This is not bad, though not great. Laugh if you will, but this is a personal favorite of mine (and it's somehow linked in the back of my mind with "How Do You Do?" for reasons I do not recall). Classic. Not as classic. Ah, I wish they would do more with the original POTA Universe (aside from that anthology, which I still have to finish). He definitely started out very Dylanesque, and later went on to more standard Folk, but I think this falls into his "distinctive" period. Maybe it's just me, because the song is on his greatest hits album that I used to listen to incessantly. Sure, but that's Brenda Lee, and I love Brenda Lee. Agreed, which is exactly what I do with literature. I'm always grabbing things from my childhood that I either missed or wasn't allowed to read-- and then of course there are the Pulps, which range over the first half of the century (and their predecessors, which go back even further). Just as well, I guess, since we don't have it, at least not yet. It was always an hour-long show when I used to watch it. It sounds like they've made a real mess of it. Yes. Yes, he does.
_______ 55th Anniversary Viewing _______ The Ed Sullivan Show Season 17, episode 33 Originally aired May 16, 1965 As represented in The Best of the Ed Sullivan Show Petula gives an enthusiastic if slightly rushed performance of recent hit "I Know a Place," with a tricked-up ending that includes a nod to her breakout American hit, "Downtown". tv.com indicates that she also did a song called "Heart," which doesn't appear to have been a charting single. To convey a story about how parents bug their kids, King describes a "typical little league game," focusing on the overbearing behavior of the parents. Garrido does a standing routine with pins that primarily uses his hands, but also includes using his feet...one at a time. The duo dances to part of "Swan Lake" that tv.com identifies as the pas de deux. Ed comes over afterward to kiss her hand and shake his. Also in the original episode according to tv.com: I have to think that the "King of the Road" parody must have been "Queen of the House". _______ Gilligan's Island "Goodbye, Old Paint" Originally aired May 22, 1965 So this is basically Wrongway Feldman with an easel. To get him to use his hidden transmitter to call a boat back to civilization, the castaways try fake-raving about his next abstract painting to make him think he's appreciated again, but Gilligan blows the plan. Then when Gilligan mentions that he flunked art in third grade for painting like Dubov, Mr. Howell comes up with a new plan. The idea is to make the painter jealous so that he'll seek the opinions of the world's art critics. But instead, Dubov leaves them his inoperable, rusty transmitter and rafts to another island. Gilligan in his artist's getup kinda reminded me of Maynard. _______ It's kinda religious, but has a good sound. Gotta wonder how that not-very-subtle cover art goes with the spiritual angle, though... As for me...I wasn't able to find the original version of this. And I'm OK with that. Michael. Jermaine. Among the singles that I have in my chronological playlists, this one stands out as being distinctly ordinary by comparison. I should have included in the ETA that they are showing material from all seasons of the show, but all Frankensteined like I described. Was that in daytime syndication? I used to catch in in weekday afternoon syndication as a preschooler, between Mom's soaps, and the half-hour length sounds right to me. Other highlights...there was a Beach Boys episode yesterday (featuring them via concert footage that was of an obviously different quality than the footage of the cast supposedly at the show, but the band was credited); and Nimoy was a guest star this morning...followed in the next episode by Clarence Williams III from Mod Squad. I was kinda dumbfounded by the main plot of the Beach Boys episode. They pulled the "blind woman is a witness to a crime and the perps come after her" trope...except that the crime she "witnessed" was the broad daylight robbery of a movie theater ticket booth, with the perps not bothering to wear masks, and the girl manning the booth staring right at them the whole time. I'll buy that the ticket girl wasn't able to give a good description, but if the idiotic bad guys are gonna go after anyone just to be sure, you'd think it'd be her first...
