Tommy’s Coffee Break Calendar for December 14th

Today we remember a great American singer, give high five's for an artists' first chart-topper, and then hardly anybody shows up for a Bruce show...

12/14/1963 (55 years ago today) - One of America's all-time great blues and jazz vocalists passes away: Dinah Washington was only 39 years old when she died in her sleep from a lethal combination of secobarbital and amobarbital. Born Ruth Lee Jones, Dinah was the de facto "most popular black female recording artist of the 1950's"; known as The Queen Of The Blues, she picked up a Grammy award in 1959 for "What A Difference A Day Makes" and in 1993 she was inducted into The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame where her 1953 R&B single "TV Is The Thing (This Year)" is listed there as one of the songs that helped shape rock and roll. Fantastic chops -- pick up her LP "After Hours With Miss D" (1954), a total 5-star masterpiece.

12/14/1968 (50 years ago today) - Marvin Gaye scores his first No. 1 single on the U.S. chart: "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" would remain in the top spot for five weeks in a row. First recorded by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles in 1966, it was Marvin's version that was most successful -- it also went to No. 1 in England, and is one of four Marvin Gaye singles listed on Rolling Stone's Top 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time (the other three being "What's Going On", "Let's Get It On", and "Sexual Healing"). We always feel better when listening to Marvin Gaye, that's a fact.

12/14/1973 (45 years ago today) - No lines at the bar: Bruce Springsteen appears at the Pinecrest Country Club in Shelton, Connecticut. Only 200 tickets are sold.

Ticket stubs for the Calendar can be sent here to our web site and on the WBLM Facebook and Twitter pages with the hashtag #TommysCoffeeBreak.

"People say believe half of what you see, son/And none of what you hear...", xoxo!