Headlines---

Classified Ads--- Contract Administrator
                      This Week in the Economy
                        Scam-a-roonie Reaction
        Hooray! Leasing Partners Capital Makes It $2000 Raised
            Alexa Ranks Leasing Association Web Sites
             Both Houses Escalate Alleged Leasing Tax Abuse Crusade
              Government Leasing to Present at Lessors.com Showcase
                 Help  Wanted Ads
                  RBS Lombard 2^nd Year Hits $2.5 billion
                   “Gimme that Wine”
                      This Day in American History

           Classified Ads--- Contract Administrator

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    to post a free job wanted ad, please go here:  http://64.125.68.90/LeasingNews/PostingForm.asp

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This Week in the Economy

   February 17 Tuesday
Industrial Production: January
Capacity Utilization: January

  February 18 Wednesday
Housing Construction: January

 February 19 Thursday
Leading Indicators: January
Producer Prices: January
Weekly Jobless Claims

 February 20 Friday
Consumer Price Index: January

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          Scam-a-roonie Reaction

“SHOCKING article in ( Friday's) LEASING NEWS!!  I am sure a few leasing companies are scrambling to cover their tracks as we speak!!  I bet D&B would love to get their hands on people who are manipulating their services!!  Impersonating an officer of a company is that FRAUD??? obtaining leases based on fraudulent information is that wire fraud??  ummmmmm...maybe one of our distinguished leasing lawyers could chime in with an answer “name and address withheld please”

--

“Why don't you print the name of the small ticket broker who is doing this?  I know exactly who it is.  All the allegations ring true with everything I know about that company. The D&B approach, the vendor invoicing scam.  These are all techniques used to fund deals that wouldn't otherwise fund.”

Anonymous

(sent by web site contact form, not signed)

-- 

“Very interesting on the scams.  Why are all the scam artists in Southern CA?  I have found 5 vendors in CA that are selling inflated medical software systems with cash back to the doctor.  They all must be attending the same 'how to scam in the new millennium' seminar at the local Hilton!! “

Gary Saulter
Chase Industries, Inc.
800-968-5000
Fax: 616-459-6822
www.chaseindustries.com

(Sorry you got that impression. Of the six scams mentioned, only one involved a Southern California broker---but with three funders. editor )

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        Hooray! Leasing Partners Capital Makes It $2000 Raised

" Add Leasing Partners Capital, Inc. to your list as #10 for a $200

donation. I must commend you, again, for promulgating a proactive approach on this subject."

    Regards,
 Bruce Larsen
 National Sales Manager
 Leasing Partners Capital

      Leasing News reaches its goal with the donation and help from Leasing Partners Capital.

     Here are others that have joined the effort to date by donating $200 plus the forms they have been using successfully at their company:

Steve Chriest
Alamo, California

Ben Carlile
Allegiant Partners Incorporated

Patrick Byrne
Balboa Capital

 Warren Hawkins
Bank Partners

Gary Saulter
Chase Industries

Gary Trebels, CLP
IFC Credit Corporation 

Theresa Kabot
Kabot Commercial Leasing

Charlie Lester
LPI Financial Services

Mark Watkins
Geneva Capital LLC

 The money will be used to create a generic form, hopefully valid in most states, to spell out what is "earned" for working on an application.

While we do not want to give legal advice, particularly realizing that states differ and there are  also licensing issue, we asked Ken Greene for some "generic" help on this bilateral agreement. He now will start work on this project. He has agreed to perform this service, review the forms, and then devise a "generic one" to leasing companies and brokers retain expenses, particularly if an application is not approved or terms and conditions change.

"I am glad to help if a pool of leasing companies would like to get together and hire me to put together a thorough form. It can still be simple, but it should be internally consistent and not 

appear to be punitive in nature."

 Ken

Kenneth C. Greene
Law Offices of Kenneth C. Greene
980 Magnolia Avenue Suite 6C
Larkspur, CA 94939

Vox: 415 461 3777

Fax: 415 461 3733

E-Mail: keng@kengreenelaw.com
Website: www.kengreenelaw.com

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Alexa Ranks Leasing Association Web Sites

Rank   02/13/2003   01/15/2003      WEBSITE NAME 

1.            79,337          74,058    www.leasingnews.org  Kit Menkin's Leasing News

2.            83,362          88,325     www.aba.com American Bankers Association

3.          105,303         101,572      www.monitordaily.com Monitor Daily

4.          151,798         133,416     www.elaonline.com Equipment Leasing Assoc.

