The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread

Discussion in 'TV & Media' started by The Old Mixer, Jan 11, 2016.

  1. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    _______

    55 Years Ago This Week


    Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

    Leaving the chart:
    • "It's Over," Roy Orbison (11 weeks)
    • "Three Window Coupe," The Rip Chords (9 weeks)
    • "Viva Las Vegas," Elvis Presley (7 weeks)

    New on the chart:

    "Sie Liebt Dich (She Loves You)," Die Beatles

    (#97 US)

    "Nobody I Know," Peter & Gordon

    (#12 US; #10 UK; written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney--really Paul)

    "(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am," Nancy Wilson

    (#11 US; #2 AC; #45 R&B)

    "Under the Boardwalk," The Drifters

    (#4 US; #1 R&B; #45 UK; #487 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time)

    "The Little Old Lady (from Pasadena)," Jan & Dean

    (#3 US)

    Total positions occupied by Beatles recordings: 4; not to mention at least 3 more positions occupied by Lennon/McCartney songs performed by other artists.

    _______

    Actually, George turned 21 in '64, and Paul had just turned 22 at this point. Also at this point in '64, Ringo and John were still 23 (though Ringo's birthday is in 2-1/2 weeks).

    I should clarify the cat situation. Artie said that the cat had stowed away on the train in Denver, so he was keeping it until they could let it off back there. #ArtieCares

    ETA:
    And I just saw what the Wiki contributor did there.
     
    Last edited: Jun 21, 2019
  2. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    Shouldn't that be "Ja, Ja, Ja?"

    I've heard better from these boys.

    Slow week so far.

    Now that's more like it.

    This is a fun twist on the driving song genre.

    Whew! :rommie:

    "Verrrry interesting.... news of the past."
     
  3. TREK_GOD_1

    TREK_GOD_1 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    One of the worst hallmarks of a dark decade. Of the three victims, Michael Schwerner was the prime target (of Imperial Wizard Sam Bowers) since he and his wife Rita had arrived in Meridian, Mississippi in January of that year. So angered by the work of the man they called "Jew Boy," that Bowers ordered Schwerner's murder in April of 1964. While plans were set in motion to eventually lure him into a trap, Schwerner himself was not oblivious to the danger, telling his father (on what would be his last visit to his home state of New York), that he was "a marked man."

    The one, troubling part of the events of June 21st that lingers to this day is why did the victims stop while being chased by the Klan caravan? The Civil Rights workers had not been run off the road (or suffered a sudden stop, like having their tires shot out, for example), and if they continued for another few minutes, they would have left the Philadelphia city limits (physically not exactly safe, but at least the promise of reaching the relative safety of the next city would have been inspiration to continue). Some who were in the movement at that time, along with a few historians do not like to question the reason Chaney stopped (he--more than anyone knew what the consequences of stopping meant), as they feel its casts blame for the murders on the victims, but its a troubling mystery with no answers some 55 years later.

    That's not even touching the University of Mississippi Medical Center's unprofessional autopsy of the victims (sold by the FBI) Chaney's in particular, which required a second autopsy performed by an outside pathologist (David Spain) to learn the truth of how Chaney died.
     
    Last edited: Jun 21, 2019
  4. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    _______

    50 Years Ago This Week



    And The Old Mixer is the size of a carrot. Ehh, what's up, doc?


    Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

    Leaving the chart:
    • "Cissy Strut," The Meters (11 weeks)
    • "Hair," The Cowsills (15 weeks)
    • "Morning Girl," The Neon Philharmonic (12 weeks)
    • "Where's the Playground Susie," Glen Campbell (8 weeks)
    • "The Windmills of Your Mind," Dusty Springfield (8 weeks)

    Re-entering the chart:

    "Get Together," The Youngbloods

    (Originally charted Sept. 2, 1967, reaching #62 US, #37 AC; reaches #5 US this run)

    New on the chart:

    "Reconsider Me," Johnny Adams
    (#28 US; #8 R&B)

    "Choice of Colors," The Impressions

    (#21 US; #1 R&B)

    "Good Old Rock 'n Roll," Cat Mother & The All Night News Boys
    (#21 US)

    "Put a Little Love in Your Heart," Jackie DeShannon

    (#4 US; #2 AC)

    "Sweet Caroline," Neil Diamond

    (#4 US; #3 AC)

    _______

    This song and its companion, "Komm, gib mir deine Hand," were made for the German audience. The Beatles memorized the loosely translated German lines phonetically--having not picked up the language despite all the time they spent in Hamburg--and reportedly hated every minute of it, swearing never to do it again.

