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51 Years Ago Today

Check out today’s Google Doodle. Anybody happen to see Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

On this date, September 21, 1967, 51 years ago, Fred Rogers walked into the television studio at WQED in Pittsburgh to tape the very first episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, which would premiere nationally on PBS in February 1968. He became known as Mister Rogers, nationally beloved, sweater wearing, “television neighbor,” whose groundbreaking children’s series inspired and educated generations of young viewers with warmth, sensitivity, and honesty.

Today’s stop-motion, animated video Doodle celebrating Mister Rogers was created in collaboration with Fred Rogers Productions, The Fred Rogers Center, and BixPix Entertainment. Set to the iconic opening song of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood (“Won’t You Be My Neighbor”), the Doodle aims to be a reminder of the nurturing, caring, and whimsy that made the show feel like a “television visit” between Mister Rogers and his young viewers.

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Swim and Sleep (Like a Shark)

This is one of the singles off of Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s 2013 album, II. Something made me think of it the other day, so here you go. The video is both hilarious and poignant, in my humble opinion.

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Sex Pistols At Winterland

Recorded January 14, 1978, at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, CA.

Setlist:
0:00:00 – God Save The Queen
0:04:13 – I Wanna Be Me
0:08:19 – I’m A Lazy Sod
0:10:42 – New York
0:14:25 – EMI
0:18:09 – Belsen Was A Gas
0:20:22 – Bodies
0:25:15 – Holidays In The Sun
0:29:19 – Liar
0:34:15 – No Feelings
0:37:18 – Problems
0:41:56 – Pretty Vacant
0:45:14 – Anarchy In The UK
0:49:00 – No Fun

The Winterland Ballroom, originally called the New Dreamland Auditorium, opened on June 29, 1928. It initially served as a venue for boxing, opera, and tennis matches, but sometime in the late 1930s, it began to be used as an ice skating rink too – hence the name change.

In 1966, world-renowned asshole Bill Graham began renting the 37,675 square foot space for the rock ‘n’ roll, and it hosted concerts by artists including Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, The J. Geils Band, The Who, Queen, Slade, Boston, Cream, Yes, Kiss, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Steppenwolf, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Styx, Van Morrison, The Allman Brothers Band, Big Brother and the Holding Company with Janis Joplin, Jethro Tull, Pink Floyd, Ten Years After, Rush, Electric Light Orchestra, Genesis, Jefferson Airplane, Traffic, Golden Earring, Grand Funk Railroad, Humble Pie, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, Robin Trower, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Loggins and Messina, Lee Michaels, Heart, Journey, Deep Purple, J.J. Cale, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, Foghat, Mountain, B.B. King, Elvis Costello, and the incomparable Sha Na Na.

Legal capacity was 5,400 souls, so the Winterland was decent-sized but cozy. It was where Zeppelin first performed “Whole Lotta Love,” Scorsese shot The Last Waltz, and parts of “Frampton Comes Alive” were recorded.

Unfortunately, it also served as a sort of home base for The Grateful Dead, so it had to be torn down. Okay, not really. It was purchased by Consolidated Capitol Inc in 1978, demolished in 1985, and replaced with apartments.