243 US Pop Culture 1974 Part 1

[@betamaxblocker]

Nice cover of "Boogie Down!" The "American Graffiti" soundtrack is amazing (better than the movie in my opinion.) I have the cassette somewhere. I think there are some versions with the Beach Boys two songs omitted but I'm not sure about all of that. "The Sting" is one of my favorite Best Picture winners. Makes me want to listen to some ragtime. Burt Reynolds was the top choice for "Zardoz" but he backed out (probably for the better.) I think Connery took the job for money and because he'd been out of bankable projects since resigning (again) as 007. I love "Blazing Saddles"- there will never be another film quite like it. Great job as always! Looking forward to a video on "Endless Summer" and other 1974 events. Amazing work as always!

[@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444]

"The Sting" is also one of my favorites. Sadly, I made the mistake of showing it to my son when he was just slightly too young to follow the plot (which, admittedly, takes a lot of concentration.) He asked to shut it off part way through and has refused to ever try it again. It's really a shame because "Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid" is one of his favorite films and I'm sure he'd enjoy "The Sting" now. (I've given up suggesting it for him.) Interesting about Burt Reynolds being up for the lead in "Zardoz"! Connery was probably a better choice. Much as I liked him as an actor, there was something very "un-sci fi" about Reynolds. Thanks, as always, for the kind words and the great info and feedback, Alex!

[@bchnwgn]

What a fun look back, Steve! Wow, so much going on. As you stated, it was such a wacky time in music and pop culture, so many highs and lows. After having some fun memories reviewing music in the first part of the episode, I gotta admit I was NOT prepared to see Sean Connery in that bright red suspended loin cloth...SHEEEEESH! Thank you for following it up with Blazing Saddles and immediately making me smile.😉 Harryhausen - YES! It was nice to see Ronny Cox as well - he and his son John were customers of mine when I was still in music retail. On another note (and although it hadn't happened yet,) we were at a Dodger game the same day as the Symbianese Liberation Army shootout with police in L.A., which was south of Dodger stadium; we saw the smoke from the fire from the top deck. It wouldn't be until later when we learned that Patty Hearst was there as well. Looking forward to hearing more Beach Boys content in the next episode!

[@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444]

Thanks for mentioning Ronny Cox! My first awareness of him was on the “Apple’s Way” series. It was a long time before I realized he was a talented and distinguished actor, not just the guy who played goofy George Apple. (Knowing that, I shudder to think how much more “cringy” “Apple’s Way” would have been with a lesser actor in the lead role.) I’m glad you mentioned Ray Harryhausen too...simply because I thought you might! (Knowing you’re a fan too, I was actually thinking of you when I recorded that bit.) Thanks for sharing the memories of the L.A. shootout with the SLA. Being far away in Michigan, it all seemed pretty remote. Seeing the smoke from Dodger Stadium would have been an entirely different experience! Have a great week, Chris! Thanks, as always, for the great feedback!

[@bchnwgn]

@@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444 I don't remember watching "Apple's Way," but certainly remember Ronny from "Deliverance" (where he played guitar a bit,) and of course in "RoboCop," where he's a character that you love to hate. I was happy that I was able to find him 2 rare Traceacoustic amps that he was seeking. It also made me smile that this new episode ended with "The Beach Boys in Concert" making it to #25 on the charts, and am looking forward to the "Endless Summer" content that's right around the corner. Additionally, THANK YOU for being open to my suggestions concerning TBBIC episode last week. I really appreciate you, Steve. 😊

[@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444]

@@bchnwgn I rarely run into anybody that remembers "Apple's Way," which is understandable. I hadn't seen "Deliverance" in 1974, but that's what I associate him with most now, along with "RoboCop" and a number of other rolls where it seems he's usually an out-of-touch, inflexible authority figure. Glad you found him the amps he was looking for! I'm looking forward to your thoughts on "Endless Summer" in a few weeks!

