doo-wop

13
Jun
2024

THURSDAY is a nice day

Today is the Feast of St. Anthony, a holiday in his hometown of Lisbon. It commemorates his death in 1231.

St. Anthony of Padua was born in Lisbon, Portugal to a wealthy family; his father was a captain in the Royal army. He was ordained as a priest and became inspired after meeting five Franciscan friars who were on their way to Muslim Morocco to preach the Gospel. A few months later he discovered that the monks were martyred and he joined the Franciscan order to follow in their path, adopting the name of Anthony, after Anthony the Great, who was one of the first monks and noted for his travels in desert lands.

Anthony’s life was changed when he was almost accidentally forced into giving a sermon. This uncovered his great gift for making speeches which led to Saint Francis asking him to travel around Italy preaching the Gospel which he did. He converted many people and became famed for his sermons.

In his hometown of Lisbon, festivities in his honor start on the evening of June 12th with a display of walking groups of singers and musicians, who parade along the Avenida da Liberdade. The celebration continues the next day with more processions and traditional dancing.

SIGNZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Today is the birthday, in 1941, of Marv Tarplin, American guitarist and songwriter, best known as the guitarist for the Miracles from the 1950s through the early 1970s who co-wrote several of their biggest hits, including the 1965 Grammy Hall Of Fame inducted ‘The Tracks of My Tears’. He died aged 70 on 30 Sep 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCwkZrj2VT4

Posted by Tom in doo-wop, Humor, Music, sixties and seventies
16
May
2024

Did someone say THURSDAY?

Today is SPLA Day, a public holiday in South Sudan. This holiday commemorates the foundation of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army on this day in 1983.

The Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) was founded as a rebel movement on May 16th 1983. It was led by Commander-in-Chief John Garang de Mabior. Along with the political wing, Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, the aim of the SPLA was to establish an autonomous Southern Sudan, initially within a united Sudan.

Its military actions against the Sudanese government became the Second Sudanese Civil War that would last until 2005. After South Sudan gained its independence in 2011, the SPLA became the army of the new country. 

Nothing I could add here…

BEAR WITH ME

Thanks Debra!

Today is the birthday, in 1947, of Barbara Lee, singer, from American all-girl group The Chiffons who had the 1963 US No.1 single ‘He’s So Fine’, and the 1972 UK No.4 single ‘Sweet Talking Guy’, (first released in 1966). Lee died on 15th May 1992. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvyOqKhKWQ4

Posted by Tom in doo-wop, Humor, Music
07
Aug
2023

First MONDAY in August

Today is Kadooment Day in Barbados. It marks the finale of the six-week Crop Over festival and is one of the most colorful and energetic of the Caribbean carnivals.

The Crop Over Festival is the traditional end of the Sugar cane season and has been celebrated for over 200 years. Sugar cane was first introduced to Barbados at the end of the seventeenth century. It made Barbados home to one of the world’s biggest sugar industries. This meant a large workforce was needed and slaves and indentured servants were brought from Africa. It was these workers who also brought the traditional harvest festival of Crop Over from Africa.

On Grand Kadooment, a parade of Masquerade Bands with about 1,500 revelers takes place on the streets cheered on by the throngs of onlookers trying to make themselves heard over beat of the the calypso music. At the end of the parade the bands are judged and while there is a keenly contested Designer of the Year prize, for most the focus is on having fun.

Today is the birthday, in 1928, of Herb Reed, bass singer from American vocal group The Platters who had the 1959 UK & US No.1 single ‘Smoke Gets In Your Eyes’. The Platters were one of the first African-American groups to be accepted as a major chart group and were, for a period of time, the most successful vocal group in the world. Reed died aged 83 on June 4th 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAUJSc6unAg

Posted by Tom in doo-wop, Humor, Music
22
May
2023

and MONDAY rears its ugly head…

Today is St. Helena’s Day – a public holiday on St. Helena Island. It commemorates the discovery of the island by the Portuguese explorer João da Nova, said to be on May 21st, 1502. St. Helena is a British Overseas Territory and is one of the most remote islands in the world. It is about 1200 miles west of the coast of Africa and about 2500 miles east of South America. The island has a population of about 4400 and is about 47 square miles.

Flag of St. Helena

Today is the birthday, in 1941, of Jackie Landry Jackson, singer, from girl group, The Chantels, who had the 1958 top 20 hit ‘Maybe’ and the 1961 hit ‘Look In My Eyes’. She died on December 23, 1997. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IePTH1PWzAs

1
Posted by Tom in doo-wop, Humor, Music
05
May
2023

It is indeed FRIDAY

Today is Great Prayer Day in Denmark, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Store Bededag, also known as Great Prayer Day or General Prayer Day, is a special Danish festival celebrated on the fourth Friday after Easter Sunday. People in Denmark will no longer get a public holiday for “Great Prayer Day” from 2024 after lawmakers passed a bill on scrapping it as a public holiday.

Unusually for a holiday, the source for Great Prayer can be traced to one man, Hans Bagger, who was a bishop in Roskilde in the late seventeenth century. Bagger had introduced some new praying and fasting days, but given the number of holy days in the calendar already, it became clear that all the days of praying and fasting were having an impact on daily life, so it was decided that several of the lesser holy days should be combined into one of Bagger’s days, which became Great Prayer Day.

The Great Prayer Day was put on the Statute book by King Christian V in 1686.

Under the law, all trade, work, etc were forbidden from 6pm on the day before Great Prayer Day, to ensure that nobody would be late or drunk when they had to attend the next day’s obligatory church service.

The bakers came up with the idea of baking some extra ‘hvede’ – cardamom-infused wheat buns with a generous spreading of butter on the Thursday which could then be heated up and eaten the following day. It gradually became common throughout the country to eat the hot buns, but nowadays on the evening before Great Prayer Day.

Today is the birthday, in 1942, of American soul singer and actress Barbara Randolph who recorded for Motown Records in the 1960s. In 1964, she joined The Platters. She died on 15 July 2002 age 60. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEzfhclKO8Q

1
Posted by Tom in doo-wop, Humor, Music