia. It was won by Horton Smith.
1957 – Elvis Presley released the single “All Shook Up” b/w “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin.”
1960 – The Playmates performed “Beep Beep” on ABC-TV’s “American Bandstand.”
1960 – At Joe Boles’ home studio in Seattle, the Puget Sound instrumental group the Ventures recorded “Walk – Don’t Run.”
1963 – The Beatles‘ first album, “Please Please Me,” was released in the UK.
1967 – At the Paramount Theater in New York City, the Who made their U.S. live performance debut.
1969 – The Who release “Pinball Wizard.”
1971 – John Lennon released the single “Power To The People” in North America. Phil Spector, John Lennon, and Yoko Ono were credited as the recording’s producers.
1974 – The Eagles released their third album, “On The Border.”
1976 – Stevie Wonder releases “Sir Duke”.
1978 – The Police signed with A&M Records.
1997 – At a Beatles memorabilia auction in Tokyo, a collector paid $84,146 for Paul McCartney’s original birth certificate.

Born on this Date:

1913 – Karl Malden, American actor. He was primarily a character actor, especially in such classic films as A Streetcar Named Desire (1951), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, On the Waterfront (1954), Pollyanna (1960), and One-Eyed Jacks (1961). Malden also played in high-profile Hollywood films such as Baby Doll (1956), The Hanging Tree (1959), How the West Was Won (1962), Gypsy (1962), and Patton (1970). Died: July 1, 2009
1920 – Werner Klemperer, American actor. He was known for playing Colonel Wilhelm Klink on the CBS television sitcom Hogan’s Heroes, for which he twice won the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the Primetime Emmy Awards in 1968 and 1969. Died: December 6, 2000
1923 – Marcel Marceau, French actor and mime artist most famous for his stage persona, “Bip the Clown.” Died Septembrer 22, 2007.
1930 – Stephen Sondheim, American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having “reinvented the American musical”with shows that tackle “unexpected themes that range far beyond the [genre’s] traditional subjects” Died: November 26, 2021
1931 – William Shatner, Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship Enterprise in the second pilot of the first Star Trek television series to his final appearance as Captain Kirk in the seventh Star Trek feature film, Star Trek Generations (1994). Also known for TV turns as TJ Hooker and Denny Crain on Boston Legal.
1936 – Roger Whittaker – Internationally-acclaimed baritone pop singer and songwriter, “The Last Farewell” (#19, 1975), TV actor
1941 – Jeremy Clyde – One half of strings-backed British Invasion light folk-pop duo Chad & Jeremy, “A Summer Song” (#7, 1964), TV actor
1943 – George Benson. Grammy-winning jazz and R&B/pop guitarist and scat singer, “Give Me The Night” (R&B #1, 1980)
1948 – Andrew Lloyd Webber, English composer and impresario of musical theatre.^[2] Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, a song cycle, a set of variations, two film scores, and a Latin Requiem Mass.
1957 – Stephanie Mills – Broadway star (The Wiz, 1975) turned Grammy-winning R&B/pop-disco diva, “Never Knew Love Like This Before” (#6, 1980)

Follow Keener 13 on Facebook. Keener 13 has a lively Facebook presence, with classic WKNR Music Guides, info about your favorite artists and conversation about the Keener Generation. Bookmark:  facebook.com/keenerthirteen

Notable:

Detroit’s historic Book Tower is about to re-open as a retail, hotel, office and residential space. Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock companies purchased the long-unoccupied Italian Renaissance-style building at 1265 Washington Blvd in 2015. The original limestone and masonry façade has been renovated and more than 2,400 historically accurate windows were replaced. Book Tower will also be home to a 117 ROOST Apartment Hotel, 52,000 square feet of retail, offices, three dining options and over 220 residential space. There will also be co-working, meeting and event space.

It’s World Down Syndrome Day – The 21st day of March was selected in 2007 to signify the uniqueness of the triplication of the 21st chromosome which causes Down syndrome. Every year on March 21, World Down Syndrome Day is observed to create awareness about Down syndrome.

Musicians Gladys Knight and Bruce Springteen, fashion designer Vera Wang, Seinfeld and Veep legend Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and screenwriter/actor Mindy Kalingare will receive National Medals of Arts from US President Joe Biden this week.

Just like Cable.. A $3 price increase for ad-free service on Disney+ wasn’t a problem for 94% of the platform’s subscribers, CBR reports. Growth for the platform’s ad-supported plan beat that of Netflix in the companies’ first three months of offering the tiers.

Need help keeping cool this summer? More than $500 million has been allocated for the home energy assistance program, to assist Americans with heating and cooling expenses this year.

Spring means Oberon is back. Want to know where to find this Michigan Bell’s beer classic? We have an app for that.

