---

There certainly wasn’t a lack of options for tonight’s theme.

Frankie Valli’s “Grease” tops the charts in 1978.

Sir Elton John performs his first concert in the United States at Doug Weston’s Troubadour in Los Angeles and is a huge hit.

But today we’re going to celebrate probably one of the nicest and most generous human beings who also happened to be a supremely talented artist and a shrewd businessperson that has quietly mentored so many other female artists in the industry.

In all my years, I have never heard anyone say anything disparaging or cross about Dolly Parton and for a darned good reason…she is one of the few people in this world who managed to stay utterly true to what she believed and how she felt people should be treated in spite of the fame and fortune and spotlight constantly upon her.

There are so many acts of kindness and generosity that Dolly had a hand in that never made the news which is how she preferred it.

She was born a country girl from Tennessee and that’s how she lived her life every single day never forgetting who she was and where she came from.

If that sounds awfully familiar, that’s the central plot to “Hannah Montana: The Movie” where Miley Cyrus is trying to reconcile her heritage with the fame and fortune of Hannah Montana. Dolly and Miley may have been ten generations removed in the family tree but they both had that appreciation for their roots and upbringing in common!

She was one of the truly wonderful human beings that gives hope for the rest of us that not only can our species survive but that it’s actually worthy of surviving even in the trying and harrowing times in which we find ourselves.

She was one of a kind and her light will surely be missed by so many at her passing which came across the wire just after noon today.

So even though we’re definitely stepping outside of our usual musical comfort zone…I can’t imagine anyone being terribly cross at rendering honours to a legendary artist and an even more amazing human being. 🙂

Game 1 Warm-Ups

Zamboni and Game 2 Warm-Ups

Post-Game

We finish off the night with a couple of tunes I was thinking of using prior to the news of Dolly’s passing noting that “Grease” had gone to #1 on the charts on this date in 1978.