[@chrisrainbow2393]

1974 was the start of my album collection which actually began autumn 1973 when i was working as a mans outfitter trainee and a Canadian Student called Colin came over to UK for a years work experience and we both had a mutual interest in music and i would talk about The Sweet, Mud, Roxy Music, T Rex , Slade, Electric Light Orchestra ....etc. and he would talk about what was happening musically in Canada at that time and as his father worked in radio, he would talk about entertaining stars like John Lennon who he described as " droopy ". He was also very fortunate and was treated to various concerts and his favourite by far he claimed had been by the Beach Boys and here in UK the BBs had had a recent hit with California which at the time i considered a great piece of music and although i knew of the group, i was now keen to learn more . By Christmas 1973 Capital Radio came on the air for the very first time and their presenters Kenny Everett, Dave Cash and Roger Scott were constantly referring to the group and Mike Love could be heard on a promo " Hi, this is Mike Love of the Beach Boys and i am glad you are listening to Capital Radio " That was enough for me and after purchasing a Fidelity Music Master record deck , i decided to go in search of BB albums which was rather difficult at that time as they had been deleted. I remember very clearly that Band on the Run was the album that we were all anxious to own and Slades Merry Christmas Everybody was the NO1 single christmas 1973. No TV for me and all i can say at this point is that UK had still not completed its transition from B/W to colour fully yet as some of the independent, regional ITV studios were struggling with costs as back then, we were suffering a recession and there was a lot of industrial strife. .......but anyway, i was content with my new stereo, as at this point, i had only up till now heard Mono and this new sound i thought was so exciting and so my musical journey began and by the start of 1974 i didnt realise that the BBs would have a second wind, just as i was starting out as Endless Summer was about to hit the shelves and their current album ie In Concert was featured heavily by Capital Radio , even though it didnt chart, it did generate interest. ......

[@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444]

Thanks, once again, for the great UK perspective, Chris! BTW, I had to look up the term “droopy,” which I don’t think I’d ever heard before. The definition I found says it means “lacking in spirit or courage; disheartened; dejected.” I hope that’s close! (I’m sure that could have applied to John Lennon, depending on the day, and the period, in which you met him.) It's SO cool to know your record collection also started in 1974! Mine began in March when I bought “Buddha and The Chocolate Box.” After that, I saved coins in a coffee cup until I had enough to buy “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” which, as a double album, cost a whopping $7.99 (plus tax!) (I had had a few albums when I was younger, including the Monkees and the Partridge Family, but they had all been trashed.) I loved “Band On The Run” but I remember I didn’t buy a copy until December, ’74. So many of the tracks were played on the radio so often that I put it off because it seemed I could always hear it. (In fact, the only tracks that DIDN’T get massive radio play here were Mamunia, No Words, and Picasso’s Last Words.) It's great that, in the UK, the Beach Boys were more of a presence on radio, particularly, I guess, after Radio Caroline debuted, even if the actual albums were hard to find. (I became more aware of the Beach Boys in mid-74 with the release of “Endless Summer,” which I’ll be talking about more in a few weeks.) Your comments about your stereo reminded me of something I’d forgotten: My dad bought a new stereo in early ’74. I don’t remember exactly what it was, but it was the first time we had a “component” system, rather than one of those giant floor consoles from the early 60s. I’m just realizing that finally having something “good” to play records on probably contributed to me starting my collection then. Thanks again for sharing the info and memories, Chris! Not only are they enjoyed, you reminded me of some great memories of my own!

[@robertzastrow4648]

As is usually the case, I have to watch these episodes with a pen and paper, to write down artists/songs I've never heard of, to later check out! Most have never heard of. Remember seeing the movie poster for The Sting placed like it seemed everywhere. May have asked my parents to go see it at a theater, but we didn't see it. Didn't see the movie until years later as an adult. As much as my parents (especially my Dad) enjoyed nature films, surprised we didn't see Cry Of The Wild (Maybe it didn't play in our city). Remembered and liked the television show Apple's Way, and was sad when it was cancelled. Another cancelled show from around this time that I liked was called Manhunter, starring Ken Howard. Think it was ironic that the BBs new found success (In 1974) had more to do with nostalgia/their past, than what they had tried recently (Actually, during the past 7 -8 years) in studio recordings.

[@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444]

Very cool that you remember "Apple's Way," and also, "The Manhunter," which only lasted a very short time. (I watched it a few times and remember enjoying it.) I'll be covering "The Manhunter" when we get to the third quarter of '74 in a few weeks. Good point on the Beach Boys success in '74. I'm looking forward to your thoughts on "Endless Summer" in a few weeks. Thanks, as always, for the comments and feedback, Robert!

[@pauldaniels2019]

Wow. . .seeing those albums and movies give me flashbacks of my junior year of high school! A lot of classic albums. Thanks for another great episode.

