History

General history issues, although a lot will be about WW2

  • The definition of a drummer in most dictionaries is “A person who plays the drums” It doesn’t get more basic then that. A drummer is much more then that though. A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western bands that play rock, pop, jazz, or R&B music include a drummer…

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  • The Couzijn family consisted out of 3 people. Marcus, his wife Hanni end their daughter Mirjam. Three people who were at the start of family life. Yet they were denied that most basic right, life. Not only were they denied the right of life they were also denied the dignity of being buried as a…

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  • Happy Birthday Wolf Blits

    In my opinion the best way to remember the victims of the Holocaust is to personalize their stories. Rather then a number, show the human side. Because that is what they were ,all those millions were all individual human beings, just like everyone else. I wish I could show you a picture of Wolf Blits.…

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  • I say Happy Birthday John Lee Hooker, but the date is not really certain. There are a few dates between 1912 and 1923. However it appears that August 22 is correct. Hooker’s date of birth is a subject of debate; the years 1912, 1915, 1917, 1920, and 1923 have all been suggested. Most official sources…

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  • Benjamin Hartog “Benno” ter Berg was born on July 4, 1924 in Assen, the Netherlands. He was murdered in Auschwitz on September 30,1942. The picture was taken from his diary, the newspaper article on the left is about a meeting of the NJN,(Nederlandse Jeugdbond voor Natuurstudie), the Dutch Youth union for Nature study. Of which…

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  • Music History August 18

    On August 18.1969, Rolling Stones front man was shot. This was not by a criminal or by a deranged fan, but while shooting a film about an Irish outlaw in Australia ‘Ned Kelly’. A pistol loaded with blanks, which he was using at the time, backfired to drive the metal into his hand. Maybe that’s…

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  • Remembering Josef Strauss

    This is not the famous composer Joseph Strauss as a young man. This is actually another young man called Josef Strauss. Technically he never became a man because he was murdered in Auschwitz on August 17,1942. He was aged 17. Unlike his famous name bearer there is very little known about Josef, yet from the…

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  • According to legend, as a young man living on a plantation in rural Mississippi, Robert Johnson had a tremendous desire to become a great blues musician. One of the legends often told says that Johnson was instructed to take his guitar to a crossroad near Dockery Plantation at midnight. (There are claims for at least…

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  • MacArthur Park

    August 15th was Jimmy Webb’s 76th birthday. Rather then going into Jimmy’s life, I will focus on one of his many songs, ‘MacArthur Park’ .One of my favourite songs. It doesn’t happen that often the 2 versions of a song are equally as good. The 1st version was by fellow Limerick man(although I am just…

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  • Lucky Escapes

    Sometimes something which looks very unfortunate and frustrating can actually be a blessing in disguise. On 21 December 1988 Holly Johnson of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, had a meeting which not go as scheduled. Holly Johnson and his manager were scheduled to arrive in New York for final negotiations about his break with Frankie Goes…

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