The Monster Mash

1962

Bobby Pickett

Ahh, that time of year's upon us again! Crisp Fall mornings! Frost On The Pumpkin! Pumpkins carved into delightfully frightful jack-o-lanterns. Little Ghouls and Goblins, tiny Rock and Pop singers, and Mini-Super Heroes seeking candy. Hit Halloween Songs...

Say WHAT??? You ask.. Hit Halloween songs??? Halloween carols???.

Hell Yeah,. A slew of 'em in fact...and I picked four of 'em to feature as we head for The Crypt-Keeper's favorite holiday. Ok, Only one of the four's really considered All Hallow's Eve specific and, despite this blog being mostly a Seventies music blog, only one of 'em's from The Decade Of History's Most Awesome Music...and that one, BTW's, a One Hit Wonder. But these four are just about always pulled out and played almost obsessively by Oldies stations (And often Top 40 stations) every year as October rolls around.

The first one is the song that everyone thinks of when they think of Halloween, and it's also the oldest...The Monster Mash, co-written and sung by Bobby Pickett.

Bobby Pickett wanted to be an actor, lived in the L.A. Area for just that reason, and auditioned constantly. And, as Aspiring Actors have done for centuries, he had a day job to pay the bills until fame, fortune, or at least steady work in The Industry found him. Ok, actually a night job as auditions tend to be day-shift endeavors. And that Day Job was...performing in a band.

Bobby Pickett was a member of a band called The Cordials that was pretty popular around the L. A. area. He was also a huge fan of old, classic horror movies, and an equally big fan of Boris Karloff, of Frankenstein fame. So, he came up with a monologue mimicking that legendary British Actor that he performed during the speaking part of a hit by The Diamonds called Little Darlin' when they covered it at gigs. The crowd ate it up, and good friend and fellow Cordial member Lenny Capizzi buttonholed him after one of their gigs and said 'You gotta do something with that Karloff impression...everyone loved it!

So, the two of them gathered instruments, lots of note paper and pencils, and very likely a copious quantity of Munchies and Refreshing Beverages , and set to composin', with a popular dance of the era called The Mashed Potato in mind. They finished it up, and took it to Argyles lead singer and record producer Gary Paxton...who himself had scored a novelty hit with a song called Ally Oop...to record it. Paxton looked it over and gathered a crew of session musicians, comprised of Paxton, Leon Russell, Johnny McCrae and Rickie Page. This crew, BTW, dubbed themselves The Crypt-kickers in honor of the tune's subject. My bet is they had a blast recording it.

It was a fun little tune that was actually spoken with Bobby Pickett's dead-on Boris Karl;off impression to music rather than sung, about Frankenstein (Though he's never actually ID'd by name) coming to life, realizing he's really into then-modern pop music and dances, and proceeding to invite all of The Famous Undead to one killer party at his humble castle.

They recorded it on a shoe-string budget, using jury rigged sound effects such as a nail being pulled from a 2x4 to simulate a coffin being opened and blowing through a straw into a glass of water for a a bubbling cauldron. They got it down to a sound that they were really happy with, and Garry Paxton took it around to record labels...and got turned down by every one, including some that no one even knew existed. All of them said the same thing...'That has got to be the stupidest song I've ever heard...it won't go anywhere...jeez!!'

Paxton was convinced that he had a hit, even telling Bobby Pickett just that. So he cut 1000 45's on his own label...Garpax...put them in the back seat of his ride, and drove up and down the Pacific Coast Highway, dropping them at local radio stations and asking DJs to play them. I have a feeling more than a few meals and beers were bought in exchange for air play...but it worked. By the time he got back to L.A., they had a hit on their hands

Garpax Records released it as a single on August 25^th 1962 and The Monster Mash took off and started climbing like a Top Fuel off-roader competing in a hill-climb, topping out at the coveted #1 spot on The Hot 100 on October 20 of that year...just in time for Halloween. The next thing they knew, kids were dancing a version of The Mashed Potato using the same steps paired with Frankenstein-like hand and arm gestures all over the land. The 'Crypt-Kickers' apparently had a runaway hit on their hands.

It was a run-away hit in the US anyway...it was banned in The UK because it was considered 'Too Morbid (Kinda makes me wonder if they even listened to it...especially beings it was performed in the voice of a legendary British actor.)

