Love & Rockets - 10-1

The American Treasure Tour blog is happy to discuss our album collection, and today we are going to show the diversity of what is on our walls just a little bit.  To date, we have talked about such country artists as Lynn Anderson, Johnny Paycheck, Johnny Cash, and even Ray Charles.  Entering the month of October, we will talk about the English band Love & Rockets, formed in 1985 by former members of the Goth-Rock band Bauhaus Daniel Ash, David J, and Kevin Haskins.  Earth, Sun, Moon was their third album, released

in 1987, and included their first big hit, "No New Tale to Tell."  The band released seven albums during the 1980s and '90s before disbanding at the dawn of the 20th century.

Question:
Love and Rockets had very few hits, despite a loyal following - their biggest hit was the 1989 song "So Alive."  From what source did they take their name?
a)  A movie
b)  A science fiction novella
c)  A song from another band
d)  A comic book
e)  A dream
Answer below.

Today in History
Robert Fulton did not invent the steamboat.  What he did was create effective and successful steamboat transportation routes in the United States.  His first regular service began in 1807, with  his steam-powered boat, the Clermont, taking passengers between New York City and Albany, New York.  Four years later, steamboat service had expanded to such an extent that the first one travelling from Pittsburgh down the Ohio River arrived in New Orleans.  The date of its arrival was October 1, 1811.

We at the American Treasure Tour blog do everything in our power to avoid editorializing about politics; however, it was on October 1st, 1890, that the United States Congress did something for which only the most shortsighted people could offer criticism.  They declared California's Yosemite Valley a national park.

The park was protected (poorly) by an understaffed military force until the actual National Park Service took over in 1916.  It received another upgrade in 1984, when it became a World Heritage Site.  The natural beauty of the site alone justifies its protection.  

Births

Happy birthday, Richard Stockton!  The founding father from New Jersey after whom one of the rest stops on the New Jersey Turnpike is named, was born today, in the year 1730.  He lived for only fifty-one years,

but during his lifetime he had quite a few accomplishments as a lawyer, jurist and legislator.  His family was also deeply involved in the development of what would become Princeton University.  Most significantly for posterity, he was one of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence.  The British forces imprisoned Stockton during the war and compelled him to sign an oath of allegiance to the king to regain his freedom.  He respected the vow he took to remain out of the war for two years, resigning his post in Congress, and tried to return to his private practice but never quite recovered from the reversals he experienced with the war.

Walter Matthau was born this day in 1920.  The actor, the son of Lithuanian immigrants in New York City's Lower East Side, started to perform after serving in World War II, in the U.S. Army Air Force.  In fact, his first film appearance was in the 1955 Burt Lancaster western, The Kentuckian.  He went on to perform in about sixty years before his death in the year 2000.

Quote:

Every actor looks all his life for a part that will combine his talents with his personality....  The Odd Couple was mine.  That was the plutonium I needed.  It all started happening after that.  -- Walter Matthau

Answer:  d)