Music died in 1997, and TV died in 1998

Interesting article which I will take as proof that music died in 1997.

And I've espoused this theory before, see if you buy it: 1998 is the year TELEVISION died. My reasoning is near the end of this post, but I wanted to link this video from the 1998 Emmy broadcast showing what was then 50 years of television (the Emmys turned 50 that year); it is NEARLY complete (reasons for which are also at the end of this post).

I could have missed them (and I hope to be corrected), but I see no mentions of The Dumont network, very little (if any) PBS (except Sesame Street), and no clips of Maverick, Bishop Fulton Sheen, Sid Caesar, The Smothers Brothers, Jack Paar, Bob Newhart, Carol Burnett, WKRP in Cincinnati, Mr. Rogers, Dick Cavett, Conan O'Brien or Tom Snyder.

Nor did I see the following shows that won multiple Emmys, including Best Comedy Series:
The Monkees (1967)
Get Smart (1968, 1969)
Barney Miller (1982)

The Larry Sanders Show was also left out, and it would ironically win both the best comedy writing AND directing Emmys at the very ceremony where this montage was shown?!

The fact that this was the PRIMETIME Emmy Awards makes me think they would have left out news, children's and late night shows. But they didn't, and I'm glad. However, they DID leave out most other dayparts by not including game shows or soap operas. No Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Price is Right, Famiy Feud, Hollywood Squares, Password, Days Of Our Lives, General Hospital or All My Children.

On top of that, these mostly forgotten shows DID get a mention: China Beach, Chicago Hope, Touched by An Angel, Murder One, 3rd Rock From the Sun, The Practice.

So why did TV die in 1998?

It was the year Seinfeld, Mr. Show and The Larry Sanders Show all ended. Phil Hartman was murdered. Norm Macdonald -- the greatest anchor (to that time) for SNL's Weekend Update -- was fired. Howard Stern and Magic Johnson got their own talk shows. Pax TV launches. Dawson's Creek, TRL, Becker and The Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer premiere. And right before 1998 started, Chris Farley died.

So what should be added if they wanted to extend this video up to 2018?

The Sopranos
American Idol
Lost
24
Sex & the City
30 Rock
The Office
Survivor
SpongeBob
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Breaking Bad
The Wire
Ellen's daytime show
Modern Family
Curb Your Enthusiasm

And then some current events footage. Not much else of interest, is there?

Oscar medley: NOT EVEN NOMINATED with Sammy Davis, Hr. and Steve Lawrence

Here's Sammy Davis, Jr. and Steve Lawrence performing an intricate 10-minute medley of songs that were never nominated for an Academy Award.  This is PITCH PERFECT, and considering that they didn't have months of rehearsal, it's even more amazing.  This is my new favorite thing next to this scat battle between Mel Torme and Ella Fitzgerald.
Interesting that they even included the then-new "Stayin' Alive."
From the 1979 Oscar ceremony:

Hill Street Blues: An Oral History

Didn't get to post this oral history of "Hill Street Blues" a while back... interesting look at how the show was made.  Most historical articles talk about the show from the outside looking in (i.e. critical acclaim and impact).  I wish they had spoken with Allan Kozoll, who seems to have given the show its offbeat richness in the early years (then disappeared, save for writing 1991's "The Hard Way," which is essentially a big-screen adaptation of a story arc from HSB season two).

Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away

Here's an interesting LP, "Songs Lennon and McCartney Gave Away," featuring mostly tunes they wrote for other Merseybeat artists  (Gerry & the Pacemakers, Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas) in 1963-64.  The band then settled in to write their own material, although they did starting writing for other artists again in 1968 with the launch of Apple Records.  This LP was apparently released in 1971 as "The Stars Sing Lennon & McCartney," then reissued in 1979, adding the Lennon-penned 1973 track "I'm the Greatest" by Ringo?  That's how I've pieced it together.  Leave a comment and let me know more if you can!



The cover art was borrowed by the 1980s bootleg "A Toot and a Snore in '74," a rough tape of the only known post-breakup recording session featuring John AND Paul.

By the way, the image at the top of this post is a still from news coverage in the wake of John Lennon's murder.  Thought it was appropriate to use here.

Nick Anthe bean salad

I never got to visit this Akron institution, but looking at the recipe linked here, it seems my Mother must have... because she's been making this for my entire life.  It's delicious!  This was apparently served to all diners as an appetizer (instead of bread).

WKRP's Frank Bonner for the 1971 Toyota Corolla

I've been talking about 1971-74 Toyota Corollas and the show WKRP in Cincinnati in many of my posts here and on Facebook.  And now I've found my thesis!  A commercial that marries the two: Frank Bonner (Herb from WKRP) in a commercial for the 1971 Corolla (early in his career).  Enjoy:




TE27 TE21 Mango Peanut TE28 KE20

Saturday Night Live musical guest montage (1975-1989)

SNL's 40th anniversary did not have a specific montage of musical guests, but the 25th and 15th anniversaries did.  SNL25 had one for each decade, while SNL15 had one montage for everything.  Below is a list (also on the YouTube page) of who appeared.  Interesting that George Harrison, Frank Zappa, Van Morrison, John Mellencamp, Elton John, Queen, Duran Duran, The Kinks, Santana, Lou Reed, Dolly Parton and Hall & Oates did not make the cut!  I give a pass to leaving out Chicago and The Allman Brothers, because those performances were weak.