[@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444]

Great to hear that, Paul! I was hoping it would "ring true" for the people who were there. I started high school in the fall of '74, so those are times that I, too, remember well. Thanks, Paul!

[@johnhammond1572]

Once again this episode is very well researched and very well presented with so much energy and is very informative of what it was like to be around in 1974. There was so much great music around. Jim Croce was an absoloute gem of a singer songwriter, unbelievably he never made any impact on the album or singles charts here in the UK, but as you reliability informed us he became big in the states after he passed away in September 1973 when he was only 30 years old. This was a tragedy at the time and a massive loss to music.

[@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444]

I never knew if Croce had registered in the UK. Thanks for letting me know. I agree that he was a serious talent and this is one case where the UK missed out! His passing was definitely a loss to music. Thanks, John!

[@scottstephenson2112]

I was born in 74 and Sundown is one of my all time favorite albums, as my dad was a Gordon Lightfoot fan. Fun Brady Bunch fact. Robert Reed quit the show, which is why he’s not in the final episode. They were going to “kill him off” in season 6 but untimely cancelled the show. As always, great video!

[@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444]

One of the excellent events of '74 that I missed; your arrival! I love Gordon Lightfoot's voice and "Sundown" in particular. I was going to try to sing the title in the episode, but my Lightfoot impression would have been a complete embarrassment (and with the titles I did sing, you can see I don't embarrass easily!) I really can't blame Robert Reed for being dissatisfied with those late-period "Brady Bunch" scripts. Writing him out of the show probably would have been the only option. I have the feeling, had the series gone on another season, they’d have been recycling “Gilligan’s Island” scripts. (With episodes like Peter meeting his "double," and the "hair tonic" episode, they were already getting pretty close!) Thanks for the feedback and info, Scott! Always great to hear from you!

[@skee19]

Great memories Steve! Man we are getting old no actually there! Blazing Saddles could not be made today 😢. Sad back then we could laugh each other ! Mel Brooks poked fun at Everyone!!

[@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444]

I agree! I saw "Blazing Saddles" recently and there's something so silly and openly outrageous about Mel Brooks' approach that he could make fun of everybody without a hit of malice behind it. Thanks for the feedback, Mike!

[@pauldaniels2019]

Richard Pryor was one of the co-writers; another comic genius.

[@lamontsouth5301]

Steve. Great program as always. So interesting that my musical seeds were planted from '65 to '69(LIttle Girl I Once Knew to Breakaway). Most music released between those songs are what I still listen to today. I didn't care for most of the 70's music. Probably because The Beach Boys were not as prolific then, and I was becoming an adult...... more concerned with other mundane things at the time (school, marriage, job, family, etc.) Heck, I even sold most of my music equipment when I got married(what was I thinking?) But now since I am older, I can relive my youth.....enjoy all the Beach Boys history through you, and others in the internet, replace all my music gear, update all my 60's song playlists, play rock and roll........gee...so great to be 16 once again! Thanks as always......Lamont

[@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444]

Thanks for the great feedback, Lamont! I can understand your regrets on selling your music equipment! In '97, just before I moved in with my girlfriend (now wife), I sold a couple crates of records I thought I'd never miss. Boy was I wrong! I've regretted it ever since. (Fortunately, I held on to the vast majority of them!) I also know what you mean about being "16 again." These days, I'm back to "hitting the record stores" with the same friend I used to record shop with back in the 70s. Truly good days, and I'm glad I made it this far! Great to hear from you, Lamont!

[@beanie226]

You can’t get better than , “ The Little Girl I Once Knew “ . It’s the perfect bridge between the early BB era and Pet Sounds . It has the sophisticated vocals of Brian’s best work but remains lighthearted unlike the melancholy tone of his middle period . I continue to consider TLGIOK among The Beach Boys very best recordings .

[@lamontsouth5301]

Little Girl was the very first 45 I ever bought when I was a kid. It reeled me right in to be a Besch Boys fan(atic) for the rest of my life.

[@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444]

@@beanie226 Well said and I agree, Beanie! Great, great track!

[@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444]

@@lamontsouth5301 What a great record for a first buy! You were definitely off the a great start, Lamont!

