gregorygalloway

[gregorygalloway]

The Beatles performed “All You Need is Love” to as many as 400 million people via the first live global television broadcast on 25 June 1967.

The program, Our World, was conceived by BBC producer Aubrey Singer and included performers representing 19 nations.  Maria Callas, Pablo Picasso, and Marshall McLuhan participated in the 2 ½ hour program. Around 10,000 technicians, producers and translators helped make the event happen.

The Beatles performed at 9:36 (GMT) and were accompanied by a 13-piece orchestra: Sidney Sax, Patrick Halling, Eric Bowie and Jack Holmes (violin); Rex Morris and Don Honeywill (tenor saxophone); Evan Watkins and Harry Spain (trombone); Jack Emblow (accordion); and Stanley Woods and David Mason (trumpet). They played live to a pre-recorded backing track of harpsichord, piano, drums and backing vocals.

The Beatles were surrounded by invited friends, including surrounded by various friends including Jane Asher, Eric Clapton, Marianne Faithfull, Pattie Harrison, Mick Jagger, Keith Moon, Graham Nash, and Keith Richards.

Lennon re-recorded his vocals immediately after the broadcast, and Ringo re-recorded his drums for the single, which was released on 7 July 1967 in the UK and 17 July in the US.

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Fahrenheit 9/11 was released on 25 June 2004, after premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

Mel Gibson had originally agreed to finance the film through his Icon Productions, but dropped the film (and a planned multi-film deal with Michael Moore). Miramax (which had produced Moore's 1997 film The Big One) picked up the film, but when Disney (Miramax's owner) learned of the deal, they demanded that Miramax drop the film. Miramax refused and completed production without Disney's knowledge. Disney then refused to release the finished film and after the involvement of lawyers, leaks to the press, and more serious negotiations, Miramax owners Bob and Harvey Weinstein established Fellowship Adventure Group to distribute the film.

Fahrenheit 9/11 was the #1 movie in the US its opening weekend, earning more in 3 days than any other feature-length documentary had made in its entire theatrical run. It would go on to earn more than $200 million in the US and more than $500 million worldwide (and shown in more than 40 countries).

In 2011, Moore sued the Weinsteins for unpaid profits. The lawsuit was settled out of court.

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Blade Runner was released on 25 June 1982.

Based Philip K. Dick’s 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Hampton Fancher’s screenplay had been bought in 1977 but the project had failed to find a director until Ridley Scott left Dune and agreed to direct Blade Runner in 1980. Scott hired David Peoples to rewrite the script (although Fancher returned for later rewrites). Although Dick died shortly before the film’s release, he was pleased with the final script and a 20-minute special effects test reel he had been shown.

Harrison Ford and Ridley Scott famously fought during much of the production, with Ford saying in 1992, “Blade Runner is not one of my favorite films. I tangled with Ridley.“ and Scott saying in a 2006 interview that Ford was “the biggest pain in the arse“ he’d ever worked with.

While Blade Runner was a moderate critical and commercial success (it opened after a number of sci-fi releases, including The Thing, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and E.T. the Extra-Terrestial), its impact and influence was almost immediate. The film’s reputation has increased over the years, with Blade Runner being listed as one of the best movies of all time (#13 on Empire, #47 on Total Film’s Editors list, #67 on Sight & Sound).

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James Baldwin’s 3rd novel, Another Country, was first published on 25 June 1962.

Baldwin had started working on the book in 1948 at the age of 24 and worked on it throughout his time in Paris, France before finishing it in Istanbul, Turkey (the Ford Foundation had given him $12,000 to complete the novel).

While the novel received mixed reviews at the time, it was a bestseller and a film adaptation was announced in 1964, with Tony Richardson directing. The film was never made.

Many pages in Baldwin’s FBI file concern Another Country, and J. Edgar Hoover’s personal dislike for the novel, focusing on the book’s interracial sex and homosexuality.

Another Country has been named as one of the best novels in English since 1939.

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Shaft premiered in Los Angeles, CA on 25 June 1971.

Based on Ernest Tidyman’s 1970 novel of the same name, Gordon Parks’ 2nd feature film is considered the 3rd “blaxploitation” film, and the most popular.

Produced on a budget of less than $1 million the film went on to earn more than $13 million and saved the struggling MGM studio from going bankrupt (it was one of only 3 movies to turn a profit for MGM in 1971).

Tidyman would go on to write 6 Shaft sequels, and 2 film sequels were produced, as well as a reboot/remake/sequel in 2000 with Samuel L. Jackson playing John Shaft’s nephew (and Richard Roundtree playing John Shaft), and a short-lived TV series 1973–1974.