Today in History:

1939 – Kate Smith recorded her signature song, “God Bless America,” a 1918 Irving Berlin composition that he had revised in the lead-up to World War II and that she had introduced on her radio show in November 1938.
1961 – The Beatles, with Pete Best on drums, played their first evening show at Liverpool’s Cavern Club, opening for an act called the Bluegenes, who later renamed themselves the Swinging Blue Jeans.
1963 – After 30 years as a federal penitentiary, the prison nicknamed “The Rock” on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay was closed by decision of U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.
1963 – A year after opening together in the Broadway show, “I Can Get It for You Wholesale,” Elliott Gould and Barbara Streisand were married. They had a son before divorcing in 1971.
1963 – The Wrecking Crew lays down the instrumental tracks for Jan & Dean’s “Surf City.”
1964 – Folksinger Judy Collins made her debut at New York’s Carnegie Hall. It would be three more years before her breakthrough single, “Both Sides Now” was released.
1964 – Water cooler conversation surrounds the 145th episode of The Twilight Zone, “The Masks,” which aired on CBS the previous evening. To get their inheritance, a dying man’s greedy heirs must wear some special masks for one evening.
1969 – At the Amsterdam Hilton, John Lennon and Yoko Ono staged their first bed-in for peace.
1977 – The Eagles‘ single “New Kid in Town” was certified Gold.
1980 – The “Who shot JR?” episode of Dallas is shot in LA. Viewers had to wait all summer, and most of the autumn because of a Hollywood actors’ strike (and star Larry Hagman‘s own holdout), to learn whether J.R. would survive, and which of his many enemies was responsible for the shooting.
1981 – Juice Newton and Deniece Williams were the guest performers on ABC-TV’s “American Bandstand.”
1989 – Madonna released her fourth studio album, “Like A Prayer.”
2008 – Five years of legal wrangling ended after Beach Boys Mike Love and Brian Wilson sued former member Al Jardine in an attempt to stop him from using the group’s name while touring with his own band. Jardine’s lawyer, while not disclosing the terms of the agreement, said his client “feels very happy and feels that this is a friendly settlement that allows them to focus on the talent and future of this American iconic band.”
2013 – The Funk Brothers received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Singles Released and First Charting Today:

1964 – Lesley Gore – “It’s My Party”
1966 – The Beach Boys – “Sloop John B”
1966 – Yardbirds – “Shapes of Things”
1969 – Simon & Garfunkel – “The Boxer”
1969 – Frank Sinatra – “My Way”
1972 – Cat Stevens – “Morning Has Broken”
1978 – Meat Loaf – “2 Out of 3 Ain’t Bad”

Today’s Birthdays (With a tip of the hat to DrRock.com)

1869- Albert Kahn – American industrial architect, best known for designing much of Detroit as well as several major industrial plant complexes. Most notably, Kahn designed the Ford River Rouge automobile complex, which at the time of its completion in 1928 was the largest integrated factory in the world.
1930 – Otis Spann – Chicago blues keyboardist and guitarist, member of Muddy Waters‘ band from 1952 to 1968 while concurrently working as a session musician for Chess Records and on solo albums, worked with B. B. King, Eric Clapton, James Cotton and others, died from liver cancer on 4/24/1970, age 40
1940 – Solomon Burke – The “King of Rock & Soul,” early and influential Grammy-winning R&B/classic soul singer, “Got To Get You Off My Mind” (#22, R&B #1, 1965) and 14 other R&B Top 20 hits but never achieved the recognition afforded peers James Brown, Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding, died from a suspected pulmonary embolism onboard a commercial airliner while flying from Washington, DC to a sold-out show in The Netherlands on 10/10/2010, age 70. The outdoor home of the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival is named in Spann’s honor.
1941 – John Boylan – Songwriter and producer for Rick Nelson, The Association, The Dillards and others, managed Linda Ronstadt and handpicked her backing band in 1971, the session musicians who later became the Eagles.
1943 – Vivian Stanshall / (Victor Anthony Stanshall) – Eccentric 60s UK underground rock figure and founder of the comedy/satirical art rock outfit Bonzo Dog Do-Dah Band, “I’m The Urban Spaceman” (UK #5, 1968), died in a fire at his home on 3/5/1995, age 52
1945 – Sister Rose (aka Rosie Stone) Stewart / (Rosemary Stewart) – Platinum-wigged lead vocalist and keyboardist with her two brothers Sly and Freddie in funk-rock Sly & The Family Stone, “Family Affair” (#1, 1971), solo and sessions for Michael Jackson, Ringo Starr and others
1946 – Ray Dorset – Founder, guitarist, vocals and chief songwriter for novelty pop-rock one hit wonder Mungo Jerry, “In The Summertime” (#3, 1970), solo
1946 – Timothy Dalton – British actor. He gained international prominence as the fourth actor to portray fictional secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, starring in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill.
1949 – Eddie Money / (Edward Joseph Mahoney) – NYPD police trainee turned 70-80s “working class” rocker and songwriter with two Top 20 albums and eleven Top 40 hits, including “Baby Hold On” (#11, 1978), “Take Me Home Tonight” (#4, 1986) and “Walk On Water” (#9, 1988), toured and recorded through the 00s and appeared on several TV sitcoms and variety shows, his 12th studio album, Brand New Day, was scheduled for release at the time of his death from esophageal cancer on 9/13/2019, age 70.
1950 – Roger Hodgson – Founding member, frontman, keyboards, vocals and chief hit songwriter for Brit prog-art-pop-rock Supertramp, “The Logical Song” (#6, 1979), solo
1951 – Conrad Lozano – Bassist for Tex-Mex roots/blues/country-rock Los Lobos, “La Bamba” (#1, 1987)
1951 – Russell Thompkins, Jr. – Vocals for R&B/Philly soul The Stylistics, “You Make Me Feel Brand New” (#2, 1974) plus 15 R&B Top 40 singlesEddie Money 1949 – Singer
1958 – Gary Oldman – English actor and filmmaker. Known for his versatility and intense acting style, he has received various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three British Academy Film Awards.
1962 – Rosie O’Donnell – American comedian, television producer, actress, author, and television personality. She began her comedy career as a teenager and received her breakthrough on the television series Star Search in 1984.
1962 – Matthew Broderick – American actor. His roles include the Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of the title character in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the voice of adult Simba in Disney’s The Lion King, and Leo Bloom in both the Broadway musical The Producers and its 2005 film adaptation.

