The Beatles on 45

Here's a chronological history of US (mostly) Beatles 45s for anyone wondering how to get the most complete collection. I am only including cuts from their EMI recordings from 1962-70; no outtakes or reunion material or early disks backing Tony Sheridan (for example). This also tries to make sense of the colored vinyl 45s released in the mid-90s. If you have a jukebox and want to fill it with even more Beatle cuts (and save a lot of room), I recommend looking into the British or Mexican EPs released in the 60s and early 70s.

Vee Jay 498: Please Please Me/Ask Me Why

The Beatles’ American debut was their second UK single – a big hit in England but a flop in the US on tiny R&B label, Vee-Jay. Also released on Capitol in Canada (72090), where it did well.

 

Vee Jay 522: From Me To You/Thank You Girl

The Beatles’ third UK single was a big hit, so Vee Jay tried releasing it – for another flop. Again, it did well in Canada on Capitol (72101).

 

Swan 4152:  She Loves You/I’ll Get You

Vee Jay had flopped with two singles which had been massive UK hits. The label then canceled the release of the group’s first American LP and also failed to pay royalties, voiding its contract. So, the Beatles’ massively popular fourth UK single instead was released on Philadelphia-based Swan Records. Like previous American releases, it flopped, but did well in Canada (Capitol 72125). Swan reissued the disk in the wake of Beatlemania and it topped the charts. After Swan’s contract ran out in late 1964, however, Capitol never reissued this single – possibly because both sides were already included on the chart-topping LP, “The Beatles Second Album.” It was finally available again in 1994 on Capitol colored vinyl (“For Jukeboxes only!” according to the label) as #S7-17688.

 

Capitol (Canada) 72144: Roll Over Beethoven/Misery

I have no idea why these cuts – one each from the group’s first two UK albums – were coupled together and released in Canada in 1963. But the disk hit #2 there and sold decently as an import into the US (hitting #68). In 1965, it came out on the rare green swirl Capitol Starline budget reissue label (#6065). The b-side had also appeared in the US on Vee Jay, but would disappear until Capitol’s 1980 “Rarities” album.

 

Capitol 5112: I Want To Hold Your Hand/I Saw Her Standing There

Capitol finally takes a chance and releases the group’s fifth UK single, hitting pay dirt. Reissued on Capitol colored vinyl (S7-17689).

Vee Jay 581: Please Please Me/From Me To You

Vee Jay realized it could sell records by getting the heat from Capitol’s massive Beatles campaign. Not wanting to take a chance, they took two big UK hits – which had previously been flops in the US – and combined them. Reissued -- along with five other Beatle 45s -- on Oct. 11, 1965, on the very rare Capitol Starline label (green swirl) #6063, but never on Capitol colored vinyl for some reason.

 

Tollie T-9001: Twist And Shout/There's A Place

Vee Jay uses its offshoot label to get another Beatle record in the charts. Also reissued in 1965 on the Starline label (#6061), and again on Capitol colored vinyl in 1994 (S7-17699). The a-side was also issued as a promo-only single in 1986 to capitalize on its use in “Ferrie Bueller’s Day Off.” The b-side was an orphan from the UK “Please Please Me” LP when it was reconfigured into Capitol’s “The Early Beatles.” Its only other US appearances would be on Vee Jay’s version of the UK LP (“Introducing the Beatles”) and on Capitol’s 1980 “Rarities” album.

 

Tollie T-9008: Love Me Do/P.S. I Love You

Vee-Jay (and its new subsidiary, Tollie) had won the rights to continue releasing Beatle product until October, 1964, and used that time to rush out what had been the group’s debut UK single. A minor hit in 1962 England, but a #1 in 1964 America. Reissued in the 1965 Starline batch (#6062) and on Capitol colored vinyl (S7-56785).

 

Capitol 5150: Can’t Buy Me Love/You Can’t Do That

After several non-Capitol releases (and the accompanying legal action from EMI), Capitol puts out the first hotly anticipated track from the group’s upcoming film. Reissued on Capitol colored vinyl as S7-17690.

 

Capitol (Canada) 72144: All My Loving/This Boy

Beatles records were selling so well that this Canadian disk sold well enough in the northern US to chart at #45 as an import – no doubt helped by the fact that the A-side was the first song performed by the group during its first epoch-shattering appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” (February 9, 1964). Finally officially reissued by Capitol (US) in 1971 on the red-and-orange-scheme “target” label.

 

Vee Jay 587: Do You Want To Know A Secret/Thank You Girl

Vee Jay continued slicing-and-dicing the 16 Beatle tracks it had access to, this time giving George his first a-side vocal (and last until 1969) and notching a #2 hit. The b-side was leftover from the company’s flop second attempt to get a Beatle hit in 1963.  Popular enough to be reissued on Capitol Starline in 1965 (#6064).

 

Capitol 5222: A Hard Day’s Night/I Should Have Known Better

With so many Beatle disks spinning past cash registers, Capitol puts out only its third attempt – and third chart-topper.  Also a UK #1, but with a different B-side (“I’ll Be Back”) which would be the version reissued on Capitol colored vinyl (S7-17692).

 

Odeon (German) 45-O 29502: Sie Liebt Dich/Komm Gibb

EMI’s German affiliate successfully convinced the British company that it could only sell records sung in its native tongue. The Beatles dutifully recorded German vocals for its massively popular fourth and fifth UK a-sides for release in that country. The odd disk would see its b-side included (as a novelty) on Capitol’s third US LP. For some reason, the company ignored the a-side… which would be picked up by Swan Records as #72162. Apparently, someone at the tiny Philadelphia firm assumed they had rights to ANY version of “She Loves You.” The disk still made it to #97 in the charts.

 

Capitol 5234: I'll Cry Instead/I'm Happy Just to Dance With You

Capitol 5235: And I Love Her/If I Fell

Four of the seven cuts from the UK “A Hard Day’s Night” LP hadn’t been released as 45s yet. Capitol now had sole right to Beatle records in America – so it put out the songs. But with the film out of theaters by this point, they were minor hits.

 

Capitol 5255: Matchbox/Slow Down

Two songs from the UK “Long Tall Sally” EP had already appeared on “The Beatles Second Album.” So these two were oddly coupled and sent out as a single, reaching #17 and #25, respectively.

 

Capitol 5327: I Feel Fine/She’s A Woman

The Beatles’ eighth UK single was a Christmas chart-topper – and did the same in America at the beginning of 1965.