The Monster Mash has held on to it's popularity for over half a century now, and you will hear it in October at some point...there's no avoiding it. It's stayed so popular that it was re-released no fewer than three times in the space of a decade...December '62, August '70, and May '73, and charted all three times. Also, it was finally released in The UK in 1973, and apparently the Brits do indeed like 'Morbid' songs...it topped out at # 3 on their side of The Pond.

The song was so popular, in fact that Bobby Pickett released an album of Monster-themed tunes, entitled 'The Original Monster Mash' in late 1962...but that LP's title track was and remains the most popular track off of the album. And again, you will hear it sometime in October every year...after us Seventies Kids are all long gone and Upstairs likely discussing Seventies Music with the original artists, our kids and grands will hear Bobby P's little run-away hit Halloween song crank up when Late October rolls around.

So Enjoy! The Monster Mash by Bobby Pickett. Don't even tell me ya didn't sing along with it!

And as a Bonus...the animated music video for The Monster Mash, featuring The Groovy Ghoulies!

And as a second bonus...Bobby Pickett and the Crypt-kickers also released a Christmas-themed song, with the same cast of characters and Pickett once again narrating in his spot-on Boris Karloff imitation. The song, called Monster's Holiday, was released in December '62 and made it to #30 on The Hot 100. So take a listen to Bobby 'Boris' Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers little Christmas tune...Monster's Holiday!

And while we're at it...a few little factoids about The Monster Mash...

After The Monster Mash was released and became a hit, Bobby Paxton became Bobby 'Boris' Paxton. And while most of the US loved the song, one very notable individual most notably did not. One Elvis Aaron Presley thought it was one of the most pointless pieces of music he'd ever heard. Ahhh well...guess ya can't please everyone!

Remember the three re-releases of the Monster Mash? Well that trio of re-releases wasn't the end for the tune by far.

The song was so popular that Bobby Pickett and The Crypt-Kickers recorded and released a Christmas-themed monster-single named Monsters Holiday in December '62. That one cracked the Top 40 as well, peaking at #30

But The Monster Mash wasn't finished just yet. There was also a Rap song inspired by the tune...yep, you heard right. The Monster Rap. In this one, The Mad Scientist voices his frustration at not being able to teach the Titular monster to speak, so he teaches him to Rap instead.

Then in 1995 a Movie...a musical at that...was made based on The Monster Mash, starring none other than...Bobby Pickett. Don't think it was nominated for an Oscar, but I may just have to look it up just out of sheer curiosity. And it still keeps going an going...

In 2004, The Monster Mash was used in the 2004 Presidential campaign, retitled The Monster Slash, given new lyrics by Jerry Altman, and used by Bobby Pickett to criticize George Bush's environmental policies.

Not bad for a little novelty song that was basically written for fun over fifty years ago!

Ghostbusters

1984

Ray Parker Jr

Back in 1984 a little film about a crew of guys chasing down various paranormal type dudes and dudettes and ultimately engaging in mortal combat with a giant marshmallow man came to be…and those involved with the creative process of making the movie declared:

WE GOTTA GET US  A THEME SONG!!!!!!

So they got hold of well-respected songwriter Ray Parker Jr, told him that they needed a song for a movie called Ghostbusters, that they wanted the name of the movie to be featured prominently in the lyrics of said song…and Oh, By The By, can ya get it done in like, a week or so?

Ever tried to find a word that rhymed with Ghostbusters? Or for that matter, figure out a way to shoehorn the word ‘Ghostbusters’ into the lyrics of a song??  No? Well, they’re the problems that Ray Parker Jr was facing. So he spent a day or so thinking and writing down lyrics that got tossed in The Round File, and thinking some more, and a couple of days in on the process he took a break and sat down to look at an old movie on late night TV. And sometime during this movie one of those cheaply made, cheesy local-business commercials that to this day populate Oh Dark Hundred station breaks aired…and as he watched the commercial, a light-bulb came on.

What if he made the song a parody of one of those commercials. So that’s exactly what he did, composing it over an evening or two.  Oh, he had some help with the writing, in the form of Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDanials and Jason Mizel (The latter of the three much better known by his stage name of Grand Master J, who also produced the single. Some of you may  recognize that trio as a little group called named RUN D M C) The song’s signature shouted ‘GHOSTBUSTERS!!???, Ray got his girlfriend and a bunch of her friends to handle those duties.

