I did Part 1 over a year ago and it was a fun post. I’ve been meaning to do this again. I remembered some of the lyrics suggested by my friends hanspostcard and allthingsthriller on the last post…I have added those to list. Thanks to both of you.
I saw her from the corner when she turned and doubled back, And started walkin toward a coffee colored Cadillac… Chuck Berry
Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose, And nothin’ ain’t worth nothin’ but it’s free… Janis Joplin/Kris Kristofferson
And I need you more than want you, And I want you for all time… Jimmy Webb
Doesn’t have a point of view / Knows not where he’s going to / Isn’t he a bit like you and me…The Beatles
Met myself a coming county welfare line,I was feeling strung out, Hung out on the line…Creedence Clearwater Revival
And you’ve got to learn to live with what you can’t rise above…Bruce Springsteen
He’d end up blowing all his wages for the week / All for a cuddle and a peck on the cheek…Kinks
Well it’s too late, tonight, To drag the past out into the light, We’re one, but we’re not the same, We get to carry each other, Carry each other…U2
You can blow out a candle but you can’t blow out a fire…Peter Gabriel
Living is easy with eyes closed,misunderstanding all you see…The Beatles
Where you drink champagne and it tastes just like cherry cola, C-O-L-A Cola…Kinks
It was gravity which pulled us down and destiny which broke us apart…Bob Dylan
A drunkard’s dream if I ever did see one… The Band
And the sign said, The words of the prophets, are written on the subway walls, and tenement halls… Simon and Garfunkel
I lit up from Reno, I was trailed by twenty hounds, Didn’t get to sleep that night Till the morning came around…Grateful Dead
When I said that I was lying, I might have been lying…Elvis Costello
Though nothing will keep us together/We can be heroes/Just for one day…David Bowie
Lose your dreams and you. Will lose your mind…Rolling Stones
It’s a town full of losers, I’m pulling out of here to win…Bruce Springsteen
The motor cooled down, the heat went down, and that’s when I heard that highway sound…Chuck Berry
We were the first band to vomit at the bar, and find the distance to the stage too far…The Who
It was the decade of personalized T-Shirts. When I was 12 my mom took me to a T-Shirt store at the mall to get the iron-on transfer below put on a shirt. I picked it from different pics they had…It was my favorite shirt until it started to peel and the Beatles were no longer visible.
The origins of the t-shirt date back to the late 19th century, when laborers would cut their jumpsuits in half to keep cool in warmer months during the year. The first manufactured t-shirt was invented between the Mexican-American War in 1898, and 1913 when the U.S. Navy began issuing them as standard undershirts.
In 1950, Marlon Brando wore a white t-shirt as Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire, only to be followed by James Dean in 1955’s Rebel Without a Cause. Thanks to these two gentlemen, the popularity of the t-shirt as a stand-alone shirt became standard.
In the seventies, I remember seeing personalized T-Shirts everywhere. The punk movement popularized it also. Below are some of the fun ones.
I’m With Stupid, Keep On Trucking, and I’m a Pepper were quite popular…
Drug T-Shirts were popular…I’ve seen pictures of Keith Moon wearing the Rorer 714 shirt.
This wraps up the Mash posts…This is my least favorite period of Mash but I’m not knocking it. It was still better than some other shows at the time. Not many shows can go on this long without some lag. The episodes were hit and miss. The show had to grow up and the characters had to change to continue this long. Mash was an ensemble-based show but now more than ever the focus was on Hawkeye than the rest of the cast.
The biggest change was the atmosphere compared to the beginning. The desperate feeling from being 3 miles from the frontline seems to have disappeared. The characters seem comfortable…maybe too comfortable being there. The dirt of the earlier episodes is washed clean now.
Characters from the from years 9-11.
Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce – Alan Alda – This is a period when a friend of mine called Alan Alda a Chatty Cathy doll. Pull the string and the puns would come out over and over. Hawkeye goes from a wisecracking skirt chaser to a sensitive person in these years. You see Hawkeye go through a mental breakdown in the last episode.
Captain B.J. Hunnicutt – Mike Farrell – BJ stays faithful to his wife and is known to be a practical joker. Like the other characters, we get to know BJ more in these seasons. Mash was really good at fleshing out the characters.
Major Charles Emerson Winchester III – David Ogden Stiers – By the end Charles was bearable. Winchester is often adversarial with Hawkeye and B.J. but joins forces with them if it is justified. He has a dry sense of humor and enjoys practical jokes as well as the occasional prank to get revenge on his bunkmates for something they did or for his own amusement.
