The Beatles 78 rpm in India debunking!

There have been thousands, maybe millions, of articles written about the Beatles. Yet one of the most fascinating (to me) aspects of their discography has been given limited, and flawed, coverage.

By the early 1960s, the 78 rpm record had been replaced by the 45... except in a few technologically primitive countries. Legend has it that the scarcity of electricity, and the large number of existing acoustic, wind-up phonographs, made it feasible to continue 78 production in the Philippines, Argentina, Colombia and India, where the 10" disks stayed in print longer than anywhere else. The nation still had residual ties to Great Britain, so when EMI decided it no longer needed its 78 presses, they were sent to the company's factory in Dum Dum, India.

For years, the "best" information online was this site (from 1996!) and this Japanese site (last updated in 2014). My interest was renewed during a 2022 trip to India, which came just a few months after Parlogram produced an excellent overview of the Beatles' first two Indian 78s.

Below is the commonly accepted list of Beatle 78s, followed by notes from my research:

*Love Me Do/P.S. I Love You (Parlophone R 4949)

*Please, Please Me/Ask Me Why (R 4983)

The group's first two UK 45s were duly issued on 78 in India, as outlined by Parlogram, on red labels. Catalog numbers are the same as their British counterparts, except no "45" prefix.

*From Me To You/Thank You Girl (R 5015)

For reasons we might never know, India didn't issue the group's third UK 45 on 78. A black label Indian 45 does exist. A user on the 45cat site (vinyldave), who seems quite knowledgeable on the Indian 78s, posted in 2022 that he'd never seen a copy of this on 78, despite seeing numerous copies of earlier and later Indian 78s. He did find two "From Me To You” 78 releases in the Philippines: 61017 and 8883-1.

*I Saw Her Standing There/Hold Me Tight (Parlophone DPE159)

*Long Tall Sally/I Call Your Name (DPE164)

The next two 78s are odd couplings: DPE159 takes a song from each of the group's first two UK LPs. DPE164 takes two songs from the "Long Tall Sally" EP. The DPE prefix seems to be reserved for couplings which had no UK counterpart.

At this point, UK 45s were regularly released in India on red label 78 and black label 45, alongside some couplings from the U.S. and Europe:

*She Loves You/I'll Get You (R 5055)

*I Want to Hold Your Hand/This Boy (R 5084)

*Can't Buy Me Love/You Can't Do That (R 5114)

*Hard Day's Night/Things We Said Today (R 5160)

*If I Fell/And I Love Her (DPE167)

*I Am Happy Just to Dance With You/I Should Have Known Better (DPE168)

*I Feel Fine/She's a Woman (R5200)

*Tell Me Why/I'll Cry Instead (DPE172)

*Eight Days a Week/I'm a Loser (DPE178)

*Rock and Roll Music/No Reply (DPE179)

*I'll Follow the Sun/Words of Love (DPE180)

*Ticket to Ride/Yes It Is (R 5265)

*Help!/I'm Down (R 5305)

*Dizzy Miss Lizzy/The Night Before (DPE183)

*Yesterday/Act Naturally (DPE184)

The next single released in India, on 45, was:

*Tell Me What You See/You Like Me Too Much (45-DPE185)

This appears to have been skipped on 78. However, the fact that a "45-" prefix was specifically used gives some hope that a “78-” prefix disk is out there.

The black label 45 and red label 78 issues continued in India for the following:

*Norwegian Wood/Drive My Car (DPE186)

*We Can Work It Out/Day Tripper (R 5389)

*Michelle/You Won't See Me (DPE187)

Indian 78 releases seem to have ended in late 1965/early 1966. The following releases are commonly on lists of Indian 78s… yet none of them seem to actually exist:

*Nowhere Man/Girl (DPE188)

*Paperback Writer/Rain (R 5452)

Black label Indian 45s exist, but no visual evidence of 78s. Two knowledgeable 45cat.com users (liskeard78s and vinyldave) do not feel these disks exist on 78.

