December 29, 1964: "The T.A.M.I. Show"

December 29, 1964: The T.A.M.I. Show is released in movie theaters. It was filmed at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on October 28 and 29, 1964.

The Auditorium opened in 1958, and from 1961 to 1967 hosted the Academy Awards -- the Oscars. On May 27, 1972, George Carlin recorded his album Class Clown there, including his bit "Seven Words You Can Never Use On Television." It still stands.

"T.A.M.I." stood for "Teen Age Music International." The show was directed by Steve Binder, who later went on to direct Elvis Presley's 1968 "Comeback Special." It was hosted by Jan Berry and Dean Torrence. Jan & Dean had already had a few hits together.

The various acts were backed up by go-go dancers, including Teri Garr, who became a major actress; and Toni Basil, who become one of America's top choreographers, and had a Number 1 hit in 1982 with "Mickey." Film director John Landis claimed he attended the show with his classmate, future Partridge Family star David Cassidy.

Here's the set list, and the songs they sang at the show. It's one hell of a list, even if you only count what these performers had already done, not what they would later do. An asterisk (*) indicates the performer has been elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

1. Jan and Dean, singing "(Here They Come From) All Over the World." The song incorrectly places The Rolling Stones in Liverpool, when they were from London and environs.

2. * Chuck Berry: "Johnny B. Goode," "Maybellene," "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "Nadine."

3. Gerry and the Pacemakers, who actually were from Liverpool: "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying," "It's Gonna Be Alright" and "I Like It."

4. * The Miracles, from Motown Records, led by Smokey Robinson: "That's What Love Is Made Of," "You've Really Got a Hold On Me" and "Mickey's Monkey."

5. * Marvin Gaye, from Motown Records: "Stubborn Kind of Fellow," "Pride and Joy," "Can I Get a Witness" and "Hitch Hike."

6. Lesley Gore: "Maybe I Know," "You Don't Own Me," "You Didn't Look Around," "Hey Now," "It's My Party" and its sequel "Judy's Turn to Cry."

A reprise of Jan and Dean: "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena" and "Sidewalk Surfin'" (the 1st hit song about skateboarding).

7. * The Beach Boys: "Surfin' U.S.A.," "I Get Around," "Surfer Girl" and "Dance, Dance, Dance."

8. Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas: "Little Children," "Bad to Me," "I'll Keep You Satisfied" and "From a Window."

9. * The Supremes, from Motown Records, with Diana Ross singing lead: "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes," "Run, Run, Run," "Baby Love" and "Where Did Our Love Go."

10. The Barbarians, probably the only band ever to come out of Cape Cod. They never had a Top 40 single, not even the song they performed here, "Hey Little Bird."

11. * James Brown and The Famous Flames: "Out of Sight," "Prisoner of Love," "Please, Please, Please" and "Night Train." This performance is often credited with introducing The Godfather of Soul to white audiences. Within a year, his new audience had given him his 2 biggest hits: "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" and "I Got You (I Feel Good)."

12. * The Rolling Stones: "Around and Around," "Off the Hook," "Time Is On My Side," "It's All Over Now," "I'm Alright" and "Let's Get Together." They were still a few months away from releasing "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction."

*

December 29, 1964 was a Tuesday. Baseball was out of season. The NFL and the AFL had just wrapped up their seasons. No college football bowl games were played. There was 1 NBA game played that day: The St. Louis Hawks beat the San Francisco Warriors, 122-104 at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis. Wilt Chamberlain scored 35 points in a losing effort.

And there was 1 NHL game: The Chicago Black Hawks beat the New York Rangers, 4-2 at the old Madison Square Garden. The Rangers led 2-0 and blew it. Bobby Hull scored 2 goals for the Hawks. 

September 28, 1976: Stevie Wonder Releases "Songs In the Key of Life"

September 28, 1976: Stevie Wonder releases Songs In the Key of Life, on the Motown subsidiary Tamla Records. It is usually considered his greatest album.

And that's saying something. Since releasing The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie, under the name "Little Stevie Wonder" at the age of 12 -- he was born in 1950 with the name Stevland Hardaway Judkins, but his legal name is Stevland Morris, for his mother's family -- with the Motown-billed nickname of "The 12-Year-Old Genius," he had a bunch of hit singles through the 1960s, and then moved on to making great albums, once he and Marvin Gaye were finally able to talk Motown boss Berry Gordy Jr. into letting them write and sing about social issues.

He released Where I'm Coming From in 1971, Music of My Mind and Talking Book in 1972, Innervisions (the title reflective of the fact that Stevie is blind) in 1973, and Fulfillingness' First Finale in 1974. The last 2 each won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

He wanted his next album to be a masterpiece, and he took his time to get it right. For 1975, the Grammy for Album of the Year went to Still Crazy After All These Years by Paul Simon. Accepting the award, Simon thanked a few people, adding, "I'd also like to thank Stevie Wonder, for not releasing an album this year." The line got more applause than laughter.

Through early 1976, Stevie would arrive in the recording studio wearing a T-shirt saying, "IT'S ALMOST FINISHED!" When Songs In the Key of Life was finished, it was everything he hoped it would be. The singles "I Wish" and "Sir Duke" hit Number 1 in early 1977. The latter was a tribute to jazz legends, name-checking, in order, Count Basie, Glenn Miller, Louis Armstrong (using his nickname, Satchmo), Duke Ellington ("the king of all, Sir Duke") and Ella Fitzgerald. It began with a line that could have been Stevie's motto: "Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand."

On February 2, 1975, while the album was in progress, Stevie's 1st child was born, a daughter named Aisha Morris. Her mother was Yolanda Simmons, a secretary at Motown. Stevie said of Aisha, "She was the one thing that I needed in my life and in my music for a long time." For her, Stevie wrote "Isn't She Lovely?", put her baby voice on the recording, and put the song on the album, and it also became a hit single.

As Simon seemed to be predicting, Songs In the Key of Life, like its 2 immediate predecessors, won the Grammy for Album of the Year. In total, Stevie has won 22 Grammys. Stevie, Simon, Frank Sinatra and Taylor Swift are the only people to have won the Grammy for Album of the Year as lead artist 3 times, but Stevie is the only one to do it 3 albums in a row.

While he was one of the most productive performers of the 1960s, '70s and '80s, and continues to perform into the 2020s, his last 3 albums of new material have been the soundtrack to the film Jungle Fever in 1991, Conversation Peace in 1995, and A Time to Love in 2005.

It seems unfair to have expected Stevie Wonder to keep up the pace he set between the ages of 12 and 37 -- 23 albums in 25 years -- but, like his contemporary and fellow keyboard (and harmonica) player Billy Joel, he seems content with being just a touring act in the back half of his life. In 2014, President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

His awards also include the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Songwriters Hall of Fame, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Michigan Walk of Fame in the State Capital of Lansing, a Messenger of Peace award from the United Nations, and an Academy Award for his 1984 Number 1 hit "I Just Called to Say I Love You," due to its inclusion in the film The Woman in Red, for which he wrote all the songs.

Stevie is currently married for the 3rd time, and has 9 children, with 5 different mothers. His daughter Aisha Morris has sung with him on recordings and tours, and his son Kailand Morris has drummed for him.

