Mr. Universe, Mr. Reeves and “Drops”

Today marks the 99th birthday of Steve Reeves. He was best known as a body builder before becoming an actor. Many say that he was responsible for making bodybuilding popular worldwide. He held the title of Mr. America in 1947, Mr. World in 1948, and Mr. Universe in 1950. He wrote many books on bodybuilding and the importance of physical training.

He would work out a minimum of three days a week, and those workouts were always full body workouts. His workouts would last 2-4 hours and he never stopped until they were finished. He was so popular, an agent told him that he should consider acting.

At one point, he was teamed up with a comedian and they did some shows in vaudeville. It was there that he was noticed by one of director Cecil B. DeMille’s talent scouts. They liked him a lot and he was almost cast in the film Samson and Delilah. Cecil asked him to lose some weight for the role and Steve certainly tried. He also spent months preparing for the role, only to find out the the role went to Victor Mature.

He did some TV work, including a pilot for a Tarzan-ish show. He made appearances on Stars Over Hollywood and Topper, as well. Then in 1954, he had a small role as a policeman in Ed Wood’s Jail Bait followed by a roll in the musical Athena for MGM. However, it was what came next that catapulted him into stardom.

Italian director Pietro Francisci was hoping to make a movie about Hercules. The trouble was that he couldn’t find anyone who was built enough to play him. Pietro’s daughter had seen Reeves in the movie Athena and told her father about him. Pietro reached out to Reeves and offered him the role and tickets to Italy to make the film. Reeves thought the whole thing was a joke, but he was eventually convinced to fly to Italy.

The film did extremely well in Europe. American film distributor, Joe Levine bought the US distribution rights and promoted it in the states. It ended up being a huge box office success making $5 million.

Steve would return for a sequel in 1959 called Hercules Unchained. Despite only playing him in two films, he was forever linked to Hercules. At the height of his career, he was the highest paid actor in Europe and by 1960 he was ranked as the number-one box-office draw in 25 countries.

I am not sure how true this is, but it is said that he was offered the role of James Bond in Dr. No (which he turned down) and the role that went to Clint Eastwood in A Fistful of Dollars. His last film was A Long Ride From Hell in 1968, afterwards he retired from acting. He claims his retirement was brought about by stress, his shoulder injury, and the decline in the market for his sort of movies.

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I present all of that to you to share a radio story that is probably only funny to me. We’ll see.

I was introduced to Hercules by my morning show partner on Honey Radio. Rob was into old movies like me, and we often discussed the ones we were watching or renting from the video store. I don’t recall the conversation, but somehow I ended up getting the movie and watching it.

Radio people don’t watch movies or TV like everyone else. When we hear something we think we can use on our show, we nab it. Usually it is one line that is taken out of context, and used on air in a fun way. Those one line clips are called “Drops” in radio. For example, if the morning show characters got out of hand, I had a clip of Dean Martin saying, “Can we please get this lunacy over with?” I could play that and use it to get out of a bit.

The most common way I used drops was in what we called a sweeper. It was something that played between two songs. I had a personalized sweeper of the voice guy saying, “You’re listening to Keith Allen on Honey Radio, WHND.” I would insert a drop after my name that would poke fun at me or make absolutely no sense at all.

So why do I tell you that? Because Hercules was loaded with hilarious lines that I could take out of context and use during the show or in a sweeper. The movie was done in Italian, so it was overdubbed in English. This only made the lines even funnier. Most of the lines I used in my personalized sweeper. Here are just some of the lines from Hercules that I used:

Sweeper: “You’re listening to Keith Allen (insert drop here) on Honey Radio, WHND”

Drops:

“You’ve been drinking too much tonight!”
“Marvelous. That’s a way to make a fine impression.”
“He may be an imposter, how do I know?!”
“Listen! No one in all of this country has ever beaten me at discus throwing!”
“My, you’ve certainly got a vast array of spectators.”

