Spoilers… this episode is hard to write about without giving some away. I like the concept of the episode but I found the plot lacking.
This is a relatively forgettable Twilight Zone episode. Shelley Berman plays Archibald Beechcroft who is fed up with humanity. He is given a book which tells him that with the proper mental state he can eliminate the stresses of the day…namely every one else on earth but him. He is not a likeable person so we feel very little sympathy for him.
Beechcroft detests people, but he feels he has no alternative but to suffer the crowds and the noise until an office boy, trying to make up for spilling coffee on his suit, gives him a book on mind power. After reading this, Beechcroft is convinced that concentration can do anything, and he proves it by making his landlady disappear, followed by everybody else in the world.
The good thing about this episode is the special effects.
This show was written by Rod Serling
Rod Serling’s Opening Narration:
A brief if frenetic introduction to Mr. Archibald Beechcroft. A child of the 20th century, a product of the population explosion, and one of the inheritors of the legacy of progress. Mr. Beechcroft again, this time Act Two of his daily battle for survival, and in just a moment our hero will begin his personal one-man rebellion against the mechanics of his age, and to do so he will enlist certain aides available only in the Twilight Zone.
Summary
The intolerant Archibald Beechcroft is a clerk of the Central Park Insurance Co. that hates everybody. When a colleague gives him a book about the power of the mind, Archibald reads the magic book and decides to wipe out the human race. However, he feels lonely and uses his ability to make the entire population of his city his perfect clone, discovering how hateful the world would be.
Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:
Mr. Archibald Beechcroft, a child of the twentieth century, who has found out through trial and error – and mostly error – that with all its faults, it may well be that this is the best of all possible worlds. People notwithstanding, it has much to offer. Tonight’s case in point – in the Twilight Zone.
CAST
Rod Serling…Narrator
Shelley Berman…Archibald Beechcroft
Jack Grinnage…Henry
Chet Stratton…Mr. Rogers
Robert McCord…Elevator Operator
Jeane Wood…Landlady
This 80s band started off as a surf band and then they switched to a more garage band sound. The song has a 1960s feel…it would be expected from a band who had a song called (I Wish It Could Be) 1965 Again.
The Barracudas are an English-Canadian band that formed in 1978 when Robin Wills (from London) met Jeremy Gluck (from Ottawa) and they are now based in England. The band’s original line-up consisted of Jeremy Gluck (vocals), Robin Wills (guitar and vocals), Starkie Phillips (bass and vocals) and Adam Phillips (drums).
The band broke up in 1984 but reformed in 1989. In 2005 they released their back catalog and that provided a boost to their career. They started to release singles and an album in 2014. They ended up with more compilations albums than regular releases.
This song was released in 1981 on their debut album Drop Out.
There was also a sixties band with the same name.
Jeremy Gluck:Radio was an enormous influence. You can’t imagine now how important it was then, it would seem sentimental to get into it. There were some good local stations, like CFRA, that played the Top 40 – I remember calling them like crazy in hope of my “Bang-a-Gong” request hitting paydirt. But the best was on FM. The night my top FM DJ played all of ‘Quadrophenia’ days before its release was one of many highlights. At night through the crystal clear winter skies I could tune in dozens of American stations, and discovered a lot of music and madness that way. Radio is magic: the first time I heard a record of mine on radio (John Peel show!), it was an epiphany.
Jeremy Gluck is the author and founder of the Nonceptualism art manifesto…yea don’t ask me but he described it.
“Nonceptualism is about the (an) end to art, and the end of the idea of an artist in self-concept and conception and execution of work, as we and consider it…but maybe it’s also my way of saying, It’s about an end to some or all of me as I’ve conceived myself since conditioning began – as it does with all of us – not long after birth. Which I like…”
We’re Living In Violent Times
Stayed in all day I was scared of getting killed Didn’t pick up my pay I know I’ll just get bills Maybe it’s all in my frozen mind We’re living in violent times Maybe it’s in my mind We’re living in violent times Took the news off the TV It always depresses me Put my new car in the garage I’m so scared of a crash I couldn’t wait to turn off the lights We’re living in violent times I tell ya We’re living in violent times Protested Guess I should look at the bright side And be glad just to be alive I’ll be happy right now If I come through this and survive I’m not imagining this I see the signs We’re living in violent times
This one is a Twilight Zone classic. Dennis Weaver stars in this episode as Adam Grant. Weaver has always been a favorite of mine. He starred in the movie Duel, as McCloud, and in the first 9 seasons of Gunsmoke as Chester. Again and again The Twilight Zone cast these episodes perfectly.
This one is about a nightmare that Adam Grant finds himself trapped in. Grant has created this world with many of the same faces but different characters. It starts with him in a court room being convicted of first degree murder. We don’t see the crime…just Adam being thrown in jail and on death row…but something is off and he knows it. This episode is one of the must see Twilight Zones.
