How Are the New York Mets, Star Trek and The Peter Pan Singers Connected?

Who remembers Peter Pan Records?  The label started in the 1950s making childrens 78s, but by the 1970s, they were releasing LPs with recordings of popular hits... proto-Kidz Bop!  I owned two of these albums: one with film hits from 1978-79 (the themes from "Animal House" and "The Main Event" plus "Long Live Rock" from "The Kids Are Alright"), and the album below.  In both cases, I vaguely knew these were NOT the original hits, but I didn't know much else about the generic backing bands or singers.  I still don't, but I do have a new appreciation for what turns out to be pretty high production values.  They clearly made a lot from a little, as evidenced on the "Black and White" LP ("The New Hit!" according to the jacket) profiled here.  Looking at the track list, it's a Three Dog Night cover larded with an album full of racial tolerance pleas, like you might hear in a Guitar Mass.  The drummer on "Move a Little Your Way" is a monster (even if the trumpet solo ends on a near-clam)...


Like most of the songs on "Black and White," that tune was written by someone named Ruth Roberts, who died in 2011.  She also (co?)-wrote the New York Mets 1961 fight song, "Meet the Mets," plus "Mailman, Bring Me No More Blues" (recorded by both Buddy Holly and The Beatles).  Her son was also a producer who worked on "Star Trek."  Not a bad track record of creations!

One last note about Peter Pan Records... the logo above has always looked semi-evil to me.  I decided to remove his bangs (pic below), and he looks much happier.  Those bangs were doubling as angry eyebrows!

A Salute to Richard Cheese

Richard Cheese has made a name for himself as the Los Angeles King of Unintentional Swing. Here’s his takes on Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” and Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name Of.”

Collecting Vinyl in the 1990s

With the hundreds of vinyl reissues flowing forth each week and available everywhere from Wal-Mart to used book stores, I was reminded what a bizarre process it was to buy vinyl in the 1990s; new AND used.  This blog post is my way of answering young kids who ask "how did YOU get records in your day?"

New vinyl was impossible to find back then.  I, fortunately, worked at our high school radio station, which was still on all the lists to get promotional albums.  Back when stations actually MAILED you promo disks.  That's how I got copies of Primus' "Frizzle Fry" and The Beastie Boys' "Check Your Head" -- everyone else at the station was into CDs and found the vinyl to be an annoying space-waster.  Plus, being in the upper-middle-class suburbs, the Beasties were mostly ignored in favor of Boyz II Men and Mariah Carey... or there was a small contingent who wanted to rebel against Dad's job as regional sales manager, and opted for Sepultura. Those kids are now CPAs.

Once I got my license, I started going to Quonset Hut, a record store near the mall.  Apparently, The Black Keys worked there.  And here I was, playing bass and tuba and experimenting with tape machines. Looks like we just missed eachother.
Along with a huge CD section, Quonset Hur stocked a lot of vinyl.  I can still remember buying Rage Against the Machine's first two albums there, as well as Beck's "Odelay."  I also remember NOT buying LPs of the Smashing Pumpkins' "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" and "Adore," because they were $12.98 -- or about 10 percent what those albums are worth today.

I have three other weird memories of Quonset Hut.
First, it was next door to Ohio Sound, a snooty stereo shop that is also long-gone.  I always thought it would be cool to buy an LP at QH and then take it next door to test the equipment.  Alas, Ohio Sound was always closed on the nights I went, and this never happened.

Second... in 1992, as "Wayne's World" exploded, we all went scrambling for Queen albums. Unfortunately, the band hadn't been very popular in the U.S. for a decade, AND they had just switched to Hollywood Records.  So there was little product out there.  I had a 45 of "We Will Rock You," as well as the LP of 1984's "Works" (since I loved the video for "Radio Gaga" as a kid), and a friend copied me a hissy cassette of 1981's "Queen's Greatest Hits."  It did not, however, include "Bohemian Rhapsody," which he lopped off so the album would fit on one side of a C-90!  So I asked the clerks if there was a CD or vinyl (or even cassette) of Queen's Greatest Hits, and they almost sold me the then-new compilation with "Bohemian Rhapsody" and a bunch of 1980s (post-"The Game") songs.  But I was wise to their little game!

Third... in 1997, I saw a video for Wyclef Jean's "We Just Trying to Stay Alive," and went to Quonset Hut to ask if it was available as a 12".  The clerk said it wasn't, and then confidently added that it never would be.  He wasn't being condescending, he just seemed so sure of himself.  Years later, I learned it HAD been released as a single.

That was what I did for new vinyl, since the other option was mail order... not easy for a teenager with no credit card.  The one time I called Acoustic Sounds, Chad Kassem himself got on the phone to get rid of me.  Hooray?

So basically, I bought a lot of used albums (which was fine, since I wasn't really into "modern music" and grunge).

In the early '90s, Spin-More in Kent was the only used record store close enough to trick my parents into taking me.  The staff there (a middle-aged couple and their 20-something son, if I read the situation correctly) had their albums priced right out of the Goldmine price guide.  No late-80s Zappa album in decent-but-unspectacular condition should have been $40 -- then or now.  The store was dusty and dark, and probably a fire hazard.  It closed in 2012, and since then it seems everyone in Northeast Ohio has come out of the woodwork with a weird story about Spin-More.  My favorite: a friend went in during a night of heavy drinking, picked up a rare German Rolling Stones boxed set and asked the clerk if he could take it outside and convince his brother to buy it.  The clerk agreed, and my friend ran outside... forever.  (The thief in question now owns a store of his own, by the way).

