“Chapin,” “Hoffman” and a “Spider” - This Day in History – Dec 21st

Chapin’s “Cat’s In The Cradle,” goes to Billboard’s #1

Back in 1985, singer-songwriter, Harry Chapin sung about politically conscious causes such as wiping out world hunger.  However, he earned his one and only #1 pop hit with the classic storytelling, “Cat’s In The Cradle.” This song was based on a poem written by Chapin’s wife about an absent father who according to history.com, has “an endless cycle of intergenerational dysfunction.”

A New York City native, Mr. Chapin gained a loyal fan base as a musician but was more successful as a social activist.  Within the Adminstration of President Jimmy Carterm Mr. Chapin and his former manager Ken Kragen created a President’s Commission on World Hunger in 1977.

Sadly, Mr. Chapin died too soon; he would be killed in an auto accident on the Long Island Expressway in 1981.  Mr. Chapin was 39 at the time of his death.

Mr. Chapin was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 1987.  Mr. Kragen stated that, “All of our efforts with hunger and homelessness began with Harry.”

Links for this story:

http://youtu.be/zH46SmVv8SU

“The Graduate” makes Hoffman and an Alfa Romero Duetto Spider famous

Back in 1967, the coming of age film, “The Graduate,” premiered in New York and featured two soon to be stars: a young actor, named Dustin Hoffman and a cool car, the Alfa Romero Duetto Spider. 

Hoffman’s character of Benjamin Braddock and the premise of the movie according to history.com, “The film, based on a 1963 novel by Charles Webb, had a simple premise: As its screenwriter explained it, "this kid graduates college, has an affair with his parents' best friend, and then falls in love with the friend's daughter." (It was, he added, "the best pitch I ever heard.") In other words, "The Graduate" was an uneasy exploration of what it meant to be young and adrift at a time of extraordinary confusion and upheaval. The film was a hit: The New Yorker called it "the biggest success in the history of movies," while The Saturday Review said it was "not merely a success; it has become a phenomenon." It earned $35 million in the first six months it was onscreen (by contrast, it cost just $3 million to make) and became the highest-grossing movie of 1968.”

The Duetto Spider vehicle did not get the purchasing power as hoped from American buyers.  As stated from history.com, “Though the Duetto Spider was a great car and a pop-culture icon, Americans still weren't interested in buying it. The model—with new names like the Spider Veloce, the Quadrifoglio and even the Graduate—stayed on the market until 1994, without much sales success. In 2007, the company's CEO announced that he might reintroduce the Duetto for Alfa Romeo's 100th anniversary in 2010.”

Links for this story:

http://youtu.be/c2_WcLrFeUs

http://youtu.be/VVJtygbSZRU

All History facts provided from the link below:

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/hobey-baker-killed-in-plane-crash?catId=10