The writer Charles Beaumont once again explores a nightmare in Shadow Play as he did in Perchance for a Dream.
From IMDB: The title refers to the ancient art of shadow play or shadow puppetry using opaque figures that cast shadows on clear curtains. Such entertainment is known in countries throughout the world and is presented in theaters and by traveling troupes.
This show was written by Charles Beaumont and Rod Serling
Rod Serling’s Opening Narration:
Adam Grant, a nondescript kind of man, found guilty of murder and sentenced to the electric chair. Like every other criminal caught in the wheels of justice, he’s scared, right down to the marrow of his bones. But it isn’t prison that scares him, the long, silent nights of waiting, the slow walk to the little room, or even death itself. It’s something else that holds Adam Grant in the hot, sweaty grip of fear, something worse than any punishment this world has to offer, something found only in – The Twilight Zone.
Summary
When Adam Grant is found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced he lashes out telling everyone that he will not be murdered again. Grant claims to be having a recurring nightmare where he is found guilty and executed. The characters around him change and so he argues that all of them will vanish if he dies. It leads newspaperman Paul Carson to question what is real and what might just be a figment of someone else’s imagination. DA Henry Ritchie visits Grant in jail and decides to try and do something about his claims, no matter how far-fetched his claims might be.
Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:
We know that a dream can be real, but who ever thought that reality could be a dream? We exist, of course, but how, in what way? As we believe, as flesh-and-blood human beings, or are we simply parts of someone’s feverish, complicated nightmare? Think about it, and then ask yourself, do you live here, in this country, in this world, or do you live, instead, – in The Twilight Zone?
CAST
Rod Serling…Narrator
Dennis Weaver…Adam Grant
Harry Townes…District Attorney Henry Ritchie
Wright King…Paul Carson
Bernie Hamilton…Coley
William Edmonson…Jiggs
Anne Barton…Carol Ritchie
Tommy Nello…Phillips
Mack Williams…Father Beaman
Gene Roth…Judge
Lets go back to the psychedelic sixties with this song that was released in the Summer of Love. The song fit perfectly with the times even featuring an Indian sitar played by Dave Mason. That year had singles such as “Strawberry Fields Forever”, “Ruby Tuesday”, “Sunshine Of Your Love”, “Nights In White Satin”, “Whiter Shade of Pale”, “See Emily Play”…the list goes on and on. This is a great example of British psychedelia.
Steve Winwood and Jim Capaldi wrote this song in 1967 when Winwood and Capaldi were members of two different bands. They were on tour together, and after a show put the song together in a hotel room.
When Winwood and Capaldi formed Traffic a short time later with Dave Mason and Chris Wood, they recorded Paper Sun and released it as their first single.
The song peaked at #5 in the UK, #4 in Canada, and #94 in the Billboard 100 in 1967.
Jim Capaldi:“I got the title from a newspaper in a boarding house in Newcastle,” “I was half-asleep, lying there writing this lyric in my head at about 3:30 in the morning. I woke up Steve with this idea and then we went into the living room where there was a little upright piano and finished the song.”
Paper Sun
So you think you’re having good times With the boy that you just met Kicking sand from beach to beach Your clothes are soaking wet But if you look around and see A shadow on the run (on the run) Don’t be too upset because it’s just a paper sun
Ah paper sun, ah paper sun
In the room where you’ve been sleeping All our clothes are thrown about Cigarettes burn window sills Your meter’s all run out But there again it’s nothing You just split when day is done (day is gone) Hitching lifts to nowhere, hung up on the paper sun
Ah paper sun, ah paper sun
Standing in the cool of my room Fresh cut flowers give me sweet perfume (too much sun will burn) Too much sun will burn (too much sun will burn) Too much sun will burn
When you’re feeling tired and lonely You see people going home You can’t make the train fare Or the sixpence for the phone And icicles you’re crying Down your cheek have just begun Don’t be sad, good times are had Beneath the paper sun
Ah paper sun, ah paper sun
Daylight breaks while you sleep on the sand A seagull is stealing the ring from your hand The boy who had given you so much fun Has left you so cold in the paper sun In the paper sun, in the paper sun, in the paper sun, in the paper sun
Noddy’s voice in this song is a perfect example of why AC/DC supposedly asked him to replace Bon Scott in 1980.
When they decided to record it, at Olympic Studios, they did so with a live feel, setting up the microphones in the stairwell outside which gave the echo for hand clapping and stamping. Most DJs wouldn’t play it because they thought it was too rowdy, but a few did, including John Peel.
The song was written by Bobby Marchan and he released it in 1964. Little Richard covered it and released it in 1967. Slade heard the Little Richard version and based their recording off of his. Little Richard was given the writer’s credit, then they were sued by the real writer, Bobby Marchan. Slade’s record company, Polydor, sorted out the mess.