 

Capitol 5371: Eight Days A Week/I Don’t Want To Spoil The Party

Two cuts from the UK “Beatles For Sale” LP became a US #1 single.

 

Capitol 5407: Ticket To Ride/Yes It Is

Capitol 5476: Help!/Im Down

The group’s ninth and tenth UK 45s topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic – the former sporting the “Help!” film’s original title (“Eight Arms to Hold You”). The latter was reissued on Capitol colored vinyl (#S7-17691).

 

Capitol 5498: Yesterday/Act Naturally

Two songs pulled from the non-soundtrack side of the UK “Help!” LP – a massive #1 in America. Reissued on Capitol colored vinyl (#S7-18901).

 

Capitol Starline 6066: Kansas City/Boys

I’m not sure who decided that two cover songs needed to be coupled and released on the budget label, but here’s the sixth and final Beatle disk in the Starline series. Perhaps the releases were intended to make up for the gap between material from the UK “Help!” and “Rubber Soul” LPs? Charted at #102.

 

Capitol 5555: We Can Work It Out/Day Tripper

The Beatles’ 11^th UK single was another Christmas chart-topper – and did the same in America at the beginning of 1966. Reissued on Capitol colored vinyl (#S7-18895).

 

Capitol 5587: Nowhere Man/What Goes On

In 1964, Capitol had pulled two cuts from the LP released by the group at Christmas – and got a chart topper in early ’65. A year later, they tried the same thing. But “Nowhere Man” only made #3 in America in early 1966. Reissued on Capitol colored vinyl (#S7-18894).

 

Capitol 5651: Paperback/Writer Rain

Capitol 5715: Eleanor Rigby/Yellow Submarine

Capitol 5810: Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane

Capitol 5964: All You Need Is Love/Baby, You’re A Rich Man

For the rest of 1966, Capitol would follow the Beatles’ wishes and conform US single releases to those in the UK. For 1967, it was written into their new 9-year EMI contract. All reissued on Capitol colored vinyl as, respectively, #S7-18902, 17696, 17697, 17693.

 

Capitol 2056: Hello, Goodbye/I Am The Walrus

Capitol 2138: Lady Madonna/The Inner Light

In late 1967, Capitol ran out of numbers in its 5000 series, and rolled it over to the 2000 series – hence the change in catalog numbers. While “Hello, Goodbye” hit #1, “Lady Madonna” only got to #4. I wonder if that’s because it was the group’s last release on Capitol proper, before they started their own Apple label (to be manufactured and distributed by Capitol). Were the promo men a bit miffed? I also wonder if the same thing didn’t happen in mid-1975, when Capitol realized that three of the four Beatles were leaving at the end of the aforementioned 9-year contract: Paul’s three singles in 1975 hit #1, #12, and #35. John, George, and Ringo, however, were leaving and saw their sales rapidly decline.

 

Apple 2276: Hey Jude/Revolution

Apple 2490: Get Back/Don’t Let Me Down

Apple 2531: The Ballad Of John And Yoko/Old Brown Shoe

Apple 2654: Something Come Together

Apple 2764: Let It Be/You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)

Four more US chart-toppers which conformed to their UK counterparts… while Apple 2531 only got to #8 in America, likely due to many stations banning it for use of the word “Christ.” Only three of these were reissued on Capitol colored vinyl: “Hey Jude” (#S7-17694), “Something” (17698), and “Let It Be” (17695).

 

Apple 2832: The Long And Winding Road/For You Blue

Someone (likely Allen Klein) talked the Beatles into letting Capitol release another US single from the “Let It Be” album – another #1 (and their last). Reissued on Capitol colored vinyl (#S7-18898).

 

Apple (Netherlands) 5C 006-04982: All Together Now/Hey Bulldog

There wouldn't be any "new" US or UK Beatle singles until 1976, when EMI was free to repackage the group's material without getting permission. However, this 1972 single of two cuts from the "Yellow Submarine" LP was likely a tie-in to the film being reissued. See Capitol S7-18893 below.

 

Capitol 4274: Got To Get You Into My Life/Helter Skelter

A 45 to promote the “Rock and Roll Music” album in America. This hit #8 while Paul’s “Silly Love Songs” was on its way down the chart, and “Let ‘Em In” was on its way up – giving him three Top 40 entries in the same week. That was a feat which hadn’t been achieved since… 1964, when The Beatles did it. Reissued on Capitol colored vinyl (S7-18899).

 

Capitol 4347: Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da/Julia

Two cuts from “The White Album” which only reached #49 in 1976. Reissued on Capitol colored vinyl (S7-18900).

 

Capitol 4612: Sgt. Pepper's; With A Little Help From My Friends/A Day In The Life

A maxi-single with three cuts from “Sgt. Pepper,” likely as a tie-in to the 1978 issue of the album as a picture disk. Reissued on Capitol colored vinyl (S7-17701).

 

Capitol S7-17488: Birthday/Taxman

Capitol S7-17700: Here Comes The Sun/Octopus's Garden

Capitol S7-18891: Across The Universe/Two Of Us

Capitol S7-18897: Here, There And Everywhere/Good Day Sunshine

More singles which were only released in the Capitol colored vinyl series, combining popular tunes from the same albums (on each) and giving George (and even Ringo) more 45-placings.

 

Capitol S7-18893: It's All Too Much/Only A Northern Song

A colored vinyl single of the two remaining (George) songs from the “Yellow Submarine” LP which were NOT released on the 1972 Dutch single above. Get both 45s and your jukebox can have the entire film soundtrack!

 

Capitol S7-18896: Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds/When I'm 64

Capitol S7-18890: Magical Mystery Tour/The Fool On The Hill

Capitol S7-18892: While My Guitar Gently Weeps/Blackbird

Capitol S7-18889: You've Got To Hide Your Love Away/I've Just Seen A Face

Capitol S7-19341: Norwegian Wood/If I Needed Someone

More singles which were only released in the Capitol colored vinyl series, each combining two popular tunes from one album. The last (“Norwegian Wood”) was issued on black vinyl for some reason; it’s green vinyl counterpart was a limited edition from Collector’s Choice music, numbered 18888.

 

Notice that each of these last ten 45s couples two songs from every UK Beatle album after 1964 – and pulls two from the double “White Album.” Appropriate. Also, there were essentially two batches of 14 colored vinyl singles… and a third batch could have easily been made from the remaining 10 Capitol and 4 Starline releases. Perhaps this was planned and never happened?