5.          159,103         145,850     www.nacha.org The Electronic Payments Assoc.

6.          217,246         170,468     www.Leasingpress.com Leasing Press

7.          446,488         491,963      www.ibaa.org Ind Community Bankers America

8.          502,246         445,321     www.us-banker.com  U.S.Banker 

9.          573,321         672,497     www.cfa.com  Commercial Finance Association

10.        573,766         651,792     www.uael.org  United Assoc.of Equipment Leasing

11.        813,354         897,189     www.leasefoundation.org Equip/Leasing & Fin Fnd

12.        825,179         692,017     www.pblaw.com/newsletters/bln/ Bus.Leasing n.*

13.        948,208         868,508     www.lessors.com  eLessors Networking Assoc.

14.     1,032,152         825,697     www.efj.com Equipment Financial Journal

15.     1,116,188         984,422     www.executivecaliber.ws  Exec Caliber-J. Taylor

16.     1,200,452      1,059,661     www.nvla.org National Vehicle Leasing Assoc.

17.     1,242,490      1,083,174     www.naelb.org  Nat. Assoc. Equip Leasing Brokers 

18.     1,299,201      3,391,090     www.iicl.org  Institute of Inter. Container Lessors

19.     1,688,029      2,906,769     www.aglf.org  Assoc of Gov. Leasing  Financing

20.     1,877,761         No Data     www.nationalfunding.org The Nat. Funding Assoc.

21.     1,922,680      3,532,883     www.clpfoundation.org   CLP Foundation

22.     2,487,354      2,483,380     www.eael.org Eastern Assoc. of Equip. Leasing

23.     3,864,260      3,853,087     www.mael.org Mid-Am. Assoc. of Equip Lessors

24.     4,347,817      2,737,790     www.leasecollect.org Lean -Lease Enforcement

25.     No Data         No Data        www.leasingtoday.com Leasing Today 

26.     NO DATA       NO DATA      www.1stBusinessDay.com BizWiz Daily

Note: The Business Leasing News website is the specific web address, and not the address of the law offices, which would result in a rating of the entire site, in addition to the newsletter itself.

These comparison are compiled by Leasing News using Alexa and should be viewed as a "sampling," rather than actual count from the website itself.

 The Alexa tool bar works on most browsers. They are partnered with Google. You may download their free tool bar

To learn more about how the rankings work: http://pages.alexa.com/prod_serv/%20quicktour_new.html

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Senate Budget Committee

     Now Escalates Alleged Leasing Tax Abuse Crusade

In last Friday's session, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee asked the Treasury Department on Friday for a list of known tax loopholes, pledging to halt abuses and plug one transaction he called ``a shell game.''  He asked Treasury Secretary John Snow, who already has announced his opposition to large "sale/leasebacks" between "indifferent parties," was asked to expand the list.

The statement from Oklahoma Republican Don Nickles adds tax avoidance to the items under scrutiny as lawmakers work to reduce the federal deficit. He again mentioned a lease transaction used by corporations to increase their tax deductions made his target list.

In those arrangements, municipalities sell or lease public works - such as subways, bridges or water systems - to a corporation in exchange for a payment. The corporation deducts from its taxes the depreciated value of the infrastructure. The local government retains control of the public works.

Critics say taxpayers lose more through the corporate deductions than they gain in benefits to their cities and towns. Snow said the federal government loses $10 for every $1 brought into local governments.

``It's a shell game,'' Nickles said. ``It may be legal, but it's abuse of the tax system.''

In seeking to defend the Treasury's leasing tax-increase proposals, Treasury Assistant Secretary Pam Olson testified before the House Ways and Means Committee that as much as $750 billion of “SILO” transactions have been done in the past four years.  This information was submitted to the Senate Budget Committee, which estimates that U.S. corporations have entered lease arrangements for $750 billion worth of U.S. and foreign infrastructure in the last four years. It calculated the government could recoup $33 billion over the next decade by shutting down the practice.

``It could be much larger than that because it's a growing phenomenon,'' Snow told Nickles.