When I went to Spin-More, I would trade-in CDs that no one wanted (from the school radio station) for vinyl.  My best trade was for a sealed copy of Elvis' "That's the Way It Is."  In 1995, I asked them to special order me a copy of "Beatles Anthology I," which they said they would do, and then call me once it was in.  I'm still waiting.

By the mid-90s, Spin-More's remoteness and high prices drove me to the Record Exchange, a Cleveland chain that sold new and used music.  They finally started branching into the suburbs, opening near Chapel Hill Mall in 1994.  My first trip there was that April, and I was blown away.  I remember pawing through the albums that day and finding a near-mint copy of "Exile On Main Street," while two middle-aged guys near me found a near-mint "Moby Grape."  The problem with Record Exchange back then was that the records had no prices... you'd take them to the front counter, trembling, so a clerk could price them.  He or she would decide by examining the disks, the jacket and YOU.  I can remember another visit during which I had two copies of "Beggar's Banquet" to choose from, and had to decide which one looked worse before approaching "The Judge."  I also made sure to look a little pathetic by removing my hat to display the messed up hair beneath.

On that first visit, I paid a grand total of $4.50 for "Exile."  Another visit netted Derek & the Dominos "In Concert" for a dollar.  And these are just a few of the hundreds of albums I bought there over the years.  Who says records are a bad investment?  As the '90s wore on, the vinyl selection at Record Exchange dwindled.  More and more useless 12" singles started popping up, along with umpteen terrible '80s albums (Air Supply, Loverboy, Journey).  And the "Exchange" developed a new scheme: a small black sticker indicated a record was 50 cents (by 2002 or so, the black sticker had dropped to 10 cents).  At some point in the 2000's, I think The Record Exchange split in two: some stores became "CD/Game exchange" and others were "The Exchange."  All still sold mostly CDs and DVDs, plus lots of gaming hardware and software... and a bit of vinyl.  They even opened locations in Chicago, which I frequented.  About eight years ago, I visited "The Exchange" in Kent for the first time in a decade, and scooped up numerous copies of "Rubber Soul" and early Pink Floyd albums from the bargain bin (the black stickers were gone by this point, and their baseline became a buck).  Slowly, new vinyl crept in, mostly thanks to Record Store Day, and now there's enough of THAT around that I can find marked-down or used albums released just 3 years ago.  Kids today don't know how good they have it when it comes to vinyl shopping.

How to Collect The Beatles' Solo Work, And Deep Cuts

There's been a lot of news about Beatles' solo releases in the past few months. Paul has re-signed with Capitol Records after a gap of several years (with Concord Music), and has resumed his series of deluxe re-issues (with "Flowers In the Dirt"). George has a vinyl boxed set out with all of his solo albums (but no extras!). In watching all of this, I realized that there are people who just want THE HITS and maybe some other key tracks, and don't feel like shelling out hundreds of dollars for solo albums which, sad to say, had few highlights after 1982. I do see a lot of those albums in the used bins these days, and I wonder if a young kid who is into the Beatles might accidentally pick up a weak entry like "Gone Troppo" (George, 1982) or "Wings at the Speed of Sound" (1976) and be HUGELY disappointed, assuming all Beatles' solo stuff is crap... which is wrong.

In this post, I'll cover John, George and Ringo's work. Paul has more releases, and more complex ones; he'll be in tomorrow.

RINGO:
Most of Ringo's albums involve him recording a mix of covers plus tunes written with (or by) his friends, in an "All-Starr Band" format. The best example is 1973's "Ringo," which features all three of his bandmates, plus The Band, Harry Nilsson and many others. The LP is always in the vinyl dollar bins, but the 1992 CD reissue adds the great single, "It Don't Come Easy" (really written by George, but given away to his buddy).

You could also just grab 2007's "Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo Starr." Most of the best stuff is on this CD.

For deep cuts, I would add "Blue Turning Grey Over You" (from 1970's "Sentimental Journey"), plus "$15 Draw" and "Wine, Women and Loud Happy Songs" from 1970's "Beaucoups of Blues." That LP, which I wrote about here, is a minor country classic, with lots of Nashville sessions cats laying down the backing... it could be any random country LP from that era, but Ringo adds a dollop of charm. The b-side to the "Beaucoups of Blues" 45 is a loud, jamming outtake titled "Coochy Coochy," which is infectious. It's also added to the 1995 CD reissue.

Two guilty pleasures are "Drowning In the Sea of Love," a 1978 attempt at disco that's usually derided for being out of Ringo's range. It's still catchy. And 1981's "Private Property" (from "Stop and Smell the Roses") was written and produced by Paul. Sounds like a could-have-been-single.

JOHN:
John started his solo career with three experimental LPs, then came half of a ragged live album ("Live Peace In Toronto 1969"). He also released five non-album singles in this period. His first "proper" LPs are the classic and soul-baring "Plastic Ono Band" (1970), followed by 1971's "Imagine" (called "POB with marshmallow coating" by John). However, I have to say that "POB" is a tough listen in spots, especially given what happened during the rest of John's life. Almost as good (and much more polished) is 1974's "Walls & Bridges."