    For the songwriter's part, he's just getting warmed up in that department...as this past week's birthday post demonstrates.

    This was a borderline purchase for me, as it falls on the Easy Listening side of the fence.

    And very seasonally appropriate--This one is on my "Summer!" playlist.

    But did she surf?

    I just did a quick bit of browsing as I wasn't very familiar with the incident. It sounds like they had the deck stacked against them...car trouble and local law enforcement being involved in the pursuit. And weren't they already outside of the city, on a county road?

    There'll be better news on the civil rights front in next week's post.
     
  5. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    Very true, but your quoting went a little awry there somehow.

    A baby carrot or the one from Lost In Space?

    A welcome return. It should come back again.

    That's pretty nice.

    Another great sign-of-the-times message song. I'm not sure if I ever heard it before.

    A nice little retrospective.

    Another lovely sign o' the times.

    I like this one. Yes, I like Neil Diamond. Well, early Neil Diamond.

    Ach, du lieber.

    I don't know, but I hear she liked to go topless at the beach.
     
  6. TREK_GOD_1

    TREK_GOD_1 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Beautiful, earthy song.

    Another great, end-of-the-decade shift for an artist. Such a departure from the "What the World Needs Now Is Love" kind of sound.

    I think of this as the breakout of his more pop sound (mid 60s) and the start of what many think of as the "real" Neil Diamond sound. Though personally, I can find much to enjoy of his 60s - early 80s work.

    Yes, Neshoba County's deputy Cecil Price initially arrested them on a false speeding charge (and an equally false suspicion that Schwerner & Gooodman had something to do with the burning of Mount Zion church--which was actually part of Klan bait to lure Schwerner back into the region), held them for hours until he (and "preacher" Killen) could organize the murder group. When the trio was released, investigators also wondered why they did not attempt to use a visible hotel pay phone (located across the street from the jail) to call their Meridian office and let their associates know where they were, but some assume Price was not going to let them do anything other than get in their car and head back on the highway where they would be expected/pursued.

    On the night of the murders, they were still within county lines--but almost made it out of the area. Why Chaney stopped is an eternal mystery, as their Ford station wagon was fast, and CORE made sure their assigned cars were always maintained, for just this kind of situation.

    Just adding a few overlooked details about the case, some which have caused debate amongst historians for decades (e.g., the "why" the trio stopped the car), and how the gruesome the crime was as opposed to the so-called official version.
     
  7. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    _______

    50th Anniversary Cinematic Special

    True Grit
    Directed by Henry Hathaway
    Starring John Wayne, Glen Campbell, and Kim Darby
    Premiered June 11, 1969
    1970 Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (John Wayne); Nominee for Best Music, Original Song ("True Grit")

    I actually watched this a few weeks back as I'd discovered it was free on demand until the end of May. It was enjoyable as a more traditional-style Western than the Eastwood spaghetti Westerns. But while the Duke was certainly entertaining...


    ...I'm not sure I was getting anything Oscar-worthy out of his performance.

    Not winning an Oscar is yes, that Glen Campbell, playing a Texas Ranger who gets the heroic death in the end...and singing the title song:

    (Charts July 26, 1969; #35 US; #7 AC; #9 Country)

    I love how in this scene, Campbell tosses the knife into easier reach!


    And this film is noteworthy to Trek fans not just for co-starring Kim Darby as Mattie, but also for Jeff Corey playing the object of her pursuit, Tom Chaney:

    :lol:
    Other Trek guests in the cast include Alfred Ryder as defense lawyer Goudy; John Fiedler in a comical reveal at the end as Mattie's oft-referenced attorney; and Ron Soble, whom I completely missed.

