The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread

[The Old Mixer]

8-track

Too...retro...even...for...me...!

I'm reminded of a girl I was seeing for a spell in the late '80s. She had an old car with an 8-track player. The only thing she had to play on it was Wings' 1978 album London Town.

He saw them perform at his air force base in '67.

Now that's interesting. One doesn't tend to think of '60s rock bands doing military gigs.

The Deli skit is still funny! I love Nancy Walker and I don't think I ever saw Charles with that much hair.

I don't think I've ever seen him doing a character before, other than his usual Charles Nelson Reilly Match Game schtick.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Now that's interesting. One doesn't tend to think of '60s rock bands doing military gigs.

Spinal Tap

 

[J.T.B.]

My mom had that Cher album on 8-track. I think I memorized every song on it! My mom sings like Cher - yes, that low!

Does she sing "come around" like "come a-ray-own"?

Too...retro...even...for...me...!

I'm reminded of a girl I was seeing for a spell in the late '80s. She had an old car with an 8-track player. The only thing she had to play on it was Wings' 1978 album London Town.

We're about the same age but it's like we grew up in different '70s. I was very well acquainted with 8-track. As some may remember, 8-track was the standard format for quadrophonic, which was like an early surround sound (there was also a phonograph format but it involved two styluses and caught on even less that the 8-track). IIRC quad tapes could only be half the length of the standard stereo (IOW two "programs" instead of four) because they used four tape tracks per recording instead of two. My uncle got a new Chevy Luv pickup and had it all tricked out with a quad stereo. He demonstrated it for me in the driveway with "Frankenstein" by the Edgar Winter Group. The effect of the synth solo swirling around and around was impressive but he played it way too loud and I wanted out!

When we moved into a new house in 1978 there was a kid up the block who moved in about the same time and was my age. My folks had a Bronco, his had a Jimmy. The Bronco had an 8-track player, the Jimmy had a cassette player. I think I openly scoffed at this choice. To me, cassettes were to record your voice or songs on the radio, and when you went to the store and bought recorded music it was on a phonograph record or 8-track tape. I was proved quite wrong in the next year or two as cassettes began to take over (in those long plastic anti-theft containers), accelerated of course by the arrival of the Walkman.

Also, at K-mart around that time all the tapes were behind plexiglass, with circular holes big enough to reach in and handle the tapes but too small to remove them, so you had to get the case unlocked to buy them. I remember studying Blondie's Eat to the Beat through that plastic.

Some of my mom's 8-tracks that I remember were Bob Seger Against the Wind, Eddie Rabbitt Rocky Mountain Music, Alabama My Home's in Alabama, the Beatles "Red" and "Blue" compilations (two cartridges each), CCR Chronicle, Linda Ronstadt greatest hits, Hall and Oates Voices.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Oh, I definitely remember 8-tracks being a thing, but I didn't have much first-hand experience with the format. My family had an 8-track player rather briefly AIR, and by the time I was old enough to buy music for myself, it was obsolete. My comment was more about 8-tracks being "bad retro," but YMMV.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I remember my dad helping my uncle install an 8 track player in his AMC Pacer. That's very 70s.

 

[The Old Mixer]

8-tracks are inextricably linked to the '70s, like Pop Rocks and toe socks.

 

[J.T.B.]

Oh, I definitely remember 8-tracks being a thing, but I didn't have much first-hand experience with the format. My family had an 8-track player rather briefly AIR, and by the time I was old enough to buy music for myself, it was obsolete. My comment was more about 8-tracks being "bad retro," buy YMMV.

But they were pretty good at the time. A lot better than having a record player or reel-to-reel in the car! And they were only partly sequential, as opposed to cassettes which were totally sequential.

I remember my dad helping my uncle install an 8 track player in his AMC Pacer. That's very 70s.

Yeah that's about as '70s as it gets!

 

[Commander Troi]

Does she sing "come around" like "come a-ray-own"?

Yes, she does.

We're about the same age but it's like we grew up in different '70s. I was very well acquainted with 8-track. As some may remember, 8-track was the standard format for quadrophonic, which was like an early surround sound (there was also a phonograph format but it involved two styluses and caught on even less that the 8-track). IIRC quad tapes could only be half the length of the standard stereo (IOW two "programs" instead of four) because they used four tape tracks per recording instead of two. My uncle got a new Chevy Luv pickup and had it all tricked out with a quad stereo. He demonstrated it for me in the driveway with "Frankenstein" by the Edgar Winter Group. The effect of the synth solo swirling around and around was impressive but he played it way too loud and I wanted out!

