Herrrre's Ed....

Yeah, I've been away and all. Part of my hiatus was because of a wedding. Also during that time, Ed McMahon passed away. Sooo...to kinda conjoin the aspects, here's Part One of about 10 (if you want to see the rest, go to YouTube) of The Tonight Show on Dec. 17, 1969. That is the date Tiny Tim (the freak show who made a hit of Tiptoe Through the Tulips)married Miss Vicki on the show. That is, after guest appearances by Phyllis Diller, Florence Henderson and some Lucas guy who originally did Tiptoe. It is part of a complete show, complete with the living color peacock, the acid flashback-quality into sequence, and commercials of the era (telling us to have Pepto tablets for Montezuma's revenge, that salt for cooking is important only for women, and that you can take Salem out of the country, but you can't take the country out of Salem).

Oh, yeah, Ed...a bit chubbier and way darker-haired than how most of you probably remember. And Doc Severinsen looks positively pervy.

She's my Pet

A little departure from the "era on drugs" motif to look at my idea of purity and silken-voiced goodness, Petula Clark. She rode the crest of the Swinging London groove, with the help of a songwriting team that fancied itself the British version of Bacharach-David. That team didn't have similar enduring renown, but Pet was as solid a muse as Dionne Warwick was for B-D. This song, Downtown, broke Pet big, almost as big as the hairstyles she and the women in the audience had.



Here's my personal favorite, Don't Sleep in the Subway. This was in Italy in 1968, when Pet was already pretty much an anachronism.



And the same song from 2008, when Pet was even more of an anachronism. And no, Pet was not a nuclear-glowing ghost...I think.

He oWns jOO, Chico Escuela

Garrett Morris was a member of the groundbreaking original Saturday Night Live cast. He had a few memorable characters, like the Namibian seeking fondue sets for his country, the headmaster of the Institute for the Hard of Hearing, and the aforementioned Mets icon. But there'd be weeks in which he'd hardly do anything, and he has not done much since.

More of a focal point was his black token counterpart on Fridays, Darrow Igus. Fridays was ABC's answer to SNL, and it lasts for 2-3 years. It spawned Kramer, and via Melanie Chartoff, spawned things for this adolescent that I shant delve into. And as for drug references...while SNL was the 2-3 friends passing a joint in the garage while the folks were sleeping, Fridays was the rave at which they hand out a tablet and a pacifier at the door. The prime example, via Igus. Julia Child probably wouldn't approve of this recipe.



Igus also played Lude Man. Couldn't find a video, but here was the music industry's equivalent of someone who had a a Quaalude vibe.

Back with a veng...well, just back

Real life intervened for a few days, but let's get right back into things. A TV show in the 1960s or 70s didn't have to have psychedelia to have clearly been written under the influence of something wackier than martinis. Take My Mother the Car (1966). I mean, I'm sure someone at ABC was thinking, "A Van Dyke (even if it's not Dick), a talking car...it's genius!" Cop Rock is surely thankful for its existence, so it wouldn't be known as the most ridiculed show ever. Now, would it have had better luck if David Hasselhoff were the star? After all, Knight Rider did OK, and the script had the acuity of a drunken Hasselhoff. This, so the YouTube submitter says, was the final episode.

Let's settle this once and for all, Part I

This will be an occasional series where you can check in to decide an issue of esoteric yet urgent importance. Like this one:

The best Mama Weer All Crazee Now?

1. Slade



Definitely the best hat of the competition. Noddy Holder looks kinda like a fey Michael Caine. I really don't think the dancers are so much into it, and anyone watching on TV who was on acid probably leapt out a window.

2. The Runaways



My favorite version, with Joan Jett, before she became Joan Jett really rocking it out, just knowing her solo career would be better than Lita Ford's. Something about the drummer I found really attractive. Then again, I always liked the bassist from the Go-Go's, so whadda I know?

3. Quiet Riot



Best I can say about this is that their revival gave a kick-start to Slade's reputation as a very influential band. A symbol of the excess of the hair metal mousse and ambiguity era; I wonder how much it costs to rent an ambulance for a video. And Jacques Plante circa 1959 wants his mask back. But the worst part is the lame "but you lied!" ad lib. Noddy Holder, and probably even Michael Caine, wept.

Saturday morning cartoons: the gateway drug

During the early 1970s, some really weird stuff was going on in Saturday morning cartoons. Sure might explain why those of us in our 40s aren't exactly The Greatest Generation II.



The Hair Bear Bunch featured one bear that looked like a cross between Shaggy and Scooby, and one that looked strangely like Marcia Wallace. But the intro did feature one of the best uses of an invisible vehicle in entertainment history, and the bears had a well-stocked fridge for the munchies. But no brownies? Fail!



Ah, the Groovie Ghoulies (never mind the bad spelling by the YouTube doer). Featuring Dangerous Drac, Frightening Frank and....Weirdo Wolfieeee! Wolfie's howl was like a "wa-wooo-wooo-wooo!" Without the fangs, he'd be almost a dead ringer for Kenny Loggins. Heck, even the ghosts in the video seem stoned!



Hong Kong Phooey, one of the hundreds of Scatman Crothers voice jobs. The switchboard woman had the standard-issue blue-tinted glasses that cartoon babes of that era had. And perfect for this era: the hero couldn't be bothered to get out of his night clothes. And Hanna-Barbera cost-cutting alert: the cat in the intro has more that a passing resemblance to Muttley in Wacky Racers.

LSD Barbie

"Please, won't you think of the children" is not exclusive to current times. That sentiment, especially regarding attractive, blonde, female, white children has come up before, going all the way back to Reefer Madness. Around 1968, there was this cautionary tale about LSD, complete with an old-school classroom slideshow style title frame. The lead in this has a hairstyle that's about three years out of date and a fascination with a hot dog that would make Freud rise from the dead. LSD also apparently makes you change into a mismatched blouse and capri.