Stewie Griffin v. Queen

Here's all the clips of Stewie Griffin freaking out over the cover of Queen's "News of the World."

Peter Griffin v. Dustin Hoffman

Peter Griffin wants ice cream a la Kramer vs. Kramer.

The Beach Boys in Stereo?!

In the February issue of “Stereophile,” they published an article on the Beach Boys’ reissues in stereo. If you read the article, it raises a number of questions: Why should anyone be lauded for remixing these albums in stereo? Why is “Beach Boys Party” being considered part of the artistic run up to “Pet Sounds”? Why are the Beach Boys trusting someone (Mark Linnet) to do this who prefers the stereo mix of “Sgt. Pepper” to the mono? I, too, grew up on the stereo “Pepper” and listening to the mono sometimes conflicts with the imprint already on my brain.... But do you know why certain parts are in audible on the mono? Because the Beatles wanted it that way!!!!!

I did find it telling that the author of the article considered Brian Wilson a sort of combination of Lennon-McCartney-Harrison and George Martin... It's a very appropriate comparison and I've always felt that this is the reason Brian produced only a quarter of the masterpieces the Beatles did. The poor guy was working crazy overtime! Society’s loss, I suppose.

Mark Linnet deserves a lot of credit for organizing the Beach Boys’ legacy and producing the excellent 1993 boxed set.

But “Beach Boys Today” and “Summer Days” were chock full of relatively primitive singles that we are all used to hearing in mono -- bright punchy mono that renders them all the more powerful.  Is this stereo campaign some sort of weird Mike Love-inspired attempt to gain credibility with young people? Has anyone noticed that the Beatles, Bob Dylan and several other groups have recently released boxed sets of their mono recordings? Or that Brian's mentor Phil Spector always recorded in mono? Brian idolized Spector's career (except that last part-- yikes).

This is probably the reason Wilson did not return calls for comment to “Stereophile” regarding the stereo reissues. “Hey, let's colorize Casablanca! Let's improve the taste of Coke! Let's re-design the Ford Mustang for the gas crisis!” I guess revisionism is always going to be part of our desire for progress. Sad. I'll be sticking with my clean originals that I got for a buck a piece as a kid in the late 1990s when everyone was dumping their vinyl. Suckers!

The Monkees in the Rock Hall?

It's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame time again, and the unfairly(?) maligned Monkees are nowhere near the place.  Without re-hashing their story and trying to argue for/against their inclusion, I've just compiled a list of the better Monkees tunes.  If you're near a pile of used albums and find these, maybe you'll want to grab them and see if you agree.  As for defending them, I will use the same analogy that's been used by countless others: numerous Motown acts are in the Rock Hall (Temptations, Four Tops, Supremes) despite not writing, producing or playing on any of their hits.  The Monkees DID write, produce and play on SOME of their hits, and they also influence numerous kids who would grow up to slit their wrists in the alt rock '90s.  So that's something.

THE MONKEES
"(Theme from) The Monkees" - 2:18
"Saturday's Child" (David Gates) - 2:43
"Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day" (Boyce, Steve Venet) - 2:39
"Papa Gene's Blues" (Michael Nesmith) - 1:57
"Last Train to Clarksville" - 2:44

MORE OF THE MONKEES
"She" (Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart) - 2:40
"Mary, Mary" (Michael Nesmith) - 2:16
"Hold On Girl (Help is on its Way)" (Billy Carr, Jack Keller, Ben Raleigh) - 2:29
"(I'm Not Your) Steppin' Stone" (Boyce, Hart) - 2:25
"Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow)" (Neil Diamond) - 2:16
"I'm a Believer" (Diamond) - 2:50

HEADQUARTERS
"You Told Me" (Michael Nesmith) - 2:25
"Forget That Girl" (Douglas Farthing Hatlelid) - 2:25
"You Just May Be the One" (Nesmith) - 2:03
"For Pete's Sake" (Tork, Joey Richards) - 2:11
"Sunny Girlfriend" (Nesmith) - 2:33
"Zilch" (Dolenz, Jones, Nesmith, Tork) - 1:06
"No Time" (Hank Cicalo) - 2:08
"Early Morning Blues and Greens" (Diane Hildebrand, Jack Keller) - 2:35

