October 25, 1975: Elton John at Dodger Stadium

October 25, 1975: Elton John, at the height of his popularity, performs the 1st of 2 sold-out shows at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. The gates opened at 1:00 PM, and the warmup acts were country singer Emmylou Harris, and the James Gang, featuring future Eagle Joe Walsh on guitar.

Elton took the stage at 4:30, wearing a sequin-encrusted Dodger uniform designed by Bob Mackie, the costume designer for CBS, famed for his designs for The Carol Burnett Show and The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour.

Elton started with his 1st big hit, "Your Song." He usually closes with "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting," but, this time, with his role in the recent film version of The Who's Tommy in mind, he followed that with "Pinball Wizard."

Joining him on backing vocals was Billie Jean King. Elton was a big tennis fan, and, in Billie Jean, also then closeted despite being the biggest star in her field of endeavor, he found a kindred spirit.

These would be the only concerts at Dodger Stadium between The Beatles' last tour in 1966 and Michael Jackson's Victory Tour with his brothers in 1984. Now 75 years old, Elton has scheduled 3 night there for his "farewell tour" in 2022, on November 17, 19 and 20.

Also on this day, on CBS, The Mary Tyler Moore show airs the episode "Chuckles Bites the Dust." Chuckles the Clown, the never-seen kids-show host on WJM-Channel 12 in Minneapolis, meets a sad end. As his rival for attention, newscaster Ted Baxter (Ted Knight), says, "He died a broken man."

Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) can't believe that nobody is sad about his death. Everybody is laughing. Finally, at his funeral, the minister recites Chuckles' "A Clown's Credo": "A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants." And Mary cracks up. And the minister tells her that this is exactly what Chuckles would have wanted, and encourages her to laugh some more. And she bursts into tears. It's often called the show's best episode.

Later that night, on NBC's Saturday Night Live, John Belushi debuted his uncanny impression of British soul singer Joe Cocker. In 1978, Cocker was the musical guest, and in the middle of singing "Feelin' Alright," Belushi sidled up to him and mimicked him perfectly. This ticked Cocker off, and he never appeared on the show again.

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October 25, 1975 was a Saturday. Baseball season had ended 3 days earlier, when the Cincinnati Reds beat the Boston Red Sox in Game 7 of the World Series.

Among the college football games played that day were these:

* Number 1 Ohio State beat Purdue, 35-6 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana. Ohio State were led by running back Archie Griffin, about to become the only 2-time winner of the Heisman Trophy.

* Number 2 Oklahoma beat Iowa State, 39-7 at Owen Field in Norman. Oklahoma lost only once, to Kansas, and beat Nebraska for the Big Eight title.

* Number 3 Southern California beat Number 14 Notre Dame, 24-17 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

* Number 4 Nebraska beat Number 10 Colorado, 63-21 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. Nebraska lost their chance at conference and national honors by losing to Oklahoma.

* Number 5 Texas A&M beat Baylor, 19-10 at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas.

* Number 6 Alabama beat Texas Christian (TCU), 45-0 at Legion Field in Birmingham. 'Bama lost their season opener to Missouri in Birmingham, then won the rest of their games, winning the Southeastern Conference title.

* Number 7 Michigan beat Indiana, 55-7 at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. Michigan were undefeated going into their game against Ohio State, but lost, giving Ohio State the Big Ten title. Michigan were invited to the Orange Bowl, but lost to Oklahoma, who were awarded the National Championship.

* Number 8 Texas beat Rice, 41-9 at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas.

* Number 9 Penn State beat Army, 31-0 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. Alabama beat Penn State in the Sugar Bowl.

* Number 13 Arizona were upset by New Mexico, 44-34 at Arizona Stadium in Tucson.

* Number 16 Michigan State were upset by Illinois, 21-19 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan.

* Number 17 Pittsburgh were upset by Navy, 17-0 at Pitt Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* Number 19 UCLA, the University of California at Los Angeles, beat the main campus of the University of California (Berkeley), 28-14 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. UCLA won the Pacific-Eight Conference title, and beat Ohio State in the Rose Bowl, ruining Ohio State's National Championship hopes.

* Number 20 South Carolina were upset by Louisiana State, 24-6 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge.

* Arkansas, then unranked, beat Utah State, 31-0 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock. Arkansas went on to upset then-Number 2 Texas A&M to win the Southwest Conference title, and beat Georgia in the Cotton Bowl.

* In a "trophy rivalry" game, Minnesota beat Iowa, 31-7 at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City, for the bronze pig trophy named Floyd of Rosedale.

* And in New Jersey, Rutgers beat Columbia, 41-0 at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey; while Princeton lost to the University of Pennsylvania, 24-20 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton.

There were 5 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 100-91 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Atlanta Hawks, 108-102 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The Buffalo Braves beat the Golden State Warriors, 104-92 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. Bob McAdoo scored 36 points for the Braves.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 91-87 at the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.

* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 89-88 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

There were 4 games in the American Basketball Association, now beginning its 9th and, as it turned out, last season:

* The New York Nets lost to the San Antonio Spurs, 131-111 at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio. Former Net Larry Kenon scored 38 for the Spurs.

* The Indiana Pacers beat their arch-rivals, the Kentucky Colonels, 103-100 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis. Billy Knight -- no relation to Indiana University head coach Bobby Knight -- scored 40 points to lead all pro basketball scorers on the day.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Spirits of St. Louis, 118-101 at the brand-new McNichols Arena in Denver. David Thompson scored 33 points for the Nugs.

* And the San Diego Sails beat the Utah Stars, 99-97 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City.

There were 7 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders beat their arch-rivals, the New York Rangers, 7-1 at the Nassau Coliseum. The Potvin brothers, Denis and Jean, each scored 2 goals.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins, 6-2 at the Montreal Forum.

* The California Golden Seals and the Toronto Maple Leafs played to a tie, 2-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Philadelphia Flyers and their arch-rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, played to a tie, 4-4 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-3 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Atlanta Flames, 7-3 at the St. Louis Arena.

* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Kansas City Scouts, 4-0 at the Kemper Arena (now the Hy-Vee Arena) in Kansas City.

* And the Los Angeles Kings, the Minnesota North Stars, the Vancouver Canucks and the Washington Capitals were not scheduled.

And there were 4 games in the World Hockey Association:

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Toronto Toros, 3-2 at the Colisée de Québec.

* The Cleveland Crusaders beat the Edmonton Oilers, 5-2 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

* The Cincinnati Stingers beat the Houston Aeros, 7-4 at the Riverfront Coliseum (now the Heritage Bank Center) in Cincinnati.

* And the San Diego Mariners beat the Minnesota Fighting Saints, 6-1 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena).

In New Jersey High School football, the school that would become my Alma Mater, East Brunswick beat Edison, 14-6 at Matthew J. Drwal Stadium in Edison.

And in English soccer, Arsenal beat Yorkshire team Middlesbrough, 2-1 at Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury for its North London neighborhood.