*Good Day Sunshine/Here, There and Everywhere (DPE189)

The black label Indian 45 of these songs has been confirmed... but as DPE190. Catalog number DPE189, in India, is actually assigned to a black label 45 by Johnny Mathis (The Shadow of Your Smile/Moment To Moment).

*Hey Jude/Revolution (DPE190)

As noted above, DPE190 is a completely different Beatles release… from two years earlier. The only evidence of these songs on an Indian disk is DP.570. Note that it’s DP, not DPE, and is a black label 45 as opposed to having an Apple label (likely due EMI not yet securing the Apple copyright in India).

*Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da/While My Guitar Gently Weeps (DPE192)

An Apple label 45 in India. Strangely, this reverts to the DPE19_ sequence, which seems to be almost exclusively for the Beatles, and related content, starting with #178. Other disks in that sequence which haven't been mentioned yet:

#193: Beatles: I’m Looking Through You/What Goes On (unconfirmed in any format, and a strange choice for 1969)

#191: Mary Hopkin: Those Were the Days (Apple)

#182: unknown

#181: actually a Manfred Mann single (Oh No, Not My Baby/What Am I Doing Wrong?)

Back to “Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da,” the only evidence of this on 78 is a very fake looking image of a white-label promo, posted almost 20 years ago on eBay. Similarly fake evidence has been seen online for the "Hey Jude" 78.

Laugh In 1977... with Robin Williams

What can one say about the 1977 revival of “Laugh In”?

Everything.

There’s little information online about this one-season wonder, which was actually a series of six monthly "specials." Producer George Schlatter is finally releasing them on YouTube. It’s the first time these episodes have been widely available since a 1979 rerun (after Robin Williams became a megastar).

It’s easy to spot several key differences between this version and the original, 1968-73 series. Dan Rowan and Dick Martin were not invited to host in ’77 (which led to their successful lawsuit), nor was announcer Gary Owens. Their unifying presence is sorely missed. Previous head writer Paul Keyes has been replaced by Digby Wolfe, a writer on the original series. He also created the notorious “Turn On” for Schlatter. In the new series, his British sensibilities give much of the show an odd, almost cutesy edge, in my opinion. Strange, since comedy genius Merrill Markoe is listed as one of the writers.

With better material, the cast might have succeeded. They’re certainly talented and many had successful careers: Ben Powers (later of “Good Times”), Wayland Flowers and Madame, Bill Rafferty (of Schlatter’s “Real People”), stand-ups Lenny Schultz and Ed Bluestone, legendary artist/writer Sergio Aragonés, and of course, Robin Williams.

Williams is actually little seen in the first episode, but his screen time rapidly increased after that (though still in far too many straight, supporting roles). There’s actually a lot more time for Lenny Schultz, and his portions of the show might be the best known since he included them on his personal sizzle reel. For years, that was the only “Laugh In” ’77 content available online (though I recall briefly seeing part of episode three posted, as well as a network promo for the 1979 rerun). The “Happy Days” episode which provided Williams' big break (“My Favorite Orkan”) aired just 20 days after “Laugh In” ended its run.

The 1977 show retained the “looks at the news” segment, the closing joke wall and even the cocktail party (now with disco music). However, it relied on far too many Anita Bryant and Billy Carter jokes. The hippie artist vibe of the '60s has been replaced by theater kid energy, and the writing was still too on-the-nose at times. There was also a great deal of repetition. How many times do we need to hear Barry Goldwater stiffly intoning “I can dig it"? Or Cindy Williams’ mega-hilarious “these people are nuts”? It’s easy to see why the show didn’t catch on... and scheduling might also have been a factor.

Episode 1, hosted by Bette Davis, aired at 8 p.m. on Labor Day -- September 5 – of 1977 against “CBS Galaxy,” a fall preview/variety show hosted by Dick Van Dyke. At the same time, ABC burned off the second of two pilots for the John Byner caper comedy, “McNamara's Band” (the first had aired May 11). Apparently low priority for all three networks.