The Equipment Leasing Association has given written testimony before the committee, contesting the committee's figures and defends the arrangements as common financing tools for state and local governments. In the testimony, ELA estimated the value of assets involved in the transactions under investigation at the Treasury Department to be closer to $60 billion to $80 billion over the past four years.

``Treasury is clearly overstating the size of these types of transactions,'' said ELA President Michael Fleming.

Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said it might also be time to review older tax benefits to see if they're worth continuing. And he warned lawmakers it might not be easy to close perceived loopholes.

``One man's loophole is another man's necessity,'' he said.

Here is an excellent legal summary in plain English on “Tax-Exempt Entities” by David G. Mayer, author of "Leasing for Dummies," also written with the collaboration of George Schutzer, Patton-Boggs partner who specializes in tax matters

Government Leasing Company to present at

Lease Origination, Funding & Distribution Showcase

ATLANTA,  - (Lessors Network) - Government Leasing Company joins a prestigious list of funding sources from the commercial and municipal equipment lease markets, participating in the Lessors Network Lease Origination, Funding & Distribution Showcase scheduled March 11-12, 2004 at the Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead in Atlanta, GA.

Thomas Wittwer, President, Government Leasing Company, will deliver an overview of Government Leasing Company's 2004 buy/ sell investment strategies. Mr. Wittwer will be available to meet privately with attendees in the Networking Suite immediately following showcase presentations.

About The Lessors Network

The Lessors Network provides many free web site programs and services facilitating new business development within the commercial and municipal equipment leasing communities. Additionally, the Lessors Network produces high profile networking events for professionally intimate groups of senior level industry professionals at the Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead hotel in Atlanta.

http://www.lessors.com/events.html

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                    Help  Wanted Ads

Account Executives

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Sales Representatives

Senior Sales Executive

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#### Press Release #############################

RBS LOMBARD, INC. CELEBRATES ITS 2ND ANNIVERSARY WITH $2.5 BILLION IN ASSETS

“....fifth largest banking group in the world by market capitalization and the second largest bank in Europe.”

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

RBS Lombard, Inc., formerly known as Lombard US Equipment Finance Corporation, a member of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, celebrates its second anniversary, surpassing

$2.5 billion in assets.

The impressive achievement was accomplished through a combination of direct sales and participation in equipment lease and loan transactions, as well as turnkey loan transactions. Since opening its doors in 2002 with a handful of employees, RBS Lombard has grown to 50 employees, including equipment finance generalists and specialist teams focused on indirect sales, corporate aircraft, rail, marine, lease advisory, and municipal/cross-border; as well as support staff including administration, asset management, credit, documentation, finance, legal, marketing, and a management team.

RBS Lombard's Investments range from $10 million to $250 million, with close to half of the portfolio consisting of investment grade companies. In 2003, its new business volume surpassed $1.1 billion, and the group will continue its ambitious growth plans, said Laird Boulden, President of RBS Lombard.

“We are on track towards our goal of becoming one of the five largest equipment leasing companies in America,” said Boulden. “Our growth will be organic, through portfolio acquisitions and business acquisitions. The economy is strengthening, and all I see is opportunity.”

RBS Lombard, Inc. is the North American asset finance arm of The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc. The Royal Bank of Scotland is a broadly based financial services group with operations including: clearing banking, corporate banking, financial services, investment management, and insurance - both in the UK and overseas. It is the *fifth largest banking group in the world by market capitalization and the second largest bank in Europe. The Group serves more than 20 million customers. Through its Financial Markets division it provides specialist services in global foreign exchange, currency and structured derivatives, money markets, and a wide range of interest rate management services to The Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest international corporate and institutional client base.

