_______ 55.5th-ish Anniversary Viewing _______ The Ed Sullivan Show Season 18, episode 11 Originally aired November 21, 1965 As not represented in The Best of the Ed Sullivan Show ...and barely covered on YouTube: Jean Carroll Other performances, as listed on Metacritic: Johnny Mathis sings an "On A Clear Day You Can See Forever" medley (including "Come Back to Me," "Melinda" and "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever") Heidi Bruhl (German singer & actress) - sings "Wonderful" and "I Could Have Danced All Night." Peter Nero (pianist appearing with the Ray Bloch Orchestra) - "I've Got Rhythm." Yellenite Trio sings "Havanegila" & 1 other song. Killer Joe Piro and his Discotheque Dancers (troupe includes Goldie Hawn). Ginny Tiu (singer-pianist appearing with her family) - includes children dancing to "This Land Is Your Land." Jack E. Leonard (stand-up routine) Topo Gigio (Italian mouse puppet) Cameo: Alan Jay Lerner (usical theater lyricist) On film: Footage of sports legends Jimmy Brown and Willie Mays. Willie Mays - interviewed onstage by Ed. Audience bows: girl scouts _______ Branded "The Greatest Coward on Earth" Originally aired November 21, 1965 Jason is enjoying himself for a change, at P. T. Barnum's circus, when he's roped in out of the crowd because of his size to take on fighter Young Samson for $50. Samson proceeds to receive the Greatest Public Pummeling on Earth, but the barker can't pay up, so Jason takes him to the tent of Barnum himself (Pat O'Brien), who offers Jason Samson's job. Jason isn't interested at first, insisting on being paid his $50, and proceeds to a surveying job. Then he finds a circus poster that they're doing a show about him at Bitter Creek. Jason proceeds to the nearest circus tent looking for Barnum, but instead finds another, more struggling figure in the trade, whose full name I hadn't noticed was apparently not given at this point...but is played by Dick Clark! The man--we'll call him J. A.--is coaching a belly dancer billed as Princess Salome (Pamela Curran), and feels that he'd be breaking a code of his trade by leading Jason to Barnum, but Salome flirtily offers to help. Jason finds Barnum, criticizes his Bitter Creek show's rehearsal, and demands that Barnum drop the show, but Barnum argues that Jason's now a historical figure. The barker, trying to score points with Barnum, give the "Hey Rube" call when he sees an opportunity, and Jason proceeds to dish out a private pummeling to several circus folk. Barnum can see that there's more to Jason than his reputation would indicate, and offers to use the show to tell his true story. Jason instead offers to get him Princess Salome, whom he learned Barnum was interested in acquiring. J. A. arrives with her and ends up asking for a percentage of Barnum's circus as payment, to which Barnum reluctantly agrees, though he insists that J. A. can't be considered a business partner. It's about here that they reveal J. A. Bailey's name in a very winky-nudgy way. Jason leaves the duo to history. _______ 12 O'Clock High "Storm at Twilight" Originally aired November 22, 1965 https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/the-classic-retro-pop-culture-thread.278375/page-82#post-12340869 The episode opens with acting 918th commander Lt. Colonel Rogers (Ted Knight) on the airfield gnashing his teeth about the number of planes lost on the latest mission, while Stovall feels responsible because he selected the young mission leader. Komansky then brings Stovall a telegram that his son has been reported missing in action. The major hits the bottle and expresses his feelings of inadequacy while linking the young men he's sending to their deaths with his son. He goes to see Britt in the middle of the night, and while the general is not amused, Harvey persuades him to to pull strings to get a waiver on his age as a personal favor. Gallagher returns and tries to talk some sense into Harvey, which includes telling him how risky their next series of missions will be, taking out German oil refineries that have been situated near POW camps, which could result in young men like his son being killed if anyone screws up. Much is made about Stovall having been an old, experienced combat pilot. I didn't get the impression that the original Stovall in the film had been one at all. Stovall struggles with his eyesight, studying the bomber control panels and memorizing the eye charts in private with his glasses on, and passes his physical despite Gallagher telling Doc Kaiser not to do Harvey any favors. Gallagher gives the new indoctrinees his film-derived speech about how they should consider themselves already dead, then proceeds with flight training. Gallagher is tough in the co-pilot's seat, putting Harvey into difficult simulated situations, including having to land without power. Stovall acts a bit overwhelmed and disoriented when a flight of P-51s unexpectedly buzzes around them. Gallagher expresses his intent to just get tougher, and it starts to become about Harvey proving himself to the colonel. Kaiser privately tries to talk sense into him about his age-induced limitations as well. Gallagher gives Harvey a surprise 4:00 