This song crossed over? Classic r&b single. I was never a huge fan of this group, but this is a virtuoso gospel rave up. Lead singer has a helluva voice. Never one of my favorite of this band’s songs. Really bland and uninspired. Always loved this song. Great melodys and vocal performances. Don’t think I ever knew the title.
You'd think a brand would be more permanent. The idea of paralleling her husband with Jason was a good one, but they didn't seem to refine it enough. I was going to say something about Anti-Squiggy Syndrome. She'd probably do well with either singing or spoken word, but this was a very odd construction for a single. Now that's pretty nice. I guess that was a song that worked. That's interesting. I'll listen to it with that in mind. I don't really know much about Johnny Rivers, but I think that's a really cool song. Unless I'm missing something, which I could very well be, it's a very large conceit.
_______ 50th Anniversary Catch-Up Viewing _______ Hawaii Five-O "No Blue Skies" Originally aired December 5, 1968 When Joey Rand's (Sands) usual go-between in delivering the jewels to the syndicate is out of town, her roommate is supposed to sub for her, but is caught trying to skip the islands by the syndicate's guy, who strangles her at the airport. When her body is found with a stolen jewel on it, the 5-O team narrows in on the usual go-between, Rand's ladyfriend Valerie Michaels (Sandra Smith), and Rand himself. They mop up the syndicate's end of the operation, but need to get something on Rand. McGarrett's efforts to get Michaels to talk pay off after Joey lets a loyal pal get shot doing a burglary job to give him an alibi. In the climax, Rand gets shot trying to draw on McGarrett and dies. More bookin' and less shootin'! Sands, who had a brief stint of chart success as a teen idol in the late '50s, performs several songs in his character's role as a nightclub singer, including "It Only Takes a Moment," "This Land Is Your Land," and "Goin' Out of My Head". What he doesn't sing, oddly enough, is the song referenced in the title and in dialogue, most notably his dying scene. _______ Dragnet 1969 "Narcotics (DR-16)" Originally aired December 5, 1968 I love those! Thursday, July 18 (1968): Friday and Gannon are working out of Narcotics Division following an incident with a juvenile potential jumper who turns out to be on LSD when they're approached at HQ by a local businessman, Robert Squire (Howard Culver, another actor playing different characters in consecutive episodes, having been one of the business owners in the previous installment). Squire has an idea for combatting the drug problem...to think of the kids who are pushing the drugs as "the competition" and fight them on their level, by organizing upstanding, drug-free kids to spread the word against drug use. They arrange a meeting in a high school classroom, which is attended by a handful of students. When one of them points out that it's supposed to be a youth organization but adults seem to be running the show, a young woman named Ann Flynn (Heather Menzies) steps up and takes charge, initiating a brainstorming session in which they decide to run a campaign and come up with several slogans to use, including: S.O.S. Stamp Out Stupidity Keep Off the Grass Any Moron can smoke Pot...And...Most Morons Do!! When flower children go to Pot...they become Blooming Idiots. Friday enlists the aid of a friend who works as an illustrator at Disney Studios to draw up posters using the kids' slogans, by the time he's done, they also have: POT and PILLS TRIP or TRAP!! Stupidity starts with the first drag, pop, pill or fix! Speed Kills! Don't "METH" around! POT Plenty Of Trouble All branded with the Smarteens logo, which includes the S.O.S. slogan accompanied by a footprint. But things look bad at the next meeting when most of the hour passes and only a couple of the kids show up. When the detectives and Squire are ready to call it quits, a large group of students suddenly arrives, filling the classroom. Ann explains that she decided to hold a pre-meeting at her place to make sure everyone knew what the group was about, and one of the kids who'd showed up early was meant to tell them...but nobody asked him. Friday and Gannon leave the meeting, confident that matters are in good hands. _______ Are rave ups generally so talky? An oldies radio classic, a nice bit of country pop, and it has a times-signy message. That was OK, but the way they played the friend going into drunken depression was a bit bizarre. Either he was secretly in love with Jason, or thought that he had cowardice cooties. It reminds me of Tina Turner's spoken intro for "Proud Mary," but that was less than a minute. Did it...?
