DECEMBER 27, 2008

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
1901 - Marlene Dietrich, motion picture actress, singer, and Capitol Records artist (1961-1965), is born Maria Magdelene Dietrich in Berlin-Schöneberg, Germany. In his autobiography, Dave Dexter, Jr. remembers her calling him to get hundreds of promotional copies of her albums to give out while she was touring.
1950 - Terry Bozzio, drummer with Captain Beefheart, Frank Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention, and the Capitol Records group Missing Persons as well as one-time husband of Missing Persons' lead singer Dale Bozzio, is born

ON THIS DAY IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1945 - Andy Russell's Capitol Records single "I Can't Begin To Tell You", with "Love Me" on the flip side, is released by Capitol Records and will peak at #7 on the U.S. Pop singles charts in 1946
60 Years Ago Today In 1948 - Jo Stafford and Gordon MacRae's Capitol Records single "My Darlin, My Darling", with "Girls Were Made To Take Care Of Boys" on the flip side, is #3 on the U.S. Pop singles charts
1964 - The Beatles' Capitol Records single "I Feel Fine" is #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart and its flip side, "She's A Woman", is #2
1966 - Capitol Records releases Buck Owens' album "Open Up Your Heart"
20 Years Ago Today In 1988 - Poison's Capitol Records single "Every Rose Has Its Thorn", with "Back To The Rocking Horse" on the flip side, is still #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart and is, so far, the group's only #1 single

ON THIS DAY NOT QUITE IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
45 Years Ago Today In 1963 - Merle Haggard's Tally Records single "Sing A Sad Song", with "You Don't Even Try" on the flip side, enters Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart where it will peak at #19. Haggard's Tally masters are currently owned and distributed by Capitol Records.
1980 - John Lennon's Geffen Records/Lenono Music single "(Just Like) Starting Over" is still #1 on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Chart and Lennon and Yoko Ono's Geffen Records/Lenono Music album "Double Fantasy" is #1 on Billboard's Pop album chart. Capitol Records currently distributes all of Lennon's catalog and has reissued "Double Fantasy" as a remastered CD on the Capitol label.

ON THIS DAY NOT IN CAPITOL RECORDS HISTORY
1879 - Sydney Greenstreet, motion picture and radio actor, is born
1906 - Oscar Levant, pianist, singer, motion picture actor, and television quiz show panelist, is born
1927 - The Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II musical "Show Boat" premieres at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City. Every year there is a celebration dinner organized and hosted by Miles Kreuger (president and founder of the Institute Of The American Musical and writer of the definitive book on the history of "Show Boat"), in Los Angeles, California at the Plum Tree Inn in Chinatown.
1932 - Radio City Music Hall opens in New York City. It is the largest indoor theatre in the world at the time, with a nearly 10,000-square-foot stage and seating more than 6,200 people. The gala grand opening show is a six-hour extravaganza that will lose half a million dollars within three weeks.
1947 - Buffalo Bob (Smith), Clarabelle the Clown (Bob Keeshan, the future Captain Kangaroo), Judy Canova, and a host of others join puppet Howdy Doody for the premiere of his self-titled television show on NBC-TV. The show will stay on the air for 13 years and be revived in the 1970s.
1981 - Hoagie Carmichael, songwriter (one-time partner with Capitol Records co-founder Johnny Mercer) and motion picture actor, dies of a heart attack at age 82 in Rancho Mirage, California