*

September 28, 1976 was a Tuesday. These Major League Baseball games were played on that day: 

* The New York Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox, 7-5 at Fenway Park in Boston. Butch Hobson and Jim Rice hit home runs, and Carl Yastrzemski went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

Thurman Munson hit a home run, on his way to becoming the 1st (and still only) Yankee ever to win the American League's Rookie of the Year (in 1970) and its Most Valuable Player. The Yankees had clinched the AL Eastern Division title 4 days earlier. It was their 1st time finishing 1st since their 1964 Pennant.

* A doubleheader was split as Shea Stadium. The New York Mets won the opener, 5-4. Ed Kranepool went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs, in support of Nino Espinosa. The Montreal Expos won the nightcap, 4-2. Met manager Joe Frazier (definitely not to be confused with the boxer of the same name) didn't even put Kranepool in that game, ignoring his hot hand. Frazier would be fired early the next year, replaced by Joe Torre, who didn't play in the 1st game here, but went 0-for-3 with a walk in the 2nd game.

* The Baltimore Orioles swept a doubleheader from the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-5 and 7-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Bobby Grich won the opener with a home run in the bottom of the 11th inning. Wayne Garland pitched all 11 innings, advancing to 20-7 on the season. He then became a free agent, signing with the Cleveland Indians, but all the wear and tear on his shoulder ruined him.

Reggie Jackson, in his only season and last week with the Orioles, went 1-for-8 with a walk and 3 RBIs over the 2 games, including a homer in the nightcap. Brooks Robinson, 39 years old and in his last full season, went 1-for-5 in the opener, but didn't play in the nightcap. (He and Reggie have the same birthday: May 18.) For the Brewers, Robin Yount went 2-for-10 with an RBI. The soon-to-retire Hank Aaron did not enter either game.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-1 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-1 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Willie Stargell only appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

* A doubleheader was split at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The Detroit Tigers won the 1st game, 4-0. Mark Fidrych pitched a 5-hit shutout, extending his remarkable Rookie of the Year season to 18-9. The Cleveland Indians won the 2nd game, 6-1.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins, 7-0 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Gaylord Perry pitched a 6-hit shutout. Rod Carew got 1 of those hits. No word on whether Carew thought Perry had thrown him, or any of his teammates, a spitball.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium. Lou Brock went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Mike Schmidt went 0-for-4. Former Cardinal catcher Tim McCarver, now playing for the Phillies, went 3-for-4.

McCarver was catching because he was the "personal catcher" of Steve Carlton. In 1972, Carlton won 27 games for a Phils team that otherwise won only 32 games. When he was set to start, he would tell his teammates, "It's Win Day." He won 241 games for the Phillies, 329 overall, but this was not one of them: He fell to 19-7 on the season, but did get a 20th win.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Diego Padres, 5-4 at San Diego Stadium (later renamed Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium). In a rare non-start for him, Pete Rose came into the game as a pinch-hitter, and went 1-for-2 with an RBI. Johnny Bench was put in left field, and went 0-for-4. Dave Winfield did not play for the Padres in this game.

The Reds went on to sweep the Phillies in the National League Championship Series and the Yankees in the World Series. Their 7-0 record remains the best in postseason history. Since the advent of the 3-tier Playoff setup in 1995, the best is the 11-1 of the 1999 Yankees.

* The Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 1-0 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. J.R. Richard pitched a 3-hit shutout.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Kansas City Royals, 1-0 at the Oakland Coliseum. Mike Torrez pitched a 2-hit shutout. George Brett did not get either of those hits. Hal McRae did. Brett (.333) would edge McRae (.332) and Carew (.331) for the AL batting title, and the Royals dethroned the 5-time defending AL Western Division Champion A's, before losing the World Series to the Yankees.

* And in a rare rainout in Anaheim, the California Angels were unable to play the Chicago White Sox. The game was never made up.

September 28, 1972: The Temptations Release "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone"

Left to right: Eddie Kendricks, Dennis Edwards,

Paul Williams, Otis Williams, Melvin Franklin

September 28, 1972: The Temptations release "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone." It was their 4th and last Number 1 hit on the U.S. pop charts.

Norman Whitfield, lyrics, and Barrett Strong, music, had written "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" for Motown Records group The Undisputed Truth in 1971. Their version was a minor hit. They reworked it for The Temptations, backed by the Motown house band, the Funk Brothers, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The Temptations' version was released on September 28, 1972. Despite its length -- 7 minutes for the single, 12 minutes for the album version -- It hit Number 1.

After the long opening -- 2 minutes out of the 7 on the single version, 4 minutes out of the 12 on the album cut -- the opening by lead singer Dennis Edwards is unforgettable:

It was the 3rd of September

The day I'll always remember

Yes, I will

'cause that was the day

that my Daddy died.

The various members of the group -- at this point, consisting of Edwards, founding members Otis Williams and Melvin Franklin, and newcomers Damon Harris and Richard Street -- took turns acting as the various children of the late father, asking their mother which of the things they've heard about him are true, perhaps hoping none of them are, but they need to know: "Mama, I'm depending on you to tell me the truth."

Legend has it that Edwards was furious with Whitfield, because his father actually did die on a September 3, and was not a "rolling stone," but a minister, with Dennis Jr. becoming his choir director, and eventually being ordained himself.

It wasn't true. The Rev. Dennis Edwards Sr. actually died on an October 3. The real reason why Dennis Jr. was angry with Whitfield wasn't his writing, it was his producing: He didn't like doing take after take on his vocals. He was lucky he wasn't acting in a Stanley Kubrick film.

My own father was anything but a rolling stone. What he thought of this song, or even if he ever heard it, I never asked him. Probably because I didn't want to remind him of his own father. Who was... It's complicated. At any rate, despite being at the early side of the right age group to be an original rock and roll fan, he preferred classical and folk music, but he probably would have appreciated the opening. And he did once express an appreciation for one Motown singing legend: Marvin Gaye.

Former co-lead singers David Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks has already left the group, in 1968 and 1971, respectively. Ruffin died in 1991, at age 50, from a cocaine overdose. Kendricks died in 1992, at 52, from another drug: Cigarettes. Another member, Paul Williams, also left in 1971, and had fallen victim to alcoholism. He took his own life in 1973, at 34.

Bass singer Melvin Franklin died in 1995, at 52, from diabetes. Damon Harris and Richard Street, who replaced Kendricks and Williams, died within a few days of each other in 2013, at 62 and 70, respectively. Dennis Edwards died in 2018, at 74. As of the 50th Anniversary of the song, September 28, 2022, Otis Williams, no relation to Paul, the last surviving founding member, is 82. He is also no relation to the Otis Williams who led the Cincinnati-based vocal group The Charms, who had an early rock-and-roll hit in 1954 with "Hearts of Stone."

*

September 28, 1972 was a Thursday. This was also the day the hockey "Summit Series" ended in Moscow, with Paul Henderson's last-minute goal securing victory for Canada over the Soviet Union, 6-5. I have a separate entry for that event.

September was chosen for the Summit Series because it was before either country's major league began play for the new season. The NBA and the ABA hadn't yet started their 1972-73 seasons, either. And while it was during the football season, at the time, NFL and college games played on Thursdays other than Thanksgiving were rare. And only 4 Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Thurman Munson, Roy White and pitcher Lindy McDaniel all hit home runs off the Tigers' Mickey Lolich. Because of the designated hitter, McDaniel remains the last Yankee pitcher to have hit a home run. White's homer won the game in the 12th inning. Mel Stottlemyre started the game, and Sparky Lyle won it in relief of Stottlemyre and McDaniel.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-1 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-1 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 8-7 at the Oakland Coliseum.

