This is an episode about survivor’s guilt….how Captain Embry thinks he should have been with his crew . Robert Cummings plays Captain James Embry and the episode is driven by him. Cummings does a fantastic one man show for the first of the episode.
This revisits the pilot episode’s plot and it would explore again in the fourth season with The Thirty-Fathom Grave. The scenery and they way they present this episode is realistic.
The episode was based on a real event – the discovery of the B-24 Liberator four engine bomber Lady Be Good. The plane lost course during a WWII raid over Italy in 1943, and crashed deep in the Libyan desert. In 1959, a team of British geologists stumbled upon the wreckage — discovering that while the supplies were intact, the nine-man team were nowhere to be found. In the episode, the marker of a grave of a member of the crew of King Nine is dated “5 April, 1943,” the day on which the Lady Be Good was lost.
The bomber aircraft used in this episode was a North American Aviation B-25C-10NA 42-32354, which still exists in storage with Aero Trader, Borrego Springs, California. The plane was bought from the air force for $2500 (rather than the original cost — $345,000). It was disassembled, flown to set, and reassembled there.
This show was written by Rod Serling
Rod Serling’s Opening Narration:
This is Africa, 1943. War spits out its violence overhead, and the sandy graveyard swallows it up. Her name is King Nine, B-25, medium bomber, Twelfth Air Force. On a hot, still morning, she took off from Tunisia to bomb the southern tip of Italy. An errant piece of flak tore a hole in the wing tank and, like a wounded bird, this is where she landed, not to return on this day, or any other day.
Summary
The pilot of a downed B-25, Capt. James Embry, awakens in the desert, with no memory of how he got there. More worrisome, his crew’s nowhere to be found. He begins to wonder if he’s hallucinating, especially after he sees one of his men, sitting in the cockpit. When he awakens in hospital, he thinks it might’ve all been a dream, but wonders: did any of this really happen?
Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:
Enigma buried in the sand, a question mark with broken wings that lies in silent grace as a marker in a desert shrine. Odd how the real consorts with the shadows, how the present fuses with the past. How does it happen? The question is on file in the silent desert, and the answer? The answer is waiting for us – in the Twilight Zone.
CAST
Rod Serling … Narrator / Self – Host (uncredited)
Robert Cummings … Capt. James Embry (as Bob Cummings)
Gene Lyons … Psychiatrist
Paul Lambert … Doctor
Jenna McMahon … Nurse
Richard Lupino … Blake (uncredited)
I posted a song called Watusi Rodeo by Guadalcanal Diary a while back and I got a great response. I’ve been listening to these guys and it gets better and better. This band had a sophisticated and spiritual bent to the band’s lyrics.
This song is off of the EP Watusi Rodeo released in 1983. The songwriting in this band was a step above many of their peers…clever lyrics with a mixture of jangle and country. When you start listening to this band later on you can see a lot of eclecticism as they could bounce from one style to another.
They did get picked up by a major label after this release. Their LP Jamboree released in 1986 was on Elektra. They unsuccessfully attempted a commercial breakthrough, adopting the style of a country-rock band with some religious sentiment.
Jeff Walls and singer Murray Attaway were friends in high school in Marietta, Ga., just outside of Atlanta. Along with bassist Rhett Crowe and drummer John Poe, they formed Guadalcanal Diary.
In 2011, Guadalcanal Diary briefly reunited to play Athfest, and celebrated their 30th anniversary there. Jeff Walls died, May 29, 2019, of a rare pulmonary disease.
Trail Of Tears
The Sun hangs low in the Western sky I bow my head and remember now Someone’s lips pressed close to mine Her cool hand upon my brow
Hell burns hot for a killer ‘s heart A shallow grave in an unmarked plot Crack of gunfire in the dark Hand in hand we’ll walk at daybreak
One wore black One wore black One wore black
The trail of tears is winding on Many pass along the road Dusty soldiers march along As they file one by one
One wore black One wore black One wore black
Trail of tears is winding on Frightened soldier run no more Arm and arm with lovers gone No one passes on the road
Two girls wait at the railroad track For their soldiers to come back Knowing this will be their last One wore blue and one wore black
This is a perfect song to remember alternative radio with today. This is Paul Westerberg’s tribute to college radio in the 1980s. Of all the bands I’ve covered on Mondays…this band is my favorite of them all. They were more straight rock and roll with some quirks thrown in for good measure.
Left of the Dial celebrates the spirit of the eighties American indie rock scene and was a tribute to the tiny watt college stations populating the far end of the FM radio band—many let the Replacements crash after shows at campuses. Westerberg had said that is where they got most of their airtime…“We ended up going to college in an odd kind of way.”
The song is also about Westerberg’s infatuation with Lynn Blakey, singer-guitarist for North Carolina’s Let’s Active. They’d met when the bands shared a bill at San Francisco’s I-Beam in the fall of 1983. “He followed me around and bummed cigarettes off me,” recalled Blakey. The following night, after a show in Berkeley, the two spent hours walking together. They would exchange calls and letters as Blakey moved to Athens, Georgia, where she joined Michael Stipe’s sister Lynda in the band Oh-OK.
