Tuesday, December 30, 2008

DonkeyMonkee Show Bidness

On December 30th, 1944, Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys made their first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry. In 1962,singer Brenda Lee was slightly injured when she tried to rescue her dog from her burning home in Nashville. The dog died of smoke inhalation. In 1979, composer and lyricist Richard Rodgers died in New York at the age of 77. His musicals include "The King and I" and "The Sound of Music." Also in 1979, Emerson, Lake and Palmer announced they were splitting up. They later reunited. [Tant pis, as the French say. — Ed.] In 1981, XTC played their first American concert, in Philadelphia.
In 1999, an intruder broke into George Harrison's home outside London and stabbed Harrison and his wife. Michael Abram was later found innocent by reason of insanity. Also in 1999, singer Johnny Moore of The Drifters died on his way to a London hospital after having breathing difficulties. He was 64. In 2002, singer Diana Ross was arrested for drunk driving in Tucson, Arizona. — Today's Birthdays: Actor Joseph Bologna is 74. Actor Russ Tamblyn is 74. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Sandy Koufax is 73. Actor Jack Riley is 73. Folk singer Paul Stookey is 71. TV director James Burrows is 68. Actor Fred Ward is 66. Singer-musician Michael Nesmith is 66. Singer Davy Jones is 63. [Davy & Mike, Utah 1967(?) — Ed.]Singer Patti Smith is 62. Rock singer-musician Jeff Lynne is 61. "Today Show" co-host Meredith Vieira is 55. Actress Sheryl Lee Ralph is 53. Actress Patricia Kalember is 52. Country singer Suzy Bogguss is 52. "Today Show" newscaster Matt Lauer is 51. [That's funny. Lauer's now the co-host w/ Ms. Vieira, who shares his b-day as well as hosting duties. How long's it been since the AP updated any of this? — Ed.] Actress-comedian Tracey Ullman is 49. Rock musician Rob Hotchkiss is 48. Radio-TV commentator Sean Hannity is 47. Runner Ben Johnson is 47. Singer Jay Kay (Jamiroquai) is 39. Rock musician Byron McMackin (Pennywise) is 39. Actress Meredith Monroe is 39. Actor Daniel Sunjata is 37. Actress Maureen Flannigan is 36. Actor Jason Behr is 35. Golfer Tiger Woods is 33. TV personality-boxer Laila Ali is 31. Singer Tyrese is 30. Actress Eliza Dushku is 28.
— The Associated Press

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