September 27, 1960: Smokey Robinson: "America's Greatest Living Poet"

September 27, 1960: "Shop Around" by the Miracles, with Smokey Robinson writing and singing lead, is released on the Tamla label. Motown Records has its 1st major hit, as it rises to Number 2 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart. Unfortunately, the song that keeps it out of Number 1 is rather lame: The instrumental "Calcutta," by the Lawrence Welk Orchestra.

William Robinson Jr. was born on February 19, 1940 in the North End of Detroit. His uncle Claude would take him to Western movies, and gave him a "cowboy nickname," Smokey Joe. By the time he was 12, the boy usually called "Bill" had dropped the "Joe," and began going by "Smokey." (That was also what Frank Sinatra and the rest of the Rat Pack called Sammy Davis Jr.)

He lived near Aretha Franklin, and the friendship lasted for the rest of her life. When he was 15, he formed his first vocal group, The Five Chimes, including Ronald White and Pete Moore. (There was also an all-Italian doo-wop group in The Bronx named The Chimes, but neither group knew about the other.) In 1957, they were renamed the Matadors, and took on siblings Barbara and Claudette Rogers. In 1958, they were renamed the Miracles, and added guitarist Marv Tarplin.

Their 1st release, on End Records, was an answer song to The Silhouettes' 1958 Number 1 hit "Get a Job": In "Got a Job," they showed that having one wasn't all it was cracked up to be. But hardly anybody remembers it, because Eddie Cochran had a similar idea, if not a similar sound, with "Summertime Blues."

Still, while not charting on Billboard's Hot 100, it did reach Number 5 on the magazine's rhythm & blues (R&B) chart, giving them a foothold in the business. And they'd already met Berry Gordy Jr., who was about to found Motown, and "Shop Around" was its 1st signature song.

"You've Really Got a Hold On Me" became their 1st Top 10 hit in 1962, reaching Number 8. The Beatles would cover it. In 1963, with The Monkey being a big dance, they recorded "Mickey's Monkey," which also reached Number 8. It was one of the few Miracles hits not written by Smokey: The team of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier and Brian's brother Eddie Holland wrote it. In 1964, Mary Wells had a Number 1 hit with Smokey's "My Guy."

In 1965, they had no Top 10 hits, but 4 in the Top 20: "Ooo Baby Baby," later covered by Linda Ronstadt; "The Tracks of My Tears," which became a Number 3 hit for Johnny Rivers in 1967; "My Girl Has Gone"; and "Going to a Go-Go." The same year, The Temptations, who had surpassed The Miracles to become Motown's biggest male vocal group, recorded The Temptations Sing Smokey, which included their 1st Number 1 hit, "My Girl."

In 1967, with the group now officially labeled "Smokey Robinson & The Miracles," they hit Number 4 with "I Second That Emotion." In 1970, The Miracles hit Number 1 again, with "The Tears of a Clown," written by Smokey, Stevie Wonder and Henry Cosby (another prolific Motown songwriter, no relation to Bill).

This output led Bob Dylan, himself a contender for the title, to say, "Smokey Robinson is America's Greatest Living Poet."

Smokey split with The Miracles, and they had a Number 1 hit without him in 1975 with "Love Machine." Smokey had several solo hit singles, including "Cruisin'" in 1980 and "One Heartbeat" in 1987, but his biggest solo hit was "Being With You," hitting Number 2 in 1981.

As of September 27, 2022, Smokey is still alive, at age 80. His then-wife, Claudette Robinson, "The First Lady of Motown," is 78, born the exact same day as the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, and 2 days after the Beatles' Paul McCartney. They are the only surviving original members of the Miracles. Ronnie White, who discovered Stevie Wonder and co-wrote "My Girl" with Smokey, died in 1995. Marv Tarplin died in 2011. Bobby Rogers, Claudette’s cousin, died in 2013. Pete Moore died in 2017.

*

September 27, 1960 was a Tuesday. The New York Yankees beat the Washington Senators, 5-1 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Ryne Duren started for the Yankees, but Eli Grba turned out to be the winning pitcher. Bill "Moose" Skowron hit a home run. Mickey Mantle went 0-for-2 before leaving the game. Roger Maris went 1-for-2 with 2 walks and an RBI. Yogi Berra pinch-hit, and did not reach base. For the Senators, Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-4.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Boston Red Sox, 17-3 at Fenway Park in Boston. The O's got home runs from Gus Triandos, Jackie Brandt, Jerry Adair and Ron Hansen. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-5 with a walk. For the Sox, Ted Williams went 0-for-2 with a walk before leaving the game.

The next day would be Williams' last game, and he famously hit a home run in his last at-bat. Adair would be a part of the Red Sox' 1967 "Impossible Dream" Pennant, and Hansen would turn an unassisted triple play with the Seantors in 1968.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Milwaukee Braves, 5-3 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Robin Roberts outpitched Joey Jay. Hank Aaron went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Eddie Mathews went 0-for-4.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. The game went 16 innings, before Dick Schofield singled Gino Cimoli home. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-7 with a walk. Frank Robinson went 1-for-4 with 3 walks.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox, 2-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Jim Bunning outpitched Early Wynn. Al Kaline went 0-for-4. Luis Aparicio went 0-for-4.

* The Kansas City Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians, 5-4 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-1 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Tommy Davis went 3-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBIs. Most of the Brooklyn "Boys of Summer" were gone. Gil Hodges pinch-hit and did not reach base, and Duke Snider, while available, did not play. Stan Musial went 1-for-4.

* And the Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants, 3-1 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Ernie Banks went 3-for-4. Willie Mays went 3-for-4 with an RBI. Willie McCovey pinch-hit, but did not reach base.

August 10, 1963: The Youngest Singer to Hit Number 1

August 10, 1963: Little Stevie Wonder, as he was billed at the time, hits Number 1 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100 chart with "Fingertips -- Part 2," making him, at 13, the youngest performer ever to top that chart.

Performers that young making it big on the charts were rare, and remain so. The most notable examples other than Stevie have been Frankie Lymon, who was 13 when he and his vocal group, The Teenagers, hit Number 6 with "Why Do Fools Fall In Love" in 1956; and Geraldine Pasquale, who, under the name Dodie Stevens, was the same age in 1959 when she hit Number 3 with "Pink Shoe Laces."

Stevland Hardaway Judkins was born on May 13, 1950 in Sagniaw, Michigan, a city of 40,000 people, about 100 miles northwest of Detroit. "Saginaw, Michigan" would be a hit country song by Bill Anderson in 1964.

Stevie -- it seems odd to refer to him by his stage name's surname, "Wonder" -- was born 6 weeks premature, a condition that, along with the oxygen-rich atmosphere in the hospital incubator, resulted in retinopathy of prematurity, a disease that aborts eye growth and often causes the retinas to detach, which left him blind. So, unlike the man who would, naturally, become his hero, Ray Charles, who lost his sight at age 7, Stevie was blind from birth.

When he was 4 years old, his mother divorced his father and moved to Detroit. He began playing instruments at an early age, including piano, harmonica, and drums. He was signed by Detroit's Motown Records in 1961, and his surname was legally changed to Morris, which, according to his mother, was an old family name. Motown founder and chairman Berry Gordy Jr. was responsible for creating the stage name of "Little Stevie Wonder."