“I figured the only way I’d hear her voice was with her band on the radio . . . on a college station,” said Westerberg. “And one night we were passing through a town somewhere, and she was doing an interview on the radio. I heard her voice for the first time in six months for about a minute. Then the station faded out.” The moment provided the song’s lyric “If I don’t see ya, in a long, long while / I’ll try to find you / Left of the dial.”
The song was on the album Tim and it was released in 1985.
Left of the Dial
Read about your band in some local page Didn’t mention your name, didn’t mention your name The sweet Georgia breezes, safe, cool and warm I headed up north, you headed north
On and on and on and on What side are you on? On and on and on and on What side are you on?
Weary voice that’s laughin’, on the radio once We sounded drunk, never made it on Passin’ through and it’s late, the station started to fade Picked another one up in the very next state
On and on and on and on What side are you on? On and on and on and on and
Pretty girl keep growin’ up, playin’ make-up, wearin’ guitar Growin’ old in a bar, ya grow old in a bar Headed out to San Francisco, definitely not L.A. Didn’t mention your name, didn’t mention your name
And if I don’t see ya, in a long, long while I’ll try to find you Left of the dial Left of the dial Left of the dial Left of the dial Left of the dial Left of the dial Left of the dial Left of the dial
This is an extra post today after todays Twilight Zone…A World Of His Own
What a debut season! Out of 36 episodes we only had one episode below the Twilight Zone standards. That would be The Fever. We had nine 5 star episodes and it very easily could have been 12.
I thought I would post a tally for season 1 of this great series. There are a few I wish I would have bumped up from 4 1/2 to 5… Those would be The Lonely, Long Live Walter Jameson, and The Last Flight.
Do any of you have any different thoughts on the rankings below?
I would like to link to two different bloggers doing other tv shows. The will be going through show by show like I’m doing here. Join in if you have a favorite show that you like. I’ll continue to have the Twilight Zone every Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday.
We have some to the last episode of the first season!
This episode features Rod Serling briefly interacting into the episode…not just giving a narration. It’s a clever story and it’s wrapped up in a light hearted episode and it’s one of the better ones. This episode has grown on me through the years. There is a small cast in this one. Keenan Wynn portrays playwright Gregory West who can do something extraordinary with his Dictaphone.
Phyllis Kirk plays his unlikable wife to perfection. This is an interesting episode because the power that Gregory West has… could have been quite dangerous in the hands of another person. The show closes season 1 on a lighter note.
Years later Stephen King would write a story similar to this one called Word Processor of the Gods that would be turned into a Tales From The Darkside.
Rod Serling’s cameo at the end of the episode marked his first onscreen appearance in the show. Although Serling appeared on-screen at the end of most first season Twilight Zone episodes to plug the following week’s show, this is the only episode in the first season in which Rod Serling appears on-screen within the episode itself and not in a separate “coming next week” segment. This is also one of only two episodes of the entire series where Serling appears on camera at the conclusion of the episode.
This show was written by Richard Matheson
Rod Serling’s Opening Narration:
The home of Mr. Gregory West, one of America’s most noted playwrights. The office of Mr. Gregory West. Mr. Gregory West—shy, quiet, and at the moment, very happy. Mary—warm, affectionate…And the final ingredient: Mrs. Gregory West.
Summary
Peeking into the window of her husband Gregory’s study, Victoria West sees him with a beautiful woman. When she finally gets into the room however, the woman is nowhere to be found. His explanation is preposterous – he claims that when he speaks into his dictation machine, the characters for his play come to life before his eyes. Victoria’s first reaction is that her husband should be committed and a demonstration still doesn’t quite convince her. Gregory has something else to show her.
Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:
Leaving Mr. Gregory West—still shy, quiet, very happy… and apparently in complete control of The Twilight Zone.
CAST
Rod Serling … Narrator / Self – Host (uncredited)
Keenan Wynn … Gregory West
Phyllis Kirk … Victoria West
Mary LaRoche … Mary (as Mary La Roche)
Modoc … Elephant (uncredited)
I never get tired of the Kinks. In July 1965, The Kinks released Who’ll Be The Next In Line as a single. This one is a very rocky song with a Kinks riff.
It was first released as the B-side to “Everybody’s Gonna Be Happy” in Britain. The single only made to #17 in the UK. Reprise in America thought Who’ll Be The Next In Line was the best song and released it as the A side with Evrybody’s Gonna Be Happy” as the B.
The song peaked at #34 in the Billboard 100 and #25 in Canada in 1965.
Running to just under two minutes, the song title has no question mark, although its authorship does. Released on the Reprise label, the B-side of “Everybody’s Gonna Be Happy” is credited on the record itself to R. Davies (Ray Davies) and on another pressing as R. Davies/Kassner. This latter appears to be a misprint; Edward Kassner was the man who launched the band’s career, and his name should have appeared below the songwriter credit rather than as part of it.
Here is the B side Everybody’s Gonna Be Happy
Who’ll Be The Next In Line
Who’ll be the next in line? Who’ll be the next in line for heartache? Who’ll make the same mistakes I made over you? Who’ll be the next in line? Who’ll be the next in line? For you? Who’ll be the next in line? Who’ll be the next to watch your love fade? All your affections finally fade away. There’ll be no use in sighing. Who’ll be the next in line? For you? One day you’ll find out when I’m gone, I was the best one you had, I was the one who gave you love. Who’ll be the next in line? Who’ll be the next in line for heartaches? Who’ll make the same mistakes I made over you? There’ll be no use in sighing. Who’ll be the next in line? For you? One day you’ll find out when I’m gone, I was the best one you had, I was the one who gave you love. Who’ll be the next in line? Who’ll be the next in line for heartaches? Who’ll make the same mistakes I made over you? Who’ll be the next in line? Who’ll be the next in line? For you? For you?