Maybe she had a reservation there. Imagine asking the audience to give a big hand to a foot juggler-- that's offensive! And who brings high culture to the American public with Ed gone? No one, that's who. It should have been "Goodbye, Leonardo da Vinci" or something. Stick with using those classic names from antiquity in the titles. Probably not a great idea, since Gilligan's island seems to be the only one in the area not inhabited by headhunters. They're probably related. I wonder if I can work that into my multi-series Gilligan crossover. A spoonful of sugar. I asked for it. Fun fact about the singer: He was in Hair on Broadway. Sensing a pattern.... I guess. It's probably me associating it with the others. I wish they would just show the original episodes. Same with Ed. No, I watched it first run. It was a Friday-night staple, along with Room 222, and other stuff I can't think of right now. I actually don't ever remember seeing it in syndication. I never watched a single episode when it was on the air (well, maybe the pilot), so I don't remember what it was like, but it sounds gloriously bad.
50th Anniversary Cinematic Special Let It Be Directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg Starring The Beatles Premiered May 13, 1970 Winner of 1971 Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song Score; and 1971 Grammy Award for Best Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or a Television Special I always found this film difficult to get through. This would owe in part to the low audiovisual quality of the copy in my possession and the vintage home video editing. The film was originally shot in a television aspect ratio, so the theatrical version cropped the top and bottom of the footage. Rather than restore it for home video back in the day, they did the usual pan and scan thing, so that what you're getting in this release is cropped on all sides and blown up to fill the screen. The first segment of the film, during which the others besides Paul were infamously miserable, has the Beatles attempting to rehearse material at Twickenham Film Studios, completely out of their element in this strange environment and working normal filming hours rather than from evening to the wee hours of the morning, as had become their recording studio routine. Songs include "Get Back" B-side "Don't Let Me Down," during which Yoko's presence is established; Abbey Road track "Maxwell's Silver Hammer," reminding me of how Paul reportedly drove the other's crazy with endless takes of it--longtime Beatles assistant Mal Evans is shown banging the titular instrument; "Two of Us," a song that's supposed to be about Paul and Linda, but always had a John and Paul vibe to me, accentuated here by the sight of the two of them sharing a mic--the song is heard here in a more electric version than the one used on the album; "I've Got a Feeling," a personal favorite from the LIB album that sounds close to final, and during which John seems to be enjoying himself. John's line "Queen says no to pot-smoking FBI members," heard before "For You Blue" on the album, falls here in the film. Then we hear a bit of another Abbey Road track, "Oh! Darling," before a segment of Paul talking about his early days writing songs with John, which serves as a prelude to "One After 909," one of those earlier compositions, which the Beatles had attempted to record in the studio back in '63, as heard on Anthology 1. Paul and Ringo improv a piece playing on the same piano, which is followed by another take of "Two of Us". Then occurs the infamous bit during which Paul and George get into a bit of a spat on camera. For the film's purposes, we get a bit more footage at Twickenham, including "Across the Universe"; "Dig a Pony"; an apparently improvised rockabilly/electric blues number called "Suzy Parker," credited to all four Beatles; and George's "I Me Mine," which will be the song recorded during the Beatles' last studio session in January 1970, specifically because it would be featured here in the film. John and Yoko are shown waltzing during the song. As I recall reading, the Beatles had been promised a state-of-the-art studio at Apple by resident con-man and John hanger-on Magic Alex, and were horrified to find a room with a bunch of tiny speakers on the wall. They ended up renting portable equipment from EMI. The proper recording sessions, as shown in the film, begin with George's "For You Blue". Following this is John's "I dig a pygmy" announcement, which opens the album preceding "Two of Us". Then there's a segment in which Paul talks about home movie footage he's been watching of the Beatles in India, from which he seems to have derived some insight into what was happening at the time. Next we see the boys enjoying an old favorite, "Bésame Mucho," which they recorded as part of their rejected Decca audition and as part of their first session at Abbey Road. Then Ringo and George work on Abbey Road track "Octopus's Garden," with George Martin present. At about this point Paul brings in his six-year-old soon-to-be stepdaughter Heather, who shares a cute moment with Ringo. The Beatles revisit another old favorite, "You've Really Got a Hold on Me". This is