May 5th was the date The Coasters’ “Yakety Yak” was released on Atco. The guys had six Top Ten hits, but this was their only #1 ditty. One of their big appeals was the saxophone riffs of King Curtis. An amazing musician who…when Larry Brown (the future L. Russell Brown of “Tie A Yellow Ribbon” and “Knock Three Times” and “Sock It To Me, Baby” fame) and I were cutting a record in NYC’s Belltone Studios in the 50s…we turned down. The two brilliant geniuses from the Seth Boyden Housing Projects of Newark somehow decided that they should go with a guitar riff…’cause guitars were in. Here’s hoping it was Elvis’ Scottie Moore and not Ricky Nelson’s guitar player who steered us away from that golden, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Oh yeah, my buddies at The History Channel TV Series tell me that:

On this day in 1990, Jesse Tafero was executed in Florida after his electric chair malfunctioned three times. It was an inhumane execution that sparked a new national debate. Flames had lept from his head. Several states stopped using the electric chair and adopted lethal injection. What advancement, ey? How we doin’ today? Apparently, technical problems –aside from all other considerations– associated with both methods linger into the 21st century. But…what the hell are we doing? What we did then. Still.