Saturday, June 09, 2007

Monkees Documentary Part 2



Here is Part 2 of the Monkees Documentary.

Monkees Documentary Part 1


Here is part 1 of a documentary on the Monkees. I believe that it is part of a DVD that Rhino release earlier. If you have not seen it here is the first part and the rest will be added later.

Friday, June 08, 2007

Paul McCartney New Video


Here is the Paul McCartney new video for the single release of "Dance Tonight" from the CD Memory Almost Full.

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

A New Action Hero?

Verizon has a way to make you the star of you own short action film. This is suppose to be me but they got the hair color slightly wrong. Still it was fun.

Monday, June 04, 2007

Here it is


I just found that Amazon.com sells Good Morning World on DVD. You can get it if you click here on the link below or on the one to the right.

Good Morning World on DVD


One of my favorite TV flops, and we all have them shows that that should have been hits but were not, is the 1967 series “Good Morning World.” It featured Joby Baker and Julie Parrish as a young married couple in Los Angeles. Joby is David Lewis an early morning DJ on the popular radio show Lewis and Clark. Clark is Larry Clark played by Ronnie Schell. Larry is a confirmed bachelor but mostly dates the loveable, daffy neighbor Sandy played by Goldie Hawn in her first series. I know it was her next series, “Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In”, in 1968 and her Oscar win in “Cactus Flower” that brought her more fame but it was really “Good Morning World” that started her on the road to superstardom. The great Billy DeWolfe plays Dave and Larry’s boss at the radio station. Billy DeWolfe is a scene stealer without trying. He is that good. In one episode he gets a laugh just by asking the question “Having a drink of water?” Why is that funny? Because it is asked in Billy DeWolfe’s style.
When I first viewed this DVD set I didn’t remember seeing Mr. Baker or Miss. Parrish in anything. Once I saw the first episode I remembered Mr. Baker from a couple of episodes of the Dick Van Dyke Show. The extras fill you in on what the others have done but really as they were either famous before the series or after you pretty much know what they had been up to. I was surprised that the series reminded me so mush of the Dick Van Dyke Show as I watched the first episode. Then I noticed the names behind the scene. It was created by Bill Persky and Sam Denoff who were writers on the Dick Van Dyke Show and the executive producers were Carl Reiner and Sheldon Leonard who created and produced the Dick Van Dyke Show.
The series was innovative with its opening sequence using real photographs and sort of pastels to tell how the earl morning DJ starts the day. The whole series was very funny but the funniest in my opinion was when Sandy misunderstood Larry and she asked him to marry her. Surprised Larry said yes when he meant no. The rest of the episode was Larry trying to get out of it by telling her that he only a few months to live so he can’t get married. Everyone thinks he is dying so to get out of it he says that a cure was recently found and he is taking it. Sandy tells Mrs. Lewis that she figured out it was really that Larry didn’t want to get married but “I’ve got a good thing going on up there.”
In an extra that is an interview with Ronnie Schell we find the answer to something that I have always wondered. Why did he leave “Gomer Pyle USMC”? He played Duke on the show and it was a top ten hit. He left because he was to be one of the stars of this show and since it was created by those who did the Dick Van Dyke Show he thought it might be a big hit. The show flopped because it was on against the Tuesday Night Movie of the Week. Its ratings never put it in the top so the show was canceled and he was able to get his job back on Gomer Pyle and got more money when he came back. This is a very funny series and if I can find where you can buy it on line I will put a link to it on this site

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Happy Anniversary Sgt. Peppers


This weekend is the 40th anniversary of the release of the Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band album by the Beatles. At the time it was revolutionary in its musical scope. Everything before it seems tinny and rushed. The production of the music seems fuller and each note carefully thought out. However, as time went on we seem to have lost sight of how much influence it had at that time. It overshadowed albums that came before it and ones that had been recently released like the Monkees Headquarters. I point out the Monkees album as it was the first that was completely under the group’s control. It was to shatter the myth that they couldn’t play their own music. As well produced as the album was a few weeks later Sgt. Peppers was released and no one cared about the musical talents of the Monkees. The Beach Boys were working on the one album, Smile, which could have rivaled Sgt. Peppers in influence if it had been completed back then. Instead they released what they had as Smiley Smile. Years later in the 21st Century Brian Wilson would complete Smile on his own. The Bee Gees were even working on a concept album and Sgt. Peppers put a stop to that album in pre-production.
Since then every group has tried to emulate the production style Sgt. Peppers. To this day when a group completes a huge undertaking they announce it as the best album since Sgt. Peppers. Its influence is felt to this day as kids still buy it and enjoy the music of all the Beatles albums. No matter what your favorite Beatles album is you have to say that they set the bar high with Sgt. Peppers.
These days many performers who set the bar high for their art are now considered just ordinary performers. That has never happened to the Beatles and I hope this posting helps to keep it from happening to their Sgt. Peppers album. Music lovers keep the album in high demand and it keeps getting special releases. Perhaps one day a band will release an album/cd that will overshadow Sgt. Peppers. However, I don’t think that will happen for a long, long time.