WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DECADE MAKES

 

Dinah Washington woke up late, dog-tired after a very long week at the recording studio, producing a soon-to-be-hit song: “What a Difference a Day Makes”.

She hauled herself down to the kitchen, started her coffee-maker and turned on the T.V. Much to her surprise, she noticed the date on the newscast was February 19, 1949 – not 1959! She switched quickly to the other two stations. The date read the same on each: February 19, 1949. It was probably a TV glitch, she thought and ignored it.

She checked her calendar. Same date; her clock radio. Same date. What was going on? She immediately called her producer, Clyde Otis. No answer. She dialed the recording studio. Also, no answer. Now she frantically called her sister, Martha, who assured her that it was, indeed, February 19, 1949.

Panic now set in. She had come from her home town, Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 1952. How could it possibly be 1949?

She rushed out and bought several different newspapers. All showed the same date!

She hastened to a record store. None of her recordings were there.

She searched in her mind for some plausible explanation. Had she just imagined the last ten years? Was it all a dream from which she had not yet awakened?

She proceeded to the recording studio. It was not there either. It simply did not exist.

She did not know where to turn or what to do next.

She remembered her song, “What a Difference a Day Makes”; what would a difference of 3,650 days make?

Dinah never recovered. Her previous career no longer existed. She wandered aimlessly from menial job to menial job. She never sang again.

 

She died in poverty December 14, 1953. At least she thought that was the date. The actual date,

December 14, 1943 was 87,600 hours earlier than her reckoning.

Clyde Otis attended her funeral!