April 18: Tyler’s Will Jennings teams with Steve Winwood for ‘Arc of a Diver’

Published 5:00 am Saturday, April 18, 2020

English rocker Steve Winwood and Will Jennings, who was raised in Tyler, were a successful music writing team in the 1980s.

Jennings, the lyricist behind some of pop music’s biggest hits, co-wrote most songs on Winwood’s album “Arc of a Diver” including “If You See a Chance,” which peaked at No. 7 on Billboard Hot 100 chart on this date in 1981.  

Another Winwood song written by the duo, “The Finer Things,” peaked at No. 8 on the pop chart on this date in 1987.

 IN THE SPOTLIGHT 

— 2014: Jacksonville native Margo Martindale is a guest on “Live! with Kelly.”

— 2010: At the Academy of Country Music Awards:

• Lindale native Miranda Lambert wins Top Female Vocalist, Album of the Year (“Revolution”) and Single, Song and Video of the Year (“White Liar”);
• Jacksonville native Lee Ann Womack is a nominee for Top Female Vocalist. 

— 2006: Edwin Neal, who attended Lon Morris College in Jacksonville, appears in “Mr. Hell.”

— 2006: Carthage native Derek Wayne Johnson appears in an episode of “Thief.”

— 1996: Carthage native Linda Davis is a guest on the talk show “Lauren Hutton and …”

— 1994: Tyler native Richard Bradford has a guest role on “Time Trax”

— 1993: Nacogdoches native Tony Frank appears in the two-part TV movie “The Fire Next Time.”

— 1992: “Viva Las Vegas” by ZZ Top, with Frankston native Frank Beard on drums, peaks at No. 16 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart. 

— 1980: Quitman native Sissy Spacek is a musical guest on “The Midnight Special.”

— 1977: Tyler native Sandy Duncan is a guest on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.”

— 1973: Mineola native Noble Willingham appears in “Hit!” starring Richard Pryor and Billy Dee Williams.

— 1956: Honey Grove native Bill Erwin appears in an episode of “Robert Montgomery Presents.”

— 1926: Lionel Barrymore and Corsicana native Mary Brian star in the silent film “Paris at Midnight.”

— 1926: Corsicana native Jacqueline Logan and Tom Mix star in “Tony Runs Wild.”