April 25th Class

That 70s Show

  • That 70s Show is an American television preteen calm that aired on Fox from August 23, 1998 to May 18, 2006.
  • It focused on the lives of a group of six friends living in the fictional town of Pointe Place, Wisconsin from May 17, 1976 to December 31, 1979.
  • The main teenage cast members were Topher Grace, Myla Kunis, Ashton Crutcher, Danny Masterson, Laura Prepon, Wilmer Valderrama and Lisa Robin Kelly. The main adult cast members were Debra Jo Rupp, Kirkwood Smith, Don Stark, Tommy Chong and Tanya Roberts.
  • In 1999 the show was remade for the ITV network in the United Kingdom. It was called Days Like These and was almost exactly the same scripts used for That 70s show.
  • There were minor changes to the cultural references.
  • A sequel series called that was set in1995 and focused on the children of the main characters of that 70s show. It was released on Netflix on January 19, 2003.

Topher Grace (Eric Foreman) was on seasons 1 through 7 and guest starred in season 8.

  • Eric is a nice person, skinny and somewhat clumsy. He has a great sense of humour and he’s fast witted. He’s obsessed with movies, especially Star Wars. For seven seasons Eric is in a relationship with his longtime love and neighbour Donna Pinciotti. His father is very hard on him. He convinces his parents to let his best friend Steven Hyde move in with them. He decides to become a teacher at the end of high school, and he leaves the series at the end of the 7 Season to teach in Africa. Although his name is mentioned almost in every episode, he only appears again at the end of the series finale.

Mila Kunis (Jackie Buckhart)

  • She is the youngest member of the group and plays the pretty, spoiled rich, selfish, annoying and immature girl. She tends to give thoughtless and very superficial advice which rarely turns out to be correct. As the show goes on, she becomes more genuine because her father, who was a crooked politician, goes to jail. Because of the changes in her personality, she and Donna become better friends. At the end of the series Jackie had dated three of the four guys in the group.

Ashton Kutcher (Michael Kelso seasons 1-7 and special guest on season 8)      

  • He is the pretty boy of the group and hopes to coast through life with his good looks. He spends half of the series and a relationship with Jackie. Their relationship ends when Laurie (who is Eric’s older sister) tells Jackie she had an affair with him. Kelso has a daughter named Betsy from his relationship with a librarian named Brooke during the 7th season. He becomes a police officer but then is fired because of his incompetence. In the eighth and final season he becomes a security guard at a Chicago Playboy club and leaves the show. He does return for the series finale.

Danny Masterson (Steven Hyde)

  • He is Eric’s best friend and by the end of season one he moves in with Eric’s family because he was abandoned by his mother. He has a witty and sarcastic sense of humour and a rebellious personality. He is very experienced so other members of the show asking for advice. In the final season Hyde is his biological father, William Barnett. He is a wealthy black businessman that owns a chain of record stores. He makes Steven an office worker, then manager and then the owner of the Pointe Place record store.

Laura Prepon (Donna Pinciotti)

  • She played Eric’s longtime girlfriend and brief fiancé. She played a tall intelligent, good-looking and athletic character. She doesn’t agree with what Jackie represents but later becomes friends with her as Jackie’s character changes. Donna is in a relationship with Eric for seven seasons. She rekindles the relationship again at the end of the show’s finale. Later in life she played Alex on Orange Is the New Black.

Wilmer Valderrama (Fez)

  • He is a foreign exchange student, and his hormones are always out of control. He constantly flirts with Jackie and Donna. He initially has trouble getting attention from girls but in the eighth season he becomes a ladies’ man. Throughout the whole series he is in love with Jackie, but his feelings are not reciprocated until the eighth season when they become a couple.

Josh Meyers (Randy Pearson season 8)

  • He is an employee at Stevens record store. He first he appears laid-back, gentle, polite and a ladies’ man but later on he becomes funny and provides witty one-liners and make silly voices. He makes friends with Steven’s father Red after he shows him he’s good at fixing things. Randy dates Donna for most of the 8th season but then breaks up with him. The two of them remained on good terms and remain friends and he makes a brief appearance in the series finale.

Older Cast

Debra Jo Rupp (Kitty Foreman)

  • She is Red’s wife and the mother of Eric and Laurie as well as the adoptive mother of Hyde. She is a cheerful, doting mother but can be assertive. She is a nurse, but she drinks heavily and is a former smoker. Her mood swings are caused by menopause but also because she’s not close to her mother for her daughter.

Kurtwood Smith (Red Foreman)

  • He is Kitty’s husband, father of Eric and Laurie and Hyde’s adoptive father. He is very conservative and is a Navy combat veteran. He served in World War II and the Korean War. He is hard on Eric and sometimes insults him. He tries to find ways to cheat Eric and Kelso out of any cash they have. However, he also has a soft side. He likes working with his tools, drinking beer, watching television, hunting and fishing.

Tanya Roberts (Midge Pinciotti seasons 1 to 3, special guest appearance seasons 6 and 7)

  • She is Bob’s wife, Donna’s mother and Kitty’s best friend. Eric and his male friends tend to fantasize about her. She plays a dimwitted character but later begins to have some feminist ideas. She is written out of the series in 2001 after divorcing Bob and moving to California but she returns in a limited guest appearance during the 6th and 7th season.

Don Stark (Bob Pinciotti)

  • He is Midge’s husband and Donna’s father. He often brags about his service in the National Guard. He is known for walking around his house with his worldwide open wearing no underwear. He eats constantly, even in bed he is always in a good mood. His best friend is red but red usually sees him as a nuisance. He dates many people in the show including Joanne, Pam and Jackie’s mother.

Tommy Chong (Leo in seasons 4 and 8 with special appearances on 2, 3, and 7)

  • He is a hippie and the owner of a Foto Hut where highHyde once worked. He is an Army veteran and served in World War II and was awarded a Purple Heart. He often puts play before work and maintains an easy-going attitude in everything including his business. He disappears during season 4 but returns later in season 5 when the gang goes on a mission to find him but doesn’t. The episode was called The Battle of Ever More. He returns in season 7 and remains on the series until the show ends. In the last season he gets a new job working for Hyde at Grooves.

Soundtracks Made From the Show

  • Several popular songs from the decade can be heard on the series. Two soundtracks were released in 1999. The first one is a collection of funk, soul, and disco. It was called That 70s Album (Jammin’). The second is a collection of rock songs called That 70s Album (Rockin’).

Remakes of the Show

  • Days like These is a series that resembles That 70s Show. It aired in the United Kingdom and used basically the same scripts.
  • That 90’s Show Netflix produced this spinoff of the series. Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp recreated their roles as Red and Kitty Foreman. All the characters from That 70’s Show reprised their roles as guest stars in the series it premiered on Netflix on January 19, 2023.

I thought we could and class by watching some bloopers from That 70s Show.

April 20 & 27: Bruno Mars

  • Bruno Mars is a stage name! His real name is Peter Gene Hernandez.
  • He is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and dancer.
  • He is known for his stage performances, retro aesthetics, and for performing in a wide range of musical styles, including pop, R&B, funk, soul, reggae, hip hop, and rock.
  • He has been dating model Jessica Caban since 2011.
  • Bruno Mars’ band, “the Hooligans”, play a variety of instruments, such as electric guitar, bass, piano, keyboards, drums, and horns, and also serve as backup singers and dancers.
  • In 2020, Bruno Mars teamed up with Anderson .Paak to create a new band called “Silk Sonic”, which also includes the Hooligans. Their album, “An Evening with Silk Sonic” is based on the style of music from the 1970s.

Early Life

  • Bruno was born on 8 October, 1985, in Honolulu, Hawaii. He’s a Libra!
  • His father Peter Hernandez was a Latin percussionist while his mother Bernadette “Bernie” San Pedro Bayot was a singer and dancer. Because he was chubby as a child, he was nicknamed “Bruno” as a child after a famous boxer.
  • Bruno Mars has five siblings, and he is very close with them. Their names are Eric, Jamie, Presley, Tahiti and Tiara.
  • His parents exposed him to a diverse variety of music from childhood.
  • He attended the President Theodore Roosevelt High School from where he graduated in 2003. While at school, he used to perform in a group, called, The School Boys.