It peaked at #16 in the UK in 1971.
From Songfacts
Slade ended their live set with “Get Down And Get With It” for nearly two years; in his autobiography, band member Noddy Holder said it was a Little Richard cover in 12-bar format, but “had something magical about it”; the original was all piano and sax, but they did it with guitars.
It peaked at #16, and earned them an appearance on Top Of The Pops.
When the sheet music was published by Burlington Music at 20p, it was credited correctly to Marchan, copyright 1965 by Tree Publishing of Nashville. The full title was given as “GET DOWN AND GET WITH IT (GET DOWN WITH IT).”
Get Down and Get With It
All right everybody Let your head down I want to say everybody get on of your seat Clap your hand and step your feet *Get down and get with it I said* Do the turns Come on baby I’m going to watch everybody work I said come on baby Watch everybody do the dance (*repeat) It’s been a long long time Yeah,yeah,yeah I’m going to watch everybody go around I said (*repeat) baby Watch everybody make some time
(* repeat) It’s alright Yeah, yeah, yeah Ma ma ma ma….. Baby it’s alright Ma ma ma ma ma ma
Everybody raise both of your hand in the air Everybody, everybody I said clap your hands Everybody clap your hands Yeah,yeah,yeah Ma ma ma ma Everybody clap your hands ma ma ma… I want to see everybody get your boots on Everybody everywhere I said step your feet Come on and step Your feet Yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, Ma ma ma ma… Everybody step your feet Ma ma ma ma… I want to say everybody get above your seats Clap your hands and step your feet Make it
(* repeat) I said (*repeat) I said (*repeat) baby Yeah,yeah,yeah Ma ma ma ma I said come on baby, ma ma ma ma… I said step your feet and do the thing baby Yeah,yeah,yeah Ma ma ma ma… Everybody step your feet baby I said ma ma ma ma Yeah… I said (*repeat) now Yeah,yeah,yeah Ma….. (*repeat) baby Ma…..
One of many songs by Chuck Berry that helped defined Rock and Roll. I first heard the song by the Rolling Stones as Keith Richards is a huge fan of Berry. The Beatles also covered the song live.
Berry’s assistant, Francine Gillium, told Berry about the High School that she worked at and helped him get in the right mindset to write these songs about teenagers. He mostly stayed away from politics and topical references in his songs…which is why many are relatable today.
Chuck Berry got the name Carol from the daughter of Clyde McPhatter’s girlfriend’s daughter. McPhatter was popular R&B singer who fronted The Drifters for a time.
The song peaked at #18 in the Billboard Hot 100 and #9 in the R&B Charts in 1958.
From Songfacts
This song is about a boy who must learn to dance or risk losing Carol to other men. He insists he will learn, and tempts her with a trip to a jumping little joint he knows about.
The Rolling Stones covered this on their first album in 1964. They were the first to bring this and many other R&B songs to a white audience.
The Beatles recorded this song for a BBC radio special in 1963. This recording was released in 1994 of on the Live At The BBC album.
Carol
Oh Carol, don’t let him steal your heart away I’m gonna learn to dance if it takes me all night and day
Climb into my machine so we can cruise on out I know a swingin’ little joint where we can jump and shout It’s not too far back off the highway, not so long a ride You park your car out in the open, you can walk inside A little cutie takes your hat and you can thank her, ma’am Every time you make the scene you find the joint is jammed
Oh Carol, don’t let him steal your heart away I’m gonna learn to dance if it takes me all night and day
And if you want to hear some music like the boys are playin’ Hold tight, pat your foot, don’t let ’em carry it away Don’t let the heat overcome you when they play so loud Oh, don’t the music intrigue you when they get a crowd You can’t dance, I know you wish you could I got my eyes on you baby, ’cause you dance so good
Oh Carol, don’t let him steal your heart away I’m gonna learn to dance if it takes me all night and day
Don’t let him steal your heart away I’ve got to learn to dance if it takes you all night and day Oh Carol
This one is a very good episode with some fine acting by Franchot Tone and Liam Sullivan. There is not just one twist at the end of the episode but two of them. This episode has no supernatural events and it is not a typical episode of the Twilight Zone. It’s pure story and what a story. It was set in a prestigious Gentlemen’s Club with a talkative younger man named Jamie Tennyson (Liam Sullivan) and the grumpy older fellow named Colonel Archie Taylor (Franchot Tone).
Tennyson annoyed Taylor to no end with his non stop chatter. We didn’t get to see a lot of this but Taylor does hate the man. After handing him a note and then announcing to every one…he bet Tennyson $500,000 that he could not be completely quiet for a year. The story goes from there.
Below is a very interesting real life story on the set about the wonderful character actor Franchot Tone.