wake-up for a private training flight. Britt tells him off for this, and insists that Stovall be assigned to the next day's mission over Antwerp. Harvey feels the pressure in combat, and almost collides with another fortress. Back at base, he presses Sandy, who was flying with him, for an honest assessment, and eventually gets one. When the Giessen mission gets the go-ahead, Stovall tries to bow out and Gallagher wont let him, but has Harvey fly as his co-pilot. A flak hit take Gallagher out, so it all rides on Stovall, who holds off on having the bombs dropped when he feels that the group isn't line up right and has them circle around for another pass. He then lets the autopilot do the flying and the target is hit successfully. Gallagher, apparently not wounded badly, disembarks himself and congratulates Harvey, who then collects on an old football bet with Britt that he apparently remembered while his life was flashing before his eyes. I think we're meant to get the impression that Harvey is now ready to step down from flight duty honorably, but he'll be back in the air in Season 3 when the show gets dumbed down. _______ Gilligan's Island "Hi-Fi Gilligan" Originally aired November 25, 1965 The castaways are prepping for a typhoon by stocking a cave when Gilligan is hit in the jaw by a crate, causing radio broadcasts to play when he opens his mouth. Turning his head gets different stations, and being near the normal radio interferes with it. The girls have him hang from a tree to get an exercise program. Mary Ann also wants to use him to listen to a soap opera, though Ginger prefers the awards program. The noise keeps the Skipper awake, so Gilligan tries sleeping outside, but an opera brodcast breaks a glass that the Professor is drinking from. (They have glasses on the island?) Everyone else shoos Gilligan away, and he sleepily knocks over the radio and loses his reception, but also breaks the radio, which is needed to get the latest news about the typhoon's arrival. The Professor gives up on fixing the radio, so Gilligan volunteers to let the Skipper sock him in the mouth to make him a radio again; but the Skipper ends up busting his hand knocking down a tree, so Gilligan comes up with his own mechanism for doing the job. The castaways try to crowd into the small cave, but even after removing the supplies they can't all fit, so the men draw straws to determine who'll take their chances outside. Gilligan breaks his to make sure it's the shortest, but the others discover this afterward, and the Skipper comes out to talk to him and decides to stay with his little buddy. Eventually the others all join them, after which a lightning bolt strikes the cave, destroying it. The electrical storm fixes Gilligan's tooth...and I'm sure that the radio will be back to normal next week. _______ The Wild Wild West "The Night of the Red-Eyed Madmen" Originally aired November 26, 1965 Must be Friday night! Jim meets in a hotel lobby with a Senator Rawls (Nelson Olmsted), who wants West to talk to his niece, Lola Bracer, about a man named Jack Talbot whom she was having an affair with but has now "thrown her over". West doesn't think that this is in his jurisdiction, but the senator has reason to believe that it involves the security of the United States. Jim proceeds up to Lola's room and gets into a tussle with three men that spills out of the elevator on her floor. Jim sends them running, following which Lola (Toian Matchinga) shows him Talbot's Dear Jane letter, which reads like a little manifesto, and tells of how Talbot fell under the influence of a General Grimm. Jim takes the train to the outskirts of the place on the postmark, Mars, Nevada. Inside the Mars Military Academy, which is a fort, we see Grimm (And now...Martin Landau!) torturing Talbot (Ted Markland) for information about who he contacted, following which the general has him put in a hotbox. Jim arrives at the gate showing an interest in joining up, but Sgt. Musk (Joan Huntington) isn't impressed that he's a friend of that weakling Talbot. In the barracks, where men playfully practice garroting each other, Jim is trying on his uniform puffy shirt when one of the men picks a fight with him over Talbot while Sgt. Musk is watching. Jim shows his stuff against several of the men, which impresses her. But Grimm is aware that the senator contacted a Secret Service agent, and one of the assailants from the hotel (Gregg Martell, whose character is listed as Otto) assures the general that he'll know the man's face. Meanwhile, a recruit named Jenny (Shary Marshall), concerned for Talbot, points Jim to the hotbox. Jim notices the man from the hotel, and has to avoid letting Otto see his face. Back on the train, Artie gets a visit from an old friend, Captain O'Brien (uncredited Ray Kellogg), who lets him know that the cavalry is standing by to help. Back at the academy, puffy-shirtless Jim is formally tested in his skills in a ring, besting a guy with a trident and net, a guy with an unbroken saber, and a martial artist; thus he's in on the operation, which involves Jenny and a male recruit named George (Don Rizzan, I think) in a cavalry uniform blowing a munitions