Career

  • As a young child, he was naturally inclined towards the performance arts since both his parents were professional performers. One of his uncles, an Elvis impersonator, encouraged Bruno to perform on stage when he was a three-year-old.
  • He soon started performing with his family band and gained popularity in his hometown for his impersonation of Elvis Presley.
  • As an adult, a friend introduced him to songwriter Phillip Lawrence, who agreed to help him compose material. To this day, they are best friends and he is part of “The Hooligans”.
  • Here’s a cute video of them performing “Nothing on You” to a live audience, where Phillip sang B.O.B.’s part. Bruno introduced him as “fake B.O.B.”!
  • They presented a song they had written and recorded to a record label, who liked it but wanted one of their own artists to perform it.
  • Bruno Mars recalled, “We were so broke and struggling, we had to do what we had to do, so we ended up selling the song.”
  • Initially, Mars was disappointed, but it proved to be an awakening experience. “The light bulb went off,” he explained. “I decided to push the artist thing aside and get into the business this way. We can write songs and produce songs, so we just really focused our energy into writing for other artists. That’s how it all began.”
  • By the early 2000s, Bruno Mars had begun to find success by writing songs for several popular artists, including Flo Rida’s smash hit “Right ‘Round,” Brandy’s “Long Distance” and Travie McCoy’s “Billionaire.” He also produced and co-wrote K’Naan’s “Wavin’ Flag,” Coca-Cola’s theme song for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Evolution of his music

Album 1: Doo Wops & Hooligans (2010)

Album 2: Unorthodox Jukebox (2012)

  • Fun fact, this is my favourite album of all time 🙂
  • Bruno felt like he had to fit into a box and have a specific sound to be successful, which makes Doo Wops & Hooligans a very consistent album. But he always wanted to cover a span of genres, which is apparent in the different types of songs that he has written for other artists.
  • Unorthodox Jukebox has a diversity of music genres. Here are some of my favourite songs that reflect that!
  • This song, Moonshine, is very 80s synth pop.
  • Meanwhile, “Show Me” is 100% reggae. Bruno grew up listening to a lot of reggae music in Honolulu.
  • And “If I Knew” sounds straight from the 1950s!
  • I could go on forever! But he has many more albums 🙂

Album 3: 24 K Magic (2016)

  • This album is Bruno’s funk era, which inspired many artists to revisit this genre and bring it back into the main stream.
  • If you like Bruno Mars, you might also like P!nk $weats. Here’s one song that I love:
  • Bruno Mars openly speaks about the many artists that inspired him. Here’s a compilation of videos talking about Michael Jackson. It’s 30 minutes long, so we’re just going to watch a part of it.
  • 24K Magic was crafted from elements of funk as well as R&B, pop, and new jack swing.
  • Bruno was inspired to create an album that captures the sound of 1990s R&B.
  • He listened and danced to 90s R&B during his childhood. He wanted to make people dance and have the same enjoyment he had. 
  • Some people noticed that these songs were less emotionally vulnerable than previous songs. Bruno wanted to explore many styles and keep challenging himself rather than stay in his comfort zone.
  • However, he still kept his ballad style of singing even when the topic was about how popular he is with women! An example is “Calling All My Lovelies”.
  • Bruno was invited to perform at the 2017 Brit Awards. Here’s one of my favourite performances by any artist ever!
  • Around this time, Bruno Mars also collaborated with Cardi B on two songs, Finesse & Please Me.

Album 4: An Evening with Silk Sonic (2021)

  • This album is amazing! We see another genre-shift with a focus on soul music from the 1970s!
  • This band is made up of Bruno Mars, his usual band, The Hooligans, and incredible singer, rapper, and musician, Anderson .Paak.
  • Anderson toured with Bruno Mars and played as a solo opening act to the 24 K Magic World Tour.
  • “When you get in and you can jam with someone and other artists that could hold it down and you’re bouncing, that’s different,” said Anderson about Bruno.
  • I highly recommend checking out all his songs on YouTube! It’s very uplifting music that unites multiple generations of music lovers!

Grammy Awards

2018: Record of the Year
2018: Album of the Year
2018: Song of the Year – That’s What I Like
2018: Best R&B Performance
2018: Best R&B Album Winner
2018: Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
2018: Best R&B Song
2017: Album of the Year
2016: Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
2016: Record of the Year
2016: Best Remixed Recording
2014: Best Pop Vocal Album
2011: Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
MTV video Music Awards
2013: Best Choreography Bruno Mars: Treasure (2013)
2013: Best Male Video Bruno Mars: Locked Out of Heaven (2012)

Why hasn’t Silk Sonic won any Grammys?

  • Late last year, Bruno Mars announced that he and Anderson .Paak won’t submit their debut album, An Evening With Silk Sonic, for consideration at next year’s ceremony.
  • “We truly put our all on this record, but Silk Sonic would like to gracefully, humbly and most importantly, sexually, bow out of submitting our album this year,” Bruno Mars said in a statement to Rolling Stone. “We hope we can celebrate with everyone on a great year of music and partake in the party. Thank you for letting Silk Sonic thrive.”
  • An Evening With Silk Sonic was released in Nov. 2021 to critical and commercial acclaim. The 9-track album was expected to receive multiple nominations and be a top contender for Album of the Year at the 2023 Grammys.
  • “Leave the Door Open” swept all four categories it was nominated in during this year’s ceremony in April, including Song and Record of the Year.
  • “Andy and I, and everyone that worked on this project, won the moment the world responded to ‘Leave the Door Open.’ Everything else was just icing on the cake,” added Bruno, who has won 15 Grammys throughout his career.
  • “We thank the Grammys for allowing us to perform on their platform–not once but twice–and awarding us at last year’s ceremony. We’d be crazy to ask for anything more. Thank you to everyone that supported this project and championed it.”
  • Despite withdrawing from the Grammy nominations, the accolades keep coming for Silk Sonic. The duo has been nominated for two awards at the 2022 American Music Awards, including Favorite R&B Album and Favorite R&B Song.
  • That’s pretty cool to withdraw from the Grammys because you’re content with your success and you want to give others’ a chance to win!

Bruno Mars Hallowe’en Costumes

Bruno on The Ellen Show

  • Bruno has been on The Ellen Show many times! Here’s a recent interview:
  • Although his image is that he’s a vain lady’s man and partier he’s actually very humble compared to other celebrities. He lives a quiet lifestyle with his girlfriend of 12 years, Jessica Caban, his best friend of 16 years, Phillip Lawrence, and Phillip’s wife, Urbana Lawrence.
  • Reflecting on his friendship with Bruno, Phillip said: “I got to the studio, and it was Bruno, and that session was the first time either of us had written and recorded an entire song. From that point on we never stopped working together.”
  • It’s common for bands to lose and replace members over time, but Bruno’s backup band “The Hooligans” has also remained consistent over the years because they’re made up of close friends and even Bruno’s brother, Eric Hernandez.
  • He’s donated millions of dollars to the following causes: support for survivors of abuse, AIDS & HIV, at-risk/disadvantaged youths, bullying, creative arts, disaster relief, education, environment, health, human rights (including women’s rights and children’s rights), poverty reduction, and unemployment/career support.

Sources

Bruno Mars

https://www.rap-up.com/2022/10/13/bruno-mars-withdraws-silk-sonic-grammy-consideration/

Google Images

https://www.looktothestars.org/celebrity/bruno-mars

https://www.thethings.com/10-things-bruno-mars-employees-have-said-about-working-for-him/#mark-ronson-producer

April 13: Michael Jackson

Some Interesting Facts about Michael Jackson

  • He’s known as “The King of Pop” due to his success! One of his other nicknames is “MJ”.
  • He has had a huge influence on many celebrities, especially Bruno Mars and The Weeknd.
  • The album Thriller had 7 songs become top ten singles and it won 8 Grammy awards.
  • Eventually, Thriller would become the best selling album of all time. This album made Michael the biggest star in the music industry. The song (and dance!) to Thriller is what he is most known for worldwide.
  • Michael Jackson also broke new ground with his music videos. At the time, most music videos just showed the band or singer performing the song. Michael wanted to create a story with his videos. He changed the way that music videos were made from then on.
  • Years later, the 13-minute long video for the song “Thriller” was voted the most influential music video of all time. Let’s watch this iconic music video!
  • Fun fact: Michael Jackson had two pet llamas on his ranch called Lola and Louis. In fact, Freddie Mercury cancelled a duet with Michael in the 1980s because he insisted on bringing his llama, Louis, to the studio!
  • MK is known for having a drastic change to his appearance. Some people think that he did not like his appearance because of his abuse from his father at a young age. His skin doctor said that his skin tone changed because he had a disease called vitiligo, but some people debate whether this is the whole story. Later in life, he got plastic surgery, which changed his appearance even more.