Sitcom directors and the ratings hex

I’ve always had a theory that three-camera sitcoms which did NOT have a consistent director were somehow ratings-cursed. The shows here are all classics and deserved higher ratings. But for two reasons, I feel they had a hex: 1) the lack of a regular director (even though the on-air product was always first-rate), and 2) network programmers who kept moving the shows around, then killing them off too soon. “Barney Miller” is likely the exception here since it ran for eight seasons and often hit the Top 20 in a consistent time slot (Thursdays at 9pm). In its later years, it also was shot less like a conventional multicam sitcom. Anyhow, have a look at the diverse number of directors for these shows...

 

"The Odd Couple"

The show's first season was shot single-cam, on a closed set, an approach which necessitates multiple directors. But even for seasons 2-5, it was all over the map. The most frequent directors were quite accomplished:

Jerry Paris (18 episodes)

Jack Donohue (14)

Hal Cooper; Mel Ferber (11)

Frank Buxton (9)

Beyond that, I get the sense they were letting anyone who could handle directing do the job -- usually one of the show’s writers or producers, though there are definitely some notable directors like Jay Sandrich, George Tyne, and Alan Rafkin:

Bruce Bilson; Garry Marshall; Jay Sandrich (6 episodes)

Harvey Miller (5)

George Tyne; Norm Gray (4)

Alan Rafkin; Bob Birnbaum; Jerry Belson (3)

Alex March; Charles R. Rondeau; George Marshall (2)

Charles Shyer; Dan Dailey; Dick Michaels; Jack Winter; George Tyne and Bob Birnbaum (1)

 

“WKRP in Cincinnati”

This show is the poster child for constant schedule changes. Seems like every time audiences found the show, CBS moved it. And the same with directors – each time someone notched up an impressive string of episodes, they were snatched up by another show:

Rod Daniel (23 episodes) -- by the way, that's his picture above

Will Mackenzie (17)

Asaad Kelada (15) – left for “The Facts of Life”

Linda Day (11) – left for “One Day at a Time”

The rest of the run has a large number of castmembers/show staff mixed with some surprising names like John Stamos’ uncle, or George Gaynes (of later of “Punky Brewster” and the Hugh Wilson-directed film, “Police Academy”):

Frank Bonner (6)

Michael Zinberg (4)

Nick Stamos; Dolores Ferraro (3)

Hugh Wilson; Dan Guntzelman (2)

George Gaynes; Jay Sandrich; Howard Hesseman; Gordon Jump (1)

 

“NewsRadio”

Tom Cherones left “Seinfeld” after its fifth season to helm “NewsRadio,” eventually directing 57 episodes. The remainder went to a mix of people – almost all of whom are well-known sitcom directors. I guess the ratings never materialized because the show -- like its radio cousin, “WKRP” – kept getting moved around. Or maybe it was just too smart:

James Burrows (7 episodes) – Burrows often directs the pilots for multicam sitcoms, but here he stuck around and did the first four shows, returning for three more near the end of season two.

Alan Myerson; Judi Elterman (5)

Patrick Maloney (4)

Gregg Heschong; Leonard R. Garner Jr.; Michael Lembeck (3)

Lee Shallat Chemel; Peter Bonerz; Skip Collector (2)

Dave Foley; Joe Furey; Peter Baldwin; Rich Beren (1)

 

“Barney Miller”

An interesting mix here, but Noam Pitlik directed 102 episodes from seasons 1-7. The show almost ended at that time according to thisHal Linden interview, but everyone agreed to return for an eighth and final season (1981-82). Unfortunately, Pitlik had signed on to become a regular director for “Taxi,” taking over for James Burrows, who was leaving to begin formulating “Cheers.” And fittingly, after “Barney” ended in the spring of ’82, its Thursday 9pm time slot was taken over (on another network) by “Cheers.” Anyhow, back to “Barney” directors, there are a LOT of people who did just one or two episodes, probably because of the long shoots and endless rewrites. Still, the show looked remarkably consistent on-air (again, this exercise doesn’t mean these shows weren’t excellent; it just means that I suspect they had a ratings hex). Even showrunner Danny Arnold, who didn’t do much directing by this point in his career, gets into the act… I wonder if he stepped in when a previously hired director dropped out or suddenly had issues with the production schedule? That’s a LOT of times as a sub!

Danny Arnold (12 episodes)

Bruce Bilson (10)

Lee Bernhardi (8)

Max Gail (5)

Gennaro Montanino (4)

Alex March; David Swift; Hal Linden; Jeremiah Morris (3)

Alan Bergmann; Homer Powell; Lee Lochhead; Tony Sheehan (2)

Allen Baron; Bill Davis; Bob Finkel; Dennis Steinmetz; John Rich; Mark Warren; Richard Kinon; Stan Lathan; Danny Arnold & Alex March (1)

Shady Lake Amusement Park

I have a very dim memory of Shady Lake Park in Streetsboro, Ohio, from Thanksgiving Day 1995. A friend of mine decided the time was right to go behind the still-standing entry way and checkout the "abandoned amusement park." But it was just a large, empty, flat piece of land. The park had only been open from 1978-82, and that archway was designed to look like the one from Euclid Beach Park.

That's no accident: the kid-centric park was opened by the Humphrey Family, owners of EBP, who bought the Streetsboro site in the late 60s. They then spent nearly a decade installing infrastructure and Kiddie Land rides from their defunct park, which closed in 1969.

Why did it fail? I have no idea. This excellent article was written by local amusement park expert John Frato for the Western Reserve Historical Society. It mentions a Humphrey family conflict, but I wonder if the area simply wasn't populated enough at that time? It was pretty much farm country, sitting 45-60 minutes from downtown Cleveland, Akron, Canton, or Youngstown (or Euclid!). The nearest densely populated area was Kent, home to many Kent State University students who would have no reason to visit a kiddie park.

I also wonder if the name was an issue: "shady" is not something you want to associate with kids.

Many former Euclid Beach/Shady Lake rides ended up at Old Indiana Fun Park. The archway stood along the north side of Rt. 14 in Streetsboro, abandoned, until about 2004... not long after the land started being redeveloped for Shady Lake Apartments. The photograph above as taken by Erik Breedon.

Aside from the Frato article , there’s very little information or photographs of Shady Lake online. I've tried to collect what I've found below.

