Posted on by

The Rock and Roll Revisited Week in Review – February 21

Here are some quick takes from the Rock and Roll Revisited Week in Review for the week ending February 21.

Highlights from the R3 Twitter Feed:

Kermit‘s earliest and most bizarre TV appearances.. And they get more bizarre with each new entry. (Video)

30 young celebrities Photoshopped beside their current day selves.

Dick Clark moves American Bandstand Podium from Philly to LA this week in 1965. The new AB logo ties to the host network, ABC.

This week in 1986, Yul Brynner‘s then controversial anti-smoking ad first ran on network television, just 4 months after his death from lung cancer. (Video)

The wire copy from the 1971 false EBS activation message.

This week in 1971 a false Emergency Broadcast System activation message panicked just about everyone of us who were on the air. If you were around back then, what do you remember about it?

“The extraordinary power of the computer,” a British demonstration of what was then considered high tech. 1962. (Video)

Susan Whitall

So proud of my good friend Susan Whitall who will be inducted into the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame this fall. She’s been a witness to rock history up close. Her ability to chronicle it in the Detroit News, Creem and a series of best selling books is a true legacy.

Three things I’ve learned about creating email lists that stick: stratify by subscriber interest. Make it relevant and personal. Put your best stuff in the first paragraph. Here’s Fred Jacobs’ treatise on how to effectively integrate email into promotion strategy.

Wandavision

Wandavision is one of Hollywood’s few hits that isn’t a reboot/rehash. Great cast, well told stories and a brilliant connection to the huge Marvel Comics fan base. Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany reprise their respective roles as Wanda Maximoff and Vision from the film series.

Speaking of reboots, Zooey Deschanel & Michael Bolton are slated to host a re-imagined version of ‘The Dating Game’ on ABC. Hollywood has a thing for sure things and nothing warms an exec’s heart like rewarming yesterday’s fish.

And The Foo Fighters are channeling the Bee Gees with their latest, a reboot of “You Should Be Dancing.” (Video) I dunno. I still thing the original is by far the best.

Roger McGuinn with his Yeti microphone

One of the things that attracted me to former Byrds member, Roger McGuinnbesides his extraordinary musical skill, was his early adopter tech adventures. From video to mobile phones, he was always a step ahead of the rest of us. Here, he responds to a request from his Twitter fan base, recording an acoustic version of “Bells of Rhymney” on his Martin D-12-45 (video)

This week in 1971, the soundtrack to “Jesus Christ Superstar” was the number one LP in the land. The rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice couldn’t get initial backing for a stage production. The success of the LP changed minds and investors came forward. Two years earlier, The Who rejuvenated their career with the release of their own rock opera LP, “Tommy.” That one was mounted into a 1975 film with an all-star cast and a hit cover of “Pinball Wizard” by Elton John. (Video)
Pat Benatar celebrated 39 years of marriage to Neil Giraldo this week. Here’s a 2016 USA Today article that explains how they did it.
On February 19, 1972, Sammy Davis Jr. guest-starred on the CBS series, ‘All In The Family’ and gave Archie a kiss. That  produced the longest sustained audience laughter in the history of the show. From Wikipedia: Archie is moonlighting as a cab driver and Davis visits the Bunker home to retrieve a briefcase he left in Archie’s cab earlier that day. After hearing Archie’s bigoted remarks, Davis asks for a photograph with him. At the moment the picture is taken, Davis suddenly kisses a stunned Archie on the cheek. The ensuing laughter went on for so long that it had to be severely edited for network broadcast, as Carroll O’Connor still had one line (“Well, what the hell — he said it was in his contract!”) to deliver after the kiss. (The line is usually cut in syndication.)
Charlie Tuna’s Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Los Angeles radio legend, Art Ferguson, who took the radio name Charlie Tuna, left us this week in 2016 at age 71. His name is a take-of the cartoon spokesperson for Sunkist Tuna.  My brother-in-law likes to say that we quickly forget people when the pass on. My Twitter post about Charlie got zero retweets and zero likes. How soon we stop caring. (KHJ Aircheck)

Click to See Broadway Bill in action.

Meanwhile, there are still some personalities who know how to do radio right. One of my faves is Broadway Bill Lee, who makes his magic on the afternoon drive shift at WCBS-FM in New York. Here’s video of bill doing his thing. Click the image to start the playback.

Our second most popular post of the week remembered the late Art Cervi, who entertained a generation in Detroit as Bozo the Clown, and was the man behind the magic of Robin Seymour‘s CKLW-TV dance program, “Swingin’ Time.” 183 people played “The Worlds Most Famous Clown” around the world.
And this week in 1966 Lou Christie is at #1 on the Billboard Hot100 singles chart with “Lightnin’ Strikes” written by Lou and Twyla Herbert. The song reached the top on Christie’s 23rd birthday. Twyla, a self-described clairvoyant and mystic who allegedly predicted which songs would become hits, and wrote a ton of them with birthday boy. Here he is singing the tune on Hollywood a go-go. (Video)

Rock and Roll Revisited Week in Review – This Day in History:

1947, Dr. Edwin Land demonstrates his instant developing camera, which Polaroid would later turn into a best seller.

1964, New York band The Echoes recruited a new young unknown piano player, named Billy Joel.

1965, Malcolm X is shot dead by Nation of Islam followers at Audubon Ballroom in New York City.

1968, Otis Redding had his first entry on the UK singles chart when ‘(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay’ entered the chart, it went on to be a No.3 hit. The song became the first posthumous single to top the charts in the US.

1976, Florence Ballard of The Supremes died of cardiac arrest, aged 32. Ballard had left The Supremes in 1967, lost an $8 million lawsuit against Motown records and was living on welfare when she died.

1982, American DJ Murry The K died. Murray is thought to be the first person to play a Beatles record on radio in America. During the early days of Beatlemania, he frequently referred to himself as “the Fifth Beatle”. Married six times, he died of cancer a week after his 60th birthday.

Happy Rock and Roll Revisited Week in Review Birthday to: Nina Simone, 1933 (d. 2003); Rue McClanahan, 1934 (d. 2010); Gary Lockwood, 1937; David Geffen, 1943; Alan Rickman, 1945 (d. 2016); Vince Welnick (The Tubes), 1951; Mary-Chapin Carpenter, 1958

Much More Music:

Let’s do a deep track Thursday, with some tunes you might not have heard in a while.

Loggins & Messina – “Vahevala”. Kenny Loggins with Jim Messina Sittin’ In was released in 1971, this first single release didn’t get much notice. Thanks to an aggressive concert tour, college students began to realize just how good these two guys were and both the LP and the single started to gain traction in 1972. (Video)

Michael Murphy – “Carolina in the Pines”. The second and final single from 1975’s Blue Sky – Night Thunder album was written about Murphy’s then wife, Caroline Hogue. She was the second of four. Members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band provided backing on some of the tracks. The LP became Murphy’s most successful reaching #18 on the Billboard album chart, eventually selling 800,000 US copies. He took on the moniker Michael “Martin” Murphy after the actor with the same name claimed the shorter brand. (Video)

Poco – “Rose of Cimarron”. From the 1976 album of the same name, written by founding member Rusty Young, the song featured lead vocals by Paul Cotton and Timothy B. Schmit. It’s a sobriquet given in American frontier lore to Rose Dunn, who at age 15 was romantically involved and an accomplice with the outlaw George Newcomb. Originally composed at the request of actor Stuart Margolin, for a comeback album he hoped to produce for Roy Rogers. Our album track clocks in at 6:42. The single edit was 3:14. (Video)

Today’s Quote Worth Re-quoting: “The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.” ~William James

One more for the Rock and Roll Revisited Week in Review road. A mash-up of two versions of the tune that Boz Scaggs selected to close the “Silk Degrees” LP. “We’re All Alone” was the flip side of the “Lido Shuffle” single and as we DJs often do, we sampled it and liked it. Then came Rita Coolidge‘s nearly note for note rendition. I went into the WVIC production room and this was the result.

Thanks for listening!

Scott Westerman
Curator: Keener13.com
Host and Producer – Rock and Roll Revisited
Author: Motor City Music – Keener 13 and the Soundtrack of Detroit

Published by Scott Westerman