where I first noticed Billy Preston in the film, though with the extreme picture cropping, who knows? A new song to eventually appear on the album then gets some attention, future #1 "The Long and Winding Road," before we see the band jamming to a medley consisting of a couple more old favorites, "Rip It Up" and "Shake Rattle and Roll"; followed by another medley consisting of "Kansas City," "Miss Ann," and "Lawdy Miss Clawdy". Next up we see more of "Dig It" than the brief excerpt that will be featured on the album...both being part of a larger 15-minute improvised jam. This is followed by another somewhat infamous bit that has Paul babbling about making films and the band getting over their nervousness to play a live show, while the camera focuses past the back of his head on John, who looks bored to tears. The following clips of "I've Got a Feeling" and "Get Back," not shown in the film, use video from these sessions: This segment of the film climaxes with three full performances that were actually shot the day after the film's conclusion... The film shows us the final studio take of "Two of Us"... ...an alternate take of "Let It Be," recorded the same day as the one that was used for the single and album, and an alternate studio take of "The Long and Winding Road". Both of the videos below use footage from the sessions, but neither of them matches the film edit. A hard transition takes us into the film's final segment, the iconic rooftop performance. The footage of the "Get Back" rehearsal shows onlookers beginning to gather on adjacent rooftops and crowd gathering on the street below. The version of "Don't Let Me Down" shown in the film is different from the one used in the below video, and includes lots of cutting to the street below and John briefly slipping into nonsense lyrics. During "I've Got a Feeling," an older fellow on the street seems to be complimenting the band, though I can't understand what he's saying; while another respectable citizen complains of the performance being an imposition. The version of "One After 909" shown in the film seems to be the same one that was used on the album, complete with the bit of "Danny Boy" at the end. During this number, the police start to gather and try to get into building. During "Dig a Pony," which also appears to be the version used on the album, the bobbies find their way into Apple and Mal shows them up to the roof. The film concludes with the second performance of "Get Back". The police are on the roof at this point, but Mal seems to be stalling them so the band can finish the song. I recall some amusing bits in the Anthology film with Paul and Ringo each expressing their disappointment that they weren't actually arrested, which would have been a great way to end the film. The film actually ends with John's famous "I hope we passed the audition" line, following which a bit of "Get Back" plays over the frozen "The End" frame. In lieu of a restoration of the original film or a 50th anniversary edition of the album, the Beatles are planning to release a completely new version of the film later this year, drawing from the same source footage and directed by Peter Jackson. _______ That'll teach him not to help the castaways! Ah, that ups his cred a bit. Still couldn't find it. I considered going off-list to get the Hair original cast recording last year, but never got around to it as I have so much other album business going on. Maybe I still should. More cheesy than bad...and it fairly reeks of Shat dealing with midlife crisis, playing action hero and surrounding himself with scantily clad young blondes. I think I watched its original run for about 5 minutes before entering a period when I generally stopped actively following primetime TV. I neglected to mention in this thread that there was an episode with Nimoy as the guest. And that James Darren became a regular cast member as an officer named Jim Corrigan...that name mean anything to you?
Double whammy. You'd think they could do better than that for The Beatles. Why were they working in a place and on a schedule that made them miserable? I love George in full-on battle mode: "Whatever pleases you, I'll do it." Definitely a Zen kind of guy. That would have been cool. What were the cops like? "You damned Hippies" or "Sorry, boys?" Oh, great, we'll have a CGI Fab Four jumping from rooftop to rooftop or something. I think a restoration of the original would be much better, historically speaking. You mean on iTunes? I can find it on YouTube. It's a good album. I've had it repeatedly since the days of 8-Tracks. Sounds like I could use a mid-life crisis. The thing that struck me as interesting about the show was its similarity to the concurrent Trek films. Kirk was an admiral going back to command a starship and Hooker was a detective going back into uniform. First, best destiny. That was pretty much me at the time as well. If the show had come on in the 70s, I probably would have been a regular viewer. Actually, yes, although I never followed the Spectre. I thought James Darren was there from the beginning, along with Heather Locklear. I'm pretty sure I only watched the first episode, although I don't remember anything specific.