0:00 Fine Young Cannibals - She Drives Me Crazy
0:14 Cowboy Junkies - Sweet Jane
0:24 Bobby Mcferrin - Drive
0:30 Tracy Chapman - Mountains O'Things
0:47 Edie Brickell - What I Am
0:53 Randy Newman - It's Money That Matters
1:02 Keith Richards - Struggle
1:08 10,000 Maniacs - Like The Weather
1:14 Randy Travis - Forever And Ever, Amen
1:23 Cher - I Found Someone
1:30 Simply Red - The Right Thing
1:34 Sting - We'll Be Together
1:39 Roy Orbison - Pretty Woman
1:49 Los Lobos - Is This All There Is?
1:55 Suzanne Vega - Luka
2:01 Anita Baker - I Love You Just Because
2:12 Eddie Van Halen With GE Smith And the SNL Band - Stompin' 8H
2:14 The Pretenders - Dont Get Me Wrong
2:23 Buster Poindexter - Fool For You
2:29 Paul Simon - Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes
2:35 Laurie Anderson - The Day The Devil
2:41 Al Green - Going Away
2:47 Simple Minds - Alive And Kicking
2:52 The Cars - Drive
2:59 Spinal Tap - Big Bottom
3:07 Huey Lewis - I Want A New Drug
3:09 Men At Work - Who Can It Be Now
3:13 Stevie Wonder - Go Home
3:20 Joe Cocker - Up Where We Belong
3:23 Squeeze - Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)
3:28 The Clash - Should I Stay Or Should I Go
3:32 Johnny Cash - I Walk The Line
3:36 Miles Davis - Jean Pierre
3:42 Rod Stewart And Tina Turner - Hot Legs
3:49 Prince - Partyup
3:52 James Brown - Rapp Payback
4:01 Aretha Franklin - United Together
4:16 Grateful Dead - Casey Jones
4:25 David Bowie - TVC15
4:31 Tom Petty - Don't Do Me Like That
4:38 Bob Dylan - Gotta Serve Somebody
4:48 Blondie - Dreaming
4:56 Bette Midler - Married Men
5:03 Linda Ronstadt And Phoebe Snow - The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss)
5:12 Ricki Lee Jones - Chuck E's In Love
5:21 The Chieftans - Maggie In The Woods
5:30 Eubie Blake w/ Gregory Hines - I'm Just Simply Full Of Jazz
5:36 Talking Heads - Take Me To The River
5:46 Peter Tosh With w/ Mick Jagger - (You Gotta Walk And) Don't Look Back
5:55 Devo - I Can't Get No Satisfaction
6:02 Mick Jagger - Beast Of Burden
6:16 Billy Joel - Only The Good Die Young
6:28 Elvis Costello - Radio Radio
6:45 Willie Nelson - Whiskey River
6:52 Ray Charles - I Believe To My Soul
7:06 Tom Waits - Eggs And Sausage (In A Cadillac)
7:13 Randy Newman - Sail Away
7:32 Leo Sayer - You Make Me Feel Like Dancing
7:42 The Band - The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
7:58 James Taylor - Shower The People
8:07 Leon Redbone - Ain't Misbehaving (I'm Saving My Love For You)
8:15 Simon & Garfunkel - Scarborough Fair

The Credibility Gap and You Can't Judge a Book...

An Osmond Family parody by The Credibility Gap, which included Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and David L. Lander.  Shades of "Spinal Tap"?  I always wondered by Lander hasn't figured in any of their productions, but in his 2000 book, I learned he has MS.  Sad.  The book has some good history on the history of the Credibility Gap, and the song is actually pretty good.

More Sesame Street Classics: Oscar's debut, Mobity Mosley, Regulate

Back in this post, I talked about Roosevelt Franklin:

...Roosevelt Franklin, likely the first black Muppet, [was] voiced by Matt Robinson (who would later write for The Cosby Show)... he was an excellent role model in his day. He even got his own album on which he sang this alphabet song (as well as a very similar ditty about counting).  He was occasionally joined by Mobity Mosley (singing about the months of the year), who sounds like he wants to sing "Surfin' Bird."

Well here's the months song by Mobity!




BERT IS EVIL
And now, following on the Bert Is Evil website, here's Bert & Ernie "performing" Warren G and Nate Dogg's rap classic, "Regulate":


OSCAR'S DEBUT
Finally, I always enjoyed this clip from the very first Sesame Street episode, featuring a then-orange Oscar REALLY being a sarcastic and hilarious grouch... and I believe that's Matt Robinson (referenced above) in the clip:

My Theory on the Vinyl Revival

I posted this back in November, 2017, but not here...
My theory on why people like vinyl is that there's something tactile/organic/semi-human about seeing the record actually spinning (or a reel turning). Even if you want to say CDs/cassettes/FM/mp3/servers/Spotify sound better, they've never had the cache that vinyl (and to a lesser extent, reel tape) have had, because it's just sound coming from a box. In the "dark days" (1990-2015), vinyl was STILL the go-to for film and television set designers looking for something that looked visually appealing.
And since we can't see the musicians, we NEED to at least see some kind of movement or "life" to go along with the music so that our brains can "accept" it. Does this make sense? Someone write their doctoral thesis on this, please.  Or leave a comment below.

Green Day at Blossom Music Center, 1994

The outdoor arena in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, is summer home to The Cleveland Orchestra, but has also hosted many other types of music over the years... including an infamous Green Day show on September 10, 1994.

I actually played Blossom BEFORE ever seeing a show there: our high school marching band performed with the Cincinnati Pops, and it wasn't till the following year that I went to my very first show. It was $5 tickets for Green Day. Just before show time, someone sitting a few feet from me on the lawn was yelling for a friend of his, who was seated close to the front of the lawn. This guy was having no luck getting his friend's attention, so he threw a clump of grass. Well, the grass missed its target and hit someone else, who proceeded to turn around and throw a clump right back. That clump hit a friend of mine, who threw more grass. And that's how quickly and accidentally the lawn got destroyed.

Some memories of that show are at this Green Day fan page.