This undated postcard looks to be from the mid-1930s:

From a Facebook post by the National Amusement Park Historical Society (9/16/21): "The Flying Scooter was a classic Bisch-Rocco flat ride at Old Indiana Fun Park in Thorntown, Indiana. The ride had previously operated at Shady Lake."

This was buried in a defunct Streetsboro Facebook group, but still turned up in a Google search; no username or posting date available. But when I re-posted it, several people confirmed that it was a Euclid Beach ride called "The Bug" which ended up at Shady Lake (and may have been renamed "The Turtle"):

Here's a Euclid Beach postcard (listed as being from 1968) which was for sale online, showing "The Bug":

 

From the Carousel Corner website, taken 1981 by B. Williams (as are the three following):

Also from Carousel Corner, these 1981 pics by B. Williams show what's labeled as a "Mangels Kiddie":

Flickr user Sled1025 took this photo of the (abandoned) offices in 1994, as well as the three following. This user has a few other pics from that era listed as Shady Lake, but they're actually of nearby Wonderland, which was reportedly built as a tax dodge that was never supposed to open to the public! The story is in Sled1025's comments.

More 1994 pics of the abandoned park, from Flickr user Sled1025.

Yet another pic rescued from Facebook (this time, the Streetsboro Historical Society):

Finally, the following three photos are from the Western Reserve Historical which is linked post above. Hopefully there are more high-quality images available out there, waiting to be discovered!

The Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums Of All-Time

An update to a post which never published...

Rolling Stone published its list of the 100 greatest LPs in 1987... the 200 in 1997... the 500 in 2003... revised in 2012... and LAST YEAR came the biggest revision yet.  If you're like me, you love going through these to see which ones you have, or which guilty pleasures made the list. Some of my observations follow...

1) Marvin Gaye - What's Going On

2) The Beach Boys - Pet Sounds

3) Joni Mitchell - Blue

4) Stevie Wonder - Songs in the Key of Life

5) The Beatles - Abbey Road

6) Nirvana - Nevermind

7) Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

8) Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain

9) Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks

10) Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

11) The Beatles - Revolver

12) Michael Jackson - Thriller

13) Aretha Franklin - I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You

14) The Rolling Stones - Exile on Main St.

15) Public Enemy - It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back

16) The Clash - London Calling

17) Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

18) Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited

19) Kendrick Lamar - To Pimp a Butterfly

20) Radiohead - Kid A

21) Bruce Springsteen - Born to Run

22) The Notorious B.I.G - Ready to Die

23) The Velvet Underground & Nico - The Velvet Underground & Nico

24) The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper

25) Carole King - Tapestry

26) Patti Smith - Horses

27) Wu-Tang Clan - Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)

28) D'Angelo - Voodoo

29) The Beatles - The Beatles

30) The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced

31) Miles Davis - Kind of Blue

32) Beyoncé - Lemonade

33) Amy Winehouse - Back to Black

34) Stevie Wonder - Innervisions

35) The Beatles - Rubber Soul

36) Michael Jackson - Off the Wall

37) Dr. Dre - The Chronic

38) Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde

39) Talking Heads - Remain in Light

40) David Bowie - The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars

41) The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed

42) Radiohead - OK Computer

43) A Tribe Called Quest - The Low End Theory

44) Nas - Illmatic

45) Prince - Sign "O" the Times

46) Paul Simon - Graceland

47) Ramones - Ramones

48) Bob Marley & The Wailers - Legend

49) OutKast - Aquemini

50) Jay-Z - The Blueprint

51) Chuck Berry - The Great Twenty-Eight

52) David Bowie - Station to Station

53) The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Electric Ladyland

54) James Brown - Star Time

55) Pink Floyd - The Dark Side of the Moon

56) Liz Phair - Exile in Guyville

57) The Band - The Band

58) Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV

59) Stevie Wonder - Talking Book

60) Van Morrison - Astral Weeks

61) Eric B. & Rakim - Paid in Full

62) Guns N' Roses - Appetite for Destruction

63) Steely Dan - Aja

64) OutKast - Stankonia

65) James Brown - Live at the Apollo

66) John Coltrane - A Love Supreme

67) Jay-Z - Reasonable Doubt

68) Kate Bush - Hounds of Love

69) Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill

70) N.W.A. - Straight Outta Compton

71) Bob Marley & The Wailers - Exodus

72) Neil Young - Harvest

73) My Bloody Valentine - Loveless

74) Kanye West - The College Dropout

75) Aretha Franklin - Lady Soul

76) Curtis Mayfield - Superfly

77) The Who - Who's Next

78) Elvis Presley - The Sun Sessions

79) Frank Ocean - Blonde

80) Sex Pistols - Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols

81) Beyoncé - Beyoncé

82) Sly & The Family Stone - There's a Riot Goin' On

83) Dusty Springfield - Dusty in Memphis

84) AC/DC - Back in Black

85) John Lennon - John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

86) The Doors - The Doors

87) Miles Davis - Bitches Brew

88) David Bowie - Hunky Dory

89) Erykah Badu - Baduizm

90) Neil Young - After the Gold Rush

91) Bruce Springsteen - Darkness on the Edge of Town

92) The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Axis: Bold as Love

93) Missy Elliott - Supa Dupa Fly

94) The Stooges - Funhouse

95) Drake - Take Care

96) REM - Automatic for the People

97) Metallica - Master of Puppets

98) Lucinda Williams - Car Wheels on a Gravel Road

99) Taylor Swift - Red

100) The Band - Music from Big Pink

101) Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin

102) The Clash - The Clash

103) De La Soul - 3 Feet High and Rising

104) The Rolling Stones - Sticky Fingers

105) The Allman Brothers Band - At Fillmore East

106) Hole - Live Through This

107) Television - Marquee Moon

108) Fiona Apple - When the Pawn

109) Lou Reed - Transformer

110) Joni Mitchell - Court and Spark

111) Janet Jackson - Control

112) Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

113) The Smiths - The Queen is Dead

114) The Strokes - Is This It

115) Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d. city

116) The Cure - Disintegration

117) Kanye West - Late Registration

118) Eagles - Hotel California

119) Sly & The Family Stone - Stand!

120) Van Morrison - Moondance

121) Elvis Costello & The Attractions - This Year's Model

122) Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

123) Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II

124) U2 - Achtung Baby

125) Beastie Boys - Paul's Boutique

126) Mary J. Blige - My Life

127) Ray Charles - Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music

128) Queen - A Night At The Opera

129) Pink Floyd - The Wall

130) Prince - 1999

131) Portishead - Dummy

132) Hank Williams - 40 Greatest Hits

133) Joni Mitchell - Hejira

134) Fugees - The Score

135) U2 - The Joshua Tree

136) Funkadelic - Maggot Brain

137) Adele - 21

138) Madonna - The Immaculate Collection

139) Black Sabbath - Paranoid

140) Bob Marley & The Wailers - Catch a Fire

141) Pixies - Doolittle

142) Bruce Springsteen - Born in the U.S.A.

