The Trumpublicans intend to fuck with elections by every means necessary. Though the courts have quashed the administration’s efforts to greatly restrict mail-in voting, ProPublica found that votes are still being nullified by budget cuts that have hobbled the Postal Service, leading to delays in delivery that voided the ballots. That’s in addition to the ballots found in the trash in Washington state and some marked “return to sender” in Lancaster County, Pa.
Legendary songwriter Otis Blackwell, who composed several of Elvis Presley’s hits, notably “Don’t Be Cruel” and “All Shook Up,” was tapped to provide the tunes for the 1963 movie “Girls! Girls! Girls!” but balked at having to write to fit story elements of the script. He and collaborator Winfield Scott came up with “Return to Sender” when a demo tape they sent out was returned with the words of the chorus stamped on the envelope. The script was amended to fit it in.
Because Presley’s recent hits were ballads, the song was intended to return him to his rock ‘n’ roll roots, so the arrangement was built around Boots Randolph’s saxophone. “No such zone” in the chorus refers to the routing system the postal service used before ZIP codes, which were introduced shortly after the movie came out. The anachronism didn’t hamper record sales. “Return to Sender” was a Billboard No. 2 in the U.S. (No. 1 in Cashbox) and was the Christmas No. 1 single in the UK in 1962.