    I was tickled by the use of Fort Smith as a setting, as I've been there and seen the park with the replica of its infamous gallows. The public hanging in the same park where kids were playing on swings was quite the period spectacle. I didn't catch him, but I read that Jay (Tonto) Silverheels was one of the hung men in that scene.

    _______

    I think what RJ means is that your inclusion of the quote from Wiki attributes the quote to him.

    Indeed, glad this sign-o-the-times classic will be around a little longer this time.

    Sounds kinda old-fashioned for the period to me. Wiki claims that it's a country song, but it sounds like watered-down '50s blues to my ear.

    The message is good, but I think it stumbles over the music a bit.

    Sounds like '50s retro is just chomping at the bit to get going...no doubt a reaction to the turbulent times and their astronomical changes to the music scene.

    I'm not hearing any great musical evolution here. They're both classics, but I'd say that "What the World Needs Now" is the stronger song, and would have fit in just fine in '69. In fact, a successful cover of the song will be coming our way in the early '70s. More current for our purposes, I see that the Sweet Inspirations did a less successful cover in '68 (charted Nov. 30, 1968; #128 US).

    It's definitely a strong period for him, producing many an enjoyable classic.
     
    Last edited: Jun 23, 2019
  8. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    I mean the post you quoted was by Mixer, not me. No biggie, just pointing it out.

    I can't say that I'm especially familiar with Westerns or John Wayne movies, but the best thing I've ever seen him do was The Seachers: "What do you want me to do? Draw you a picture? Spell it out? Don't ever ask me! Long as you live, don't ever ask me more!" Man, oh, man.

    "I didn't think you'd do it." :rommie:

    Indeed. "Desiree" and "Longfellow Serenade" are wonderful.
     
  9. TREK_GOD_1

    TREK_GOD_1 Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Easily Wayne's last great movie. The tail end of the decade had him make some dreary, questionable choices with 1968's The Green Berets ("Vietnam--IS a noble war, and we changed a Lefite journalist's mind in the process!") and Hellfighters ("lets show how great these oil rig firefighters are!!"), but True Grit was another animal altogether, with unusual characters taking Wayne out of his usual roles / comfort zone as an actor.

    Yeah, that was a nice "inside" thing for TOS fans. Of course, Wayne worked with George Takei in the aforementioned The Green Berets just a year earlier.

    "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" has the sound of the period--not as cheery (despite the lyrics) a sound like her earlier hit, which fits a certain tone of 1969, I believe.
     
  10. J.T.B.

    J.T.B. Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Yeah. I think him playing a character so different from previous roles gave people a bit of a surprise, "What do you know, the Duke can act." Voigt and Hoffman might have split the vote, too.

    In this picture, the role of Fort Smith, Arkansas was played by Ouray, Colorado.
     
  11. gblews

    gblews Vice Admiral Admiral

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    She was primarily known as a jazz singer. I never even knew she had any songs that hit the pop charts. Loved her back in the day. Beautiful voice and an absolutely beautiful woman. RIP.

    Loved the Drifters. With a history that goes back to the early 50's, this group's history rivals that of the Temptations in terms of longevity and number of rotating members. The first single I ever bought as a kid was Up On the Roof by these guys.. I'v always thought of "Boardwalk as a bit of a singing test. Use the Drifters arrangement, and sing the lead vocal. The closer you can get to the Drifters' lead, the better singer you are.[/quote]
     
  12. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    _______

    50th Anniversary Album Spotlight

    Happy Trails
    Quicksilver Messenger Service
    Released March 1969
    Chart debut: March 29, 1969
    Chart peak: #27, May 10, 1969
    #189 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

    Side one consists entirely of the "Who Do You Love Suite," an extended psychedelic jam of the seminal Bob Diddley blues number. (Diddley's 1957 original ranks #137 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.) The suite consists of six movement/tracks:

    I. "Who Do You Love (Part 1)"

    This movement begins the song in a relatively straightforward hard-rocking manner, including lyrics, though there's a long instrumental intro first.

    II. "When You Love"

    It's in this movement, featuring an extended guitar solo by Gary Duncan, that the psychedelic flavoring really kicks in and I can start to get lost in the music.

    III. "Where You Love"
    This part is at the same time more psychedelic but also more random/abstract, and thus less enjoyable than what preceded it.