Colonel Sherman T Potter – Henry Morgan – Sherman Potter became the father figure of the camp. He was their unquestionable leader. Henry Morgan did a great job with the role.
Major Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan – Loretta Swit – Of all the characters Margaret goes through the biggest change. She is now one of the gang and even defiant at authority at times. She is someone by now that you would love to know. She is still tough but far from the by the book person she was at one time.
Francis John Patrick Mulcahy – William Christopher – Mulcahy understands that many of his “flock” are non-religious or have other faiths, and does not overly preach at them. Rather than lecturing at people, he seeks to teach by example, or by helping someone see the error of their ways
Maxwell Klinger – Jamie Farr – Corporal Klinger who once tried to eat a jeep bolt by bolt just to get out of the army now seems happy to serve. When he took over Radar’s job he seemed quite content.
Stand out Episodes
Dreams – After long hours operating the episode gets into the subconscious of the 4077. Each cast member is shown dreaming.
Goodbye, Farewell and Amen – The last episode of Mash. The show was so strongly anticipated that commercial blocks were sold higher than for the Superbowl that year… from Wiki… It still stands as the most-watched finale of any television series, as well as the most-watched episode
Klinger: Rosie, I need a favor. Rosie: Five dollars. Klinger: I just wanna talk. Rosie: OK, three dollars.
BJ: Do you know how to make a cow say “ah”? Hawkeye: Not without getting emotionally involved.
PA System Announcer: Ladies and gentlemen, five minutes ago, at 10:01 this morning, the truce was signed in Panmunjon. The hostilities will end twelve hours from now at ten o’clock. THE WAR IS OVER!
Hawkeye: Look, I know how tough it is for you to say goodbye, so I’ll say it. Maybe you’re right. Maybe we will see each other again. But just in case we don’t, I want you to know how much you’ve meant to me. I’ll never be able to shake you. Whenever I see a pair of big feet or a cheesy mustache, I’ll think of you. B. J.: Whenever I smell month-old socks, I’ll think of you. Hawkeye: Or the next time somebody nails my shoe to the floor… B. J.: Or when somebody gives me a martini that tastes like lighter fluid. Hawkeye: I’ll miss you. B. J.: I’ll miss you, a lot. I can’t imagine what this place would’ve been like if I hadn’t found you here. [The two men hug, then Hawkeye boards the helicopter while B. J. mounts his motorcycle, where he shouts over the helicopter] I’ll see you back in the States—I promise! But just in case, I left you a note! Hawkeye: What?![B. J. rides off. Hawkeye gives the pilot the thumbs-up to take off. As the helicopter ascends, Hawkeye looks down and smiles as he sees a message spelled in stones: GOODBYE]
There are some great episodes during the middle run of Mash. We see Henry’s replacement in Colonel Sherman T Potter. He led the 4077 but let everyone be themselves. Potter was unquestionably a better leader than Henry was but I still missed Henry. We also see Frank Burns leave and Margaret change.
We see Trapper leave and BJ Hunnicutt take his place as Hawkeye’s friend and fellow Frank Burns tormentor. BJ was faithful to his wife unlike Trapper and was a little more level headed.
Frank Burns leaving left a hole in the show. I will admit sometimes the writers would go too far with Frank but he united Hawkeye and BJ. After Frank goes crazy attacking different women (off-camera) in Tokyo (thinking they are Margaret) he gets transferred to his hometown and promoted much to Hawkeye and BJ’s dismay.
His replacement is Charles Winchester III and he is a good foil for the show but balances out because he is such a good surgeon. It’s easy to dislike Charles but he is not Frank.
We also say goodbye to Radar in the 8th season.
Characters from the from years 4-8.
Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce – Alan Alda – Hawkeye was funny as always but a bit more serious in these years. After the 4th season
Captain B.J. Hunnicutt – Mike Farrell – BJ was a good partner with Hawkeye but in other ways opposite of Trapper John. BJ was faithful to his wife Peg in Mill Valley. He was more level headed than Trapper or Hawkeye.
Major Charles Emerson Winchester III – David Ogden Stiers – The snobby surgeon who was called into duty because he was owed money by a higher ranking officer so he was sent to the 4077. Charles replaced Frank and had a few unlikeable qualities but unlike Frank, he was a great surgeon, was intelligent, and could be kind at times.
Colonel Sherman T Potter – Henry Morgan – Sherman Potter was real Army but still had his fun side. He was a much better leader than Henry and took control of the 4077 but let everyone be themselves.
Major Frank Burns – Larry Linville – I love how they wrote for Frank’s character. Many times writers will soften the “bad” guys up but Frank stayed his annoying whiny self until he left the show in the 6th season. Frank starts going insane when Margaret gets engaged to Donald Penobscot.