SO they knocked it out in near record time, the movie had its theme song, the producers were happy,  and MCA had them a new single, and they would soon be happy.  MCA released the single in May of ’84, it debuted on The Hot 100 the following month at #64, and spent the rest of the Summer of 84 climbing the charts, topping out at #1 on August 11^th and staying there for the rest of the month. Ghostbusters was even nominated for an Oscar, for Original Music…best song (Stevie Wonder’s ‘I Just Called To Say I Loved You’ beat it out.)

The movie did pretty well, too, grossing just shy of 292 Million bucks. So everyone was happy! I mean, how can a fun little tune like ‘Ghostbusters’ create controversy?.

Never underestimate the power of people to get pissed off. Seems that just a year or so earlier Huey Lewis And The News released a single called ‘I Want A New Drug’…and when Huey Lewis heard the medley in Ghostbusters he said ‘Hmmm…that sure sounds fami….Hey wait just a freakin’ minute here!!!

That’s right…he sued Ray Parker for plagiarism. They settled out of court, and the settlement contained a non-disclosure clause, as those settlements are wont to do. SO everything settled down, kids and teens shouted Ghost Busters along with the radio, the movie moved from The Big Screen to The Small Screen via HBO and Showtime, and once again, everyone was happy.

At least they were happy for almost two decades…then came The Infamous Huey Lewis VH1 Interview of 2001, whereby Huey Lewis just might have mentioned the settlement that he wasn’t supposed to mention in passing. Ray Parker heard said interview and, through his lawyer, cried FOUL!!! …yep, in layman’s terms, he sued Huey Lewis back.

No one knows what happened with this one…whether Lewis settled, or whether Ray Parker just dropped the lawsuit. But the dueling lawsuits became an interesting bit of the history of the song, and the artists, always mentioned in more than passing in any article about any of them.

And Ghostbusters?? It soldiered on through the last almost three decades and became one of those songs that gets pulled out every Halloween (I heard it this very afternoon, in fact, on 107.3) It’s still as fondly remembered and fun to listen to as it was 29 years and change ago, too. And yep, sometime after we’re all gone, as Halloween rolls around, eerie mists rise, and eerier creatures flit through the night…our kids and grandkids’ll be shouting ‘GHOSTBUSTERS!’ right along with Ray Parkers girlfriend and her buds.

So Enjoy! Ghostbusters, by Ray Parker Jr. And ya know  ya shouted it…ya know ya did!

Werewolves of London

1978

Warren Zevon

Like the great majority of tunes that conjure up visions of Ghosts, Goblins and bowls of fun-sized candy bars, ‘Werewolves of London’ was not actually written with Halloween in mind. It was written because The Everly Brothers needed a dance song. It became a Halloween staple anyway… when October rolls around in any given year, you will hear Warren Zevon’s eerie ‘Ah-OOOOOOO’ leading off each repetition of ‘Werewolves In London!’ as Pop and Oldies stations get into the Halloween spirit by playing his little novelty tune about an Urban Werewolf living in England’s capitol city even more than they do anyway. 

 

The song was cowritten by Zevon and good friends and fellow songwriter/musicians Robert ‘Waddy’ Wachtel and Leroy Marinell.  As the story’s told, Zevon had hired Wachtel to play in The Everly Brothers backing band back when he was working with them. Phil Everly buttonholed Zevon one day and told him that he needed a dance tune…maybe about something like ‘Werewolves of London’, an idea inspired by a 1935 vintage horror movie about that very subject.

Zevon and Wachtel were at Leroy Marinell’s (Another songwriter as well as Werewolves In London’s third cowriter) house a couple of days later, where Zevon and Marinell were doodling around on guitars and bouncing ideas around when Waddy Wachtel walked in and asked him what he was playing. Wachtel looked up, replied ‘We’re doing Werewolves of London’, at which point Wachtel said "You mean Ahhooo - those Werewolves of London??’ and the songs soon-to-be signature howl was born.  At about the same time, Zevon came up with the line ‘I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand.’ 
 
The three of them started trading off lines and lyrics, working off of each other, and within half an hour, they had the basic song down pat. They tweaked it here and there, and they had to come up with the guitar chords and such, but still, it was basically written and polished over the course of a workday, to become one of those songs that you just can’t do Halloween without hearing.

Zevon had a slew of friends in the Music and entertainment industry…he took it to Jackson Brown (Yes, That Jackson Brown) who produced it and released it on Asylum Records. Of course, before it could be recorded and released, they also needed back-up vocalists…. Hmmmm…who to call, who to call….  Ever heard of a little group called Fleetwood Mac? The back-up vocals are provided by none other than Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. 
 