The film received 2 Academy Award nominations - both for Isaac Hayes, who received the Oscar for Best Original Song for “Theme from Shaft.”

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Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Die bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival on 25 June 1972.

Influenced by the films of Douglas Sirk and the German theatre tradition of the 1920s Kammerspiel (chamber drama), the 37-year-old Fassbinder assembled an all-female cast and one-room set to create a “mood of tortured introspection.”

The film was not shown in the US until September 1973 as The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant.

The film had a mixed reception when it was first released. Lesbian groups protested what they saw as a morbid freak show, while critics complained of Fassbinder’s “defeatism.” It has since been hailed as a landmark in European film.

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The Cure's 12th studio album was released in the US on 25 June 2004.

The self-title album was the first with producer Ross Robinson (and released on his label), who recorded the band mostly live in the studio. Robinson also suggested the Robert Smith alter his usual approach of recording the music first and then adding vocals, and instead, sharing the lyrics with the rest of the band before recording the music.

The album debuted at #7 in the US and would go on to sell almost 400,000 copies.

The cover images were created by Smith's nieces and nephews, who had been asked to draw "a good dream" and "a bad dream."

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Purple Rain, Prince’s 6th album (and his first with the Revolution), was released on 25 June 1984, almost a month before the movie of the same name hit theaters.

The album sold more than 1.5 million copies in its first week, and has sold more than 22 million copies total (making it the 6th best-selling soundtrack in history).

The album included 4 Top Ten Hits (”When Doves Cry” and “Let’s Go Crazy” both reached #1 on the Billboard chart), and “When Doves Cry” ended 1984 as the Top Single of the Year on Billboard.

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Split Enz’s 5th studio album was released on 25 June 1980 (Tim Finn’s 28th birthday).

It was the band’s 3rd album to be released internationally, and their first to chart in the US, peaking at #40 (their best-selling album in the US). It topped the charts in Australia and the band’s native New Zealand.

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Linda Cardellini (born 25 June 1975)

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Cooley High was released on 25 June 1975.

Written by Eric Monte (who had helped create Good Times), and directed by Michael Schultz, Cooley High was made for around $750,000 and would go on to earn more than $13 million at the box office, making it one of the highest grossing films of the year.

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The 14th studio album by the Mothers of Invention (and 20th by Frank Zappa) was released on 25 June 1975.

Often cited as one of the "easiest" places to start listening to Zappa, One Size Fits All also contains some of his most complex songs, including the near-9-minute opener "Inca Roads."

Originally planned as a Warner Bros. release, the company decided to put it out on its DiscReet label with little publicity. Zappa complained about the lack of promotion, but One Size Fits All peaked at #26 in the US.

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Carly Simon (born 25 June 1945)

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Clifton Chenier (25 June 1925 – 12 December 1987)

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Larry Kramer (25 June 1935 - 27 May 2020)

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McCabe & Mrs. Miller was released in the US on 24 June 1971.

Based on Edmund Naughton’s 1959 novel, McCabe, Robert Altman wrote the screenplay with Brian McKay and (uncredited) Ben Maddow.

Altman had used songs by Leonard Cohen as “guide tracks” for filming and editing (”When I shot the scenes I fitted them to the songs, as if they were written for them,” Altman said) never thinking he would be able to get the rights to use them in the final film. Cohen, however, arranged for his record company to license 3 songs (The Stranger Song", “Sisters of Mercy” and “Winter Lady) cheaply, even writing into the contract that sales of his first album after the release of McCabe would turn some of the royalties to Altman.

The film received mixed reviews when it was first released, although Julie Christie received an Academy Award nomination for her performance.

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The Caine Mutiny premiered in New York City on 24 June 1954, before wider release in July.

Based on Herman Wouk's 1951 novel (which had been a stage production in 1953), the film shifts focus from Ensign Keith (Robert Francis) to Captain Queeg (Humphrey Bogart).

Film studios did not want to make the film without the involvement of the US Navy, and the Navy was reluctant to get involved with a film depicting an officer as insane (or a film with the word "mutiny" in its title). Producer Stanley Kramer purchased the rights to Wouk's novel with his own money and after 15 months of negotiation, the Navy agreed to provide access ports, ships, and planes, and Columbia Studios put the film into production.

Director Edward Dmytryk had been blacklisted since 1947 and had gone to England, returned in 1951 and named names before HUAC. He was taken off the blacklist, but no one hired him, except Kramer. They had worked on 3 low-budget films (The Sniper, Eight Iron Men, and The Juggler) before Kramer hired him to direct The Caine Mutiny.

The film was a commercial and critical success, and was nominated for 7 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Bogart), Best Screenplay (Stanley Roberts), and Best Supporting Actor (Tom Tully). It did not receive an Oscar.