Cheesy, slightly trashy and slightly titillating was ABC's brand in those days. The way I remember it, it seemed like Hooker was a little Dirty Harry-roguish at the beginning, blowing people away with his Colt Python and pushing against the police department brass, but that was toned down as the series went on. Not to me. Yeah there was a different blonde woman cop at the beginning, but IIRC she mostly worked at a desk. When they replaced her with Locklear as a rookie patrol officer, I guess she had to have a partner too.
50th Anniversary Album Spotlight Let It Be The Beatles Released May 8, 1970 (UK); May 18, 1970 (US) Chart debut: May 30, 1970 Chart peak: #1, June 13 through July 4, 1970 #86 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time The history of the sessions was pretty well covered in the cinematic special. Some lowdown on what happened between the filming/recording sessions and the album's release over a year later: Two sides of the Spector coin: The album opens with an announcement from John... ...following which is the enjoyable, acoustic "Two of Us" (#54 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Beatles Songs), which, as previously mentioned, was ostensibly written about Paul and Linda, but comes off a lot more like it's about Paul and John, which is underscored by their harmonizing. The album plugs in for "Dig a Pony" (#92 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Beatles Songs), which was recorded at the January 30, 1969, rooftop concert. I wouldn't put it that strongly, but it was never a favorite. Next is a stronger John number, "Across the Universe" (#84 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Beatles Songs), the basic track for which was recorded in early 1968, and which was originally released in late '69 on a World Wildlife Fund charity album, No One's Gonna Change Our World. I was never terribly fond of that version, which was sped up and otherwise awkwardly produced. The Spector version is overproduced in its own way, but is generally an improvement and a better showcase for John's poetic lyrics: Next it's George's turn with "I Me Mine," the subject of the Beatles' final recording session (sans John) on January 3, 1970. Spector's album edit extends that recording (originally 1:34) by repeating the chorus and second verse. "Dig It," a 51-second excerpt from a 15-minute jam, credited to all four Beatles, serves as an amusing interlude. The first side climaxes with the album's title track (#20 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time; #8 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Beatles Songs): The album features the same basic recording as the single version (charted Mar. 21, 1970; #1 US the weeks of Apr. 11 and 18, 1970; #1 AC; #2 UK), but remixed by Spector and with each version using a different overdubbed Harrison guitar solo. Side one closes with "Maggie Mae," an excerpt from a traditional Liverpool folk song recorded during a studio warm-up. Side two opens with "I've Got a Feeling" (#64 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Beatles Songs), a bluesy rocker that has long been a minor favorite. The main section by Paul is joined with an unfinished song of John's called "Everybody Had a Hard Year". Like the preceding song, early Lennon-McCartney composition "One After 909" was recorded on the roof. This number definitely exudes a positive energy, hearkening back to earlier days. Overall, this is definitely Paul's album...appropriately enough, as he was spearheading the Get Back project. Both of the major singles were his, including the band's final chart-topper, the Ray Charles-flavored "The Long and Winding Road" (charted May 23, 1970; #1 US the weeks of June 13 and 20, 1970; #2 AC; #90 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Beatles Songs): A gorgeous song in spite of Spector's overproduction. By comparison, George's offerings are surprisingly weak considering what he was later able to pull out for Abbey Road, and despite the standard narrative that his first post-Beatles solo album, the triple-disc All Things Must Pass, was such a success because he'd been storing up unused songs while working with the band. "For You Blue" is a cute, enjoyable ditty, but makes for a pretty lopsided double A-side with "The Long and Winding Road". The album closes with what was originally intended to be its title track, a Spector remix of the earlier "Get Back" single (charted May 10, 1969; #1 US the weeks of May 24 through June 21, 1969; #1 UK; #41 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Beatles Songs) that includes studio chatter at the beginning and John's "I hope we passed the audition" bit from the end of the rooftop concert at the end, giving the impression of a live recording: Among the Beatles' British/digital-era catalog, this album has always ranked pretty low for me. It's a bit of a conceptual mess...originally intended to be a "recorded as live" project, sitting on the shelf for over a year because nobody wanted to deal with it, finally getting the Spector treatment, and being released out of order and immediately following the band's break-up. And despite including a couple of stone-cold-classic chart-toppers, it breaks an amazing main-album streak going back to late '65--Rubber Soul...Revolver...Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band...the White Album...Abbey Road. Let It Be isn't in the same league as any of them. _______ This was only available in the early home video period. I had to rent a Betamax machine back in the day to watch it! I'm not sure of the details offhand, but I think it was largely a union thing (had to film on the crew's hours, at least), and filming in a studio and using a union crew may have tied into the film contract that they were fulfilling in making this. I wanted to post a clip of that scene, but the best I could find was shot from somebody's TV screen. Wish I could have found a clip of this as well! Ringo mock-imitated one of the cops wagging his finger and saying something like, "Sorry, lads, you're going to have to turn down that sound now." Historically, I would be in favor of the original film being restored. But by the surviving Beatles' accounts, the film still reopens old wounds. I imagine that the purpose is to recast the whole project in a more positive light than the original film gave it. From an official source? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectre_(DC_Comics_character) He was a (dead) cop, too! From what I saw, she worked the desk as well for most of Season 2, then they added Darren and put her in a squad car late in the season. Prior to that, Darren had done a guest role in an earlier episode as an old buddy of Hooker's from his street-racing days.
Ah, did not remember that. Aaaaand speaking of T. J. Hooker, the captain has died. I wouldn't not have guessed that Richard Herd was younger than Shatner.
When I was in college in the late 70's it was part of a movie night at the school. Usually shown with a film made up of clips of the Beatles on tour in 65 & 66.
Apparently the few memories I have are false. Overproduction is pretty much Spector's claim to fame. They must have hired him for this very reason. 100 Greatest Beatles Songs? How many Beatles songs are there? I think that list is more about excluding things than including things. Not exactly Sgt. Pepper. It's kind of a pity, and it kind of makes you wonder. With The Beatles, there are a lot of might-have-beens. Maybe they just didn't believe the home video market was viable. Ah, biz. I hate that. Makes sense. I suppose somebody will eventually restore the original when they're all gone. Is the YouTube channel of a New York radio station official? Probably not. He died and turned into a record producer who messed up a Beatles album. Yeah, I'm definitely not remembering right. I must have seen later episodes.
Did the air smell sweetly of natural herbs? As I recall, Spector was hired by the other three while Paul was beginning to isolate himself from the band's business affairs because of Allen Klein. Paul was not pleased with what Spector did, particularly to "The Long and Winding Road," which he cited in court as one of his reasons for leaving the band. John, who tended to like to layer production on his songs, was, as reported, pleased with the results, and worked with Spector more than once in his solo career. Spector co-produced, with John and Yoko, John's two best albums, Plastic Ono Band and Imagine...which outweighs his having also atrociously co-overproduced the covers album Rock 'n' Roll...and I won't blame Spector for Some Time in New York City, which would have been an awful album regardless of who was mixing it in the booth. Paul revisited TLAWR several times in his solo career, and the final "alternate history" take would have to be the one on Let It Be... Naked--an album released in 2003 consisting of alternate mixes of the songs from the Get Back / Let It Be project produced closer to the original "no frills" intent of the album...and yes, the project was primarily Paul's baby. I've just been listening to that album today, and in light of my immersive review of the original, I have to say that Naked sounds quite good. It has perhaps less character than the official release (omitting the chatter between songs and jokey song fragments), but makes a strong argument for how, had the Beatles stuck to the intended concept, they might have produced an album that was less of a conceptual mess and more of a gem in the rough. Anthology also gave us some intriguing alternate takes. Here's the no-frills version of the recording that Spector used as the basis for his version of "The Long and Winding Road," which wasn't intended to be the final take: And here's the Naked version of the take that was intended as final: And unlike John, I found from the versions released on Anthology and Naked that I preferred "Across the Universe" with less production. Here's the Naked version of the same track used in the Spector mix, but stripping out most of the original instrumentation: And here's an alternate take with different, more Indian-flavored instrumentation than the final version, as released on Anthology 2: From the official material released in the Beatles' time--which the list draws from--200-ish, I think. But the rankings give one an idea of how the songs stack up to one another according to the contributors...who agree with iTunes downloaders regarding four of the top five songs from the album. Rolling Stone list: Let It Be Get Back Two of Us I've Got a Feeling Across the Universe iTunes downloads: Let It Be The Long and Winding Road Across the Universe Get Back Two of Us This one? Not exactly official download quality.