*as of December 2003

Press contact:

Karen A. Pomazal,

Director of Marketing, RBS Lombard

Telephone (312) 589 8554

### Press Release ###########################

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                                   "Gimme that Wine"

                                 Top Thirty Wine Producers

                           http://www.winebusiness.com/specialsection/Top30USWineCompanies.cfm
                           Appeals Court Upholds New York's Wine-Shipping Ban

                            http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Daily/News/0,1145,2345,00.html                          2004 Oregon Wine & Food Festival Wine Awards

                            http://www.oregonwines.com/article.php?ArticleID=315                     Michael Mondavi goes on sabbatical

                        http://www.napanews.com/templates/index.cfm?templ
ate=story_full&id=306B7852-9862-4D50-A69A-BE314E67A745                  California Grapegrowers Gear Up to Fight Vine Mealybug

                  http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Daily/News/0,1145,2340,00.html                 California wine rush puts Italy in fourth spot in UK                 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/02/
17/nwine17.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/02/17/ixhome.html

________________________________________________________

                This Day in American History

    1761-Still surviving today in some communities, and considered “landmarks,” milestones between cities were set by the directors of an insurance company known as the Philadelphia Contributionship for the Insurance of Houses from Loss by Fire.  On this day, they agreed” to apply their fines ( a forfeiture of one shilling for not meeting precisely at the hour appointed, and two shillings for total absence) in purchasing Stones to be erected on the Road leading from Philadelphia toward Trenton, the distance of a mile from another with the Number of miles from Philadelphia, to be cut in each stone, and Thos, Wharton and Jacob Lewis are requested to Contract for the same.  On May 15,1764, at five o'clock in the morning, the two men starting out from front and Market streets, taking with them the Surveyor General of the Province, and plated a stone at the end of every mile.  They planed the 29^th milestone near the edge of the Delaware River, and gave their two remaining stones to be planted on the Jersey side of the road to New York.

http://www.route40.net/history/milestones/index.shtml

http://www.societe-jersiaise.org/alexgle/stonejsymilestones.html

http://www.geocities.com/jphistoricalsociety/markers.html

     1801-Presidential candidate Thomas Jefferson won support of a majority of congressional Representatives displacing incumbent John Adams. Jefferson's triumph brought an end to one of the most acrimonious presidential campaigns in U.S. history and resolved a serious Constitutional crisis. Republican Jefferson defeated Federalist John Adams by a margin of 73 to 65 electoral votes. When presidential electors cast their votes, however, they failed to distinguish between the office of president and vice president on their ballots. Jefferson and his running mate Aaron Burr each received 73 votes. With the votes tied, the election was thrown to the House of Representatives. There, each state voted as a unit to decide the election. Burr publicly professed support for Jefferson, is fellow Republican, but did nothing to take himself out of the race, even though the Republicans intended that Burr become vice-president.  Many Federalists favored Burr for president, but Alexander Hamilton, the leading Federalist, detest Burr and worked behind the scenes on Jefferson's behalf, despite his disagreement with Jefferson's policies. For six days, Jefferson and Burr essentially ran against each other in the House. Votes were tallied over thirty times, yet neither man captured the necessary majority of nine states. Eventually, a small group of Federalists, led by James A. Bayard of Delaware, reasoned that a peaceful transfer of power required the majority choose the President, and a deal was struck in Jefferson's favor. On the 36^th ballot, this day, barely two weeks before a new president was to be inaugurated, Jefferson received a majority vote when certain Federalist gave up their support of Burr.  Burr was elected Vice-president. Jefferson was inaugurated on March 4, 1801. Adopted in 1804, the Twelfth Amendment, to the Constitution provides that electors "name in their ballots the person voted for as president, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as vice president." Just three years after his vice-presidential inauguration, Aaron Burr shot and fatally wounded Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Hamilton, a longtime political antagonist of Burr, played a key role in breaking the congressional stalemate in Jefferson's favor.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/feb17.html

    1817-The first gas streetlight was lit.  The first gas street lights through a city were installed in Baltimore, MD. by the Gas Light Company in 1817.  On June 19, 1816, the mayor and council authorized the company, whose officers included the artist Rembrandt Peale, to lay pipes for the manufacture and distribution of gas “to provide for more effectually lighting the streets, squares, lanes and alleys of the city of Baltimore.” Coal gas was used.  The first engineer of the company was David Pugh.

     1864 - The Confederate hand-propelled submarine Huntley, armed with a ram torpedo, attacked the USS Housatonic in the Charleston Harbor. His torpedo was a mine placed onto the end of a long pole. When the Huntley hit the Housatonic with the mine, the resulting explosion sank both vessels. This was the first time in US Warfare that a submarine successfully sank another ship.

