{"id":3962,"date":"2019-01-17T09:04:39","date_gmt":"2019-01-17T14:04:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scottowensshow.com\/?p=488"},"modified":"2019-02-08T10:33:23","modified_gmt":"2019-02-08T15:33:23","slug":"the-best-of-the-best-from-the-1-17-scott-owens-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keener13.org\/?p=3962","title":{"rendered":"Today in Keenerland 1\/17"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today: NBC invests in the Monkees, a classic Sue Ann Nivens bit on Betty White’s birthday, what we were watching the night Desert Storm began, a radio “meme”, “Becoming” beats “50 Shades of Grey” and remembering the man who brought the synthesizer into prime time.<\/p>\n

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Photo by Moviestore\/REX\/Shutterstock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Today in 1966, NBC bought\u00a0The Monkees<\/strong> television series from Screen Gems<\/a>. The Beatles’ film\u00a0A Hard Day’s Night<\/a><\/i>\u00a0inspired Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider to create the program.\u00a0437 applicants auditioned for 4 roles, ending up with\u00a0\u00a0Micky Dolenz<\/a>,<\/strong>\u00a0Michael Nesmith<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0Peter Tork<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Davy Jones<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0Don Kirshner<\/a><\/strong>, produced the early sessions with help \u00a0from the songwriting duo,\u00a0Tommy Boyce<\/strong> and Bobby Hart<\/strong><\/a>. who plumbed the best of the Brill Building<\/a><\/strong> talent to come up with hit records for the group to record. \u00a0The show ran from\u00a0September 12, 1966 to March 25, 1968, winning\u00a0two\u00a0Emmy Awards<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a01967.<\/a>\u00a0The music segments are said to have inspired the progenitors of MTV<\/strong>, which, once upon a time, played music videos. Trivia: Many of the same sets and props from\u00a0The Three Stooges<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0short films made by Screen Gems were used in the series.<\/p>\n

\"\"We talked about Memes<\/strong> on yesterday’s show. At left, one that our friend wsw1955 cooked up over at Instagram<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Quick Takes:<\/strong><\/p>\n

35 things<\/a><\/strong> that will make it feel like you’ve got your life together. (Via Buzzfeed)<\/p>\n

Michelle Obama’s<\/strong> \u201cBecoming\u201d has now enjoyed the longest streak at No. 1<\/a> on Amazon since \u201cFifty Shades of Grey\u201d came out in 2012. The all time best seller? Dickens\u2019 \u201cTale of Two Cities\u201d. (CNN)<\/p>\n

If you thought that Moog was the biggest name in synthesizers, you may have never known about Alan R. Pearlman<\/strong>. His ARP units fueled hits for\u00a0Edgar Winter (\u00a0\u201cFrankenstein,\u201d<\/a>) Herbie Hancock (\u201cChameleon,\u201d)<\/a>\u00a0and the early-1980s version of the theme to the television series\u00a0\u201cDoctor Who.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0NYT notes that the five-note signature motif of\u00a0\u201cClose Encounters of the Third Kind\u201d<\/a>was played on an ARP 2500 synthesizer, which is seen in the film. An ARP 2600, mixed with natural sounds, provided the voice of R2-D2 in the first \u201cStar Wars\u201d movie. Alan R. Pearlman passed away on Wednesday. Heres his full obit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Today in History<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

\"\"1972, A section of Bellevue Boulevard in Memphis was renamed Elvis Presley Boulevard<\/strong>. The remaining length of road kept its original name after protests from the Bellevue Baptist Church.<\/p>\n

\"\"1976, Barry Manilow<\/strong> scored his second US No.1 single with ‘I Write The Songs<\/em>‘, which was written by The Beach Boys Bruce Johnston<\/strong>. (Video<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"\"Tonight in 1991, Operation Desert Storm<\/strong> begins, with US-led coalition forces bombing Iraq, during the Gulf War. I remember we were watching a Sinbad<\/strong> special on HBO<\/strong>. Here\u2019s a clip where he talks Motown<\/strong> and music. (Video<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"\"2011, American music publisher, talent manager, and songwriter Don Kirshner<\/strong> who helped launch the careers of Neil Diamond, Bobby Darin, Carole King, Neil Sedaka, The Monkees, The Archies and Kansas, died of heart failure at the age of 76. In addition to his contributions to The Monkees’ career, he also served as a music consultant for almost two dozen TV series between 1966 and 1977.<\/p>\n

\"\"Happy Birthday to<\/strong>: Antonio Prohias (Spy vs Spy), 1921 (d. 1988); Betty White, 1922; Eartha Kitt, 1927 (d. 2008); James Earl Jones, 1931; Shari Lewis (Ventriloquist), 1934; Muhammad Ali, 1942 (d. 2016); Chris Montez, 1943; Mick Taylor, 1948; Kid Rock, 1971<\/p>\n

Much More Music:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"From this mornings playlist.. Robbie Dupree<\/strong>‘s 1981 hit, “Steal Away<\/em>“. A nice mix of the original 45 with video from his performance on The Midnight Special<\/strong>. \u00a0(Video<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"\"“Last Train to Clarksville<\/em>“, The Monkees.<\/strong>\u00a0Written by\u00a0Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart<\/a>, and \u00a0recorded at\u00a0RCA Victor<\/a>\u00a0Studio B in\u00a0Hollywood<\/a>\u00a0on July 25, 1966, the tune was number one in the land just 4 months later. Mickey Dolenz was the only Monkee to perform on the single. Wikipedia notes that\u00a0although LA’s “Wrecking Crew<\/a>” provided the instrumental backing for many of the early Monkees’ songs, Boyce and Hart’s band Candy Store Prophets<\/strong> did the session work for this song.\u00a0<\/sup>(Video<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Today’s Quote Worth Re-Quoting:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cEveryone wants happiness. No one wants pain. But you can’t have a rainbow, without a little rain.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

We leave you with a classic clip featuring Birthday Girl Betty White<\/strong>. Here she is as Sue Ann Nivins, giving Ted Baxter his due on the Mary Tyler Moore Show<\/strong>.<\/p>\n