Franchot Tone Liam Sullivan
The episode present a lot of challenges. The first headache went to George Clemens (Cinematographer). The set where the character Sullivan was to be imprisoned was made up entirely of panes of glass. When I saw the set, I pretty near lost my lunch, Clemens recalls. How in the world am I going to get a light in there, and show light, without getting reflections? But Buck Houghton had hired the right man, and Clemens persevered. Once I started on the thing, he says, I think I only had to take two panes of glass out in the whole picture.
The first days shooting went just fine. The opening and closing scenes of the episode, both of which take place in the main room of the mens club, were completed. The company broke for the weekend. But the biggest problem was yet to come.
On the second day of shooting, Franchot Tone didn’t show up, Serling recalled years later. And we waited and we waited. The call is six in the morning. When it got to be ten a.m. and everybody had been sitting there in their own smoke waiting and no Franchot Tone, we get his agent who tracks him down. He is in a clinic.
Stories differ. According to Liam Sullivan, Tone told him that he’d been at a party and, in attempting to pick a flower for his date off a bush on the terrace, had fallen down a hillside and landed on the driveway of the house next door. According to Serling, Tone had approached a girl in the parking lot of a restaurant and her boyfriend had taken offense and beaten him up. Whatever the truth, the result was still the same: half of Tones face was scraped raw.
With one days shooting in the can, recasting was out of the question. Serling: I said, So be it. Come on in, Franch, and well shoot the other side of your face, which we did.
The result was indeed odd. During the opening scene of the episode, we see Tone full face. When the scene changes to the glass cage in which Sullivan is imprisoned, we only see Tones face in profile or with half of it obscured. Then in the final scene, we see Tone full-face again.
Surprisingly, the effect works to the episodes advantage. The scenes in the middle are those in which Tone tries to convince Sullivan to break his silence, using every dirty trick he can think of, including relaying ugly rumors about Sullivans wife. Speaking out of the corner of his mouth, only half-turned toward Sullivan, Tone seems predatory and sly, what he says takes on an added suggestiveness. The impact was not lost. In fact, director Boris Sagal once recalled that at the time a number of critics complimented him on the effect!
This show was written by Rod Serling
Rod Serling’s Opening Narration:
The note that this man is carrying across a club room is in the form of a proposed wager, but it’s the kind of wager that comes without precedent. It stands alone in the annals of bet-making as the strangest game of chance ever offered by one man to another. In just a moment, we’ll see the terms of the wager and what young Mr. Tennyson does about it. And in the process, we’ll witness all parties spin a wheel of chance in a very bizarre casino called the Twilight Zone.
Summary
Jamie Tennyson is an overly talkative member of a private men’s club. He is challenged by fellow member Col. Archie Taylor to keep his mouth shut for one year. Should he do so, he would win $500,000. Taylor dislikes Tennyson and if nothing else, finds this a way to get a bit of peace and quiet at the club. Tennyson will live in a room in the club, under observation and will communicate in writing only. As the months go by, Taylor begins to worry that Tennyson may just succeed. He can’t believe Tennyson’s will but neither party proves to be completely honorable.
SPOILER VIDEO…DON’T WATCH
Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:
Mr. Jamie Tennyson, who almost won a bet, but who discovered somewhat belatedly that gambling can be a most unproductive pursuit, even with loaded dice, marked cards, or, as in his case, some severed vocal cords. For somewhere beyond him, a wheel was turned, and his number came up black thirteen. If you don’t believe it, ask the croupier, the very special one who handles roulette – in The Twilight Zone.
CAST
Rod Serling…Narrator
Franchot Tone…Archie Taylor
Liam Sullivan…Jamie Tennyson
Jonathan Harris…George Alfred
Cyril Delevanti…Franklin
Everett Glass…Club Member
Felix Locher…Club Member
This song rocks… The riff sounds like it was borrowed from Jethro Tull’s “Locomotive Breath” but he goes somewhere else with it.
This was the debut single of the Fuzztones in 1984. The band was formed in 1980 by Rudi Protrudi in New York. The band was nicknamed “The Gurus of Garage Grunge.” a decade before grunge existed. They played a large role in the mostly underground ’60s revival during the 1980s.
Their debut studio LP, Lysergic Emanations, was released in 1985. Thanks to praise from Ian Astbury of the Cult… the newly relocated Los Angeles-based Fuzztones were one of the few to get a major label deal. Thanks to a hugely successful tour of Europe in 1985, the group built a loyal and dedicated fan base there, and they toured there regularly ever since.
The band broke up in 1987 but Rudi Protrudi recruited other members to form a new Fuzztones and they have touring and releasing albums ever since…with Rudi being the only original member.
According to Discogs they have released over 21 studio and live albums between 1984 through 2020.