1865-Fort Sumter Returned to Union Control: After a siege that lasted almost a year and a half, Fort Sumter in South Carolina returned to Union hands on this date. The site of the first shots fired in the American Civil War, the fort had become a symbol for both sides during the war. As Union attempts to retake it by shelling diminished the fort's capacity with large bombardments, Southern forces managed to hold out with few casualties.

     1865-Columbia, South Carolina was set afire while being entered by federal troops under General William Techumseh Sherman. Bales of cotton were put to the torch, perhaps by Confederates to prevent their falling into federal hands.  Strong winds scattered the burning cotton across most of the city. On 11 February 1865, Sherman learned that only a cavalry unit was between him and Columbia. This was ample proof that his strategy of indirect approach was effective since the Confederates were more concerned about protecting Augusta and Charleston than the state capital. Sherman occupied Columbia on 18 February 1865. When Sherman's forces entered the city, they found it littered with broken furniture and other household items left by the pillaging Confederate soldiers and civilians. The railroad depot and a large storage building had been burned to the ground. Bales of cotton piled in the middle of many streets had been torn open, and lint was flying around. Fires were still burning when the initial troops entered the city and they turned to putting out the fires. That night the smoldering cotton bales, fanned by the high winds and possibly fueled by drunken soldiers and civilians, spread a great fire. Union soldiers attempting to put out the fire could only look on in misery as it consumed building after building. The next the population looked out on their city and saw vast destruction. While two-thirds of the city remained standing that morning, churches, most stores, and many of the most expensive houses were in ruins. Although Sherman did not order the city burned, the simple fact that he was there when the city was burnt placed the blame clearly on his shoulders to many Southerners. When Sherman left Columbia on 20 February 1865, Sherman's soldiers again acted on Sherman's total war policy and put to torch anything of military value. It was his goal to stop all modes of supply

transportation which started with blocking traffic up the Mississippi and

Atlantic Ocean ports, with an emphasis on destroying railroad junctions

and the tracks themselves.

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/I?cwar:1:./temp/~ammem_V8LM::displayType=1:m856sd=cwpb:m856sf=03379:@@@

http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/I?cwar:3:./temp/~ammem_V8LM::displayType=1:m856sd=cwp:m856sf=4a40429:@@@

http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/hargrett/barnard/jpgs/plate53.jpg

http://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/hargrett/barnard/jpgs/plate54.jpg

http://www.archives.nd.edu/barnard/sbio.html

http://members.aol.com/x69xer/odds.html#therailroads

    1876 - In Eastport, Maine, Julius Wolff was credited as the first person to can sardines in metal. Although the canning of sardines in bottles began in Europe in     1834, it was not until the Franco-Prussian War of the early 1870s cut off the supply to America, that the opportunity was provided to can sardines in America. In 1875 the commission house of Wolff and Reising, under the direction of Julius Wolff, began its first successful American sardine cannery in Eastport. At its greatest extent there were 22 sardine factories in Eastport at one time. The cans were soldered together in three pieces, a time consuming process. In 1903 machine-made and machine- sealed cans replaced the three-piece soldered cans.

http://www.qbyv.com/history_of_can.htm

http://www.port-louis.org/en/_fishing.html

http://www.worldandi.com/specialreport/2002/april/Sa22204.htm

http://www.stavanger.museum.no/Eng/Hermetikk/hermhist.htm

http://www.mtycounty.com/pgs-misc/cannery-row.html

http://www.kosherquest.org/html/Condiments%20&%20Cannd%20Goods%202001.htm

http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/historic/nmfs/herr1.html

http://www.mainepreservation.com/dayswork/images/SARDINE1_000.jpg

http://www.mainepreservation.com/dayswork/images/Eastprt_000.gif

     1897-The Parent-teacher association ( national) was organized as the National Congress of Mothers in Washington DC, by Alice McLellan Birney and Phoebe Apperson Hearst at a meeting attended by 2,000 persons.  At the annual meeting  of March 9,1908, the name was changed to the National Congress of Mothers and Parent-Teacher Associations.  On May 9,1924, the name was changed to the National Congress of Parents and Teachers.

    1899-The first six-day bicycle race, featuring two-man teams, came to an end at New York's Madison Square Gardens.  The race finished in

a blizzard that was sweeping the entire Northeast and Southeast of the United states. The winning team of Charles Miller and Frank Waller rode a combined distance of 2,733 miles.