Early Life

  • Michael Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana on August 29, 1958.
  • Michael’s father, Joe Jackson, worked as a crane operator at a steel mill. His mother, Katherine, took care of the family and sometimes took part-time jobs.
  • Both of Michael’s parents loved music. His dad played guitar for an R&B band, and his mother sang and played the piano. Growing up, all of the Jackson children were encouraged to study music.
  • Michael grew up in a large family. He had five brothers (Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Randy) and three sisters (Rebbie, La Toya, and Janet).
  • Michael was the third youngest. Randy and Janet are both younger than him.
  • The Jacksons were fairly poor and lived in a small house with just two bedrooms for eleven people.
  • Joe Jackson was a very strict father. He didn’t allow the kids to have a lot of friends and he often whipped the children if they disobeyed. He wanted them to stay out of trouble and away from gangs.
  • In the early days of “The Jackson 5”, Joe would push the boys to practice for hours. He would hit them or verbally abuse them if they made a mistake.

Early Music Career

  • The three older brothers (Jackie, Tito, and Jermaine) formed a band called the Jackson Brothers.
  • Michael and his brother Marlon joined the band in 1964.
  • Soon, the family realized that Michael was a gifted singer and dancer. At just eight years old, Michael began to sing lead vocals along with his older brother Jermaine.
  • Joe realized that his children were very talented. He felt that they could become successful in music.
  • They changed the name of the band to the Jackson 5 and began playing all around town.
  • Then they began touring the Midwest where they played in bars and clubs. They won several talent shows and began to gain a name for themselves.
  • In 1968, the Jackson 5 signed a record contract with Motown Records. Their first album, Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5, reached #1 on the R&B chart and #5 on the Pop Albums Chart.
  • Michael sang lead vocals on their first single, “I Want You Back”, which hit number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
  • The Jackson 5 continued to have success. They released more number one singles like “ABC”, “I’ll Be There”, and “The Love You Save.”
  • As the lead singer, Michael was becoming very famous.
  • The downside was that his fame made him miss out on a typical childhood.
  • He couldn’t go to school because he would be mobbed by fans, so he was taught by private tutors in between rehearsals and concerts.

Michael’s Solo Career

  • While still singing with the Jackson 5, Michael had a number of solo albums.
  • At first his solo career didn’t take off, but he did have a few hit songs including “Ben” and “Got to Be There.”
  • However, in 1978 Michael met music producer Quincy Jones while working on the set of the movie The Wiz. He broke away from the family band and worked on his first “grown up” album.
  • In 1979, Michael released the album Off the Wall. It was a huge hit and had four top ten songs including the number one singles “Rock with You” and “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough.”
  • After Off the Wall, Michael was one of the biggest stars in music! After Thriller, he was the biggest star!
  • Although some say that Michael’s career peaked with the Thriller album, he released several more successful albums including Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991), HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I (1995), and Invincible (2001).
  • From the ablum Thriller, here’s “Beat It”:
  • From the album Bad, here’s “Smooth Criminal” and “Man in the “Mirror”:
  • Michael Jackson also performed at the Super Bowl Half-Time Show in 1993! It won’t load because of the NFL’s copyright laws, but you can watch it later at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsopN7JKUVs. This is a re-mastered version for higher video quality!

Private Life

  • Michael Jackson lived in a large complex he named Neverland Ranch, after the land where Peter Pan lived. Neverland was part home, part amusement park. The ranch had a petting zoo, railroads, and rides such as a Ferris wheel, roller coaster, bumper cars, and a carousel.
  • Michael was married twice. His first marriage was to Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter and only child of the famous rock singer Elvis Presley.
  • His second marriage was to a nursing assistant named Debbie Rowe. He had two children, Michael Joseph Jackson and Paris-Michael Katherine Jackson, with Debbie before they were divorced.
  • Michael also had a third child, Prince Michael Jackson II, but his mother’s identity is unknown.

Rest in Peace, Michael Jackson

  • Michael Jackson died of a heart attack on June 25, 2009. He was fifty years old. The heart attack was likely caused by the drugs that he was taking to help him sleep.
  • Michael Jackson was the best selling artist in the United States in 2009, the year of his death.
  • Around 35 million of his albums were sold worldwide in the 12 months after he died.
  • Without a doubt, he is beloved by millions of people across the world, and his influence lives on in today’s music and music videos.

Let’s end on a positive note!

Sources:

https://www.ducksters.com/biography/entertainers/michael_jackson.php

Google Images

April 11: The Beatles

  • The Beatles formed in Liverpool in 1960 and were considered an English rock band.
  • The members were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.
  • They were seen as the most influential band of all time and were very important to the development of the 1960’s counterculture and popular music saw them as an art form.
  • Their type of music was known as Skiffie music (this type of music was a mixture of folk, country, blues, bluegrass and jazz music).
  • Their music also was seen as rock ‘n’ roll and their sound included elements of classical music and traditional pop music in very interesting ways.
  • The band also explored music styles that range from folk and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock.
  • They were known as pioneers in recording, songwriting and artistic presentation. They revolutionized many aspects of the music industry and were often known as leaders of the era’s youth and the socio-cultural movements that were popular during this time.
  • John and Paul were primarily songwriters and the Beatles came from John’s former group called The Quarrymen.
  • They created their fan base by starting up in Liverpool and Hamburg over three years starting in 1960 John, Paul and George worked together since 1958.
  • They had a few drummers that included Pete Best before they asked Ringo Starr to join them in 1962.
  • They were managed by Brian Epstein and their producer was George Martin. They helped to guide them and develop their songs and continuously expand their success after they signed on to EMI records.
  • Their first hit was called Love Me Do in 1962. Their popularity increased a lot and began an intense fan frenzy that was known as Beatlemania. The group themselves began to be known as The Fab Four.
  • By 1964, the Beatles had earned world-renowned success and became international stars. They were responsible for beginning the British invasion in the United States pop market. They even made their own film called A Hard Day’s Night.
  • In 1966, the band decided to retire from doing live performances because they wanted to increase their studio time and they found it very difficult to maintain doing them both.
  • They were able to produce better records including the albums Rubber Soul in 1965, Revolver in 1966, and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967.
  • They enjoyed even more success when they released the album The Beatles, which was also known as The White album in 1968 and Abbey Road in 1969.
  • This began the era called the album era because albums were selling more than singles. They also increased public interest in psychedelic drugs and Eastern spirituality.
  • The Beatles were able to further advancements in electronic music, album art and music videos.
  • In 1968, they founded Apple Corp.’s. It was a multimedia corporation that continues to oversee projects related to the band’s legacy.
  • After the group broke up in 1970 all principal former members enjoyed success as single artists and some partial reunions have occurred.
  • Unfortunately, John Lennon was murdered in 1980 and George Harrison died of lung cancer in 2001.
  • Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr remain musically active.
  • The Beatles are the bestselling music act of all time because they have estimated sales of 600 million units worldwide.
  • They are the most successful musical acts in the history of the US Billboard charts.
  • They hold the record for most number one albums on the UK albums chart at 15 times.
  • They have the most number one hits on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart at 20 and the most singles sold in the UK at 21.9 million.
  • The band has received seven Grammy awards, four Brit Awards and an Academy award for the best original song score for the 1978 documentary film called Let It Be and 15 Iver Novello awards.
  • They were inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame in 1988 and two of the members were inducted individually between 1994 and 2000.
  • In 2004 and 2011 the group was on top of Rolling Stone’s list of the greatest artists in history.
  • Time magazine even named them among the 20th century’s hundred most popular and important people.