When “Laugh In” episode 2 bowed on October 10, it competed with two shows destined for quick cancellation: “Logan's Run” on CBS and ABC’s hour-long sitcom “The San Pedro Beach Bums” from Mr. Comedy himself, Aaron Spelling. The host was Bea Arthur, then in her final season of playing “Maude.” She was actually nominated for two Emmys that year: one for "Maude" and one for this episode (Outstanding Continuing or Single Performance by a Supporting Actress in Variety or Music), losing the former to Jean Stapleton and the latter to Gilda Radner on SNL.

For episode 3, the show shifted to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, November 2. The lead-in of “Grizzly Adams” was likely meaningless, as “Laugh In” was now up against the top-rated “Charlie's Angels” on ABC. CBS was showing the 1975 Charles Bronson western “Breakheart Pass.” Frank Sinatra hosted this show, and George Schlatter can briefly be seen near the end, coaching the Chairman.

Episode 4 aired Dec. 20, a Tuesday, against two major hits: “Three’s Company” on ABC and “MASH” on CBS. At 9:30 p.m., ABC offered “Fish” and CBS started the TV movie “Tell Me My Name,” but the damage that night was already done.

Episode 5 on Feb. 1, 1978 was back to Wednesday at 9 p.m…. until President Carter planned an address at that time. Following the address, “Laugh In” once again faced “Charlie’s Angels” as well as the Joanne Woodward TV movie, “See How She Runs” on CBS.

A week later, episode 6 faced the same competition: “Charlie’s Angels” and a CBS TV movie (“Ruby and Oswald”). This episode has been listed as both a rerun and a “best of” compilation. It's actually a new episode with a lot of material that must have been saved from the previous tapings. This episode was nominated for an Emmy for tape editing.

Thus ended new “Laugh In” content until the show’s 1993 reunion special. None of the 1977 cast was featured in the reunion, and some had even passed away or left Hollywood. (It's unfortunate, because Ben Powers and Ed Bluestone are the undiscovered gems of this show, for me).

Michael Sklar died in 1984 after a career working in visual and jewelry art, on stage and in two (pre-“Laugh In”) Andy Warhol films.

June Gable has had a long career on Broadway and television, with recurring roles on “Friends” and “Dream On.”

Kim Braden, daughter of British/Canadian actors Bernard Braden and Barbara Kelly, popped up in the “Star Trek” universe during her television career in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

Antoinette Atell (billed as “Toad” on “Laugh In”) is an acting coach who now goes by Toni.

Nancy Bleiweiss has followed a similar career path in Palm Springs.

Jim Giovanni, who came to the show with friend Robin Williams, passed away in 2016 after decades as a touring stand-up based in his native San Francisco.

British actress Claire Faulconbridge had a long running role on the UK series, “Crossroads.”

As for the guest stars, the table is below compiled from imdb:

Some of these guests are among NBC’s few stars of the time: James Garner, Rich Little, Robert Conrad. Others seem to be trying to expand into television from another arena: Tina Turner and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were successful; Seals & Crofts soon broke up. Ralph Nader, by the way, looks like his segments were shot for the original series… perhaps it’s the video quality. Or his infamous suit. He looks more youthful than he did hosting SNL that same year. Jack L. Harrell is listed as a guest, which is surprising: he functions more as a castmember/announcer. He previously played small roles and was the announcer for “Sonny & Cher”!

Episode 6 is not listed above, as IMDB credits all of the stars above except: Nader, Harrell, Conrad, Roddy Macdowall, Shirley Maclaine, Susan Ford, Bella Abzug and Henry Winkler (whose appearance in ep. 1 was literally a few seconds, hugging Bette Davis). Gore Vidal is only credited for episode 6, in segments which were shot in his office and are actually pretty engaging.