depot. Jim directs Jenny to the train; then makes moves on Sgt. Musk to keep his face hidden from Otto; then, once alone outside, tries to free Talbot from the hotbox. But Talbot is still a true believer, and sounds an alarm. Jim tries to pass it off as delirium, but Otto finally sees his face and informs Grimm, who decides to string Jim along to get more information from him. While Artie's keeping himself busy at the train, he receives a visit from Jenny and George, and George pulls a gun, but Artie remotely activates the pistols mounted on a turntable and persuades George to hand over his pistol and takes him prisoner. Artie proceeds to the academy in the role of Colonel Cross, a "patriot" who's looking for a leader and was sent there by George and Jenny. As a test of them both, Grimm has Artie hold an axe in front of his face while Jim is to shoot a bullet that hits the edge of the blade just right to split and pass Artie on either side. Jim succeeds, following which he and Artie sneak into Grimm's office to find the forged documents that will be used at other targets. Grimm catches them, and Jim provides a distraction for Artie to leap out a window. Grimm announces that Jim will be executed at dawn. Brought before a firing squad, Jim puts in a last request so he can use Artie's tobacco pouch bomb to make a break. He's pursued, and finds himself in the ring with rifles trained at him from the gallery. Jim challenges Grimm to a duel, playing on the general's outspoken belief that success is all about the side with the superior soldiers. Jim keeps the upper hand in spite of Grimm having several weapons tossed down for his use, and eventually backs Grimm into a saber protruding from a wall. Their leader defeated, the men in the gallery stand down and exit. In the coda, we learn that Artie got the cavalry there in time to pick up Grimm's men, and the train is taking Sgt. Musk and Jenny to Carson City. Musk is downtrodden that she's lost her equality, but turns all girly when Jenny presents her with the dress that was meant as part of her infiltration disguise. The episode ends on the following note... Artie: Feminine equality! It's ridiculous. That man Grimm must have been insane! _______ Hogan's Heroes "Happiness Is a Warm Sergeant" Originally aired November 26, 1965 Bang, bang, shoot, shoot! In the woods, LeBeau makes contact with shot-down Captain Jeb Winslow (Bruce Yarnell), a tall, boisterous Texan. The prisoners feign Newkirk having a toothache so he can make contact with the underground in town. Newkirk spikes Schultz's beer at the bar where his contact works, so the sergeant comes back hours late roaring drunk. While Schultz is walking guard duty outside, his replacement, Sergeant Krebs (Norman Alden), arrives, and proves to be strict and no-nonsense. The prisoners talk about how long it took to "train" Schultz. Schultz sees Winslow in the barracks and thinks it's his lucky break; Hogan convinces him to stay silent in exchange for the prisoners getting rid of Krebs. They pull a variety of stunts to make Krebs looks bad, including a gag radio that sprays Klink with water; letting Krebs find a tunnel location that collapses under Klink; and letting him overhear fake escape planning. He tries to keep an eye on the barracks and Newkirk keeps him occupied with card tricks while the others slip out and stage their attempt in front of Schultz, letting him catch them. Diiiss-missed! _______ Get Smart "Too Many Chiefs" Originally aired November 27, 1965 The Chief, Max, and 99 are escorting defector and rescued KAOS prisoner Tanya Lupescu (Susanne Cramer) when they end up in the middle of a hotel lobby standoff between various agents from both sides, who all end up shooting each other offscreen. KAOS is concerned that Tanya will be able to identify KAOS operatives...in court! The Chief assigns Max to keep Tanya in his apartment, and Max is worried what the neighbors will say! Difficulty with the Cone of Silence rising and falling has Max and the Chief standing up and sitting down with it. Tanya starts giving the neighbors something to talk about when 99 walks in on her and Max. The Chief learns of Sebastian's involvement and briefs Max on his previous disguises, which include having hosted the Tonight Show for two weeks while impersonating Johnny Carson. We meet him at a KAOS meeting, already disguised as the Chief. Fang appears just long enough for Max to suspect him. 99 is also watching the apartment, and there's more triangular tension with Tanya. The Chief arrives, exchanging countersigns with 99; and Sebastian arrives and Max lets him in when he bluffs about the countersigns, which Max couldn't keep straight anyway. The two Chiefs are in and out of rooms and both in contact with Max and 99 alternately, until at last they both end up in the same room and Max shines a light in Sebastian's face, which makes him draw a gun in response, exposing him and resulting in Max shooting him; though there's some doubt when the real Chief reacts badly to the light as well. In the coda, Max has to leave his apartment and let 99 watch Tanya because Tanya's forwardness is causing him to bumble. _______ The Diogenescave, I presume?
