Tuesday, December 12, 2023
Multiple benchmarks go toward justifying today’s spotlight on the late Bob Barker (1923-2023). He was born 100 years ago ago today; he passed away back in August, just a couple of months s…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:42AMI’ve done posts on Young Frank and Old Frank, but not one yet on Middle Frank, which is arguably the peak of his art. To be accurate, Late-Middle Frank is probably the real peak. Early-Mid…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:36AMMonday, December 11, 2023
December 11 was the birthday of a distant relative of mine, Caleb Chase (1831-1908), who, with partner James Solomon Sanborn (1835-1903) formed the Chase and Sanborn Coffee Company in 1862. …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 01:03AMSunday, December 10, 2023
I don’t know how such things happen, but somehow I managed to do posts on Ray Henderson and Buddy De Sylva a decade ago, but their songwriting partner Lew Brown (Louis Brownstein, 1893-195…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:24AMSaturday, December 9, 2023
For tickets go here!
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:32AMDecember 9 was the birthday of English actress and comedian Elsie Randolph (1904-1982). Wasn’t it lucky that just a couple of nights ago I was re-watching the early Alfred Hitchcock film R…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:32AMFriday, December 8, 2023
December 8 was the birthday of a Southern coffee broker by the name of Joel Owsley Cheek (1852-1935). Cheek’s chief claim to lasting fame is that in 1892 he convinced Nashville’s Maxwell…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 02:24AMThursday, December 7, 2023
On the off chance that you thought things were getting too treacly ’round here, here’s news of a show that really puts the “X” back in “X-mas”. Burlesque jack-of-all-trades Jonny…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:02AMWednesday, December 6, 2023
For whatever reason, we are ringing the Christmas bell hard this year. Some years it scarcely seems to exist; this year we have jumped in with both feet, having already posted on Oneofus’ …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:24AMTuesday, December 5, 2023
We first posted on “Little Richard” Penniman (1932-2020) back in 2012, and have had occasion to mention the long, tall shadow he cast on American music over 50 times on Travalanche. As a…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:12AMThe release date of the motion picture Serpico (1973) was 50 years ago today. We went back and re-watched this classic of my youth a few months ago, prompted by Isaac Butler’s excellent bo…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:12AMDon’t get confused! I don’t mean Blythe Danner or Tyne Daly, but just what I said, Blythe Daly (1901-1965), although I’ve seen many spelling permutations of same, including Blyth Daly,…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:06AMThis is not a review but just a notice that today is the release date for the new documentary A Towering Task: The Story of the Peace Corps. Full disclosure: I have a dog in this hunt! My so…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:06AMMonday, December 4, 2023
In spite of the fact that I have done posts of Max Baer, Sr., as well as The Beverly Hillbillies, Paul Henning, Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, and Nancy Kulp I’m pretty certain I’d never have …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:12AMSunday, December 3, 2023
As promised a few days ago, I traveled out to Park Slope to see the first performance of the 25th Anniversary season of Dzieci Theatre’s Fool’s Mass last night. This is the second of a p…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 05:54PMToday would have been the 90th birthday of talk show host and actor Les Crane (Lesley Stein, 1933-2008). There is an Icarus-like quality to Crane’s brief fame. He was nationally prominent …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:24AMSaturday, December 2, 2023
Well, I’m still grinning from ear to ear. I was one of the lucky few hundred who were at last night’s invited dress for ONEOFUS’s latest holiday panto at the Abrons Arts Center, Sleepi…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:12AMFriday, December 1, 2023
Yes, it’s true, Sarah Silverman (b. 1970) has the same birthday as Woody Allen, Bette Midler, Richard Pryor, and Dick Shawn. Did she just decide to become a combination of all of them? She…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:18AMOur most devoted readers know that the mission of this blog and our books, talks, podcasts, etc has to do with much more than some kind of “salute to vintage pop culture”. That may well …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:06AMThursday, November 30, 2023
For Scotland’s National Day we celebrate a Glasgow venue that many claim is the oldest music hall in Great Britain, The Britannia Music Hall (also known in later years as The Panopticon…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:24AMNovember 30, 1912 was the date of the first Royal Variety Performance, also known as the Royal Command Performance. Attentive readers know that this writer is no fan of monarchy and pretty h…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:18AMJust the briefest of tributes to Australian swimming champ Beatrice Kerr (1887-1971), for she had the briefest of show biz careers. Kerr was only about 17 when she won several contests and b…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 09:06AMFull disclosure: I don’t know that I ever would have done a post on Shuggie Otis (b. 1953), all things remaining the same, though indeed I did do a post on his legendary father Johnny Otis…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:06AMWednesday, November 29, 2023
Thanks once again (and thanks daily) to Eve Golden, Cup Bearer to Thanatos, for the sad yet timely knowledge that Spanish burlesque legend Sticky Vicky, a.k.a. Vicky Leyton, a.k.a. Victoria …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 12:24PMExciting news for fans of Coney Island USA founder Dick Zigun. His new rock opera Killin’ Republicans opens tomorrow night (Thursday, November 30) at Theater for the New City. Though best …
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:18AMBorn 90 years ago today, British Blues revivalist John Mayall (b. 1933). This year also marks the 60th anniversary of the formation of his influential band, the Bluesbreakers. Most people va…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 08:06AMTuesday, November 28, 2023
Where my Albanians at? Tell me: are there any Albanians in “da house”? Okay. I won’t put you through any more of that. November 28 is Albanian Independence Day. It commemorates the dat…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 10:24AMMonday, November 27, 2023
Maurice “Muzzy” Marcellino (1912-1997) was a singer, musician, big bandleader, and professional whistler. We’ll obviously get to the latter accomplishment, it’s the most vaudevillian…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 07:32AMSunday, November 26, 2023
Tina Turner (Anna Mae Bullock, 1939-2023) passed away back on May 24. This was too momentous for a hasty, ad hoc memoriam, so I opted to wait and do a more thoughtful tribute on her birthday…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 03:18PMSaturday, November 25, 2023
Harley Granville-Barker (1877-1946) was a pioneer of the modern English-speaking theatre, with important contributions to nearly every discipline within that compound art form: acting, direc…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:02AMFriday, November 24, 2023
Author Laurence Sterne (1713-1768) was born on this day. For those tracking 18th century English (or Anglo-Irish) comic wits, this makes him a bit younger than Swift, slightly younger than F…
SOURCE: Trav S.D. at 11:06AM 
