July 19th of many years past- musicians and entertainers of our times.

Here are some of the things that jog your memory to days gone by- with reference to the LA Radio.com Rewind compilations as the source.  Well, if you aren’t very old, then there’s not that far to to go to be jogged.  But for others, you might notice how so many people, celebrities, we remembered as “young” or “not that old” are now pretty old.  But for some  of this flashback to a younger time, check the list that follows from laradio.com, with some of my comments added.

LARP Rewind: July 19.

On this day in 2011, Jimmy Buffett and his 11-piece Coral Reefer Band played a sold-out concert at Blossom Music Center in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Along with his hits he sang his first chart single, The Great Filling Station Holdup, which reached #58 on the country chart in 1973. On this day in 1980, Billy Joel earned his first gold record, for It's Still Rock & Roll To Me, written by Joel and produced by Phil Ramone. The song was also Joel's first number-one hit.

On this day in 1975, Lefty Frizzell died of a stroke at 47. Born William Orville Frizzell in Corsicana, he had six number-one country hits, including Saginaw Michigan, Always Late and If You've Got The Money I've Got The Time.

On this day in 1966, Frank Sinatra, 50, married 21-year-old actress Mia Farrow.

On this day in 1923, Radio Corporation of America (RCA) put WRC, "The Voice Of The Capitol," on the air at 640 kHz in Washington, DC. WRC shared the frequency with AT&T's short-lived station WCAP.

BIRTHDAYS

Today, July 19, 2012, singer/guitarist Vikki Carr is 71.  Born Florencia Martinez Cardona (I have heard her recite her full name and it’s way longer) in El Paso, she signed with Liberty in 1962 and reached #115 with her first single, a version of Gene Pitney's “He's A Rebel”.  (YouTube audio with a video collage- or montage- of pics of this different treatment by a young Vikki Carr- showing the artist over the years; she seemed chubby in some that must be from a young age, with different changes in the look shown over the years but still exuding the same glamour over all this time.) (I saw her a few times on the Art Linkletter daytime t.v.  show when I was absent from LHS. Linkletter had a popular book, “Kids Say the Darndest Things,” some or much of the content taken from the interviews he did on the show with visiting local elementary school kids, a segment of each show. She was one of the few artists at that time that actually said she was "Mexican." You might remember that Linda Ronstadt had some Mexican roots she didn't seem to generally acknowledge until most of her rock years were behind her, while many new genres were ahead- and she had a fine voice, too, for all of them. )

In 1967 she got to #3 with “It Must Be Him.”  In 1962 and 1968 she was a regular performer on a syndicated variety tv series hosted by trumpeter/bandleader Ray Anthony. Carr began recording Spanish-language albums in 1971 and has won three Grammy awards. Among her hit singles to make the Latin chart are Déjame, Discúlpame, Adoro, Mala Suerte, Cosas Del Amor and Hay Otro En Tu Lugar. She has performed for five US presidents and the Queen of England. Carr's latest CD, Viva La Vida, will be released in September.

(Checking the YouTube videos, her singing in Spanish or English still impresses me.  Hard to believe she’s 71.   Here’s a good sampling of her performances with some pretty good quality video- Vikki Carr Ni princesa ni esclava, Nomas ocho dias, Total (Duo con Ana Gabriel, Video).)  [I have no idea how old she was here but the voice is fine on all the songs over the years.  I have lots of her albums in vinyl that I haven’t heard in many years, and now hearing some of these samplings I remember how those were what they called, “easy listening,” just play and enjoy- my Andy Williams collection  dating from the 70s and 80s were in that category, too.]

Also today, George Hamilton IV (he is the guy with the ever-present tan) is 75, Commander Cody (George Frayne) is 68, Average White Band bassist/lead singer Alan Gorrie is 66, Flying Burrito Brothers/Eagles guitarist Bernie Leadon is 65, Queen guitarist Brian May is 65, Lucie Arnaz is 61.

On July 19, 1986, twenty-six years ago today, Michael W. Smith's Rocketown was beginning its fourth week at number one on the KYMS Top 40. God Only Knows by Russ Taff, former lead singer of the Imperials, was #2. David Meece climbed from #19 to #10 with Seventy Times Seven. Tonio K (born Antonio Krikorioan) jumped from #28 to #19 with Perfect World. Dion DiMucci, famous in the late 1950s as leader of “Dion & the Belmonts” (some good doo wop to hear in  “I Wonder Why”  audio on YouTube) (A very good quality video of “Runaround Sue” performed live shows some of what we heard in days past) and in the '60s as a solo artist, (in 1968, was the original singer of “Abraham, Martin and John” that was a departure from his earlier styles,, accompanied with some classical guitar touches) moved from #27 to #26 with Crazy Too, from his contemporary Christian album, Velvet & Steel. High debut at #35 was Prayer For The Children by Allies. The quintet was led by Bob Carlisle, who would have a 1997 top-ten hit, Butterfly Kisses.