    1908-Walter Lanier “Red” Barber Birthday. One of the first broadcasters inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, "Red" Barber was born at Columbus, MS. Barber's first professional play-by-play experience was announcing the Cincinnati Reds opening day on radio in 1934. That game was also the first major league game he had ever seen. He broadcast baseball's first night game (in Brooklyn) on Aug 26, 1939, the game in which Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in 1947, and while a Yankee radio announcer he called Roger Maris's 61st home run in 1961. "Red" Barber died Oct 22, 1992, at Tallahassee, FL.

    1908-Birthday of Flash Gordon, also known as Clarence Lindon “Buster” Crabbe, Olympic gold medal swimmer, bron at Oakland, CA. Crabbe's first-place finish in the 400-meter freestyle was the only swimming medal won by an American at the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. After his swimming career was over, he played Tarzan, flash Gordon and Buck Rogers in the movies. These appeared on early television, and I very well remember both Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon. By the way, there were no residuals for any of the actors, writers,

directors of any movies until 1960.   Residuals for “made for TV” shows

were limited to five payments until 1979 when it went to nine payments.

There were other minor changes, but it was not until 2001 that expanded

this.  Buster Crabbe died at Scottsdale, AZ, 1983 and never received any

residuals for his movies on TV.

    1913-The first Modern art exhibition of importance opened at the 69^th Regiment Armory in New York City. The controversial exhibition, organized chiefly by the American modernist painter Arthur Bowen Davies, scandalized the public with such avant-garde works as Marcel Duchamp's “Nude Descending a Spiral Staircase.” More than 250,000 visitors received their first look at paintings by Paul Cezanne, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Edward Hopper, Henri Matisse, John Marin, Charles Scheeler, and others.

    1923-Birthday of clarinet player Buddy DeFranco, born Bonifacio Ferdinando Leonardo Defranco ,Camden, NJ

http://www.artistdirect.com/music/artist/bio/0,,421834,00.html?artist=Buddy+DeFranco

http://www.npr.org/programs/jazzprofiles/archive/defranco.html

http://www.buddydefranco.com/

   1926-Lee Holby birthday, composer, concert pianist, born Madison, WI.

    1936-James Nathaniel “Jim” Brown birthday. activist, actor, Pro Football Hall of Famer, born St. Simons Island, GA.

   1938-Slim Gaillard and Slam Stewart cut “Flat Foot Gloogie.”

   1941- singer Gene Pitney was born in Hartford, Connecticut. He first gained fame as a songwriter, penning "Hello Mary Lou" for Rick Nelson and "He's a Rebel" for the Crystals. In 1961, Pitney went into the recording studio himself, playing and overdubbing every instrument and multitracking his vocals. The result was his first hit, "(I Wanna) Love My Life Away." Gene Pitney had more than 20 chart singles during the '60s, including "(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance," "Only Love Can Break a Heart" and "It Hurts to Be in Love."

   1949 - Richard (Dick) Button beat his competitors in Paris, France, to hold onto the men's figure skating championship world title. Button is now a figure skating commentator at events around the world for American television, including Olympics competition.

    1949-Pianist George Shearing records “September in the Rain.”

    1952-Top Hits

Slowpoke - Pee Wee King

Cry - Johnnie Ray

Anytime - Eddie Fisher

Give Me More, More, More (Of Your Kisses) - Lefty Frizzell

    1954 - In the United States, Doris Day's single, "Secret Love", became the #1 song. From the motion picture, "Calamity Jane", the song spent 3 weeks at the top of the music charts.

    1958 - Former star of the New York Giants football team, Frank Gifford, signed a seven-year film contract with Warner Brothers, which did not make him a movie star despite the studio's expectations. Gifford then went into broadcasting. His first job was as a sportscaster for New York's WCBS-TV, before he moved to WABC-TV in New York, then went to network television as the primary play-by-play announcer. Eventually Gifford became color commentator on ABC's "Monday Night Football". Frank married Kathie Lee Gifford of "Regis and Kathie Lee".

    1960- Elvis Presley received his first gold album for "Elvis," which included such songs as "Rip It Up," "Old Shep" and "Ready Teddy."

    1960-Top Hits

Teen Angel - Mark Dinning

Handy Man - Jimmy Jones

The Theme from "A Summer Place" - Percy Faith

He'll Have to Go - Jim Reeves

1962 - The Beach Boys first hit, "Surfin'" swept California. They had a national hit in the United States when "Surfin' Safari" hit the music charts in August of this same year.

    1962 - Gene Chandler took the #1 spot with "Duke of Earl" for a three week stay. The song also hit #1 on the rhythm & blues charts. Out of the 6 songs Chandler recorded, "Duke of Earl" was his biggest hit. His only million seller was 1970's "Groovy Situation". Curtis Mayfield wrote several hits for Chandler, such as: "Just Be True","What Now" and "Nothing Can Stop Me". Chandler's real name is Eugene Dixon. From 1969 to 1973, he owned his own record label, Mr. Chand, but his million seller was recorded for Mercury Records in 1970.

    1963-Michael Jeffrey Jordon birthday, former basketball player, former minor league baseball player, born Brooklyn.

    1965 - Comedienne Joan Rivers her first guest appearances on NBC-TV's "The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson". Later she became Carson's permanent guest host until signing for a late-night show deal with FOX television. Johnny was not impressed and wouldn't allow her back on his show.

    1965- "The Tennessee Waltz" was declared Tennessee's state song. The tune provided hit records for Patti Page, Cowboy Copas and its composer, Pee Wee King. Page's recording featured one of the first uses of multitracking in which the singer appeared to sing harmony with herself.

    1966 - RCA Victor awarded Staff Sergeant Barry Sadler a gold record, for the album and the single of "The Ballad of the Green Berets". Sadler, recorded one other single, "The "A" Team", for the label. He served in Vietnam until a leg injury from a Viet Cong booby trap sent him home. In 1988, Sadler was shot in the head during an attempted robbery at his Guatemala home. He suffered brain damage and at 49 years old, died of heart failure in November, 1989 in Tennessee.

    1968-Top Hits

Love is Blue - Paul Mauriat

I Wish It Would Rain - The Temptations

(Theme From) Valley of the Dolls - Dionne Warwick

Skip a Rope - Henson Cargill

    1968 - In Springfield, Massachusetts, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame opened.

    1969- Bob Dylan began recording at Columbia Studios in Nashville with Johnny Cash. Few of the tracks laid down were ever released officially, although a bootleg album "The Dylan- Cash Session" made its appearance.

1971 - James Taylor made his prime time television debut on The Johnny Cash Show, singing Fire and Rain and Carolina On My Mind.

    1971-Elton John's eponymously titled U.S. debut goes gold. His first U.K. LP, "Empty Sky" is not issued in the States until 1975, by which time John has become a rock star of the first magnitude. He arrived in the States under much publicity in the summer of '70 and was hailed by Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times as the first Superstar of the Seventies. "Elton John" hit #4

   1972- Pink Floyd premiered "Dark Side of the Moon" in concert at London's Rainbow Theatre. When the album of the same title was released a year later, it made Pink Floyd one of rock's biggest acts. "Dark Side of the Moon" sold more than four-million copies. In 1980, it became the longest-charting rock LP in Billboard's history at 303 weeks. It was still on the album charts eight years later.

    1972-Jonathan Edwards is awarded a gold record for "Sunshine," the lone hit for the Virginia folkie. He handles his brief fame in typical laid-back fashion. Instead of buying himself a fancy Porsche, he got himself a fancy truck

   1972-President Richard Nixon left the White House to visit Red China.  He was the first president to visit a nation not recognized by the federal government. This was also the first trip to China, the world's most populous nation, by any American president. Accompanied by a small army of journalist, he arrived in Beijing on Fe4brtuary 21 for talks with Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai. Later that year, Nixon became the first president to visit the Soviet Union when he arrive in Moscow on May 22 for a summit with Soviet leaders.  Among the agreements that were reached during the visit was the Strategic Arms Limitations Treaty, singed by President Nixon and the Soviet leader Leonid I. Brezhnev on May 26, which limited both nations to 200 antiballistic missiles each, divided between two defensive systems.