Some History of the Beatles

  • On February 11, 1963, The Beatles recorded 10 songs in one single studio session for their debut record called Please Please Me.
  • After the moderate success of Love Me Do they released the single called Please Please Me in January 1963.
  • It reached number one on every UK chart except record retailer where it only reached number two.
  • The band’s third single called From Me to You came out in April 1963.
  • With this single there was an almost unbroken string of 17 British, #1 singles released over the next six years for the Beatles.
  • In August 1963 they released their fourth single called She Loves You.
  • This song received the fastest sales of any record recorded in the UK up until that time. It sold three quarters of a million copies in only four weeks. It became their first single to sell a million copies and remain the biggest selling record in the UK until 1978.
  • Before the next album was released EMI records released the single called, I Want to Hold Your Hand.
  • This was to try to maximize the singles sale.
  • The album caught the attention of critic William Mann of the Times.
  • He suggested that Lennon and McCartney were outstanding English composers in 1963.
  • It was because of the sleeve notes for this album that the band’s press officer Tony Barrow used the term fabulous foursome which then became The Fab Four.
  • On February 7, 1964, the Beatles left Heathrow Airport with about 4000 screaming fans watching the airplane taking off.
  • Once the plane landed at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport, 3000 fans greeted them again.
  • They gave their first live US television performance on the Ed Sullivan show.
  • It was watched by approximately 73 million viewers in over 23 million house or 34% of the American population.
  • Back in New York the following day the Beatles had another big reception of people waiting for them when they arrived to do shows at Carnegie Hall.
  • The band then flew to Florida and appeared on the Ed Sullivan show a second time again before 70 million viewers then they returned to the UK on 22 February.
  • During the 1964 US tour the Beatles had to deal with race segregation.
  • They were told when they arrived for their September 11 concert in Jacksonville Florida that it was segregated.
  • The Beatles refused form unless the audience was not segregated and everyone regardless of race or colour could enjoy the show.
  • They even cancelled the reservations at the Whites Only Hotel George Washington in Jacksonville Florida.
  • For their future shows in the US in 1965 and 1966 the Beatles included clauses in their contracts that stipulated the shows must be integrated.
  • There was more controversy in June 1965 when Queen Elizabeth II appointed the Beatles as members of the order of the British Empire after Prime Minister Harold Wilson nominated them for the award.
  • People were upset because at the time this honour was usually given mainly to military veterans and civic leaders.
  • In July of the same year the Beatles second film called Help! was released.
  • The soundtrack for the movie included songs like Help! and Ticket to Ride. They were mainly sung by John Lennon.
  • After releasing the song called Help the Beatles expanded their vocals and incorporated classical instruments into some of their songs.
  • This included a string quartet on the pop ballad Yesterday. It was written and sung by Paul McCartney.
  • The song has inspired the most ever cover versions of any song ever written.
  • The album called Help caused the Beatles to become the first rock group ever to be nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year.
  • There was even a cartoon that was on Saturday mornings with the Beatles.

I hope you enjoyed our class on the Beatles. Here is Ellen speaking to Ringo Starr.

April 6: Happy Days

  • Does the theme song sound familiar? It was based on “We’re Gonna Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley and His Comets, which was released in 1954.
  • Happy Days is an American television sitcom that aired first-run from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984.
  • It has a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning over eleven seasons.

Premise

  • Happy Days was set in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the 1950s and ’60s.
  • The show presented an idealized view of post-World War II middle-class America, seen largely through the perspective of high school (and later college) student Ritchie Cunningham (played by Ron Howard) and his pal Potsie (Anson Williams).
  • The boys fraternized with the crowd at Arnold’s Malt Shop, where they sipped floats, dumped dimes into the jukebox, worried about girls, and lamented the minor misunderstandings they had with their parents.
  • At first, it wasn’t a very popular show, and the series’ ratings began to fall during its second season,.
  • This caused the producer to re-work the show to emphasize broad comedy and spotlight the previously minor character of Fonzie.
  • After these changes, Happy Days became the number-one program in television in 1976–1977, Fonzie became one of the most merchandised characters of the 1970s, and Henry Winkler, the actor who played Fonzie, became a major star.

Main Characters

Richie Cunningham

  • Richie is the show’s protagonist.
  • Richie Cunningham was the epitome of the 1950s wholesome, clean-cut, All-American teenager.
  • His red hair and freckles gave him a strong resemblance to 50s TV icon Howdy Doody.
  • Richie has a more traditional moral code than his close friends Potsie and Ralph, and he is seen as more innocent.
  • He is always ready to stand up for what he believes, to his friends as well as his adversaries, no matter what it might cost him.
  • On the occasion that Richie would become furious or irritated, he would call any opponent “Bucko”.
  • After graduating high school, Richie studied journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he would meet Lori Beth Allen. The two would begin dating which turned into a steady relationship.
  • After graduating from university Richie served a brief tour in the Army and was stationed in Greenland. In reality, they did this because the actor was beginning a new career as a director.
  • When Richie was in Greenland, he proposed to, and then married Lori Beth by telephone, with the Fonz standing in as groom for Richie. Lori Beth visited Richie in Greenland and they had their first child: a son who they named Richard Jr.
  • In the final season of the series, Richie returned to Milwaukee and decides to move his family west to California and further his writing career in the hope of finding work as a screenwriter.

Arthur Fonzarelli (aka “Fonzie” or “The Fonz”)

  • Although Richie was the show’s protagonist, the most famous character was Fonzie.
  • He was originally a secondary character, but he was soon positioned as a main character when he began surpassing the other characters in audience popularity.
  • One of the ways they boosted popularity was by having Fonzie “jump the shark” on water skis.
  • “Ay-y-y-y!” Fonzie makes no secret of what he himself considers to be “cool” or “uncool”, often showing his approval or objection with his signature “thumbs up” or “thumbs down”, the former usually in tandem with his trademark expression, “Ay-y-y-y!”.
  • His greaser style and love for motorcycles clashed with the show’s cast of wholesome, all-American characters.
  • At the beginning of the series, Fonzie is a high school dropout, prompting the establishment characters in the show to see him as a negative influence. 
  • Although he was a cool biker, gang member, and high school dropout, under his leather jacket, Fonzie was anything but rebellious.
  • His reputation as an outsider and a ladies’ man could be used to mitigate tensions and restore order. Although he’s like a Casanova and women fawn over him, he always treated women with utmost respect. 
  • Eventually, Fonzie goes to night school to get his high school diploma. He works as a mechanic throughout the early seasons. Later, he became the co-owner of Arnold’s Drive-In, where the gang always hangs out, as well as a mechanic shop teacher.
  • Although Richie, an upstanding, clean-cut youth, was Fonzie’s apparent opposite, the two were rarely in conflict, and their relationship became increasingly harmonious as the characters grew up and moved on in life.
  • Fonzie has a solid moral code, treating others with respect and sticking up for those who can’t defend themselves, particularly Richie, Ralph, and Potsie whenever they were confronted by various bullies and troublemakers.
  • Beginning in season 3, despite Riche’s father Howard’s skepticism, Fonzie moved into the attic apartment above the garage at the Cunningham house. Though things got off to a rocky start, all of the Cunninghams eventually became like a surrogate family to Fonzie.
  • Throughout the series, while Fonzie served as defender and protector of his friends, he also expected those who looked up to him to follow his example. This is a clip with Joanie, Richie’s younger sister.

Joanie Cunningham

  • Joanie is the only daughter and youngest child of Howard and Marion Cunningham, and the younger sister of Chuck and Richie Cunningham.
  • Howard and Marion were very protective of Joanie through her younger years, controlling almost every aspect of her life, right down to her choice of clothes. It took some time, and some persuasion, for Howard and Marion to let their guard down with her, though they did it little by little as time went on.
  • Because she was so sheltered, she became quite rebellious, and Richie and his friends have had to get her out of trouble with gangs a few times.
  • Joanie has a very sassy personality and was quick to cast off barbs at others, even her parents. At the beginning of the show, she is a teenager and treated as a pest, but as she grows up, she becomes part of Richie’s friend group.
  • In keeping with her lively nature, Joanie became the first character in the series to use the classic “Sit on it” putdown.
  • Joanie has always been close with Fonzie. He treats her as his younger sister. His pet name for her is “Shortcake.” They become even closer as friends when Richie moves away with the army.
  • In the beginning of season 5, Fonzie’s cousin Charles “Chachi” Arcola moved to Milwaukee and quickly developed a crush on Joanie, often flirtingly using the phrase “Wah wah wah” in her presence.
  • Initially, Joanie was repulsed by Chachi’s affections, but eventually by season 7, Joanie began to have a change of heart about him, and the two began dating, which turned into a steady relationship.
  • They went off on their own and moved to Chicago in their own spinoff series Joanie Loves Chachi, but after two seasons their show was cancelled, and the two returned to Milwaukee (and Happy Days ) and Joanie began attending college.
  • After a brief break-up, though they remained friends, Joanie and Chachi eventually realized they were truly meant for one another and married in the series finale.

Howard Cunningham

  • Howard is the father of Charles, or “Chuck”, Richie, and Joanie Cunningham and the husband of Marion Cunningham .
  • He’s commonly called Mr. C. He owns his own hardware store, Cunningham Hardware, as a profession.
  • Howard is portrayed as an understanding father, who wants to support his kids in any way to make them happy, but also teach them the consequences in life actions as well. Sometimes those actions of his kids, his wife or The Fonz can get on his nerves, but he doesn’t do it violently.