I’m a huge baseball fan and this one is a fun one. It’s a light hearted episode that features Jack Warden who is a frustrated manager. This is an episode that I watch once in a while but it’s not one on my heavy rotation. The plot is somewhat forced but it’s meant to be fun. Baseball fans would like this one.
This says a lot about Rod Serling….Paul Douglas, who had drinking habits, was originally cast to play McGarry but on set began to look red and read raspingly, and it wasn’t until his coronary-related death days after the episode was completed that it was realized he had been suffering poor health rather than reaction to drink. Because the episode was supposed to be a comedy, Rod Serling was reluctant to let it be broadcast with Douglas’ impending death essentially captured on film.
When CBS refused to pay for the episode to be re-shot, Serling personally underwrote the $27,000 it cost to have Jack Warden brought in to replace Douglas and to have some scenes re-done with Warden in place of Douglas.
The only shot that survived in the broadcast version with Paul Douglas. You cannot tell it’s him but his back is to the camera. Serling had the humanity and dignity that he often wrote about.
The closing narration was referencing the Dodgers that had moved to LA a few years before this was made by team owner Walter O’Malley, but in the following season after this aired, 1961, Sandy Koufax emerged as a future Hall of Famer, winning 129 games over the next 6 seasons with an ERA of 2.19. His teammate, Don Drysdale, won 111 games with an ERA of 2.88. The Dodgers won three pennants (1963, 1965, 1966) in those six years and two World Series (1963, 1965)…so Serling’s crystal ball was working.
This show was written by Rod Serling
Rod Serling’s Opening Narration:
What you’re looking at is a ghost, once alive but now deceased. Once upon a time, it was a baseball stadium that housed a major league ball club known as the Hoboken Zephyrs. Now it houses nothing but memories and a wind that stirs in the high grass of what was once an outfield, a wind that sometimes bears a faint, ghostly resemblance to the roar of a crowd that once sat here. We’re back in time now, when the Hoboken Zephyrs were still a part of the National League, and this mausoleum of memories was an honest-to-Pete stadium. But since this is strictly a story of make believe, it has to start this way: once upon a time, in Hoboken, New Jersey, it was tryout day. And though he’s not yet on the field, you’re about to meet a most unusual fella, a left-handed pitcher named Casey.
Summary
Mouth McGarry is the manager of the Hoboken Zephyrs professional baseball team. They are perennial losers and are already so far back in the standings that they have no chance of winning the pennant. McGarry is approached by Dr. Stillman who has a solution for him, Casey, who seems to be an ideal pitcher, the best McGarry has ever seen. The catch is that Casey is a robot. McGarry is eager to win and decides to use Casey without telling anyone. When his ruse is discovered, Dr. Stillman agrees to give Casey a heart to make him more human. The results aren’t quite what McGarry had hoped for.
If you cannot see the video below…here is a LINK to the complete episode. There were no snippets on youtube.
Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:
Once upon a time, there was a major league baseball team called the Hoboken Zephyrs, who, during the last year of their existence, wound up in last place and shortly thererafter wound up in oblivion. There’s a rumor, unsubstantiated, of course, that a manager named McGarry took them to the West Coast and wound up with several pennants and a couple of world championships. This team had a pitching staff that made history. Of course, none of them smiled very much, but it happens to be a fact that they pitched like nothing human. And if you’re interested as to where these gentlemen came from, you might check under ‘B’ for Baseball – in The Twilight Zone.
CAST
Rod Serling … Narrator (voice)
Jack Warden … Mouth McGarry
Abraham Sofaer … Dr. Stillman
Robert Sorrells … Casey
Alan Dexter … Beasley
Don Kelly … Monk (as Don O’Kelly)
Jonathan Hole … Team Doctor
Rusty Lane … Commissioner
The Creeps sound like they came from the garages in the sixties but it was the 1980s. I love the sound they got on this record.
This song is off of their debut album “Enjoy The Creeps” and it was released in 1986. Critics have said that they never did translate the excitement of their live show to records but this one is good. They released it on a small label named Tracks on Wax which was a Swedish Garage Rock-label in the 80s.
They formed in Sweden in 1985. They were influenced heavily by the Animals and Yardbirds, Robert Jelinek (vocals, guitar), Hans Ingemansson (Hammond organ), Anders Olsson (bass) and Patrick Olson (drums). Whenever I think of music from Sweden I think of Abba…this is not Abba by any stretch of the imagination.
Their third album, Blue Tomato, was released in 1990. It contained their most popular song, ‘Ooh I Like It’, and it became a major Swedish hit and was eventually voted Best Song Of The Year by MTV viewers in 1990.
Down at the Nightclub was written by guitarist Robert Jelinek.
After a few years the band dropped the dirty sound of their debut album and went more for an 80s funk dance sound.
The band broke up in 1997.
Down At The Nightclub
All right We’re going down to the nightclub baby Where the fashion lights are all so gay And the music’s so loud I tell you we’re the in-crowd We’re the grooviest gang around
I got a battering ram in my head The room is turning in a blue green red And the lights sure blows my mind and I might get this time Down at the nightclub
That girl’s dancing in her miniskirt The way she moves now she gives me the hurt Gonna move up to her, let my backbone slip I’m gonna take her on a magic trip
I got a battering ram in my head The room is turning in a blue green red And the lights sure blows my mind and I might get this time Down at the nightclub
I got a battering ram in my head The room is turning in a blue green red And the lights sure blows my mind and I might get this time Down at the nightclub
First time I heard this song I loved it. I hear a strong Hollies and Beatles influence in this. This XTC spinoff band was a great idea and should have gotten airplay here. This is by far my favorite power pop song I’ve feature on Fridays in the past 5 months.
This album was released on April Fools Day 1985 through Virgin Records. It was publicized as a long-lost collection of recordings by a late 1960s group. Under the name The Dukes of Stratosphear, XTC members Andy Partridge, Colin Moulding, Dave Gregory, and and Dave’s brother Ian Gregory paid tribute to such acts as The Beatles, The Hollies, The Yardbirds, and The Beach Boys to name a few. They produced two albums: 1985’s album 25 O’Clock and 1987’s Psonic Psunspot.
Each musician adopted a pseudonym: “Sir John Johns” (Partridge) “Lord Cornelius Plum” (Dave), “The Red Curtain” (Colin Moulding) and “E.I.E.I. Owen” (Ian). The band dressed themselves in Paisley outfits for the sessions and lit scented candles.
Despite the great songs, the Dukes never made the charts. In the UK, the records outsold XTC’s then current albums The Big Express (1984) and Skylarking (1986).
It’s possible that XTC would not have survived beyond the ’80s without this fun side-project according to former XTC guitar player David Gregory as tensions were high recording The Big Express and Skylarking.
David Gregory:That so many others found it amusing and entertaining simply adds to the joy we derived from its creation.
Andy Partridge talking to producer Steve Nye: “Ooh, I’m a bit funny about how this came out, Steve, because it sounds a bit Beatles-esque to me, and I don’t want people to think I’m copying the Beatles.” He said, “Who gives a fuck? That’s how you’ve written it—just do it!’ … I realised that I should not be ashamed about digging them up, and getting them wrong, and using them as my template. … from that moment onward, I started to recognise that those songwriters—the Ray Davieses, the Lennons and McCartneys, the Brian Wilsons—had gone into my head really deeply
Vanishing Girl
Someone’s knocking in the Distance But I’m deaf and blind She’s not expected home this evening So I leave the world behind
for the Vanishing Girl The Vanishing Girl Yes she’d give you a twirl But she vanishes from my world
So burn my letters and you’d better leave Just one pint a day The whole street’s talking about my White shirts looking so grey
People gossip on the doorstep Think they know the score She’s giving him the runaround The man from number four
Has a Vanishing Girl a Vanishing Girl Yes she’d give you a twirl But she vanishes from my world
Yes the paint is peeling and my Garden is overgrown I got no enthusiasm to even answer the phone When she’s here it makes up for the time she’s
not and it’s all forgotten But when she goes I’m putting on the pose for the Vanishing Girl
If I ever met an alien and he/she/it wanted to know what rock and roll looked and sounded like…I would give them a picture of Keith Richards in 1972 and a copy of Brown Sugar. Next to Start Me Up…this song is probably the Stones most worn out song but that doesn’t mean it’s not a great song especially for those hearing it for the first time…or even the hundredth.
Mick Jagger wrote most of the music and lyrics to this song although as always it’s credited to Jagger/Richards. Keith taught Mick the 5 string G tuning and Mick came up with the great classic riff in this song.
The song peaked at #1 in the Billboard 100, #2 in the UK, #1 in Canada, and #11 in New Zealand in 1971.
Evidently China wasn’t a fan… This was one of four songs The Stones had to agree not to play when they were allowed to perform in China. After getting approval to play in China for the first time in 2003, they canceled because of SARS, a respiratory illness that was going around the country.
Rolling Stone magazine ranked it number 495 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and at number five on their list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time.
From Songfacts
The lyric is about slaves from Africa who were sold in New Orleans and raped by their white masters. The subject matter is quite serious, but the way the song is structured, it comes off as a fun rocker about a white guy having sex with a black girl.
Mick Jagger wrote the lyric. According to Bill Wyman, it was partially inspired by a black backup singer named Claudia Lennear, who was one of Ike Turner’s Ikettes. She and Jagger met when The Stones toured with Turner in 1969. David Bowie also wrote his Aladdin Sane track “Lady Grinning Soul” about Lennear.
American-born singer Marsha Hunt is also sometimes cited as the inspiration for the song. She and Jagger met when she was a member of the cast in the London production of the musical Hair, and their relationship, a closely guarded secret until 1972, resulted in a daughter named Karis.
According to the book Up And Down With The Rolling Stones by Tony Sanchez, all the slavery and whipping is a double meaning for the perils of being “mastered” by Brown Heroin, or “Brown Sugar.” The drug cooks brown in a spoon.
The Rolling Stones recorded this in the musically rich but luxury deprived city of Sheffield, Alabama, where Jerry Wexler of the group’s label, Atlantic Records, often sent his acts. The Stones arrived in Sheffield on December 2, 1969, stayed until the 4th, then performed their fateful Altamont Speedway concert on December 6, where they performed this song live for the first time. At the show, a fan was stabbed to death by a Hells Angels security guard.
During their three days in Alabama, The Stones recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, which opened in May 1969 when four of the musicians from FAME Studios left to establish their own company. “Wild Horses” and “You Gotta Move” also came out of these sessions, making it a very productive stop. The engineer at the Muscle Shoals sessions was Jimmy Johnson, the producer/guitarist who was one of the studio’s founders. The Rolling Stones engineer Glyn Johns added overdubs in England (including horns), but he left Johnson’s mix intact. Johnson says that Johns called him from England to compliment him on the mix.
Even though this was recorded in December 1969, The Stones did not release it until April 1971 because of a legal dispute with their former manager, Allen Klein, over royalties. Recording technology had advanced by then, but they didn’t re-record it because the original version was such a powerful take.
Mick Jagger started writing this while he was filming the movie Ned Kelly in the Australian outback. He’s been in a few movies, including Performance, Freejack and The Man From Elysian Fields. Jagger recalled to Uncut in 2015: “I wrote it in the middle of a field, playing an electric guitar through headphones, which was a new thing then.”
In Keith Richards’ 2010 autobiography Life, it floats a theory as to what the lyrics “Scarred old slaver know he doin’ alright” are all about. Some poor guy at their publishing company probably came up with that transcription for the lyrics, but Jagger was most likely singing, “Skydog Slaver,” as “Skydog” was a nickname for Muscle Shoals regular Duane Allman, since he was high all the time.
A year after this was first recorded, The Stones cut another version at Olympic Studios in London with Eric Clapton on guitar and Al Kooper on keyboards. It was considered for release as the single, but was shelved until 2015 when it appeared the a Sticky Fingers reissue.
Originally, Mick Jagger wrote this as “Black Pussy.” He decided that was a little too direct and changed it to “Brown Sugar.”
This was the first song released on Rolling Stones Records, The Stones subsidiary label of Atlantic Records. They used the now-famous tongue for their logo.
The album cover was designed by Andy Warhol. It was a close-up photo of a man wearing tight jeans, and contained a real zipper. This caused considerable problems in shipping, but was the kind of added value that made the album much more desirable (you don’t get this kind of stuff with CDs or downloads).
Sticky Fingers also marked the first appearance of the famous tongue and lips logo, which was printed on the inner sleeve. The logo was designed by John Pasche, who was fresh out of art school (the Royal College of Art in London).
This was used in commercials for Kahlua and Pepsi. The Stones have made big bucks licensing their songs for ads.
The fortunate souls who got to see The Rolling Stones on their nine-date UK tour in 1971 got a preview of this song, since it was included on the setlist even though Sticky Fingers wouldn’t be released for another month.
Jimmy Johnson, who was a guitar player for the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (also known as “The Swampers”), engineered the sessions that produced this song as well as “Wild Horses” and “You Gotta Move.” Johnson worked with many artists, including Aretha Franklin, Bobby Womack, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Johnnie Taylor.
Artists to cover this song include Little Richard, Collin Raye and Alice Russell. Bob Dylan performed it on his 2002 US tour.
ZZ Top released a completely different song called “Brown Sugar” in 1971, and “D’Angelo” released his own song with that title in 1995. In 2002, a movie called Brown Sugar was released with a title song by Mos Def called “Brown Sugar (Extra Sweet).”
In 327BC Alexander the Great came across the cultivation of sugar cane in India. From this reed, a dark brown sugar was extracted from the cane by chewing and sucking. Some of this “sweet reed” was sent back to Athens. This was the first time a European had come across sugar. (From the book Food for Thought: Extraordinary Little Chronicles of the World by Ed Pearce)
The bootleg version which has Eric Clapton playing lead slide guitar was recorded at a birthday party for Keith Richards. It is widely considered to have been part of an informal audition by Clapton to become The Stones second guitarist. The bootleg version shows why Clapton likely did not get offered the job, or withdrew himself from consideration: While Clapton plays a million notes a minute, his lead has almost no interaction with the rest of the band. It is like a studio musician simply playing along with a CD that has already been recorded.
In many interviews, Richards has spoken admiringly of his good friend Clapton’s musicianship, but has always commented that the two-guitar sound he and Ron Wood have developed is not Eric’s cup of tea.
This features Bobby Keys on saxophone. A favorite of The Rolling Stones, having guested notably on Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main Street, he was also heard on John Lennon and Elton John’s hit “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night” and on classic albums like George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass and Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On.
The year after this was released, Randy Newman released a much more earnest song dealing with slavery: “Sail Away.”
This song gets a mention in the 2002 episode of The Wire, “A Man Must Have A Code.” When a group of detectives are listening to a phone call they intercepted, one of them can figure out what’s being said while the others are baffled. Asked how he can decipher the mumble, he speaks the opening lines of “Brown Sugar” (“Gold Coast slave ship bound for cotton fields, sold in a market down in New Orleans”) and says, “I bet you’ve heard that song 500 times but you never knew, right? I used to put my head to the stereo speaker and play that record over and over.”
