The Classic/Retro Pop Culture Thread

[The Old Mixer]

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55th Anniversary Viewing

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Branded
"The Test"
Originally aired February 7, 1965

Jason befriends a missionary priest to the Comanche Nation. When the Comanche warriors demand a test of the pacifist priest's courage, Jason steps in to demonstrate a broader definition of courage.

Jason runs into Father Durant (Jason Evers) while being pursued by a group of Indians. Jason uses Durant's wagon for cover while fending them off, but the priest won't fire the rifle that Jason hands him. The two bond some afterward, Jason respecting the priest's principles but not sharing his own reason for being a drifter. Then a party of Comanches comes for Durant, who's been working with them, to explain the incident. Durant makes clear to Jason that he won't fight, but he won't run either. At the Comanche camp, Durant is accused of having contributed to the "ambush" by a warrior named Wild Horse (Jay Silverheels!).

Jason arrives at the camp carrying a spear of peace, and demonstrates some knowledge of the individual Comanches by their reputations and of their ways. He tries to explain how Durant's unwillingness to fight is an attribute of his greater kind of strength...and then gives them a demonstration of turning the other cheek by slapping the priest around a little! The Comanches allow Jason to fight Wild Horse on Durant's behalf, which starts with a jousting-style contest and ends in an on-foot melee between broken saber and tomahawk. Jason wins and Durant persuades Chief Looking Glass (Joe De Santis) to spare Wild Horse's life. The Chief expresses an interest in having Durant teach the Comanche children his kind of courage at his mission.

I was a little unconvinced that the Comanches would be so easily won over by a demonstration of Christian values. I'm no expert on tribal culture, but there was an episode of Hell on Wheels in which Bohannon reluctantly participated in an Indian game that was expected to be fought to the death (which he didn't know going in), tried to spare the life of an opponent (who was the chief's son, I think), and almost got burned alive for shaming said opponent.

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12 O'Clock High
"The Clash"
Originally aired February 12, 1965

Gen. Savage is shot down over the North Sea between England and Nazi-occupied Norway. He manages to make it to a life raft only to find he's sharing it with a downed German fighter pilot, Col Dieter. Savage has an emergency radio and Dieter is wounded, but he has the only gun in the raft, the current is pushing them toward Norway, and Allied search-and-rescue operations are seriously hampered by foul weather. For a few long hours, the war is reduced to its most basic equation, man versus man.

https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/the-classic-retro-pop-culture-thread.278375/page-64#post-12176427

We've all seen this story before, though in trying to look up the earliest known example, I came across a Wiki entry for Enemy Mine that gave a small list of antecedents in which a 1965 war film was the earliest entry. I'd be interested to know if somebody knows of one that goes back further than that.

In this example, although Savage and the colonel have their moments of bonding, it doesn't end well...they remain opponents to the bitter end, which comes when the one who isn't the star of the show dies in a struggle over his gun on a barren little island that they go ashore on. In the coda, Savage does look into trying to get the wallet pictures of the colonel's family, which were his most prized possessions, back to them.

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Gilligan's Island
"St. Gilligan and the Dragon"
Originally aired February 13, 1965

The women tire of being held subservient to the men and decide to separate and build their own camp. The men soon realise how much they need the women, and so they try to scare the women back.

This one's odd continuity-wise...the source of the tensions is that the Howells and the girls apparently don't have their own huts yet. Pretty sure we've seen such huts at this point, though this episode seems to establish that they've all been using the community hut.

Mr. Howell comes up with a plan to scare the women back by making it appear that there's a wild animal on the island. The result is a rather fake-looking dragon costume with Skipper in front and Gilligan in back, but Ginger spies on them putting it together. As Mr. Howell coaches them in practicing their growls...

Good heavens, I think we've found an answer to the Beatles!

The girls pretend to be frightened and beat the dragon with poles until the duo come out of the costume.

While the women have experienced some initial difficulty with building their hut, the men find themselves having trouble with tasks like laundry, sewing, and cooking, though they're as determined as the women to prove they can get along without the party of the opposite sex. That night, Skipper has a dream of the women "just acting the way we want them to," which has them serving as his harem. Mr. Howell dreams of the women giving him a massage, manicure, and pedicure. The Professor dreams of himself as an actor with the girls as his screaming fans. Gilligan dreams of himself as a bullfighter with the women giving him gifts and taking turns charging through his cape. The men wake up and go outside to get some air, and Mr. Howell's dependency on pills comes up again. They then try to go entice the women back politely, but find themselves rebuffed.

The women go outside and see what appears to be another monster, and assume that it's the men in costume again...until they notice that the men are standing nearby, upon which they're genuinely frightened. Gilligan prepares to approach with a pole being wielded as a lance when the Professor determines from a distance that it's a weather balloon that they could use to send a message to civilization...but they're too late to stop Gilligan from charging in and destroying it.

In the coda, the Skipper determines that the balloon's radio equipment has been smashed into uselessness, but the Professor thinks that they could still repair the balloon and send it up as a signal...only to find that Gilligan has further cut it to pieces to be used as material for clothing and huts.

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[RJDiogenes]

a warrior named Wild Horse (Jay Silverheels!).

He tries to explain how Durant's unwillingness to fight is an attribute of his greater kind of strength...and then gives them a demonstration of turning the other cheek by slapping the priest around a little!

Sounds like a scene from Airplane!.

The Chief expresses an interest in having Durant teach the Comanche children his kind of courage at his mission.

Sounds like the nuances of courage may be the overall theme of this show, which should be interesting.

This one's odd continuity-wise...the source of the tensions is that the Howells and the girls apparently don't have their own huts yet. Pretty sure we've seen such huts at this point, though this episode seems to establish that they've all been using the community hut.

In the Gilligan's Island tie-in novel Tropical Storm Schwartz by Harlan Ellison, this was explained by showing the huts being blown away in high winds, forcing a temporary return to community living.

While the women have experienced some initial difficulty with building their hut, the men find themselves having trouble with tasks like laundry, sewing, and cooking, though they're as determined as the women to prove they can get along without the party of the opposite sex.

I must be a hermaphrodite. I'm incompetent at all of these things.

That night, Skipper has a dream of the women "just acting the way we want them to," which has them serving as his harem. Mr. Howell dreams of the women giving him a massage, manicure, and pedicure. The Professor dreams of himself as an actor with the girls as his screaming fans. Gilligan dreams of himself as a bullfighter with the women giving him gifts and taking turns charging through his cape.

They missed the boat here, no pun intended, by not showing the girls having corresponding dreams.

The men wake up and go outside to get some air, and Mr. Howell's dependency on pills comes up again.

Shortly after this, his pill supply ran out completely, which was addressed in the tie-in novel Fear and Loathing on Gilligan's Island by Hunter S Thompson.

Gilligan prepares to approach with a pole being wielded as a lance when the Professor determines from a distance that it's a weather balloon that they could use to send a message to civilization...but they're too late to stop Gilligan from charging in and destroying it.

The important thing here being Gilligan's bravery in saving them from the monster-- these are the kinds of things that make this show great.

 

[The Old Mixer]

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50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 1)

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The Ed Sullivan Show
Season 22, episode 20
Originally aired February 8, 1970
As represented in The Best of the Ed Sullivan Show

Comedy star Richard Pryor!

I had no way of verifying exactly which date this particular Richard Pryor appearance was from, but this was my best guess from those listed on tv.com. After asserting that the censors wouldn't let him do a routine about church, he instead does a routine about neighborhood basketball and community organization.

Also in the original episode according to tv.com:

Music:
--Bobby Goldsboro - "Everybody's Talkin'" & "Can You Feel It?"
--Connie Stevens - "Yankee Doodle," "Give My Regards To Broadway" & "If I Were A Rich Man."
--Chet Atkins, Floyd Cramer, and Boots Randolph - "Down Yonder."
--Chet Atkins - "Blue Angel" (guitar).
--Floyd Cramer - "San Antonio Rose" (piano).
Broadway:
--The cast of "Promises, Promises" perform the play's "Turkey Lurkey Time" production number.
Comedy:
--George Carlin satirizes daytime television.
--David Frye does impressions.
Also appearing:
--Mr. Jiggs (chimp act)
--Sam & Sammy (acrobats)
--Audience bows: Joe Frazier and Yankee Durham.

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Mission: Impossible
"Phantoms"
Originally aired February 8, 1970

Using a clever projection system a dictator is made to believe that he sees the spirits of his dead victims. He must be removed from power so a political moderate can take control of the government and stop the planned purge of the nation's pro-West artist community.

Good morning, Mr. Phelps. Leo Vorka [Luther Adler], the aging dictator, has assigned the notorious Georgi Kull [Michael Baseleon] to begin a purge which will decimate his country's younger artists. If carried out, such a bloodbath would crush all hope for the new generation that is friendly to the West.

Your mission, Jim, should you decide to accept it, is to remove Vorka from power, and insure Deputy Premier Bartzin's [Ben Astar] succession to the premiership. As always, should you or any of your IM Force be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This tape will self-destruct in five seconds. Good luck, Jim.

Look who's an agent this time:

Her character is Nora Bennett, who happens to bear a striking resemblance to a deceased old flame of Zorka's named Lisa from 25 years prior.

As the mission commences, Major Paris gains access to a microfilm room, where he does some doctoring. We see Zara (Jeff Pomerantz), the country's young "Poet of Protest," interrogated by Kull, and suffering a minor attack or seizure because of his heart condition. Our other guest agent, English Broadcasting Service reporter Edmund Moore (Ivor Barry), arrives for an interview with Vorka with Barney as his camera crew. Barney openly obtains the premier's glasses and a mantle clock, ostensibly because they're causing reflections, so he can swap them out during the interview. In his darkened portion of the room, he also replaces a book on the premier's shelf.

Horn-Rimmed History Writer Jim pays a visit to Vorka for the purpose of gaining patronage and getting his work ripped off. Aided by his infrared-sensitive new glasses, Vorka sees a distorted moving image of Nora as Lisa, projected from the planted book, and after Jim leaves, hears audio from the clock, in which Nora gives him an infodump about his supposed son by her, whom he just learned about from Jim, being none other than Zara. Jim and one of the premier's guards come into the room in response to his cries, and Jim borrows the projection book in order to save it from a subsequent search. While Jim is alone with Vorka, another projection plays, but Jim claims to see and hear nothing.

Thanks to the doctored microfilm, a disguised Paris is rounded up as the old man who delivered young Zara to an orphanage. He drops hazily remembered details that indicate that Lisa was the boy's mother. He also recalls that the boy had a bad heart. Vorka has Kull bring in Zara. Paris, getting around and switching disguises rather quickly, reports to the team from the prison's guardhouse. The staff car with Zara gets a call from Barney ordering it to help Uniformed Willy, who's car has fake broken down. Willy commandeers Zara's car at gunpoint.

In the IMF's warehouse digs, Zara watches Paris disguise himself as Zara. Fake Zara is brought to the premier's office by Willy. Alone with the premier, Fake Zara insists that Vorka's old rival, Sarni, was his father, and accuses Vorka of being responsible for his mother's death. This provokes Vorka to slap FZ, who falls to the floor and feigns a heart attack. Vorka then sees a projection of Zara's spirit rising from his body (the real Zara, being shot live in the warehouse), and he joins his fake mother to point accusingly at Vorka. Kull, Bartzin, Jim, and others run in because of Vorka's loud pleas, and find him rambling about the ghosts pointing at him that nobody else sees. Bartzin has the premier taken away for a long rest, and then relieves Kull of duty. Jim covertly retrieves the book on his way out. Mission: Accomplished.

We get another reuse of a recognizable set piece--the hallway with the gated entrance to the premier's office area was the entrance to the crown jewels vault in "The Falcon".

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Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Season 3, episode 21
Originally aired February 9, 1970

Jim Backus, Greer Garson, Andy Williams, Andy Griffith, Carl Reiner, Agatha Grunt, Art Metrano

Henry: You know, Mr. Backus, I've always looked up to you as an actor.
Jim: Because you admire my versatility?
Henry: No, because I'm shorter than you are.​

Backus's contributions include a recurring gag of him voicing a Mr. Magoo-style cartoon Uncle Sam.

The cocktail party has a gag about John Lennon returning his MBE.

The Russian version of Laugh-In:

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Dick does a Discovery of the Week for the first time in a long time. I couldn't find a clip, but it was pretty lame.

Ernestine calls William F. Buckley:

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Next segment here.

Potpourri...or Lucinda if you prefer.

Tyrone shares his plan to propose to Gladys:

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Of course, it doesn't go so well.

New Talent for the Future: Miss Agatha Grunt. I think that was Dick's discovery who pops up in the middle.

Do the Farkel:

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Jim Backus is at the tail end of that one.

An ending featuring the Farkels, Wolfgang, and Carl Reiner:

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"Stocks and the Single Girl"
Originally aired February 12, 1970

Ann gets a card from a stockbroker and invests in the list of items on the back, even though it is his shopping list.

Ann is dining at the Italian restaurant at the same time as the stockbroker, Arnold Lindsey (Harry Townes), who accidentally causes a mishap with a popped cork that chains in slow motion through multiple parties into Ann having wine spilled all over her by a waiter. Lindsey gives her a card to charge the dry cleaning to him. Donald knows him by reputation and tells Ann. He then finds the notes on the back of the card and upon seeing the word "buy" jumps to the conclusion that the accompanying shorthand list is for stocks. Ann tries calling him and the secretary confirms that it's an important list and that Lindsey needs it before the market closes.

Donald consults with NewsView's financial editor and brings Mr. Marie in on the plan. The trio try to find which stocks correspond to the shorthand items. Ann makes their investments at Lindsey's firm, he comes out to see her, and she tries to be coy about the tips he gave her, with lots of winking. Eventually he finds out what she did and sets her straight about the nature of the list...but he indicates that her stocks happen to be doing pretty well.

In the coda, Lew and Donald are pleased with the performance of their investments, and Ann treats them to a meal consisting of the items on Lindsey's list.

"Oh, Donald" count: 3
"Oh, Daddy" count: 1

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Sounds like a scene from Airplane!.

Now that you mention it... Also kinda reminded me of Spock slapping around Not Nancy Crater.

Sounds like the nuances of courage may be the overall theme of this show, which should be interesting.

Yeah...I was going to say something in the next review (having watched the episode yesterday) about how they seem to be having Jason getting involved with people whose situations mirror his own in some way...whether it's dealing with being perceived as a coward, being haunted by their reputation from a past life, or something else. It's turning out to be a pretty good little show so far.

In the Gilligan's Island tie-in novel Tropical Storm Schwartz by Harlan Ellison, this was explained by showing the huts being blown away in high winds, forcing a temporary return to community living.

Surely you can't be serious!

They missed the boat here, no pun intended, by not showing the girls having corresponding dreams.

Maybe, but that could've dragged. And the sequence was kind of subversive, as the men's dreams weren't very flattering to them.

Shortly after this, his pill supply ran out completely, which was addressed in the tie-in novel Fear and Loathing on Gilligan's Island by Hunter S Thompson.

You're not serious...so I guess I can call you Shirley.

The important thing here being Gilligan's bravery in saving them from the monster-- these are the kinds of things that make this show great.

But even when his heart is in the right place and he's trying to do the right thing, he always manages to screw things up somehow. Sort of like Peter Parker played for comedy instead of angst.

 

[The Old Mixer]

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50th Anniversary Viewing (Part 2)

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Ironside
"Return to Fiji"
Originally aired February 12, 1970

While on vacation in Fiji, Ironside gets involved in a plot to steal gold.

Holy Old War Buddies--The Chief served with Alan Napier at Guadalcanal! Napier's character, Walter Branford, is abducted at gunpoint right after making plans via phone for Ironside to visit him, so he's not at the airport to pick the Chief up. When Ironside gets to Branford's home, the staff tells him that Branford went to America to see him...a story that his niece Marcia (Anne Collings) supports on the phone. The Chief finds this especially fishy when he discovers that Walter left his heart medication behind. The Chief sends for Mark and Ed to fly out, but when they get there they're faced with a similar situation--the hotel doesn't have reservations for them, nor do they show a Robert Ironside staying there. When they get to Stately Branford Manor, the staff indicates that Marcia was involved in both disappearances.

We find that Ironside has allowed himself to be abducted by some British types led by a Mr. Barnesworth (Larry D. Mann), and including one Dr. Stauffer (Bernard Fox). They take the Chief to the village hut where they're keeping Walter. The doctor gives Ironside something to put him under, but he plays possum upon recovering and drops a clue along the way. We further learn that Walter is being held as a means to persuade Marcia, whose job for the metallurgy office gives her the authority to approve metallurgical shipments.

Marcia changes her story for Ed and Mark, leading them to an island. Their journey there makes use of actual location shooting--conspicuously silent as usual, until they cut to an outdoor set. A couple of men try to abduct them at gunpoint, but they're saved by the Fiji police force (which calls itself the CID here, though I couldn't find what it stood for and didn't catch it if it was in the episode), whom Ed and Mark got in touch with prior to departure. The baddies were meant to keep them out of the way.

While Marcia's signing the papers, the doctor is given an order to kill Ironside, which makes him want out of the scheme. Ed, Mark, and the CID show up at the village where the Chief and Branford are being held, and find Ironside, who despite being drugged manages a dramatic rolling off his cot and crawling into his wheelchair. Also despite his condition, he wants in on the climax...

Nobody ruins my vacation and gets away with it!

Despite attempts by the baddies to make it look like they plan to take the gold to Australia by air, the Chief and the CID inspector (Alan Caillou) deduce that the actual plan is Red China by boat, and intercept the baddies by helicopter before they manage to launch. But it's not over, as back at Branford Manor, Ironside outs the butler, Anthony (Ken Renard), as an inside man in the scheme.

In the coda, Ironside puts Ed and Mark back to work despite their expectation that they'd be able to get on with their own planned vacations.

I was a little disappointed that they didn't give Napier much more to do than lie on a cot.

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Get Smart
"How Green Was My Valet"
Originally aired February 13, 1970

Max and 99 pose as valet and maid at the Bulmanian Embassy in order to recover a stolen sample of rocket fuel. Meanwhile, Larabee and the Chief have to babysit the twins... with hilarious results. The title is a play on How Green Was My Valley. A spoof of National Velvet. Jonathan Harris guest stars as KAOS Agent/Bulmanian Ambassador.

It's described as an extremely potent/concentrated fuel, with the one quart in existence being enough to send a rocket to the Moon and back 25 times. Max finds it in a thermos in the lab of the professor who invented it, and initially assumes that it's sour cherry soda. The valet of the Ambassador (Harris) steals it for him, but is killed for knowing too much; and the valet's wife, the maid, is sent back to the home country. Hence the hiring of Max and 99.

Max's ineptness makes the Ambassador suspicious. He dictates his safe combination to his secretary, Zachary (Julie Bennett; and see what they did there?), while Max is in earshot in order to expose him. But Max is just as inept at safe cracking, so by the time the Ambassador comes back into the room with gun drawn, he's away from the safe, trying to check the glass on which he wrote the combination...which he has to wipe off while pretending to clean it.

Max discovers that the Ambassador is wearing a key to the wine cellar around his neck and improvises a plan to get it off of him by getting him extremely drunk on wine. Max and 99 inspect the cellar and are confronted by the Ambassador--who seems to have sobered up quickly--at gunpoint. Max knocks him out again with the bottle containing the rocket fuel, but 99 has managed to save a sample of the fuel in a glass.

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The Brady Bunch
"Brace Yourself"
Originally aired February 13, 1970

Marcia tearfully frets "I'm ugly, ugly, ugly!" over her new braces. Then her date Alan Anthony (Mike Robertson) cancels, claiming that he must go out of town with his parents to visit a relative. Greg, Mike, and Alice attempt to arrange replacement dates, but a lack of coordination ruins the plan. Then just before the night of the dance, Alan arrives ... showing off his new braces (which he had fitted after an accident with his bicycle).

Guest stars: Jerry Levreau as Harold Reynolds, Brian Nash as Joey Michaelson, John Daniels as Eddie the delivery courier, Molly Dodd as the sales clerk

The day she gets her braces, Marcia doesn't want to come down for dinner, and eating alone later finds that they're ruining the taste of food. Carol tells Marcia that anyone who's a real friend or loves her won't be turned off by her new appearance. Meanwhile, Mike tries to talk the other kids into ignoring her braces. Cindy makes too obvious an effort not to even look at Marcia in the bathroom, and when confronted, blurts out an insensitive question. Alice asserting that Marcia will be gorgeous when the braces come off and then telling Marcia that she wore braces herself doesn't reassure her. Bobby makes his own blunder while trying to be polite.

Mike convinces Marcia to go downstairs and see the visiting Alan, which is when he gives the story about going on a trip. Greg tries to use helping his friend Joey to study as leverage to make him date Marcia; while Alice sizes up and bribes Eddie while he's delivering groceries. Eddie and Joey come over to see Marcia at the same time as Mike and Carol's arranged date, the awkwardly shy Harold. Marcia figures out that they've all been bribed.

After that incident, Alan comes over, confesses to the trip being a story, and asks Marcia to the dance. She's initially skeptical that he's been bribed as well, but he compliments her looks with convincing sincerity. When he comes to pick her up, he reveals his own set of braces.

I'm wondering if they'll be consistent with showing Marcia in braces in subsequent episodes; and if so, were they actually Maureen McCormick's? They did try to sell them as a short-term thing, so I wouldn't be surprised if they're not seen again.

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Hogan's Heroes
"One Army at a Time"
Originally aired February 13, 1970

Carter finds himself promoted to corporal in the Wehrmacht after he’s caught in uniform while on a sabotage job.

The prisoners are attempting to blow a bridge when a patrol comes upon Carter carrying the device and, staying in character, he claims to have found it. The prisoners assume he was captured, but the Germans treat him as a hero and are impressed by what Newkirk put in his false papers. Carter slips back into camp in the middle of a late-night roll call, during which Hochstetter announces that these will be a nightly routine while they try to find the saboteur. Hogan and the others have to persuade Carter to resume his German role to go back for the dynamite.

Meanwhile, Hogan attempts to talk Klink into discontinuing the roll calls.

Klink: Hogan, you don't understand the Gestapo, do you?
Hogan: No, I don't.
Klink: Neither do I. I just do what they demand.​

A fake radio order from Kinch recalls Hochstetter, after which Hogan uses reverse psychology to get Klink to discontinue the roll calls.

Despite his initial reluctance, Carter starts to embrace his role, but is concerned that his unit may soon be shipped out to the Russian front. The others go out in uniform and rendezvous with Carter, who's smuggled the dynamite out in a tank. They replace the guards at the bridge and, because Carter couldn't find the detonator, use the tank's gun to set off the explosives.

DIS!Missed!

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Adam-12
"Log 24: A Rare Occasion"
Originally aired February 14, 1970

When Malloy is invited over to Reed's house for a barbecue on their day off, they must deal with a young man (David Cassidy) on drugs.

In the opening, Reed and Malloy are bringing in an ex-con for purse snatching. Frankie (Raymond Mayo) is very familiar with the station and its personnel, such that he's looking forward to chow time at 6. Inside the station, Reed and Malloy listen via Mac's office radio to a pursuit in progress, which results in a squad car crashing and two officers in critical condition. Malloy suggests calling off the barbecue planned for the next day, but Reed says that Jean's really been looking forward to it.

At the Reed home the next day, Jean introduces Pete to a single friend, Ruth Bannister (Carla Borelli), who's a computer programmer. The barbecue is just the four of them, so apparently setting up Malloy was the plan. Jean is upset when the men discuss the hospitalized officers. Jim takes Pete into the garage to show him a junker of a pickup truck that he's been reconditioning with the help of a neighbor boy named Tim Richmond. While there, Tim's mother (Cathleen Cordell) comes over looking for her son. Back outside, Little Jim is brought out and Jim and Jean ask Pete to be his godfather. After Pete accepts, Tim (Cassidy) comes calling, obviously high and rambling about somebody coming to get him.

They bring Tim inside and Jim calls Mr. Richmond (Ross Elliott) to have him come over. Tim initially denies having popped pills to Pete, but comes clean for his father. He tells them about a man named Skat who was passing out pills at a party he was attending. Jean comes in and says that she saw someone in the garage. Jim and Pete go out to investigate and are attacked by a scruffy-looking character with a wrench (Dan Scott). They make an out-of-uniform arrest, and inside Tim identifies the man as Skat and explains that the drug pusher had threatened to deal with him after he learned that Tim was friends with a cop.

In the coda, the couples are back inside the Reed home, the party having been a bust. Pete tells Ruth that catching Skat was a big win as some detectives had been trying to learn the identity of a suspect who'd been dealing drugs to high school kids. Across the room, Jean laments to her husband about how Pete and Ruth aren't hitting it off like she'd hoped.