I cannot watch this movie (or many other movies) without laughing at these lines. I’m sure that there are 10-15 others from the movie that I used, but I cannot remember them. Of course, I’ll now have to find time to watch it again. I only wish Rob was still around to watch it with.

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Steve Reeves passed away in May of 2000 at the age of 74. He had lymphoma and had exploratory surgery on April 28, 2000. A blood clot that formed after the surgery, which led to his death.

Tune Tuesday

It was on this day in 1971 that Tamla Records (a division of Motown) released Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On. According to many stories, it almost wasn’t released.

From songfacts.com:

According to the book Mercy, Mercy Me: The Art, Loves & Demons of Marvin Gaye, Motown head Berry Gordy initially refused to release this song, calling it the “worst record I ever heard in my life.” The song was slipped out by the man in charge while Gordy was on vacation and, of course, he was furious… until he found out the single sold 100,000 copies in the US upon its release. Needless to say, he soon changed his mind about this song.

Although Berry Gordy admits he had reservations about “What’s Going On,” he claims all of the stories surrounding his refusal to release the song are false. He explained to the Wall Street Journal: “For years, people have written that I stood in the way of this song’s release and that Marvin had threatened never to record for me again if I didn’t put it out,” he said. “That must make for great reading, but none of it is true.”

He went on to explain the potential ramifications of the song: “My reason for pushing back on Marvin wasn’t to stop the single, just to determine whether or not this was another one of his wild ideas,” Gordy said. “Motown was about music for all people – white and black, blue and green, cops and the robbers. I was reluctant to have our music alienate anyone. This was a big risk for his image.”

The song was written by songwriter Al Cleveland, Four Tops member Renaldo “Obie” Benson and Marvin Gaye. It was Marvin who added lyrics and worked on the arrangement. Marvin did not want to record the song, he wanted the Originals to record it. However, Benson and Cleveland persuaded Gaye to do it himself.

Songfacts.com says,

Until this song, Gaye rarely participated in the songwriting process. For this album, he took control of the production so he could make a statement as an artist. Motown management was skeptical, but Gaye was an established star and had enough power to pull it off, going so far as to use an orchestra on this track.

The song is one of Motown legend. James Jamerson, the bass player for the Funk Brothers, was apparently drunk when he arrived at the studio. Jamerson could not sit properly in his seat and, according to one of the members of the group, lay on the floor playing his bass riffs.

Fun Fact: At the beginning of the song, there are people chatting. Marvin wanted to give the song a laid back feel, so he, the Funk Brothers and Mel Farr and Lem Barney of the Detroit Lions are the ones having conversation as the song begins.

The song was one of the first Motown songs to make a political statement. Jackson Browne said in a 2008 interview with Rolling Stone: “No one was expecting an anti-war song from him. But it was a moment in time when people were willing to hear it from anybody, if it was heartfelt. And who better than the person who has talked to you about love and desire?”

It was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 1972, but did not win either category. It peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was ranked the fourth greatest song of all time by a 2004 Rolling Stone poll. It was also ranked the 2nd on the Detroit’s 100 Greatest Songs List by the Detroit Free Press.

Movie Music Monday – Mermaids

Today we wish Shelley Fabares a Happy 82nd birthday. Shelley is primarily known for her many TV roles. She played Mary on The Donna Reed Show and Christine Armstrong Fox on Coach. She also popped up on The Twilight Zone, The Love Boat, Newhart, Fantasy Island, The Rockford Files, Ironside and many more.

I almost chose an Elvis movie to celebrate.

She and Elvis did three movies together: Girl Happy, Spinout and Clambake. However, playing an Elvis song instead of one of her own songs didn’t seem right.

Shelley had a #1 song in 1962 with Johnny Angel…

According to songfacts.com: Fabares did not consider herself a singer and thought that the voices of her backup vocalists were so “beautiful” that it frightened her to try to be a recording artist herself… but she managed it. Although she did have another Top 40 hit, it was obvious that her acting career would always be stronger. Her singing career ended in 1966.