When we moved into a new house in 1978 there was a kid up the block who moved in about the same time and was my age. My folks had a Bronco, his had a Jimmy. The Bronco had an 8-track player, the Jimmy had a cassette player. I think I openly scoffed at this choice. To me, cassettes were to record your voice or songs on the radio, and when you went to the store and bought recorded music it was on a phonograph record or 8-track tape. I was proved quite wrong in the next year or two as cassettes began to take over (in those long plastic anti-theft containers), accelerated of course by the arrival of the Walkman.

Also, at K-mart around that time all the tapes were behind plexiglass, with circular holes big enough to reach in and handle the tapes but too small to remove them, so you had to get the case unlocked to buy them. I remember studying Blondie's Eat to the Beat through that plastic.

Some of my mom's 8-tracks that I remember were Bob Seger Against the Wind, Eddie Rabbitt Rocky Mountain Music, Alabama My Home's in Alabama, the Beatles "Red" and "Blue" compilations (two cartridges each), CCR Chronicle, Linda Ronstadt greatest hits, Hall and Oates Voices.

I don't think I ever ran across a quad 8-track, but my mom has a UK Master Pressing in Quadraphonic of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. The sound is *AMAZING*. As an only child, that baby is MINE!

I remember those plexiglass cases. If you never got Eat To The Beat, I highly recommend it.

The second time we drove to AZ from PA, we did it in my parents' 1970 Mach I Mustang, which had an 8-track player. I remember keeping dad awake with The Game by Queen (I've now had that album on 8-track, LP, and CD), Mouth to Mouth by Lipps, Inc. (the one with Funkytown), and some kind of Best Of 1971 that had great songs like Proud Mary (Ike & Tina version) and Pinball Wizard. The problem with 8-tracks is that the sound would "bleed" from track to track over time.

Mom had cassette tapes too - Sgt. Peppers, Best of Three Dog Night, Godspell (Broadway cast)... I got into some great stuff from her.

 

[J.T.B.]

Does she sing "come around" like "come a-ray-own"?

Yes, she does.

That's the spirit!

I remember those plexiglass cases. If you never got Eat To The Beat, I highly recommend it.

Are you kidding?! I had it within a few weeks, I think the first LP I spent my own money on. "Dreaming" and "Union City Blue" are still my favorite Blondie tracks.

 

[The Old Mixer]

A lot better than having a record player or reel-to-reel in the car!

John Lennon had both in his Rolls, the former suspended so that it wouldn't skip.

 

[Nerys Myk]

John Lennon had both in his Rolls, the former suspended so that it wouldn't skip.

Groovy

 

[The Old Mixer]

55 Years Ago This Week

September 18

• Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum opens to the public in California.
• Filming of How I Won the War switches from Celle, West Germany to Carboneras, Spain.

September 19

• At a press conference at the New York Advertising Club, Timothy Leary announced the formation of the League for Spiritual Discovery, which he described as a new "psychedelic religion". "Like every great religion of the past," Leary said, "we seek to find the divinity within and to express this revelation in a life of glorification and the worship of God. These ancient goals we define in the metaphor of the present — turn on, tune in, drop out."
• Indonesia announced that it would resume participation in the United Nations, reversing its January 20, 1965, decision to withdraw. The Indonesian delegation would return on September 28.
• In London, Ronald "Buster" Edwards, one of the suspects in the Great Train Robbery of August 8, 1963, voluntarily surrendered to detectives from Scotland Yard. After hiding for more than three years, Edwards had exhausted his £150,000 share of the loot from the robbery. Edwards and his partner in crime, James White, would be sentenced to 15 years in prison, but would be paroled on April 2, 1975.
• The U.S. Navy's first attack helicopter unit began operations, supporting U.S. Navy riverine forces operating in South Vietnam's Mekong Delta.
• George Harrison and Pattie Boyd's alias of Mr and Mrs Sam Wells is blown, so the couple hold a press conference at the Taj Mahal Hotel. In this they state that they have come to India to study yoga and the sitar, and to have peace and quiet.

September 20

• The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) adopted a new code for film production, eliminating many of the prohibitions that had been in effect for 36 years. MPAA President Jack Valenti initially said that there would be two levels of classification, one ("G") for general releases, and another one ("M") for "mature audiences". "What we are saying," Valenti commented, "is 'Look, Mr. Parent, this may not be a picture you want your child to see!'" In a break from the past, the new Production Code declared that "Censorship is an odious enterprise. We oppose censorship and classification by law because they are alien to the American tradition of Freedom." Ten new standards were now applied in judging a film, including "The basic dignity and value of human life shall be respected and upheld."; "Evil, sin, crime and wrongdoing shall not be justified."; "Detailed and protracted acts of brutality, cruelty, physical violence, torture and abuse shall not be presented."; "Indecent or undue exposure of the human body shall not be presented." "Obscene speech, gestures or movements shall not be presented." and "Excessive cruelty to animals shall not be portrayed and animals shall not be treated inhumanely."
• The American probe Surveyor 2 was launched toward the Moon for purposes of making a soft landing there, but began tumbling out of control after one of its three thruster rockets failed to ignite for a 10-second course alteration. Rather than making the soft landing that had been planned for, the Surveyor probe crashed into the lunar surface on September 23.

September 23 – U.S. President Johnson signed the Fair Labor Standards Amendments of 1966 into law, extending a minimum wage (of at least $1.00 per hour) for the first time to workers on farms, in restaurants, hotels and motels, laundries and dry cleaners, and to state and local government employees of schools, hospitals and nursing homes, effective February 1, 1967. The raise had been approved by the U.S. House of Representatives, 259–89, and on September 14 by the U.S. Senate, 55–38. In addition, the minimum wage for other occupations would be raised 28% over the next 17 months, from $1.25 an hour to $1.40 in 1967, and $1.60 in 1968.

September 24

• On an airplane flight across the Atlantic to London, backup guitarist James Marshall Hendrix, who had played using the stage name Jimmy James (and had launched his own group, Jimmy James and the Blue Flames), agreed with his manager Chas Chandler that he should launch his solo recording career with a new stage name, as Jimi Hendrix.
• Sirhan Bishara Sirhan, a 22-year-old horse exerciser in Pasadena, California, sustained head injuries after falling from a horse at the Altfillisch Ranch in Corona. According to testimony that would be offered two years later at Sirhan's trial for the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, his personality seemed to change; he became increasingly resentful of authority and self-obsessed.

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

1. "Cherish," The Association
2. "You Can't Hurry Love," The Supremes
3. "Sunshine Superman," Donovan
4. "Yellow Submarine," The Beatles
5. "Bus Stop," The Hollies
6. "Beauty Is Only Skin Deep," The Temptations
7. "Black Is Black," Los Bravos
8. "96 Tears," ? & The Mysterians
9. "Wouldn't It Be Nice," The Beach Boys
10. "Reach Out I'll Be There," Four Tops
11. "Eleanor Rigby," The Beatles
12. "See You in September," The Happenings
13. "Guantanamera," The Sandpipers
14. "Cherry, Cherry," Neil Diamond
15. "Sunny Afternoon," The Kinks
16. "Born a Woman," Sandy Posey
17. "Wipe Out," The Surfaris
18. "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)," Jr. Walker & The All-Stars
19. "I've Got You Under My Skin," The Four Seasons
20. "Mr. Dieingly Sad," The Critters
21. "Sunny," Bobby Hebb
22. "Turn-Down Day," The Cyrkle
23. "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted," Jimmy Ruffin
24. "Land of 1000 Dances," Wilson Pickett
25. "Psychotic Reaction," Count Five
26. "Last Train to Clarksville," The Monkees
27. "Working in the Coal Mine," Lee Dorsey
28. "Open the Door to Your Heart," Darrell Banks

30. "Flamingo," Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
31. "Respectable," The Outsiders
32. "Summer Wind," Frank Sinatra
33. "7 and 7 Is," Love
34. "The Joker Went Wild," Brian Hyland
35. "Wade in the Water," Ramsey Lewis Trio

37. "Summer in the City," The Lovin' Spoonful
38. "B-A-B-Y," Carla Thomas
39. "God Only Knows," The Beach Boys
40. "Walk Away Renee," The Left Banke
41. "Just Like a Woman," Bob Dylan
42. "All Strung Out," Nino Tempo & April Stevens

44. "Summer Samba (So Nice)," Walter Wanderley

47. "Blowin' in the Wind," Stevie Wonder
48. "Say I Am (What I Am)," Tommy James & The Shondells

50. "With a Girl Like You," The Troggs
51. "All I See Is You," Dusty Springfield

53. "See See Rider," Eric Burdon & The Animals

56. "You're Gonna Miss Me," The Thirteenth Floor Elevators

59. "Hooray for Hazel," Tommy Roe

64. "Girl on a Swing," Gerry & The Pacemakers

72. "Poor Side of Town," Johnny Rivers
73. "Love Is a Hurtin' Thing," Lou Rawls

81. "If I Were a Carpenter," Bobby Darin

89. "Knock on Wood," Eddie Floyd
90. "Mr. Spaceman," The Byrds

96. "I'm Your Puppet," James & Bobby Purify

Leaving the chart:

• "The Dangling Conversation," Simon & Garfunkel (7 weeks)
• "Sugar and Spice," The Cryan' Shames (9 weeks)
• "Summertime," Billy Stewart (10 weeks)
• "Warm and Tender Love," Percy Sledge (9 weeks)

Recent and new on the chart:

"All I See Is You," Dusty Springfield

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(Sept. 17; #20 US; #33 AC; #9 UK)

"Mr. Spaceman," The Byrds

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(#36 US)

"If I Were a Carpenter," Bobby Darin

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(#8 US; #9 UK)

"I'm Your Puppet," James & Bobby Purify

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(#6 US; #5 R&B)


And new on the boob tube:

• The Ed Sullivan Show, Season 19, episode 2
• Gilligan's Island, "Gilligan vs. Gilligan"
• The Monkees, "Monkee See, Monkee Die"
• The Rat Patrol, "The Life Against Death Raid"
• Batman, "The Minstrel's Shakedown"
• Batman, "Barbecued Batman?"
• Star Trek, "Where No Man Has Gone Before"
• That Girl, "Never Change a Diaper on Opening Night"
• The Green Hornet, "Programmed for Death"
• The Wild Wild West, "The Night of the Golden Cobra"
• Tarzan, "Leopard on the Loose"
• The Time Tunnel, "End of the World"
• Hogan's Heroes, "The Schultz Brigade"
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E., "The Sort of Do-It-Yourself Dreadful Affair"
• 12 O'Clock High, "Face of a Shadow"
• Get Smart, "Strike While the Agent Is Hot"
• Mission: Impossible, "Memory"

_______

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.

_______

 

[RJDiogenes]

And I'm back from my brief sojourn. The universe got its revenge on me-- my hotel was on Frank Sinatra Drive.

The pioneering blues rock group performs their Top 20 single "We Gotta Get Out of This Place,"

Now that's my Animals.

one of them "accidentally" reveals that he's ringing a cowbell behind a cloth that he seems to be holding with what turn out to be false arms.

And yet it still needs more cowbell.

The Best of edit picks up King's routine at 4:50 in this video.

He's personally annoying, but he comes up with some funny stuff. I like the line about Ed, his lawyers, and CBS.

Deli skit with Nancy Walker, Charles Nelson Reilly and Julia Meade

Oh, that was hilarious. Did they often do skits like that and they just don't show up in Best of? I don't really remember skits from back in the day.

Jason rides into a town as party tables are being set up in front of a gallows that's being prepared for a hanging.

Ed says, "And here's Chuck Connors with his rendition of 'Everything Old Is New Again.'"

He finds an old acquaintance there, regional newspaper woman Nan Richards (Whitney Blake)--neither the same character nor actress as in "Mightier Than the Sword," which had Jason allying with a woman running the paper she'd inherited from her father.

A wasted opportunity. Perhaps the actress was not available.

(Beau Bridges)

Stargate SG-1, among one or two other things.

But Jason goes up to persuade Frank to talk the boy down, and Frank complies, telling Lon that he's guilty and not to throw his own life away...before tripping the trap door himself to settle the matter.

This was a top-grade and unusual episode.

all those 500-lb. shoes that never drop.

Nice.

the nefarious secret hideout of Dr. Michael Rink (Burgess Meredith)

his BTO (Bomb Through Overcast) device...a.k.a. airborne radar.

Sci-Fi hokum. God gave people eyes, not radar melons.

However, one of Ehrland's men sees something on their ground radar that clues him in that the bombers are using radar, and he thinks that he can come up with a countermeasure.

Reverse the polarity of the quantum transistors!

When Rink finally does, the tin canteen cup that the sergeant's drinking from makes a light bulb go off over his head, and he has all the canteen cups available cut up into strips of what he calls "chaff".

"Waugh waugh waugh!"

In the coda, Zemler is planning to come up with a tuner that will let them find the Germans' radar frequency as a longer-term solution.

Despite joking, this sounds like really solid retro SF with a nice little arms-race allegory and solid characterization.

The story is based on one from the comics, but the Zelda character is standing in for a male magician in the original.

The writers assumed it must be a woman from the name-- the comics should have called him Zeldon.

they make an excuse about attending a lecture in Latin American politics to get away from the dinner that Aunt Harriet's prepared.

Ironic, because they normally get away from lectures in Latin-American politics by talking up Aunt Harriet's cooking.

Robin references the Catwoman, whom we've yet to meet.

Foreshadowing. I like it.

At the Gnome Book Store, "strange Albanian genius"

Really the true super-villain in all this.

In another bit of EIW (see below) that you'd think would be the sort of gimmick they'd have saved to shake things up in later installments, we find Aunt Harriet hanging over a flaming drum, a blindfold completely covering her face (as it's no doubt not Madge Blake).

Yeah, they really haven't settled into their format yet. Pretty cool.

Robin goes to Gordon's office solo and, as in the end of the previous episode, skirts with endangering his secret identity via his reactions to the situation.

Gordon knows. O'Hara will never catch on no matter what, but Gordon is too sharp to not know.

Victor French

That Highway to Heaven and Carter Country again.

which is handwaved by the duo covering their heads with their capes.

TV contracts prevent it from being mentioned explicitly, but they have access to Kryptonian fabrics.

guess it was a bad idea to have the sarcophagi directly facing each other.

a Batarang pulled from a very large, angled side pouch of his utility belt that isn't normally visible.

Phantom Zone. I'm tellin' ya.

Then Zelda reveals herself, again in tears, and there's an "if only" romantic moment between her and Batman as he takes out the Bat-cuffs.

It's lonely being The Batman.

Zelda uses her sleight of hand to produce a flower, which she asks Bruce to give to Batman. Bruce puts it in his lapel as he leaves.

Cute. I can see the little smile on his face.

there won't be a search because the Air Force doesn't know where it dropped.

What, no satlink? No Wi-Fi? No GPS? No Find-My-Robot app?

Ginger tries using her feminine wiles on the machine, which produces some reactions, including the typical smoke coming from the ears

I wonder if it would burp if they asked it to make Kentucky bourbon.

The castaways see it off as it walks into the lagoon, and later listen on the radio as it's found...

Another interesting what-if scenario: What if they had instead kept the robot and it became a regular character?

I have to wonder if the episode's title was a deliberate reference to the previous TV year's one-season wonder My Living Doll.

I thought of that show when I saw the title, but I didn't realize it was history at this point.

(Hans Conried)

He's that guy who played Hans Conried all the time.

Hogan decides to have LeBeau, against national culinary pride-fueled objections, make pizza...for which they need Mama Bear to patch them through to a pizzeria in Newark run by the father of one of the prisoners for a recipe, though Mama has some trouble enlisting cooperation from Papa Bear (Jack Goode and Elisa Ingram) in London. While he's got indirect communication with Mr. Garlotti (Ernest Sarracino) established, Hogan also asks for the words to "Santa Lucia".

Nice. We're having a good week for TV episodes here.

In the coda, Klink reads Hogan a letter from Bonacelli about how he has his American prisoners making pizzas for him, the number of which is an indicator of local German troop strength.

Cute.

Max visits the Spy City Retirement Home for Secret Agents

This pokes a hole in one or two of our fanboy theories.

legendary Agent 4 Herb Gaffer

Okay, this is making me wonder how long Control has been around, how Agents are numbered, and if at least some numbers are retired. Just the existence of the retirement facility seems to indicate that Control has been around since at least the 20s.

somebody's after his diary, which contains all sorts of classified information.

Valuable info, like the original contents of Al Capone's vault.

(Ellen Corby)

The Waltons, I'm pretty sure.

(Burt Mustin)

The man who was born an old-timer.

There are a couple of gags in the episode that demonstrate how Gaffer is an older version of Max, involving a moment of mutual clumsiness and a shared "Would you believe...?" gag.

Nice touch. I like how this episode delves into the show's mythology and history a bit.

Dunno...Marilyn McCoo doing easy listening covers kinda gives me Solid Gold flashbacks.

I just like the way they sound.

I've been using EIW as an abbreviation for Early Installment Weirdness lately; LIW would be Late Installment Weirdness.

Duh. I knew I knew it.

This is why some artists don't want to "sell out" by doing pop singles.

I can understand that, for sure.

I'm reminded of a girl I was seeing for a spell in the late '80s. She had an old car with an 8-track player.

When I first got my license in high school, I used to borrow my Uncle Joe's Scamp all the time-- he had an 8-Track in there, on which I used to play Meatloaf and Aerosmith's Draw The Line.

The only thing she had to play on it was Wings' 1978 album London Town.

An album I do not care for.

I don't think I've ever seen him doing a character before, other than his usual Charles Nelson Reilly Match Game schtick.

Yeah, he was another character actor who generally played himself.

I remember those plexiglass cases. If you never got Eat To The Beat, I highly recommend it.

I had Eat To The Beat and Autoamerican on 8-Track. Not the first album, though, which I had on a bootleg cassette. That first album is still the best, in my opinion.

Are you kidding?! I had it within a few weeks, I think the first LP I spent my own money on. "Dreaming" and "Union City Blue" are still my favorite Blondie tracks.

And "The Hardest Part." I had a bunch of albums on 8-Track in the early 80s that just don't seem like they belong on 8-Track. The first Pretenders album, Pat Benatar's Crimes of Passion, Warren Zevon's Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School, among others. It's like a weird overlap of eras.

At a press conference at the New York Advertising Club, Timothy Leary announced the formation of the League for Spiritual Discovery, which he described as a new "psychedelic religion". "Like every great religion of the past," Leary said, "we seek to find the divinity within and to express this revelation in a life of glorification and the worship of God. These ancient goals we define in the metaphor of the present — turn on, tune in, drop out."

Sorry, Timothy. As soon as you turn something into a religion, it's all over but the crying.

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) adopted a new code for film production, eliminating many of the prohibitions that had been in effect for 36 years. MPAA President Jack Valenti initially said that there would be two levels of classification, one ("G") for general releases, and another one ("M") for "mature audiences". "What we are saying," Valenti commented, "is 'Look, Mr. Parent, this may not be a picture you want your child to see!'" In a break from the past, the new Production Code declared that "Censorship is an odious enterprise. We oppose censorship and classification by law because they are alien to the American tradition of Freedom."

Now we're talking.

Ten new standards were now applied in judging a film, including "The basic dignity and value of human life shall be respected and upheld."; "Evil, sin, crime and wrongdoing shall not be justified."; "Detailed and protracted acts of brutality, cruelty, physical violence, torture and abuse shall not be presented."; "Indecent or undue exposure of the human body shall not be presented." "Obscene speech, gestures or movements shall not be presented." and "Excessive cruelty to animals shall not be portrayed and animals shall not be treated inhumanely."

Uh... well... baby steps.

Sirhan Bishara Sirhan, a 22-year-old horse exerciser in Pasadena, California, sustained head injuries after falling from a horse at the Altfillisch Ranch in Corona. According to testimony that would be offered two years later at Sirhan's trial for the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, his personality seemed to change; he became increasingly resentful of authority and self-obsessed.

There's a timely historical note.

"All I See Is You," Dusty Springfield

Not feeling it.

"Mr. Spaceman," The Byrds

I like this one. "I hope you get home okay."

"If I Were a Carpenter," Bobby Darin

Great song.

"I'm Your Puppet," James & Bobby Purify

Oldies Radio Classic.

 

[The Old Mixer]

The universe got its revenge on me-- my hotel was on Frank Sinatra Drive.

I gave at the office.

Oh, that was hilarious. Did they often do skits like that and they just don't show up in Best of? I don't really remember skits from back in the day.

It seemed pretty unusual for the show to me. The closest I've seen are times when they did song and/or dance numbers on more elaborate sets.

This was a top-grade and unusual episode.

The bit with him triggering the trap door was kinda Hell on Wheels-ish.

Despite joking, this sounds like really solid retro SF with a nice little arms-race allegory and solid characterization.

I don't think it qualifies as either...radar did come of age in WWII, so I was under the impression that it was more of a fictionalized account of actual wartime developments. A quick web search confirms that chaff was first used in 1943. And I can imagine that triangulation of radar signals was something that got picked up fairly quickly. Sonar works the same way...if you send out active signals, you're making yourself detectable to others farther and wider than what you're detecting. Like shining a flashlight on a darkened field...you can see what's in the angle of the beam for a ways...others can see you from all directions and from much farther than the reach of your beam.

The writers assumed it must be a woman from the name-- the comics should have called him Zeldon.

Actually, the comics character was named Carnado, per the episode's Wiki page.

Gordon knows. O'Hara will never catch on no matter what, but Gordon is too sharp to not know.

Later-era comics Gordon, sure. Gordon on the TV show could be pretty thick.

Seriously, even if they'd plugged the Dynamic Duo full of holes, how did they expect not to end up hitting each other?

Phantom Zone. I'm tellin' ya.

I'm reminded of the Rom comic where he'd pull his weapon and Dire Wraith detector out of subspace.

I wonder if it would burp if they asked it to make Kentucky bourbon.

I'd pull out a Captain America meme, but I know you know that I understood that reference.

I thought of that show when I saw the title, but I didn't realize it was history at this point.

The show never had a chance...they were running it against Bonanza. Shatner also had a one-season wonder the same year in the same slot, For the People.

Nice. We're having a good week for TV episodes here.

That sequence was definitely the highlight of the episode.

The Waltons, I'm pretty sure.

Ah, yes. Hadn't realized that as I never really watched it. One of those things that was on in the background sometimes.

An album I do not care for.

Not Paul's strongest post-Beatles work, but I always found it mildly enjoyable. I'm surprised that you know it well enough to have such a strong opinion.

I had Eat To The Beat and Autoamerican on 8-Track. Not the first album, though, which I had on a bootleg cassette. That first album is still the best, in my opinion.


And "The Hardest Part." I had a bunch of albums on 8-Track in the early 80s that just don't seem like they belong on 8-Track. The first Pretenders album, Pat Benatar's Crimes of Passion, Warren Zevon's Bad Luck Streak In Dancing School, among others. It's like a weird overlap of eras.

I bought the Blondie and Benatar albums in the CD era.

Uh... well... baby steps.

I knew you'd love that laundry list of objectionable content.

Not feeling it.

Definitely not memorable.

I like this one. "I hope you get home okay."

Memorably cute.

Great song.

Not that into it myself.

Oldies Radio Classic.

This one always reminds me of a local political ad from several years back in which the opposing party used it, along with a creepy puppet likeness of the incumbent congressman, depicted taking money from special interest groups.

Here's a sneak peak at the kickoff of our new 50th anniversary TV season.

 

[GNDN18]

Like shining a flashlight on a darkened field...you can see what's in the angle of the beam for a ways...others can see you from all directions and from much farther than the reach of your beam.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I gave at the office.

It seemed pretty unusual for the show to me. The closest I've seen are times when they did song and/or dance numbers on more elaborate sets.

Too bad. It was great, and I love Nancy Walker and Charles Nelson Reilly.

I don't think it qualifies as either...radar did come of age in WWII, so I was under the impression that it was more of a fictionalized account of actual wartime developments. A quick web search confirms that chaff was first used in 1943. And I can imagine that triangulation of radar signals was something that got picked up fairly quickly. Sonar works the same way...if you send out active signals, you're making yourself detectable to others farther and wider than what you're detecting. Like shining a flashlight on a darkened field...you can see what's in the angle of the beam for a ways...others can see you from all directions and from much farther than the reach of your beam.

I meant SF in a retro way, almost Steampunkish, from the perspective of the era. The development of new game-changing technology and learning the application and management of it. It had that feel to me.

Actually, the comics character was named Carnado, per the episode's Wiki page.

Hmm, okay.

Later-era comics Gordon, sure. Gordon on the TV show could be pretty thick.

Everybody had to be a little thick to make Batman look good, but Gordon was pretty sharp-- he at least knew when to call in Batman.

I'm reminded of the Rom comic where he'd pull his weapon and Dire Wraith detector out of subspace.

I remember that, even though I never read the comic. I think there were other characters with similar gimmicks, but nothing is coming to mind. Except wasn't there a character in Defenders who pulled stuff out of his cape?

I'd pull out a Captain America meme, but I know you know that I understood that reference.

And I got that reference.

Ah, yes. Hadn't realized that as I never really watched it. One of those things that was on in the background sometimes.

My Grandmother used to watch it, so I know way more about it than I should.

Not Paul's strongest post-Beatles work, but I always found it mildly enjoyable. I'm surprised that you know it well enough to have such a strong opinion.

I guess it would have been more accurate to say that I didn't like the singles it generated.

I bought the Blondie and Benatar albums in the CD era.

Me, too. It's like Men in Black. "Now I have to buy the White Album again."

I knew you'd love that laundry list of objectionable content.

This one always reminds me of a local political ad from several years back in which the opposing party used it, along with a creepy puppet likeness of the incumbent congressman, depicted taking money from special interest groups.

Ugh. I wish they wouldn't apply songs to political campaigns like that.

 

[The Old Mixer]

50 Years Ago This Week

September 19 – The second New York City Marathon was held. Beth Bonner became the first woman in history to run a marathon in less than three hours, crossing the finish line in 2 hours, 55 minutes and 22 seconds. Norman Higgins won the overall race in a time of 2:22:54.

September 20 – A spokesman for the U.S. Department of Defense, commonly known by its headquarters, The Pentagon, announced that the DOD would soon be declassifying most of the original 7,000 pages of the "Pentagon Papers" that had been leaked to the press in June, with redactions of secret information. The Pentagon had tried unsuccessfully to get a court injunction against publication of the material.

September 21

• The U.S. Senate voted, 55 to 30, to extend the draft of American men into the U.S. Armed Forces for an additional 18 months. Originally scheduled to expire at the end of the year, the conscription of 18-year-old males would continue until June 30, 1973. U.S. President Nixon, who had requested the additional draft, signed the bill into law a week later.
• Born: David Phillip Vetter, American hospital patient who became known as "The Bubble Boy" because his severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) syndrome prevented him from risking exposure to the outside world; in Houston (d. 1984)

September 24 – Britain expels 90 KGB and GRU officials; 15 are not allowed to return.


Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

1. "Go Away Little Girl," Donny Osmond
2. "Maggie May" / "Reason to Believe", Rod Stewart
3. "Ain't No Sunshine," Bill Withers
4. "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down," Joan Baez
5. "Spanish Harlem," Aretha Franklin
6. "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey," Paul & Linda McCartney
7. "Smiling Faces Sometimes," The Undisputed Truth
8. "Superstar" / "Bless the Beasts and Children", Carpenters
9. "Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get," The Dramatics
10. "I Just Want to Celebrate," Rare Earth
11. "Stick-Up," Honey Cone
12. "Do You Know What I Mean," Lee Michaels
13. "I Woke Up in Love This Morning," The Partridge Family
14. "If You Really Love Me," Stevie Wonder
15. "Won't Get Fooled Again," The Who
16. "Tired of Being Alone," Al Green
17. "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart," Bee Gees
18. "Sweet City Woman," Stampeders
19. "Yo-Yo," The Osmonds
20. "So Far Away" / "Smackwater Jack", Carole King
21. "Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep," Mac & Katie Kissoon
22. "Signs," Five Man Electrical Band
23. "Make It Funky, Pt. 1," James Brown
24. "The Story in Your Eyes," The Moody Blues
25. "Rain Dance," The Guess Who
26. "Take Me Home, Country Roads," John Denver
27. "Thin Line Between Love and Hate," The Persuaders

29. "Liar," Three Dog Night
30. "I've Found Someone of My Own," The Free Movement
31. "Bangla Desh" / "Deep Blue", George Harrison

34. "The Love We Had (Stays on My Mind)," The Dells
35. "Trapped by a Thing Called Love," Denise LaSalle

37. "Stagger Lee," Tommy Roe

40. "Easy Loving," Freddie Hart

46. "Birds of a Feather," The Raiders

48. "One Fine Morning," Lighthouse

55. "A Natural Man," Lou Rawls

61. "Never My Love," The 5th Dimension

66. "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves," Cher

71. "Only You Know and I Know," Delaney & Bonnie

88. "Peace Train," Cat Stevens

93. "Can You Get to That," Funkadelic

99. "Your Move (I've Seen All Good People)," Yes
100. "I'd Love to Change the World," Ten Years After

Leaving the chart:

• "Beginnings" / "Colour My World", Chicago (13 weeks)
• "Get It While You Can," Janis Joplin (2 weeks)
• "If Not for You," Olivia Newton-John (17 weeks)
• "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)," Marvin Gaye (12 weeks)
• "Riders on the Storm," The Doors (12 weeks)

Recent and new on the chart:

"I'd Love to Change the World," Ten Years After

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(#40 US)

"Your Move (I've Seen All Good People)," Yes

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(#40 US)

"Only You Know and I Know," Delaney & Bonnie

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(#20 US; #32 AC)

"Peace Train," Cat Stevens

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(#7 US; #1 AC)


And new on the boob tube:

• Hawaii Five-O, "No Bottles...No Cans...No People"
• Adam-12, "Million Dollar Buff"
• The Brady Bunch, "Grand Canyon or Bust"
• The Partridge Family, "In 25 Words or Less"
• The Odd Couple, "Felix's Wife's Boyfriend"
• Love, American Style, "Love and the Anniversary Crisis / Love and the Conjugal Visit / Love and the Dream Burglar / Love and the Hotel Caper / Love and the Monsters"
• All in the Family, "Gloria Poses in the Nude"
• The Mary Tyler Moore Show, "I Am Curious Cooper"
• Mission: Impossible, "Encore"

_______

Timeline entries are quoted from the Wiki pages for the month or year.

_______

I remember that, even though I never read the comic. I think there were other characters with similar gimmicks, but nothing is coming to mind. Except wasn't there a character in Defenders who pulled stuff out of his cape?

That sounds familiar from Marvel Universe, though I wasn't reading the comic in that era. Byrne-era Superman also did a character called Bloodsport who was a Rambo-style disgruntled (faux) vet who summoned different weapons from an arsenal via teleportation tech (provided by Luthor, IIRC).

My Grandmother used to watch it, so I know way more about it than I should.

Grandma's is where I remember seeing it, too, though I wasn't paying much attention.

I guess it would have been more accurate to say that I didn't like the singles it generated.

You don't like "With a Little Fuck Luck"?

 

[Nerys Myk]

I like London Town. First new Wings album I bought. Others were used.

 

[The Old Mixer]

People pass me by on my imaginary street
Ordinary people it's impossible to meet
Holding conversations that are always incomplete
Well, I don't know

 

[RJDiogenes]

"I'd Love to Change the World," Ten Years After

Hippie Radio Classic, which is far more interesting lyrically than it appears at first glance.

"Your Move (I've Seen All Good People)," Yes

Beautiful Prog Rock poetry.

"Only You Know and I Know," Delaney & Bonnie

I think I've heard this on Lost 45s. It's a song.

"Peace Train," Cat Stevens

Stone Cold Classic.

That sounds familiar from Marvel Universe, though I wasn't reading the comic in that era. Byrne-era Superman also did a character called Bloodsport who was a Rambo-style disgruntled (faux) vet who summoned different weapons from an arsenal via teleportation tech (provided by Luthor, IIRC).

I think Henry Pym used a similar trick during his days as "Dr Pym," which made use of his shrinking and growing powers.

You don't like "With a Little Fuck Luck"?

Heh. I don't. I actually haven't liked anything by McCartney since the mid 70s, to tell the truth. I'd have to check his discography to see exactly which, but I think there were only one or two after "Junior's Farm" that I liked.