Hey, Dude

Long before Kenny Rogers made a lot of mediocre country music, injected a load of Botox and created Kramer's favorite chicken, he was a member of a group called the First Edition that kind of tried a few styles to see what worked in the marketplace. Here is perhaps their best-known effort, complete with far-out hippy-dippy lighting effects. So, like, abide.



This was on The Smothers Brothers Show on CBS. It was an edgy move at the time by CBS to give these topical comedians their own show. Their political humor, which Bill Maher would snicker at for its mildness, made the Tiffany Network too nervous, and it was soon gone despite decent ratings. NBC added women in bikinis to edgy humor, and made it work with Laugh-In.