In the LP bins, I often see the great 1982 compilation "The John Lennon Collection," which contains the non-album 45s, almost all of John's tracks from 1980's "Double Fantasy," and all of John's other hit singles.

If you'd rather go digital, and get more tracks to boot, get 2005's double-CD "Working Class Hero: The Definitive Lennon." Not only does it contain all the hits, it adds most of the "Imagine" LP and the best outtakes that came out after "John Lennon Collection."

If I were to add any more deep cuts to "Working Class Hero," they would be "Rip It Up/Ready Teddy" from 1975's "Rock and Roll," plus the live "Yer Blues" from the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus (taped 1968, but issued in 1996). That blistering performance has John backed by Mitch Mitchell, Keith Richards and Eric Clapton. Amazing. Another track that's out there is "India, India." That's a demo that John recorded in the late 1970s, which was issued in 2010 on "The John Lennon Signature Box." A version with tasteful Indian backing (which I prefer) has been easily findable on bootlegs/online for years.

GEORGE:
"All Things Must Pass" still stands as George's masterpiece, but 1987's "Cloud Nine," 1976's "33 1/3" and 1988's "Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1" are also worth seeking out. Unfortunately, the latter two are not represented on the excellent 2009 CD compilation, "Let It Roll: Songs By George Harrison." It's his only compilation that includes material from both the Apple Years (1968-75) and the Dark Horse era (1976-92), but it's also incomplete!

For deep cuts, I would start with the charting singles "Faster," "Ding Dong, Ding Dong," "You," "Crackerbox Palace" and "Love Comes to Everyone." (I'm not including the the single "Bangladesh," which hit #23 but is just not a great song). Then, add tracks like "This Guitar (Can't Keep From Crying)," "Pure Smokey," "Don't Let Me Wait Too Long" (almost released as the second single from "Living In the Material World") and "Mystical One." After that, if Dhani could dig out his dad's demo of "Sour Milk Sea" from 1968, it would be great to hear that in pristine sound. It would also be nice to include the B-side that birthed The Traveling Wilburys, "Handle with Care." A guilty pleasure is the very non-rocking "Drilling a Home" from 1968's "Wonderwall Music" soundtrack.

Commercials from the MASH series finale, 1983

Today is Gary Burghoff's 74th birthday!  Amid all the parades and speeches, take time to watch these commercials, which aired during the series finale of MASH ("Goodbye, Farewell and Amen") on February 28, 1983.  It's interesting that the only "special" commercial is the first one, for Chevrolet, where they mention "this special program."  That's it.  Not like today where every commercial during the Superbowl is an EVENT.
There are also a few live hits and promos for WBBM Channel 2's coverage that evening of an after-party in Chicago, hosted by human haircut Bob Sirott.  I keep trying to get his stories from that evening, and he keeps sending me restraining orders.  Oh well.  Someday I will tell the story of how my parents -- who have always loved MASH -- missed the entire broadcast.

4 Hilarious -- But Not Forgotten -- Scenes

These four scenes make me laugh and yet aren’t very well-known…

-A subplot on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” involving Larry’s parents also involves him shooting scenes as a mob boss in a (fictional) Martin Scorsese film. Here’s two of those scenes; Larry’s level of anger with the added toupee and mustache is over-the-top and truly scary if you don’t know the show.


-“The Lonely Guy” is a forgotten 1984 Arthur Hiller film that had too many cooks: Bruce Jay Friedman (“Splash”) wrote the book, Neil Simon adapted it and then Stan Daniels and Ed. Weinberger (“Taxi”) wrote the screenplay. All of these people have top-drawer credentials, but somehow it doesn’t gel… and that’s despite having Steve Martin and Charles Grodin in the film! One scene that does work is below, as Martin and Grodin discuss haircuts. It’s strange to think that Grodin is actually 10 years older than Steve, isn’t it?


-The sitcom “Soap” was popular, critically acclaimed and controversial in its day, but it’s mostly forgotten now except as a footnote in Billy Crystal’s career. This scene features the most dim-witted mind-reading act ever...


-There’s so many great scenes in “Blazing Saddles”… here’s one I always cite as a model of efficiency, laying out the entire conceit of the plot in two minutes.

Sarah Silverman festival

Comic genius Sarah Silverman is well-known for her whole Matt Damon/Jimmy Kimmel comedy love-triangle. Less-well-known is this first appearance after her break up with Kimmel, in which he punks her with footage from “Commmunity Auditions,” a local Boston show on which Silverman sang in 1985. I’ve never warmed to Kimmel, but this was funny.


-This is from Silverman’s film, “Jesus Is Magic,” and is her uncomfortable ode to German cars.

Late Night with David Letterman on Saturday Night Live

David Letterman was reportedly slated to host SNL on May 15, 1993: the final episode of season 18 (which won the show its second Emmy for Outstanding Comedy/Variety Series).  It didn't work out, though, since he had already announced he was leaving NBC for CBS (in January, 1993) to compete against "The Tonight Show Starring Jay Leno."  Kevin Kline ended up hosting instead (then promoting the unrelated MOVIE named "Dave"), with musical guests Paul Simon & Willie Nelson.

Over the years, SNL has only had two Letterman impersonators of note.