I wish I had known this when we were voting on our class song. "Paul left the band over this!" Actually, I like that better than the final take. The odd man out being "Long and Winding Road." It's got that scratchy authenticity.
_______ 50th Anniversary Catch-Up Viewing _______ Hawaii Five-O "The Ways of Love" Originally aired November 21, 1968 A woman named Celeste Caro (Josie Over) bails from the passenger seat of a suspect's car during a chase and her last words are the episode title. She's of interest to McGarrett because she's wearing an earring that's one of the crown jewels from a foreign country that were recently stolen in Hawaii. Recovering them is a matter of national importance, so when McGarrett finds the same words in a letter that Caro was writing to one Dave Barca (James Patterson), a convict in a California prison who was arrested on a minor charge in Hawaii not long after the jewel robbery and sent to the mainland because he was wanted there, McGarrett arranges to become the man's new cellmate. He then leads Barca in an elaborate scheme that involves letting his tag along in an escape, conning a military flight to Hawaii, and helping Barca to find Steve Larsen (Don Knight), the accomplice in the theft who'd been driving the car that Caro jumped from. Larsen had abducted Caro to try to find where she'd hidden the jewels, and when Barca learns about the letter, he shoots Larsen, having realized that it was a clue from his lover indicating where the jewels were--at a chapel where they'd exchanged vows. Once Barca has retrieved the jewels, McGarrett arrests him and he tries to draw, getting shot. His fate is left ambiguous. While McGarrett is carrying out his plan, the rest of the regular cast try to keep themselves busy investigating the method of the theft, which involved using X-ray equipment to crack a safe. This one felt kind of M:I-ish with McGarrett's elaborate scheme...and Jack Lord enjoyed chewing the scenery posing as a convict. _______ Dragnet 1969 "Training (DR-18)" Originally aired November 21, 1968 Monday, May 11 (last occurred in 1964...breaking a pretty good streak): Friday and Gannon are working out of Training Division at the Police Academy with female cadets when they're approached by reporter Dorothy Lee (Virginia Gregg), who isn't anti-police as described above, but is shrewd and pursuing her own agenda. She wants to do a piece focusing on the life of a typical policewoman cadet and selects Joyce Anderson (Susan Seaforth), who's been a distinguished student until recently, when she seems to have become distracted by personal troubles. Friday and Gannon learn what the trouble is when her fiance comes for her, and they learn that he's giving her a choice between being a cop or marrying him. It turns out that he's anti-police for whatever reason, and Friday takes a later opportunity to have a chat with him. Ultimately Anderson breaks the engagement and graduates with her class...to the disappointment of Lee, who was advising her to take the other option. (Played over a shot of female police cadets marching on the academy grounds.) _______ Dragnet 1969 "Public Affairs (DR-14)" Originally aired November 28, 1968 Monday, October 7 (back to 1968!): Friday and Gannon are working out of Public Affairs Division, Crime Prevention section, when they're assigned to attend a meeting of business owners in a respectable commercial district that's been getting hit hard by crime, to try to get them to form a crime prevention group. The detectives scope out the area in advance, making notes about various crime hazards that the various businesses are committing, which they share at the meeting. Most of the proprietors balk at the detectives' suggestions, but one of them, Charles Dalton (Del Moore), takes greater interest when his clothing store is burglarized using methods that Friday and Gannon warned of. Restaurant owner Lisa Ruby (Virginia Gregg!) remains skeptical until an incident occurs at her establishment. Friday and Gannon are about to call in a Code Seven when they hear a squad car being summoned to the area because of an altercation between two customers at the restaurant. Entering the place, they catch a young lady attempting to steal from the register, the fight having been a diversion. _______ By "final take," do you mean Spector's version, or the intended final take released on Naked? It did make the list, but five other songs from the album ranked higher. I do sometimes find videos like that useful when I'm attempting to determine if an available download is the original or a rerecording. A few days back I went ahead and deleted Season 1 of The Invaders from my DVR. I'm now temporarily back in the green for the first time in ages, and feel better situated to handle the recordings ahead.
