1977: The king is dead. Elvis Presley died on this day at his Graceland home in Memphis. Although the initial autopsy lists the cause of death as cardiac arrhythmia, it is later revealed that Elvis died from a massive overdose of at least ten prescription drugs with amounts of many more being found in his bloodstream. Within months, the sad reports of the singer’s descent into drug abuse and obesity would begin flooding the popular media. 
We're all about the history of rock & roll at BoomtownAmerica.com!
Every week, we present “ROCK REMEMBERED,” a deep dive into the hidden history of rock & roll, the stories behind the artists and songs that changed the world. Join host, “Boomtown Bill” Cross each Wednesday at 7 pm (Eastern) with an encore broadcast on Saturday at noon (Eastern).
Join us this Wednesday as we cover the real-life soap opera that was "The True Story of Fleetwod Mac - Part 1!"
This is the film that started it all!
Teen exploitation movies! A nationwide craze for surfing! The slang phrase “Big Kahuna!” Sandra Dee’s brief career as a movie star!
Before Gidget, there had been movies aimed at teenagers, but they were mainly bad horror and science fiction films whose stars were still adults. Gidget was the first movie for the Baby Boomers to make the kids and their personal lifestyle the focus.
The movie was based on a book written in 1957 by Frederick Kohner. The book was based on the real life adventures of the author’s daughter, Kathy who was the first female to successfully infiltrate the small California sub-culture of surfers a few years before that. The males really did call her “Gidget” (a contraction of “girl” and “midget”).
In addition to Ms. Dee in the title role, Columbia Pictures cast future Oscar-winner Cliff Robertson as the head of the surfers (the Big Kahuna) and actor-singer James Darren as Gidget’s would-be boyfriend Moondoggie. While Gidget would change from film to film, Darren is, was and always will be Moondoggie.
The film was actually shot in the winter at Leo Carillo State Park in California. Sandra Dee reports that she had a major crush on Darren during filming and would have gladly surrendered her real virginity to him (mirroring one of the film’s plot threads), but Darren was married at the time and says he did all he could not to give into temptation (sort of like what ultimately happened in the film)!
The movie earned Columbia a big glassy wave of cash and directly spawned two sequels (Gidget Goes Hawaiian and Gidget Goes to Rome), a TV series (Sally Field's first big break) and three made-for-TV movies (Gidget Grows Up, Gidget Gets Married, and Gidget’s Summer Reunion) as well as brief attempt at an updated TV series, The New Gidget in 1986. It was also directly responsible for inspiring American International to launch the Beach Party movies.
For whatever reason, no actress played the part twice. Sandra Dee was followed by Deborah Walley, Cindy Carol, Sally Field, Karen Valentine, Monie Ellis, and Caryn Richman.
If you watch it today, Gidget is a cut above the Frankie & Annette movies with much better production values and much less gratuitous footage of young girls shaking their bikini bottoms for the camera.
BTW the real Gidget is still around.
As school starts, a reminder to stay safe!
Lots of bands have logos. Chicago made a recording career out of spinning endless variations of their logo into album covers. But the oldest and certainly most iconic is the Beatles logo – the one with what is known as the “Drop-T” design. But who the heck created it?
The Beatles original logo was a somewhat uninspired affair that played on the insect-like nature of their name. And as he did with so much of the Beatles physical look, it was manager Brian Epstein who brought about the change in the boys’ logo.
In 1963 as the band was starting to really take off in the UK, Epstein called on local Liverpool music retailer Ivor Arbiter to obtain a better drum kit for Ringo. He also asked Arbiter if he had any ideas for a revised logo for the group. Arbiter quickly sketched out the design we all know so well.
How much was Ivor paid for the design? Five pounds (or $6.50 American).
But Arbiter had one other condition. The Beatles had to leave the Ludwig logo on the bass drum. That little move probably netted the Ludwig drum company millions in the years that followed.
And now you know the story of a little piece of artwork that will outlive us all!
Good news! There are some healthy foods that actually taste good and you’ll want to eat. It’s nuts!
No, not a crazy kind of idea, but the actual food category of nuts. They’re loaded with nutrients and, as more and more research is showing, many kinds of nuts also have additional benefits to our mental as well as physical well-being.
Here’s just a small sample:
Almonds – Almonds are an incredible source of vitamin E, which has been shown to reduce the risk of dementia.
Pistachios – Pistachios help the brain generate what’s known as gamma waves, which boost cognition and memory.
Walnuts – In addition to being rich in fiber and protein, walnuts are also believed to help improve mood.
Roasted or Raw?
That’s up to your personal taste. Research indicates that there's no difference in the health value between roasted and raw, provided the nuts are roasted without oil.
What if You’re Allergic to Nuts?
If you are one of the unfortunates who are allergic to tree nuts, some of the same benefits can be yours by upping your consumption of seeds such as pumpkin seeds and hemp seeds.