Plot element repetition! At least have them fall in the drink. I love it when they fall in the drink. Or at least I like saying "in the drink." Last-minute rights issues? I'm a little disappointed. I wonder if they shoot episodes simultaneously, like King Kong and Most Dangerous Game. TV Jessica. Interesting.... So much for putting teenagers in charge. Except for that quiet kid. Either of which would have been an interesting twist. It reminds me of the Gettysburg Address. Relatively speaking....
50th Anniversary Cinematic Special Beneath the Planet of the Apes Directed by Ted Post Starring James Franciscus, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, Linda Harrison, and Charlton Heston Released May 26, 1970 The first half of the film seems a little too much like a reprise of the first, what with our new crashed astronaut, Brent (Franciscus), getting the lay of the land, learning where he really is, and whatnot. Franciscus looks puny compared to Heston...especially obvious when they're reunited and fight. While the movie seems to have taken some critical beating in its day, there is some contemporaneous social messaging going on, with Ursus's (James Gregory) "military adventurism" and the resulting chimp protest clearly meant to be roughly analogous to Vietnam. David Watson does a serviceable impression of Roddy McDowall, who isn't in this one, as Cornelius. Other familiar faces, not covered in ape masks, are found among the mutants, including Victor Buono and Jeff Corey--the latter of whom I wouldn't have recognized if I hadn't seem him listed. It doesn't seem likely that NYC could have gotten completely buried underground in 2000 years. "Ape shall not kill ape"...setup for a future film. The mutants' bomb worship is satirical, but kind of broad...including the hypocrisy of the mutants claiming to be peaceful because they get their enemies to kill each other. This is paralleled by ape hypocrisy--claiming that man is evil, capable of nothing but destruction, even as they're waging a military campaign against beings whom they've never met. The bomb control console reminds me of the Kryptonian crystals in Superman's Fortress. Of note, this movie gives us the chronological end of the Apes saga, putting the next film in the saga in the position of being both sequel and prequel, with that and the next two setting up how the world that Taylor found came to be. _______ I noticed that. I'll have to remember to use it where appropriate.
Actually, I was referring to the singing part of the song, but there is a long history of spoken word intros and verses In black popular music that goes back many decades. This song, however, has a spoken intro that is longer than most I’v heard. The tradition started in black churches (which is also where rap came from). It is most evident at the end of the service as the sermon winds down and generally, with no break, the choir slides into a song that mirrors the pastor’s message just as The 3 Degrees did in their song.
There are so many odd things about this movie, most of which went right by me when I first watched it, starting with the weird title. I liked pretty much anything POTA related as a young chimp, but this was not my favorite of the movies, for several reasons. One of those was the psychic mutants. I've always had mixed feelings about psychic stuff in fiction, and the mutants just seemed out of place somehow. Basically, I would have preferred more exploration of the Apes World-- which we finally got in Marvel's excellent POTA magazine a few years later. And coincidentally running into Nova. That's another odd thing about the movie that occurred to me at some point-- that Heston would consent to a secondary role. Mud splash from an offshore nuke. It's even more fitting today-- everybody's preaching one thing and doing another. But, really, that's been the nature of ideology since the beginning of time. When you think about it, this is one nutso movie (and TV and comics) series. I'd love to see more movies made within that bizarre, rubbery continuity.
It's a classic, schlocky B-movie sequel title--Bride of Frankenstein, Son of Kong, Beneath the Planet of the Apes! You're not another of those who can accept all sorts of strange, impossible phenomena in fiction, but not mental powers...? I recall having felt similarly when I first saw the film, but was more open to the idea this time around. Having established in the previous film's climax that this was post-nuclear Earth and that Taylor was heading into a Forbidden Zone where apes dare not tread, finding a society of human mutants was a legitimate development in that direction. He wasn't interested in reprising the role and only agreed to appear in the film if Taylor died. The reboot films are all you could expect along those lines in this day and age.