Interesting start there. He didn't fall in the drink? Very complex, and there was also an international intrigue angle. Friday's narration is fascinating, as it illustrates the transitional nature of the time. He comments on how long the force has used policewomen and that they're fairly paid, but there's still the protection angle-- the men must handle the hazardous work. Guess the reporting gig didn't work out. Till tapper! The Naked one, posted right after the one I commented on. If only Roy Thinnes had had it that easy.
55 Years Ago This Week Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week: Leaving the chart: "Game of Love," Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders (11 weeks) "I Do Love You," Billy Stewart (10 weeks) "It's Gonna Be Alright," Gerry & The Pacemakers (8 weeks) "It's Growing," The Temptations (9 weeks) "Land of 1000 Dances," Cannibal & The Headhunters (14 weeks) "The Last Time," The Rolling Stones (10 weeks) Recent and new on the chart: "Bring It On Home to Me," The Animals (May 15; #32 US; #7 UK) "You Really Know How to Hurt a Guy," Jan & Dean (May 22; #27 US) "Seventh Son," Johnny Rivers (#7 US) "Cara, Mia," Jay & The Americans (#4 US) And new on the boob tube: Gilligan's Island, "My Fair Gilligan" _______ No, McGarrett called for an ambulance but they played it like Barca was saying his last words. I didn't even get into all of the details of McGarrett's ruse, which played out for most of the episode. The announcer's...the guy who usually tells us that trial was held on suchadate in Department 184, Superior Court, yada yada yada. For this character they had her in sunglasses the entire episode, even though her scenes were indoors, as if they thought they were fooling us. The Anthology one has more character, but I think the Naked version would have made a good final release. I'd be interested in including the show if it remains available, but for now, something had to go, and it was the most obscure show in the bunch in line for that two-era season. ETA: Here we come Walkin' down the street Get the funniest looks from Everyone we meet Hey, hey, we're the June 13-15 Decades Binge!
Not their best, but it's okay. It doesn't really sound like them. A sad song from Jan & Dean. Not bad. Now we're rockin.' Also sad, also not bad. "We need an ambulance down here. Ask the boys to grab me a hamburger and fries on the way." Ah, the Disembodied Voice of Authority. They always misunderestimate us. We've watched one episode and it was just mediocre. I'll keep an eye on it for interesting guest stars, but it doesn't really excite me.