    IV. "How You Love"

    The number picks up (and becomes recognizable as the Diddley song) again with this segment, featuring another guitar solo, this time by John Cipollina.

    V. "Which Do You Love"
    This movement features our shortest, final, and fuzziest solo, by bassist David Freiberg.

    VI. "Who Do You Love (Part 2)"
    Yes, the words and phrases return for this closing segment.

    A 3:35 edit of QMS's "Who Do You Love" was released as a single (charts Aug. 9, 1969, reaching #91 US).

    Side two features another continuous performance, albeit of three distinct numbers. The first is "Mona," another psychedelic rock rendition of a Diddley composition:

    This QMS version ranks #88 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time. It begins with a lengthy intro; the words and phrases eventually kick in, but then take a backseat to more guitar work for a spell. The solos are said to be by Cipollina and Duncan, I assume in that order. Sorry, Squig, I like the guitar parts better.

    This is followed by two instrumentals credited to Duncan. The first and shorter of the pair is "Maiden of the Cancer Moon," though it lasts long enough to get lost in the music again.

    The album effectively climaxes with the second of the pair, "Calvary," which at 13-1/2 minutes is the single longest track on the album, and over half the length of the "Who Do You Love Suite". As such, it meanders about in a trippy fashion.


    Ironically, the closing and title number, "Happy Trails"--yes, a cover of the Roy Rogers TV & radio show theme--is a brief, goofy afterthought, easily the most disposable track on the album.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Trails_(album)#Reception
    I can see why this album has a place on the Rolling Stone list, exemplifying as it does the San Francisco psychedelic rock scene of the time. At the same time, it's not something I see myself getting a lot of listening out of, being groovy mood music at best. This would definitely be an example of psychedelic music meant to enhance a high rather than provide it; and for what it offers, I'd be much more inclined to put on a Jimi Hendrix album.


    Next up: Stand!, Sly & The Family Stone

    _______

    I may have to check that out as optional off-period viewing.

    I got a good laugh out of that, too.

    I just ain't hearing 'em the way you do. "Put a Little Love in Your Heart" sounds as cheery as they come to me.

    Yeah, I'd meant to touch upon that, which I'd read about. Apparently his prior films tended to feature him in stock roles tailored for him by his own set of writers.
    I'll be getting to that one eventually. :)

    Which is referenced in "Boardwalk".
     
  13. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    I don't think I've ever heard of this.

    Such an odd idea. Maybe a Rock Opera based on "Octopus's Garden" isn't so far fetched after all. :rommie:

    Apparently these guys were insane. I may have to pick this up, despite the dearth of words and phrases.

    If I was inclined to add a Duke movie to my collection, which I'm not-- nothing against him, particularly, just not my cup of tea-- that would probably be it.
     
  14. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    _______

    The Wild Wild West

    "The Night of the Juggernaut"
    Originally aired October 11, 1968

    Jim and Artie are checking on a homesteader named Jorgensen and find him dead just as they're attacked by a strange motorized vehicle that makes a fairly annoying racket and injures Artie. Wiki tells me that Artie's injury was written in to cover for an actual injury that Ross Martin suffered during the filming of another episode (not yet aired).

    So Jim rides into Grey Ridge alone to investigate. He comes across a homesteader named Lyle Dixon (Floyd Patterson) being roughed up by locals while trying to buy supplies at a general store. Jim lets his fists express how he feels about the situation. The interesting thing here is the episode initially lets you to believe that it's a skin color issue, but we learn after the fight that the store has been refusing to sell to homesteaders in general, ostensibly because of resentment from the established ranchers in the area. Jim's invited to a meeting of the homesteaders, who do prove to be racially diverse, and a familiar annoying racket heralds the arrival of an uninvited guest, which we get a better look at. It proves to be a sort of brightly painted steampunk tank with a battering ram in front, a stack on top, and wagon-style wheels on its sides. Jim tosses a heat-activated explosive of Artie's in the stack, causing it to limp away to a more pathetic-sounding racket.

