Song of the Day

For the Fourth of July, Song of the Day's Sheldon Zoldan is taking a crack at the classic patriotic hymn, Yankee Doodle Dandy.

Fridays are when we enjoy a new weekly series that's part history, part trivia, and ALL music. The series features selections from former News-Press editor Sheldon Zoldan's 'Song of the Day." The initiative began as a daily lockdown project on Facebook at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, through which Zoldan highlights how every aspect of life has a connection through music. This week's Song of the Day, for April 4th, is "Lions" by Skip Marley.

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963. Sheldon Zoldan’s Song of the day recognizes “The Summer of His Years” as the first song written about his death.

Without the Industrial Revolution and some newly formed medical ideas, there would be no Beach Boys, beach movies, beach bums or National Beach Day, which is today, August 30.

Linda Ronstadt was plenty good. She had the voice of an angel and a face to match. On August 23, 2013, in an interview with AARP she said that she had Parkinson’s Disease. The diagnosis was later corrected to progressive supranuclear palsy, another degenerative brain disease.

Elvis Presley died August 16,1977 at the age of 42. To this day, he remains the king of rock ‘n’ roll. "Can't Help Falling in Love" was the last song he sang in concert before his death.

Some say the 1960s died in the overnight hours of August 9, 1969, when the Manson Family forced their way into the home of actress Sharon Tate, killing her, her unborn baby, and four others. They left the words "Helter Skelter" on the walls.

Enrico Caruso is considered the greatest tenor ever, even 103 years after his death. Caruso died August 2, 1921, in Naples, Italy. He was 48.

Happy birthday to Mick Jagger. He turns 81 today, though his body acts 50 years younger. He was born July 26, 1943.

If our Song of the Day, “You Don’t Own Me,” had existed in 1848, it would have been the perfect rallying cry for the women attending the first women’s convention held in the U.S.It was during that convention on July 19, that the Declaration of Sentiments and Grievances was adopted.