Marion Cunningham

  • Marion is the mother of Chuck, Richie and Joanie and wife of Howard.
  • She is very kind, loving, caring, and occasionally humorous and goofy. She loves all of her kids and her husband Howard.
  • She is the only person that is allowed by Fonzie to call him by his actual name, “Arthur”, which she always calls him affecionately. She is the only woman who can make Fonzie blush, which always happens when she gives him a kiss on the cheek.
  • She also is a feminist, and when Howard gets romantic/flirty with her, she calls it “frisky”.
  • Marion is referred to affectionately as “Mrs. C” by Richie’s friends, Potsie and Ralph.

Warren “Potsie” Weber

  • Potsie is best friends with Richie Cunningham and Ralph Malph.
  • In the pilot and early seasons, Potsie appeared to be more savvy than Richie, but this character trait would not last long.
  • As the series progressed he would be depicted as somewhat dimwitted and gullible, socially clumsy, and in modern hindsight, very ‘square’; consequently, he was labeled a nerd by friends and acquaintances.
  • But for all his shortcomings, Potsie is a very talented singer, and his musical endeavors became more central to the character as the series progressed. In season 3’s They Call It Potsie Love, Joanie, after being serenaded by Potsie during a rehearsal, developed a brief crush on him and even had a dream about marrying him.
  • A later recurring gag was Potsie’s relationship, or lack thereof, with his unseen father who, according to Potsie, hated him. As such, Potsie, who worked at Howard’s hardware store, came to look on Howard as a father figure, which Howard did not approve of.

Ralph Malph

  • Ralph is a bashful but affable guy to his friends.
  • In earlier seasons, Ralph’s girl-chasing was the primary focus of his character. He would occasionally get dates but generally he was not very successful at it, although he was slightly more successful than Richie and Potsie.
  • As the seasons progressed, he was shown to be easily frightened and often panicked greatly at the least and greatest occurrences.
  • Originally the series tended to concentrate on Richie and Potsie, often in schemes to attract women, with Ralph as a third wheel.
  • In Season 1, Ralph was presented as considerably “cooler” than Richie or Potsie. In later seasons Ralph became best friends with Potsie, and they were both labeled “nerds” by Fonzie, due to their collective eagerness to do virtually anything to be among the cool people.
  • Ralph typically has two things on his mind: girls and jokes, though not constantly in that order. Ralph thinks he’s a great comedian frequently, though his jokes don’t usually get a lot of laughs.
  • Most of the time when Ralph cracks off a one-liner, even though he gets little or no response, he proudly intones, “I still got it!”
  • Ralph is also a prankster who resorts to novelty items (whoopie cushions, Groucho glasses, etc.) to get laughs as well.

Matsuo “Arnold” Takahashi

  • Arnold is the owner of Arnold’s Drive-In.
  • He can do karate, dance and speak Korean, Chinese, Japanese and English. His mother was Chinese and his father was Japanese. Arnold and Fonzie are good friends.
  • He often complains about how certain behavior among the teens who frequent Arnold’s might make him lose money. Arnold also writes replies on the bathroom wall to the graffiti the kids wrote.
  • Arnold got married in season 3 and leaves the restaurant to Al Delvecchio. Since Al got married in season 10, Arnold bought back his restaurant and it is unknown what happened to his wife. He and Fonzie are partners and help him out running the restaurant.

Al DeVecchio

  • Al is the owner of Arnold’s Drive-In, who took over after Arnold married.
  • He often grumps about business in a similar way Arnold does.
  • Al is friends with Marion Cunningham, Fonzie, and Richie Cunningham, but not so much Howard Cunningham, Ralph Malph, or Warren “Potsie” Weber.
  • Al eventually married Chachi’s mother, Louisa.
  • The show ended with Joanie and Chachi’s wedding, which Al officiated.

Spinoffs

  • Although the show was never a success with television critics, Happy Days left its mark on the larger culture, with Fonzie becoming a pop culture icon.
  • The success of Happy Days led to several spin-off comedies for ABC, including Out of the Blue (1979), Joanie Loves Chachi (1982–83), Laverne and Shirley (1976–83), and Mork and Mindy (1978–82), the last two of which, like Happy Days, were produced by Gary Marshall, who went on to direct motion pictures such as Pretty Woman (1990).
  • Howard, who had received his start in television on The Andy Griffith Show (1960–68), also became an important motion picture director.

Sources

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Happy-Days-American-television-series

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070992/mediaviewer/rm4006625792/?ref_=tt_ov_i

April 4: Sarah Jama

  • Sarah was born in 1994 in Brampton, Ontario.
  • Sarah Jama MPP is a Canadian politician and Disability Rights Activist who has just recently become the Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Hamilton Centre.
  • She belongs to the Ontario New Democrat Party (NDP).
  • Before she was awarded this position, she was the Executive Director and Cofounder of Disability Justice Network Ontario.
  • She was born with cerebral palsy and now he uses a wheelchair for mobility.
  • After she graduated from McMaster University with a Social Science Degree she decided to live in Hamilton.

Activism

  • Sarah cofounded the Disability Justice Network Ontario in September 2018. She appeared before the Senate of Canada legal and Constitutional affairs committee in February 2021.
  • She was arguing against proposed Bill C-7 which she believed made euthanasia more accessible for people with mental health disabilities rather than providing them with some much-needed mental health support.
  • This video is another long one. But we can watch little bit. I just think it shows even more of what can be accomplished by working together.
  • In early 2021 she also cofounded the Hamilton Encampment Support Network.
  • Here she focused on affordable housing access for all. That same year she received media attention when she was arrested in Hamilton while participating in a protest against homeless encampment evictions in the city.
  • She was even accused of obstructing and assault on a police officer.
  • The charges were later withdrawn after she entered into a peace bond.

Politics

  • In July 2022 Sarah announced that she would be seeking the NDP nomination in the Hamilton Centre by election when former MPP and NDP leader Andrea Horwath resigned to run for mayor.
  • Sarah was acclaimed as the NDP candidate in October 2022.
  • Her campaign began with controversy because her statements describing Israel as an apartheid state again resurfaced.
  • That caused a request by B’nai Brith Canada for the NDP to drop her as a candidate. She again apologized for those statements.
  • B B’nai Brith Canada is a Canadian Jewish Service Organization and Advocacy Group.
  • On March 16, 2023, Sarah was elected as the MPP for Hamilton Centre. She won the vote by a landslide burning 54.28% of the vote.

I know this class has dealt with some heavy issues. So I thought we could and with everyone’s favourite carpal karaoke.

March 30: The Beach Boys

  • The Beach Boys were originally comprised of the three teenaged Wilson brothers: Brian, Carl, and Dennis, their cousin Mike Love, and school friend Al Jardine.
  • The Beach Boys are one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful bands of all time, with over 100 million records sold worldwide.
  • Between the 1960s and today, the group had over 80 songs chart worldwide, 36 of them in the US Top 40 (the most by a US rock band), and four topping the Billboard Hot 100. 
  • The Beach Boys were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and recipients of The Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement GRAMMY Award.

Early Days

  • The Beach Boys were founded in Hawthorne, California in 1961.
  • The Beach Boys began as a garage band, managed by the Wilsons’ father, Murry, with Brian serving as composer, arranger, producer, and de facto leader.
  • In 1963, they enjoyed their first national hit with “Surfin’ U.S.A.”, beginning a string of top-ten singles that reflected a southern California youth culture of surfing, cars, and romance, dubbed the “California sound”.
  • I know we love to watch Jimmy Fallon in this class! So here’s a parody/homage that Jimmy Fallon did of the track. I think he did a great job capturing the vibe!
  • “Barbara Ann” is a song written by Fred Fassert that was first recorded by the Regents as “Barbara-Ann”. When the Beach Boys sang it, it became much more popular!

Pet Sounds

  • This album was released in 1966. They were inspired by The Beatles’ 1965 Album, Rubber Soul and wanted to make something even better.
  • Countless artists have cited Pet Sounds as their inspiration for creating their own musical masterpieces. Apparently, Paul McCartney wept when he listened to Pet Sounds for the first time because it was so moving.
  • Rolling Stone ranked Pet Sounds No. 2 on its list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time,” and the Beach Boys No. 12 on its list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time.”

Other Top Tracks!

  • To sum up, The Beach Boys were an extremely iconic band that helped legitimize pop music as a recognized art form and influenced the development of music genres and movements such as psychedelia, power pop, progressive rock, punk, alternative, and lo-fi.