Bad News Travel Fast
Well I got somethin’ to say girl I hope you’re listenin’ close ‘Cause here’s one fish you caught that’s Slippery than most Baby You’re just a schoolgirl Well here’s a lesson you can use All the other women Say that I’m Bad News You’re not the first You won’t be the last Bad News Travels Fast
Well you’re friends they all warned you My heart is black as coal So if you wanna ride my highway baby You gotta pay the toll You know I’m bad That’s where it’s at Bad News Travels Fast Well, don’t you try to change me I’ll just string you along Sit back and enjoy the ride Tomorrow I’ll be gone
Baby you’re just a schoolgirl Here’s a lesson you should learn If you want my lovin’, baby You gotta wait your turn Well You’re not the first You won’t be the last Bad News Travels Fast Bad News Travels Fast Bad News Travels Fast
Thanks to Dave at A Sound Day for bringing this song back up to me a few months ago. That 12 string caught my ear right away.
Songwriter and guitarist Black Francis (Charles Thompson IV), he called this song “Hobo film noir.” He said the song was about hobos traveling by train and dying in a big earthquake in California. He started writing it when he was about 15 and was inspired by small earthquakes experienced growing up in California.
This was probably their most popular song, getting lots of airplay on college radio stations. They couldn’t be bothered promoting it but it did well on the alternative charts.
This song was released in 1989 and it was on the album Doolittle. It peaked at #3 in the Alternate Charts and #54 in the UK.
The band broke up in 1993 and reunited in 2004.
Black Francis:“This is a pre-Pixies song that I wrote when I was about 15. It’s about winos and hobos travelling on the trains who dies in the California earthquake. Before earthquakes everything gets very calm, animals stop talking and birds stop chirping and there’s no wind. It’s very ominous. I’ve been through a few earthquakes actually ‘cos I grew up in California. I was only in one big one in 1971. I was very young and I slept through it. I’ve been awake through lots of small ones at school and at home. It’s very exciting actually, a very comical thing. It’s like the earth is shaking, and what can you do? Nothing.”
From Songfacts
The Pixies included this song on their first demo when they set out to get a record deal. Once they were signed, Frank Black had no intention of recording the song, and didn’t until their third album, Doolittle. “People have been telling us to record it ever since so we finally did,” he said.
This became a concert favorite for the Pixies after they reunited in 2004 (they broke up in 1993), but when it first came out, Frank Black had no intention of playing it. “The poppiest song on Doolittle, which we couldn’t even play live if we tried, is ‘Here Comes Your Man,'” he told The Catalogue in 1989. “We would never play that song live; we’re too far removed from it. It’s too wimpy-poppy.”
Joey Santiago played a 12-string Rickenbacker to get the jangly guitar sound on this track.
Here Comes Your Man
Outside there’s a box car waiting Outside the family stew Out by the fire breathing Outside we wait ’til face turns blue
I know the nervous walking I know the dirty beard hangs Out by the box car waiting Take me away to nowhere plains
There is a wait so long You’ll never wait so long
Here comes your man Here comes your man Here comes your man
Big shake on the box car moving Big shake to the land that’s falling down Is a wind makes a palm stop blowing A big, big stone fall and break my crown
There is a wait so long You’ll never wait so long
Here comes your man Here comes your man Here comes your man Here comes your man
There is a wait so long You’ll never wait so long
Here comes your man Here comes your man Here comes your man Here comes your man
Here comes your man Here comes your man Here comes your man Here comes your man
Here comes your man Here comes your man Here comes your man Here comes your man
This episode shows what greed and selfishness can do to the best laid plans. Oscar Beregi Jr who plays Farwell, was in three Twilight Zones including the classic Deaths-Head Revisited and is very good. This is a time travel episode…sort of. Four expert criminals and one is a professor (Farwell) rob a gold shipment. There is no way they can cash in with everyone looking for the gold and them.
The professor Farwell devised a way ( suspended animation) for them to sleep a 100 years so they would be able to sell the gold in the future . The show is carried by the two veteran character actors, Oscar Beregi, Jr. and Simon Oakland. Like most Twilight Zones…I enjoyed the twist at the end. It’s a good solid episode.
If Farwell would have used his head, he could have patented the suspended animation process and would have been rich without turning to a life of crime.
The Rip Van Winkle Caper was filmed at the same location as the previous episode “A Hundred Yards Over The Rim.”
The futuristic vehicle which is shown at the end of the episode is a modified version of Robby the Robot’s car, first constructed by MGM for the science fiction classic Forbidden Planet
$1,000,000 in gold in 1961 ($35.50/oz.) would weigh over 28,000 ounces or 1760 lbs.
This show was written by Rod Serling
Rod Serling’s Opening Narration:
Introducing, four experts in the questionable art of crime: Mr. Farwell, expert on noxious gases, former professor, with a doctorate in both chemistry and physics; Mr. Erbie, expert in mechanical engineering; Mr. Brooks, expert in the use of firearms and other weaponry; and Mr. De Cruz, expert in demolition and various forms of destruction. The time is now, and the place is a mountain cave in Death Valley, U.S.A. In just a moment, these four men will utilize the services of a truck placed in cosmoline, loaded with a hot heist cooled off by a century of sleep, and then take a drive into The Twilight Zone.