Much more random, I think. I always thought it would be cute to do something called East of the Planet of the Apes, paradoxically set in California. In part it depends on the venue, and mind powers seemed a jarring addition to the Apes concept. But, in general, mental powers are not something I take to. Yeah, there's nothing wrong with it per se, but I guess the thing with both the mental powers and the mutants is that they detract from the Apes concepts of inverted evolution and an Apes-dominated world. I certainly have no problem with exploring different cultures and so forth in that world, like they did in the Apes magazine. Like the Zombie Apocalypse, there's literally a whole world to explore. Usually in situations like that it's an all-or-nothing thing. Yeah, and they don't look very appealing. There is an anthology of short stories set in the original "continuity," but I haven't read most of it yet.
_______ 50th Anniversary Catch-Up Viewing _______ Hawaii Five-O "By the Numbers" Originally aired December 12, 1968 The Wiki summary is an incomprehensible, rambling mess, which is why I didn't use it...but it does mention that our top-billed guest is former Rifleson Johnny Crawford. His character, Private Jerry Franklin, is on leave from "Nam and waiting at every arriving tour bus for a visit from his wife, who hasn't been in touch, when his buddy, Private Joseph Crewes, shows Jerry his winning numbers game ticket. But when Crewes tries to cash it in, the guy who sold it to him, John Lo (Randall Kim), won't pay up. A fight ensues and Crewes is knifed to death in an alley. The Governor puts McGarrett on the Crewes case because there have been too many incidents of soldiers on leave getting killed. Jerry visits a bar popular with the servicemen, which is run by Philip Lo (Will Kaluva), older brother of John and the underworld figure who runs the numbers game (and whom McGarrett has already visited in his investigation). Jerry's just there looking for female companionship, thinking that his wife has deserted him, but when Irene Park (Ann Helm)--Lo's mistress and bargirl, who's secretly conspiring with George Barker (Jonathan Lippe [Goldsmith]), Lo's third-in-command--learns that Jerry was friends with Crewes, she gets him really drunk and takes him back to the place that Lo bought for her to set him up to be framed for Lo's murder. Jerry goes into hiding after the murder, but McGarrett sniffs out from the get-go that it was a frame. The team starts taking people involved in the killings of Lo and Crewes, including John Lo--his brother's second-in-command, who's set up to be caught at Franklin's shabby hideout by Barker. But when McGarrett starts putting the heat on Irene, Barker has her arrange a rendezvous with Jerry (who's been desperately trying to contact her, naively thinking that she could help clear him). When Jerry arrives at the Waikiki Shell amphitheater, it's Barker and his goons who meet him...but they're quickly surrounded by McGarrett & Co. (who've made Irene sing in the nick of time), and Barker is taken alive... In the coda, Jerry finally gets his visit from him wife. It was nice seeing Crawford, but while I found him very likeable on The Rifleman, he wasn't a very strong adult actor. _______ Dragnet 1969 "Internal Affairs (DR-20)" Originally aired December 12, 1968 Lovin' it! Thursday, October 10 (1968): Friday and Gannon are working the day watch out of Internal Affairs Division when they're assigned to investigate Ed HIllier (John McCook), a patrol car officer who's been accused of brutality by a suspect in custody...at a familiar-looking station, where they report to Lt. Moore...who doesn't seem to look familiar to Friday and Gannon, even though Art Gilmore has played five of the captains they've worked under (three of them recurring). Moore arranges for them to talk to to everyone they need to, including the arrestee himself, John Meadows (Peter Duryea), who describes how, during the arrest of a drunken buddy outside of a party he was hosting, he confronted Hillier and grabbed for his badge, following which Hillier decked him. They also talk to a couple of very familiar patrol car officers, who were the back-up unit at the scene of the arrest, but didn't arrive until after the alleged slugging took place...so they can only testify to the aftermath, which included Hillier saying something to the senior back-up officer about being very sick. Their involvement in the episode is limited to this scene. And of course, they talk to Hillier himself, who describes how he's become increasingly frustrated with anti-police behavior, which has included multiple cases of his patrol car being vandalized, and that he lost his cool when Meadows tore his uniform while grabbing for his badge and showered him with insults, which included calling him a pig. Friday takes the opportunity to--What else?--give him a good lecture about lack of appreciation from the public being part of the job. The stories of witnesses to the incident vary, but many of them corroborate the grabbing of the badge and the insults. His wife also pays a voluntary visit, pleading with the detectives not to let Ed lose his job. If the scene that I've seen in promos of Gannon describing Reed and Malloy to Friday was originally from this episode, then it was lost to syndication editing. _______
Now that I think of it, there should be a ton of servicemen in Hawaii at that time, getting involved in 5-0 adventures. Not that something might have happened to her and he should go help her. Now that "Book 'im, Danno" has taken over, I guess nobody will be going into the drink anymore. Then it would have been "Give 'im mouth-to-mouth, Danno." He was just a fool waiting on the wrong block. Probably not the right part for him. Although in another kind of story he could have represented the boy next door being sent off to war. Damn it! I miss my history lessons! The LAPD relied more heavily on cloning than we thought. Aw, man, after waiting so long....
55 Years Ago This Week Way to spoil the bottom of the post, Wiki! https://www.beatlesbible.com/1965/06/11/beatles-awarded-mbes/ https://www.beatlesbible.com/1965/06/12/press-conference-mbe-announcement/ This is the announcement of the awards...the boys will be invested with their MBEs in October. Note John's "bed head," because he slept in. Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week: Leaving the chart: "I Know a Place," Petula Clark (12 weeks) "Iko Iko," The Dixie Cups (10 weeks) "I'll Be Doggone," Marvin Gaye (12 weeks) "Ooo Baby Baby," Smokey Robinson & The Miracles (11 weeks) "We're Gonna Make It," Little Milton (11 weeks) Recent and new on the chart: "Tonight's the Night," Solomon Burke (May 29; #28 US; #2 R&B) "Here Comes the Night," Them (May 29; #24 US; #2 UK) "Set Me Free," The Kinks (#23 US; #9 UK) "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," The Rolling Stones (#1 US the weeks of July 10 through 31, 1965; #19 R&B; #1 UK; #2 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time) Ah, Rolling Stones...there you are. And new on the boob tube: Gilligan's Island, "A Nose by Any Other Name" (season finale) _______ There's a service angle in the next episode as well. I think he was still at a base, and the wives were coming in from the mainland to see the men, so I imagine his travel options were limited. And he was trying to get ahold of her via phone. Seems they're not yet done with climaxes that involve the bad guy being shot and taking a dramatic fall...but how/where he falls will vary. June 27-29 on Decades...looks like Jim and Artie are on for 55th Anniversary Viewing! And as my DVR and future viewing schedule is looking to be getting more and more packed, I've stopped recording The Fugitive and deleted the episodes that I had, as it's the only series I had going on that wasn't lining up with either viewing era. Maybe someday.
I’m still waiting to hear a Van Morrison song I don’t like. This song was a HUGE hit at my high school. It had that driving beat which was reminiscent of a Motown song, and of course that incredible riff. I remember a performance of Satisfaction they did on a TV show (I want to say Sullivan, but not sure), and for some reason you couldn’t hear the riff, or at least it wasn’t as prominent as it was on the record. They played the chords underneath the riff, but the lead seemed muffled or something. Very disappointing.
I don't believe I've ever heard this, but it sounds nice. And he sounds like a Robert E Howard character. Very nice. I had no idea Van Morrison was involved. Not their best, but, hey, it's the Kinks. A very satisfying stone-cold classic. Indeed. Interesting. I'm curious about how often that will happen and in what contexts. I suppose a guy in his position would be prone to self pity, but, geez, she could have been lying in a ditch somewhere or something! "Staunch his wounds... then book 'im, Danno." I approve. I liked the first and last episodes, but other than that I'm not really all fired up about watching it.