March 28: Skiing Versus Extreme Skiing

Different Types of Skiing

Downhill Skiing

  • This type of skiing is also called Alpine skiing. However downhill skiing is what people understand to be the best. A lift is used to assist the ski resort with groomed runs that are marked and patrolled. The ski lift brings people up to the top of the hill. Downhill skiers wear stiff plastic boots that click into fixed heel bindings mounted to the shaped skis. To get down the hill skiers generally keep their skis parallel well making turns.

Backcountry Skiing

  • Backcountry skiing is any type of skiing done outside a patrolled boundary in the ski area. It is often done with Alpine touring or telemarked gear where you use climbing skins and bindings with a free heel feature to ski uphill and then downhill. But skiers can also use standard downhill equipment and use a lift to go uphill. It is called backcountry skiing because skiers leave the ski area boundaries. Before you go backcountry skiing, though it’s very important that you are equipped and properly trained in avalanche assessment and rescue.

Alpine Touring

  • This is a style of backcountry skiing that is sometimes called AT for short. With this type of skiing, you use special bindings that can switch between free heel and fixed heel modes so you can go up the slopes with your heels unlocked. The climbing skins provide traction. When you get to the top of the hill you remove your climbing skins and lock your heels back down and go down by making parallel turns as you would if you were downhill skiing. It is also very important while doing this type of skiing to again be properly trained in avalanche assessment and rescue.

Telemark Skiing

  • This type of skiing is defined by the way you turn. There is special bindings and boots designed for this type of skiing. Your heels stay always unlocked and you make turns with a lunging motion that puts your forward leg in a very noticeable bent knee position. Many skiers use backcountry skis. You can enjoy this type of skiing technique at a downhill ski resort or in the backcountry. However, if you choose to head into the backcountry. You need additional equipment such as climbing skins and avalanche safety equipment and proper avalanche training.

Ski Mountaineering

  • Ski mountaineering is similar to backcountry skiing but it focuses on reaching the top of the peak and then skiing back down. You normally use the same equipment that you use for Alpine touring to travel across snowy slopes and glaciers. The equipment you use is the same as backcountry gear, but you also may need things like ski crampons, boot crampons, ice axe, and a rope.

Freestyle Skiing

  • This type of skiing is an acrobatic form of skiing. It can include moguls, jumps and tricks and movements such as twists and somersaults. It is usually done at a downhill ski resort where the terrain features are created specifically for this type of skiing.

Adaptive Skiing

  • This type of skiing uses special equipment. This equipment is called a mono ski or a sit ski. It helps people with disabilities enjoy skiing in the same way as an able-bodied person does.

Track 3 Adaptive Skiing

  • This term comes from the three tracks that are left in the snow by an amputee skier using outriggers. Outriggers are one of the most used forms of adaptive equipment and the track three program. This is because they provide additional port and stabilization for skiers with physical differences when needed.

Some of the Most Famous Skaters of All Time

Bode Miller

  • He is an Olympic and world champion. He’s a two-time overall World Cup champion in 2005 2008. He’s the most successful male American ski racer of all time. He is also considered as one of the greatest World Cup racers with 33 victories and he is only one of five men to win World Cups in all five disciplines of skiing. He officially retired from ski racing in October 2017.

Ingemar Stenmark

  • He is a former World Cup ski racer from Sweden. He is known as one of the most prominent Swedish athletes ever and as the greatest slalom and giant slalom specialist of all times. He is still one of the greatest skiers of all time with 86 wins in international races. He retired in 1989.

Lindsay Vonn

  • She is an American World Cup Alpine skier. She has won an amazing four World Cup overall championships and has won the gold medal in the downhill at the 2010 Winter Olympics. It was the first time an American woman is ever one that event. In 2016 she won her 20th World Cup Crystal Globe Title. This was an all-time record a man men or women and she even had more wins than Ingemar Stenmark.

Markus Eder

  • He is an Italian skier who is best known for competing in a variety of different freestyle events. He started skiing at a very early age. He has multiple video parts in productions for movies and shows. He even has a Free Wide world tour championship crown and has done all this by the age of 31. He has released a project that took him two years the ultimate run. In this project it shows his talent for skiing. It shows visual excellence, his verse totality and has mind blowing tricks.

I thought we could and class by listening to a song that Pink performed just this year. I’m sure you’ll know it.

March 23: Elvis Presley

Early Life

  • According to the documentary Elvis: Return to Tupelo (2008), Elvis was born a twin, but his sibling was still-born. His parents believed that this made Elvis even more precious. They told him that he survived for a reason. Apparently, Elvis felt haunted about being the surviving twin all his life.
  • His family went to church 3 times per week. It was the kind of church where people would jump, yell, and shout. They would run through the aisles and speak in tongues.
  • Music played a big role. It wasn’t just gospel music. They played all kinds of music. His mother and the church were his inspiration.
  • His mother worked multiple jobs to support them. This established him and his mother’s very close relationship.
  • His father was prosecuted for fraud and were sentenced to 3 years in a prison farm.
  • When his father got out of jail, he got a job, but the family was still very poor and looked down upon in the community. They lived in a historically Black neighbourhood.
  • Through a school friend, Elvis sang on the radio for the first time when he was just 11 years old.
  • When he was begging his mom for a bb gun, she convinced him to get a guitar instead. Elvis learned how to play it quickly by watching his uncles and preacher. When he was in grade 6, Elvis volunteered in a school gospel program.
  • Elvis’ father kept losing his jobs. Due to poverty, Elvis’ family had to live in another historically Black neighbourhood. The Black community welcomed him to community events where he saw Black people dance and sing to the blues and gospel.
  • Eventually, his family’s poverty got so bad that they moved to Memphis Tennessee for more opportunities. The three of them lived in public housing, which was much nicer than where they used to live.
  • Elvis listened to a late night radio show hosted by Dewey Phillips. Dewey was a white man who was hired to play music to appeal to a Black audience, including gospel and rhythm & blues. His radio show was very popular with white and Black youth. Dewey is the catalyst of introducing Black rock and roll artists to mainstream audiences.
  • However, the late night show was seen as something taboo and wild, not acceptable to white parents.
  • Elvis chose clothes that looked like what the Black musicians were wearing. He chose clothes that made him stand out. He also grew his hair long, which was very against the short hair look that was big at the time. He thought it looked cool to look different. 

Rise to Fame

  • When Elvis graduated from highschool, he started applying for work with radio stations. Sam Phillips, owner of a radio show, noticed the popularity of rock n roll music by Black artists and had the idea of getting a white man to sing in that style for the radio so that it would be more marketable to both white and Black youths.
  • An employee, Marion Kiesker, heard Elvis’ voice and insisted to Sam for over a year that Elvis is the young artist he was looking for. Elvis continued going to church to sing gospel music all night long. During the day, he drove a truck.
  • Sam Phillips finally called him back. When Elvis was in the studio trying to write new music, nothing was working. Everyone decided to take a break, and Elvis and the musicians started singing the song “That’s Alright Mama” originally written and sung by Arthur Crudup, a Black American blues singer. Sam made this into a record and took the record to Dewey Phillips. The responses at the radio station were huge.
  • They brought Elvis into the studio for an interview and asked him which school he went to. This was a way of telling the listeners that he was white and not Black.
  • Still, some radio stations would not play Elvis’ cover because it was too similar to Black artists’ music.
  • By October, it had sold over 2,000 albums to Black and white people. Both Black and white musicians thought of Elvis’ music as theirs.
  • Sam Phillips started booking Elvis into local venues like the Overton Park Shell in Memphis. This was the first time he played to an audience of screaming girls. He hadn’t established his dance moves yet, but he had always danced while singing in church.
  • In October 1954, he secured an audition spot for Elvis at the Ryman, which is the cathedral of country music where the Grand Ole Opry plays! He did a cover of a country song, but it was not a big success because they felt that his sound wasn’t “country” enough.
  • After that, Elvis performed at the Hayride, the second biggest country show and the rival to the Grand Ole Opry.
  • Here’s a re-enactment of this performance from the 2022 Elvis movie. The costume is accurate: a pink suit and no tie. He was only 19 years old at the time!
  • At the time, his dancing was seen as extremely provocative because most singers crowded around one microphone and didn’t flirt with the audience.
  • This was the beginning of Elvis touring. They were building an audience one radio station at a time. This was the beginning of the genre rock n roll.
  • Many preachers called it devils’ music. It was taboo in two ways: because it was associated with the marginalized Black artists of the day, and because of how he danced and exuded sex appeal. It’s ironic though considering his sound was greatly inspired by Black gospel music.
  • Colonel Tom Parker, Bob Neal, and Sam Phillips met at a coffeeshop to discuss the future of Elvis’ career. Colonel Tom Parker took over as his manager and got him signed with RCA records in November 1955.
  • Presley’s first RCA Victor single, “Heartbreak Hotel”, was released in January 1956 and became a number-one hit in the United States. Within a year, RCA would sell ten million Presley singles.
  • With a series of successful network television appearances and chart-topping records, Presley became the leading figure of the newly popular sound of rock and roll.
Start at 0:44
  • In November 1956, Presley made his film debut in Love Me Tender.
  • The crowds at his shows became wilder and wilder. At the two concerts he performed in September at the Mississippi–Alabama Fair and Dairy Show, 50 National Guardsmen were added to the police security to ensure that the crowd would not cause a ruckus.
  • In 1956, Elvis was booked for an appearance on NBC’s Steve Allen Show in New York. Steve Allen wasn’t a fan of rock n roll and introduced a “new Elvis” in a white bow tie and black tails. Elvis sang “Hound Dog” for less than a minute to a basset hound wearing a top hat and bow tie. Some think that this was to show that Elvis was silly and not talented. Elvis said that was the most ridiculous performance of his career.
  • He was pressured by the RCA to stop dancing so provocatively, which was upsetting a lot of people. When he performed on TV, he was only shown from the waist up.
  • A few days later, Presley made an outdoor concert appearance in Memphis, at which he announced, “You know, those people in New York are not gonna change me none. I’m gonna show you what the real Elvis is like tonight.”
  • Here’s a re-enactment of this performance from the 2022 Elvis movie. He’s choosing between the pressure from his record company and manager and his desire to continue dancing, which is what he and his fans wanted.