"Late Night" premiered on February 1, 1982.  On Feb. 20, SNL got what may be its first jab at Dave in a "Bizarro World" sketch (everything is opposite... Tom Snyder is rewarded by having his show canceled for Dave's).  Five months later (July 8), Joe Piscopo made his first and only appearance on the show.  And when SNL returned for season eight, Piscopo lampooned "Late Night" on its season premiere (9/25/82, with host Chevy Chase and musical guest, Queen).  This sketch is not online, but it's a spot-on take; the audience even seems startled at how good it is.

Piscopo returned to play Dave on SNL on the season finale (5/14/83, Ed Koch/Kevin Rowland & Dexy's Midnight Runners) during a pretty weak episode (it came a week after the classic show hosted by Stevie Wonder; maybe the writers were wiped out).

Piscopo trotted out the impression on SNL just once more, during the classic episode hosted by Don Rickles (1/21/84, with musical guest Billy Idol) in a brief promo for (the real) Dave's 2nd Anniversary Show (which would air the following week in SNL's time slot).  Oddly enough, this sketch is also online.  Perhaps the impression wasn't done more frequently due to SNL not wanting to mock a show they likely were fans of.

Piscopo would later host two specials (and he portrayed Dave in at least one), which seem like pilots for a variety show.  Neither one was picked up, but today Piscopo still trots out his aged impression of Letterman, complete with wacky, high-pitched laugh.  He actually performed it during his lone appearance on the CBS "Late Show with David Letterman" during "Impressionist's Week" (5/3/07).  Dave seems to mildly enjoy it here.  He did NOT enjoy Piscopo imitating him (to his face) on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" (10/23/87 -- Johnny's 62nd birthday) even though Joe seems like he's trying to be incredibly good-natured and friendly about it.

Fast-forwarding, Norm Macdonald -- an incredible standup and huge fan of Dave's -- played Letterman on three occasions: Kevin Spacey/Beck (1/11/97), Alec Baldwin/Tina Turner (2/22/97) and Jon Lovitz/Jane's Addiction (11/8/97).  I'm always struck by how accurate this impression is of mid-'90s, laissez faire Dave, and yet how different it is from the Piscopo take (which was totally accurate for the early '80s).
Macdonald's version comes from the years between when Dave was beating Leno's show and living the dream in what Rolling Stone magazine called "Dave's Funhouse" (1993-95), and the years when he became an elder statesman of TV and started winning Emmys (1997-02).  This laissez faire era (1995-97) roughly coincides with when Les Moonves came to CBS (whom Dave did not care for), the network was falling further behind NBC due to the rise of "Seinfeld," "Friends" and "ER," CBS was bought and sold a few times, and Dave had to send some key production staff (such as Jude Brennan and Peter Lasally) to produce "The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder."  Within the show, many key players left entirely around this time, too: announcer Bill Wendell and director Hal Gurnee both retired.  Confidante and producer Robert Morton was fired for trying to move the show to ABC (and Head Writer Rob Burnett had to be promoted to take his place).  The end of this period seems to coincide with the hiring of Justin & Eric Stangel as head writers.

Back to SNL, Norm actually performed his impersonation for Dave after some gentle mocking on a "Late Show" in the late 1990s.  This was during the period when he was frequently discussing his problems at SNL on the show with Dave.  Several times, Norm says he only enjoyed "Weekend Update" because he was no-good in sketches (certainly not true, as evidenced by the Letterman impression and all the "Stan Hooper" skteches, for starters).

SNL has only imitated Letterman once more (3/9/02) with host Jon Stewart.  This was at a time when it seemed like a very real possibility that Dave would jump to ABC, displacing "Nightline," and Stewart would finally be given a shot at 11:30 on a network.

None of that happened, of course: Dave stayed put and later appeared with "Nightline" host Ted Koppel for an interview (out of respect).  Stewart was just finding his talents for tearing into politicians at this point, six months after 9/11, and obviously would guide "The Daily Show" to big success over the next 13 years.  On his lone SNL outing, Stewart played himself in a sketch alongside impressions of other late night hosts.  Letterman is played by Jeff Richards, and it's weak: he looks and sounds more like "Evil Dave" from the Howard Stern show.

As a final shout-out (not actually on SNL) Seth Meyers recreated the original open for "Late Night" (which was used from 1982-86 or so) the night before Dave's last show.

Driving Around With Dr. Katz Professional Therapist

Another of my favorite moments from "Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist" was in episode 6, "Family Car."  The whole seen with Ben (H. Jon Benjamin) and Dr. Katz (Jonathan Katz) trying to talk while Ben is driving (4:55) is hilarious...

The Fabulous Martin Mull

This isn't a particularly memorable day in Martin Mull history, but I decided to post these up anyway. First off, here's a 1978 New York Times profile of Mull. Next, we have a loooong blog post about his appearance on Norm Macdonald Live (is that still a thing?), and finally, an explanation of an excerpt from the NYT piece, about Bill Murray almost wanting to murder Martin Mull.

I've always liked him (from my first exposure -- as a kid -- to his work in "Mr. Mom"), and this Pizza Hut commercial:



These were part of a series that also included Pat Morita, Hoyt Axton, Susan Anton, Rita Moreno... and probably others. Still not as good as the Priazzo Italian Pie!

Here's Martin Mull's Humming Song, done in front of a live (and clearly LA) audience; and here is a link to the studio version.

One last thing I'll add: Mull's first big film role was in the 1978 movie, "FM," notable for its theme song (by Steely Dan) and for constantly being referred to as the "inspiration" for the show "WKRP in Cincinnati," which premiered that fall. It was not -- none of the characters are similar, there's far less humor in the movie, and the show was being planned while the movie was in production. So there. Martin Mull still comes off pretty well in "FM," however.

