Blast IT

[caseyjo]

Whats the last song, Tv Vid, or on-line tune you listened to?..If you cant remember, what do you feel like listening to & if you dont feel like listening to anything, what is one of your all time favorite tunes?..Take your pic.....It's Blast it  time in the old TBd music room tonight.... So hit it peeps This is what I just listened to......It's actually on my profile right now.

[Snagg]

[Snagg]

Today in Musical History, June 21st:

1932: Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin, Argentinian-American soundtrack and theme composer, arranger, conductor and musician, b. Buenos Aires, Argentina. A short list of his best-known work would include "Mission: Impossible", "Enter The Dragon", "Cool Hand Luke", the "Dirty Harry": movies, "Bullitt", the 1974 "The Four Musketeers", "The Beguiled", "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.", "Starsky & Hutch", "Planet Of The Apes" and many, many more. 5 Grammy's worth, at least.  

[Snagg]

[Snagg]

Today in Musical History, June 21st:

Todd Harry Rundgren b. 1948, Upper Darby, PA

[Snagg]

[Snagg]

Today in Musical History, June 23rd:

1948: Alan Bermowitz, AKA Alan Vega, of Suicide, b. Brooklyn, NY

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[Snagg]

Today in Musical History, June 24th:

1935: Terrence Mitchell "Terry" Riley, American minimalist composer and keyboardist (and a big influence on Pete Townshend), b. Colfax, CA

[Snagg]

[Snagg]

Today in Musical History, June 25th: 

1937: Eddie Lee Floyd, b. Montgomery, AL

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[Snagg]

Today in Musical History, June 26th:
1909 (?): Andreas Cornelius van Kujik, AKA one of the sleaziest, greediest, most unscrupulous managers and con men in history, "Colonel" Tom Parker, b. Breda, the Netherlands.

A boyhood carnival barker, hustler, dockworker, and illegal immigrant to the United States in 1929 (apparently staying just ahead of the Dutch cops, who saw him as a potential suspect in a murder in Rotterdam), Kujik changed his name to Parker, in order to disappear from view as an enlisted man - even though he soon went AWOL; He was arrested and charged with desertion, which led to a stint in solitary confinement, from which he emerged with a "psychosis" that got him kicked out of the Army.

(During this time, Parker / Kujik also allowed his own mother, back in Holland, to die without having ever contacted her to let her know that he was alive and (relatively) well in America.)

(Parker's first marriage, to one Marie Mott, was probably illegal, as Mott was still married to her first husband at the time Parker and her claim to have married.)

Even his rank of "Colonel" was fraudulent, having been bestowed upon the Army washout by Louisiana governor Jimmie Davis.

After his discharge, Parker worked the carnival and medicine show circuit, including a sorry-assed sideshow act called "Tom Parker and his Dancing Turkeys". He transitioned into music promotion in the late '30's, eventually managing a few singers, including (briefly) Eddy Arnold, from whom Parker squeezed an exorbitant 25% of his earnings; Arnold fired Parker when Parker started putting more effort into promoting Hank Snow than Arnold.

Soon afterwards, Parker became aware of Elvis, and maneuvered himself into an "advisory" position when Presley's then-manager, Memphis radio personality Bob Neal, couldn't handle both Presley's struggling career and his own job. Parker took over entirely in 1955, while Presley was still a legal minor, and both Parker and Snow brokered the sale of Presley's contract from Sam Phillips to RCA.

Parker probably ripped off more than half of Elvis' earnings, and was actually a sloppy and financially careless manager, costing Presley and himself millions in bad decisions regarding royalties; It was Parker who committed Presley to his miserable Las Vegas years, largely to balance Parker's huge gambling debts to the Strip's casinos, and he was also the main reason that Elvis never toured outside the USA - Being an illegal alien, Parker was terrified that he not only couldn't get a passport, but his past might be uncovered, and he would likely be deported and returned to Dutch authorities if he ever left the United States. 

A through-and-through rat bastard scumbag to his rancid core, Parker's words upon learning of Presley's death, were "Well, I'll just go right on managing him !". Parker showed up at Presley's funeral in a Hawaiian shirt and a baseball cap, completely ignored the casket, and took the opportunity to bully Elvis' dad Vernon into signing over all rights to Elvis' post-mortem career to him.

If any other man in history, other than P.T. Barnum, Roy Cohn, and Benedict Arnold have been an inspiration to Donald Trump, it would've been Tom Parker. Along with George Armstrong Custer and Richard Nixon, Parker's death date should be a national holiday and a cause for celebration.

It was Parker, of course, who badgered a heartbroken Vernon Presley into writing and recording several maudlin songs, in a cheap attempt to squeeze even a few more dollars out of the Presley name. What a titanic asshole.