What’s Happening?

A sign of Spring: The National Park Service’s “Peak Bloom Projection” says puffy blossoms will envelop the Tidal Basin this Wednesday through Saturday.

The American Kennel Club announced that, after a record 31-year reign, the Labrador retriever has been eclipsed as the most prevalent purebred dog in the U.S. — by the French bulldog.

Attending sporting events may be good for you. Sports fans will certainly love the findings of this study out of the United Kingdom. There’s good reason to attend your favorite team’s games in person — and it’s not to catch some potential sports history or enjoy greasy stadium food. Scientists at Anglia Ruskin University say that watching live sporting events actually improve well-being and can reduce feelings of loneliness. The findings come after a survey of more than 7,000 adults which shows that sports fans who attend games in person — be it professional or amateur — scored better than those who didn’t in terms of life satisfaction Continue reading “Keener Today – March 20” →

Today in History:

1892 – The General Electric Company was formed by the merger of Edison General Electric of Schenectady, New York and Thomson-Houston Electric Company of Lynn, Massachusetts. The company was incorporated in New York, with the Schenectady plant serving as its headquarters for many years.

1912 – After midnight, two wireless radio operators at Cape Race, Newfoundland heard the last of the RMS Titanic‘s distress calls. At 2:27 a.m., the “unsinkable” ocean liner sank in the North Atlantic after hitting an iceberg the evening before. There were 711 survivors. A total of 1,517 people died, of which 328 bodies were recovered. Those too badly damaged or deteriorated were buried at sea, and the remaining 209 were taken to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where they were claimed from the morgues or buried over an 11-day period starting May 3. Continue reading “Keener Today – March 15” →

Notable:

Today in 1956…The movie “Rock Around the Clock,” starring Bill Haley and His Comets, Alan Freed, the Platters, and Freddie Bell, had its world premiere in Washington, DC

Although ratings for the Academy Awards jumped 12% year over year, the 18 million viewers ranked 4th worst in the televised history of the event. HBO/MAX’s “The Last of Us” drew 8 million eyeballs in the same time period.

Continue reading “Keener Today – March 14” →

Worth reading:

Keep Running! Runners often hear the warning “Keep pounding the pavement and you’ll destroy your knees.” A new study found that runners were not more likely to develop hip or knee osteoarthritis the longer, faster and more frequently they ran.

Dogs smile, but only to appease us. In a recent interview with USA Today, veterinary behavior specialist Dr. Lore Haug broke down her interpretation of a dog’s smile. “It is essentially an appeasement greeting behavior that seems to be directed only at people,” Haug told the outlet. “Dogs don’t do this true smiling behavior to other dogs.”

Ever got a wrong number text? In 2009, Brenda Rivera sent an “uplifting” text to the wrong number, thinking it belonged to a friend she had recently made. Instead, she reached Isaiah Stearns. He was intrigued by her positive message. Today, the pair are married and share six children. “We had an immediate connection,” Rivera said of their unlikely introduction-turned-forever love story. Continue reading “Keener Today – March 13” →