[@michaelthemovieattic]

Great stuff as always Steve! I love that Ringo Starr album. I recently got Old Wave and Stop And Smell The Roses (Yellow Submarine editions). My favorite movie of all time is "Blazing Saddles". It's coming to 4k soon. There was also an animated movie called "Paws Of Fury" which is an animated version of "Blazing Saddles". It has Mel Brooks, Sam Jackson and others in it. Of course I love Ray Harryhausen. I did just recently watched the "Clash Of The Titans" remake. I think you just can't beat the old Stop motion though. Also love The Three Musketeers and have the 4k of the two movies. Of course, I watched a lot of those TV shows. Anyway thanks for all the fun stuff and info.

[@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444]

I love the "Ringo" album as well. Lots of great tracks! I'd never heard of the animated version of "Blazing Saddles." Thanks for letting me know about it! I've also never seen the '74 version of "The Three Musketeers," which it sounds like I should check out! I agree, too, about stop motion. It was just slightly "wonky" but still looks cool and has kept its charm, while early CGI, now, already often looks cheap and dated. Harryhausen remains a hallmark of quality as far as I'm concerned. Thanks, as always for the excellent feedback and info, Michael!

[@beanie226]

1974 was a strange year for me . I was finishing graduate school and didn’t even take a small stereo with me to New Hampshire where I studied . ( I did take one guitar, but don’t recall playing much . ) The fuel shortage was in full swing . I gave up my muscle car in favor of a ( Ugh ! ) Chevrolet Vega . One could buy gas on either odd or even days of the month depending on the last digit of one’s license plate . Even then , you could only purchase five dollars worth . Everything seemed messed up . Ford became President and tried to solve problems with slogans like , “ Whip inflation now ! “ Years later , we would learn that Ford was approved by Congress as a reward for lying on behalf of The Warren Commission . Despite this strange , ( at least for me ) , year , I distinctly remember the late night TV commercials for Endless Summer . It opened with a red and white biplane performing aerobatics . Ultimately , Brian’s ten year old tunes overpowered the music that was popular in ‘74 to become the #1 album .

[@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444]

It definitely sounds like a strange year, Beanie! Coincidentally, my first car was a ’74 Vega that I bought in 1978 for $65. It was crummy and covered in rust, but I was able to drive it for a year (by which time the doors were, literally, falling off.) By ’78, of course, the gas shortage wasn’t as bad, so I never had to suffer through rationing, only the prices skyrocketing. (I remember telling a friend, sometime around 1979, that if gas ever hit 75 cents a gallon, I was going to stop buying it.) I definitely remember “Whip Inflation Now” and plan to talk about it in one of the “1974” episodes. Those TV commercials for “Endless Summer” also made a big impression on me. I’m looking forward to your feedback on the upcoming “Endless Summer” episode in a few weeks! Thanks, as always, for sharing the memories and the great feedback, Beanie!

[@beanie226]

@@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444 As I think more about the aircraft in the Endless Summer commercial , was it towing a banner ?

[@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444]

@@beanie226 Yes. I'll be showing screen shots from it when we talk about "Endless Summer" in a few weeks. Thanks for the follow-up, Beanie!

[@denniswood1437]

Wow! There was a huge number of great albums & singles coming out weekly in 1974. It is a pity that by the late 1970s, both AM & FM programming would be more strictly formatted and less experimental. There still is good music today but it would be very difficult to find it in the current pop charts.

[@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444]

I agree! 1974 is the year I switched over from "Top 40" to listening to "FM Rock." I've always felt lucky to have come along just before the free-wheeling days of radio programming ended. There's so much great stuff I'd have missed if I'd started listening just a few years later. Thanks for the feedback, Dennis!

[@danny1959]

I think that the success of the American Graffiti soundtrack influenced Capitol Records to put Endless Summer together. I got a vinyl copy of Shinin’ On on eBay years ago because the listing said that the 3-D glasses were intact. They were not, but the record was in excellent condition and I got a refund.

[@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444]

I think you're right about the success of the American Graffiti soundtrack influencing the Capitol to do "Endless Summer." I think it's no coincidence that the set begins and ends with the Beach Boys tracks that were on the soundtrack album. Bummer about getting "Shinin' On" without the glasses intact! Nice that the record was in good condition and that you got a refund. I've been in that situation myself, and have eventually found a copy with a beat up record and a nice cover that I could put together with my nice album and bad cover. Hope it'll work out for you too! Thanks for the feedback, Danny!