Here is Elvis performing “Trouble” as his character in the 1958 film King Creole:

Military Career

  • Elvis was drafted into military service in 1958.
  • He announced that he was looking forward to his military stint, saying that he did not want to be treated any differently from anyone else: “The Army can do anything it wants with me.”
  • In early August, his mother was diagnosed with hepatitis, and her condition rapidly worsened. Elvis was granted emergency leave to visit her and arrived in Memphis on August 12. Two days later, she died of heart failure at age 46. He was devastated and never the same. Their relationship had remained extremely close—even into his adulthood, they would use baby talk with each other and Presley would address her with pet names.
  • While in the army, Elvis was introduced to amphetamines by another soldier. He became “practically evangelical about their benefits”, and many soldiers used them to cope.
  • The Army also introduced Elvis to karate, which he studied seriously. Karate became a lifelong interest, which he later included in his live performances.
  • Fellow soldiers have attested to Elvis’ wish to be seen as an able, ordinary soldier, despite his fame, and to his generosity. He donated his Army pay to charity, purchased TV sets for the base, and bought an extra set of uniforms for everyone in his outfit.
  • Elvis returned to the United States on March 2, 1960, and was honorably discharged three days later.

Film Career

  • After serving in the military, Elvis held few concerts. However, guided by his manager Colonel Parker, he proceeded to devote much of the 1960s to making Hollywood films and soundtrack albums, most of them critically derided.
  • Of Presley’s films in the 1960s, 15 were accompanied by soundtrack albums and another 5 by soundtrack EPs. The films’ rapid production and release schedules—he frequently starred in three a year—affected his music. According to Jerry Leiber, the soundtrack formula was already evident before Presley left for the Army: “three ballads, one medium-tempo [number], one up-tempo, and one break blues boogie”.
  • Some of his most famous films included Jailhouse Rock (1957), Blue Hawaii (1961), and Viva Las Vegas (1964).
  • In the first half of the decade, three of Presley’s soundtrack albums were ranked number one on the pop charts, and a few of his most popular songs came from his films, such as “Can’t Help Falling in Love” (1961) and “Return to Sender” (1962). (“Viva Las Vegas”, the title track to the 1964 film, was a minor hit as a B-side, and became truly popular only later).
  • In 1968, following a seven-year break from live performances, he returned to the stage in the acclaimed television comeback special Elvis, which led to an extended Las Vegas concert residency and a string of highly profitable tours.

Aloha From Hawaii

  • In 1973, Presley gave the first concert by a solo artist to be broadcast around the world, Aloha from Hawaii.
  • On January 14, Aloha from Hawaii aired live via satellite to prime-time audiences in Japan, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand, as well as to US servicemen based across Southeast Asia.
  • In Japan, where it capped a nation-wide Elvis Presley Week, it smashed viewing records. The next night, it was simulcast to 28 European countries, and in April an extended version finally aired in the US, where it won a 57 percent share of the TV audience.

Relationships and Children

  • Shortly before Christmas 1966, more than seven years since they first met, Presley proposed to Priscilla Beaulieu. They were married on May 1, 1967, in a brief ceremony in their suite at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas.
  • Presley’s only child, Lisa Marie, was born on February 1, 1968, nine months to the day after her parents’ wedding.
  • The Presleys both cheated on each other and separated on February 23, 1972.
  • Five months later, Presley’s new girlfriend, Linda Thompson, a songwriter and one-time Memphis beauty queen, moved in with him.
  • Presley and Linda Thompson split in November 1976, and Presley took up with a new girlfriend, Ginger Alden. He proposed to Alden and gave her an engagement ring two months later, though several of his friends later said he had no serious intention of marrying again.

Health Deterioration and Death

  • Elvis was against drinking alcohol and using recreational drugs like marijuana. But he was addicted to prescription drugs for years, which severely compromised his health.
  • According to his primary care physician, Dr. George C. Nichopoulos, Elvis “felt that by getting drugs from a doctor, he wasn’t the common everyday junkie getting something off the street”.
  • In 1973, he overdosed on barbiturates twice. He spent three days in a coma in his hotel suite after the first incident.
  • Towards the end of 1973, he was hospitalized, semi-comatose from the effects of a pethidine addiction.
  • Since his comeback, he had staged more live shows with each passing year, and 1973 saw 168 concerts, his busiest schedule ever. Despite his failing health, in 1974, he undertook another intensive touring schedule. This made his health even worse. He could barely get through a show, but he insisted on performing.
  • He died suddenly in 1977 at his Graceland estate at the age of 42. The cause of death was accidental drug overdose on top of health conditions that were caused by and magnified by drug use.

Elvis (2022) Bio Pic

  • Elvis is a 2022 biographical drama film directed by Baz Luhrmann from a screenplay he co-wrote with Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce, and Jeremy Doner.
  • It chronicles the life of Elvis Presley through the lens of his relationship with his manager Colonel Tom Parker. The film stars Austin Butler and Tom Hanks as Elvis and Colonel Parker.
  • The movie received lots of positive reviews, including from his daughter, Lisa Marie: “You can feel [Director Baz Luhrmann’s] pure love, care, and respect for my father throughout this beautiful film, and it is finally something that myself and my children and their children can be proud of forever … your utter genius combined with your love and respect for my father and this project is just so beautiful and so inspiring. I know I’m being repetitive, but I don’t care, Thank you for setting the record straight in such a deeply profound and artistic way.”

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Presley

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_(2022_film)

https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/celebrity/article/3185810/meet-6-women-elvis-presley-fell-love-he-married-priscilla

March 16: Charlie Brown

  • The creators’ name is Charles M. Shulz, but everyone who knows him has always called him “Sparky”. In this lesson, I’m going to call him Charles because I don’t know him!
  • Charlie Brown is the main character of the comic strip and franchise. He’s optimistic and introspective, but he’s also always failing at things.
  • In a documentary in the 1960s, he said “I am 100% Charlie Brown.” But in another interview in 2000, he said Charlie Brown is about 60% him and 40% his imagination.
  • All of the characters are named after his friends, including Charlie Brown! His friend Charlie Brown loved the attention. According to Charles, “Nobody called him just Charlie after that!”
  • I thought this was interesting… Charles never liked the title. He said:
    • “Peanuts” is a degrading title. “Peanuts” is not a pleasant word in itself and I think I draw a strip that it reasonably dignified, and I need a dignified name. I think I was lied to by the syndicate that said you couldn’t copyright the name “Charlie Brown.” It could have been called “Charlie Brown and Friends” or “Snoopy”, but it doesn’t mean anything.

Characters

  • At first, all of the characters in the strip were boys, but then he wanted to create more characters for more storylines.
  • Let’s listen to the descriptions of some of the main characters while watching a documentary about them from 1963. This documentary is called “A Boy Named Charlie Brown.”

2:54 to 7:11.