2 Record Offers: Rough Side of the Mountain and TEJ Records

Here's two ridiculous record offers from back when they still did record offers...

Soundalike records seem to be impossible to find anymore in the record bins, but there was a time when they were semi-popular. This one is likely from 1974, and contains re-recordings of hits from that era. Just listening to the backing tracks, some are kind of close ("The Entertainer," "Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing"), and some are way off ("You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me"). The vocals are awful and all over the map. The aforementioned "You're the Best Thing..." has a Gladys Knight impersonator who sounds like Herbert from "Family Guy." Awful. The best part of this commercial is the over-hyped ad copy, apparently read by The Real Don Steele. The package itself is incredibly flimsy and budget priced, but what would you expect when you "can't reveal the artists due to royalties"?  Right.


I have been looking for the commercial below for years, since I would see it in the early 1990s during cable reruns of ancient sitcoms. I could never find the ad on YouTube because I always thought it was called "My Side of the Mountain." It's actually "Rough Side of the Mountain." As a collection, it's not a bad representation of gospel, with Al Green, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin and The Clark Sisters (their tune sounds a lot like Stevie Wonder's "Master Blaster (Jammin')"). According to the track list, they inserted the looooong sermons between songs -- I bet that really interrupts the flow. There's one by Jesse Jackson and one by Rev. B.W. Smith -- why not put all that together on the same side?! Anyhow, Rev. Smith's sermon, "Watch Them Dogs," became a bit of a catchphrase thanks to the line in the commercial: "Who in the hell left the gate open?" They even referenced this on an episode of "Martin." Crazy!


Incidentally, the Aretha Franklin tune used in this album ("Walk In the Light") is from her largely unsuccessful 1960-67 years on Columbia Records, when no one knew what to do with her. Once she switched to Atlantic Records and went full-R&B, she caught fire. In 1972, she released a live double gospel album, "Amazing Grace," which is actually the biggest-selling album of her career. The best tune on there, "How I Got Over," should have been included on "Rough Side"!

For fun, here's a different take on "How I Got Over" from the classic 1974 film, "Uptown Saturday Night."

The Red Hot Chili Peppers Play Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland

The Red Hot Chili Peppers played Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland last night.  I didn't go; but I saw plenty of the black-and-red RHCP t-shirts around the city.  It's like Cleveland said, "no one ever visits, so when they do, we go ALL OUT."

I first heard the group's "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" in... 1996.  I was able to get a copy of the white-label promo double-vinyl set, as seen and heard in the video below.  Only problem with that set is it's mixed for radio.  So the sound is a tad bright and compressed (no problem) and the swears are all muted (problem).  And they're not just muted.. they use a weird radio static effect!  Very annoying.  But the bottom end is tight and, for all I know, the CD is just as compressed and bright.  No, I do not have the CD.  And I don't want it.

Here's the promo vinyl playing a snippet of the album with a censored word, as an example of the annoying static sound.




And now, for no reason, here's my 8th-grade garage band covering "Suck My Kiss," which is on side two of the vinyl; it's my favorite side of the album since the song comes crashing to a halt and goes immediately into "I Could Have Lied."  This recording was the first time I got to use a 4-track recorder, which meant we could overdub and do some refining of the song.  Obviously, I decided to forego the opportunity to refine anything... but we clearly still rocked.

Remembering WKRP with Gary Sandy

Here's an interesting and (if you like the show, entertaining) find: Gary Sandy discusses working on WKRP in Cincinnati.  He looks and sounds like every retired DJ I've ever met, which is ironic since he didn't actually play a DJ on the show (he was the Program Director).  He's also very complimentary to his castmembers... seems like everyone got along on that set.  He does hesitate, though, when saying Howard Hesseman has "become a good friend later in life," or words to that effect; was there some beef between them while the show was on?  If so, one explanation could be that, as originally conceived, Sandy's character was supposed to be the "normal guy" centerpiece of the show.  After six episodes, CBS took the show off and claimed it needed "re-tooling" (something creator Hugh Wilson says he didn't actually do).  When the show returned a few months later, it had a better time slot (following "MASH"), and had added the office/bullpen set to allow the characters to meet and interact (instead of staging scenes like that in Andy's office, as they had previously).  At this point, Loni Anderson (who at one point was in a relationship with Gary Sandy) and Howard Hesseman became the breakout stars of the show.
Sandy also mentions that they performed the show twice each week, editing together the best takes from each production to get a final show.  This was standard procedure for multi-cam shows.  What is interesting is that the first taping was on a closed set!  Seems like a better way to go, because then you have a fall-back and can put all of your energy in the "live" taping toward being insane.
Sandy has worked steadily over the years, but never had the more noticeable success some of his co-stars had, which is too bad.  I saw him in the play "Breaking Legs" in 1992 and he was just as entertaining as ever.  (He also alludes to his past playing nutjobs on soap operas in the 1970s, something which I may have to track down at some point).  I have to assume this is from the Shout! Factory DVD sets; enjoy.




Below are some outtakes from the show, including one from the lone episode that focuses on Andy's life away from the station, "Love Returns."  That was the last episode before the re-tooling, and shows how Andy Travis was supposed to be the focal point, solving problems at work and looking for love at home (just like "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," from the same production company).