50 Years Ago This Week Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week: Leaving the chart: "ABC," The Jackson 5 (13 weeks) "Puppet Man," The 5th Dimension (8 weeks) "Spirit in the Sky," Norman Greenbaum (15 weeks) "Viva Tirado, Part I," El Chicano (9 weeks) "Woodstock," Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (11 weeks) New on the chart: "Save the Country," The 5th Dimension (#27 US; #10 AC; #41 R&B) "Silver Bird," Mark Lindsay (#25 US; #7 AC) "A Song of Joy (Himno a La Alegria)," Miguel Rios (#14 US; #1 AC; #16 UK) "Make It with You," Bread (#1 US the week of Aug. 22, 1970; #4 AC; #5 UK) And new on the boob tube: The Ed Sullivan Show, Season 22, episode 35, featuring Connie Francis, Tel Smit, and Szony & Agnes _______ Decent song...and Solomon Burke's come up here a couple of times before. Now I woulda sworn that had come up before, and recently... A nice-sounding song...and it should be, because it's an unsubtle remake of their previous hit, "Tired of Waiting for You"...hence its mediocre chart performance. The only song that ranks higher on the list will be coming up here next month. I don't recall if this came up in the pilot, but it seems that Steve McGarrett is formerly of Naval Intelligence. Actually, the viewing list for next season is getting so packed that I think I might hold back all of the 55th anniversary shows for the following hiatus season.
Another snappy 5th Dimension tune. I've got a feeling of deja vu. Did this come up recently here? The "Arizona" guy, and this sounds thematically similar. I wonder if he's singing about the same woman. This sounds like it should be a Christmas song. I love this. Bread did a bunch of great stuff. I guess the name just struck me that time. Did it? Well, you know my memory. Maybe it was the same post as "Save the Country." I wonder if he served in Vietnam. No Artie. A nice reminder that Suzanne Pleshette was in the premiere, though.
_______ 55th Anniversary Viewing _______ Gilligan's Island "My Fair Gilligan" Originally aired June 5, 1965 Gilligan is trying to catch butterflies when he nabs Mrs. Howell in his net, having spotted a decorative variety on her hat. He then saves her from a falling boulder (which he'd just helped to shake loose before coming down the cliff). The decision to adopt is informed by the Howells having no children of their own. The Howells give him a crash course in being a millionaire, while the others start to treat him differently, thinking about what his wealth might mean to them while also walking on eggshells around him, effectively keeping him at arm's length. Gilligan has a dream sequence in which he's a king, the Howells are his royal parents and advisors, and the others are supplicants who all want things from him but won't play with him. He impulsively sentences them to execution, can't rescind the order, and wakes up while trying to reject his kingship. Back in the waking world, he enlists the aid of the others in getting out of becoming a Howell by acting (to paraphrase Thurston's words) "crude, rude, bullish, and vulgar" at his debut. He succeeds, but the Howells keep to themselves that they've seen right through his ruse, admiring where his heart is at. In the coda, the Skipper learns that he's now responsible for having saved Mrs. Howell's life, and Thurston starts talking about adopting him. _______ A couple of times...when I first saw the Sullivan installment (in late '17 I presume) and when I reviewed it as 50th anniversary business last year. This is the Laura Nyro song that was earlier performed, sounding a lot like the 5th Dimension, by Canadian band the Sugar Shoppe, featuring a young Victor Garber: Maybe it's just because it was the first I'd heard the song, but I think I like the Shoppe's version better, at least going by that performance. Here's their single, which sounds different still: And musically. Kinda meh, but I got it. This one doesn't appeal to me on a pop or classical level, so I did not get it. Startin' to feel like the '70s in here... This was in relation to an incident that had happened 15 years earlier, so more likely Korea (which I think they referenced).
That’s the one. The riff on the recorded version had an effect on Kieth’s guitar, I think, and maybe it couldn’t be recreated on Ed’s stage? Mystery to me. The Sugar Shoppe version of “Save” is simply better than the 5th Dimension’s. Shoppe’s had stronger vocals and much a better vocal arrangement. Save the Country is suppose to be a reverent anti war anthem, but the 5th Dimension turn it into a bouncy little pop tune that loses the song’s poignant message. Sappy, I know, but I love this song’s optimistic outro, “We can build a dream with love, I know. We can build a dream with love...”. Something to think about in these turbulent times.
They must have temporarily disowned Thurston IV at that time. Perhaps he voted for a Democrat or something. Again, the essence of Gilligan's Island. Ah, yes, Victor Garber... nee Beautiful Flower. Indeed! Turns out that Jack Lord was 48 when Hawaii 5-0 started, and he served during WWII. I'm sure they wanted McGarrett to be younger than that, of course.