The Kingdome Welcomes the Mariners

Famed for its portrayal in Jim Bouton’s tell-all book Ball Four, the Seattle Pilots lasted one season—1969.  While the Mets inched toward an improbable World Series victory against the Baltimore Orioles, the Pilots went 64-98.  After the ’69 season,...

Disco Demolition Night

Disco’s transition from musical genre to mainstream phenomenon occurred when John Travolta mesmerized movie audiences in 1977 with his portrayal of fictional Brooklynite Tony Manero in Saturday Night Fever.  After Travolta’s bravura performance, disco...

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Pelham

Hollywood’s 2009 remake of the 1970s classic movie The Taking of Pelham 123 starred three actors who got their big breaks on the small screen. Denzel Washington played Walter Garber, a New York City civil servant suddenly elevated to be the liaison to hostage...

Cartoon Tunes

Hard rock sounds of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and the Doors emerged as musical touchstones in the late 1960s.  A decade later, disco ruled, largely because of the phenomenon of the movie Saturday Night Fever and its soundtrack anchored by the Bee Gees.  In between,...