Conan O'Brien and The Simpsons

The Simpsons ends its 28th season next Sunday night... since there's no new episode tomorrow, here's a delightful visit to "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" with Harry Shearer & Dan Castellaneta, from 2002.  They do a number of their Simpsons voices. Shearer is surprisingly relaxed, when usually he's a master of improv.

Exile On Main Street turns 45

Exile on Main Street is 45 today! I bought my copy at the Record Exchange on Howe Ave. near Chapel Hill Mall. The store had just opened (April, 1994) in a space next to Akron Music (catty corner to the slot that store is in now).
Back then, vinyl was "dead," so my friends hit the $9 used CDs while I picked up clean copies of the following for $3 each or less: "Moby Grape," " Over-nite Sensation" (Zappa) and Pink Floyd's "Meddle."
I also got a near mint, Sterling-pressed copy of Exile, complete with postcards and innersleeves, for $4.50. Right around that time I read an interview with Slash (or maybe it was Izzy Stradlin) saying he always kept a copy of Exile around. I did not care for GnR, so I didn't make it past side one of Exile for quite some time after seeing that comment.  About a year later I finally listened to the whole thing and was hooked. Here is a link to my favorite outtake from finest Rolling Stones album...

Nerding Out for Music Sounds: RANDY NEWMAN on 78rpm

A look at the Reprise "Speed Series" release of Randy Newman's "I Think It's Going to Rain Today"/"The Beehive State" (remix) from his first LP.  This was the only release in the 78rpm "Speed Series" and came out in 1968 or '69.  I also discuss other late (1950s and beyond) 78s, such as those by The Beatles released overseas.  Check out my other post on latter-day 78s here.

A Gritty Urban Satire with Herbie Hancock

As someone who is a sucker for 1960s-70s films set in big cities (Gritty Urban Satires, as I call them), this video was very intriguing.  Someone took Herbie Hancock's "Hang Up Your Hang Ups" and married it to various pieces of footage from 1970s New York City.  I see many shots from "French Connection," "Taxi Driver" and "Kojak," and it's edited in the style of the open for "Streets of San Francisco."  At least the beginning portion is.  Really well done.

More fun with Eurovision

The Eurovision song contest has been covered here before; it’s sort of like the Olympics, but only Europe and parts of Africa and Asia enter. Today is the start of the semi-finals. Here’s three notable entries from the past:

-The Beatles never got the chance to represent England in the contest, but Welsh songstress (and McCartney protégé) Mary Hopkin did, with “Knock Knock, Who's There” in 1970. This song became a big hit on Apple Records (in Europe), and was her last high-profile UK hit before she married producer Tony Visconti (David Bowie) and semi-retired.


-Bucks Fizz, “Making Your Mind Up” (1981): This is from a UK special during which the public got to vote (I believe) for which song they wanted to represent their nation in Eurovision. Bucks Fizz – an Abba-lite act which was put together for this occasion – got the nod, and went on to have a string of hits. I include this only because 1) Britons seem to cringe at this now (sort of the way Americans view Tiffany and Debbie Gibson), and 2) there was a huge scandal when members of the band started shacking up. How is it that both men look like Andy Gibb, and yet they don’t look like eachother?!


-Luxembourg came in 13th in 1971, despite the fact that this song is super-catchy and would become a sizable European chart hit for Monique Melsen that year. I have heard tell of an English-language recording (“Apple Apple Apple” instead of “Pomme Pomme Pomme”?!), but never actually found it.

1974's Finest Film Feature... TOUGH

Here's the 1974 film “Tough.”  I saw this one rainy afternoon in the early 1990s on television (possibly WAKC-TV in Akron) and was shocked by how awful it was. Being a kid at the time (who rarely ventured beyond mainstream film), I only saw poorly produced, low-budget films in school when teachers wanted to impart a "message." If you’ve seen the whole thing, you know that the ending is not pretty (and also laughably stupid).  It took me decades to track this down because Google kept leading me to “Semi-Tough”; no one seemed to believe me that there was actually a film with the one-word title, “Tough.”  (It's apparently also sometimes credited as "Johnny Tough").  It's apparently an homage to Truffaut's "The 400 Blows," but Gene Siskel gave it ZERO stars.  Lead actor Dion Gossett's only other acting credit is in an episode of "Good Times" (episode "Michael the Warlord," airing October 13, 1976). Sadly, he was killed by police in 2015. Renny Roker (who plays Phil) was a successful BMX promoter in the 1980s. 

George Harrison's All Things Must Pass v. John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band

Having gotten into Ringo’s 1970 LP “Beaucoups of Blues” lately, I realized just how much great music The Beatles – together and solo – made in 1970. Most critics consider the two crowning achievements to be John’s “Plastic Ono Band” and George’s “All Things Must Pass”… both with production credited to Phil Spector.  And Ringo’s “Beaucoups” album is the bridge between the two since he hatched the idea for his country LP while driving Producer Pete Drake to a session for ATMP.  And Ringo plays on all three of these albums!
Anyhow, comparing and contrasting POB and ATMP shows some interesting contrast, kind of like that whole “Kennedy v. Lincoln” email that permeated the internet around 1998…

The players:
George was accompanied by Ringo Starr, Klaus Voormann, Billy Preston, Eric Clapton, Bobby Whitlock, Jim Gordon, Carl Radle, Gary Wright, Jim Price, Bobby Keys, Alan White, Pete Drake, Badfinger, Peter Frampton, Dave Mason, Phil Collins and Ginger Baker.
John was accompanied by Ringo Starr, Klaus Voormann… and on one song each, Billy Preston and Phil Spector on piano.

