Baseball Quiz: Name the 6 active players who have hit 390 or
more home runs. Answer below.
Earth, Wind and Fire
EWF…my favorite group from my college days. And Monday
night they are inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The group was founded by Maurice White, the son of a doctor
and the grandson of a New Orleans honky-tonk pianist. White
spent his early years in Memphis (he was a schoolboy friend of
Booker T. Jones, of Booker T. & the MG”s), but the family later
moved to Chicago where Maurice attended the Chicago
Conservatory. Later he was a studio drummer at Chess Records,
working for the likes of Jackie Wilson, The Impressions, Muddy
Waters and Fontella Bass. From 1967-69, he worked with the
Ramsey Lewis Trio, later writing and producing Lewis” ”75 hit,
“Sun Goddess.” In the 60s, Maurice also made frequent trips to
Africa and the Middle East where he became fascinated with
Egyptology.
In late ”69, White moved to Los Angeles and formed the first
Earth, Wind and Fire (White”s astrological chart doesn”t include
water signs), which recorded for Capitol as the Salty Peppers.
After basically zero success, the band was signed by Clive Davis
to record for Warner records. [Davis was featured prominently at
this year”s Grammys. Despite his advanced age and the
perception among the younger execs that he is no longer “hip,”
Davis still has a knack for producing stars.]
In 1975, the new Earth, Wind and Fire came out with the album,
“That”s the Way of the World,” which yielded the Grammy-
winning “Shining Star.” The album itself topped the charts for 3
weeks. The group then moved up to the arena market with
elaborate stage shows. [The effects for the 1978 national tour
were designed by magician Doug Henning.] They won 3
Grammys in ”78, a year in which they were a high point of the
movie “Sgt. Pepper”s Lonely Hearts Club Band” with their own
version of the Beatles “Got to Get You into My Life.”
The group was known for its positive message, as opposed to
their chief rivals of the time, Parliament / Funkadelic, who were,
shall we say, dirty. White once said, “We came out here to try to
render a service to mankind, not to be stars. We are actually
being used as tools by the Creator.” O-kay.
In 1980, Maurice was in demand as a producer and he was active
in the careers of The Emotions, Deniece Williams, and the jazz
group, Weather Report. In the meantime, lead singer Philip
Bailey carved out a successful solo career, scoring a hit duo with
Phil Collins, “Easy Lover,” and winning a Grammy for his gospel
LP, “Triumph!”
In 1987, the group reunited for the comeback album, “Touch the
World.” A single, “System of Survival,” made #1 on the black
singles charts but only #63 on the pop lists. Said Bailey, “If
you”re black, you”re labeled R&B. But if you”re white and play
R&B, you”re pop. It”s not what your music says at all. Before,
[black and white] people”s backgrounds were totally different.
But now kids grow up listening to all kinds of stuff. The
musicians coming up now have many different kinds of
expression, but they”re still labeled and marketed based on the
color of their skin.”
Top Ten EWF Hits / Pop Charts
Shining Star (#1)
Sing A Song (#5)
Got to Get You into My Life (#9)
September (#8)
Boogie Wonderland (#6)
After the Love Has Gone (#2)
Let”s Groove (#3)
Of course, we all know that their two best hits are “Reasons” and
“Can”t Hide Love.” [I do a great Maurice White on the latter, if I
may say so myself.]
Branch Rickey and Frank Robinson
So in November of 1965, Rickey is being honored at some deal
when he is giving his speech. “I don”t believe I”m going to be
able to speak any longer.” With those words he slumped into a
coma and died 4 weeks later, December 9th.
That very same day in 1965, was also the date of one of the
worst trades in baseball history, the Cincinnati Reds deal to the
Baltimore Orioles where the Reds Frank Robinson was shipped to
Bal”More for pitcher Milt Pappas (and two lesser lights).
The genesis of this trade goes back to February 9, 1961.
Robinson was arrested in Cincinnati that day for carrying a
concealed weapon. It seems that while F. Robby was sitting in
his favorite restaurant, a chef armed with a butcher knife had
made a threatening gesture towards Robinson who, responding in
defense of himself, brandished a pistol. The Reds GM, Bill
DeWitt, didn”t support Frank and the bad blood between the two
grew and grew.
When asked how he could trade a superstar like Robinson, at the
peak of his career, DeWitt replied, “Robinson is an old thirty
years of age; he has an old body.” In 1966, Frank Robinson, old
body and all, won the Triple Crown.
Billy Packer…in trouble
Famous basketball announcer Billy Packer and I went to the same
school, Wake Forest. But it was funny how when he would come
to campus to broadcast a game while I was there, we all
booed him. He never seemed to be proud of his roots. Well,
Packer got in a heap of trouble this past week. According to the
AP, two Duke students say he made sexist remarks before a
recent game at the Duke arena.
Before the game, Jen and Sarah said they were checking
credentials. Jen didn”t recognize Packer, announcing the game
for CBS, and asked who he was.
“He said: ”You need to get a life. Since when do we let women
control who gets into a men”s basketball game? Why don”t you
go find a women”s game to let people into?”” Jen added, “I was
stunned. I couldn”t think of anything to say.” This isn”t the first
time Packer has done something like this.
Silly Putty
Last week was the 50th anniversary of this awesome product.
Like all products of this kind it was invented by accident in a
synthetic-rubber laboratory during World War II. The first batch
was eventually then sold at a store in New Haven, CT. [The
anniversary dates from this time.] Silly Putty is manufactured in
Easton, PA.
Marathon Runners
The Men”s Olympic Marathon standard of 2:14 was reached by
240 runners worldwide in 1999. Kenya had 76, Japan 39, Russia
17 (must have been Chechens), Italy 13, Ethiopia 11.and the
U.S. 2. [Source: Runner”s World.]
Top 3 songs for the week of 3/6/71: #1 “One Bad Apple” (The
Osmonds) #2 “Mama”s Pearl” (The Jackson 5) #3 “Me And
Bobby McGee” (Janis Joplin.Joplin and The Osmonds, only
in America).
Quiz answer: Mark McGwire (522), Barry Bonds (445), Jose
Canseco (431), Cal Ripken (402), Ken Griffey (398), Fred
McGriff (390).
Next Bar Chat, Wednesday.