[@joelgoldenberg1100]

1. Apparently that single of Barbra Streisand's The Way We Were, while a huge hit, is almost never heard on radio and not placed on compilations at all. It's a different vocal take from the album version, which is most commonly heard. Here's the single version. kzbin.info/www/bejne/o2O4gZWbgMesl9k 2.That Byron MacGregor version of Americans always irritates me because his version went higher up the American charts than Sinclair's, and that he recites the line "When the Franc was in danger of collapsing in 1956.It was the Americans who propped it up. And the reward was to be insulted. And swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it." Sinclair may have been there, but I doubt MacGregor was - he was only eight years old! 3. Speaking of Helen Reddy, I really like her early single One Way Ticket, released in 1968. It's very lively with great horn parts and very different from her 1970s hits. I first heard it in fake stereo where it was randomly thrown on a K-Tel album. 4. Speaking of movie prices -in the 1990s, the Palace movie theater in Montreal, a very old place, was showing movies at $2 a pop. I went quite often, as one can imagine. 5.The New Temperatures Rising Show, which I'm hearing about for the first time here, is one of the most bizarre titles for a TV show I've ever heard. Upon reading further, it seems that show actually went on for two years, first as Temperatures Rising which ran for a full season, then The New Temperatures Rising Show with a new format and Paul Lynde added which only had 13 episodes, and then after a hiatus of six months, back to the original format and title as a summer replacement but with Paul Lynde staying on. That only ran seven episodes,. The show got a lot of chances! 6. Whenever I see Robbie Rist, I have visions of a mini John Denver! 6. With those final season plot lines of the Brady Bunch, I now empathize with Robert Reed blowing his top and refusing to take part in the hair tonic episode! Then again, Reed thought the Brady Bunch Variety Hour was quality television. 7. That's quite a blooper on the Patricia Hearst headline, kidnapped with one p!

[@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444]

Thanks for the info on the single version of "The Way We Were" and Helen Reddy’s “One Way Ticket.” I just listened to “One Way Ticket.” It sure is a sound from a different era; one that I normally wouldn’t associate with Helen Reddy. I always figured the resemblance between Robbie Rist and John Denver was more than coincidental. I’ve always had a lot of sympathy of Robbie Rist. When first living in L.A., in the late 80s, he was somebody that we used to see “’round the clubs.” It seemed like he was always getting recognized and being made fun of for having been “Cousin Oliver.” Poor guy! I think he also deserves to be remembered as Ted Baxter’s adopted son on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” It also occurs to me that, with the recent passing of John Amos (who played Gordie, the weatherman) Robbie Rist is, I think, the last surviving “MTM Show” cast member. Along the same lines, it seems like Robert Reed took a lot of flak for objecting to those stupid late-period “Brady Bunch” story lines. I agree with you; I can emphasize! If it had gone on for another season, I suspect they’d have been recycling storylines from “Gilligan’s Island.” It is odd that Reed was enthusiastic about the variety show (especially as he wasn’t, at all, a “song and dance performer.”) Maybe he didn’t mind being silly on a show that was designed to be silly. Maybe, as was apparently the case with “The Brady Bunch,” he signed on for something different than what he got. Maybe, by the late 70s, he was happy to have the work! I missed the single “p” in the kidnapped headline. Your eagle eye comes through again! It’s always a highlight to get your thoughts and info! Thanks, Joel!

[@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444]

I also meant to thank your for the perspective on the Bryon MacGregor vs. Gordon Sinclair versions of "Americans," especially the observation on how old MacGregor was in 1956, which I had never realized and which is hilarious! Of course, in the Detroit area, we were familiar with both MacGregor and Sinclair from their work on CKLW "The Big 8," out of Windsor. Thanks again, Joel!

[@joelgoldenberg1100]

@@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444 I used to sometimes see Sinclair on the CBC TV show Front Page Challenge, and his son, Gord Sinclair Jr. was a very longtime host on the Montreal radio station CJAD. He had a similar gravitas to his voice as Walter Cronkite. One funny story: As radio hosts do, Sinclair Jr. did commercials. Once, he and a listener were having a heated debate about politics, and the listener yelled out, "what do you know, you're just a furniture salesman!" Sinclair, reportedly, was speechless.

[@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444]

@@joelgoldenberg1100 As much as we heard MacGregor and Sinclair back in the day, I don't think I ever saw either of them. That is an incredible comeback! Thanks for the follow-up, and for the laugh, Joel!