143) The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground

144) Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti

145) Eminem - The Marshall Mathers LP

146) Blondie - Parallel Lines

147) Jeff Buckley - Grace

148) Frank Ocean - Channel Orange

149) John Prine - John Prine

150) Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska

151) George Michael - Faith

152) Pretenders - Pretenders

153) PJ Harvey - Rid of Me

154) Aretha Franklin - Amazing Grace

155) Jay-Z - The Black Album

156) The Replacements - Let It Be

157) Oasis - (What's the Story) Morning Glory?

158) Erykah Badu - Mama's Gun

159) The Police - Synchronicity

160) Pearl Jam - Ten

161) Crosby, Stills & Nash - Crosby, Stills & Nash

162) Pulp - Different Class

163) Bee Gees - Saturday Night Fever: The Original Movie Soundtrack

164) Johnny Cash - At Folsom Prison

165) REM - Murmur

166) Buddy Holly & the Crickets - 20 Golden Greats

167) Depeche Mode - Violator

168) Steely Dan - Can't Buy a Thrill

169) Billy Joel - The Stranger

170) Cream - Disraeli Gears

171) Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation

172) Simon & Garfunkel - Bridge Over Troubled Water

173) Nirvana - In Utero

174) Jimmy Cliff - The Harder They Come

175) Kendrick Lamar - DAMN.

176) Public Enemy - Fear of a Black Planet

177) Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells a Story

178) Otis Redding - Otis Blue / Otis Redding Sings Soul

179) The Notorious B.I.G - Life After Death

180) Love - Forever Changes

181) Bob Dylan - Bringing It All Back Home

182) James Taylor - Sweet Baby James

183) D'Angelo - Brown Sugar

184) Cyndi Lauper - She's So Unusual

185) The Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet

186) Red Hot Chili Peppers - Blood Sugar Sex Magik

187) Ice Cube - AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted

188) T. Rex - Electric Warrior

189) Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out

190) The Who - Tommy

191) Etta James - At Last!

192) Beastie Boys - Licensed to Ill

193) Creedence Clearwater Revival - Willy and the Poor Boys

194) Michael Jackson - Bad

195) Leonard Cohen - Songs of Leonard Cohen

196) Robyn - Body Talk

197) The Beatles - Meet the Beatles!

198) The B-52's - The B-52's

199) Pavement - Slanted and Enchanted

200) Sade - Diamond Life

201) A Tribe Called Quest - Midnight Marauders

202) Björk - Homogenic

203) Nick Drake - Pink Moon

204) Kanye West - Graduation

205) Cat Stevens - Tea for the Tillerman

206) David Bowie - Low

207) Eagles - Eagles

208) Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III

209) Run-D.M.C. - Raising Hell

210) Ray Charles - The Birth of Soul

211) Joy Division - Unknown Pleasures

212) Nina Simone - Wild is the Wind

213) Fiona Apple - The Idler Wheel

214) Tom Petty - Wildflowers

215) Grateful Dead - American Beauty

216) Elliott Smith - Either/Or

217) Oasis - Definitely Maybe

218) TLC - CrazySexyCool

219) Raekwon - Only Built 4 Cuban Linx...

220) Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Déjà Vu

221) Rage Against The Machine - Rage Against The Machine

222) Madonna - Ray of Light

223) John Lennon - Imagine

224) The Chicks - Fly

225) Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot

226) Derek and The Dominos - Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs

227) Little Richard - Here's Little Richard

228) De La Soul - De La Soul Is Dead

229) Patsy Cline - The Ultimate Collection

230) Rihanna - ANTI

231) Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Damn the Torpedoes

232) John Coltrane - Giant Steps

233) Tori Amos - Little Earthquakes

234) Black Sabbath - Master of Reality

235) Metallica - Metallica

236) Daft Punk - Discovery

237) Willie Nelson - Red Headed Stranger

238) Kraftwerk - Trans-Europe Express

239) Boogie Down Productions - Criminal Minded

240) Sam Cooke - Live at the Harlem Square Club, 1963

241) Massive Attack - Blue Lines

242) The Velvet Underground - Loaded

243) The Zombies - Odessey and Oracle

244) Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak

245) Cocteau Twins - Heaven or Las Vegas

246) LL Cool J - Mama Said Knock You Out

247) Sade - Love Deluxe

248) Green Day - American Idiot

249) Whitney Houston - Whitney Houston

250) Buzzcocks - Singles Going Steady

251) Elton John - Honky Château

252) Devo - Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!

253) Pink Floyd - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

254) Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters

255) Bob Dylan - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

256) Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman

257) Dolly Parton - Coat of Many Colors

258) Joni Mitchell - The Hissing of Summer Lawns

259) Janis Joplin - Pearl

260) The Slits - Cut

261) Beastie Boys - Check Your Head

262) New Order - Power, Corruption & Lies

263) The Beatles - A Hard Day's Night

264) Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

265) Pavement - Wowee Zowee

266) The Beatles - Help!

267) Minutemen - Double Nickels on the Dime

268) Randy Newman - Sail Away

269) Kanye West - Yeezus

270) Kacey Musgraves - Golden Hour

271) Mary J. Blige - What's the 411?

272) The Velvet Underground - White Light/White Heat

273) Gang of Four - Entertainment!

274) The Byrds - Sweetheart of the Rodeo

275) Curtis Mayfield - Curtis

276) Radiohead - The Bends

277) Alicia Keys - The Diary of Alicia Keys

278) Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy

279) Nirvana - MTV Unplugged in New York

280) 50 Cent - Get Rich or Die Tryin'

281) Harry Nilsson - Nilsson Schmilsson

282) Frank Sinatra - In the Wee Small Hours

283) Donna Summer - Bad Girls

284) Merle Haggard - Down Every Road 1962-1994

285) Big Star - Third/Sister Lovers

286) Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication

287) The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man

288) The Modern Lovers - The Modern Lovers

289) Björk - Post

290) OutKast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below

291) Destiny's Child - The Writing's on the Wall

292) Van Halen - Van Halen

293) The Breeders - Last Splash

294) Weezer - Weezer (Blue Album)

295) Daft Punk - Random Access Memories

296) Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Rust Never Sleeps

297) Peter Gabriel - So

298) Tom Petty - Full Moon Fever

299) B.B. King - Live At the Regal

300) Shania Twain - Come on Over

301) New York Dolls - New York Dolls

302) Neil Young - Tonight's The Night

303) ABBA - The Definitive Collection

304) Bill Withers - Just As I Am

305) KISS - Alive!