Not bad. Kind of in the Joan Rivers and Phyllis Diller mold. Interesting. It would be cool to see that. He's really got a pretty bad life. Which was probably enough to buy a house in those day. This one must be a Music Circus. Yep, that's Dick Clark, all right. #bittercreektruth! And he should know. This conjures up such wonderful images that I'm sure the show could not possibly duplicate. Next week: Jason versus The Ringling Brothers. Ted Baxter, and the reporter guy on the "Invisible Enemy" episode of Outer Limits that I just saw recently. Wouldn't this mean an automatic LOA or something? Now that's a powerful theme-- that they seem to drift away from almost immediately.... ....by making it a story about Stovall's age. He doesn't like to talk about the Sopwith Camel days. Way to boost morale. And everybody. This is what I mean. How is this for his son? Or is he another suicide story? How many honest assessments does he need? It feels like there were two stories here that would have been great on their own but don't taste great together. Must be Siruis XM to get better reception on a desert island than I got in my bedroom. Not anymore. This is such a great sequence. I keep saying it, but this is what the show was about. I wonder what the chain of command is. Can a Senator give orders to the Secret Service? Does Jim have discretion to investigate on his own? Does he have to clear it with Grant or some superior back East? And it's automatically a great episode. Could be worse-- could be a friend of that weakling Banner. And a guy in a fur coat with a horned helmet. Although Artie now has two pierced ears. Hah! Irony! It occurs to me that a time-travel episode would have been fun for this show. I'll catch up later. I'm running late here. Yep. My lair. My Great Refuge. My Fortress of Snarkitude.
55 Years Ago This Week July 10 – A heat wave began across much of the midwestern United States, killing hundreds of people over a six-day period where temperatures remained above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Hardest hit was the area in and around St. Louis, Missouri, where 149 people, most of them elderly, died from heat exhaustion. New York City officials reported that the number of deaths from natural causes was 650 higher than normal during the week, although only 17 of the 2,250 people had died directly from heat stroke. July 11 The 1966 FIFA World Cup begins in England. Nearly all of the American state of Nebraska was blacked out by an electric power failure, as circuits were overloaded from air conditioning use during a 100 degree heat wave. Other than the city of Omaha, and the extreme western section of the state, all other cities, small towns and rural areas were out for several hours after the failure of a generator at Hallam, Nebraska, had a cascade effect that shut off the network. British Motor Corporation and Jaguar Cars announce plans to merge as British Motor Holdings. July 12 The "hydrant riot" broke out in Chicago after the city's Fire Commissioner, Robert J. Quinn, ordered an immediate shutdown of all fire hydrants that had been opened on a day where the temperatures had topped 100 degrees, a standard method of beating the heat in neighborhoods where swimming pools were unavailable. There were four pools on the city's predominantly African American west side, but all four "were located in all-white, violence-prone neighborhoods". After several days of looting and destruction, and protests led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mayor Richard J. Daley would relent, ordering that police provide safe passage and protection for black residents to use the white pools, as well as trucking in portable pools and allowing the use of the hydrants during the heat spell. Indira Gandhi visits Moscow. Zambia threatens to leave the Commonwealth of Nations because of British peace overtures to Rhodesia. July 13 – The International Society for Krishna Consciousness is founded in New York City by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. July 14 Israeli and Syrian jet fighters clash over the Jordan River. Richard Speck murders 8 student nurses in their Chicago dormitory. He is arrested on July 17. Gwynfor Evans, President of Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, becomes Member of the United Kingdom Parliament for Carmarthen, taking the previously Labour-held Welsh seat at a by-election with a majority of 2,435 on an 18% swing and giving his party its first representation at Westminster in its forty-one year history. July 15 – Despite worldwide condemnation by the governments of its allies, the United States increased its bombing attacks on North Vietnam, flying 121 bombing missions, the most ever since the war began, against North Vietnamese targets. July 16 British Prime Minister Harold Wilson flies to Moscow to try to start peace negotiations about the Vietnam War (the Soviet government rejects his ideas). Bob Dylan released his new album Blonde on Blonde, on Columbia Records. Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week: Leaving the chart: "Girl in Love," The Outsiders (9 weeks) "A Groovy Kind of Love," The Mindbenders (13 weeks) "My Little Red Book," Love (11 weeks) "Oh Yeah," The Shadows of Knight (6 weeks) "Opus 17 (Don't You Worry 'Bout Me)," The Four Seasons (8 weeks) "Sweet Talkin' Guy," The Chiffons (10 weeks) Recent and new on the chart: "Distant Shores," Chad & Jeremy (July 9; #30 US) "The Joker Went Wild," Brian Hyland (#20 US) "Summertime," Billy Stewart (#10 US; #7 R&B; #39 UK) "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love," Petula Clark (#9 US; #1 AC; #6 UK) "Summer in the City," The Lovin' Spoonful (#1 US the weeks of August 13 through 27, 1966; #8 UK; #393 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time) _______ Timeline entries are quoted from the Wiki pages for the month or year. _______ I think I caught a reference somewhere to Goldie having been a background dancer in a Tom Jones segment, but we'll have to see if/when that comes up. If you're thinking Circus of Crime, it wasn't that far off. Possibly. I think his refusal to take leave may have come up. His son's death served as the initial motivation. I think he felt that he needed to be doing more as an experienced pilot, because he could save younger, less experienced men from losing their lives. Not knowing much about the history of the Army Air Corps between the world wars, whenever they make a big deal about an older character's flight/combat experience, I have to wonder how much opportunity they'd have had, in an era when the US was keeping out of foreign conflicts. There was a more thorough discussion of this scene years back upthread when I first brought it up. I hadn't seen the film yet at that point, but it was echoing a speech that Gregory Peck's Savage gave. Comparisons to the Jem'hadar were made. This was the "After" version. This one was definitely bringing what you're always talking about. I should also mention that Gilligan picking up radio broadcasts was one of the more memorable situations that had vaguely stuck with me over the years. Watching the episode now made me take notice of just how talented Bob Denver was, pulling off stuff like this. They hardly needed it, they were always working in hints of wonders to come. Same Diogenes-Time! Same Diogenes-Channel!
About four episodes, I think. Maybe it's a secret court for secret agents with secret judges and secret jurors. Because CONTROL has no high-security holding facilities. I wonder if it was him who threw Don Rickles in the drink that time. There always has to be that little bit of doubt. Sliders did it best. Because he's usually so competent. Maybe it's 99 the other 99% of the time. Coincidentally, if you look at my webcomic this week, you'll get a somewhat better view. Fair. Pretty bad. Pretty cool. Meh. Maybe she should stick to the urban tours, after all. Great song and no doubt their biggest hit, but my least favorite of theirs. Pretty much, with sideshow characters and such. I'd love to see that. Yeah, he had a real gift for physical comedy, like Dick van Dyke. I was thinking more about the culture shock. Like with Artie's comment, they do portray them as somewhat contemporary in their attitudes, if also forward thinking. It would be fun to see them get a look at the 60s. Slightly delayed time. I felt ambitious enough to head up to the Blue Hills for a little photo safari, for just about the first time this year.
50 Years Ago This Week July 11 – Copper mines in Chile are nationalized. July 13 Ólafur Jóhannesson forms a government in Iceland. Jordanian army troops launch an offensive against Palestinian guerillas in Jordan. The Yugoslavian government begins allowing foreign companies to take their profits from the country. Paced by a prodigious home run by Reggie Jackson, which hits a transformer on the roof of Tiger Stadium, the American League defeats the National League 6–4 in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Detroit. July 14 – Libya severs its diplomatic ties with Morocco. July 15 – U.S. President Nixon announced in a nationwide radio and television address that he had accepted an invitation to become the first U.S. president to visit the People's Republic of China, after being invited by China's Prime Minister Zhou Enlai. Nixon said that the visit would take place sometime before May 1972. July 16 – Jeanne M. Holm became the first woman in the United States Air Force to receive the rank of general. She had enlisted in the Air Force in 1948 as a student at Lewis and Clark College because, as she noted in her remarks, "I was between semesters, had nothing to do anyway, and was flat broke." July 17 – Italy and Austria sign a treaty that ends the schism about South Tyrol. Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week: Leaving the chart: "Albert Flasher" / "Broken", The Guess Who (13 weeks) "Don't Knock My Love, Pt. 1," Wilson Pickett (12 weeks) "Double Lovin'," The Osmonds (9 weeks) "Nathan Jones," The Supremes (10 weeks) "Never Can Say Goodbye," Isaac Hayes (9 weeks) "Sweet and Innocent," Donny Osmond of The Osmonds (16 weeks) New on the chart: "Won't Get Fooled Again," The Who (#15 US; #9 UK; #133 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time) "I Just Want to Celebrate," Rare Earth (#7 US; #30 R&B) "Sweet Hitch-Hiker," Creedence Clearwater Revival (#6 US; #36 UK) "Ain't No Sunshine," Bill Withers (#3 US; #2 AC; #6 R&B; #280 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time) "Maggie May," Rod Stewart (#1 US the weeks of Oct. 2 through 30, 1971; #1 UK; #130 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time) "Reason to Believe," Rod Stewart (#1 US, #1 UK as double A-side w/ "Maggie May") _______ Timeline entries are quoted from the Wiki pages for the month or year. _______ Which is so super-secret that the judicial branch knows nothing about it! Y'know, I'm starting to think that maybe CONTROL is just the Chief's private little pet project... And then some! And I like the gag! It's seasonal...and gets bonus points for being featured on Batman! I'm not crazy about it, but....Anyway, it strikes me that maybe he was going for a Gary Lewis sound here. Also on the Summer! playlist. The man had some distinctive vocal chops. Pleasant if lightweight. 1967 was the Summer of Love, and 1969 the Summer of Woodstock, but I think that 1966 was the Summer of Great Summer Songs. We have a couple of favorites by Donovan and the Kinks still coming up in particular. This is the Spoonful at their zenith...the climax of their string of stone-cold classic hits. And it's also my sister's birthday #1! I guess the actual sequence wasn't that colorful, but it was easy to imagine it as such while watching.
And thus is born a meme (and the first seed of Undiscovered Country). Ah, I love that. Stone cold classic, and prophetic to boot. That refrain of "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss" has been playing in my head a lot lately. Good attitude! CCR. 'nuff said. Super sad and sweet. Classic, although not much of a favorite for me. I actually like this one better. Toppest Secret. That would be hilarious-- the whole CONTROL versus KAOS thing is just a grudge match between the Chief and his counterpart. Thank you. I was thinking, who needs music? I suppose Squiggy would have something to say about that. Aw, cool. She must have been born around the same time as mine then. Still gotta be worth seeing. Maybe I can find it on YouTube.
Nixon could have had a good legacy as a statesman if he hadn't been a paranoid crook. From the Who's Super Stone Cold period. And isn't that cute? It's an itty-bitty single edit! Which I'd normally avoid, but the album will be getting its spotlight in due time. (And the full album version just came up in my shuffle as I'm writing this! The headbanging might interfere with my typing a bit.) A good times-signy classic. Middling as their major singles go, but still enjoyably Creedence. I'm lukewarm on this one. My buzzword for this one would be "evocative". Rod makes a strong breakout with this striking radio classic. It's alright, but...nah, not even close. Our generations are meeting in the middle!
He was actually a really smart guy, but his intelligence was dwarfed by his mental illness. I was going to mention how the second yell doesn't have quite the same impact without that phenomenal lead in. He certainly made the scene with a distinctive sound.
55 Years Ago This Week July 18 Gemini 10, with John Young and Michael Collins was launched from Cape Kennedy at 5:20 p.m. After docking with the orbiting Agena target vehicle, the astronauts then boosted the linked craft into a higher orbit, reaching an unprecedented altitude of 474 miles (763 km) above the Earth. The previous mark had been 308 miles, set by Soviet cosmonauts. The Hough Riots break out in Cleveland, Ohio, the city's first race riot. The International Court of Justice rules in favour of South Africa in a case on the administration of South West Africa which has been brought before them by Ethiopia and Liberia. Died: Bobby Fuller, 23, American pop music singer and guitarist best known for his recording of "I Fought the Law", was found dead in his car, parked outside his apartment in Los Angeles. July 19 – American astronaut Michael Collins performed a spacewalk outside of the Gemini 10 capsule. Collins extended his torso outside the spacecraft to take photos before and after capsule sunrise. Color photography after sunrise was only partly completed because both Collins and Command Pilot Young were suffering from severe eye irritation from pungent fumes that came through the air supply. Handling the camera proved difficult because of the stiffness of Collins' gloves. July 21 – In Geneva, Switzerland, the United States and the Soviet Union agreed to a treaty article that would ban any nation from claiming sovereignty over any portion of outer space, including the Moon and the planets. The wording stated "Outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty by means of use or occupation, or by any other means." July 22 – Following the death of Hsu Tsu-tsai, an engineer, in The Hague, the Chinese government declares Dutch delegate G. J. Jongejans persona non grata, but tells him not to leave the country before other Chinese engineers have left the Netherlands. July 23 Katangese troops in Stanleyville, Congo, revolt for several weeks in support of the exiled minister Moise Tshombe. The Cavern Club re-opens in Liverpool under new ownership. The Beatles do not attend but send a telegram. Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week: Leaving the chart: "Did You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?," The Lovin' Spoonful (11 weeks) "Double Shot (of My Baby's Love)," Swingin' Medallions (13 weeks) "Hold On! I'm Comin'," Sam & Dave (13 weeks) "I Am a Rock," Simon & Garfunkel (11 weeks) "The More I See You," Chris Montez (14 weeks) "My Lover's Prayer," Otis Redding (7 weeks) New on the chart: "Blowin' in the Wind," Stevie Wonder (#9 US; #1 R&B; #36 UK) "Working in the Coal Mine," Lee Dorsey (#8 US; #5 R&B; #8 UK) "Bus Stop," The Hollies (#5 US; #5 UK) "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!," Napoleon XIV (#3 US; #4 UK) _______ Timeline entries are quoted from the Wiki pages for the month or year and Mark Lewisohn's The Beatles Day by Day, with minor editing as needed. _______ Indeed.
Yet another instant classic from The Who, as they were on a ever-growing, creatively innovative march, typified by Who's Next, easily one of the greatest achievements in rock/popular music history.
"Napoleon XIV" was the pseudonym of Jerry Samuels, who also wrote the pop ballad "The Shelter of Your Arms" which was a hit for Sammy Davis Jr. in 1964.
At first, it reads kind of like a Get Smart episode that I recently watched... I won't argue here...but what do you think of that single edit? As with the single edit of "Light My Fire," I think it kinda castrates the song.
When I was a lad FM rock radio was playing the full-length track, so that's what's imprinted in my brain and the short version is jarring to say the least. To me it sucks, but I suppose I'm not a fair judge.
I've never been a fan of single edits, as even the most experienced studio hands (including the musicians) still have trouble trying to make a broken "piece" sound fluid. That said, the single edit of "Won't Get Fooled Again" was borderline acceptable due to the strength of the song. Even though I had/have the album, I still listened to the edited song on the radio, but usually stuck to AOR stations to hear the album version.