[@rangergrrrl]

Jim Croce looks like the bastard son of Elliott Gould and Frank Zappa... [Just re-watched the vid with my gf. I've decided the Gould-Zappa joke doesn't work. Croce simply looks like the legit son of Groucho Marx.] I have never heard of that Byron MacGregor thing, and I have zero interest in looking it up. How bizarre...!? I've always had a thing for Gordon Lightfoot, a respectful soft spot. My dad had at least one or two of his albums etc. (Gord's Gold, maybe?) There didn't seem to be any bullshit with him, you know? Just a real pro, quietly doing his thing... There was a Papillon remake in 2017, with Rami Malek as Dustin Hoffman and Charlie "Sons of Anarchy" Hunnam as Steve McQueen. The cost of a movie ticket ain't the only thing that's changed... Redford's Best Actor nom for The Sting is his one and only acting Oscar nom. (He lost to Jack Lemmon in Save the Tiger.) l like the movie as much as everyone else, but Redford always seemed to old for his part, and Newman always seemed too young for his. Robert Shaw should've been nominated for his fearsome Doyle Lonnegan...he wasn't. He wasn't nommed for Jaws, either...and those were two gigantic hit movies. Odd. I'd like to think that Shaw did not give a damn... There's a colossal difference in quality between the early single-camera episodes of Happy Days vs the later (painfully familiar) three-camera episodes with the studio audience etc... Legend has it that Robert Reed refused to appear in the hair tonic episode, and was written out as being away on business or some such. Who can blame him? It may have been the last or nearly last ep of the series, as I recall... I was a mere 6 years old in '74. My gf is a dozen years old than I am, so I may show her this vid later tonight. I'm sure it would be a hoot for her to revisit her 18 yr old self. Great vid, as always....!

[@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444]

Good description of Jim Croce’s appearance! You’re not missing anything special by not knowing Byron MacGregor. He, and the author of the editorial, Gordon Sinclair, were Canadian radio news presenters. We knew them in the Detroit area because, at least for a while, they were on CKLW, which was across the river in Canada, and was the big “Top 40” station in our area. Great observations on Redford and Newman’s ages in “The Sting.” They made it work, but you definitely make an excellent point! I heartily agree, too, that the really “acting chops” in the movie come from Robert Shaw, who should have received more recognition. I agree too about the early “Happy Days” episodes verses the later three-camera/live audience episodes. (I’m planning to cover that when we, eventually, come to the fall of 1975.) I definitely can’t blame Robert Reed for balking at that hair tonic episode. With episodes like that and the “Peter meets his double” episode, they were getting perilously close to recycling scripts from Sherwood Schwartz’ earlier hit, “Gilligan’s Island.” Thanks for the feedback, rangergrrrl, and, if she watches, I hope your wife will enjoy the episode!

[@rangergrrrl]

@@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444 Haha. She's my longtime gf...not my wife. She was married for 25 yrs, and has two brilliant kids doing their thing out in the world...they're 38 and 40. She has no itch to be remarried, and I'm hopelessly commitment-phobic...so everybody's happy... She liked the ep (and it's not the first one I've shown her). Except for Mitchell's Court and Spark--which she loved then, and still loves--she mostly cringed at the list of albums and singles. She even said something like, Wow. '74 was not a great time for music etc... Speaking of the Brady Bunch and Happy Days: I'm sure I don't have to tell you that the phrase Jump the Shark comes from the HD ep where the Fonz...jumps a shark. I would think the intro of a Cousin Oliver into the cast is another surefire signal or trope that your show is circling the drain. The idea of Schwartz recycling old Gilligan scripts would've never occurred to me...funny.

[@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444]

@@rangergrrrlGlad your gf enjoyed the episode. There's certainly plenty of "cringe worthy" music there, though I absolutely agree with her about "Court and Spark," which is one of my favorite albums. I've actually made a note to remember to talk about the "Jump The Shark" episode of "Happy Days" when we, eventually, get there. (It might take a couple of years yet, with everything else there is to get to!) Thanks for the follow-up, rangergrrrl!

[@daddybog7189]

The 60's and 70's music were more to my liking, (perhaps some late 50's), and I guess I would have to say for tv shows as well. You not only cover the basics, but go into a deeper detail where needed. Continued success.

[@thebeachboysbasementwithst6444]

Thanks, Don! '74 is kind of a special year for me because it's when I started my record collection, so that music, and the earlier music I heard when I started listening to FM rock that year, are "close to my heart." I certainly enjoy a wide range of stuff, but the music of the late 60s and early 70s always feels, to me, like "home base." Have a great week!