Perhaps there needs to be a qualifying statement tagged to the above title: A Brief History ‘of Modern Rocketry’. It is common knowledge that the Chinese were the first true rocketry pioneers (circa 13th Century). The Chinese used their newest invention, gunpowder, to launch celebratory fireworks and so called ‘fire-arrows’ used in battle. For our […]
In guitarist-speak, RR has become a shorthand reference for the late Randy Rhoads. Though Rhoads passed away when the small airplane he was a passenger in crashed (while on tour with Ozzy Osbourne in Florida) on March 19, 1982, his legacy remains strong today. Volume 43, No. 07 of Guitar World commemorated the 40th […]
The good news? Summer officially begins with the Summer Solstice on Tuesday June 21 at 5:14 a.m. EDT. The bad news? We won’t dwell on it because there will be weeks of long summer days to enjoy before we actually notice, but our daylight hours will begin to slowly decrease from the SS until […]
Johnny Allen Hendrix lived anything but a charmed life in his early years. He was born on November 27, 1942 at Seattle’s Harborview Hospital while his father, Al, was stationed at Fort Rucker, Alabama. The Army feared he would go AWOL to see his new son so they locked Al in the stockade just […]
We have discussed some of the Saturday Night Live crew previously so it seemed high time to shine the light on some of the others players who revolutionized comedy in the 1980s. We have already covered Dan Aykroyd (FTV: Dan Aykroyd 4-1-20) and Steve Martin (FTV: Wild & Crazy Guy Part 1 & 2; […]
In Part 1 of Live Shows Revisited (2-23-22), I asked for stories about your favorite concert memories. Less than three days later, Howard Szaroletta from Reno, Nevada responded. In terms of ‘mining data’ for interesting stories, I have to say I struck paydirt on the first try. There is no way I could tell […]
In Cover Me – Part 1, we expanded on some of the cover songs discussed in the forty pages Classic Rock Magazine devoted to the topic in March 2022 (Issue #298). Some covers are better than others, some became more famous than the originals, and just about all have interesting stories behind them. Take […]
Before we get into the May sky watching events, I would like to introduce you to the American Meteor Society, or AMS for short (www.amsmeteors.org). This non-profit scientific organization was formed in 1911 to “inform, encourage, and support research activities of both amateur and professional astronomers who are directly interested in meteoric astronomy.” A […]
Reading Bill DeMain’s excellent introduction to Classic Rock Magazine’s feature on Rock’s Greatest Cover Versions (CRM # 298 – March 2022), it dawned on me that 95 percent of musicians get their start playing cover versions of other people’s music. The other 5 percent (and that may actually be an overly generous slice of the […]
Let me give you a hint: The above named artist and his musical partner are probably best remembered for their song I Wonder What She’s Doing Tonight? It was released in 1967 and entered the Billboard Hot 100 at #87 before it climbed to #7 on the Cash Box chart and #8 on the BH […]