50 Years Ago This Week Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week: Leaving the chart: "Love or Let Me Be Lonely," The Friends of Distinction (13 weeks) "The Seeker," The Who (7 weeks) "Something's Burning," Kenny Rogers & The First Edition (16 weeks) "What Is Truth," Johnny Cash (8 weeks) New on the chart: "The Sly, Slick, and the Wicked," The Lost Generation (#30 US; #14 R&B) "Maybe," The Three Degrees (#29 US; #4 R&B) "Teach Your Children," Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (#16 US; #28 AC) "Tighter, Tighter," Alive and Kicking (#7 US) _______ Eh, they had more versatility than that...and they're getting in a Sam Cooke tribute. An obscuro but with a nice sound...it reminds me of the contemporaneous stuff that the Beach Boys were doing on Today!, though there doesn't appear to be a writing or production connection in this case. Hardly...poppin', maybe. This is one that I tended to associate primarily with Johnny Rivers as the original recording was more obscure...but reading that it was written by Willie Dixon makes it seem like more fluffy whitebreading, which knocks it down in my estimation. A vocal tour de force. Yeah, when I've caught some in the background, what I was seeing wasn't exactly grabbing me, which informed my prioritization.
Song or drunken ramble? Is there an open bar or what? Ah, one of their classics. I love this one. One of those happy 60s songs, now featuring the 70s. I don't know about that, but it seems like kind of a precursor to George Thorogood. True. Coincidentally, we watched one yesterday that guest starred... Michael Rennie. As a not-so-benign ambassador from the cosmos. The aliens went to so much trouble to persuade this random guy to their cause that it made me think that they must be incredibly weak, and it surprised me that he hasn't come to the same conclusion.
_______ 55th Anniversary Viewing _______ Branded "Price of a Name" Originally aired May 23, 1965 (season finale) Now this one has a b&w version of next season's color credits, with their distinctly different logo. And the end credits have a spoken announcement of the production company, which I hadn't heard in any previous episode. Coming off of a cattle-driving job, Jason accepts a new one from Lucy Benson (Marilyn Maxwell), an ambitious neophyte cattle baroness who's hiring him to help her make the best use of her resources. Following his meeting with her comes the beating and robbing part, his assailants addressing him by name and telling him to get out of town. He's subsequently held up by the same men outside of town, this time losing his horse and Benson's payroll, with their leader, Carruthers (Don Megowan), taunting Jason about how much he'll take from them. At her ranch, Benson is asking Jason's last boss, Roy Harris (Keith Andes), about him, and he's surprised to learn who Jason is. Jason comes by for a horse to go after the men, finds his own horse, then returns to find that Harris has quit his own job with Benson and gotten drunk over the revelation, feeling that their friendship was false because of it. Sniffing out some clues that something's fishy with Benson, Jason confronts her and it comes out that her husband was shot for desertion from the Army, and she's been working out her issues on him. Carruthers and his men, who are under her employ, arrive to confront Jason again, and he stands up to them enough to convince Benson that he doesn't deserve his reputation, so she calls them off. Benson decides to take back her married name because her husband may also have been misjudged; Carruthers hands Jason his saber and offers no hard feelings, which Jason uses as an opportunity to slug him in repayment for their past encounters; and, as Jason rides out, Harris reaffirms that he considers Jason a friend. This one seemed a bit odd to me. Too many people who didn't already know Jason who were putting too much personal stake in his reputation. And that's the first half-season of Branded. Generally an interesting and watchable show, though it sometimes misses the mark a bit. _______ It's new to me, but it's got a decent groove. I thought you were the one who was all into words and phrases. But yeah, the 3+ minute spoken intro is a bit...indulgent. When they get to the song, it's a cover of one originally recorded by the Chantels (charted Jan. 20, 1958; #15 US; #2 R&B; #195 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time): Let's see...you turned 9 in 1970...I was an infant...we are the children! Of interest about this enjoyable one-hitter is that the song was co-written and co-produced by Tommy James...which you can kinda hear if you're listening for it. That's being generous...Johnny Rivers is practically a lounge singer. I haven't seen enough of it to know how that element plays out, but as I understand it, they're trying to keep him from spilling the beans about them but feel that they can't risk just eliminating him. The kind of conceit you need to accept in a (pseudo-)fugitive premise show...like Jack McGee not being able to put 2+2 together regarding John Doe.