On this day in music, January 23, 1971, George Harrison became the first member of the recently-disbanded Beatles to top the UK charts as a solo artist with his debut single, “My Sweet Lord.” The tender ballad, which appeared on Harrison’s broadly acclaimed album, All Things Must Pass, remained at No.1 for five weeks in the UK. It later became the biggest-selling single of the year. The not-so “Quiet Beatle” also proved his talents around the globe, as the single topped the pop charts in more than a dozen territories, including the US, Canada, Australia, and West Germany.
In 1976, David Bowie released his highly-regarded tenth studio album, Station to Station. The album not only introduced the shapeshifting artist’s “Thin White Duke” persona, but also marked a new creative era for Bowie, as he began to explore elements of electronic music and krautrock. Led by the funk-forward single “Golden Years,” Station to Station made the top five in both the UK and US.
In 1965, “Downtown” made Petula Clark the first British female singer to score a US No.1 hit since Vera Lynn in 1952. The irresistible tune, which peaked at No.2 in the UK, featured instrumentation from future Led Zeppelin guitarist, Jimmy Page, who was a young session musician at the time.
In 1988, a ragtag group of Seattle misfits entered producer Jack Endino’s studio to record their first batch of songs under the name Nirvana. The ten-song demo directly led to their deal with local label, Sub Pop.
In 1956, underage rock’n’roll fans in Cleveland faced a real-life Footloose situation, when the city banned kids under 18 from dancing in public (unless accompanied by an adult). Officials cited a law dating back to 1931.
BORN ON JANUARY 23
1910: Django Reinhardt
1948: Anita Pointer (The Pointer Sisters)
1953: Robin Zander (Cheap Trick)
1959: Earl Falconer (UB40)
1975: Nick Harmer (Death Cab For Cutie)
1998: XXXTentacion
Tuesday, February 3rd is Caucus Day in Minnesota. Meeker County DFLers will meet at the Litchfield Middle School cafeteria at 7 p.m., with registration beginning at 6:30, and Meeker County Republicans will meet at the Litchfield Opera House and at the Dassel History Center at 7 p.m., with registration at 6:30 p.m.
Jeff Niedenthal with the Meeker County Republicans says the Caucuses help the political parties organize at the grass roots level, and elect delegates to go on to the County conventions. He says we all have rights and responsibilities to be politically active and this is the base root of the political process, so if you don’t get involved, you shouldn’t complain.
Niedenthal says he got active in the Meeker County Republican party when he moved up to Minnesota from Virginia 11 years ago. He says the Meeker County Republicans will have their convention on March 16th at 6 p.m. at Shaggy’s. Justin Vold says the Meeker County DFL party will have their convention on March 7th at the 4Bz Event Center in Litchfield. He says during the Caucus meetings on February 3rd they will have straw polls to determine who they favor for various offices such as Governor and U.S. Senator and they will come up with resolutions which will help shape their party platform.
Vold says he got active in the Meeker County DFL party when he moved to this area from Wisconsin. For more information about the Caucus meetings on February 3rd, go to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website at sos.mn.gov.
The wrestling hall of fame ceremony takes place tonight at Litchfield High School. Nate Turck is being inducted this year.
Nate Turck built an extraordinary wrestling career marked by excellence, discipline and leadership. He compiled a 165-50 varsity record and was never pinned in a varsity match. A multiple-time section champ and 3-time state place winner, Nate earned Academic All-State honors each year.
On the national stage, he achieved a State Freestyle Championship and two State Greco-Roman U.S. World Team Trial champions and represented Team USA at the World Championship in Slovenia. He trained at Olympic Training Centers, competed for the Minnesota Storm, played multiple sports and later – gave back through coaching and years of volunteer service to youth athletics.
The triangular this evening in Litchfield begins at 4 p.m. with Hutchinson and Watertown-Mayer. Nate Turck will be inducted into the hall of fame after the second round.
The Litchfield City Council had a brief meeting on Tuesday evening, but prior to the regular meeting, a lengthier work session was held. The purpose of the work session was to discuss organizational needs.
Mayor Ron Dingmann says there are some vacancies in the city staff that need to be filled such as the building inspector which had been occupied by the late Jim Tews. He says there is a vacancy at the Pro Shop; they are considering a city planner position; and there are other vacancies such as assistant line foreman and a lineman, but those are proving to be difficult to fill as their pay scale has gone way up.
Mayor Dingmann says during the regular Council meeting Tuesday evening, they finally approved the grant agreement with the State of Minnesota for the historic building grant. He says several people helped the City in the process and the next step will be determining which buildings will receive grants for their façade improvement projects and for how much.
Mayor Dingmann says the Council last May approved of adding an additional 8 adjustable basketball hoops to the Litchfield Area Recreation Center and the boy’s and girl’s basketball programs had offered to contribute some money toward this project, but it appears that there is money left over in the LARC building project budget. He says they will look into the additional hoop request and some other LARC wish list items at a future council meeting.