On an episode of The Donna Reed Show, her character Mary Stone abandons her plans to attend college to pursue a singing career. She sings this song on the show.

Tying it in with Movie Music Monday, the song was featured in the 1990 movie Mermaids starring Cher.

The song can be heard in the film when Charlotte (played by Winona Ryder) sees Joey (played by Michael Schoeffling) for the first time.

Happy Birthday, Shelley Fabares!!

“We Can Rebuild Him …”

“Steve Austin, astronaut. A man barely alive.”

Cue Oscar Goldman …

“Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the world’s first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better . . . stronger . . . faster.”

After three TV movies intended to be pilot episodes (in 1973), it was on this day in 1974 that The Six Million Dollar Man debuted its first episodic season. It would last five seasons.

It cost $6 million to “rebuild” Steve Austin. Today, the show would be called the $39 million dollar man. According to Google:

“$6 million in 1974 had the buying power of approximately $39.4 million today (early 2026), due to over 50 years of inflation, with prices increasing by over 557%, meaning today’s dollar buys significantly less than it did then.“

Lee Majors played Col. Steve Austin. After being seriously injured in a NASA test flight crash, Austin is rebuilt with bionic implants that give him superhuman strength, speed and vision. He is then employed as a secret agent by a fictional U.S. government office titled OSI. The show would air for five seasons (1974-1978).

I remember watching the show and loving every second of it. Steve had a bionic eye which could zoom in and out, use infrared technology to see in the dark, and it could also detect heat. His bionic legs made him run fast and gave him the ability to jump three stories. He had one bionic arm which was said to have the strength of a bulldozer. He also has bionic hearing.

As I kid, it didn’t matter what we were playing, every kid made the bionic jump sound when they jumped, another bionic sound when we threw something, and imagined ourselves flying by cars when we ran anywhere. Oh, and we usually did all of those things in “slow motion.”

Lindsay Wagner would occasionally pop up on the show as Jaime Sommers, another human who was given bionic body parts. She was such a popular character that she got her own spin off show in 1976 – The Bionic Woman. It aired until 1976. OSI Director Oscar Goldman (played by Richard Anderson) would show up on both shows.

I can still remember having the Six Million Dollar Man Doll. You could look through the back of his head and see things in red with a crosshair just like on the show. They had a lab where you could work on Steve.

I remember there being a Bionic Woman doll and there was also an Oscar Goldman doll. He didn’t have anything bionic on him, so I wonder if anyone ever bought him. I know I didn’t.

In honor of the show’s 52nd anniversary, kick back and enjoy one of TV’s great opening title sequences.

My Top 25 Books of 2025

I am a couple weeks late on this. Many of my book reading blogger friends were more on top of it and posted their list during the first week of the new year. They took their Goodreads Year-end wrap ups and chose their 10 favorite books and posted them.

This year I read 50 books this year. I didn’t stray too far away from the types of books I like to read. I read plenty of fiction, some non fiction, historical fiction, biographies, and murder mysteries. Narrowing the list down to ten was more difficult than I thought, but here are my top ten reads of 2025 (with links to my posts about each).

10. The Book of Cold Cases – A thriller that follows two timelines. In 1977, the Lady Killer Murders took place and the main suspect is acquitted. In 2017, a true crime blogger runs into the main suspect and asks to interview her.

9. I Hope This Finds You Well – A workplace novel that was a fun read. An employee is accidentally granted access to everyone in the office’s email boxes. What she learns and what she does with the information brings about some funny and uncomfortable situations.

8. Surely, You Can’t Be Serious – A behind the scenes look at the movie Airplane! told by the creators. If you are familiar with the movie, you will be replaying scenes in your head as you read this. This is loaded with fantastic stories.

7. Dead Wake – This is the nonfiction story of the sinking of the Lusitania. For years I read books on Titanic, but I was unfamiliar with this story. A very well written account.

