"So this is Christmas and what have you done? Another year over, a new one just begun... A very merry Christmas and a happy new year, let's hope it's a good one without any fear." These lyrics feel especially apt as we get ready to head into 2021 after a difficult year facing a global…
Last holiday season controversy erupted over a radio station's decision to ban "Baby, It's Cold Outside." And this year, John Legend & Kelly Clarkson's new version has stirred up opinions on the song once again. What is the controversy all about? And what's the context for the original song's lyrics? Read more below about the…
Monster Mash. It was a graveyard smash. Monster Mash was released in 1962. Written by Bobby Pickett and Leonard Capizzi and recorded by Pickett and “the Crypt-Kickers.,” the single hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart from October 20-27, 1962 and has been a Halloween favorite ever since. The song features Pickett doing an […]
What are the origins of a popular song that has become a Halloween favorite? A breakup, a blues singer, and a drunken recording session. A song many know because of its numerous cover versions, "I Put a Spell on You" is now included on Halloween playlists, owing partly to its inclusion in the movie Hocus…
On this day in 1992 the Los Angeles riots broke out in response to two specific incidents in the city and general mounting racial tensions. Just over a year prior an African American man, Rodney King, was beaten and tasered by police during a traffic stop/chase resulting in the officers involved being charged with excessive…
Having grown up in an era when Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was already established as a national holiday, it can seem as if the holiday was a no-brainer, a day to celebrate this important man's contributions to civil rights, equality, and our nation. However, the holiday was, and still is by some, debated and…
Ok, so you may know that a few of these are about the Vietnam War (1955-1975), but some are a bit more obscure or surprising. The Vietnam War is one of the least understood, most contested and divisive wars in American history. The war was so hotly opposed by the American public that returning veterans…
Beth Nevarez Historical Consulting 