Some time ago, we talked about Prince Rupert on the anniversary of his death. Well today, it's the anniversary of his birth! He was not as helpful during the English Civil War as he could have been, because he wasn't that great of a general. Like the proverbial fine wine, he did improve with age, and after the Restoration, found a job in England again. And did a decent job there. So happy 392nd birthday, Rupe!
If you're of my age group or older, then you remember always watching the Boston Pops perform on the TV. And who led them? Why it was none other than Arthur Fiedler! And guess who has a birthday today? Why it's none other than Arthur Fiedler! What are the odds of that coincidence? At any rate, he was apparently a good conductor, but kind of a poopy-head. But alas, domineering poopy-heads often make good leaders, since they insist on quality and high performance (cough-Steve Jobs-cough).
Another birthday for another business person. I'll give you the name, and you guess his company: Burt Baskin. Here's a hint: He went into business with his brother in law Irv Robbins. Got it yet? I can recall the good old days, when a trip to B&R was quite the treat for this kid. Don't get there very often anymore- more likely to his Dairy Queen myself. Which is surprising, as B&R does have some good stuff.
Speaking of things that have good taste, we'll forget about that category; and go into things with horribly bad taste. Happy birthday to Bob Guccione, the founder and longtime publisher of Penthouse Magazine. It was the much more explicit younger sibling of Playboy. Haven't seen one for a long time, but if Playboy was X-Rated, then Penthouse was at least XXX. You could see lots of things in there, though not when I was a kid- it got slightly more... open minded in about the late 80s, I guess.
Ooh, it's the birthday of Reuben Kincaid! "Who?" I hear you ask? Okay, his name is Dave Madden, but he played Reuben Kincaid, the manager for the Partridge Family. Be still your heart! Danny got Reuben to sell some of their songs! And it really came together when Mom sang along!
One of the famous Ripkens was born on this date in 1935. That would be Cal. Cal Sr. He was a coach in the Baltimore Orioles organization, and so it wasn't too surprising when his sons Cal Jr and Billy joined the Team. Cal stayed for 800-900 years, but Billy... not so much. Maybe it had to do with the relative lack of talent. Or maybe... it was a conspiracy!
Another birthday celebrant is Eddie Kendricks. He was one of the Temptations. All those songs with a falsetto lead voice? That was him. He left us a long time ago, but his legacy lives on. And do I need to mention he lived in, though he wasn't a native of, the Detroit area? So you know what that means... Yup. Eddie was cool!
Do you want to believe it's time to wish a happy birthday to Ernie Hudson? If there's a paycheck in it, I'll believe anything. That's right- the least important of all the Ghostbusters was born on this date in 1945. If Ghostbusters had been Star Trek, he probably would have worn a red shirt. But it wasn't, so he didn't. And thus, he's still alive. Go figure. Interestingly, he was born in Benton Harbor Michigan. So I guess it turns out that... he's also cool! Sort of.
In music news, happy day to Paul Rodgers! He was born in 1949, and went on to play and sing in the bands Free and Bad Company. After that, he was also in a couple more bands, The Firm and The Law, neither of which were as good as the first two. In recent years, he's toured with Queen- I would say that he has "replaced" Freddie Mercury, but well... nobody could ever do that. The Rodgers version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" surprisingly didn't completely suck though, so that's a point in his favor. But it was nowhere near being in the same league as the original.
And again, there were a few interesting folks also born today, but we'll hold them back for next time. Enjoy!
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