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The Night Elvis was Shown from the Waist Up
It all happened over half a century ago on January 6, 1957. One of the more famous, and by today’s viewpoint bizarre, acts of “censorship” in television history. Elvis Presley was deliberately filmed from
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The Origin of the Looney Tune’s “ACME” Corporation Name
For those of you who didn’t spend your childhood with your eyes glued to the TV screen watching Saturday morning cartoons, “ACME” is the name of the fictional company that appeared in almost every
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The Famous “Wilhelm Scream” Heard in Over 200 Films is Thought to Have Come from the Vocal Talents of the Guy Who Wrote and Sang the Song “Purple People Eater”
Even if you don’t recognize the name, odds are you’ve at least heard the Wilhelm Scream (listen to it here). It’s that classic scream that movie goers around the world remember and is sometimes
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The Beatles’ Worst Experience
The Beatles arrived in Manila to give two concerts in early July of 1966. This was to be one of their gigs on their 1966 final-ever tour; they had just finished a few very
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The Day John Lennon Met Paul McCartney
Much of the genesis of the Beatles is a bit nebulous and is often argued, but most Beatles historians cite the date, July 6, 1957, as the official beginning of the Beatles. John Lennon,
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The Story Behind Marylin Monroe’s Nude Calendar
It was 1949, then as now, countless thousands of young actresses in Hollywood were unemployed. Many give up the struggle. Others take a wrong turn and make decisions they will later regret. A certain
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How the Momentous “Rock Around the Clock” Song Nearly Never Was
Contrary to popular belief, “Rock Around the Clock” was not the first Rock ‘n’ Roll record to be recorded. In fact, it wasn’t even Bill Haley’s first Rock record. “Rock Around the Clock” was,
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Ernest Borgnine Facts
As someone who’s been lucky enough to work in movies and is a gigantically huge movie fan on top of that, I was saddened this last July by the death of the great Ernest
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The Johnny Cash Song “A Boy Named Sue” was Written by Shel Silverstein
Today I Found Out the Johnny Cash song “A Boy Named Sue” was written by Shel Silverstein. The song was originally inspired by a friend of Silverstein’s, Jean Shepherd (noted writer, actor, radio personality,
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Greatest Rock Song- The Stairway to Heaven Story
It was voted in 2000 by VH1 as the #3 song on its list of “Greatest Rock Songs” and landed the #31 spot on Rolling Stone magazine’s “Greatest Songs of All-Time” list. Written by
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The Dirty Harry Story
In a 2009 MTV poll, Dirty Harry was voted the “Greatest Movie Badass of all-time”… Not exactly an Academy Award, but nonetheless, Clint Eastwood’s maverick police detective “Dirty Harry” Callahan was to become one
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The Guy Who Did the Voice for Tony the Tiger also Sang “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”
Today I Found Out the guy who did the voice for Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger also sang the iconic “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” song in Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
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Was One of the Bond Girls Really Formerly a Man?
Brenda asks: Did one of the Bond girls really used to be a man? That depends on how you define “man” and “Bond girl”. If you define “man” as a person who was born
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Bigger Than Jesus
It seems only appropriate that the single most controversial quote from the Beatles, by any Beatle, was uttered by John Lennon, the group’s unspoken leader and most colorful member. On March 4, 1966, the
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Brenda Lee was Just 13 Years Old When She Recorded the Christmas Staple “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”
Brenda Mae Tarpley (a.k.a. Brenda Lee and “Little Miss Dynamite”) was born to an extremely poor family in December of 1944. Things took a turn for the worse when her father, a onetime semi-pro
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What Did Barney Rubble Do for a Living
In 1960, the first ever prime-time animated TV series took to the air. The Flintstones was, pretty obviously, a blatant, albeit animated, take-off (read rip-off) of the legendary TV series The Honeymooners. The similarities
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The Only Mother and Son to Each Have #1 Records
In November of 1966, The Monkees‘ first single, “Last Train to Clarksville”, went to number one on the charts two months (to the day) after The Monkees TV series premiered. The Partridge Family (a series
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The Beatles Song Named for a Woman that was About a Man
The Beatles were famous for their beautiful, inspired love songs dedicated to women- “Michelle”, “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds”, “Eleanor Rigby”, “Julia”, “Lovely Rita”, “Lady Madonna”, “Dear Prudence”. Even other Beatles’ classics, not
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