Brown Sugar
Gold Coast slave ship bound for cotton fields Sold in the market down in New Orleans Scarred old slaver knows he’s doin’ all right Hear him whip the women just around midnight
Brown sugar, how come you taste so good Brown sugar, just like a young girl should
Drums beatin’ cold, English blood runs hot Lady of the house wonderin’ when it’s gonna stop House boy knows that he’s doin’ all right You should have heard him just around midnight
Brown sugar, how come you taste so good Brown sugar, just like a young girl should
Brown sugar, how come you dance so good Brown sugar, just like a black girl should
I bet your mama was a Cajun Queen And all her boyfriends were sweet sixteen I’m no school boy but I know what I like You should have heard them just around midnight
Brown sugar, how come you taste so good Brown sugar, just like a black girl should
I said, yeah, yeah, yeah, woo How come you, how come you dance so good Yeah, yeah, yeah, woo Just like a, just like a black girl should Yeah, yeah, yeah, woo
This one is a classic… a 5-star episode. As surprise endings go…this one is near the top. This episode lacks explanation for things but that makes it more mysterious. There is no big moral lesson here just a great episode.
Anne Francis’s portrayal of Marsha White was great. She is demanding and a little whiny at first but when you see the nightmare situation she is in…you understand why. She wonders how many of the store workers know her name and so much about her…and we wonder the same thing. This is the first appearance of Anne Francis in the starring role of a Twilight Zone episode. She would appear again in the season four episode “Jess-Belle”.
The twist totally took me off guard the first time I watched this one. The 1985 Twilight Zone redid this one and it was a mess.
Here is something interesting. The band 9fm (short for Ninth Floor Mannequin) song “Below the Ninth Floor” was inspired by “The After Hours.”
This show was written by Rod Serling
Rod Serling’s Opening Narration:
Express elevator to the ninth floor of a department store, carrying Miss Marsha White on a most prosaic, ordinary, run-of-the-mill errand.
Miss Marsha White on the ninth floor, specialties department, looking for a gold thimble. The odds are that she’ll find it—but there are even better odds that she’ll find something else, because this isn’t just a department store. This happens to be The Twilight Zone.
Summary
Marsha White is looking for a gold thimble as a gift for her mother. She can’t find it anywhere in the store and an elevator operator suggests she try the 9th floor. She arrives there to find it abandoned but a sales clerk suddenly appears and has just what she is looking for. On the way back down to the main floor, she realizes the thimble she bought is scratched and goes to the complaints department where she is told there is no 9th floor in the building. She is shocked however to see a mannequin that looks just like the woman who served her. A return to the absent floor reveals the explanation to her dilemma.
Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:
Marsha White, in her normal and natural state, a wooden lady with a painted face who, one month out of the year, takes on the characteristics of someone as normal and as flesh and blood as you and I. But it makes you wonder, doesn’t it, just how normal are we? Just who are the people we nod our hellos to as we pass on the street? A rather good question to ask . . . particularly in the Twilight Zone.
CAST
Rod Serling … Narrator (voice)
Anne Francis … Marsha White
Elizabeth Allen … Saleswoman
James Millhollin … Mr. Armbruster
John Conwell … Elevator Man
Patrick Whyte … Mr. Sloan
Nancy Rennick … Miss Keevers
The first single released from The Slider, and the third No.1 U.K. hit for T. Rex, “Telegram Sam”
The song peaked at #1 in the UK, #67 in the Billboard 100, #66 in Canada, and #19 in New Zealand in 1971. It’s surprising to me he didn’t do better in Canada and America. My only guess was that glam music never was as big in America as the UK. They did tour in America in the early seventies as a supporting act for bands such as Three Dog Night, Poco, and The Doobie Brothers. Opening up for those bands in America…it’s easy to see how they could not find their target audience.
T-Rex leader Marc Bolan wrote this as an ode to his manager, Tony Secunda. “Telegram Sam” was Bolan’s nickname for his Secunda. Other people who show up in the song were Jungle-face Jake who was Sid Walker, Secunda’s assistant, and “Bobby” is Bob Dylan.
Telegram Sam was the first single to be issued by Marc Bolan’s own T.Rex Wax Co. label, and was released on 21 January 1972.
The B-side featured two songs in the UK, “Cadilac” (as printed on the EMI label of the original single) and “Baby Strange”, the latter also included in the album The Slider.
From Songfacts
When Bolan referred to Secunda as his “Main Man,” it brought the phrase into popular culture.
The goth-rock group Bauhaus covered this song In 1980.
In 1977, on the “Dandy in the Underworld” tour, Marc Bolan sang “Third vision and the David Bowie blues” instead of “3D vision and the California blues” – hinting at David Bowie’s depressive tendencies.