Summary
Four thieves steal $1 million in gold bullion in a train robbery and hide the money in a mountainside cave. The four plan to go into suspended animation for approximately 100 years when they hope to awaken as extremely rich men with their heist long forgotten. When they awaken, they’re not quite sure what year it is. One of them, De Cruz, has his eye on getting as much of the gold for himself as he possibly can. The world they have awakened in isn’t exactly what they had hoped for.
Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:
The last of four Rip Van Winkles, who all died precisely the way they lived, chasing an idol across the sand to wind up bleached dry in the hot sun as so much desert flotsam, worthless as the gold bullion they built a shrine to. Tonight’s lesson – in The Twilight Zone.
CAST
Rod Serling…Narrator
Simon Oakland…DeCruz
Oscar Beregi Jr….Farwell
Lew Gallo…Brooks
John Mitchum…Erbie
Wallace Rooney…George
Shirley O’Hara…George’s wife
You know we’re going to Surf City ’cause it’s two to one, now…Two girls for every boy”
It’s time to mix it up a little before Fall arrives and think about summer and fun. This will wrap up the surfing weekend at powerpop…it’s been fun to feature these surfing songs and they will occasionally pop up here and there. I know people who look down upon songs like this…What do I tell them? Lighten up Moondog and catch a wave while you are at it.
As I said in a previous post…When I was a senior in High School…1985… for some unknown reason I really got into surf music at the beginning of the year. I listened to Jan and Dean, the Beach Boys, Dick Dale, Link Wray, and The Ventures. I loved those songs then and now.
I remember watching Dead Man’s Curve when I was a kid about Jan and Dean and the terrible car wreck Jan Berry was involved in.
This song was written by Brian Wilson and he didn’t think he would ever finish it. Jan met him at a party and helped Brian finish the song. Dean also contributed some lines but never asked for any writing credits. “Two girls for every boy”…what teenage boy didn’t want to go there for a visit. It was the first surf record to hit #1 nationally.
Brian Wilson’s controlling dad Murry was furious at Brian for giving away a number 1 hit to someone else. Brian was happy that another group took his song and made a hit with it.
Surf music is bout fun… The Beach Boys expanded surf music and then left it with Pet Sounds. By that time Surf purists didn’t like it. They wanted the old formula songs… I wasn’t a purist…I like them all.
Surf City
Two girls for every boy
I bought a ’34 wagon and we call it a woodie (Surf City, here we come) You know it’s not very cherry, it’s an oldie but a goodie (Surf City, here we come) Well, it ain’t got a back seat or a rear window But it still gets me where I wanna go
Yeah, we’re going to Surf City ’cause it’s two to one You know we’re going to Surf City, gonna have some fun You know we’re going to Surf City ’cause it’s two to one You know we’re going to Surf City, gonna have some fun, now
Two girls for every boy
They say they never roll the streets up ’cause there’s always somethin’ goin’ (Surf City, here we come) You know they’re either out surfin’ or they’ve got a party growin’ (Surf City, here we come) Yeah, there’s two swingin’ honeys for every guy And all you gotta do is just wink your eye
And I’m going to Surf City, gonna have some fun, now Going to Surf City ’cause it’s two to one You know we’re going to Surf City, gonna have some fun You know we’re going to Surf City ’cause it’s two to one, now
Two girls for every boy
And if my woodie breaks down on me somewhere on the surf route (Surf City, here we come) I’ll strap my board to my back and hitch a ride in my wetsuit (Surf City, here we come) And when I get to Surf City, I’ll be shootin’ the curl And checkin’ out the parties for a surfer girl
And I’m going to Surf City ’cause it’s two to one You know, we’re going to Surf City, gonna have some fun You know, we’re going to Surf City ’cause it’s two to one You know, we’re going to Surf City, gonna have some fun, now
This one is an excellent quality episode. A time travel episode that uses a place over the rim instead of a time machine. Future Walton’s sheriff John Crawford plays the café owner Joe. This episode resolves it self and has a satisfying end…and really plays on some of the time elements.
The episode has many good performances, but Cliff Robertson holds the show together. As Chris Horn, he plays his role with intelligence and conviction, seeming in movement, expression, and even his accent is on the mark. He really got into this role as you will read below and it shows. His performance is worth the price of admission by itself.
In order to save money, whenever possible Buck Houghton liked to schedule two shows utilizing similar locations back to back, so that the crew would only have to make one trip outside the studio. Both A Hundred Yards Over the Rim and The Rip Van Winkle Caper were shot in the desert near Lone Pine, California. First to be filmed was A Hundred Yards Over the Rim.