PRODUCTION:
For George, it was Phil Spector… in later years, Harrison would say he thought it was a bit overboard.
For John, it was Phil Spector… in later years, it’s become clear that Spector was likely pretty busy with ATMP and John had to essentially produce himself.

CONTENT:
George poured out two disks of songs he’d had stored up from the Beatle years, and added a third disk of jams from the all-star sessions.
John composed an album’s worth of aching tunes he’d written after primal scream therapy, mostly to explode The Beatle Myth.

DEMOS:
George recorded an album’s worth of demos, which can mostly be found on the bootleg “Beware of ABKCO.”
John recorded an album’s worth of demos, which can mostly be found on his 1998 “Anthology.”

LABELS:
George has bright orange labels on two disks, and a custom greet-tinted jar of “Apple Jam” on the third.
John has a stark white Apple.

COVER:
George’s cover is a posed, artful black-and-white image shot on his property.
John’s cover is a casual, grainy Polaroid image shot on his property.

PACKAGING:
George’s has a black box with gold-leaf lettering on the spine and no back cover.  Inside, the box has multicolored panels listing the players.  The multicolored innersleeves include lyrics for each disk (or, for Apple Jam, just the logo).
John’s no text anywhere on the single-pocket sleeve (save for the spine), and the back includes a very grainy childhood photo.  The black-and-white innersleeve includes lyrics and credits.

INSERTS:
George included a darkly lit poster of himself.
John included no inserts.

CHARTS:
George hit #1 in the US and UK.  On the Rolling Stone 500 Greatest List, it was #433.
John hit #8 (UK) and #6 (US).  On the Rolling Stone 500 Greatest List, it was #22.

John Lennon: Live Peace In Toronto

When John Lennon took the stage with the Plastic Ono Band at Toronto's Varsity Stadium on September 13, 1969, it was his way of signaling – quietly, at least to himself – that he was breaking away from the Beatles forever.  The story goes that he would return from the show and tell Paul, George and Ringo that he was leaving, but manager Allen Klein asked to keep it quiet while negotiating a new royalty rate with Capitol Records (which resulted in the early 1970 compilation, “Hey Jude”).
Promoters John Brower and Kenny Walker (called “Brower and Walker” by the emcee, Kim Fowley) invited John and Yoko to host the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival festival.  Instead, John offered to bring a band and play.  So he called Eric Clapton (after George Harrison said no), bassist Klaus Voorman (a friend from their Hamburg days, who also designed the cover of “Revolver”) and Alan White (soon to join Yes), and they rehearsed on the plane from England.
The band appeared in front of 25,000 people to play John’s first solo single (“Give Peace a Chance”), “Yer Blues” (also played the previous December with Clapton and the Dirty Mac at the Rolling Stones’ Rock ‘n Roll Circus), three oldies ("Blue Suede Shoes," "Money (That's What I Want)," "Dizzy, Miss Lizzy") and his soon-to-be-recorded solo single (“Cold Turkey”), for which he read the lyrics off of a clipboard.
That’s side one of the LP; side two is Yoko’s "Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)" (the b-side to “Cold Turkey”) and "John John (Let's Hope for Peace)” (from “The Wedding Album”).  No one ever plays side two.
Lennon apparently mixed the album on September 25, 1969, but went back on October 20 to minimize Yoko’s vocals.  Then, he had to fight with Capitol to put it out, given his previous track record of poor-selling experimental releases (“Unfinished Music No. 1: Two Virgins,” “Unfinished Music No. 2: Life with the Lions,” “The Wedding Album”).  Lennon argued that putting out the LP officially would quash the bootlegs that he was certain would appear.  Sure enough, a boot called "JL-YO-EC" soon hit the record racks.  “Live Peace” was eventually released on December 12, hit #10 in the U.S. and went gold.  It did not chart at in the UK, however.  The album was in and out of print in the 1970s and 1980s, when it was part of various boxed sets.  Side one was reissued as part of the excellent 1990 CD boxed set, Lennon.
The whole album was slated for CD in 1989, then scrapped, then remixed (again altering the vocals) and issued in 1995 (complete with a 1995 calendar in the booklet).  The remix was released by Mobile Fidelity in 2006, with an ’06 calendar, too.
However, a search of EBay finds many reasonably priced, still sealed original vinyl copies of this album.  Why?  The rumor is that a huge cache of sealed copies was found in a New York City warehouse after John’s death, and they had been stashed there because John secretly bought them back in ’69 to boost the sales figures.  This sounds partially plausible: Allen Klein was based in New York City (in a building that’s across from the Ed Sullivan Theater), and I have to assume he is the one who engineered the “buying-in” of the albums.  Perhaps this was done at John’s request, though, since he may have remembered this trick from Brian Epstein (who reportedly did the same thing seven years earlier with the Beatles’ “Love Me Do”).  Once John was murdered, Klein probably felt it was safe to let the secret out, and also to cash-in on the new wave of Beatlemania, so the albums were sent out to market.
Getting back to the original 1970 calendar, there are three types: metal-spiral-bound, plastic-spiral bound and stapled (flat).  Apparently, the second two were done later to minimize damage caused by the thick metal spiral poking out of the album jacket.  Eventually, Capitol did away with the calendar inside and included a postcard that the buyer filled out to have one sent in the mail.  This was also the arrangement for all tape copies, since fitting a calendar into a cassette, 8-track or open-reel box was impossible.  Although the calendar was for 1970, I have seen postcards also advertising a 1972 calendar.  Very strange.
The front cover artwork mimics Yoko's own art for the 1958 Toshiro Mayuzumi LP,  "Nirvana-Symphonia."
In a much later twist, Yoko's (seemingly) only bootleg, “This Is Not Here” (mid-80s) uses an altered version of the 1958 cover; the album includes many rare Apple cuts by Mrs. Lennon.