Telegram Sam
Telegram Sam Telegram Sam You’re my main man
Golden Nose Slim Golden Nose Slim I know’s where you’ve been Purple Pie Pete Purple Pie Pete Your lips are like lightning Girls melt in the heat
Telegram Sam You’re my main man Telegram Sam You’re my main man
Bobby’s alright Bobby’s alright He’s a natural born poet He’s just outta sight Jungle faced Jake Jungle faced Jake I say make no mistake About Jungle faced Jake
Automatic shoes Automatic shoes Give me three D vision And the California blues Me I funk but I don’t care I ain’t no square with my corkscrew hair
I didn’t hear this song until I heard it on car commercial. It took me a while to track it down. This band was on the alternative club circuit in the early 80s. Their name was not inspired by William Faulkner’s 1935 novel of the same name as some believe. They were inspired by traffic cones… as simple as that. Bassist Michael Lachowski has said “we chose Pylon because it is severe, industrial, monolithic, functional.”
They were four art students at the University of Georgia in Athens in 1979. Guitarist Randall Bewley and bass guitarist Michael Lachowski began playing music and attempting to form a band in 1978. Neither one of them knew how to play but they started to learn. Drummer Curtis Crowe and vocalist Vanessa Briscoe soon joined.
This song was released in 1979 as a single with “Dub” on the B side.
Mills has said the REM song A Month of Sundays was inspired by them… “I was thinking Pylon when I wrote it, so it’s my tribute to Randy Bewley.” Richard Bewley was Pylon’s guitar player.
They would go on to open for bands like REM, U2, and the B-52s,
When Rolling Stone named R.E.M. “America’s Best Band” in December 1987, R.E.M. drummer Bill Berry said, “We’re not the best rock ‘n’ roll band in America”, declaring that Pylon was instead the best.
The band broke up in 1983 deciding to end it while it was still fun.
Vanessa Briscoe on the breakup in 1983: Let’s just quit while we’re having fun.’ That was kind of the idea in the first place. We were just going to perform as long as it was fun. So we broke up and it was a decision we all made together. We accomplished what we set out to do… It’s not that we are miserable, it’s just that we’ve seen all we’re going to see and don’t want to put any more time into it”
They reformed in 1990 when a complication album came out of their music from 1979-1983.
Cool
Pure form Real gone Like wild Good vibes
Everything is cool
There are these forms I like to watch There are these shapes which talk to me
I love forms, and forms love me The more you look, the more you see
This episode is one of the light hearted Twilight Zones. Some TZ reviewers have a problem with them but I never have…although I would not rate them as the best. Mr. Bevis played by Orson Bean is an oddball but in 2021 he would probably be considered a hipster. He seems to be happy with his lot in life despite his struggles.
He is given a chance at success by his all business like guardian angel J. Hardy Hempstead played by the character actor Henry Jones. Mr. Bevis will find out that with success comes responsibilities. Are physical comforts and security worth losing yourself over? Personally I think you can have both and we will see what Mr. Bevis will do. The episode borrows a portion from It’s A Wonderful Life.
This episode served as a pilot for a spin-off series where Burgess Meredith was to play Bevis, but the series was not ordered once Rod Serling learned he declined the role.
This episode features 4 prolific and noticeable character actors in the history of TV and motion pictures. According to IMDB, Henry Jones, William Schallert, Charles Lane and Vito Scotti combined have a total of 1200 acting credits.
This show was written by Rod Serling
Rod Serling’s Opening Narration:
In the parlance of the twentieth century, this is an oddball. His name is James B. W. Bevis, and his tastes lean toward stuffed animals, zither music, professional football, Charles Dickens, moose heads, carnivals, dogs, children, and young ladies. Mr. Bevis is accident prone, a little vague, a little discombuberated, with a life that possesses all the security of a floating crap game. But this can be said of our Mr. Bevis: without him, without his warmth, without his kindness, the world would be a considerably poorer place, albeit perhaps a little saner…Should it not be obvious by now, James B. W. Bevis is a fixture in his own private, optimistic, hopeful little world, a world which has long ceased being surprised by him. James B. W. Bevis, on whom Dame Fortune will shortly turn her back, but not before she gives him a paste in the mouth. Mr. James B. W. Bevis, just one block away from The Twilight Zone.
Summary
James B.W. Bevis is, by almost any definition, eccentric. He drives a car that once was Henry Ford’s dream, he likes zither music and makes model ships. He’s a bookkeeper by profession and his desk at work is always cluttered. He likes to bring in children at Christmas-time to sing carols. It all leads to him being fired. While drowning his sorrows at a nearby bar, he meets none other than his guardian angel who shows him that life can be considerably different for him if he wishes it….but is he prepared to make the changes necessary to obtain that lifestyle?
***Note…this is not a great clip and doesn’t tell you a lot but on youtube it’s hard to get a decent clip of the TZ because of a strong copyright hold by CBS I would presume.
Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:
Mr. James B. W. Bevis, who believes in a magic all his own. The magic of a child’s smile, the magic of liking and being liked, the strange and wondrous mysticism that is the simple act of living. Mr. James B. W. Bevis, species of twentieth-century male, who has his own private and special Twilight Zone.
CAST
Rod Serling … Narrator (voice)
Orson Bean … James B.W. Bevis
Henry Jones … J. Hardy Hempstead
Charles Lane … Mr. Peckinpaugh
Horace McMahon … Bartender
William Schallert … Policeman at Accident
Florence MacMichael … Margaret
Dorothy Neumann … Landlady
Vito Scotti … Peddler
House Peters Jr. … Policeman Writing Ticket
Colleen O’Sullivan … Michelle (as Coleen O’Sullivan)
Timmy Cletro … Boy
When I heard the organ in this song it hooked me. I haven’t posted much of Costello partly because like the Replacements…I got sidetracked in the late 80s away from him and since I started blogging I’m rediscovering him again.