PISCES, AQUARIUS, CAPRICORN & JONES -- this album is uniformly excellent! It should be on more "best of" lists!
"Salesman" (Craig Vincent Smith) - 2:37
"The Door into Summer" (Chip Douglas, Bill Martin) - 2:49
"Love Is Only Sleeping" (Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil) - 2:31
"Cuddly Toy" (Harry Nilsson) - 2:38 (with an adorable video)
"What Am I Doing Hangin' 'Round?" (Michael Martin Murphey, Owen Castleman) - 3:09
"Peter Percival Patterson's Pet Pig Porky" (Peter Tork) - 0:27
"Pleasant Valley Sunday" (Gerry Goffin, Carole King) - 3:15
"Star Collector" (Goffin, King) - 4:28
"Daily Nightly" (Michael Nesmith) - 2:33
"Words" (Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart) - 2:52
"Hard to Believe" (David Jones, Kim Capli, Eddie Brick, Charlie Rockett) - 2:37
"Don't Call on Me" (Nesmith, John London) - 2:51

"Goin Down" was recorded with the "Pisces" album (and got two videos: one shot in Europe, and one classy studio production).  The song was released as the b-side of "Daydream Believer," and should have made the album!  One of my favorite Monkees cuts.


THE BIRDS, THE BEES AND THE MONKEES
"Daydream Believer" (John Stewart) - 3:00
"Writing Wrongs" (Nesmith) - 5:08
"Valleri" (Boyce, Hart) - 2:15


INSTANT REPLAY
"I Won't Be the Same Without Her" (Gerry Goffin, Carole King) - 2:42
"You and I" (Bill Chadwick, David Jones) - 2:15
"A Man Without a Dream" (Goffin, King) - 3:04


I'm not sure I have the life expectancy to investigate their other albums.  You should comment below and tell me what's what!

Pea Tear Family Guy

You'll see...


 #SNL4kidz

Jack Paar

Cranky Cantoninte Jack Paar left the Tonight Show on this date in 1962.  About six months later, Johnny Carson took over the show.  Here's a sampling of some interesting videos from Paar's career.

-Paar did a special in 1986 with clips from his 1957-62 run on "Tonight" (and his subsequent 1962-65 prime time show).  The special is here, and his appearance with David Letterman to promote that is here.  He also promoted it with Johnny Carson here, Paar's first appearance on the Tonight Show after 1962 (he would return just once more, in 1987).  Incidentally, I remember reading that Paar kept many kinescopes (films) of shows for years, then started throwing them out a few at a time since he wasn't sure they had any value.  He tossed them piecemeal because he did not want to put out several huge boxes at once.  His trashman would occasionally report back that he had watched (and enjoyed) some of the films.  I cannot remember this entire story, and I have no idea if it's true, but it seems a shame that this one sanitation expert was the last person to see the shows.
-Three clips: Elsa Maxwell, Robert Kennedy and then a snippet of his infamous 1960 walk-out (and return).  This appears to be taken from one of the two 1980s specials.  And here's an audio recording of the walkout.
-About 10 minutes from a 1963 show with Jonathan Winters.
-Paar and Regis visit Charles Grodin in the 1990s.
-The Tonight Show, September 21, 1960
-One of Paar's most entertaining guests, Oscar Levant, as seen in a series of clips from the 2003 PBS documentary, Smart Television.  The 1997 American Masters documentary, As I Was Saying, is not currently online... but is supposed to be more comprehensive.
-An interesting review of the DVD set, The Jack Paar Collection.
-The only clip I have ever seen of Paar's one-season-wonder 1973 ABC show: Rona Barrett and Sir Clement Freud have a row.

Harry the Hat on Cheers

"Cheers" may not be have been a show for kids back-in-the-day, but it's positively quaint compared to today.  Here's a brilliant scene from season 1 with Harry the Hat (aka Harry Anderson) fooling Cliff.  You may want to to skip ahead to about :33 seconds so as not to bore the kids.

#SNL4kidz