A couple of interesting notes: the label erroneously reads "Recorded In England" (as all Beatles releases did back then), and the album also functions as the soundtrack to John's portion of "Sweet Toronto," D.A. Pennebaker's film of the event.  John's segment was excised for many years due to a dispute with Pennebaker, but it finally came out in the late 1980s.  The film, though, seems to have the vocals as they were originally heard by the audience, without anyone (cough -- Yoko -- cough) being muted.

A Look At 3 TV Series Finales

"Dallas" ended on this date in 1991... and came in second in the ratings that week, even with the inflated audience for a finale. That's a long way from the days when it set ratings records in the first half of the 1980s. It was one of the top TWO shows on TV in its fourth through eighth seasons (1980-85), but changing tastes and ABC's "TGIF" finally shoved the show into the Top 30... and then #61 for the final season. For a long time, this was the only episode I had ever seen of the show (since it was not something a kid should have been viewing), until I started watching the DVDs and reruns on SoapNET in the mid-2000s.

I vividly remember the opening montage from the finale, which re-capped 13 seasons of cliffhangers.


Speaking of series finales, here's two looks back at some of the best. Note that modern "news" people seem to think TV finales only got good with "Seinfeld" (or maybe "The Sopranos"), forgetting memorable endings for "The Fugitive" (1967, one of the highest rated programs in history), "The Odd Couple" (1975, for which Tony Randall won an Emmy), "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (1977, Emmy nod for writing), "All In the Family" (1978, when it essentially morphed into "Archie Bunker's Place" -- and won Emmys for three of its four castemembers), "Barney Miller" (1982, another Emmy winner for Best Comedy), "Happy Days" (1984), "Hill Street Blues" (1987, Emmy nod for writing), "St. Elsewhere" (1988, Emmy nod for writing), "Newhart" (1990, Emmy nod for writing) and even shows that ended without knowing if they'd be back, thus avoiding an "official" ending (mostly I'm thinking of "WKRP in Cincinnati" and "Taxi").

Ringo Starr: Beaucoups of Blues

Ever heard of the album "Ringo in Nashville"?  Maybe you know it as "Beaucoups of Blues."  The story goes that Ringo was picking up pedal steel guitarist Pete Drake at the airport (en route to sessions for "All Things Must Pass"), and Drake noticed all the country tapes in Ringo's car, and they got to talking, and decided to cut an album in the Nashville method of bringing in players, learning a song and cutting it, all within a few hours.  Drake got together a band that included Jerry Reed, Charlie Daniels, The Jordanaires, Ben Keith, Charlie McCoy and D.J. Fontana (Elvis' original drummer), and they cut the backing tracks before Ringo came to Nashville to lay down vocals in late June.  Oddly, the engineer was Elvis' original guitarist, Scotty Moore... who doesn't actually play anywhere.

Acetates for the original LP ("Ringo In Nashville") were found in 1992 and auctioned.  They include one extra song: "Wishing Book."  It's a pleasant, mid-tempo ditty that's at once plaintive and FILTHY!  No wonder it didn't make it to the final product; the last verse is about looking at a Playboy.  The LP also has a tune about hookers ("Woman Of the Night"), so I guess they figured there was only room for one gross song.

As for the title, "Ringo In Nashville" would have been great!  Instead, it's named for the song "Beaucoups of Blues," which was for some reason selected as the lone single.  It made #88 (his first charting solo 45), and so it's earned a place on every one of Ringo's compilations.  LAME.  There are so many better songs.  On the title track, Ringo sounds hesitant; maybe it was the first tune he recorded?  Even the b-side ("Coochy Coochy") is better: it's an infectious quasi-jam with shouted lyrics that recall "Don't Pass Me By."  The pic at the top is from the back of the original picture sleeve, but with the photo of Ringo reversed.  I did that because I felt like it.

The only other outtake to surface is "Nashville Jam," a segment of the all-star group... jamming.  It's on the 1995 CD reissue (along with "Coochy Coochy"), which is out of print.  This album was briefly reissued on vinyl in 1981 (in Capitol's budget line), but that's been it.  Copies are still cheap and plentiful, though, proving that this enjoyable-but-eccentric LP is still off of most people's radars.

The Apple Records Discography

Here's a round-up of my Apple Records discography posts, for anyone looking to find everything at once:

Badfinger

Mary Hopkin

Missing LPs

Missing 45s

Related albums

-And I ran these posts in-between, which are semi-related:

Ring 'O Records

Rolling Stones Records

And over the next few days, I'll look at two sadly forgotten solo LPs (John Lennon's "Live Peace In Toronto" and Ringo Starr's "Beacoups of Blues") and compare and contrast "John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band" and George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass."