Here’s another song that just popped up when I was doing research the other day and darned if I watched it and was mesmerized by Bobby Gentry’s live performance of this classic hit on the BBC back in 1968. “Ode to Billy Joe” was released on July 10, 1967, and catapulted to the number-one spot in the US within three weeks of release and a big international seller. Billboard ranked…
WATCH: Harry Chapin LIVE performance of “Taxi” –
Not sure when the video was made, but Harry Chapin’s classic hit “Taxi” was originally released in 1972 and surprisingly only made it to #24 on the Billboard charts. Regardless, I consider it one of the best efforts of this talented singer/songwriter. How about you? Here’s more on the song from Wikipedia: “Taxi” is a song written and performed by Harry Chapin from his 1972 album Heads & Tales. Chapin…
WATCH: Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show ~ “Sylvia’s Mother”
This is a song that’s grown on me over the years. Can’t say I cared for it when it first came out in ’72 (I was only 13) but it’s the kind of song that grows on you the older you get and the more life adventures you go through … if you know what I mean. Plus, until I did some research for this post, I never realized it…
WATCH: Maria Muldaur – “Midnight at the Oasis” LIVE 1974
Another entry into our “Songs We Love to Hate” files: “Midnight at the Oasis” by Maria Muldaur in 1974. I remember hating this song at the time, and after listening to it again to create this post (you owe me one) my instincts at 15 were correct: this is an awful song with terrible lyrics that is actually sung well by Muldaur. She even gives it a go here in…
WATCH: Hillbilly Cover of AC/DCs “Thunderstruck” LIVE
Wait, what? As usual, I was looking for something else when I came across this masterpiece, by a band called Steve’n’Seagulls, which does a lot of covers of rock songs all with their own unique twists. This time it’s “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC. For comparisons sake, I have included the original music video of “Thunderstruck” from AC/DC below. Interesting side note: the hillbilly version was recorded LIVE, including the opening sequence…
WATCH: George Baker Selection with “Una Paloma Blanca”- LIVE
Okay, it’s probably not accurate to call this performance by the George Baker Selection (what a horrible name for a band, right) of their 1975 hit “Una Paloma Blanca” LIVE, as it’s obvious they’re lip-syncing to the recording, but that was common for most TV performances of that era. Still, everyone here–audience included–look like they’re rather be somewhere else. The band seems bored, especially I’m sure after singing this awful…
WATCH: Toonces the Driving Cat: Driver’s Test – SNL
“Toonces The Cat Takes the Wheel” premiered on “Saturday Night Live” on May 20, 1989. Here’s more from Wikipedia: Dana Carvey and Victoria Jackson play a couple who allow their pet cat Toonces to drive their car; Toonces subsequently drives the car off a cliff. Toonces was the family pet of Lyle (Steve Martin in the first sketch, thereafter by Dana Carvey) and Brenda Clark (Victoria Jackson), an enthusiastic couple…
WATCH: The True Lyrics to “Louie Louie” by The Kingsman
Has there ever been a more popular song that few people really understood the words to? In fact, the lyrics for “Louie Louie” by the Kingsman are so hard to understand that FBI launched a TWO YEAR investigation into whether the lyrics were obscene or not. On May 17, 1965–more than two years after the song was released–the investigation ends and can was summed up this way: Responding to complaints…
WATCH: Kim Carnes – “Bette Davis Eyes” LIVE on Fridays
Who remembers ABC’s answer to Saturday Night Live, the short-lived Fridays, which aired on–not surprisingly–Friday nights from April 11, 1980 to April 23, 1982? Like SNL, they also had musical guests, and Carnes was a guest on the September 25, 1981 episode, with William Shatner hosting. Did you know that “Bette Davis Eyes” was written and composed by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon, and originally released by DeShannon in 1974? …
WATCH: The Bob Newhart Show Bloopers (Season 4)
Who doesn’t remember The Bob Newhart Show, one of the great TV sitcoms of all time! It ran on CBS from September 16, 1972, to April 1, 1978, and, in addition to Bob, starred Suzanne Pleshette as his wife; Bill Daily was their friendly but inept neighbor; Peter Bonerz was the dentist in he shared the office floor with, and their sharped-tongued receptionist was played by Marcia Wallace. Here are…