Some trivia from IMDB: Cliff Robertson did extensive research on the 1840s time period in which the episode is set. Robertson concluded that an easterner like Horn would have worn a stovepipe hat, whereas the director, fearing that such a hat would make Horn look comical, wanted him to wear an ahistorical Stetson. The dispute was finally taken to producer Rod Serling who, after hearing both sides, decided to let Robertson wear the stovepipe hat, as seen in the filmed version.
John Astin appears in this and I will watch anything Astin is in. This was before he became known as Gomez Addams.
This show was written by Rod Serling
Rod Serling’s Opening Narration:
The year is 1847, the place is the territory of New Mexico, the people are a tiny handful of men and women with a dream. Eleven months ago, they started out from Ohio and headed west. Someone told them about a place called California, about a warm sun and a blue sky, about rich land and fresh air, and at this moment, almost a year later, they’ve seen nothing but cold, heat, exhaustion, hunger, and sickness. This man’s name is Christian Horn. He has a dying eight-year-old son and a heartsick wife, and he’s the only one remaining who has even a fragment of the dream left. Mr. Chris Horn, who’s going over the top of a rim to look for water and sustenance and in a moment will move into the Twilight Zone.
Summary
Christian Horn is member of an 1847 wagon train headed west. They are 1500 miles from St. Louis and are now in the New Mexico desert. Many in the wagon train are ready to turn back but Chris wants everyone to persevere. His son has had a fever for 11 days now and Chris goes off looking for water, only 100 yards or so from the others and suddenly finds himself in the present day. He can’t quite bring himself to believe what he sees or where he is but those he meets believe he’s a man from the past. The trip in time does have one positive outcome.
Rod Serling’s Closing Narration:
Mr. Christian Horn, one of the hearty breed of men who headed west during a time when there were no concrete highways or the solace of civilization. Mr. Christian Horn, and family and party, heading west, after a brief detour to The Twilight Zone.
CAST
Rod Serling…Narrator
Cliff Robertson…Chris Horn
John Crawford…Joe
Miranda Jones…Martha Horn
Evans Evans…Mary Lou
John Astin…Charlie
Edward Platt…Doctor
Ken Drake…Man
Robert L. McCord III…Sheriff
The Chantays, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Dick Dale, Anthrax, and Lawrence Welk. We will tie all of these artists together by the end of the post.
I thought I might as well continue the surf music theme that was started Thursday and ride the wave into the weekend.
This is one cool classic instrumental. Pipeline was originally the B side and the A side was a song called Move It. As with a few other singles through history…the B side took off and the A side became a trivial question.
Dick Dale also recorded this song with no other than Stevie Ray Vaughan in 1987. They really rocked up Pipeline for the movie Back to the Beach. You want variety? This song was covered by Lawrence Welk and Anthrax (video below). I would be willing to bet not many songs would be in that rare club.
I always wondered what “pipeline” meant…being a Tennessee guy I would not know that first hand. The title “Pipeline” refers to a term in surfing slang, in which a wave closes over your head while you ride it horizontally, so it looks like you’re in a rolling pipe made of water. This maneuver is also sometimes called “shooting the tube.”
Some odd trivia about the Chantays…they were the only rock and roll band to perform on The Lawrence Welk Show (something tells me Anthrax would not have been invited if they would have been around then). The Chantays were also honored on April 12, 1996, by Hollywood’s Rock Walk ,that was founded to honor individuals and bands that have made lasting and important contributions to music.
The song peaked at #4 in Billboard 100, #11 on the R&B Charts, and #16 in the UK in 1963.
From Songfacts
This was surf-rock group The Chantay’s only charting Billboard Top-40 hit. However, it is considered today one of the staples of the surf-rock genre. It was actually the B-side of a single; the A-side, “Move It,” never charted.
The unique sound of this track is partly due to its composition, which is inverted from standard practice. The bass and rhythm guitars are at the fore, while the lead guitar, keyboard, and drums are in the background. Also it was recorded in stereo even though it was going to be released in mono as the typical 45-RPM single record of the day.
Perhaps you’ve noticed that surf-rock tends to have a lot of instrumental work? That’s because it started out as strictly an instrumental form, where speed and precision playing was highly valued. In a way, it fathered the speed metal genre. We have The Beach Boys to thank for bringing vocal harmonies to surf music.
Dick Dale, who earned the title “King of the Surf Guitar,” recorded a new version of “Pipeline” with Stevie Ray Vaughan for the 1987 movie Back To The Beach. The movie reunited Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello 24 years after they starred in one of the first beach movies, Beach Party, which featured Dick Dale’s music.
I thought I would continue with the surfing theme of the Beach Boys song yesterday.
Love the beginning to this song…the twangy guitar that Dale plays like a rubber band. When I heard this song in the beginning of Pulp Fiction I knew I was going to enjoy the movie. Miserlou being used in the movie helped revive his career all over the world.