    Artie rides in via wagon, having learned that the people moving into the lands being given up by the homesteaders are known outlaws. Artie convinces the homesteaders to sell him the deeds to their lands so that he can present himself as a target. Going into town in a Wild Bill-style disguise, Artie boasts and toasts with the spokesman of the ranchers' cooperative/syndicate, Bock (Simon Scott), and is knocked out by a drug in his drink. Meanwhile, Jim has located the barn in which the machine is kept, as well as a vat of oil, just as Artie is being brought in to sign away his land under threat. Jim intervenes but is forced to surrender when Bock holds a gun to a member of his own household staff, Lonie (Gloria Calomee).

    Once Jim, Artie, and Lonie are trussed up and left unattended, Jim breaks loose with the help of a piton-launching device that doesn't include the pistol. The trio commandeer the juggernaut and take a crash course in learning to operate it, busting out of Bock's villa undeterred by dynamite and Gatling guns. Bock has rode ahead with some men to confront the assembled and armed homesteaders, expecting the juggernaut to catch up with them and mop the place up. But when it arrives, Jim and Artie have taxed its pressure to the limit and bail out as it plows into Bock's men and blows up in a cloud of impractically colorful smoke.

    The train coda is in two parts. In the first, Dixon and Lonie hook up. The second, which was obviously shot considerably later based on the growth of Conrad's hair and sideburns, involves Artie having returned to the hospital, ostensibly to hit up some nurses, and Jim wooing the nurse who comes to deliver a message about him.


    "The Night of the Sedgewick Curse"
    Originally aired October 18, 1968

    Working the day watch out of Presidential Errands Division, Jim is tagging along with a man named Redmond (Arthur Space), just to get him to sign off on an appropriation, as Redmond is checking into the Sedgewick Hotel. I get the impression he's supposed to be a legislator, but he isn't referred to or billed with a title. When a bell in the lobby rings from that room Jim goes up to investigate and is stopped by a pair of toughs--one of them being Red West, of course--who insist that their mother is staying in the room. Jim gives them the usual treatment for characters played by Red West and enters the room to find that it is indeed occupied by a little old lady...and returning to the lobby, he finds a different clerk manning the desk, who confirms the occupant.

    Clerk: If you care to check with her two sons...
    West: No, I, uh, I already have.​

    The new clerk insists that there's no other clerk, but Jim sees the man's eyeglasses lying on the desk and covertly swipes them. Jim checks out the address of the owner of the eyeglasses and finds him dead, alongside a symbol scrawled in blood. Then outside he sees a stagecoach out of control and saves its occupant, Lavinia Sedgewick (Sharon Acker). Jim takes her to her home and sees a crest outside the door that resembles the symbol he saw--three swords piercing a heart.

    Meanwhile, Artie has checked into the hotel as a retired colonel. The desk clerk eavesdrops as Artie's getting a massage while questioning his masseuse, then when he's in the room alone the clerk turns the steam up on full and locks the door, but Artie manages to escape and stays in character as he complains about the situation. Artie has learned that Redmond is one of three occupants who received special treatment at the spa for an unusual disease called Lubbock's Distemper...all of whom disappeared.

    Jim returns to Stately Sedgewick Manor for dinner and meets Lavinia's grandfather (Richard Hale), who's being protectively minded by Dr. Shrink...er, Maitland (Jay Robinson). Maitland tells Jim about the family curse, which started with the founder, who was burned for witchcraft, and his sister, who went mad with sadism. Lavinia acts tense around Maitland, and the old man tries to warn Jim of something but is taken away. Later the maid, Jessica (Maria Lennard), tries to warn him that he needs to leave or he'll die. After dinner, somebody tries to off him with the old "spears dropping from the bed canopy" trick, after which Red West and Not Red West enter from a secret passage. Jim gives them the increasingly usual treatment, then takes the passage down to a dungeon where he finds Redmond and a couple of others in a cell, all looking elderly.

    The episode description really spoiled a twist that we weren't supposed to learn about until the last act break. It turns out that Maitland has been working on a serum that would help the family to deal with their own unusually rapid aging upon hitting middle age, which requires the test subjects to have a blood condition caused by Lubbock's Distemper, but the subjects have themselves been afflicted with rapid aging by the serum...Lavinia's "grandfather" is revealed to actually be her brother, a biochemist who had been involved in the experiments before becoming a victim of them. Jim is locked in a cell with Jessica which is flooded with colorful gas, but he uses an explosive concealed in the heel of his shoe to bust out.

    Meanwhile, Artie has returned to the hotel as a Frenchman, wearing a different mustache, and the clerk doesn't recognize him. Artie makes a point of mentioning that he has Lubbock's, pretends to succumb to a drugged drink in his room, and is abducted via the old revolving wall trick and being carried out in a crate. He's smuggled straight to Maitland's lab in the Sedgewickcave, where he uses the ventriloquism that we saw him practicing in his first scene on the train to distract the doctor long enough to replace the serum in his syringe with water.

    Jim finds Artie and the two are attacked by Red West, Not Red West, and house servant Felix (Gene LeBell), who learns what the usual treatment is for teaming up with Red West. When Maitland sees that Artie hasn't aged, he assumes that the newest serum was a success and Lavinia immediately injects herself with it...then rapidly ages before their eyes...though not ours, other than a shot of her hand. Maitland surrenders on behalf of himself, Red West, and the rest. After the commercial break, we see Lavinia on camera as an old woman (Kathryn Minner).

    This one was a bit of a conceptual mess...the serum meant to fight rapid aging just happened to cause rapid aging? And they didn't make it clear just how bad the family's hereditary condition was, as every victim of rapid aging we saw had been given the serum.

    _______

    I shoulda mentioned that she had another Top 40 song that came up as 50th anniversary business last year:

    "Face It Girl, It's Over," Nancy Wilson

    (Charted May 11, 1968; #29 US; #28 AC; #15 R&B)

    She also popped up on a Sullivan in November, which included this song.

    That's unexpected...I would've thought this album was right on the other side of town from your alley.
     
  15. gblews

    gblews Vice Admiral Admiral

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    I remember her version of this song. Haven't heard it many many years. It sounds just as good today as it did years ago.

    I didn't know it was a pop hit. I only heard it played on jazz stations. Somewhere, my old neighborhood buddy, Richard Wiggins, who was a devoted fan and who used to bring her albums to my house to listen to, is smiling.
     
  16. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    I saw this one not too long ago, or at least parts of it.

    You'd think these guys would learn to BYOB by now.

    Too bad Jim and Lonie didn't hook up. The show had an opportunity there.

    I wonder if all these villains hire the same architect. This is pretty specialized stuff.

    That strikes me as pretty much the worst place to conceal an explosive. :rommie:

    And it seems like an awful lot of people have this rare condition.

    Yeah, but it's so off the wall that it's intriguing. It's sitting in my Shopping Cart now along with 305 other things, so who knows if I'll ever actually get it.
     
  17. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    Indeed...an opportunity to beat Trek to its overhyped claim.

    I can think of at least one place that makes me wince more.
     
  18. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

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    ^^ Yeah, but that place isn't constantly whacking on the ground. I hope. :rommie:
     
  19. The Old Mixer

    The Old Mixer Mih ssim, mih ssim, nam, daed si Xim. Moderator

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    _______

    The Saint
    "The Desperate Diplomat"
    Originally aired October 20, 1968 (UK)
    Simon is summoned to the scene of a murder by Inspector Teal. The victim is an accomplice of Jason Douglas, the diplomat who absconded with US aide money meant for the African nation that he was posted in. Whoever committed the murder was obviously looking for something. Jason left a message for Simon, in the form of a lucky coin that each carries as a reminder of an experience that they'd previously shared.

    Simon makes contact with Jason's estranged daughter, Sara, who is soon abducted by the murderers, who want to know where Jason is so that they can grab the money. They use her as a hostage to persuade Simon, thinking that he knows Jason's whereabouts. Once Simon and Sara get out of that situation, they travel to Switzerland, where they have reason to believe that Jason is. Simon grabs himself a quick bit of publicity at the airport to make sure that it gets in the news that he's in the country. Soon Simon contacted by another associate of Jason's, Chatto (Kenneth Gardnier), who directs Simon to the house where Jason is staying.

    Jason, who's dying from wounds he'd taken in his escape from Africa, explains how the US aide was being used to buy luxury items for the new regime, and he wanted to see that it got to the people. The bad guys arrive and take Simon prisoner. Simon and Chatto free themselves and Simon sets a booby trap on the basement stairs for one of his keepers. A gunfight and a car chase ensue. Chatto, who'd been in unconscious in the back of the bad guys' car, wrestles for control of the vehicle with the main bad guy, Faber (Robert Hardy), causing the car to go over a cliff. The money is recovered and Sara plans to return it.

    This was nothing to write home about...a thin story with half-baked bad guys that felt pretty padded. For example, at one point there's a nice bit of business in which Simon attempts to overpower the bad guys after tossing a glass of liquor into a fireplace as a distraction...but his attempt is unsuccessful.

    _______

    The Wild Wild West
    "The Night of the Gruesome Games"
    Originally aired October 25, 1968
    In the teaser, Jim's pursuing said evil scientist, Dr. Raker (Robert Ellenstein), on horseback when Raker sets a booby trap across his path consisting of a box of rockets with a trip wire. Jim and his horsey get through it OK.

    Artie's already embedded in town as an "old" drunk (barely looks middle-aged), who turns rabble-rouser to create a distraction so that Jim can sneak into the closed saloon that Raker was seen entering. Jim enters the upstairs window of a room occupied by actress Lola Cortez (Sherry Jackson!), who seems quite unphased when she comes in half-dressed from the bathroom(!). Jim catches the doctor out in the hall but Raker holds Lola at knifepoint to make his escape. Raker falls to his death, but Jim discovers afterward that he's already sent the vial to the home of a wealthy socialite named Rufus Kraus (William Schallert!). Jim and Artie manage to make the coach that's taking Lola to Kraus's party...Artie now disguised as Raker, who insists that he and Jim were just joshin' back there with the knife.

    I might not have recognized Schallert, as he's in heavy old-age makeup for the role, including a beard. He puts on a colorful performance as the wheelchair-bound elderly gent. Kraus's guests are put off when one of his games involves knocking a player out with a drugged needle, but decide to stick around when they learn that the prizes include rubies, sable, and gold. Meanwhile, Jim gets caught sneaking around upstairs looking for the vial and ends up caged in the basement furnace room. During a game of hide and seek, Artie discovers that the drugged guest was indeed fatally poisoned as he'd originally thought, and has to deal with an exploding doorknob to boot! Lola disappears in a trick cabinet with a chute down to the furnace room, where she aides in Jim's escape via thermite. After they've rejoined the party, Kraus reveals that all of the guests are in his will, but the games are booby-trapped in order to whittle down the heirs...who, under the circumstances, don't seem to mind so much.

    To learn who Raker's accomplice was, Artie takes the place of the temporarily bedridden Kraus, calls off the games, and announces that he knows one of the guests is a murderer. The person who sneaks into Kraus's bedroom to silence Not Kraus is...Dr. Raker, who faked his death by slowing his pulse and breathing. He also reveals that his accomplice is Charity (Helen Page Camp), Kraus's games mistress, who'd been rigging the booby traps to be more deadly than Kraus had intended; and, in a nifty turn, that the vial was hidden in the literal ticking clock in the parlor that Artie had his eyes on all night. By that point the vial is ready to blow any second, so Jim makes good use of that trick cabinet to dispose of the plague in the furnace ASAP.

    In the train coda, Jim and Artie are just coming back from a date with unseen twins...the most bizarre case yet of ignoring a dating opportunity with a perfectly good guest heroine, who in this case was being flirty with Jim throughout the episode.

    Filling in for Red West this week is Lee Kolima as a heavy named No-Fun.

    It's hard not to enjoy an episode with Sherry Jackson and William Schallert in it. For once, it seems like the episode could have been expanded to better play out its colorful premise.

    _______

    Out of crotch, out of mind.
     
  20. RJDiogenes

    RJDiogenes Idealistic Cynic and Canon Champion Premium Member

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2003
    Location:
    RJDiogenes of Boston
    He should have toppled that regime.

    Sherry Jackson? How could anyone pass up Sherry Jackson?

    :rommie: