November 28, 1964 - WILLIE Nelson made his debut on the Grand Ole Opry television show today, but we can go one better with our video today, as we go back a year, Nelson wearing a suit, entertaining a middle-of-the-road audience. Multi-talented Willie Nelson is one of the giants of song writing for the past 60 years. His musicianship, too, is unique. He displays his own distinctive blend of country music, which has elements of jazz, pop, blues, rock and folk, the mix producing a unique sound. His nasal-sounding voice atop his gut-string guitar, together with his back-beat phrasing puts him in a class and style of his own. He has also acted in 30 films, co-authored several books, and is a pro-active campaigner for the use of biofuels, and the legalisation of marijuana. Nelson is a major liberal activist and the co-chair of the advisory board of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, which is in favor of marijuana legalisation. With the environment, Nelson owns the bio-diesel brand Willie Nelson Biodiesel, which is made from vegetable oil. He is also the honorary chairman of the Advisory Board of the Texas Music Project, the official music charity of the state of Texas. Following this Nelson video gem, we go to another - his song that states the obvious.



1944 - MEET Me in St. Louis, starring Judy Garland, opened in New York today, the movie musical that starred Judy Garland. The movie was adapted by Irving Brecher and Fred F. Finklehoffe from a series of short stories by Sally Benson, originally published in The New Yorker magazine. The film was directed by Vincent Minnelli, who met Garland on the set, and later married her. It was the second-highest grossing picture of the year, behind Going My Way


1954 - WINIFRED Atwell was at #1 across the UK today, with her original composition, Let's Have Another Party. Ms. Atwell was the first black artist to reach top of British charts, and the first black artist to sell a million records in that country. The Trinidad-born British pianist was the queen of boogie boogie, no question, enjoying great popularity in Britain and other British-aligned countered, including Australia & New Zealand, from the 1950s. As far as I know, Winifred Atwell remains the only female instrumentalist to top music charts. This is Ms. Atwell doing what she does best in a cocktail lounge in 1953 London.


1960 - ELVIS Presley started a long run at topping world charts today, when he hit #1 in USA with the song, Are You Lonesome Tonight, his third chart-topper in 1960. The song included a spoken passage, with a nod to Shakespeare.


1964 - SHANGRI-LAS were an American girl pop group of the 1960s, and between 1964 and 1966 topped charts around the world with their heartbreaking teen melodramas, including Remember (Walking In The Rain), and their most memorable, Leader of the Pack. Are you old enough for this classic?


1968 - DEEP Purple played the first of four nights at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, tonight, on their debut American tour, and two years later on the same day, Bob Dylan's album New Morning topped album charts, and classic rocker Dave Edmonds topped Brit singles charts with this classic song, performed here on Jools Holland's NYE 2009 show - and featuring Holland's stella big band.


1976 - TOM Robinson and his band made their live debut at The Hope & Anchor in London tonight, and a year later they had a worldwide hit with this, 2-4-6-8 Motorway.


1987 - TAKEN from the film Dirty Dancing, the Jennifer Warnes' duet with Bill Medley (I've Had) The Time Of My Life, went to top spot in America today. Dirty Dancing is the 1987 romance film credited as being one of the most watched films of all time, particularly among women. Written by Eleanor Bergstein, the film features Patrick Swayze, Jennifer Grey, Cynthia Rhodes, and Jerry Orbach. The story details the moment of time that a teenaged girl crosses over into womanhood both physically and emotionally, through a relationship with a dance instructor during a family summer vacation. Approximately one third of the movie involves dancing scenes, some of them very hot indeed. Originally a low-budget film by a new studio and with no major stars (at the time), Dirty Dancing became a massive hit, and has since earned $US300 million. It was also the first film to sell over one million copies on home video. Additionally, the soundtrack is one of the bestselling soundtracks of all time.


1987 - DAVID Bowie played the second of four sold-out nights during his Glass Spider Tour in Australia and New Zealand at the Kooyong Stadium in Melbourne, tonight, and on the same day American group, REM, had their first entry in the Top 10 in their home country, with this song.


1991 - NIRVANA recorded a performance for BBC TV music show Top Of The Pops in London, today. When asked to lip-sync Smells Like Teen Spirit to a pre-recorded tape, Kurt Cobain protested by singing in a low-pitched funny voice, while the rest of the band displayed their contempt for the mim concept by playing out-of-sync.