Have you received a phone call, text or email promising you a cruise or vacation getaway that sounds too good to be true?

Beware, it probably is.

If you receive an invite for a resort stay, airline tickets or other vacation come on via email, do not click on the link. Often times all you’ll get is malware. Or you may have to endure really hard-sell presentations for pricey travel and vacation clubs. And we don’t need to tell you never fall for any “free” offer that requires you to give up credit card numbers or personal information.

1951: A new radio program begins on WJW in Cleveland. Broadcast in the dead of night and called “The Moondog Rock ‘n’ Roll House Party,” it’s hosted by DJ Alan Freed. The show introduces white kids to black R&B records and will, within a few years, completely change the sound of popular music.

Studies have shown that Teflon coated cookware may not be the best choice for food preparation. Teflon coatings made before 2012 contains an acid that can seep into food cooked in them.

Experts now recommend stainless steel and cast iron as better cooking choices.

1966: Steven Demetre Georgiou has his first recording session. He cuts a little tune called “I Love My Dog.” When the record is released, Steven has changed his name to Cat Stevens. (Pretty weird first name for a guy who loves his dog, right?)

1956: A young Dick Clark makes his first appearance as host of a local Philadelphia TV dance show called Bandstand.

He steps into the role when the previous host, Bob Horn, is arrested for DUI. The show would go national on ABC-TV the following year, renamed American Bandstand, and run an astonishing 37 years.

1954: Elvis Presley is played on the radio for the very first time when DJ Dewey Phillips of his home town radio station WHBQ, plays the future king’s first single, “That’s Alright, Mama.” Response is so positive, Phillips will play it 14 more times on that same show.

"Sweet Baby James" (1970)

James Taylor might be the first superstar to emerge in the 1970’s. His classic album, “Sweet Baby James” was released just two months into the new decade.

In point of fact, it was Taylor’s second studio album. His first, titled after himself, had been released on the Beatles’ Apple label two years earlier. It was a respectable debut, garnering favorable reviews and a smattering of FM airplay. But Taylor’s drug usage put him in the hospital when he should have been on the road promoting the album.

Here’s the story behind the making of this classic. 

Fortunately, Apple’s head of A&R (artists and repertoire) and the man who produced Taylor’s debut was Peter Asher, sister of longtime Paul McCartney girlfriend Jane Asher and one-half of the 1960’s British pop mainstays Peter & Gordon.

Asher brought Taylor back to his native America, got him a new record deal with Warmer Brothers and set about producing the album that became “Sweet Baby James.”

In the intervening two years, pop tastes had shifted in Taylor’s direction. His softer, country-influenced tunes were exactly what people wanted to hear. It also helped that Warner Brother had a far better promotion department than Apple.

Powered by the blockbuster single “Fire and Rain” (about Taylor’s stay at a mental institution among other things), “Sweet Baby James” quickly became a “must have” for any music-conscious Boomer. The LP eventually reached #3 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Albums chart. It also reached the top 10 in the UK and Canada. Other tracks of the album that received considerable airplay included: “Sunny Skies,” “Steamroller” “Country Road,” and the title track.

A few interesting facts about this rock classic:

- Several of the top session men lent their talents to the album including Red Rhodes (steel guitar), Russ Kunkel (drums) and Danny Kortchmar (guitar)

- Future Eagle Randy Meisner played bass

- Carole King played piano and contributed some backing vocals

-Taylor was so broke at the time that he was essentially homeless. While he was recording the album, he was crashing at the home of producer Asher, guitarist Kortchmar or anyone who would take him in

- The LP’s final track, “Suite for 20G” is a not-so-subtle reference to the $20,000 Warners promised to pay Taylor when the completed album was delivered. Desperate for the cash, Taylor took three unfinished songs and strung them together so he could wrap up the sessions and get that much needed money

Rolling Stone has ranked “Sweet Baby James” #103 on their list of the greatest albums of all time. VH1 named it #77 on a similar ranking.

From Gilligan's Island and everyone in Boomtown America!

1968: Following a gig in Luton, England, the Yardbirds disband.

Their guitarist, a young kid named Jimmy Page, decides to try and honor some of the gigs the band had committed to and starts recruiting members for “the New Yardbirds.” He gets Robert Plant, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham. Wonder how that worked out?

1957: A day that not only changed music history, but cultural history as well.

It was on this day that a young Paul McCartney met John Lennon when Paul showed up at a church in Liverpool where John’s band the Quarrymen was playing.

In between sets, Paul demonstrates his proficiency on guitar to John, singing Eddie Cochran’s “Twenty Flight Rock.” John decides to include him in the band.