306) Al Green - I'm Still in Love with You

307) Sam Cooke - Portrait of a Legend 1951-1964

308) Brian Eno - Here Come the Warm Jets

309) Joy Division - Closer

310) Wire - Pink Flag

311) Neil Young - On The Beach

312) Solange - A Seat at the Table

313) PJ Harvey - Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea

314) Aaliyah - One in a Million

315) ROSALÍA - EL MAL QUERER

316) The Who - The Who Sell Out

317) Billie Holiday - Lady in Satin

318) Janet Jackson - The Velvet Rope

319) The Stone Roses - The Stone Roses

320) X - Los Angeles

321) Lana Del Rey - Norman Fucking Rockwell!

322) Elvis Presley - From Elvis In Memphis

323) The Clash - Sandinista!

324) Coldplay - A Rush of Blood to the Head

325) Jerry Lee Lewis - All Killer, No Filler: The Anthology

326) Prince - Dirty Mind

327) The Who - Live at Leeds

328) Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires of the City

329) DJ Shadow - Endtroducing...

330) The Rolling Stones - Aftermath

331) Madonna - Like a Prayer

332) Elvis Presley - Elvis Presley

333) Bill Withers - Still Bill

334) Santana - Abraxas

335) Bob Dylan & The Band - The Basement Tapes

336) Roxy Music - Avalon

337) Bob Dylan - John Wesley Harding

338) Brian Eno - Another Green World

339) Janet Jackson - Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814

340) Snoop Dogg - Doggystyle

341) The Smashing Pumpkins - Siamese Dream

342) The Beatles - Let It Be

343) Sly & The Family Stone - Greatest Hits

344) Toots & The Maytals - Funky Kingston

345) Bruce Springsteen - The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle

346) Arctic Monkeys - AM

347) GZA - Liquid Swords

348) Gillian Welch - Time (The Revelator)

349) MC5 - Kick Out the Jams

350) Stevie Wonder - Music of My Mind

351) Roxy Music - For Your Pleasure

352) Eminem - The Slim Shady LP

353) The Cars - The Cars

354) X-Ray Spex - Germ Free Adolescents

355) Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath

356) Dr. John - Gris-Gris

357) Tom Waits - Rain Dogs

358) Sonic Youth - Goo

359) Big Star - Radio City

360) Funkadelic - One Nation Under a Groove

361) My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade

362) Luther Vandross - Never Too Much

363) Parliament - Mothership Connection

364) Talking Heads - More Songs About Buildings and Food

365) Madvillain - Madvillainy

366) Aerosmith - Rocks

367) Drake - If You're Reading This It's Too Late

368) George Harrison - All Things Must Pass

369) Mobb Deep - The Infamous

370) Lil Wayne - Tha Carter II

371) The Temptations - Anthology

372) Big Brother and The Holding Company - Cheap Thrills

373) Isaac Hayes - Hot Buttered Soul

374) Robert Johnson - King of the Delta Blues Singers

375) Green Day - Dookie

376) Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

377) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Fever to Tell

378) Run-D.M.C. - Run-D.M.C.

379) Rush - Moving Pictures

380) Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um

381) Lynyrd Skynyrd - (Pronounced 'Lĕh-'nérd 'Skin-'nérd)

382) Tame Impala - Currents

383) Massive Attack - Mezzanine

384) The Kinks - The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society

385) Ramones - Rocket to Russia

386) J Dilla - Donuts

387) Radiohead - In Rainbows

388) Aretha Franklin - Young, Gifted and Black

389) Mariah Carey - The Emancipation of Mimi

390) Pixies - Surfer Rosa

391) Kelis - Kaleidoscope

392) Ike & Tina Turner - Proud Mary: The Best of Ike & Tina Turner

393) Taylor Swift - 1989

394) Diana Ross - Diana

395) D'Angelo and The Vanguard - Black Messiah

396) Todd Rundgren - Something/Anything?

397) Billie Eilish - WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?

398) The Raincoats - The Raincoats

399) Brian Wilson - SMiLE

400) The Go-Go's - Beauty and the Beat

401) Blondie - Blondie

402) Fela Kuti & Africa 70 - Expensive Shit

403) Ghostface Killah - Supreme Clientele

404) Anita Baker - Rapture

405) Various Artists - Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968

406) The Magnetic Fields - 69 Love Songs

407) Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere

408) Motörhead - Ace of Spades

409) Grateful Dead - Workingman's Dead

410) The Beach Boys - Wild Honey

411) Bob Dylan - Love and Theft

412) Smokey Robinson & the Miracles - Going to a Go-Go

413) Creedence Clearwater Revival - Cosmo's Factory

414) Chic - Risqué

415) The Meters - Look-Ka Py Py

416) The Roots - Things Fall Apart

417) Ornette Coleman - The Shape of Jazz To Come

418) Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms

419) Eric Church - Chief

420) Earth, Wind & Fire - That's the Way of the World

421) M.I.A. - Arular

422) Marvin Gaye - Let's Get It On

423) Yo La Tengo - I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One

424) Beck - Odelay

425) Paul Simon - Paul Simon

426) Lucinda Williams - Lucinda Williams

427) Al Green - Call Me

428) Hüsker Dü - New Day Rising

429) Four Tops - Reach Out

430) Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True

431) Los Lobos - How Will the Wolf Survive?

