On August 6, 1965, The Beatles released their highly-anticipated fifth album, Help!, which also served as the soundtrack to their film of the same name. Half of the 14 songs on the LP appeared in the movie, including the title track, “Ticket to Ride,” and “You’re Going to Lose that Girl.” Side B, meanwhile, featured the ballad “Yesterday,” which became one of the most-covered songs ever in popular music history. Help! went on to top the charts in the US, UK, Australia, and Germany and became the first rock album to earn an Album of the Year nomination at the Grammys.
On this day in 1960, Chubby Checker performed his enduring cover of Hank Ballard and the Midnighters’ “The Twist,” on American Bandstand. Weeks later, the song went to No.1. The hit would return to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 nearly two years later, in January 1962, making it the first song to reach the position on two separate runs (Mariah Carey would break this record 50 years later with “All I Want for Christmas Is You”).
https://youtube.com/watch?v=-CCgDvUM4TM%3Fenablejsapi%3D1%26origin%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.thisdayinmusic.com
In 1970, the Festival for Peace took place at New York City’s Shea Stadium, 25 years after the Hiroshima bombing in Japan. The star-studded concert raised funds for anti-war political candidates and included sets by Paul Simon, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Dionne Warwick, Miles Davis, Steppenwolf, and Janis Joplin.
On August 6, 1981, Stevie Nicks released her solo debut, Bella Donna, while still a member of Fleetwood Mac. The album included such hit songs as “Edge of Seventeen,” “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” with Tom Petty, and “Leather and Lace” with Don Henley.
In 1963, Bob Dylan entered Columbia Recording Studio to begin recording his legendary third album, The Times They Are A-Changin’ with producer Tom Wilson. The record would be Dylan’s first to be comprised of solely original compositions.
In 1982, Pink Floyd’s The Wall opened in New York. Adapted from the band’s 1979 album of the same name, the film starred Bob Geldof. While it was only available in one theater, initially, it grossed an astonishing $68,000 in its first weekend. It would later expand to hundreds of cinemas and gross $22 million over the next year.
And in 2004, Rick James was found dead in his Los Angeles home. The 56-year-old singer and songwriter was best-known for such hits as “Super Freak” and “Give It To Me Baby.”
1929: Andy Warhol
1939: Sonny Sanders (singer, songwriter, arranger, and founder of the first vocal group to sign to Motown Records, the Satintones)
1946: Allan Holdsworth (Guitarist and composer)
1958: Randy DeBarge (DeBarge)
1969: Elliot Smith
The Meeker County Board of Commissioners has hired David Drown Associates of Minneapolis to help with the recruitment of a new County Administrator. Andrew Letson is leaving that position in October to become the Stearns County Administrator.
Letson says his last working day in Meeker County will be October 14th and it’s hoped that some finalists will be scheduled for interviews by that time so that there is a very short gap between administrators. He says one of the big tasks that he’s been working on is getting a budget together for 2027.
Letson says the budget process usually runs from May through December, so department heads are determining what their needs will be for the next year and the budget committee is meeting to make sure that there will be adequate resources to accomplish what needs to be done in an efficient way to minimize the tax burden for residents. He says the big challenge this year is state and federal policy changes that will impact the county budget – especially cost shifts for the SNAP program.
Letson says the tax increase last year was 9.16% and he’s not anticipating it being that much in the coming year. He says the County Board will have a work session at the end of this month to work on the budget, the preliminary levy will be adopted in September, and then the final levy will be approved in December.
The Cokato Corn Carnival is coming up next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The activities are centered around Peterson Park August 10th through the 12th.
Monday evening’s main event will be the kiddie parade at 6 p.m., followed by the main parade. Kendell Kubasch, the director of the Mid-Minnesota Concert Band, will serve as grand marshal. Hick with a Pick, who performed recently at the Meeker County Fair’s Towmaster stage, will perform on the main stage in Cokato’s Peterson’s Park Monday, after the parade. The Cokato Museum’s exhibit “Once Upon a Toybox” will be open until 10 p.m. The food booths, midway rides and bingo will also be open until 10 p.m. Monday in Peterson Park.
Tuesday’s highlight will be the Cokato Royalty Coronation at 8 p.m. Also Tuesday, there will be a book sale, bingo, midway rides and food booths, the WOW Mobile Metal Art Lab – open from from 12:30-to-3:30 p.m. – to provide an interactive art experience. The stage will feature the Crow River Cloggers entertaining at 2 p.m. and the children’s prize drawing will be at 3:15 p.m.
The corn is served from 4-to-8 p.m. both Tuesday and Wednesday in Cokato. Wednesday will feature the book sale, bingo, food booths, and midway rides again. The Mid-Minnesota Concert band will perform at 7 p.m. Wednesday on the main stage, followed by Airborne Attraction at 8 p.m. The grand finale will be the 2026 Chevy Trax and cash raffle drawings at 9:30 p.m.
You can find more Cokato Corn Carnival information at www.cokatocorncarnival.com or on the Cokato Corn Carnival Facebook page.