Major Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan – Loretta Swit – When Margaret got engaged to Donald Penobscot and left Frank… The character started to change. She became a little more fun-loving and went with the flow of the camp much more. She respected Colonel Potter much more so than Blake and she was a little more understanding now.
Corporal Walter “Radar”O’Reilly – Gary Burghoff – We learn more about Radar during these seasons. One episode has his home movies and we meet his mom (Burghoff in drag) and his relatives. He also grows close to Colonel Potter and gives the Colonel a horse (Sophie) in one episode.
Francis John Patrick Mulcahy – William Christopher – His character was pretty consistent during the run of the show. He is a caring man who could very well be mistaken as a priest.
Maxwell Klinger – Jamie Farr – Corporal Klinger still dresses in women’s clothing and tries different stunts trying to get out of the army. When Radar leaves he has to take over the corporal duties and he starts being more of a conventional part of the team…though he always pulls his weight throughout the show.
Stand out Episodes
Welcome to Korea – Hawkeye gets back from Tokyo and finds out that Trapper John left that morning to go home. He wanted to say goodbye and grabbed Radar and went to the airport to catch Trapper before he left. He missed him but met BJ Hunnicutt coming in. After a few drinks, they become fast friends and bond and BJ gets action right away on the way to camp.
The Nurses – Margaret confronts her nurses and we learn a lot about her in this episode. She becomes much more of well-rounded character from this episode on…more of a human than previously explored.
The Interview – Real life war correspondent Clete Roberts interviews the gang at the 4077. The episode is shot in black and white and the jokes are kept at a minimum in this episode.
Good-Bye Radar – Radar reluctantly prepares to depart the 4077th. We see Klinger trying to do Radar’s job when he is off on R&R and Radar comes back to a mess. His Uncle Ed dies so Colonel Potter tells him he can go home and take care of his mom. He wasn’t going to go at first because he felt a responsibility to the camp.
BJ: Frank, weren’t you a Boy Scout? Frank: Yes. I was. Later, I was Scoutmaster. Hawkeye: Until those little ingrates set fire to his pants. Frank: Not true. That was a drill.
Margaret: Did you ever once show me any friendship? Ever ask my help in a personal problem? Include me in one of your little bull sessions? Can you imagine how it feels to walk by this tent and… [gasps and breaks down] hear you laughing and know that I’m not welcome? Did you ever offer me a lousy cup of coffee? Nurse: We didn’t think you’d accept. Margaret: Well, you were wrong.
Potter: We all know when the Good Lord passed out paranoia, Frank Burns got on line twice. Hawkeye: Three times; and the third time, he denied ever being in line!
Charles: (trying to find a place to sleep in Potter’s tent) I demand a space for my cot. Hawkeye: (picks up a small box) Hello, room service, send up a larger room.
This is a great documentary by Bruce Brown on surfing. I live in Tennessee and there are no beaches in sight but this 1966 documentary held my attention all the way through. Brown narrates this and keeps it tight and the pacing is good.
If you like surfing or not it doesn’t matter. This documentary will hold your interest as Brown goes around the world with surfers looking for the perfect wave. Brown filmed in Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Hawaii, and California. The characters that surrounded the sport in that era are worth watching.
Bruce put up $50, 000 of his own money to make the film and it ended up making 30 million.
He would follow up with Endless Summer part II in 1994. I’ve watched both but I like1964 film better because of the people who followed the sport at the time. The 94 version has better camera action but I like the characters more in this one.
A few years later Bruce would work with Steve McQueen and make the documentary “On Any Sunday” about the impact of motorcycles in our culture.
Someone in 1987 hijacked the airwaves in Chicago and to this day no one has been identified.
On Sunday, Nov. 22, 1987, Chicago sportscaster Dan Roan was covering the sports highlights of the day like normal. This night would be different. At 9:14, Dan Roan disappeared from the screen. In fact, everything disappeared from the screen as it flickered into darkness. Then, 15 seconds later, a new figure appeared.
Someone with a rubber Max Headroom mask with just static…started bobbing his or her head on the screen. It only lasted around 20 seconds and Dan laughed and blamed it on the computer. The employees of the station thought it was an inside job but it wasn’t…they searched everywhere in the building but it did not come from inside the station. It was creepy but harmless…but whoever did it wasn’t finished yet.
Later on, viewers watching “Doctor Who” on WTTW-TV in Chicago got a big surprise. A 90-second hijacking of the airwaves, featuring the same person dressed as Max Headroom. This time it was a little more action. Headroom bobbed his head again and said a few things. The audio was hard to make out on one viewing. He held up a can of Pepsi while reciting the Coca-Cola slogan “catch the wave.” Max Headroom was, at the time, being used as a spokesperson for Coke. Near the end, he turned around and was spanked by a woman…There was more to it and both videos are below in the post.