6. Kill For Me, Kill For You – This was SO good. It is a marvelous twist on Strangers on a Train with an ending I never saw coming.

5. The Deal of a Lifetime – This little short story/novella from Fredrik Bachman is one that will make you think about your life and legacy. It is a powerful message presented in a heartwarming story. I have yet to read a bad Bachman book.

4. Shemp! – As a Three Stooges fan, I’ve read all the biographies available on the boys. Finally, Shemp Howard gets a biography! Loaded with stories and information, readers will realize that there is a whole lot to learn about Shemp.

3. Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books – Another reviewer said this book: “takes an important, heavy, timely topic and makes it highly entertaining and extremely relatable while never sacrificing deep meaning, contemplation, and human empathy.” It was a ride that will have you feeling all the emotions.

2. Reports of His Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated – Despite the fact that my recommendation posted a little over a week ago, I read this one in 2025. The book has a similar premise to the book in my number one spot, but each are very different. At times it was very funny and at other times, I held my breath to see what happened next. A great story.

1. The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife – Hands down the best book I read last year. It was the one that I recommended to my reading friends. Frederick’s journey in the shoes of the deceased Bernard is one that will have you laughing and crying. It was a book that will stick with you long after reading it. It contains one of my favorite quotes: “You’ll never regret being kind even when people aren’t kind to you.”

I’d love to hear if you’ve read any of these and what you thought. If any of them are new to you, then you should have some to add to your “To Read” list.

I set my book reading goal for 2026 is 50 books. I’m hoping to exceed that this year.

Everything’s Coming Up Ethel …

Born today 118 years ago … The always LOUD Ethel Merman!

She holds her own on screen with some of the biggest names in comedy in It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. On Broadway she starred in Hello Dolly, Anything Goes, Gypsy, and Annie Get Your Gun. She has been called “the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage.”

Fun fact: Her real last name was Zimmerman. Her stage name came about by trimming off the “Zim” at the beginning.

It was Ethel who introduced the world to some of the greatest songs. Those included: There’s No Business Like Show Business, Friendship, and You’re the Top.

She appeared in movies like Happy Landing and Alexander’s Ragtime Band. On television she popped on the variety shows of Dean Martin, Bing Crosby, Red Skelton, Carol Burnett, and Perry Como. She also appeared in the shows, Match Game, The Lucy Show, That Girl, The Muppet Show, The Love Boat, and Batman.

She wrote two autobiographies. The first, Who Could Ask For Anything More in 1955 and the second in 1978 entitled Merman.

Her last on screen appearance was the fantastic cameo in 1980’a Airplane! It is one of my favorite gags in the film.

Happy Ethel Merman Day! Make it swell! Make it great! Have the whole world on a plate!!

Friday Photo Flashback

I stumbled on a picture of my mom yesterday and thought it would make a good flashback picture.

The picture shows my mom holding on to the only cat who ever lived in their house. I remember the cat was named Callie and it never seemed to want to be near anyone but mom.

How mom got dad to agree to get a cat, I will never know. My dad made it quite clear growing up that he disliked cats. Somehow, he welcomed the kitty into the house.

I never knew what it was like to have a cat until I had moved away from home. I don’t remember how I came to get one, but I named him Larry. When I moved back home, my brother took him to Ohio with him.

I can’t tell, but it sure looks like this is our house. It may be the front room. It is hard to tell.

A couple things stand out to me. I do not remember this sweater at all, but I love how mom looks in it. Next, the garland in the background. Mom always had garland on doorways, windows and even on the walls. Garland always makes me think of mom.

I have no idea when this was taken, but it looks like mom is healthy. I’d imagine this was taken before she got cancer.

It’s funny how I was just talking about my mom and then I stumble on this photo. I wish the photo was a bit clearer.

Book Recommendation – I See You’ve Called In Dead

Here is another example of a book that I picked up because of the title – I See You’ve Called In Dead. It is also an example of a book that I found to be funny and thought provoking at the same time.