Here are the rest of the characters that weren’t mentioned:

Sally Brown

  • Just like Linus is Lucy’s younger brother, Sally is Charlie Brown’s younger sister! In fact, Sally has a huge crush on Linus.
  • Since Sally starts out as a baby, we initially view her through her older brother’s eyes: she’s a kid who needs protecting and guidance, who is too rambunctious, and who is undependable.
  • As she grows up, Sally becomes a kind girl who is creative and sentimental. She shares some of her brother’s worst tendencies to procrastinate but is more cheerful than he is. She is somewhat aimless but enjoys being a kid and tries to avoid the minimal responsibilities that entail.
  • Sally is seen being best friends with Lucy despite Lucy playing tricks and being mean to Sally. At one point, Sally hires Lucy to protect her from bullies at the playground when Charlie Brown fails to stop them.
  • She’s the classic little sister trope but she has a highly developed sense of what’s just and cares deeply for her loved ones, especially Linus!

Violet Gray

  • Like Lucy, Violet is one of the girls that bully Charlie Brown.
  • Unlike Lucy, she is not usually physically violent, but she regularly insults him and excludes him from parties that she organizes.
  • Her and Lucy are best friends.
  • Pigpen has a crush on her, but she doesn’t feel the same way.

Pigpen

  • Pigpen is best known as the character with a cloud of dirt that constantly surrounds his body and follows him.
  • This is why everyone calls him Pigpen. We never learn his real name.
  • He rarely has a sense of shame about his dirtiness. He sometimes refers to the cloud that surrounds him with pride as the dust of ancient civilizations.
  • He cannot seem to rid himself of the dust for more than the briefest of periods. In spite of his best efforts, it appears that he cannot stay clean. He can even get dirty by walking in a rainstorm. In one comic strip from July 23, 1955, he cleans up for a party, but the other Peanuts characters don’t let him in because they don’t recognize him.

Peppermint Patty

  • Peppermint Patty is an outgoing and sporty girl.
  • She has a crush on Charlie Brown (who she always calls “Chuck”).
  • She is almost always accompanied by her best friend Marcie, who is her total opposite.
  • She lives across town with her father, so she attends a different school than most of the Peanuts cast (other than Marcie and Franklin). Although she struggles with education and homework, she represents the good kids who live on the “bad” part of town.
  • Peppermint Patty is loyal, courageous, and still vulnerable.

Marcie

  • Marcie is intelligent, insightful and introverted. She is always willing to help and is usually the voice of reason.
  • Marcie and Peppermint Patty are proof that opposites attract. They are very close friends even though Marcie also has a crush on Charlie Brown.
  • A running joke is that Marcie calls Peppermint Patty “Sir”.
  • Marcie regularly plays with Snoopy in his fantasy life. On some occasions, the Flying Ace has been shown to have a love interest in Marcie, though she never returns his feelings. Another recurring gag involves Marcie making small talk in French while Snoopy frantically searches through his phrase book for a suitable response,

Frieda

  • She’s known for being very proud of her naturally curly hair!
  • She’s Linus’ classmate and is a popular girl.
  • Frieda often yells at Snoopy for being too lazy for a dog. She even buys a cat (named Faron) as a way of motivating Snoopy to get over his laziness although Faron turns out to be even lazier.

Woodstock

  • Woodstock is Snoopy’s best friend! He’s a canary bird.
  • He is named after the 1969 music festival in New York state because it was prominent in the news at the time when this character needed a name.
  • Charles said this about the character: “Woodstock knows that he is very small and inconsequential indeed. It’s a problem we all have. The universe boggles us. In the larger scheme, we suddenly realize, we amount to very little. It’s frightening. Only a certain maturity will make us able to cope. The minute we abandon the quest for it we leave ourselves open to tragic results. Woodstock is a lighthearted expression of that idea.”

Even though they fight sometimes, they love each other!

Here are some other memorable moments!

History of the Show

The Comic

  • The comic started in 1950. At first, it was in just a few newspapers, then seven, and now it is the most influential and successful comic strip in history.
  • Their success came after ten years of just publishing the comic in newspapers.
  • Their success came appearing after the Peanuts were on the cover of Time Magazine. Then, they got the comic licensed and were able to make four feature films, a long-running broad musical, and about 40 television specials.
  • According to Charles, “We didn’t push for any of that. All of this was people coming to us with their ideas.”

The Animated Series

  • The strip was first adapted into animation in The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show.
  • A TV documentary, A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1963), featured newly animated segments but this did not air due to not being able to find a channel willing to broadcast it. This documentary was the clip I showed earlier with the descriptions of the main characters!
  • The creation of the documentary shaped the team for A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), a half-hour Christmas special broadcast on CBS. It was extremely successful. Who here has seen it? Does anybody watch it every year? In the US and in Canada, it’s aired every year during the holidays along with the other holiday-themed specials, including It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.
  • The animated specials were significant to the cultural impact of Peanuts; by 1972, they were remarked as being “among the most consistently popular television specials” and “regularly have been in the top 10 in the ratings”.
  • Many of the specials were acquired by Apple TV+ in 2020.
  • The first feature-length film, A Boy Named Charlie Brown, came in 1969.
  • It was one of four which were produced before the comic strip ended.
  • A Saturday morning television series aired in 1983, each episode consisting of three or four segments dealing with plot lines from the strip.
  • An additional spin-off miniseries, This Is America, Charlie Brown, aired in 1988, exploring the history of the United States.
  • The comic strip ended in 2000, but the characters continue to be adapted into animation afterwards.
  • The latest television special is called “It’s the Small Things, Charlie Brown”. It was made in 2022. The latest feature-length film, The Peanuts Movie, was released in 2015.
  • A series of cartoon shorts premiered on iTunes in 2008, Peanuts Motion Comics, which directly lifted themes and plot lines from the comic strip.
  • Two Peanuts Apple TV+ series, Snoopy in Space and The Snoopy Show, both premiered in 2019 and 2021, respectively.
  • The characters also make a guest appearance in Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special in 2020.
  • Charles Schulz’s Hollywood walk of fame star. It features the ‘television receiver’ honor, which is for contribution to broadcast television.

The Music

  • The album “A Charlie Brown Christmas” was recorded in 1965, the original soundtrack from the animated television special of the same name.
  • It was performed by the jazz trio led by pianist Vince Guaraldi.
  • It enjoys enduring critical, commercial, and cultural success; employing a sombre and whimsical style, songs such as Christmas Time Is Here evoke a muted and quiet melody, and arrangements such as the traditional carol O Tannenbaum improvised in a light, off-center pace.
  • The album has continued popularity to the present day; writer Chris Barton for the Los Angeles Times praised it in 2013 as “one of the most beloved holiday albums recorded”, and Al Jazeera described it as “one of the most popular Christmas albums of all time”. The album was added to the national recording registry of the Library of Congress in 2012, being regarded as “culturally, historically, and aesthetically important”.
  • The American rock band The Royal Guardsmen recorded four novelty songs from 1966 to 1968 as tributes to Snoopy. The first song was released as the single Snoopy Vs. The Red Baron (1966), based on the storyline of Snoopy sitting atop his dog house imagining himself as a World War I pilot, battling the German flying ace The Red Baron.
  • The band would later release two more similar songs in 1967, Return of The Red Baron and Snoopy’s Christmas. In 1968 they recorded Snoopy for President.

Theater

  • The characters first appeared in live stage production in 1967 with the musical “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”. It was scored by Clark Gesner.
  • It is a collection of musical sketches, where the characters explore their identities and discover the feelings they have for each other.
  • The play was performed off-broadway, as well as later being performed as a live telecast on NBC.
  • This clip is from 1999. Shroeder is played by Stanley Wayne Mathis and Sally Brown is played by Kristen Chenoweth.
  • The play continued to have other professional performances, in the London West End, and later a Broadway revival.
  • It is also being a popular choice of musical by amateur theater groups such as schools.
  • Has anyone seen this performance?
  • A second musical premiered in 1975. It’s called “Snoopy! The Musical”, and it was scored by Larry Grossman with lyrics by Hal Hackady.
  • It is a sequel to “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”
  • “Snoopy! The Musical” also has a collection of musical sketches, though they are all focused on Snoopy. It was first performed in San Francisco, and eventually off-Broadway for 152 performances.
  • You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Snoopy! The Musical were both further adapted as animated television specials, respectively, in 1985 and in 1988.
  • Going in the opposite direction from animation to live production, is the 2016 “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” based on the animated television special of the same name. It is considered a generally faithful readaptation, although it features the additional characters Woodstock and Peppermint Patty who did not exist in the strip when the original was made.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peanuts

https://peanuts.fandom.com/wiki/Peanuts_Wiki

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