Most of Chicago found this hilarious but…The FCC did NOT see the humor at all. They used all of their resources to see who hijacked the airwaves. They offered a reward for anyone knowing the people responsible. They released this message:
“I would like to inform anybody involved in this kinda thing, that there’s a maximum penalty of $100,000, one year in jail, or both,” Phil Bradford, an FCC spokesman, told a reporter the following day.
“All in all, there are some who may view this as comical,” WTTW spokesman Anders Yocom said. “But it is a very serious matter because illegal interference of a broadcast signal is a violation of federal law. ”
The hijacker was never found and to this day people still wonder who it was and why they did it. The FCC worked out how it could have been accomplished without expensive equipment…by placing his or her own dish antenna between the transmitter tower, the hacker could have effectively interrupted the original signal by good timing and positioning.
When I think of horror movies..this one tops the list. I don’t get scared easily and slasher films make me laugh more than anything. This film is different to me than other horror movies. It’s been copied with sometimes awful results.
I got to see this in a theater in 2000 on Halloween at the re-release of the director’s cut. It was an experience I’ll never forget. The place was full of teenagers who were scared even though they had seen more modern horror movies but this one still worked.
When it was released in 1973 it was a huge success. Lines wrapped around street corners waiting to get in to see this. It broke records across the nation in most theaters it opened. The Exorcist went on to gross $232.91 million (1.6 Billion adjusted to today) domestically. The Exorcist film has grossed over $441 million at the worldwide box office.
I remember firsthand how this was handled by theaters. My cousin was pregnant at the time this movie premiered in 1973 and they would not let her in to see the movie because they did not want to be liable.
People were fainting or becoming ill at almost every show. This movie has its place firmly in 70’s pop culture.
Stephen King: [The Exorcist] is a film about explosive social change, a finely honed focusing point for that entire youth explosion that took place in the late sixties and early seventies. It was a movie for all those parents who felt, in a kind of agony and terror, that they were losing their children and could not understand why or how it was happening.
Saturday night we had some guests over and we all played Yahtzee. It was the first time I’d played it since the 1980s at least. I had a good time and looked up the history of the game.
In 1954 a wealthy anonymous Canadian couple, who called it The Yacht Game invented the game to play aboard their yacht. They would invite friends and teach them. In 1956 they went to toy maker Edwin S. Lowe to make some games for their friends as Christmas gifts. Edwin liked the game so much that he wanted to buy the rights to it. The couple sold the rights for the amount of making them a 1000 games.
When Edwin released it on the market it did not do well in it’s first year. The game could not be explained easily in an ad. It had many nuances and interesting things about it and they can only be understood if the game was actually played.
Finally, Edwin tried a different approach. He started to have Yahtzee parties hoping to spread the news about the game by word of mouth. That started to work and Yahtzee got extremely popular. During Lowe’s ownership alone, over forty million copies of the game were sold in the United States of America as well as around the globe
In 1973 Milton Bradley Company bought the E.S. Lowe Company and in 1984 Hasbro, Inc. acquires the Milton Bradley Company and the game.
The origins of the game came from the Puerto Rican game Generala and the English games of Poker Dice and Cheerio. Another game, Yap, shows close similarities to Yahtzee.
This 1921 movie by Charlie Chaplin teamed him up with young Jackie Coogan. You may remember the adult Coogan as Uncle Fester on the Addams Family. It’s a great film with some classic scenes between Chaplin and Coogan. This was Chaplin’s first feature film. He was finishing up his First National contract as he co-founded United Artists with Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith.
The Jackie Coogan and Chaplin…Jackie Coogan as Uncle Fester
The story starts off with a woman (Edna Purviance) that abandons her baby in the back of an expensive car hoping that the owners will give her baby a life that she can not. The car is then stolen and the baby is left on the street. The Tramp (Chaplin) finds the baby and takes it home and raises him. Five years pass and he loves the kid and together they have a great scheme going on.
The kid goes around throwing rocks through windows and out of nowhere later on comes The Tramp who would just so happen to have glass and materials with him to fix the window for a price.
The authorities soon find out that the Tramp is not the kid’s father. While this is going on the mother who is doing really well now is looking for her child. The Tramp and Kid are pursued and in this film, Chaplin had some serious and tender moments combining comedy with pathos which at the time was a turning point. The movie was considered a masterpiece when it was released.
One scene that jumps out is the scene where social services are physically taking the child away and Chaplin fights…not comically but really fights to keep the Kid.
The film was written, directed, produced and starred… Charlie Chaplin. Edna Purviance makes her last appearance acting with Chaplin. She would be directed by him one more time in a drama as a leading lady. This movie kicked off Coogan’s very successful child acting career.
Jackie Coogan would become a star in the twenties. He earned 3-4 million dollars acting and when he turned 21 in 1935 he thought he was set for life only to find out the money was gone. His mother and step-father spent all of his money on furs, jewelry, and cars. His mom said that Jackie enjoyed himself acting and no promises were ever made to give him any of the money. Jackie sued his mom in 1938 and only received 125,000 dollars of his money.
Coogan had financial problems for a long while and even went to Chaplin for help which Chaplin gladly gave him money.
One good thing came out of it. The “Coogan Act” which made parents set aside at least 15 percent of their child’s earnings to a trust fund.
If you get a chance this is a great short entertaining movie.
I remember seeing this movie with some buddies in the 1980s and we all loved it. A great mockumentary of the fictional rock group Spinal Tap and their dying drummers. There are many quotable lines in this movie and they have stayed with me since I saw it the first time. I’ve met some people who didn’t get this movie at all and some who loved it.
The movie starred Michael McKeon as singer/guitarist David Saint Hubbins, Christopher Guest as guitarist Nigel Tufnel (reminded me of Jeff Beck), Harry Shearer as bassist Derek Smalls, Tony Hendra as manager Ian Faith, David Kaff as keyboard player Vic Savage and R.J. Parnell as drummer Mick Shrimpton…also Rob Reiner as the Marty DiBergi the filmmaker.
Harry Shearer, Michael McKean, and Christopher Guest actually wrote, played, and sang the music.
The movie was released in 1984 and started slow but built a cult following. At first, some people thought it was about a real band and they would ask Reiner why he would do a documentary on a band no one had heard of.
Christopher Guest said he was inspired at an LA hotel in 1974 when a British band came in and the manager of the band asked the bass player if he left his bass at the airport. The bass player replied I don’t know if I left it…did I leave it? Do you get my bass at the airport? Guest said this went on for 20 minutes back and forth and it stuck with him.
They did have a basic story but the movie was ad-libbed with no script. They had over 100 hours of film and had to edit it down. They have regrouped many times and played live concerts as Spinal Tap.
This Is Spinal Tap was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry because it is a film that is considered “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress.
My favorite bits? Stonehenge, Nigel’s “Mach” piece, these go to 11, Nigel’s bread, you can’t dust vomit… there are too many to name them all. check the videos out at the bottom.
Some of it hits home according to some rock stars.
Quotes about the movie
The Edge – “It’s so hard to keep things fresh, and not to become a parody of yourself,”. “And if you’ve ever seen that movie Spinal Tap, you will know how easy it is to parody what we all do. The first time I ever saw it, I didn’t laugh. I wept. I wept because I recognized so much and so many of those scenes.”
Ozzy Osbourne reportedly thought it was a real documentary. ” “They seemed quite tame compared to what we got up to”
Joe Perry from Aerosmith – “It was great, every bit as brilliant as it was supposed to be, so good. Even then, we had been through it all six times. I told Steven the next day, ‘You’ve got to see this movie! It’s so good. It’s hilarious.’”
Steven Tyler from Aerosmith – “That movie bummed me out, because I thought, ‘How dare they? That’s all real, and they’re mocking it’
Pete Townsend – “Keith Moon “was ‘Spinal Tap incarnate.”
I discovered Neysa McMein through Harpo Marx’s autobiography “Harpo Speaks” and I looked up her artwork. I’ve seen her art plenty of times by reading and collecting 20’s and 30’s magazines but never knew the artist. She was also a member of the famed Algonquin Round Table.
She was born Marjorie Frances McMein in 1888 but after seeing a numerologist she changed her name to Neysa. Neysa had musical, acting, and artistic talent. She had a brief stint as an actress in 1913 but then started to work as an illustrator and portrait painter who studied at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago and Art Students League of New York.
She sold millions of magazines with her covers for McCall’s, Saturday Evening Post, Collier’s, McClure’s, Woman’s Home Companion, Photoplay, Liberty, Associated Sunday Magazine, Ladies World. Ad work: memorably for Palmolive; also Cadillac, Lucky Strike, Adam’s Gum, Coke, Hummingbird Hosiery, Gainsborough Hair Nets, Colgate.
She painted portraits of two sitting presidents, Warren G. Harding, and Herbert Hoover.
She also created the first Betty Crocker and updated her through the years.
During World War I, she traveled across France entertaining military troops with Dorothy Parker and made posters to support the war effort.She was made an honorary non-commissioned officer in the United States Marine Corps for her contributions to the war effort.
Neysa marching in 1917 in a Suffrage Parade.
Harpo Marx said this about Neysa: The biggest love affair in New York City was between me—along with two dozen other guys—and Neysa McMein. Like me, Neysa was an unliterary, semi-illiterate gate-crasher at the Algonquin. But unlike me, she was beautiful and bursting with talk and talent. A lot of us agreed she was the sexiest gal in town. Everybody agreed she was the best portrait and cover artist of the times.
She taught Harpo Marx how to paint and according to Harpo she only had one failing as a teacher: Neysa had one failing as an art instructor. It was, as far as I knew, her only failing, period. That was her passion for fires. If a siren or bell should sound during one of our late-night seminars, that was the end of the seminar. Neysa was such a fire buff that she once dashed to Penn Station and jumped on a train when she heard there was a four-alarm fire burning in Philadelphia.
The Harpo quotes are from his autobiography “Harpo Speaks.”
Neysa died in 1949 and was inducted into the Society of Illustrators’ Hall of Fame in 1984.
When this show premiered in 1972, there were only 12 paramedics in North America. By 197,7 50% of the US Population was within 10 minutes of a paramedic unit. Former Fire Chief P. Michael Freeman said, “Watching Johnny and Roy in action on Emergency! was a reflection of how early Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedics really worked; it redefined the scope of the fire service. It was truly one of America’s first reality shows.”
Of course, this show wasn’t the purpose of the increase..but the show did influence a generation of kids to be paramedics and firefighters.
Emergency! was created by Jack Webb, Robert A. Cinader, and Harold Jack Bloom. Webb and Cinader also created the police dramas Adam-12 and Dragnet.
Adam-12 Webb and Cinader would go to great lengths to make everything as authentic as possible, sometimes using real case files. Randolph Mantooth explained how series co-creator and producer Robert A. Cinader asked the writing staff to pull all the rescues to be portrayed on the show from a real fire station’s logbook. “He told them it didn’t have to come from just LACoFD or Los Angeles or even California, but it did have to come from someone’s logbook.”
Fire Station “51” was where they were based. At that time, there was no Station 51 in Los Angeles. In 1995, when Universal City needed a fire station, they opened one, and it became 51 in honor of the show.
The show followed two firemen-paramedics who would get calls for car wrecks, earthquakes, fires, and any kind of emergency taking place. The show starred Randolph Mantooth as John Roderick “Johnny” Gage and Kevin Tighe as Roy DeSoto. The hospital staff included Julie London as Dixie McCall, Bobby Troup as Dr. Joe Early, and Robert Fuller as Dr. Kelly Brackett.
Adam 12 and Emergency! would sometimes cross over to each other’s shows.
There were a couple blink-and-you ”ll-miss-it crossovers between Emergency! and the motorcycle patrol show CHiPs. Squad 51 can be seen responding in the season one episode “Cry Wolf,” while in season two’s “MAIT Team,” Engine 51 and Squad 51 show up to the scene of a horrific pile-up.
I liked Emergency! as a kid…I prefer Adam-12 because of the 30-minute format compared to the hour-long Emergency! But it’s a good show.
Everyone’s list will be different but classic rock radio has just overplayed these songs. It does not mean I don’t/didn’t like the song to begin with…some I didn’t…some I did… There are more than this but I kept it at 20. No need for me to post youtube links…just turn on a classic rock station and they will come to you.
I’ve tried to keep it one per band or artist. The order of these is not really important…you could pull them out of a hat and be just as well. Sometimes the artists have other hits that you don’t hardly hear but no… they stick to the old reliables.
Radio has ruined these for me. Yes, I’m older and have heard them more than some other people but my 18-year-old son suggested a few of them.
Taking Care of Business – Bachman Turner Overdrive – I liked this song at one time…Now I would pull a hamstring getting up to turn it off.
Hotel California – Eagles – I still like the solos at the end with Joe Walsh and Don Felder but the rest I can do without.
More Than A Feeling – Boston – At one time it was refreshing and different. Radio has worked this song like the town pump.
In The Air Tonight– Phil Collins (just one of many) His songs saturated the market so much in the 80s that is was enough for 3 lifetimes
Jukebox Hero – Foreigner – I know huge Foreigner fans but I’m not one of them. This one I know more than I should.
Feel Like Making Love– Bad Company – Not a well-written song to begin with…it doesn’t get better with more spins. They have good songs…Painted Face, Crazy Circles but they don’t get played as much.
Don’t Stop Believing– Journey – Yes it’s catchy and an eighties theme…it fit at the end of the Sopranos…but I can do without it.
Start Me Up – Rolling Stones – Oh how I loved this song when it was released. I liked it a decade later…until Microsoft used it and since then you would think it was the Stones only song.
Tom Sawyer – Rush – See number 5
The Joker – Steve Miller – Hanspostcard says it all.
Money – Pink Floyd – Great band and they have so many others they could play.
Roundabout – Yes – When I hear the octave on the guitar I spin the dial like a top to another station.
Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd – In the south where I live this song is required listening…. over and over and over…They have better songs…
Sharp Dressed Man – ZZ Top – I loved the video, the car, and the girls in the video but the song no more. How about the older ZZ Top?
Bad to the Bone – George Thorogood & the Destroyers – In high school alone I heard it enough.
Old Time Rock and Roll– Bob Seger – The first 5 times I heard it…I liked it…but after the 1, 855th time…no more.
Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin – It’s been played backward, forward and sideways…and the hidden message is the same…a worn out masterpiece.
Barracuda – Heart – This and Magic Man are like the bookends of worn out songs.
Black Water – Dobbie Brothers – I’ve never bought a record by them and they had great musicians in that band…but this is nauseatingly overplayed
You Give Love a Bad Name – Bon Jovi – Not for me the first time or the many times after…in cars, shopping centers, and grocery stores.
To be fair…there are songs that are worn out but yet I still listen to… Who Are You, Baba O’Riley, Hey Jude, Lola, Paint It Black, Brown Eyed Girl…
In the early 70s Television was going through a bout of criticism by the public because of its violence, there was the fear of government intervention and censorship. CBS decided to make the “Homecoming” into a series. Their reasoning was that once this family-oriented series aired and if it proved a failure, they would have shown they tried to put out a show that the public wanted. But the show did not fail. It took a little time, but it found its audience and CBS unexpectedly found itself with a smash hit on its hands.
The Waltons have been made fun of through the years. Other shows such as Good Times took shots at it for being too wholesome. I watched it when it was originally on. I liked the show and my mom thought I loved the show so she got me a Waltons Lunchbox. So while my buddies had the Superfriends, Evel Knievel, and cool lunchboxes I had the Waltons…yea my buddies got some mileage out of that but it was ok…I would love to have that lunchbox now.
A few years ago I got the complete DVD set and started to watch them again. The series had such quality scripts and the children were believable but the ones who made the show to me were Will Geer and Ellen Corby.
Will Geer’s grandpa was a grandpa everyone would love to have. Johnboy (Richard Thomas) was the lead to the show but when he left it remained solid to me. When Will Geer died the show missed him terribly. Ellen Corby’s grandma could be spicy and cantankerous and she helped balance the show from the sometimes sugary episodes.
The show ages well because it was set in the depression era and that is what you get until later on in the show’s run. The show remained a quality show in part because writer Earl Hamner Jr. remained with the show the nine years it was on. The show ended up winning 11 Emmy Awards…Good Night Johnboy became a catchphrase that you still hear today.
I’ve read about this gathering for years. Writers, Editors, Artists, Humorists, Actors, Actresses and Reporters would gather at the Algonquin Hotel for what has been known as the 10-year lunch. They would hold court jesting with each other about a number of topics. It was not the place for the thin-skinned. Groucho Marx, the king of insults never felt comfortable there. He once said, “The price of admission is a serpent’s tongue and a half-concealed stiletto.”
Round Tabler Edna Ferber, who called them “The Poison Squad,” wrote, “They were actually merciless if they disapproved. I have never encountered a more hard-bitten crew. But if they liked what you had done, they did say so publicly and whole-heartedly.” Their standards were high, their vocabulary fluent, fresh, and very tough. Both casual and sharp-witted, they had incredible integrity about their work and endless ambition. Some of the members of the Round Table came together to work on each other projects. They essentially networked with each other. George Kaufman teamed up with Edna Ferber and Marc Connelly on some of his stage comedies, including Dulcy and The Royal Family. Harold Ross of The New Yorker hired both Dorothy Parker as a book reviewer and Robert Benchley as a drama critic.
By 1925, the Round Table was famous. What had started as a private gathering became public. The country-at-large was now attentive to their every word—people often coming to stare at them during lunch. Some members began to tire of the constant publicity. The time they spent entertaining and being entertained took its toll on several of the Algonquin members. In 1927, the execution of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, whose case had divided the country and the Round Table… seemed to cast a pall over the group’s antics.
