11,738 stories by "Trav S.D."
I am now officially obsessed. I never heard of this guy before Tuesday, when Michael Cumella, host of WFMU’s Antique Phonograph Music Program, told me about him over lunch. “You …
Today is the birthday of Sir James Matthew Barrie, First Baronet, OM (1860-1937). This novelist and poet had much to his credit besides his most famous creation Peter Pan. Just two things I&…
In 1929, the French surrealist journal Variétés published photos of Violetta as though she were a living, breathing work of surrealistic art — which, if you think about it, sh…
Today is the birthday of Toni Tennille. Those who are familiar with the Captain and Tennille’s long string of hit records from the mid to late 70s may not remember, know, or care that …
This nuttiness opens tonight at the Snapple Theatre and runs through Mother’s Day. Apparently, Christina Crawford not only survived “Mommy” (Joan Crawford), but also the or…
Today is the birthday of Robert Johnson (1911-1938). I find it amazing that we know that, that we know anything about him, because it used to be that we didn’t. One learned about…
Today is the birthday of Mr. Don Rickles (b. 1926). Famous for being a politically incorrect insult comic in live performance, he originally trained as an actor at the American Academy of Dr…
Well, the focus of this planned blogpost has changed entirely. The original headline and lede was going to be “Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks Celebrate a Five Year Run at Sofia̵…
Coincidentally got word about two great new books by two different friends that are now available to pre-order. Most astounding of all, they aren’t by ME! Steve Massa, from the Silent …
Please Join Us For the FREE Chain of Fools Launch Event Wednesday, May 22, 7-9 pm at the Brick Theater, 579 Metropolitan Ave, Willismaburg Brooklyn Trav S.D. launches his …
Finally got my hands on a rarity last weekend. Long about 1935, when the smoke cleared from Buster Keaton’s final blow-up with MGM and no other studios were stepping in to sign him up,…
God’s in his heaven, All’s right with the world  – Browning, Pippa Passes Today is the birthday of the poet Robert Browning (1812-1889). Though he never knew it, B…
Ivannow Wladislaus von Dziarski-Orloff (1864-1904) was billed (among other things) as the Transparent Man, or the Human Window Pane. In addition to completely atrophied limbs, he had skin yo…
Today is the birthday of Joe Fox (Joseph Monahan, 1852-?) With William H. Ward (1852-?) he formed minstrelsy’s longest-lasting duo. Having started in Cincinnati in 1868, they were stil…
There have been many variations on Neil Simon’s successful Odd Couple formula, most of them perpetrated by Neil Simon, who knows a good thing when he cashes it in. There was the�…
Today is the birthday of Frank Nelson (1911-1986). You just THINK you don’t know who he is. He’s that guy who had endless cameos and guest shots on sit-coms and commercials, who …
Today is the birthday of Harry Einstein, a.k.a Harry Parke, a.k.a Parkyakarkus (1904-1958). Einstein got his start on Eddie Cantor’s radio show, playing a comical Greek. He appeared in…
The Hall of Hams is my series on some of my favorite actors who have brought the art of melodramatic acting into the modern era. Today is the birthday of George Orson Welles (1915-1985). Bec…
Filed under: Music, PLUGS Tagged: David Mallamud, Laurie Beechman
Today is the birthday of Blind Willie McTell (William McTier, 1898-1959). Originally from Georgia, he was an exponent of the Piedmont style of blues picking. His recording career lasted from…
Today is the birthday of Alice Faye (Alice Leppert, 1915-1998). I’m not sure what to make of the claim in her Wikipedia entry that the New York City native “got her start a…
Today is the birthday of Arthur James Caley, billed as Colonel Routh Goshen, the Middlebush Giant (1837-1889). While Middlebush sounds very English, and he may have been born in a village on…
Captain Fred Walters (1855-1923) was an officer in the British army who was prescribed a compound containing silver to treat a certain neural condition. The regular ingestion of silver turne…
Today is the birthday of Albert Whelan (1875-1961). Born in Melbourne, as a young man he moved to Western Australia where he sang and danced for miners employed in the gold fields (…
Today is the birthday of Dick Dale (b. Richard Monsour, 1937), a major player in the development of what came to be known as surf music. A surfer himself, he began exploring ways to make roc…