Jim: You can't stand a happy bachelor, can you?
Jean: No, they infuriate me!​

Jim and Pete then get called in for unscheduled duty, and Jim learns that one of the officers involved in the chase accident has died. Jean asks Ruth to stay and watch Little Jim so Jim Sr. can take her to the hospital to be there for Officer Chavez's wife.

This is the last of Mikki Jamison's three appearances as Jean Reed.

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[gblews]

I imagine the suits at Capitol thought the pop music fans in America were somehow very different from British fans and that is the reason they thought they had to micro manage the song lists, album titles, album covers, etc. The British Beatle albums were nearly all better than the American releases. Still irritates me because I don’t think there was much difference at all between the two fandoms.

Side one of Beatles '65 follows the familiar-to-me running order of the first side of Beatles for Sale, sans its last track on the British version. Both albums open strongly with John's "No Reply":

The American album next gives us that last holdout from the UK version of the A Hard Day's Night LP, the distinctive-sounding, John-led "I'll Be Back":

With both No Reply and I’ll Be Back posted, and listening to them one after another, I finally realize why I find the two songs sound like “cousins;” the two songs have nearly the same instrumental and vocal arrangements. Both feature the same mid tempo groove, John’s subdued double tracked lead vocals, with Paul jumping in on harmonies. I think they also have a similar tone as well. I also checked the songs’ chords to see if they structurally similar or even the same, but they aren’t.

Still, my favorite of the two remains I’ll Be Back. Nicer melody.

Following this is an even stronger and more memorable John contribution, "I'm a Loser"...the first display of Dylan's influence in Lennon's songwriting.

“Loser,” does have a vaguely Dylanesque sound but I think Hide Your Love Away sounds more like a Dylan song. But that being said, I love Loser. Great melody and interesting lyrics.

I’v always thought the “companion” song to Loser was You’re Gonna Lose That Girl, probably for reasons similar to my feelings about the two I’ll Be Back and No Reply.

Next is a shared John/Paul contribution, "Baby's in Black," notable for its waltz timing.

Not one of my favorite Beatles songs from this era.

Beatles for Sale was the last UK album to feature nearly as many covers as originalanesque song songs. The cover ratio on Beatles '65 is a little lower. In both case, Chuck Berry's "Rock and Roll Music" is the first of those, featuring yet another lead vocal by John:

They always played the hell out of Chuck Berry songs. John’s vocals are inspired and remind me a bit of how he sounded on Twist and Shout. John did love that old fashioned echoey sound.

The first full-on Paul contribution on both albums, and the only one on side one of '65, is "I'll Follow the Sun":

Love this song. Surprised to hear that it was one of Paul’s childhood compositions. Shows his songwriting talent appeared early in his life.

Side one of '65 closes with another cover featuring another lead vocal by John, "Mr. Moonlight" (written by Roy Lee Johnson and origi

Though Lennon's vocals have been described as "blistering", the song is held by many as one of the
least successful songs in The Beatles' catalogue.

I never liked Mr. Moonlight. It was a great vocal by John, but the song itself never appealed to me.

The opening track of the American album is the third on the British one; and the first of two Carl Perkins covers as well as Ringo's lead vocal contribution on both albums..."Honey Don't".[/

Honey Don’t was another of the Rngo country/rockabilly covers that I really liked.

 

[scotpens]

Well if we're going back to Backus's pre-GI work, he was also James Dean's dad in Rebel Without a Cause! That's a movie they showed us in high school in my day.

Mr. Magoo was also pre-Gilligan's Island. Backus had been voicing the animated nearsighted millionaire since 1949.

 

[The Old Mixer]

I imagine the suits at Capitol thought the pop music fans in America were somehow very different from British fans and that is the reason they thought they had to micro manage the song lists, album titles, album covers, etc.

Pretty much that, plus the American way was to collect previously released singles on albums, whereas in the UK they generally avoided such double-dipping. That's why we have the Past Masters volumes in the digital era...mostly singles and B-sides that weren't released on the UK albums.

With both No Reply and I’ll Be Back posted, and listening to them one after another, I finally realize why I find the two songs sound like “cousins;” the two songs have nearly the same instrumental and vocal arrangements. Both feature the same mid tempo groove, John’s subdued double tracked lead vocals, with Paul jumping in on harmonies. I think they also have a similar tone as well. I also checked the songs’ chords to see if they structurally similar or even the same, but they aren’t.

Not quite hearing it myself, but there's a meta connection between the two songs: one was the closing song of one album, the other the opening song of the next. When I was listening the hell out of cassettes I'd made of my UK versions of the Beatles albums, the songs were a cassette flip away.

I’v always thought the “companion” song to Loser was You’re Gonna Lose That Girl, probably for reasons similar to my feelings about the two I’ll Be Back and No Reply.

Interesting pairing. Thematically, I think "Loser" groups up well with the songs surrounding it here. "You're Gonna Lose That Girl" has a different vibe to it...that's John as the aggressor rather than the wounded.

 

[RJDiogenes]

After asserting that the censors wouldn't let him do a routine about church

I'm surprised the censors didn't censor talking about what the censors censored.

We see Zara (Jeff Pomerantz), the country's young "Poet of Protest," interrogated by Kull, and suffering a minor attack or seizure because of his heart condition.

The Commies are planning Hippie Genocide!

Mission: Accomplished.

And the times they are a-changin.'

In the coda, Lew and Donald are pleased with the performance of their investments, and Ann treats them to a meal consisting of the items on Lindsey's list.

"This appetizer from that IPO is especially tasty. What was it called? Oh, right. Soylent Green."

Surely you can't be serious!

Don't call me-- aw, you beat me to it.

You're not serious...so I guess I can call you Shirley.

Just don't call me late for dinner.

But even when his heart is in the right place and he's trying to do the right thing, he always manages to screw things up somehow. Sort of like Peter Parker played for comedy instead of angst.

Gilligan just can't win-- which I suppose is also part of why people identify with him.

Holy Old War Buddies--The Chief served with Alan Napier at Guadalcanal!

Now Ironside is fifteen years older than he should be. His age has fluctuated by about thirty years over the course of the season.

they're saved by the Fiji police force (which calls itself the CID here, though I couldn't find what it stood for and didn't catch it if it was in the episode)

Criminal Investigations Department.

Ironside, who despite being drugged manages a dramatic rolling off his cot and crawling into his wheelchair.

Sweet.

Also despite his condition, he wants in on the climax...

He's gruff and he means it.

In the coda, Ironside puts Ed and Mark back to work despite their expectation that they'd be able to get on with their own planned vacations.

Nice little tropical adventure for Ironside, though.

I was a little disappointed that they didn't give Napier much more to do than lie on a cot.

Alfred probably appreciated it.

It's described as an extremely potent/concentrated fuel, with the one quart in existence being enough to send a rocket to the Moon and back 25 times.

Yeah, but how big is the rocket?

He dictates his safe combination to his secretary, Zachary (Julie Bennett; and see what they did there?)

Oh, the pain!

Carol tells Marcia that anyone who's a real friend or loves her won't be turned off by her new appearance.

Few are the boys who would reject Maureen McCormick for having braces.

The prisoners assume he was captured, but the Germans treat him as a hero and are impressed by what Newkirk put in his false papers.

Newkirk must have been so jealous.

The barbecue is just the four of them, so apparently setting up Malloy was the plan.

Leave the poor guy alone!

In the coda, the couples are back inside the Reed home, the party having been a bust.

Haha.

This is the last of Mikki Jamison's three appearances as Jean Reed.

She left acting to become a professional matchmaker.

 

[The Old Mixer]

55th Anniversary Cinematic Special

T.A.M.I. Show
Directed by Steve Binder
Starring The Beach Boys, The Barbarians, Chuck Berry, The Blossoms, James Brown and The Flames, Marvin Gaye, Gerry and The Pacemakers, Lesley Gore, Jan and Dean, Billy J. Kramer and The Dakotas, Smokey Robinson and The Miracles, The Supremes, and The Rolling Stones
Released December 29, 1964

T.A.M.I. Show is a 1964 concert film released by American International Pictures. It includes performances by numerous popular rock and roll and R&B musicians from the United States and England. The concert was held at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium on October 28 and 29, 1964. Free tickets were distributed to local high school students. The acronym "T.A.M.I." was used inconsistently in the show's publicity to mean both "Teenage Awards Music International" and "Teen Age Music International".