Before I get into my thoughts, here is the Goodreads synopsis:

The Office meets Six Feet Under meets About a Boy in this coming-of-middle-age tale about having a second chance to write your life’s story.

Bud Stanley is an obituary writer who is afraid to live. Yes, his wife recently left him for a “far more interesting” man. Yes, he goes on a particularly awful blind date with a woman who brings her ex. And yes, he has too many glasses of Scotch one night and proceeds to pen and publish his own obituary. The newspaper wants to fire him. But now the company’s system has him listed as dead. And the company can’t fire a dead person. The ensuing fallout forces him to realize that life may be actually worth living.

As Bud awaits his fate at work, his life hangs in the balance. Given another shot by his boss and encouraged by his best friend, Tim, a worldly and wise former art dealer, Bud starts to attend the wakes and funerals of strangers to learn how to live.

Thurber Prize-winner and New York Times bestselling author John Kenney tells a funny, touching story about life and death, about the search for meaning, about finding and never letting go of the preciousness of life.

The book starts off with a good question:

“What would you write if you had to write your obituary? Today, right now. What comes to mind? What memories, days, moments? What people and experiences? I realize, at first glance, that the idea of writing one’s own obituary while still alive may sound morbid. It’s not, though. I promise you. It’s a needed reminder of who you are, of what truly matters. Because it’s your life and there’s still time to write it. Before I have to.”

When in college, I took a class on the psychology of death and dying. One of the first assignments was to write a letter to your loved ones to be read at your funeral. THAT was a difficult assignment. We were never asked to write our own obituary, but I would imagine that would be just as difficult.

I listened to the audio book on my way to and from work. I can tell you that I am going to go and purchase a copy of this book because there were so many times I wanted to highlight things I wanted to remember. For example, at one point in the book, French philosopher Michel de Montaigne is quoted:

“We do not know where death awaits us: so let us wait for it everywhere. To practice death is to practice freedom.”

It was only after reading the book, that I found what others were saying about it:

I’ve always thought that we should tell people what they mean to us or how they impacted our lives while they are still alive. What good is it to be silent until someone passes away? I can tell you that when people come up to me who used to listen to me on the radio and say, “You made me laugh every morning!” it feels so good. Why wouldn’t we want to share those things with people?

In discussing a book with the main character, someone says,

“A character in the book is asked what the greatest wonder in the world is. And he answers … He says, The greatest wonder is that every day, all around us, people die, but we act as if it couldn’t happen to us.”

I do want to say before wrapping up, that the book is not just about death, it is also about life.

“Life prevails. How strange and wondrous. In the midst of death, life prevails, calls to us, begs us, says, Come, please, don’t you dare waste this precious gift.”

It is early in the year, I know, but this is the best book I have read so far. I highly recommend it.

5 out of 5 stars.

Life’s Little Moment’s

One of my blogger friends, Britta, is so good at finding joy in the little things in life. She often blogs about them and I love how she writes about their impact on her life. I tell you about that because all in all, this week has been uneventful for me. However, there were some little things that stood out for me.

At Least I Made The Top Ten

My wife Sam always goes through the kid’s backpacks after school. This week we had to chuckle at one of the things Ella brought home. “Ten Things That Make Me Happy.

In case you have trouble reading them,

Dolls
Barbies
TV Time
To Color
Tacos
Hats
My Nana
My Pa
My Mom
My Dad

Mom should be higher than me, I get that. What I don’t get is Hats and Tacos! They outranked every family member! In 6 months I will ask her to do this again and hope to rank just a bit higher.

Winter Walk

Andrew and I had a bit of time before we had to get Ella from school Monday. He really wanted to go for a walk with the dog, so that is what we did.

He led the way as we walked the neighborhood. He was talking nonstop for the whole walk. I hope he continues to want to do this. I miss my daily walks. I’ll just have to make sure I bring along those “poop bags” just in case.

Gimme and E! Gimme an L, L, A! Go Ella!

After watching my niece cheer at one of the football games last fall, Ella has decided that she wants to cheer. They have already had two practices and she’s loving it. This week, she hot her uniform and her pom poms.

Her coach sent us some video of the girls doing their cheers. I truly cannot wait to watch her cheer. I think this may be what she sticks with for a long time.

An Accident Waiting to Happen

Sometimes, when Andrew gets frustrated or angry, I ask if playing my video game will help. It almost always does. So while Sam was getting ready for work, he was playing my car/racing game (Forza Horizon).

I am watching him play this game, which he is really just driving around, and he’s taking out everything. He is crashing into trees, mailboxes, phone booths, trash cans, and smashing into other cars. I said to him, “Buddy, mommy is going to have to do Driver’s Ed with you, because dad cannot imagine being in the car with you.”

From the other room, Sam says, “Oh no. We have talked about this. Driver’s Ed is all you!” I began to object to this, but before I can, she says, “You’re closer to death than me!” At this point, I cannot even answer because I am doubled over in laughter. My wife sure can come up with a zinger when she needs to.

The Whole World In My Hand

On the nights when Sam and I are both home, I get to put Ella to bed. This usually consists of me reading from her chapter book, which is followed by a made up story. I will ask her what she wants the story to be about. Favorite topics are princesses and unicorns. I usually make them so silly and ridiculous and it makes her really laugh!

The other night she wanted to hear a story about a unicorn who ate healthy and a horse that ate unhealthy. Naturally, I had to put them in a grocery store and awkward situations there. We argued about whether a tomato was a fruit or vegetable, too. I love to give the characters silly names and give them wacky voices.

After the story, sometimes she will ask me to sing her songs. I will do my best and sing her Dean Martin songs, hymns, and kid songs until she falls asleep. Tucking her in is something I really miss when I have to work nights.

Anyway, this week, we were laying in bed and I was singing. She reached up and grabbed my hand and held it. She held it tight. She took her stuffed animal and held it with her other hand and smiled. It was such a special moment, I snuck my phone out of my pocket and took a picture. It was in “night mode” so it is a bit dark.

As I laid there with her hand in mine, I was reminded of something I read on social media a while back. It was basically about how fast kids grow up and how things they used to do kind of just stop. I’ll never know when I’ll be singing our song to her for the last time, so I always sing it as best I can. I’ll never know when she’ll be “too big” to want to hold my hand, so I won’t let go until she does.

I can’t believe she will be 6 in less than a month.

Tune Tuesday

In 1955, Johnny Cash released the hit “Folsom Prison Blues.” Shortly after that, he became interested in recording a performance at a prison. The idea was always on his mind, but it wasn’t until some changes in personnel at his record label that the idea came to fruition.

It was on this day in 1968 that Johnny walked on stage at Folsom Prison and recorded the album that would revitalize his career.

Cash was backed by Carl Perkins, June Carter and the Tennessee Three for two shows. The record label barely promoted the album, but that didn’t matter. The album went to #1 on the country chart and reached #15 on the national album chart. The first single released was, of course, Folsom Prison Blues, which put Johnny in the Top 40 for the first time since 1964.

(From songfacts.com): Bob Johnston, famous for his work with Bob Dylan, produced the album and arranged for the prison performance. According to Johnson, he told Cash to “just go out and say who you are” when he took the stage, so Cash opened the set with what became his catch phrase: “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash.” These are the words he used to start every episode of his TV series The Johnny Cash Show, which ran from 1969-1971.

The most famous line in this song, “I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die,” Cash said he wrote while “Trying to think of the worst reason for killing another person.” He added, “It did come to mind quite easily, though.” He came up with the line after watching the 1951 movie Inside the Walls of Folsom Prison while serving in West Germany with the US Air Force.

Let’s give it a listen….