Dorothy Parker believed strongly in the pair’s innocence, and upon their deaths, she remarked “I had heard someone say and so I said too, that ridicule is the most effective weapon. Well, now I know that there are things that never have been funny and never will be. And I know that ridicule may be a shield but it is not a weapon.”
As America entered the Depression, the bonds that had held the group together started to break. Many members moved to Hollywood for work or on to other interests. It didn’t officially end…it just faded. All in all, it lasted around 10 years.
The last gathering of the Algonquin Round Table was when Alexander Woollcott died in 1943. They all hadn’t met there in years…but the surviving members went straight there after the funeral for the last time.
Members and Part time-Members who would drop by
George S. Kaufman (1889–1961): Playwright, New York Times drama editor, producer, director, actor. Wrote forty-five plays (twenty-six hits), won two Pulitzer Prizes.
Alexander Woollcott (1887–1943): Drama critic for New York Times and New York World, CBS radio star as the Town Crier, model for the character of Sheridan Whiteside in Kaufman and Hart’s “The Man Who Came to Dinner”.
Beatrice B. Kaufman (1894–1945): Editor, writer, socialite. Married to George.
Harpo Marx (1888–1964): Actor, comedian, musician, card player.
Dorothy Parker (1893–1967): Vanity Fair drama critic, New Yorker critic. Celebrated poet, short-story writer, playwright. Wrote Hollywood screenplays. Champion for social justice.
Franklin P. Adams (1881–1960): Columnist at the New York Tribune, the New York World, and the New York Evening Post; wrote the “Always in Good Humor” and “The Conning Tower” columns. Always known as FPA.
Robert Benchley (1889–1945): Vanity Fair managing editor, Life drama editor, humorist and actor in short films.
Heywood Broun (1888–1939): Sportswriter at New York Tribune, columnist at New York World, author; helped found Newspaper Guild.
Marc Connelly (1890–1980): Newspaperman turned playwright; cowrote plays with George S. Kaufman. Won Pulitzer Prize for play The Green Pastures.
Edna Ferber (1887–1968): Novelist and playwright. Cowrote plays with George S. Kaufman, including Dinner at Eight. Won Pulitzer Prize for her novel So Big. Wrote Show Boat, Saratoga Trunk, Cimarron, and Giant.
Ruth Gordon (): American film, stage, and television actress, as well as a screenwriter and playwright. Later in life starred in Harold and Maude.
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Margalo Gillmore (1897–1986): Actress and “the baby of the Round Table.” Starred in early Eugene O’Neill plays.
Jane Grant (1892–1972): First female New York Times general assignment reporter; co-founded The New Yorker with husband Harold Ross.
Ruth Hale (1887–1934): Broadway press agent, helped pass Nineteenth Amendment for women’s rights, married Heywood Broun.
Margaret Leech Pulitzer (1894–1974): Magazine short story writer turned serious historian. Married Ralph Pulitzer; after his death, she earned two Pulitzer Prizes in history.
Alice Duer Miller (1874-1942): A writer from the U.S. whose poetry actively influenced political opinion. Her feminist verses made an impact on the suffrage issue.
Neysa McMein (1888–1949): Popular magazine cover illustrator, painter. Wrote about party games.
Herman J. Mankiewicz (1897–1953): Press agent, early New Yorker drama critic; cowrote plays with Kaufman, produced Marx Brothers movies. Won an Oscar for co-writing Citizen Kane.
Brock Pemberton (1885–1950): Broadway producer and director. Wrote short stories.
Harold Ross (1892–1951): Founded The New Yorker with his wife, Jane Grant.
Arthur H. Samuels (1888–1938): Editor of Harper’s Bazaar.
Robert E. Sherwood (1896–1955): Vanity Fair drama editor, Life editor, author, playwright who won four Pulitzer Prizes. Won Oscar for writing The Best Years of Our Lives.
Laurence Stallings (1895–1968): Ex-reporter, editorial writer for New York World. Collaborated with Maxwell Anderson on What Price Glory?
Donald Ogden Stewart (1894–1980): Author, playwright, screenwriter. Won Oscar for The Philadelphia Story.
Frank Sullivan (1892–1976): Journalist turned humorist. longtime contributor to The New Yorker.
Deems Taylor (1886–1966): Music critic turned populist composer. Wrote libretto for The King’s Henchmen with Edna St. Vincent Millay. Started national concert series. Narrator of Disney classic Fantasia.
John V. A. Weaver (1893–1938): Poet who wrote in street vernacular, literary editor of the Brooklyn Eagle
Peggy Wood (1892–1978): Actress in musical comedies, plays, early TV star.
PowerPop... An Eclectic Collection of Pop Culture 