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This is a moment in '60s music history that I'd long heard about but never seen in its entirety--and look, it's all there on YouTube! The opening credits feature an occasion-specific song by hosts Jan and Dean, "(Here They Come) from All Over the World," played while the duo ride various recreational vehicles and the various groups and artists travel to the show. (Note the recurring musical nod when the Beach Boys are mentioned; and that the Stones are misidentified as being from Liverpool!)

Getting on with the show (4:44)...

The guy who started it all back in 1958, Chuck Berry!

Chuck opens with "Johnny B. Goode" followed by "Maybellene," which segues into Gerry and the Pacemakers doing their own rendition of the same song. The Pacemakers continue their set with "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" (with a little too much Vaseline on the lens), followed by "It's Gonna Be Alright," which had already been a #24 in the UK in 1964, but will be charting in the US in April 1965. The spotlight then alternates between artists, turning to Chuck again for "Sweet Little Sixteen"; then Gerry and the Pacemakers with their breakout UK #1, "How Do You Do It?" (the song that the Beatles couldn't be seen with); Chuck on "Nadine"; and the Pacemakers on "I Like It". Overall, this segment was a good showcase of the music that started it all and the newest wave of artists to be influenced by it.

And now for that grooviest of groups, the fantastic Miracles!

Smokey & the gang start their set (18:35) with "That's What Love Is Made Of," a recent single that charted in September '64, reaching #35 US, #9 R&B. They move on to a couple of better-known Top 10 hits, "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" and "Mickey's Monkey". There's a liberal amount of improv/variation in these renditions of the songs, and lots of dancing by the group members.

And now the latest from Mr. Soul, the dynamic Marvin Gaye!

Marvin starts (29:28) with his 1962 R&B chart breakout single, "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" (#46 US, #8 R&B), following with 1963 hits "Pride and Joy" (for which he gets a backdrop to block out the dancers and give him the sole spotlight), "Can I Get a Witness," and "Hitch Hike".

At 36:09 there's a brief reprise of the title theme as a sort of act divider before proceeding to the next set...

C'mon now, let's hear a roar..the sweetest sound, Lesley Gore!

Lesley gives us a meaty set consisting mostly of well-known singles: "Maybe I Know," "You Don't Own Me," "You Didn't Look Around" (not sure where this is from...doesn't appear to have been a single, B-side, or album track), "Hey Now" (a then-current single that only got to #76 US), and--with other acts joining her on stage as if it were the finale--"It's My Party" and "Judy's Turn to Cry".

Lesley hands her mic to Dean (47:10) and our hosts do their own little set, consisting of "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena" and "Sidewalk Surfin'"--the latter featuring a brief bit of Dean skateboarding onstage.

Okay, let's have a warm welcome for the real surfers, the one and only--five and only--Beach Boys!

I read that this hits-heavy set (51:55) wasn't included in the original theatrical release due to rights issues. It consists of "Surfin' U.S.A.," "I Get Around," "Surfer Girl," and "Dance, Dance, Dance".

And now here's a guy from England, Billy J. Kramer, and the Dakotas!

Billy's set (1:00:55) consists of every charter he'd had in the US at this point, and all of his Top 40s ever: "Little Children," "Bad to Me," "I'll Keep You Satisfied," and "From a Window". Three of them being Lennon/McCartney numbers lends the show some Fab presence.

How about a downbeat for the baby-lovin' Supremes?

Jan is accompanied for that intro (1:07:15) by Jack Nitzsche, who was Phil Spector's right-hand man. Diana & the ladies perform "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes," "Run, Run, Run" (a less successful single--#93 US, #22 R&B--that fell between "Lovelight" and "Where Did Our Love Go"), "Baby Love," and "Where Did Our Love Go".

And now all the way from the coves of old Cape Cod, the Barbarians!

This is the only unfamiliar group in the bunch (1:14:35).

The Barbarians were an American garage rock band formed in Cape Cod, Massachusetts that were active between 1964 and 1967, and briefly re-formed in 1973 to cut an album under a different lineup. At the height of their popularity, the band was touted as an American counterpart of The Rolling Stones. Particularly striking in their appearance was the sight of drummer, Victor "Moulty" Moulton's prosthetic hook used in place of his missing left hand to hold his left drumstick during performances.

Their only number shown here, "Hey Little Bird," sounds pretty good; it strikes me as being somewhat cutting edge for American bands in that particular moment.

And now we come to the most-referenced aspect of the show, the final two acts. With some slapstick involving Dean dressed as a firefighter (1:17:10)...

He's brought down houses from coast to coast...and border to border...James Brown and His Famous Flames!

The Godfather of Soul performs 1964's "Out of Sight," 1963's "Prisoner of Love," and 1956's "Please, Please, Please"--his first R&B hit (#5), which ranks at #142 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Watching this one, I can see what all the fuss has been about. Brown puts on quite a show, with the dropping to his knees and his guys trying to walk him offstage in his cape--or is it a boxing robe? Whatever it is, he keeps throwing it off and dramatically working his way back to the mic. His final number, 1962's "Night Train," serves as a dance showcase for Brown and his background dancers. The man definitely had some moves.

Here they are, those five fellows from England, the Rolling Stones!

The idea was to save the Stones for last to give them a prominent spotlight (1:35:25), but Keith Richards has been quoted as saying that following James Brown was the biggest mistake they ever made in the group's career. Mick's trying to show off his own moves in the set, but yeah, it all looks watered down compared to Brown's show. The set includes "Around and Around," "Off the Hook" (an album track not yet released in the States), "Time Is on My Side," "It's All Over Now," and "I'm Alright" (a Bo Diddley song that will be included on their first live album). I'm not sure where their final number, "Let's Get Together" (1:50:00), is from, but it serves as the big finale, with all of the other acts and the dancers joining them onstage.

It is considered one of the seminal events in the pioneering of music films, and more importantly, the later concept of music videos.

In 2006, T.A.M.I. Show was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

_______

I'm surprised the censors didn't censor talking about what the censors censored.

Good way to milk some humor from what he wasn't allowed to joke about.

And the times they are a-changin.'

Yeah, his nickname made me think of Dylan, too.

Now Ironside is fifteen years older than he should be. His age has fluctuated by about thirty years over the course of the season.

No, they got that just right this time. Raymond Burr would have been a studly young man of 25 in 1942. Napier was 14 years older, but he could've been a British officer or something.

Criminal Investigations Department.

I should've looked harder...

Sweet.

Seemed kind of wasted on the moment it was used in, though. Ed and Mark were searching hut to hut, so they would've found him anyway.

Alfred probably appreciated it.

They missed a golden opportunity to write in a situation that involved Branford having to disguise himself as the Chief, and somehow managing to fool everybody even though he's obviously thinner and older.

Oh, the pain!

"Silence, you bubble-headed booby!"
(Site I found says he used that alliterative insult nine times!)

 

[RJDiogenes]

This is a moment in '60s music history that I'd long heard about but never seen in its entirety--and look, it's all there on YouTube!

I'm looking-- because I never heard of it before. Looks like pure 60s fun, though.

and that the Stones are misidentified as being from Liverpool!)

Haha. How is it that Mick did not send the Hell's Angels after Jan and Dean?

This is the only unfamiliar group in the bunch (1:14:35).

To me, too, oddly enough (although it turns out I know one of their songs). I'm also unfamiliar with the Caves of Cape Cod. Sounds Lovecraftian somehow.

No, they got that just right this time. Raymond Burr would have been a studly young man of 25 in 1942. Napier was 14 years older, but he could've been a British officer or something.

True enough.

Seemed kind of wasted on the moment it was used in, though. Ed and Mark were searching hut to hut, so they would've found him anyway.

Would have been funny if he commented on that. Gruffly.

They missed a golden opportunity to write in a situation that involved Branford having to disguise himself as the Chief, and somehow managing to fool everybody even though he's obviously thinner and older.

"He has a cold."

"Silence, you bubble-headed booby!"
(Site I found says he used that alliterative insult nine times!)

Per episode, or all together?

 

[The Old Mixer]

55 Years Ago This Week

February 21 – African-American Muslim minister and human rights activist Malcolm X is assassinated in New York City.

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February 22 – The Beatles take a plane from London Airport via Kennedy Airport, New York (the Beatles didn't get out of the plane), to the Bahamas, for the filming of their second feature film, untitled at this point.