The song is a traditional Mediterranean song dating to the 1920s and originating in Greece. Dick Dale then reworked and beat the song over the head to his surf rock tone and sound…and it works perfectly.
In March 2005, Q magazine placed Dale’s version at number 89 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.
This song was released in 1962.
Dick Dale:“The sound is a Stratocaster guitar. It’s the solidity of the wood – the thicker the wood, the bigger and purer the sound. It was a Strat. Not the Jaguar, not the Jazzmaster, all these things we created later, for different reasons. Even the reverb – reverb had nothing to do with the surfing sound, and here they got ’em on the cover going ‘That’s the wet, splashy sound of reverb.’ No! We created the reverb because Dick Dale did not have a natural vibrato on his voice. I wanted to sustain my notes while singing. So we copied the Hammond organ, which had a tank in it. We took the tank out, rewired it, and had an outboard reverb! It was for the vocal. Our first album, Surfer’s Choice, sold over 88,000 albums – locally! That’s like more than 4 million today. Dick Dale was already established as King of the Surf Guitar, and that album did not have reverb on it. It wasn’t even invented!”
From Songfacts
Variations of the song have appeared in numerous movies, but when Dick Dale’s version was used to open the 1994 movie Pulp Fiction, it revived both Dale’s career and the Surf Music genre. Dale earned his first appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman a few weeks after the movie came out, and became a popular live act once again. His success in the ’60s was limited to America, but this time he was welcomed in the UK, as well as Australia and Japan, where his sound caught on and he made tour appearances for the first time. Dale’s “Miserlou” was also used in the movies Space Jam and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.
Dale included a traditional version of the song on his 1993 album Tribal Thunder as a hidden track (you can thank Nirvana for the hidden track craze of the early ’90s). Dale was showing his producer how the song was done originally, and they decided to include it with the set.
Dick Dale got his start in the late ’50s playing with his band The Del-Tones for surfers at the Rendezvous Ballroom in Balboa, California. With authorities concerned about the mix of young people and guitars, one of the requirements at the Ballroom was that every male patron wear a tie, so the audience was often made up of barefooted guys in surfer garb wearing ties that were handed out at the door.
This was used on Friends when Ross, Chandler, and Joey squared off against Monica, Rachel, and Phoebe in a game of touch football in the 1996 Thanksgiving episode “The One With The Football.”
Those who follow my blog and know me…know I like older music than my generation. I was once told by a co-worker that it’s “unnatural” to like music before you were born…which I think is hilarious and totally idiotic. I go through phases with music. When Hans and I talk about The Beatles I tend to listen to them and nothing else for a while…and the same with other bloggers.
I have done this my entire life…I get into something and I’m obsessed. I never really discard anything after my obsession dies down…it keeps coming back and in the case of the Beatles and others… never goes away.
In my senior year of high school I went through a surf music phase. I wore Hawaiian shirts and coco butter everywhere. I was looking forward to the Florida trip my friends and I were planning in spring. I would roll in the high school parking lot with Jan and Dean, Dick Dale, or The Beach Boys blaring out of my Mustang. I had a hell of a stereo system in my car. When Jan and Dean’s “Surf City” can drown out The Scorpions coming from another car…the system is loud.
During this time surf music hit the musical spot in me. The musicians on those surf records were incredible. This song dug deeper…much deeper. I still listen to the song. Don’t Worry Baby is about a girl and a car…when you are an 18 year old boy…a girl and a car are the two most important topics…at least they were to me. It has always stuck with me and I’ll never forget that year. My first serious girlfriend, a 66 Mustang, and Don’t Worry Baby… 1985 was a good year.
We did go on that spring trip to Cocoa Beach Florida. A fifteen-hour drive one way in a Celica Sports Coupe with 4 guys packed in there. We picked the name (Cocoa Beach) because it sounded great…Yep pretty stupid because we could have driven 7 hours to Pensacola instead.
It was written by Brian Wilson and DJ Roger Christian. This was conceived as a follow-up to the Ronettes #2 hit “Be My Baby.” When Brian Wilson heard the Be My Baby on the radio, he wondered aloud if he could match it. Wilson’s wife Marilyn reassured him, saying, “Don’t Worry, Baby.”
This is pop perfection by the Beach Boys.
Don’t Worry Baby
Well it’s been building up inside of me For oh I don’t know how long I don’t know why But I keep thinking Something’s bound to go wrong
But she looks in my eyes And makes me realize And she says “don’t worry, baby” Don’t worry, baby Don’t worry, baby Everything will turn out alright
I guess I should’ve kept my mouth shut When I started to brag about my car But I can’t back down now because I pushed the other guys too far
She makes me come alive And makes me wanna drive When she says “don’t worry, baby” Don’t worry, baby Don’t worry, baby Everything will turn out alright
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