I was 10 years old walking in our old drug store and I heard this artist I never heard before over the speakers…the song they were playing was Alison. The drug store sold records also and they had Elvis’s debut album propped up for viewing. The name threw me because this “Elvis” was a small skinny guy with glasses…that is when I found his music.
Radio Radio was made more famous by the Saturday Night Life performance.
Radio Radio was released as a single in 1978 and peaked at #29 in the UK. It was on the US version of the album This Year’s Model and it peaked at #30 in the Billboard Album Charts, #21 in Canada, and #4 in the UK.
Costello was slated to play his current UK single “Less Than Zero,” on Saturday Night Live in 1977. Costello launched into a few bars of “Less Than Zero,” but then turned to his band and told them to stop. He then apologized to the live audience, saying, “I’m sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but there’s no reason to do this song here,” and broke into a full rendition of “Radio Radio,” which had not yet been released.
Lorne Michaels…the God of Saturday Night Live was not pleased.
Costello was banned from Saturday Night Live. It has been said that the corporate brass at NBC (which owned radio properties) objected to the lyrics of “Radio Radio,” but others say it was because Costello went off-script, which was a no no to Lorne Michaels. That was one rule Michaels wanted the cast to know…they were not the Carol Burnett show and they were not to go off script or laugh.
Costello later claimed he was inspired by Jimi Hendrix, who in 1969 stopped a performance of “Hey Joe” on the show Happening for Lulu and launched into the Cream song “Sunshine Of Your Love,” earning him a ban from the BBC.
On Saturday Night Live’s 25th anniversary show in 1999, Costello parodied the incident when he interrupted the Beastie Boys while they were playing “Sabotage,” leading them in a full version of “Radio Radio.”
Elvis Costello:“Before I got into show business, I thought radio was great, So I wrote a song about celebrating it – the thrill of listening to it late at night. This was my imaginary song about radio before I found out how foul and twisted it was.”
From Songfacts
In this song, Costello is protesting the commercialization of late 1970s FM radio. Radio stations would become more and more consolidated over the years, and their playlists tightened up considerably. Eventually, deregulation led to a few companies owning the majority of American radio stations, which led to automated stations. Tom Petty sang about this on his 2002 track “The Last DJ.”
This song is a takedown of radio, but it started out as a loving tribute. Costello wrote the first version of the song as “Radio Soul” when he was in a band called Flip City. They recorded a demo in 1974, but the song was never released.
In “Radio Soul,” Costello sings lovingly about radio, without any trace of vitriol:
I could sail away to the songs that play upon that radio soul
Radio soul
It’s a sound salvation
When he reworked the song in 1977, he changed the title and completely flipped the meaning, reflecting his newfound take on the topic.
On December 17, 1977, Elvis Costello & the Attractions appeared on Saturday Night Live as last minute replacements for the Sex Pistols, whose various criminal records had made getting visas in time difficult.
Costello’s ban was lifted in 1989 when he returned as musical guest, performing “Veronica” and “Let Him Dangle” without incident. His 1977 act of defiance became part of Saturday Night Live lore, and is often recounted in retrospectives of the show’s history.
Bruce Springsteen was an influence on this song, musically and lyrically. The Springsteen ethos is more apparent in the “Radio Soul” version, with the theme of escaping to a better place through the power of music.
In the ’10s, Costello started performing the “Radio Soul” version of this song, explaining that it resonates with him far more than “Radio Radio.” He has clearly mellowed out.
Costello performed the early version of this song, “Radio Soul,” at the Apple iTunes Radio announcement event on September 10, 2013. Introducing the song, he explained that radio was very important to him, since his father was singer for a radio dance band.
The 1999 SNL return and parody of the original event.
The 1977 SNL infamous appearance
Radio Radio
I was tuning in the shine on the late night dial Doing anything my radio advised With every one of those late night stations Playing songs bringing tears to my eyes I was seriously thinking about hiding the receiver When the switch broke ’cause it’s old They’re saying things that I can hardly believe They really think we’re getting out of control
Radio is a sound salvation Radio is cleaning up the nation They say you better listen to the voice of reason But they don’t give you any choice ’cause they think that it’s treason So you had better do as you are told You better listen to the radio
I wanna bite the hand that feeds me I wanna bite that hand so badly I want to make them wish they’d never seen me
Some of my friends sit around every evening And they worry about the times ahead But everybody else is overwhelmed by indifference And the promise of an early bed You either shut up or get cut up, they don’t wanna hear about it It’s only inches on the reel-to-reel And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools Tryin’ to anesthetize the way that you feel
Radio is a sound salvation Radio is cleaning up the nation They say you better listen to the voice of reason But they don’t give you any choice ’cause they think that it’s treason So you had better do as you are told You better listen to the radio
Wonderful radio Marvelous radio Wonderful radio Radio, radio Radio, radio Radio, radio Radio, radio Radio, radio Radio, radio Radio, radio Radio, radio
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