February 22 – A new, revised, color production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella airs on CBS. Lesley Ann Warren makes her TV debut in the title role. The show becomes an annual tradition.
February 23 – Herberts Cukurs, a Latvian aviator, flying instructor, mass murderer and former Nazi collaborator is unofficially executed by Mossad.

February 24 – First day of filming. All of the Bahamanian filming takes place on the 21-mile-long island of New Providence. The Beatles film every day until 9 March.

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

1. "This Diamond Ring," Gary Lewis & The Playboys
2. "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'," The Righteous Brothers
3. "My Girl," The Temptations
4. "Downtown," Petula Clark
5. "The Jolly Green Giant," The Kingsmen
6. "Tell Her No," The Zombies
7. "Shake," Sam Cooke
8. "The Boy from New York City," The Ad Libs
9. "I Go to Pieces," Peter & Gordon

11. "The Name Game," Shirley Ellis
12. "Ferry Cross the Mersey," Gerry & The Pacemakers
13. "The Birds and the Bees," Jewel Akens
14. "Twine Time," Alvin Cash & The Crawlers
15. "Laugh, Laugh," The Beau Brummels
16. "All Day and All of the Night," The Kinks
17. "Hurt So Bad," Little Anthony & The Imperials

19. "Eight Days a Week," The Beatles
20. "Lemon Tree," Trini Lopez
21. "Bye Bye Baby (Baby, Goodbye)," The Four Seasons
22. "The 'In' Crowd," Dobie Gray
23. "Goldfinger," Shirley Bassey
24. "Heart of Stone," The Rolling Stones

26. "Little Things," Bobby Goldsboro
27. "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat," Herman's Hermits
28. "Goodnight," Roy Orbison
29. "What Have They Done to the Rain," The Searchers
30. "For Lovin' Me," Peter, Paul & Mary

32. "Ask the Lonely," Four Tops
33. "A Change Is Gonna Come," Sam Cooke

35. "Let's Lock the Door (and Throw Away the Key)," Jay & The Americans
36. "Love Potion Number Nine," The Searchers
37. "Come Home," The Dave Clark Five

39. "Midnight Special," Johnny Rivers
40. "Yeh, Yeh," Georgie Fame & The Blue Flames
41. "Stop! In the Name of Love," The Supremes

44. "Hold What You've Got," Joe Tex
45. "Shotgun," Jr. Walker & The All Stars

47. "People Get Ready," The Impressions

49. "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood," The Animals

53. "If I Loved You," Chad & Jeremy

59. "I Don't Want to Spoil the Party," The Beatles

68. "Do the Clam," Elvis Presley

73. "Nowhere to Run," Martha & The Vandellas
74. "Stranger in Town," Del Shannon

81. 4 by the Beatles [EP], The Beatles

84. "Do You Wanna Dance?," The Beach Boys

86. "Go Now!," The Moody Blues

93. "Come and Stay with Me," Marianne Faithfull

100. "Land of 1000 Dances," Cannibal & The Headhunters

Leaving the chart:

• "Give Him a Great Big Kiss," The Shangri-Las (9 weeks)
• "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved by You)," Marvin Gaye (14 weeks)
• "Keep Searchin' (We'll Follow the Sun)," Del Shannon (14 weeks)
• "Look of Love," Lesley Gore (9 weeks)
• "That's How Strong My Love Is," Otis Redding (4 weeks)

Recent and new on the chart:

"Ask the Lonely," Four Tops

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(Feb. 6; #24 US; #9 R&B)

4 by the Beatles [EP], The Beatles

"Honey Don't"
"I'm a Loser"
"Mr. Moonlight"
"Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby"​

(#68 US)

"Do the Clam," Elvis Presley

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(#21 US; #19 UK)

"Do You Wanna Dance?," The Beach Boys

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(#12 US)

"Nowhere to Run," Martha & The Vandellas

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(#8 US; #5 R&B; #26 UK; #358 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time)


And new on the boob tube:

• Branded, "The Bounty"
• 12 O'Clock High, "The Ticket"
• Gilligan's Island, "Diamonds Are an Ape's Best Friend"

_______

I'm looking-- because I never heard of it before. Looks like pure 60s fun, though.

It's worth a view...all that period talent in one show...a snapshot of that moment in pop music history.

I'm also unfamiliar with the Caves of Cape Cod. Sounds Lovecraftian somehow.

Typo fixed, that should have been "coves".

 

[scotpens]

I'm no expert on tribal culture, but there was an episode of Hell on Wheels in which Bohannon reluctantly participated in an Indian game that was expected to be fought to the death (which he didn't know going in) . . .

That sounds familiar, somehow.

55 Years Ago This Week

February 22 – The Beatles take a plane from London Airport via Kennedy Airport, New York (the Beatles didn't get out of the plane), to the Bahamas, for the filming of their second feature film, untitled at this point.

The original title for Help! was Eight Arms to Hold You.

 

[The Old Mixer]

The original title for Help! was Eight Arms to Hold You.

One for every day of the week! It possibly wasn't even going by that name yet.

https://www.beatlesbible.com/features/working-titles/

It was firstly known as Beatles Production 2, followed by Eight Arms To Hold You, before The Beatles and director Richard Lester settled upon Help!.

 

[RJDiogenes]

"Ask the Lonely," Four Tops

Not their most memorable work.

"Do the Clam," Elvis Presley

The GIANT clam!

"Do You Wanna Dance?," The Beach Boys

Not their most memorable work, either, but it sure captures the feel of that era.

"Nowhere to Run," Martha & The Vandellas

Nice one. Snappy.

It's worth a view...all that period talent in one show...a snapshot of that moment in pop music history.

I downloaded it. I wish it was higher resolution, but I'll watch it when I get the chance.

Typo fixed, that should have been "coves".

Hah. Someday the Caves of Cape Cod will show up in one of my stories because of that typo.

 

[The Old Mixer]

Not their most memorable work.

But not bad either...it's got that distinctive Four Tops sound.

The GIANT clam!

Ah, good times.

Seriously, I have a fairly high tolerance for cheesy movie-era Elvis, but I listen to something like this and have to ask, "Was he even still trying at this point?"

Not their most memorable work, either, but it sure captures the feel of that era.

I should note that The Beach Boys Today! is on the RS albums list, and so should be getting a spotlight here eventually.

Nice one. Snappy.

In my head, I pair this one thematically with "Shotgun".

Hah. Someday the Caves of Cape Cod will show up in one of my stories because of that typo.

Ooh, can I be in the acknowledgments?

 

[The Old Mixer]

50 Years Ago This Week

February 22 – Guyana becomes a Republic within the Commonwealth of Nations.

February 23 – Ringo appears in another pre-taped contribution on the US television programme Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in.

This would be the actual broadcast date of his only appearance, as opposed to the second appearance that Lewisohn seemed to think it was. What he thought was the first was presumably the taping date. Even The Beatles Bible, which is sometimes handy for verifying inaccuracies in Lewisohn's book, is misleading on this point.

February 26 – Chevrolet releases the second generation Camaro.

Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week:

1. "Bridge over Troubled Water," Simon & Garfunkel
2. "Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)," Sly & The Family Stone
3. "Travelin' Band" / "Who'll Stop the Rain", Creedence Clearwater Revival
4. "Hey There Lonely Girl," Eddie Holman
5. "No Time," The Guess Who
6. "Ma Belle Amie," The Tee Set
7. "Psychedelic Shack," The Temptations
8. "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head," B.J. Thomas
9. "Rainy Night in Georgia" / "Rubberneckin'", Brook Benton
10. "Venus," Shocking Blue
11. "The Rapper," The Jaggerz
12. "Walk a Mile in My Shoes," Joe South & The Believers
13. "I Want You Back," The Jackson 5
14. "Arizona," Mark Lindsay
15. "The Thrill Is Gone," B.B. King
16. "Give Me Just a Little More Time," Chairmen of the Board
17. "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother," The Hollies
18. "Didn't I (Blow Your Mind This Time)," The Delfonics
19. "Honey Come Back," Glen Campbell
20. "I'll Never Fall in Love Again," Dionne Warwick
21. "Without Love (There Is Nothing)," Tom Jones
22. "Evil Ways," Santana
23. "Oh Me Oh My (I'm a Fool for You Baby)," Lulu
24. "Call Me" / "Son of a Preacher Man", Aretha Franklin
25. "House of the Rising Sun," Frijid Pink
26. "Kentucky Rain," Elvis Presley
27. "Always Something There to Remind Me," R.B. Greaves
28. "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)," Edison Lighthouse
29. "Blowing Away," The 5th Dimension
30. "Never Had a Dream Come True," Stevie Wonder
31. "Gotta Hold On to This Feeling," Jr. Walker & The All-Stars
32. "Walkin' in the Rain," Jay & The Americans
33. "Baby Take Me in Your Arms," Jefferson