432) Usher - Confessions

433) LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver

434) Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain

435) Pet Shop Boys - Actually

436) 2Pac - All Eyez on Me

437) Primal Scream - Screamadelica

438) Blur - Parklife

439) James Brown - Sex Machine

440) Loretta Lynn - Coal Miner's Daughter

441) Britney Spears - Blackout

442) The Weeknd - Beauty Behind the Madness

443) David Bowie - Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)

444) Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine

445) Yes - Close to the Edge

446) Alice Coltrane - Journey in Satchidananda

447) Bad Bunny - X 100PRE

448) Otis Redding - Complete & Unbelievable: The Otis Redding Dictionary of Soul

449) The White Stripes - Elephant

450) Paul McCartney & Linda McCartney - Ram

451) Roberta Flack - First Take

452) Diana Ross & The Supremes - Anthology

453) Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine

454) Can - Ege Bamyasi

455) Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley / Go Bo Diddley

456) Al Green - Greatest Hits

457) Sinéad O'Connor - I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got

458) Jason Isbell - Southeastern

459) Kid Cudi - Man on the Moon: The End of Day

460) Lorde - Melodrama

461) Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

462) The Flying Burrito Brothers - The Gilded Palace of Sin

463) Laura Nyro - Eli and the Thirteenth Confession

464) The Isley Brothers - 3 + 3

465) King Sunny Adé - The Best of the Classic Years

466) The Beach Boys - The Beach Boys Today!

467) Maxwell - BLACKsummers'night

468) The Rolling Stones - Some Girls

469) Manu Chao - Clandestino

470) Juvenile - 400 Degreez

471) Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow

472) SZA - Ctrl

473) Daddy Yankee - Barrio Fino

474) Big Star - #1 Record

475) Sheryl Crow - Sheryl Crow

476) Sparks - Kimono My House

477) Howlin' Wolf - Moanin' in the Moonlight

478) The Kinks - Something Else by The Kinks

479) Selena - Amor Prohíbido

480) Miranda Lambert - The Weight of These Wings

481) Belle & Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister

482) The Pharcyde - Bizarre Ride II the Pharcyde

483) Muddy Waters - The Anthology

484) Lady Gaga - Born This Way

485) Richard & Linda Thompson - I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight

486) John Mayer - Continuum

487) Black Flag - Damaged

488) The Stooges - The Stooges

489) Phil Spector - Back to Mono (1958-1969)

490) Linda Ronstadt - Heart Like a Wheel

491) Harry Styles - Fine Line

492) Bonnie Raitt - Nick of Time

493) Marvin Gaye - Here, My Dear

494) The Ronettes - Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica

495) Boyz II Men - II

496) Shakira - Dónde Están los Ladrones?

497) Various Artists - The Indestructible Beat of Soweto

498) Suicide - Suicide

499) Rufus & Chaka Khan - Ask Rufus

500) Arcade Fire - Funeral

Here's a table comparing the 2003 list versus the 2012 and 2020 revisions.

**Someone finally realized that Phil Spector's Christmas album is included within the Back to Mono boxed set... so no need to include them both!

**AC/DC - Back in Black... aka half of corporate classic rock radio's playlist. They need to stop including this, please

**Bob Dylan - Love and Theft: it's enough already, RS! No one cares about anything after "Blood On the Tracks"

**Fiona Apple has three albums (Extraordinary Machine, The Idler Wheel, When the Pawn) but not Tidal? Isn't that her best one?

**Fleetwood Mac's Rumours made the list, but not their self-titled album right before that, nor Then Play On

**Frank Sinatra: In the Wee Small Hours... but not "Songs For Swingin' Lovers"? Or they could have just included one of the anthologies of his Capitol years

**Isaac Hayes, Hot Buttered Soul... but not Shaft?

**Joni Mitchell has several albums... but why the decent-yet-unexciting The Hissing of Summer Lawns

**Madonna: Ray of Light (lame) but not Like a Virgin? What?

**Paul McCartney: Ram, but not Band On the Run? Or how about Wingspan (which includes generous doses of both)? I still love Ram, though, so it's fine

**Beach Boys: Wild Honey... BORING. They also included Brian Wilson's solo version of Smile. WHAT?!

**Beatles: the big controversy is that they've been downgraded on this list in general. But the oddest thing to is that their first UK album, Please Please Me (aka Early Beatles in the US) is absent. It's usually considered one of their best... it's got Love Me Do, Please Please Me, Boys, I Saw Her Standing There, Twist & Shout... would have been nice to include that instead of...

**Sly & The Family Stone, Stand!... it's a great album, but most of it is already on Greatest Hits (which is also on the list)

**Yes: Close to the Edge... I always thought The Yes Album was better, or even Fragile

**Richard & Linda Thompson, I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight... I never understood why critics peed their pants over this. Speaking of which:

**Kanye and Neil Young have the same number of entries

**Springsteen's classic run from "The Wild, The Innocent" through "Born In the USA" remains... except for "The River." Odd.

**Steely Dan: Pretzel Logic has been removed but Aja and Can't Buy a Thrill still made the cut

Some further deletions since 2003:

-Moby Grape (121 in 2003), the 1952 Anthology Of American Folk Music (#276 in 2003), The Carpenters' lone entry from 2003 ("Close to You"), Frank Zappa (Freak Out was 243, We're Only In It For The Money was 296), plus Barry White, Jane's Addiction, No Doubt, The O'Jays, Mamas & the Papas, Soundgarden, Jethro Tull, Yardbirds, Meat Loaf, Moby, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Labelle, Mott the Hoople, Graham Parker, Jackson Browne, John Lee Hooker, Bjork, Def Leppard, ZZ Top, Jackie Wilson, Neil Diamond, Paul Butterfield, Cheap Trick, Gram Parsons, The Pogues, War, Alice Cooper, EPMD, The Drifters, Echo & the Bunnymen, Steve Earle, Albert King, Eurythmics, Buffalo Springfield, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Little Walter, Bobby Bland, Professor Longhair, Buena Vista Social Club, Blood, Sweat & Tears

-And I'm surprised the Black Keys haven't made any of these lists

Here's the RS article if you feel like clicking through 900 pages and crashing your browser:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/

Annual primetime TV schedules

This is just a list of the 20th century's fall TV listings for the major networks, as displayed on wikipedia. It is impossible to cycle through these on a phone, and it takes forever to type what you're looking for in Google. So this is basically just a handy set of links for me:

1946-47
1947-48
1948-49
1949-50
1950-51
1951-52
1952-53
1953-54
1954-55
1955-56
1956-57
1957-58
1958-59
1959-60
1960-61
1961-62
1962-63
1963-64
1964-65
1965-66
1966-67
1967-68
1968-69
1969-70
1970-71
1971-72
1972-73
1973-74
1974-75
1975-76
1976-77
1977-78
1978-79
1979-80
1980-81
1981-82
1982-83
1983-84
1984-85
1985-86
1986-87
1987-88
1988-89
1989-90
1990-91
1991-92
1992-93
1993-94
1994-95
1995-96
1996-97
1997-98
1998-99

1999-2000

Herb Alpert: A Legend

Apparently, I never posted my brief thoughts (not a review) of Herb Alpert’s 2017 concert here. Here it is right on schedule – five years late.

