To add context to my reference, it had a defensive power set called Willpower. My favorite tanks used it.
Another cable channel broadcast a few episodes--this being one of them--in the late 90s. I wish I could remember which cable network it was. This group really needs to be revisited by music historians. They were such their own sound--almost their own genre of music.
_______ 50 Years Ago This Week I couldn't find a video specific to that occasion, but here are a couple from the opening of the first Apple Boutique five months earlier in December 1967: Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week: Leaving the chart: "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde," Georgie Fame "Call Me Lightning," The Who "Dance to the Music," Sly & The Family Stone "Sweet Sweet Baby (Since You've Been Gone)," Aretha Franklin "U.S. Male," Elvis Presley "The Unknown Soldier," The Doors New on the chart: "Folsom Prison Blues," Johnny Cash (#32 US; #39 AC; #1 Country; #52 UK; #164 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time) "Licking Stick (Part 1)," James Brown & The Famous Flames (#14 US; #2 R&B) "The Horse," Cliff Nobles & Co. (#2 US; #2 R&B; #53 UK) And new on the boob tube: The Ed Sullivan Show, Season 20, episode 36, featuring the 5th Dimension _______ The concept was "not bulletproof, but able to take superhuman levels of punishment". I like them, but I think that's overselling them a bit. Their sound isn't that different from what mid-'60s Motown groups were doing.
Definitely a classic. Okay. That's a new one. Can't wait for Part 2. I don't think I've heard that before, but I could have easily forgotten it. Ah, the ability to survive a Frank Miller comic.
The Beatles made a big mistake with the Apple Boutique; their greatest source of merchandising anything were the licensed, mass marketed items based on themselves (which they did not particularly care for that much), rather than the nose-in-the-air shop where (as McCartney put it) "..beautiful people can buy beautiful things". Funny. One of the burning political issues of late 60s America was the call for strict law and order in an allegedly criminal country, yet Cash was able to create an album (around the 1955 song) that in its way, argued against the harsh correctional cries of political opportunists of the period. Anyone making the same argument today would be attacked for being "soft on criminals". If ever there was a great instrumental that got people on their feet, this was it. I can see where you think its similar to mid 60s Motown, but GP&TUG still had a thing about their sound. Perhaps more plaintive in tone on average than Motown, I would say.
Cash's crossover success went back to "I Walk the Line" (Charted Sept. 15, 1956; #17 US; #1 Country; #30 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time), but "Folsom Prison Blues" and the live album that it came from (At Folsom Prison, which peaked at #13 on the album chart and ranks #88 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time) are considered to have revitalized his career at this point. I also caught an interesting theory on Wiki that ties the single's performance with the larger historical context of the time.... It was on the B-side, which was a pretty common practice in those days...one used a lot by Brown in particular. In the digital era, singles that used to be split on two sides of a 45 are often presented as one complete track on compilations. This wasn't one of his more memorable or classic singles, but it still has his signature brand of funk. It was Cliff Nobles's only Top 40 hit...with the catch that as he was the vocalist, he wasn't on it! It was actually the instrumental-version B-side of a song called "Love Is All Right": I read that the band responsible for the instrumental track didn't profit from the success of "The Horse," but the horn section eventually became MFSB, who went on to achieve even greater success.... Spoiler: 1974 "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)," a.k.a. the theme from Soul Train (Charted Mar. 2, 1974; #1 US the weeks of Apr. 20 and 27, 1974; #1 AC; #1 R&B; #22 UK) The problem with that is that Brian Epstein practically gave away most of the control of and profit for that merchandise early on, so the Beatles themselves didn't have much to do with it.
The Wiki RFK assassination detail is interesting. It would not be the first time art has been altered because of RFK's murder; MAD magazine had a planned cover of Alfred E. Neuman holding balloons bearing the faces of U.S. Presidential candidates--and RFK 's face was on one, until his death. His face was replaced by the time issue #122 (cover dated October, 1968) was published. They should have licensed their late 60s era image as exclusive products, but by that time, they were so emotionally removed from that kind of merchandising, that it was unlikely you would see, for example, Abbey Road-inspired finger puppets, lunch boxes or dolls with oversized heads.
_______ 50th Anniversary Viewing _______ The Ed Sullivan Show Season 20, episode 36 Originally aired May 19, 1968 As represented in The Best of the Ed Sullivan Show This week I literally have only one Sullivan performance to cover, though it is a significant one. From a mixed Best of that included another 5th Dimension performance from a different date (already covered), the group promotes their newest single, which will be entering the chart the following week: You heard it here first, folks! Also in the original episode according to tv.com: _______ I don't know the details of whatever merchandising deals they were bound to at the time, but I doubt they worked that way. That's a surprise...I recall you generally not being much of a fan of the music in this vein from later in the decade. _______ This weekend Decades has been doing a Hawaii Five-O Binge, but do they tie it in with 1968? No, they show seasons 5 and 6! May's installment of Decades Presents: 1968 has been "The Game Changers," which focused on sports. I found it informative despite the subject matter, though it was kind of odd how they opened with a segment covering the surrounding years of Muhammad Ali's career that didn't have to do with anything specific to 1968. June's installment will be "Robert F. Kennedy," for reasons that should be obvious. It looks like there'll also be a Through the Decades special on Kennedy airing the morning of Saturday, June 2. It looks like CNN's 1968 series will air in four installments on Memorial Day weekend, one for each season: "Winter," "Spring," "Summer," and "Fall." This week I'm recording a This airing of The Thomas Crown Affair from June 1968 because a) Why not?; and b) Paul Burke is in it.
I love this, of course. Another lovely Laura Nyro song. This was from 1974, while Top 40 music started to fall apart around the Spring of 1978. I generally like instrumentals less than actual songs, but this one just sounds nice and Summery to me. That should be good, and sad.
So H&I has announced some changes to their lineup starting Memorial Day and...they're dropping 12 O'Clock High! The last episode they show will be the first of Season 3, this Sunday night. I suppose I could continue watching on YouTube, but it won't be the same. Oddly enough, its replacement is The Incredible Hulk. The most radical change is to their weekday afternoon lineup, so they've moved TIH to four episodes at different times on Sundays, including the wee hours of Monday morning. It looks like another casualty is The Green Hornet, which is disappearing from its early Saturday morning twofer slot. Oddly, they're expanding Greatest American Hero to three episodes a week, and Tarzan to five, and they were already getting through those series repeatedly at a decent clip at two and three episodes a week. The new shows that they'll be featuring prominently in their weekday lineup (eight-episode blocks of one show per day) are all '90s vintage, and nothing of interest to me. All Star Trek's six-night schedule and Saturday's Comic Book Heroes block (save TGH, which counts as Friday night on their schedule) remain untouched.
Aw, that sucks. That seemed like a pretty good show. MeTV is making a couple of changes to their schedule, most notably the addition of Charlie's Angels to the afternoon. The Saturday night schedule will remain the same.
That sucks. I understand that a 26 episode show airing two episodes every weekend does not last long in rotation, but as fantasy series go, its important enough to have "earned" an extra life--unless the audience response was not there. That's good. I'm guessing its their most successful block, and having every series makes H&I seem like its partially a Star Trek channel. Part of their "Summer of Me" programming block, which means it will be gone by September. Hopefully, its not added to a regular slot, as that show was thin on plot, fro what I remember.
Well, I've worked out a viewing schedule...I'm planning get in all the rest of 12 O'Clock High, The Monkees, and The Rat Patrol before the next TV season starts. That includes putting off watching the 12OCH Season 3 premiere until after I've gone back and watched the odd episodes that H&I skipped. Looks like I'm going to be getting a lot of use out of my watching YouTube via Comcast feature. Hoping to squeeze in the movie somewhere along the way as well, though it won't be chronological with the TV viewing. At least I got to see the whole series, unlike 12OCH. More recently, I'd sometimes been popping it on in the background when I was up that early on Saturday. If you were looking for the plot, you weren't watching it right. _______ Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for 55 years ago this week: 55 Years Ago Spotlight: "Da Doo Ron Ron," The Crystals (Charted Apr. 27, 1963; #3 US; #5 R&B; #5 UK; #114 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time) _______ 12 O'Clock High "Siren Voices" Originally aired April 4, 1966 This one had a bit of "small war syndrome" going on...while this ex-Brit Axis broadcaster is doing her thing for the first time we've seen on the show, Gallagher is getting involved with her professionally if indirectly, going through channels to get some specific useful information from the bomber group's new wonder-source of information; and Sandy just happens to be personally involved with Axis Sally's sister, which includes meeting her family, who are hiding under an assumed alias from the shame of her public activities...not knowing that she's secretly providing information for the Allies in her broadcasts, though they find out by the end of the episode after she sacrifices her life by going on-air to stop the 918th from flying into a trap. Responsible for the trap is a German colonel (played by future Knight Rider regular Edward Mulhare) who's torn between his feelings for her and his duty to the Fatherland. And that's it for Season 2, save for the skipped episodes from earlier in the season that I'll be coming back to...but before that, I'll be flashing back a bit further, to late Season 1.... _______ Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for 51 years ago this week: _______
The first two seasons were enjoyable, then it started to drag, especially when lesser Angels started arriving (casting became a problem for Spelling shows in general around that time). Basically, it was a standard detective show with the then-unusual aspect of women adventurers-- part sexy 70s, part Women's Lib. This is nice, retro-sounding tune-- if you can block out memories of Sean Cassidy. And the ghostly Captain Gregg.
_______ 50 Years Ago This Week SPOILER: November 1968 Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for the week: Leaving the chart: "Ain't No Way," Aretha Franklin "I Have a Dream," The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. "Summertime Blues," Blue Cheer New on the chart: "Choo Choo Train," The Box Tops (#26 US) "Sky Pilot," Eric Burdon & The Animals (#14 US; #40 UK) "Indian Lake," The Cowsills (#10 US; #17 AC) "Here Comes the Judge," Shorty Long (#8 US; #4 R&B; #30 UK) "Stoned Soul Picnic," The 5th Dimension (#3 US; #2 R&B) And new on the boob tube: The Ed Sullivan Show, Season 20, episode 37, featuring the Muppets, Mike Douglas, and Lucera Tena _______ You've managed to block out that he spelled it "Shaun," if that's any consolation. Had to look that one up. Supernatural happenings in a Maine seaside village? That has a vaguely familiar ring to it....
Had to listen twice-- at first it sounded ridiculous, then the lyrics started to sink in. It's still ridiculous, but nicely sentimental. I'm not familiar with this one, but it's a surprisingly different approach to an anti-war song. There's a certain naivete to the lyrics, but, considering that it's Eric Burdon, it's very good. Well, that was a commercial. Still, a pleasant little Summer song. A classic novelty number, of course. We seem to be having a flashback-- but it's the good kind. I'll count that as a win. Ah, I'm a little surprised you don't know it, although it is a bit low-key and obscure. It's a good show, though (and the Captain is another of my Sister's crushes). It's an example of a format that doesn't exist anymore-- the super-powered being who comes to live with a human and must be kept secret (I've got to come up with a more elegant way of putting that). There were a lot back in the day: I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, My Favorite Martian, Nanny and the Professor, Ghost & Mrs Muir, Living Doll, probably others that I'm forgetting. About ten years later there was Mork & Mindy. I think the last gasp of the genre must have been ALF, although I may be missing something.
Essentially, the series can be separated by two categories: The Farrah Period and The Post-Farrah Period. ...with the better example of 70s Women's Lib TV being Police Woman (NBC, 1974-78). Not as much of a bikini show. Someone sqealing for Shaun Cassidy? Here you go! Arguably the most radical remake of an early rock song...and it worked. My favorite 5th Dimension track. Easy, emotional groove. The late 70s delivered Out of the Blue (ABC, 1979), the angel-with-family spinoff from the horrid Happy Days. The sub genre made a soft comeback in the 80's with two ghost/caretaker series: Jennifer Slept Here (NBC, 1983-1984) & Down to Earth (TBS, 1984-87) - both ghost/caretaker series The infamous girl robot from Small Wonder (syndicated, 1985-89) The alien teen sitcom Out of this World (syndicated, 1987-1991) Last on the list (deservedly so) was the "ohh, I'm so winsome, but I don't know it" witch/maid disaster Free Spirit (ABC, 1989-1990) All were pure crap, and certainly failed to make a cultural mark like your list of 60s fantasy sitcoms.
It's brand new to my collection, so it's a bit early to tell yet. But it's always interesting to get that odd extra track by a distinguished act whose run of hits was relatively small and short. This is an example of the original 45 having split the song into two parts filling both sides...the bulk of the song, in this case, being on the B-side. While I'm not familiar with the split version, it's pretty easy to tell where the radio fade-out for the more commercial part of the song would be. And it also has the distinction of being the Animals' last Top 40 single...the end of a run going back to the height of the British Invasion in 1964. It's a cute little number, but I don't have much of an opinion about it one way or the other. Our next indirect Laugh-In tie-in single...with another, separate single based on the same routine coming our way very soon from its creator. I think this one's going to go particularly well with the summer timeframe. On that note, a fun 50th anniversary fact that I stumbled across...1968 was the last year that Memorial Day didn't fall on a Monday. The act that moved that and a few other federal holidays to always fall on Mondays rather than a specific calendar date was passed on June 28, 1968. Prior to that, it fell on May 30...which was a Thursday in 1968. I've heard the title before, that's about it...and that might owe to the fact that it was a film before the TV series. (Charted May 14, 1977; #1 US the week of July 16, 1977; #33 AC) It's a habit. _______ Selections from Billboard's Hot 100 for 55 years ago this week: 55 Years Ago Spotlight: "Blowin' in the Wind" (#14 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time; Peter, Paul & Mary's cover will chart June 29, 1963, reaching #2 US, #1 AC, #13 UK) "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall" "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" (Peter, Paul & Mary's cover will chart Sept. 14, 1963, reaching #9 US, #2 AC) And...55th anniversary album purchase. (#97 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time; peaked at #22 on Billboard's Top LPs chart the week of Oct. 12, 1963...and note that the chart had only started in August 1963; #1 UK) _______ 12 O'Clock High "P.O.W.: Part One" Originally aired April 23, 1965 "P.O.W.: Part Two" Originally aired April 30, 1965 Back for a limited engagement only: Ah, I've missed his command style.... Also guesting Alf Kjellin, in his first of two roles on the series as somebody who did some bad things a long time ago. In this case, he's the colonel who has Savage in the clink. Colonel Richter has made it his mission to do away with his camp's old motto, "Everybody escapes from Stalag Luft 12." To that end, the colonel lets some of the prisoners try to escape via a tunnel, only to have them mowed down on the other end, as part of an attempt to break the other prisoners' morale. He also tries to undermine Savage's leadership of the prisoners by making a show of giving Savage conspicuously good treatment. But that doesn't deter Savage from successfully leading an escape that plays out through Part Two...one that involves taking advantage of Richter's favors, as well as a scheduled bombing raid that Savage knew about. For once, they go out of their way to set up that the Crashed Bomber of the Week isn't the Piccadilly Lily. There's a nice feel-good moment in Part One when the prisoners break into cheers at the sight of a flight of B-17s passing overhead. There's a bit of pathos in Richter being honorable enough that he shoots an SS commander who plans to have Savage executed...yet ultimately ends up being shot by Savage himself in a climactic firefight during the last stage of the escape. _______