35. "Do the Funky Chicken," Rufus Thomas

37. "Whole Lotta Love," Led Zeppelin
38. "Easy Come, Easy Go," Bobby Sherman

41. "Come and Get It," Badfinger

44. "The Bells," The Originals
45. "All I Have to Do Is Dream," Bobbie Gentry & Glen Campbell

47. "One Tin Soldier," The Original Caste
48. "Celebrate," Three Dog Night

54. "Something's Burning," Kenny Rogers & The First Edition

56. "Shilo," Neil Diamond

62. "Oh Well, Pt. 1," Fleetwood Mac

64. "Spirit in the Sky," Norman Greenbaum
65. "Instant Karma (We All Shine On)," John Ono Lennon

71. "Rag Mama Rag," The Band

74. "Superstar," Murray Head w/ The Trinidad Singers

Leaving the chart:

• "Don't Cry Daddy" / "Rubberneckin'", Elvis Presley (13 weeks)
• "Jingle Jangle," The Archies (13 weeks)
• "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window," Joe Cocker (12 weeks)
• "Someday We'll Be Together," Diana Ross & The Supremes (16 weeks)

New on the chart:

"Celebrate," Three Dog Night

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(#15 US)

"Instant Karma (We All Shine On)," John Ono Lennon

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(#3 US; #5 UK)

"Spirit in the Sky," Norman Greenbaum

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(#3 US; #1 UK; #333 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time)


And new on the boob tube:

• Mission: Impossible, "Lover's Knot"
• Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, Season 3, episode 23, featuring Ringo!
• That Girl, "The Reunion"
• Ironside, "One Hour to Kill"
• Get Smart, "Smartacus"
• The Brady Bunch, "The Possible Dream"
• Hogan's Heroes, "Six Lessons from Madame LaGrange"
• Adam-12, "Log 124: Airport"

_______

 

[gblews]

This is a moment in '60s music history that I'd long heard about but never seen in its entirety--and look, it's all there on YouTube! The opening credits feature an occasion-specific song by hosts Jan and Dean, "(Here They Come) from All Over the World," played while the duo ride various recreational vehicles and the various groups and artists travel to the show. (Note the recurring musical nod when the Beach Boys are mentioned; and that the Stones are misidentified as being from Liverpool!)

As I think I’v probably mentioned in this thread before, I did see the T.A.M.I. Show in it’s original release in a local theatre. In watching the video I realize that there is a lot I’v forgotten about it.

The Jan and Dean opening did bring back some great memories. I don’t recall finding this array of artists on the same bill to have been that unusual back then. What was really important was getting to see them. Back then, unless they appeared on one of the variety shows, you had to go to a concert to see them.

Getting on with the show (4:44)...
Chuck opens with "Johnny B. Goode" followed by "Maybellene," which segues into Gerry and the Pacemakers doing their own rendition of the same song. The Pacemakers continue their set with "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying" (with a little too much Vaseline on the lens), followed by "It's Gonna Be Alright," which had already been a #24 in the UK in 1964, but will be charting in the US in April 1965. The spotlight then alternates between artists, turning to Chuck again for "Sweet Little Sixteen"; then Gerry and the Pacemakers with their breakout UK #1, "How Do You Do It?" (the song that the Beatles couldn't be seen with); Chuck on "Nadine"; and the Pacemakers on "I Like It". Overall, this segment was a good showcase of the music that started it all and the newest wave of artists to be influenced by it.z

Kinda weird seeing Chuck on the same bill with The Beach Boys, who constantly ripped off his riffs and general style in their early recordings.

If I recall correctly, Nadine was a pretty recent hit for Chuck but it almost never gets mentioned as one of Chuck’s classics. Having him trade off songs with Gerry and the Pacemakers was as random as it gets. But at the time, I didn’t think anything of it. BTW, Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying remains one of the great ballads of the 60’s.

Smokey & the gang start their set (18:35) with "That's What Love Is Made Of," a recent single that charted in September '64, reaching #35 US, #9 R&B. They move on to a couple of better-known Top 10 hits, "You've Really Got a Hold on Me" and "Mickey's Monkey". There's a liberal amount of improv/variation in these renditions of the songs, and lots of dancing by the group members.

I
I didn’t recall Smokey being so horse in this show. He and the Miracles were their usually stylish selves.

Marvin starts (29:28) with his 1962 R&B chart breakout single, "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" (#46 US, #8 R&B), following with 1963 hits "Pride and Joy" (for which he gets a backdrop to block out the dancers and give him the sole spotlight), "Can I Get a Witness," and "Hitch Hike".

I was never a big Marvin fan. But he sounded pretty good hear.

Lesley gives us a meaty set consisting mostly of well-known singles: "Maybe I Know," "You Don't Own Me," "You Didn't Look Around" (not sure where this is from...doesn't appear to have been a single, B-side, or album track), "Hey Now" (a then-current single that only got to #76 US), and--with other acts joining her on stage as if it were the finale--"It's My Party" and "Judy's Turn to Cry".

For someone living such an unorthodox lifestyle, for the 60’s anyway, Leslie was as conservative as it gets on stage.

Lesley hands her mic to Dean (47:10) and our hosts do their own little set, consisting of "The Little Old Lady from Pasadena" and "Sidewalk Surfin'"--the latter featuring a brief bit of Dean skateboarding onstage.

I had zero respect for Jan and Dean as artists. To me, they were as throw away as it got in the 60’s.

I read that this hits-heavy set (51:55) wasn't included in the original theatrical release due to rights issues. It consists of "Surfin' U.S.A.," "I Get Around," "Surfer Girl," and "Dance, Dance, Dance".

I don’t recall The Beach Boys not being there. For such a great band, The Beach Boys were terrible on stage. About the only band member with any charisma or stage presence was Dennis (the drummer). The rest of them were just plain corny.

Billy's set (1:00:55) consists of every charter he'd had in the US at this point, and all of his Top 40s ever: "Little Children," "Bad to Me," "I'll Keep You Satisfied," and "From a Window". Three of them being Lennon/McCartney numbers lends the show some Fab presence.

And speaking of corny...

It is a good thing this guy had those catchy Lennon-McCartney songs because no way would he have made it left to his own devices.

Jan is accompanied for that intro (1:07:15) by Jack Nitzsche, who was Phil Spector's right-hand man.

When he first appears on the video, I thought Nitzsche was Spector. The Beatles haircut and wrap around shades were Phil’s uniform back then.

Diana & the ladies perform "When the Lovelight Starts Shining Through His Eyes," "Run, Run, Run" (a less successful single--#93 US, #22 R&B--that fell between "Lovelight" and "Where Did Our Love Go"), "Baby Love," and "Where Did Our Love Go".

The ”Florence Ballard” Supremes. Diana sounded great here.

The Godfather of Soul performs 1964's "Out of Sight," 1963's "Prisoner of Love," and 1956's "Please, Please, Please"--his first R&B hit (#5), which ranks at #142 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Watching this one, I can see what all the fuss has been about. Brown puts on quite a show, with the dropping to his knees and his guys trying to walk him offstage in his cape--or is it a boxing robe? Whatever it is, he keeps throwing it off and dramatically working his way back to the mic. His final number, 1962's "Night Train," serves as a dance showcase for Brown and his background dancers. The man definitely had some moves.

James’ performance is really the only act that I have a clear recollection of after all these years. It was a performance for the ages. In the movie, Get on Up, James is said to have been pissed that he wasn’t closing this show. In his mind, he was a bigger and more exciting act than the anyone else on the bill, and I think it’s hard to argue either point. At the time, James had had more crossover success than the Stones, and it was a “crossover” audience.

In my local theater, when James finished his set, I’d say a good 3/4 of the audience, thinking the show must be over, or uninterested in the Stones, got up and streamed out of the theater while the Stones were plugging in their guitars.

BTW, the cape routine in James’s act was straight out of the black church. The pastor would get so caught up with the spirit, he’d get all sweaty. The deacons would then come out and put a robe over him and try to get him to stop. He’d start to walk off, just like James, but then suddenly throw off the robe and the Holy Ghost would grip him anew.