Mr. Alpert was backed by a tasty jazz trio and played songs I’ve never heard him play before, save for a very cool Tijuana Brass medley (complete with retro video projected behind him).  Wife Lani Hall (of Brasil ’66) showed she still has her chops with nice vocal spotlights.  There was even a singalong on “This Guy’s In Love With You.”  It would have been awesome enough just with the music, but Mr. Alpert encouraged the audience to ask questions in between songs.  He covered his musicianship, his love of painting, his childhood, took some requests and got a ton of questions about discovering and nurturing talent.  I actually found it a little odd (“tell us about this famous person you knew”) but he enjoyed it.

After the show, this introverted 82-year-old billionaire should have been relaxing.  Instead, he came out and said hello to a few people, signed autographs and made a few jokes.  Mind-blowing!  There was no reason he needed to do that except he’s a mensch. Frankly, he doesn’t NEED the money from touring, and he was playing small venues anyway. He doesn’t have a new album out. He’s just awesome.

Dick Cavett's 1975 CBS variety show

Search around long enough and you can find clips from almost all of Dick Cavett's shows -- almost. His 1975 CBS summer variety series is virtually nonexistent.

To trace his TV career, Cavett was on ABC daytime from March 4, 1968 until January 24, 1969 (originally titled "This Morning"). Very few recorded clips survive, since the show was often live.

A few months later, he got a primetime summer show on the odd schedule of Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (May 26-September 19, 1969). That's the show which had the famous episode with Woodstock performers.

At the end of the year, he replaced Joey Bishop as host of ABC's late night show starting December 29, 1969. This show is usually listed as running until January 1, 1975 BUT -- in its last two years, it was not a nightly show. Instead, it rotated (one week a month) as part of ABC's "Wide World of Entertainment." This was a series of news, specials, reruns, foreign programs (such as Monty Python), movies, and even "Jack Paar Tonite," the short-lived return by Cavett's mentor and former boss, Jack Paar (January 8, 1973 until November, 1973).

After ABC canceled Cavett, CBS boss Fred Silverman snapped him up as a kind of roving reporter/entertainer, interviewing Barbra Streisand for a special and conducting various high profile forms of business. It's kind of the same way NBC employed Jay Leno in the mid-'80s, before he became permanent guest host on "The Tonight Show."

Eventually, Silverman suggested Cavett as a summer replacement for Carol Burnett. The Saturday night variety show aired August 16-September 6, 1975.  His lead-in was the powerhouse lineup of "All In the Family," "The Jeffersons," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," and "The Bob Newhart Show." Yet the experiment didn't go smoothly. The first clip I found was from episode four (the last one), where he's wearing a John Travolta disco suit (years before "Saturday Night Fever") and expertly interviewing Cher.

Why didn't it work?

In his 1983 book "Eye On Cavett," he cautiously hints that the producers were the problem, but doesn't name them and doesn't say what all of the issues were. According to my research, the show was run by former "Sesame Street" Producers Carole and Bruce Hart. Cavett says they wanted a "concept" for the show, such as "Why is the packaging of a BIC pen so difficult to open?" The tapings were also an agonizing affair, taking several hours to shoot episode one. Cavett preferred going essentially live-to-tape, as he had for the past several years, but was overruled. It didn't help that his first choice for producer, Bob Precht (Ed Sullivan's son-in-law), had to drop out. Silverman suddenly left for ABC that spring, taking most network support with him. Then, Cavett learned that CBS had leased his preferred studio (The Ed Sullivan Theater) to ABC for use on Howard Cosell's "Saturday Night Live."

The writing likely wasn't an issue, since the writers were Christopher Porterfield, Marshal Efron, Alfa-Betty Olsen, Tom Meehan, Tony Geis, and Clark Gessner. The first two are frequent Cavett collaborators; the others, I'm not sure. The show was directed by Alan Meyerson and Clark Jones, and apparently it had two semi-regulars (i.e. "cast of zanies"): Imogene Coca and Leigh French. It's like a weird version of the hit "Tony Orlando & Dawn."

The guest list was also first-rate. Since there's very little video tape existing, this is what I've pieced together for an episode guide (with links to the clips I've found):

#1 (Aug. 16, 1975): Liza Minnelli, Henry Gibson, Doug Henning

#2 (Aug. 23, 1975): Peter Ustinov, Jean Stapleton, Neil Sedaka

#3 (Aug. 30, 1975): Jackie Gleason, LaBelle, and the cast of "Upstairs, Downstairs"... Jean Marsh (Rose), David Langton (Mr. Bellamy), Simon Williams (James), Gordon Jackson (Hudson), and Rachel Gurney

#4 (Sept. 6, 1975): Cher, Steve Allen, Barry Manilow, magician Slydini

Cavett is very complimentary to the guests when recounting the show in his book, saying the interplay between Cher and Slydini was "delightful." He adds that Steve Allen "clowned engagingly" through a sketch about old-time radio (with Marshall Efron as the sound effects man). The cast of "Upstairs, Downstairs" was "briskly cheerful." Nothing about Gleason, unfortunately. Apparently, after the first taping, he sent profuse notes of thanks and apology to Doug Henning and Liza. Peter Ustinov is described as a variety show unto himself. Cavett does say that Jean Stapleton "showed herself to be a brick in a near-beguiling sketch with Ustinov." That surprises me since Stapleton is thoroughly of the thespian tradition which Cavett loves, and she had been on the ABC show at least once (April 16, 1973). Did "brick" mean something different when the book was written (1983)? 

Back to the show itself, Cavett says the episodes were likely dumped in a river by CBS... but the clip above has a "Decades" channel bug in the corner. So were they rerun on that channel, alongside his ABC late night episodes?

After the CBS experience, Cavett hosted SNL twice (proving that he could easily handle variety, so long as it wasn't a labored affair), and eventually had another nice run on PBS from October 10, 1977-October 8, 1982... until affiliates voted him off?! I don't get it.

Cavett would return on USA (cable) from September 30, 1985-September 23, 1986 with an excellent program. He left that show, unfortunately, to head back to ABC's late night berth on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from September 22-December 30, 1986. Incidentally, his replacement on USA was Robert Klein, whose show ran until 1988.

Cavett later had nice runs on CNBC (April 17, 1989-January 26, 1996) and TCM (2006–2007).