In September 1962, his 1st album was released, titled The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie. It's 9 songs, all instrumentals, 1 written by Gordy, the others co-written by Motown producer Clarence Paul. Of those 8, 1, "Soul Bongo," on which Stevie played bongos, was written with Paul by the drummer on the album: Marvin Gaye, who would be a close friend of Stevie for the rest of Marvin's life. (Marvin had already played drums on the 1st Motown song to hit Number 1: "Please Mr. Postman" by The Marvelettes, in 1961.)

Stevie himself was listed as co-writer with Paul on 2 songs: "Wondering" and "Session Number 112." On the other 5, Paul's co-writer was listed as Henry Cosby, a saxophone player who recruited several of Motown's "Funk Brothers" musicians, including bass guitarist James Jamerson and drummer Benny Benjamin. Cosby -- no relation to comedian Bill -- would also be credited as the co-writer on 2 later Motown songs to hit Number 1: "Love Child" by Diana Ross & The Supremes, and "The Tears of a Clown" by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles.

One of the Cosby-Paul compositions was "Fingertips." It's basically an instrumental, but when it was released as a single, it was split into halves, of a recording of a Motortown Revue show at the Regal Theatre in Chicago in June 1962. Stevie played bongos and harmonica, Jamerson played bass, Gaye played drums, and Johnny Allen arranged the horns.

Because of where Part 2 begins, and the fact that the word "Fingertips" is not mentioned anywhere in the song, many people, before they could buy the single, thought the song was titled "Everybody Say Yeah!"

Stevie walked off at the end of the song, but when the master of ceremonies, Bill Murray (not the later white comedian), told the crowd to give him a hand, Stevie misunderstood, and returned to his seat for an encore. The next band, setting up for the next singer, Mary Wells, didn't know what to do. Her bass singer, Joe Swift, yelled out, "What key? What key?"

The live version was included on the album Recorded Live: The 12 Year Old Genius, released on May 21, 1963. The single hit Number 1 on August 10. It had been just 3 months since Little Peggy March hit Number 1 with "I Will Follow Him." At 13 and 15, respectively, Little Stevie and Little Peggy remain the youngest male singer and the youngest female singer ever to hit Number 1 on the Hot 100.

Peggy March only had a few more minor hits. Stevie Wonder would have several more Top 10 hits in the 1960s, but didn't hit Number 1 again until 1973, with "Superstition." It took until 1970, and a team-up with Marvin Gaye, for him to challenge Berry Gordy to let him record more topical material, and to really stretch his songwriting skills.

By 1986, when he was only 36 years old, he was a part of 10 Number 1 hits, 8 of them as the headliner. He hasn't had many hits since. But he has won 25 Grammy Awards, 8 of them after 1987. His 1974 album Innervisions won the Grammy for Album of the Year. Fulfillingness' First Finale won it for 1975. In 1976, Paul Simon won it for Still Crazy After All These Years. At the time, Stevie was known to be working on the album that would become Songs In the Key of Life, and, in his acceptance speech, Paul said, "I'd also like to thank Stevie Wonder, for not releasing an album this year." Sure enough, Songs In the Key of Life won Album of the Year, too.

Stevie also threw himself into activism, including the fight to end apartheid in South Africa, and police brutality at home. His 1980 song "Happy Birthday" is credited with launching the successful campaign to make Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday a national holiday to commemorate civil rights.

At times, it was rumored that he would run for Mayor of Detroit or Mayor of Los Angeles -- he maintains homes in both cities -- but he has never run for office. To put it politely, both his health (not just his blindness, but he has also had a kidney transplant) and his personal life (3 marriages, 2 divorces, 9 children with 5 women, and his practice of Transcendental Meditation) would be hurdles for a candidate to overcome.

Nevertheless, he remains one of the most honored musical figures of all time. He was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, his 1st year of eligibility.

UPDATE: The oldest singer ever to hit Number 1, due to the revamping of Billboard's charts to including music streaming, is Brenda Lee, who did so at age 79 in 2023, with her recording of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree." But she was only 13 when she recorded it, the same age that Stevie was, give or take a few months, when "Fingertips -- Par 2" was released. She is just 5 1/2 years older than Stevie, despite the fact that they currently hold the opposite poles of this particular record.

*

August 10, 1963 was a Saturday. British-American political scientist Andrew Sullivan was born. Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee, the 1956 Democratic nominee for Vice President, died. This was also the day that George Plimpton ran a series at quarterback in a practice session at the Detroit Lions' preseason training camp, forming the basis of one of the most famous books ever written about football: Paper Lion. I have a separate entry for that event.

Football, as I said, was in preseason. The NBA and the NHL were in their off-seasons. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels, 2-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, where the Angels were groundsharing with the Dodgers while waiting for their stadium in Anaheim to be built. Whitey Ford outpitched Dean Chance. Bobby Richardson drove in the Yankee runs with a single in the top of the 9th inning. Mickey Mantle appeared as a pinch-hitter, and drew a walk.

* The New York Mets lost to the Chicago Cubs, 4-0 at the Polo Grounds. Larry Jackson pitched a 7-hit shutout. Ron Hunt got 3 of those hits. Ernie Banks did not play for the Cubs, but Ellis Burton hit a home run for them.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-6 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Willie Mays went 2-for-5. Harvey Kuenn, Orlando Cepeda and Felipe Alou each got 3 hits. 

* The Washington Senators beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-5 at District of Columbia Stadium (later renamed Robert F. Kennedy Stadium) in Washington. Brooks Robinson appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base. Despite being so close, and in the same League, neither the Senators nor the Orioles ever considered the other a rival, although they might have if there had ever been a serious Pennant race between them.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Houston Colt .45's, 3-2 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-4 with an RBI. The Colts became the Houston Astros in 1965.

* The Kansas City Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-3 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 10-3 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Don Drysdale went the distance for the win, striking out 13 and walking none. Frank Robinson went 1-for-4. Pete Rose, soon to be named National League Rookie of the Year, went 2-for-4.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-1 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Al Kaline went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Braves, 6-5 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Stan Musial, in his last season as a player, had an RBI on a pinch-hit single. Hank Aaron went 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs.

* And the Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-3, but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly. For the Red Sox, Dick Stuart hit 2 home runs, and even played errorless ball at 1st base; but Carl Yastrzemski went 0-for-4.

July 21, 1983: The Diana Ross Concert In Central Park

July 21, 1983: Diana Ross takes a stage set up on the Great Lawn of in Central Park in New York, in front of 800,000 people. The cable network Showtime aired it live, worldwide.

Two months earlier, on May 16, Ross had reunited with her former Supremes mates Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong for the 1st time since New Year's Eve 1969, as part of the Motown 25 TV special. The friction between Miss Ross and the others was obvious, and they never reunited again.

It did, however, get Ross' name back into the headlines, as she hadn't had a hit in 3 years, and she was only 39 years old and still looked and sounded fantastic. She worked with the City of New York to build a playground, with her name on it, with proceeds from a free concert in the Park.

Midway through the beginning of the show, a torrential downpour began. Ross tried to continue performing, but the severe weather forced the show to be stopped after 45 minutes. Ross urged the large crowd to exit the venue safely, promising to perform the next day.

The next day's concert suffered no rain, but the memorabilia that was supposed to be sold to raise money for the playground had already been destroyed by the storm. When journalists discovered the exorbitant costs of the two concerts, Ross faced criticism from Mayor Ed Koch and the Parks Department commissioner. During a subsequent mayoral press conference, Ross handed Koch a check for $250,000 for the project. The Diana Ross Playground opened in 1986.

*

July 21, 1983 was a Thursday. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Mets lost to the Cincinnati Reds, 6-1 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Charlie Puleo, who grew up a Met fan in Bloomfield, Essex County, New Jersey, and had started his career with them, was the winning pitcher for the Reds. Johnny Bench, in his final season, did not play.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Houston Astros, 9-4 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves, 10-6 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Mike Schmidt went 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk and an RBI. Pete Rose went 3-for-6 with 3 RBI.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 5-4 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants, 3-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago White Sox, 7-6 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount went 4-for-5 with 3 RBIs. Paul Molitor went 1-for-5 with an RBI.

* The San Diego Padres beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 3-2 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* A doubleheader was split at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). The Detroit Tigers won the opener, 5-1. The California Angels won the nightcap, 3-2. Over the 2 games, Reggie Jackson went 3-for-7 with a walk and an RBI, and Rod Carew went 0-for-8, a rare bad day at the plate for him.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Baltimore Orioles, 9-7 at the Oakland Coliseum. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-3 with 2 walks. Eddie Murray went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Cal Ripken went 1-for-5.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners, 14-13 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Steve Henderson made an error on a Tony Armas fly ball that gave the Red Sox the winning run in the top of the 10th inning. The Red Sox got home runs from Armas and Dave Stapleton; the Mariners got 2 from Richie Zisk and 1 from Jamie Nelson.

* The rain that drenched Central Park also hit Yankee Stadium, postponing the New York Yankees' game with the Kansas City Royals. It was made up the next day as part of a doubleheader. The Yankees won the opener, 7-6. After Goose Gossage blew the save in the top of the 9th, Don Baylor bailed him out by singling home Steve Kemp with the winning run. Dave Winfield hit a home run.

The Royals won the nightcap, 3-2. Former Oakland pitchers Vida Blue and Matt Keough, briefly teammates in 1977, had a pitcher's duel in this one. The Royals led 1-0 in the bottom of the 9th, but Don Mattingly singled Kemp home. Both teams scored in the 11th inning. But in the top of the 12th, George Frazier gave up singles to Frank White and Don Slaught, and Jay Howell gave up the game-losing single to Willie Wilson.

Three days later, George Brett would put too much pine tar on his bat, and get called out after hitting a home run, and the Yankees won -- only for American League President Lee MacPhail to overturn the call, and give the game to the Royals.

And the Cleveland Indians and the Minnesota Twins were rained out at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The game was rescheduled for the following Sunday, July 24. The Twins swept, 7-5 and 5-4.

June 20, 1948: "The Ed Sullivan Show" Premieres

June 20, 1948: Toast of the Town premieres on CBS. The host is Ed Sullivan, Broadway columnist for the New York Daily News. The first guests are the songwriting team of Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein, and the comedy team of Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis (both of whom also sang). In 1955, the program was renamed The Ed Sullivan Show.

In 1947, the Daily News hosted a dance competition titled The Harvest Moon Ball, and had it broadcast on local television. Sullivan was asked to host it. CBS founder and Chairman William S. Paley was looking for a host for a Sunday night variety show, and thought Sullivan would be a good choice.

Paley turned out to be right: As Sullivan's old friend, comedian Jack Benny, once said, "You don't sing, you can't dance, you don't tell jokes, you merely introduce the acts." But he also served as his own talent scout. Ed was progressive in some ways, willing to air rock and roll acts, and black performers of all kinds, when most variety-show hosts wouldn't.

All of it live, coast-to-coast, from CBS Studio 50 at 1697 Broadway, between 53rd and 54th Street in Midtown Manhattan. In 1967, the building was renamed the Ed Sullivan Theater.

Ed grew up watching vaudeville, and would have vaudeville-style acts, including every comedian in the business, from old-timers like Jimmy Durante and George Burns, to the top ones of the time like Alan King and Henny Youngman, to edgy new ones: George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Joan Rivers and Robert Klein.

He had jugglers, acrobats, circus performers. Wenceslao Moreno, a Spanish ventriloquist known professionally as Señor Wences, was a frequent guest. "Easy for you," his doll "Johnny" would say, "For me, is difficult!" And he would speak to a box, and ask, "Okay?" And open it, and "Pedro," a disembodied head, would say, "'S all right!" 

Erich Brenn had a talent for "plate spinning," and performed his act on Ed's show many times, to the tune of Aram Khatchaturian's Sabre Dance. Señor Wences liked Brenn's act so much, he copied it, and did it himself on a 1962 show.

He also liked impressionists, and some would even do impressions of him, including Will Jordan, who, from 1954 until his death in 2018, essentially "played Ed Sullivan" longer than Ed did. He noticed that Ed used phrases like, "here on this stage," "on this great stage," and "big show," and rolled his R's. So the centerpiece of his impression became, "Tonight, we've got a rrrreally big shew." Not "show," "shew," which Ed never actually said, except, occasionally, in self-deprecation.

He played Ed in the original 1960 Broadway production of Bye Bye Birdie, and in the films I Want to Hold Your Hand and The Buddy Holly Story in 1978, The Doors in 1991, and Mr. Saturday Night in 1992.

But there were, occasionally, issues. In 1956, he said he wouldn't have the hot newcomer of the moment, Elvis Presley, on his show, until rival Steve Allen brought him to his show on NBC. Ed saw Allen's ratings, took the hint, and had Elvis on his show 3 times, the last time showing him only from the waist up, to hide his gyrations. But, at the end of that January 6, 1957 show, Ed told the audience, "This is a real, decent, fine boy." Elvis took it was one of the greatest compliments of his career.

In May 1963, Bob Dylan was scheduled for the show. He wanted to sing his song "Talking John Birch Paranoid Blues." The censors, afraid that he would look like a Communist, told him after the 1st rehearsal to drop it. He refused. Ed backed him up. And Ed usually got what he wanted. This time, they overruled him. Dylan never appeared on the show, but he kept Ed's respect.

For his February 9, 1964 show, Ed booked The Beatles, and 73 million people watched. At the time, it was the biggest audience in U.S. TV history. That led to several other British bands being booked, one of them The Rolling Stones.

On October 18, 1964, the show was partly preempted by President Lyndon Johnson delivering a speech from the Oval Office at the White House. So Ed, always conscious of time since the show was done live, had to shorten the show, meaning he had to shorten the acts.

Ed's technique on the show was to introduce the act, then walk to a spot just offstage where he would sit on a stool and watch. On this night, he introduced Jackie Mason, a regular comedian whose humor was based largely on his Jewish identity. Ed held up two fingers, to tell Jackie that he had 2 minutes to do his act.

But Jackie didn't know what the 2 fingers meant, and he went over. Ed kept holding up the fingers, and got madder and madder. The studio audience could see this, and laughed at that, not at Jackie's jokes. "The TV audience couldn't see it," Jackie said, decades later, after he had become a star all over again. "They only knew one thing: This Jew is dying!"

Finally, Jackie decides to use Ed's gestures to his advantage, pointing offstage, and saying, "He keeps showing me fingers, this guy!" Suddenly, the studio audience is laughing at him, and he closes by pointing fingers at everybody, and runs off the stage -- to the other side from Ed.

Ed collared Jackie after the show, and, as Jackie remembered, "I saw a man livid, with violent rage." Ed claimed that Jackie had given him the middle finger. Jackie denied it, saying he'd never even heard of the gesture. Jackie was 36 years old, and had grown up in New York: He knew exactly what it meant. But the surviving videotape is inconclusive: It's not clear that Jackie had made the gesture, or what his intentions were.

Ed banned him from the show. Jackie sued him for defamation of character. After 2 years, they made peace, and Jackie made 5 more appearances on the show. But the damage was done: For 20 years, he was all but unemployable in show business, until starring in a one-man show on Broadway that made him a star again in his 50s.

On January 15, 1967, The Rolling Stones were on, and wanted to sing their song "Let's Spend the Night Together." Trying to avoid a conflict with the censors, Ed's producer, and also his son-in-law, Bob Precht, suggested a slight change: "Let's Spend Some Time Together." The Stones did it that way, but their anger is obvious on the tape.

Eight months later, on September 17, The Doors were on, and were told by Robert Precht -- Ed's producer, and also his son-in-law, married to his daughter Betty -- that the line, "Girl, we couldn't get much higher" from their Number 1 hit "Light My Fire" constituted an advocacy of drug use, and wouldn't be allowed, and they had to change it. They said they would.

They didn't: Lead singer Jim Morrison sang the lyrics exactly as lead guitarist Robbie Krieger had written them, and Precht told them, "We were going to book you for six more Ed Sullivan Shows, and you'll never do The Ed Sullivan Show again!" Morrison had the perfect comeback: "Hey, man, we just did The Ed Sullivan Show." He knew the difference between one and none was bigger than the difference between one and two, or even one and ten.

Ed would frequently get names wrong, especially if they were foreign. At some point, he must have pronounced singer Robert Goulet's name as "GOOL-ett" instead of the correct, French "Goo-LAY," because impressionist Rich Little worked that into his impression of Ed. A frequent guest was Italian opera singer Sergio Franchi (pronounced "FRONG-kee"), and, the 1st time he was on, Ed needed several tries to get his name right.

Ed's memory got worse in the show's later years, and Joan Rivers later suggested that he had developed Alzheimer's disease. Diana Ross recalled that he had trouble remembering the name of her group, The Supremes: "He called us 'the girls.'" After the show was taken off the air, former Beatle Paul McCartney recalled a visit to New York, and said that Ed didn't recognize him, even though The Beatles' appearance is now what the show is best remembered for.

CBS was in a transition in the early 1970s, as a lot of long-time fan-favorite shows were canceled, and a lot of new ones that turned out to be fan-favorites began. In 1971, with the show's ratings having dropped, CBS canceled the show. Ed found out by reading the newspaper. They didn't even have the decency to tell him face-to-face. Three more months of shows were scheduled, but he refused to do them.

The last new episode aired on March 28, 1971. The guests included singer Melanie Safka, impressionist David Frye, and opera singer Joanna Simon, whose sister Carly Simon was about to become a popular singer as well.

Ed Sullivan died of cancer on October 13, 1974, about a year after his wife Sylvia. Betty, his only child, lived until 2014. As of June 20, 2022, son-in-law Bob Precht is still alive, and still controls the show's footage through his company, Sofa Entertainment. (UPDATE: Precht died in 2023.)

*

June 20, 1948 was a Sunday. Frank Sinatra only appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show once, on June 28, 1964. But his daughter Tina Sinatra, later a TV producer, was born on the day that the show premiered.

These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees swept a doubleheader from the St. Louis Browns at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. They won the opener, 4-2. Vic Raschi went the distance for the win, and was backed by a home run from Joe DiMaggio. They won the nightcap, 6-2. Red Embree went the distance, and got 2 homers from DiMaggio.

* A doubleheader was split at the Polo Grounds. The St. Louis Cardinals won the 1st game, 7-2. Stan Musial hit a home run. The New York Giants won the 2nd game, 6-4. The Giants hit 3 straight homers in the 8th inning, by Johnny Mize, Willard Marshall and Sid Gordon.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Chicago Cubs, 6-3 at Ebbets Field. Jackie Robinson went 1-for-4.

* The Boston Braves swept a doubleheader from the Cincinnati Reds, 5-4 and 4-1 at Braves Field in Boston. And the eventual National League Champions did it without either of their aces, Warren Spahn or Johnny Sain: Red Barrett won the 1st game, and Vern Bickford outpitched former double-no-hitter hero Johnny Vander Meer in the 2nd game.

* And a doubleheader was split at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Phillies won the 1st game, 9-0. Dutch Leonard pitched a 4-hit shutout, and Richie Ashburn went 4-for-5. The Pittsburgh Pirates won the 2nd game, 7-5. Ralph Kiner hit 2 home runs.

* The Cleveland Indians swept a doubleheader from the Philadelphia Athletics, 4-3 and 10-0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Bob Feller won the 1st game, and Bob Lemon pitched a 4-hit shutout in the 2nd game.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 8-3 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Ted Williams went 2-for-4.

* A doubleheader was split at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The Chicago White Sox won the 1st game, 8-5. The Washington Senators won the 2nd game, 4-1.

May 21, 1971: Marvin Gaye Releases "What's Going On"

May 21, 1971: Marvin Gaye releases his album What's Going On, on Tamla Records, a subsidiary of Motown Records. For many years, Rolling Stone magazine rated it was one of the Top 10 albums of all time, with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles at Number 1. At the time, and certainly in hindsight, it seemed to be a Sgt. Pepper of soul music. In 2020, Rolling Stone released a revised list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and ranked What's Going On at Number 1.

Marvin Pentz Gay Jr. was born on April 2, 1939, in Washington, D.C., the son of a Pentecostal minister who beat him and the other children. His love of music developed early, and he formed one doo-wop singing group, then another, before his father kicked him out of the house. He found the U.S. Air Force no better than an abusive father, and faked mental illness, getting a general discharge.

He returned to Washington, and formed The Marquees. Harvey Fuqua, lead singer of The Moonglows, heard them, took them to Chicago, and hired them for Chess Records, renaming them the New Moonglows, singing backup on Chuck Berry's "Back in the U.S.A." and "Almost Grown."

In 1960, Fuqua took Gaye to Detroit, and introduced him to Berry Gordy Jr., who had just founded Motown Records. At the time, "gay" still usually meant "lightly happy" rather than "homosexual," but this was changing. But there were other reasons to change his name: He wanted to distance himself from his father's name, and it was a tribute to someone else who had put an E on the end of his name: Sam Cooke.

Starting in late 1962, he was one of the acts on the Motortown Revue, which toured all over the country, and even allowed its performers on ABC-TV's American Bandstand. By 1965, Motown was more than keeping up with rock and roll's "British Invasion," and Marvin's contributions that year included "I'll Be Doggone" and "Ain't That Peculiar."

And he recorded a series of hit duets with Supremes lead singer Diana Ross, Kim Weston, and especially Tammi Terrell. Tammi was married, but the musical chemistry between them was such that rumors of an affair between them persist to this day. No evidence of them being anything more than close friends has ever been discovered.

In 1968, the Detroit Tigers won the American League Pennant. Their broadcaster, Ernie Harwell, was asked to select the National Anthem singers for the World Series games in Detroit. For Game 4, he selected Marvin, a representative of the city's musical giant Motown Records, who sang it straight, and got a nice hand. For Game 5, Harwell selected José Feliciano, and that's a story for another time.

The world was changing, and Marvin thought his music should change with it. But Berry Gordy was a control freak, and he thought having black singers address social ills would hurt Motown's profile and profits. He began to relent in 1968, letting The Supremes sing "Love Child" (which hit Number 1) and "Living In Shame."

But Marvin wasn't allowed to sing about social ills. At the end of the turbulent year of 1968, he had the Number 1 song in the country, and it was a spectacular recording, but it was "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," a traditional love song. In 1969, he had a hit with "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby." This was a decent song, and, with its line of, "I ain't got time to do no studying once I get out of class," it would have been a fine start for an 18-year-old rookie singer at Motown. At the time, though, Marvin Gaye was 30 years old.

The year 1970 would prove to be a turning point. Tammi Terrell died from a brain tumor, and Marvin couldn't handle it. And his brother Frankie Gaye -- he, too, became a singer and added the E -- returned from serving in Vietnam, and told Marvin of the awful things he had experienced there. Marvin knew that Berry had complete creative control. But he also knew that something had to be done.

Even more important, he now had an ally: Stevie Wonder, now 20, was also ready to move on to topical material. He had already recorded Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" and The Beatles' "We Can Work It Out." But he wanted to write his own songs that would match those.

Together, Marvin and Stevie went on strike, and Berry relented. He let Stevie record "Higher Ground," and that was the start of a bunch of great songs about issues, including "Superstition" and "Living for the City."  

And Berry let Marvin record "What's Going On," which became the title track to a landmark album that also included "Inner City Blues" and the environmental-themed song "Mercy Mercy Me." All 3 became Top 10 hits. There was an anti-drug song, "Flyin' High (In the Friendly Sky)," and songs titled "Save the Children" and "God Is Love."

The title track included Lem Barney and Mel Farr of the NFL's Detroit Lions singing backup. Marvin had been so disillusioned by his career, and perhaps inspired by Paper Lion, the film based on writer George Plimpton's book about trying out for the Lions, that he asked them for a tryout. They turned him down, fearing that injuries could hurt his music career. But when "What's Going On" the single hit Number 2 and sold over 1 million copies, everyone who played or sang on it, including Barney and Farr, received gold records.

Berry Gordy listened to the request in the chorus of Marvin's song: "Talk to me, so you can see what's going on." He saw that he was wrong, and Marvin and Stevie were right. He began to move Motown from Detroit to Los Angeles, which had become the center of the recording industry on planet Earth. But Marvin and Anna split up, and he began seeing Janis Hunter, who became the mother of his daughter Nona, who became a singer and actress, and his son Frankie, named for his brother.

Berry wasn't the only one who saw the light: The album sold over 2 million copies within a year of its release. In Rolling Stone, reviewer Vince Aletti wrote, "There are very few performers who could carry a project like this off. I've always admired Marvin Gaye, but I didn't expect that he would be one of them. Guess I seriously underestimated him. It won't happen again." Billboard magazine called it "a cross between Curtis Mayfield and that old Motown spell and outdoes anything Gaye's ever done." Even staid old Time magazine hailed it as a "vast, melodically deft symphonic pop suite."

Did I say, "staid" and "old"? How about the BBC? Their David Katz described the album as "one of the greatest albums of all time, and nothing short of a masterpiece." He compared it to Miles Davis' jazz landmark Kind of Blue by saying, "Its non-standard musical arrangements, which heralded a new sound at the time, gives it a chilling edge that ultimately underscores its gravity, with subtle orchestral enhancements offset by percolating congas, expertly layered above James Jamerson's bubbling bass."

What's Going On is often rated as one of the Top 10 rock and roll albums of all time.  Even my father, a fan of classical, folk and country music, admitted (years after Marvin's shocking death) that this album made him a fan of Marvin's.

Having gotten that out of his system, on August 28, 1973, Marvin released Let's Get It On, another concept album, one about... getting it out of your system. The title track became his 2nd Number 1 hit. He had a 3rd in 1977, "Got to Give It Up." This song inspired many other performers, from Michael Jackson, whose 1st solo Number 1, "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," was very close in lyrics and style; to Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams and T.I., whose 2013 chart-topper "Blurred Lines" was so close to it that, 2 years later, a court awarded $7.4 million in royalties/damages to Marvin's children.

In spite of this success, Marvin had become, to borrow the title of David Ritz's posthumous biography of him, a divided soul. He turned to cocaine, and moved to Europe, where he was already popular, and lived and toured there.

In 1982, having kicked drugs for the moment, a deal was made to release Marvin from his Motown contract. He signed with CBS Records, and recorded the album Midnight Love, including the single "Sexual Healing." It was a smash, and he was back in the spotlight, winning his 1st 2 Grammy Awards, and being invited to sing the National Anthem before the NBA All-Star Game at The Forum outside Los Angeles. He made it sound like a gospel song. It had been 15 years since he sang it straight at the World Series, and José Feliciano hadn't. Times had changed, and everyone loved Marvin's new version.

But the comeback was all too brief, as he fell back on cocaine, and suffered bouts of paranoia. He had bought his parents a house in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles. But his father had never really changed, and was always arguing with everyone else in the family, including Marvin and his mother Alberta. On April 1, 1984, at that house, an argument between Marvin Gay Sr. and Marvin Gaye Jr. turned into a shoving match, and Marvin Jr. got the upper hand, beating his father severely. In revenge, Marvin Sr. shot Marvin Jr., killing him. The next day would have been Marvin Jr.'s 45th birthday.

In 1993, singer-songwriter Linda Perry led the band 4 Non Blondes to record a song titled "What's Up?" But those words are not anywhere in the song. Instead, the chorus asks, "What's going on?" The song is about pain, possibly mental illness, and the narrator admits, "Oh, my God, do I pray, every day, for a revolution!"

It is widely presumed that the reason the song isn't titled "What's Going On?" is so that it won't be confused with Marvin Gaye's song. Nevertheless, it was nearly as big a hit, and remains Perry's biggest hit as a singer, although she's written Number 1 hits for others.

*

May 21, 1971 was a Friday. Football was in its off-season. The NHL season had ended 3 days earlier, with the Montreal Canadiens winning the Stanley Cup, beating the Chicago Black Hawks in the Finals in 7 games. The NBA season had ended 3 weeks earlier, with the Milwaukee Bucks beating the Baltimore Bullets in a 4-game sweep. These Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Cleveland Indians, 8-7 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Danny Cater singled home 2 runs in the top of the 9th to give the Yankees a 7-6 lead, but Lindy McDaniel couldn't hold it, and gave up a game-tying single to Eddie Leon and a game-winning single to Gomer Hodge. According to Baseball-Reference.com, with 2 outs in the top of the 9th, the Indians had a 97 percent chance of winning, and a 13 percent chance when the bottom of the 9th began, but won, anyway.

McDaniel had once been a really good reliever, but it was games like this that led the Yankees to trade Carter and Mario Guerrero to Boston for Sparky Lyle before the next season, and to then trade McDaniel to Kansas City for Lou Piniella after 1973, 2 of the trades that helped build the next Yankee dynasty.

* The New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves, 6-2 at Shea Stadium. Nolan Ryan outpitched Pat Jarvis. Ed Kranepool went 3-for-4, and Ken Boswell, Bob Aspromonte and Jerry Grote each had 2 RBIs. Hank Aaron went 3-for-4, including his 651st career home run.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Montreal Expos, 6-2 at Jarry Park in Montreal. Bob Robertson and Willie Stargell hit home runs for the Pirates, and Roberto Clemente went 3-for-5. Stargell's home run won the game in the top of the 13th inning.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-3 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Pete Rose went 0-for-2 with 2 walks. Johnny Bench went 1-for-2 with 3 walks and an RBI. Dave Concepcion hit a home run.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 8-4 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Carl Yastrzemski hit a home run. So did Brooks Robinson. Frank Robinson went 1-for-5. The Orioles tied the game in the bottom of the 9th, but the Red Sox scored 4 runs in the top of the 10th to win it.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Washington Senators, 1-0 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Dean Chance pitched 7 2/3rds innings of 3-hit ball, and Fred Scherman finished the 3-hit shutout. Ed Brinkman doubled home the only run in the 5th inning. Al Kaline did not play.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Chicago Cubs, 8-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks, in his last season, only appeared as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Diego Padres, 15-8 at Busch Memorial Stadium. José Cardenal, Joe Torre and Julián Javier hit home runs.

* The Houston Astros beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-1 at the Astrodome in Houston. Willie Mays went 0-for-4.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the California Angels, 3-0 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Tom Bradley pitched a 5-hit shutout.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Oakland Athletics, 10-1 at the Oakland Coliseum. Bert Blyleven outpitched John "Blue Moon" Odom. George Mitterwald hit 2 home runs, and Steve Braun 1. Harmon Killebrew went 0-for-4, but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Rod Carew went 1-for-5. Reggie Jackson went 2-for-4.

* And the Kansas City Royals and the Milwaukee Brewers were rained out at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. It was made up as part of a doubleheader on September 6. The Royals swept, 4-3 and 6-4.

May 16, 1983: Michael Jackson Overshadows the Motown 25 Special

May 16, 1983: NBC airs the special Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever – a year ahead of Motown Records' actual 25th Anniversary. It was taped before a live audience at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium, in the Los Angeles suburb of Pasadena, California, on March 25.

It was thought that the highlight might be the "Battle of the Bands" between the Temptations and the Four Tops, which led to a highly successful joint tour between them. Or it might be Smokey Robinson reuniting with his former group, The Miracles. Or it might be Marvin Gaye continuing his comeback, with a speech about the history of black music and a performance of his song "What's Going On."

Or it might be Diana Ross singing with The Supremes for the 1st time since 1969. She reunited with Mary Wilson and Cindy Birdsong, who had replaced Florence Ballard in 1967. But the reunion was acrimonious.

 

But when Michael Jackson decided to sing his current single, the Number 1 song in the country at the time, it became one of those "Where Were You?" moments. I was at home in East Brunswick, and I didn't watch it.

Jackson had been a star since he and his brothers, as The Jackson Five, had their 1st Number 1 hit, "I Want You Back," in 1969. He had become a solo star with his 1979 album Off the Wall. He'd released Thriller, including "Billie Jean," the preceding November 29, making him bigger than ever. But this performance lifted him up to another level, the way appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show did for Elvis Presley in 1956 and The Beatles in 1964.

"Billie Jean" had hit Number 1 on March 5, and lasted 7 weeks on top, including the day of the special's taping. It had been succeeded for 1 week by "Come On Eileen" by Dexys Midnight Runners. That was succeeded, immediately the next week, by Jackson's next single, "Beat It," which had Eddie Van Halen on lead guitar, the 1st fusion of Motown and metal. "Beat It" was still Number 1 when the special aired.

When the Jackson Five were starting out, Michael said he wanted to wear a hat onstage, like his idol, the aforementioned Marvin Gaye. He was told no, because it was an "adult" thing to do. Apparently, women went crazy when Marvin took off his hat, and flung it offstage.

This time, as the opening notes to "Billie Jean" began, Michael put a hat on, and the girls screamed. He did some moves that no one had ever seen before, but became a standard part of his routine. Then he took the hat off, and flung it offstage. Then he started sliding backwards, which he called the "moonwalk."

He didn't invent it. Cab Calloway was seen using it on film in 1932. Suggesting it was already well-known back then, he said in 1985 that it was called "the buzz." Bill Bailey did it in the all-black 1943 film musical The Cabin in the Sky. In 1944, Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien did it in Meet Me in St. Louis. Around the same time, Marcel Marceau, the world's foremost mime, began doing something like it.

In 1958, Dick Van Dyke appeared on, of all things, The Pat Boone Show, and did a routine he called "Mailing a Letter on a Windy Corner," which included a move similar to the Moonwalk. And in 1969, just 4 months after Apollo 11 landed on the actual Moon, Judy the Frog taught a dance called "The Moonwalk" on the kids' show H.R. Pufnstuf.

During the special, Jackson wore a sequined glove on his left hand, but not on his right. In later appearances, he would wear one on his right, but not on his left. He later explained: "I felt that one glove was cool… Wearing two gloves seemed so ordinary."

A joke came out of this: "Did you hear the New York Mets signed Michael Jackson? Just what they need: Another guy who wears a glove on only one hand for no apparent reason." Actually, there had already been a Mike Jackson in the major leagues, pitching for 4 different teams from 1970 to 1973; and there would later be a Michael Jackson, pitching for 8 teams from 1986 to 2004, collecting 142 saves. But neither of them ever played for the Mets.

Before the special, Michael Jackson was as big as most stars ever get. After it, he was as big as the biggest stars ever got.

It would become a blessing... and, alternately, a curse.

In a 2012 episode of the YouTube series Epic Rap Battles of History, Michael Jackson was played as a boy by Bentley Green, and as an adult by "Nice" Peter Shukoff, against "Epic" Lloyd Ahlquist as Elvis Presley.

*

May 16, 1983 was a Monday. The NBA was in the middle of its Conference Finals, but no games were played. The Philadelphia 76ers would beat the Milwaukee Bucks, the Los Angeles Lakers would beat the San Antonio Spurs, and then the Sixers would beat an injury-stricken Laker team in 4 straight to win the title.

The Stanley Cup Finals were between Games 3 and 4. The next night, the New York Islanders beat the Edmonton Oilers, 4-2 at the Nassau Coliseum in Hempstead, New York, to win their 4th straight Stanley Cup. One dynasty was not quite ready to give way to the next. The following season, it did: The Isles' "Drive For Five" was ended in the Finals by the Oilers of Wayne Gretzky.

And there were 5 games played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-0 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Ron Guidry pitched a 3-hit shutout, giving up only a double to Lou Whitaker, and singles to Lance Parrish and Chet Lemon. For the Yankees, Ken Griffey Sr. went 3-for-4 with a walk, and Dave Winfield went 1-for-5 with 2 RBIs.

* The New York Mets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 11-4 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Darryl Strawberry, on his way to being named National League Rookie of the Year, hit a home run.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 2-1 at Milwaukee County Stadium. An error by catcher Ted Simmons, with former Yankee top prospect Mickey Klutts at the plate, allowed Barry Bonnell to score the winning run in the top of the 11th inning. Robin Yount went 1-for-5. Paul Molitor went 0-for-5, but did draw a walk.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Minnesota Twins, 7-6 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. The A's led 7-0 going into the bottom of the 9th, but the Twins nearly came all the way back: The inning began with back-to-back home runs by Dave Engle and Bobby Mitchell, followed by a walk, a strikeout, a groundout, a 2-run homer by Gary Gaetti, another walk, another 2-run homer by Mickey Hatcher, and a single, meaning the tying run was on base, before reliever Tom Burgmeier, replacing the melting-down Dave Beard, slammed the door. Rickey Henderson went 1-for-4.

* And the Texas Rangers beat the Cleveland Indians, 3-1 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.