The idea was to save the Stones for last to give them a prominent spotlight (1:35:25), but Keith Richards has been quoted as saying that following James Brown was the biggest mistake they ever made in the group's career. Mick's trying to show off his own moves in the set, but yeah, it all looks watered down compared to Brown's show. The set includes "Around and Around," "Off the Hook" (an album track not yet released in the States), "Time Is on My Side," "It's All Over Now," and "I'm Alright" (a Bo Diddley song that will be included on their first live album). I'm not sure where their final number, "Let's Get Together" (1:50:00), is from, but it serves as the big finale, with all of the other acts and the dancers joining them onstage.

As I’v said before, props to the Stones for having the guts to follow one of the greatest performers of the rock era. They were pretty good as well.

 

[The Old Mixer]

As I think I’v probably mentioned in this thread before, I did see the T.A.M.I. Show in it’s original release in a local theatre.

I can't recall that you have, and our craptacular search function won't let me verify.

For someone living such an unorthodox lifestyle, for the 60’s anyway, Leslie was as conservative as it gets on stage.

Image!

I had zero respect for Jan and Dean as artists. To me, they were as throw away as it got in the 60’s.

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When he first appears on the video, I thought Nitzsche was Spector.

I had to look up who he was.

In his mind, he was a bigger and more exciting act than the anyone else on the bill

Now that doesn't surprise me...

BTW, the cape routine in James’s act was straight out of the black church. The pastor would get so caught up with the spirit, he’d get all sweaty. The deacons would then come out and put a robe over him and try to get him to stop. He’d start to walk off, just like James, but then suddenly throw off the robe and the Holy Ghost would grip him anew.

Did not know that, and that's really something!

This came up a few years back in the MeTV thread when I was doing news/music posts in sync with our reviews of The Incredible Hulk (which kinda started this whole monster)...the artist then known as John Cougar spoofed on Brown's stage routine at the end of this video:

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[RJDiogenes]

Seriously, I have a fairly high tolerance for cheesy movie-era Elvis, but I listen to something like this and have to ask, "Was he even still trying at this point?"

Elvis was such a strange, amazing, and sad story. We'll never know what actually went on inside his head. If anything.

Ooh, can I be in the acknowledgments?

I'll work you into the story somehow.

"Celebrate," Three Dog Night

I always love Three Dog Night, although this is probably a mid-level entry.

"Instant Karma (We All Shine On)," John Ono Lennon

Classic Lennon.

"Spirit in the Sky," Norman Greenbaum

A nice, pleasant song.

 

[The Old Mixer]

_______

55th Anniversary Viewing

_______

Branded
"The Rules of the Game"
Originally aired February 14, 1965

Jason rides into McKinley one day to see an old friend, but he becomes personally involved when Charlie Vance begins talking rough to her and ordering her around. Then after Vance is killed, Jason is accused of murder.

When Jason rides into McKinley--a town with a banner over the main street advertising it as a "God-fearing town" with 5 churches--he and the old friend, Elsie Baron (Jeanne Cooper), see each other at a distance, but Jason doesn't approach. Charlie Vance (Brad Weston) then barges into her dress shop, talking about how she left him and took his money. Some customers bring over the Sheriff (Russ Conway), but when Vance tells the assembled crowd that Elsie used to be a saloon girl, the scandalized locals, including the Sheriff, disperse. That's when Jason steps in and sends Vance away. We learn that in a previous encounter, Elsie had summoned help for Jason when his hand was trapped under a wagon outside of Carson City.

A drunken Vance starts shooting his gun in the saloon and is confronted by the Sheriff again, but the Sheriff won't draw on Vance because of his reputation as a fast gun...even with Vance taunting him by putting one hand on the bar behind him and pouring himself a drink with the other. The locals make noise about the Sheriff's cowardice, but Jason stands up for him, and the Sheriff swears in Jason as a deputy to help him handle Vance. When Jason says his full name for the oath, the Sheriff and the Mayor (Harry Bartell) react in the expected manner. Then a local runs in and tells the Sheriff that Vance has killed a shopkeeper.

Jason and the Sheriff split up to find Vance, and an unseen party shoots Vance in the back. Jason is found inspecting the body with a fired gun in his hand, which he tells an assembled crowd had been used for a warning shot. The Mayor tells the crowd who Jason is, turning them against him. Elsie then comes on the scene and tearfully warns the townspeople that Vance's brothers, Ben and Cody, will be coming to avenge Charlie's death.

The brothers (Cal Bartlett and Bob Hoy) come to town and start harassing the citizens, so the Mayor offers to bring them the man who allegedly shot Charlie, who's now in a cell. When the Mayor leaves the Sheriff's office, Jason confronts the Sheriff with his deduction that it was the Sheriff who shot Vance in the back. Jason expresses understanding for the situation, and the Sheriff goes outside to confess. Before he can, Jason comes out and taunts the brothers about how Charlie had been running scared when he was shot. Then gets in some more broken saber action, tossing it into the rope that one of the brothers had been stringing up as a noose, causing him to take a fall; followed by quickly flesh-wounding both of them with his gun. Jason persuades the brothers to admit that he's too good with his gun to have needed to shoot Vance in the back, then chastises the townsfolk for not having had the courage to step in and help subdue Vance before he'd killed. The Sheriff's role in the killing remains unrevealed, and a won-over young local retrieves Jason's saber and tosses it back to him as he starts to ride out.

As examples of the aforementioned theme of guest characters who mirror Jason's situation, here we have Elsie being haunted by her reputation from a past chapter of her life, and the Sheriff's issues with being perceived as a coward.

_______

Gilligan's Island
"Big Man on Little Stick"
Originally aired February 20, 1965

Super Surfer Duke Williams rides a tsunami onto the island, but when the chance arrives for him to leave on another tsunami, his attraction to Ginger and Mary Ann keeps him wanting to stay there.

Guesting former big-screen Tarzan, recent Wagon Train regular, and future two-time Incredible Hulk guest Denny Miller, billed here as Denny Scott Miller.

Gilligan is fishing in the lagoon (tossing back a fish that he catches every day using a sea shell) when Duke comes zooming up to shore on his surfboard as if it had a motor. He says he was riding a wave that started near Honolulu...the Professor is rightly incredulous because of the distance. A tsunami is determined to have been responsible.

When the girls see Duke, they become starry-eyed. Sign-o-the-times comment...

Man, this is smorgasbroad time!

(Not a typo.)

Gilligan gets self-conscious and starts working out with coconut-shell dumbbells. Duke tries to coach him using a bamboo barbell with boulders, but the result is what you'd expect. Meanwhile, the Howells briefly take Duke for actual nobility and try to woo him. At one point, Mr. Howell refers to Duke as "Mister Miracle".

The Professor determines that another tsunami wave toward Hawaii is imminent, so they have to get Duke into shape to ride again in 48 hours...but he's more interested in spending time with the girls. For their part, the girls start to become disenchanted by the persistence of his advances. Mrs. Howell earns her pay for the week by coming up with a plan to disenchant Duke by setting things up so he'll see the girls paired up romantically with other castaways...Ginger with the Professor and Mary Ann with Gilligan.

They get Duke to his surfboard on time, but by that point he seems disgruntled with the entire island. He catches his wave, and in the coda the castaways learn via radio that he made it to Hawaii but hit his head on a rock, developing amnesia.

This time the Professor describes the island's position as approximately 110 degrees longitude and 10 degrees latitude. So they flipped the longitude and latitude to something possible, but the longitude is now 30 degrees different from the 140 degrees that had been previously cited for the latitude. That would put the island much further east...closer to Mexico than Hawaii.

_______

Elvis was such a strange, amazing, and sad story. We'll never know what actually went on inside his head.

That reminds me of something that either Ringo or George said in the Anthology documentary--that amidst all the madness that surrounded the Beatles, at least the four of them had each other; whereas only Elvis knew what it was like to be Elvis.

I always love Three Dog Night, although this is probably a mid-level entry.

Definitely a classic, and recently adapted for a commercial selling arthritis medication.

Classic Lennon.

Good early solo John. I'll note that on compilation albums, the song is typically titled "Instant Karma!" (punctuation, no subtitle), and credited to John Lennon (no Ono).

A nice, pleasant song.

I'm not a religious person, but this radio classic has an enjoyably groovy, uplifting vibe; and also brings something sign-o-the-timesy, as from this and other indicators, it seems that the "Jesus freak" thing was coming in around this time.