    1976-Top Hits

50 Ways to Leave Your Lover - Paul Simon

Love to Love You Baby - Donna Summer

You Sexy Thing - Hot Chocolate

The White Knight - Cledus Maggard & the Citizen's Band

    1979-“A Prairie Home Companion” premieres on radio. This popular live variety show debuted locally on Minnesota Public Radio in 1974 and was first broadcast nationally on Feb 17, 1979 as part of National Public Radio's Folk Festival USA. It became a regular Saturday night program in early 1980. Host Garrison Keillor's monologues about the mythical Lake Wobegon and his humorous ads for local businesses such as Bertha's Kitty Boutique, Powdermilk Biscuits and the Chatterbox Cafe were accompanied by various musical groups. Broadcast from the World Theater in St. Paul, MN, the show went off the air in 1986. A series of programs were done for cable TV, and Keillor continues to write works of fiction (Lake Wobegon Days). In 1994, "A Prairie Home Companion" went back on the air on Public Radio International.

   1976- the Eagles "Their Greatest Hits" album was released. It would eventually sell more than 22 million copies in the US, second only to Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

   1975-John Lennon releases "Rock n' Roll," his final record before a self-imposed five year exile from the music business. It reaches #6 on the chart and doesn't stay for long, falling fast.

    1976-Harvard University's Hasty Pudding Theatrical society gives its annual "Women of the Year" award to Bette Midler. Upon accepting, she comments: "This award characterizes what the American male wants in a woman--brains, talents and gorgeous tits." Saw her recently at the San Jose Compaq Arena,

“Kiss My Brass,” and she was better than ever, more topical than ever, and just plain terrific.

        1983- Linda Ronstadt, Nicolette Larson, Chaka Khan, Dave Mason and Helen Reddy were the hosts of a skating party in Los Angeles to raise campaign funds for California Governor Jerry Brown's presidential campaign. He then began

to date Linda Ronstadt, and it is said their trip un-married to Africa together

was the down fall of his candidacy for President.

    1984-Top Hits

Karma Chameleon - Culture Club

Joanna - Kool & The Gang

Jump - Van Halen

That's the Way Love Goes - Merle Haggard

    1989-Chicago Flag Display Controversy. An exhibit at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, titled What is the Proper Way to Display a US Flag?, consisted of a ledger for viewers to write their impressions but required the viewers to stand on a US flag mounted on the floor to reach the ledger. The exhibit by art student Scott Tyler prompted protests from veterans' groups, a failed lawsuit and an introduction of legislation by Senator Bob Dole to make displaying a US flag on the floor or ground a crime. Although that legislation didn't pass, Congress continues to introduce legislation against flag desecration, most recently in 1999.

    1989-Top Hits

Straight Up- Paula Abdul

Lost In Your Eyes- Debbie Gibson

Wild Thing- Tone-Loc 2

The Lover In Me- Sheena Easton

    1990-Aerosmith appears on Saturday Night Live where they perform a version of the Wayne's World theme song during a skit in which they appeared as themselves. 

    1990-The biggest winter storm of the 1989-90 season hit the Pacific Coast region. Snow fell along the coast of northern California and 2 day snow totals in the Sierra Nevada mountains ranged up to 67 inches at Echo Summit.

     1990 - "Opposites Attract", by Paula Abdul with The Wild Pair, was #1 in the U.S. for the second of three weeks. On the Country chart, "On Second Thought", by Eddie Rabbitt, was #1 for the first of two weeks.

     1994-Top Hits

The Power Of Love- Celine Dion

All For Love- Bryan Adams/Rod Stewart/Sting

The Sign-Ace Of Base

Breathe Again- Toni Braxton

    1996 - "One Sweet Day", by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men, was number one for the 12th of 16 weeks. Now that's what we call a smash! "Bigger Than The Beatles", by Joe Diffie was beginning a 2-week run at #1 on the Country music chart.

    1998-The US won the first Olympic gold medal ever awarded in women's hockey, defeating Canada in the final, 3-1, in the Nagano Winter Olympics. The American team was led by captain Cammi Granto and goalie Sarah Tueting.

    1999-Top Hits

Angel Of Mine- Monica

...Baby One More Time- Britney Spears

Believe- Cher

Heartbreak Hotel- Whitney Houston Feat. Faith Evans

     2000 - Windows 2000 Professional Edition was released. Windows 2000 was an “the next generation NT operating system” that Microsoft said took four years and cost over $1 billion to develop.

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