Wow, Stevie Wonder did a cover of "Blowin' in the Wind" that reached #9 and I never heard it. It's good. It's the Stevie Wonder version of "Blowin' in the Wind." This is a good one. It doesn't get the play it used to. Oldies Radio Classic. I love it. So 60s. Ah, we haven't had a good novelty song in a while and this is one of my favorites.
50 Years Ago This Week July 18 – The Trucial States are formed in the Persian Gulf. July 19 – The South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City is topped out at 1,362 feet (415 m), making it the second tallest building in the world. July 19–23 – Major Hashem al-Atta ousts Jaafar Muhammad al-Nimeiri in a military coup in Sudan. Fighting continues until on July 22, when pro-Nimeiri troops win. Al-Atta and three officers are executed. July 20 – The first McDonald's in Japan was officially opened by Den Fujita. July 21 – Fiddler on the Roof became the longest-running Broadway musical with its 2,845th consecutive performance, breaking the record previously held by Hello, Dolly!. Fiddler had first been performed on Broadway on September 22, 1964, at the Imperial Theatre, before moving to the Majestic Theater and the Broadway Theater. July 22 – A partial solar eclipse was visible from Asia and North America, and was the 70th and final solar eclipse of Solar Saros 116. July 24 – Georgina Rizk of Lebanon will be crowned Miss Universe 1971. Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week: Leaving the chart: "Brown Sugar," The Rolling Stones (12 weeks) "It Don't Come Easy," Ringo Starr (12 weeks) New on the chart: "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep," Mac & Katie Kissoon (#20 US; #10 AC; #41 UK) "Tired of Being Alone," Al Green (#11 US; #7 R&B; #4 UK; #293 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time) _______ Timeline entries are quoted from the Wiki pages for the month or year. _______ 55 Years Ago This Week Overflow Special Also recent and new on the chart the week of July 23, 1966: "5D (Fifth Dimension)," The Byrds (July 16; #44 US) "Warm and Tender Love," Percy Sledge (#17 US; #5 R&B; #34 UK) "Born a Woman," Sandy Posey (#12 US; #24 UK) _______ I may have had occasion to hear the single edit at some point, but the full version is definitely the one I was more accustomed to...and the one that makes compilation albums, to my knowledge. Can't say I was familiar with this one prior to getting it either. It's nice. Fun, almost novelty, feels a little earlier '60s. A mid-'60s goodie, and on the Summer! playlist. I was familiar with this one from my Mom quoting it long before I ever actually heard it...which I believe was on Dr. Demento.
Chirpy and fun. I think I remember this more from Lost 45s than from real life. A-a-a-al Gree-ee-ee-een is here. Must be the 70s. Very Dylanesque. I wonder if the 5th Dimension did a song called "The Byrds." I've forgotten it already. Talk about cute little singles. That sucker's less than two minutes long. And very whiney. Not gonna be remembered as one of the great Women's Lib anthems. Yeah, it became a popular catchphrase, or catch song. My Uncle Joe used it frequently, substituting "you" for "me."
My brother and I begged our parents for this K-Tel offering (8-Track, natch), and that was how I was exposed to Napoleon XIV, among others.
55 Years Ago This Week Overflow Special Still more that was new on the chart the week of July 23, 1966: "Sugar and Spice," The Cryan' Shames (#49 US) "Make Me Belong to You," Barbara Lewis (#28 US; #36 R&B) "Open the Door to Your Heart," Darrell Banks (#27 US; #2 R&B) "Lady Jane," The Rolling Stones (B-side of "Mother's Little Helper"; #24 US) _______ Chirpy chirpy lame lame. I can't muster the enthusiasm to determine if the original recording is available for purchase. Our other chart entry... ...is more than ample evidence that the early '70s has much better to offer. I was thinking so, too. The immersive retro context and greater appreciation of Dylan in particular is making me better appreciate the Byrds albums that had underwhelmed me when I first bought them. The underwhelming follow-up that establishes Percy as a noteworthy one-hit wonder, though he also had a couple of others that placed respectably on the pop chart. I was completely unfamiliar with Sandy Posey until I started putting on Music Choice Solid Gold Oldies...they have her small string of pop hits--three singles that charted within the space of a year and each got to #12--in regular rotation. I think she was noteworthy for shining a pre-Women's Lib spotlight on women's issues with these singles.