The song was released in early 1978, and peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at #21 after cracking the Top 40 on April 22^nd of that same year, It’d hang around the Top 40 for six weeks, radio station playlists for thirty-five years or so, nad is in fact, still goin' strong. Not only is it in constant rotation during Halloween, It’s pretty much a staple on Oldies stations year round. 
 
Oh…and Lee Ho Fook, the Chinese restaurant that our titular Werewolf was looking for in the opening couple of lines? It actually does exist, at 15-16 Gerrand Street in London’s Chinatown, though it’s now The Golden Harvest. When it was Lee Ho Fook, there was a picture of Warren Zevon displayed prominently on the wall.

The Werewolf’ll be looking for his big dish of Beef Chow Mein, drinking Pina Coladas at Trader Vic’s, and creating musical mayhem among little old ladies long after all of us are gone. Especially on Halloween A-OOOOOOOO ;)

So Enjoy! Werewolves of London, by Warren Zevon.

Thriller

1983

Michael Jackson

The artist who performed this one needs absolutely no introduction what so ever. Michael Jackson conspired ('Conspired' seems to be the perfect word to use RE: to creation of this song...MWA-hahahahah ;) ) with Songwriter Rod Temperton, well known producer Quincy Jones, and Epic Records to create this mid-80s classic that, by the way, was not written specifically as a Halloween song. It's actually considered a Funk/Disco record, and charted on the Dance charts well before it charted on The Hot 100...but I'm getting ahead of myself here.

Also...Thriller wasn't even originally called 'Thriller...the original name was 'Starlight'.

The now iconic title came about when producer Quincy Jones approached Temperton during the writing process and told him he needed a title for the album that the song was going to be included on...after all, he'd come up with a name for the last album...

So Temperton did what all of us would have probably done in a similar situation (I mean, powerful, influential Music Industry moguls are always consulting me for advice, lol). He sat down with several sheets of paper, wrote down a few dozen possibilities, spoke them out loud to see how they sounded, got frustrated, said a couple of choice phrases, and decided to sleep on it. Sleeping On It can be a good thing, because the next morning he woke up with a single word on his mind. He said, in fact, that he could see this word at the top of the Billboard Hot 100. And the Album became Thriller...and the song he was composing became the title track (And the lyrics had to be changed a bit, a task he apparently did a pretty decent job with.)

Know the eerie spoken rap at the end of the song (And that eerie, evil laugh)? That's none other than the legendary horror movie mega-star Vincent Price, who was friends with Quincy Jones and his wife. Temperton wanted a scary spoken rap at the end of the song, and wanted a 'Famous Voice' to record it, so Quicy Jones probably said something like 'How About Vincent Price.' Far as we know, Jones asked the Horror legend if he'd do it while both of 'em were pigging out on burgers at a back-yard cook-out .

Recording a voice-over for a song is said to be one of the most difficult things to do in the recording industry...but Price got it in only two takes, and was described as being Uber professional (Not surprising, given his vast experience in the entertainment industry.

Another interesting little factoid about that...one that The Horror Guru himself confirmed on an appearance on The Tonight Show, back when it was still Johnny Carson's gig. Quincy Jones gave Price the choice of either a cut of the album's profits, or a flat $20,000 to do the rap. He chose the flat Twenty Gs...a decision that cost him several million dollars, a fact that Carson reminded him of. Price simply, and good naturedly, noted 'How Well I Know!'

Know how Michael Jacksons voice has an even more unique...downright eerie...quality in 'Thriller'? That was because he was recorded as many as three different times on each section of the song, using different tricks each time.

It was recorded, along with the rest of the album's tracks, over the course of eight weeks at Westlake Recording Studios in L.A. and released as a single on January 23, 1984. Thriller debuted on the Hot 100 at # 20 a week later, entering the Top 10 a week after that and peaked at #4 on the third of March. Of course, before it was even officially released, it grabbed the top spot on the Billboard Dance/Club Play chart, and it's been certified Platinum several times over. And also before ti was released as a single it became...

...A music video. No...Make that <<<A Music Video!!!>>>, starring The King Of Pop as well as former Playboy Model Ola Ray. 

 

The Video became an epic legend in and of itself, and at 13 minutes and change long, is actually about eight to ten minutes longer than the song, depending on which version you're listening to. The video for Thriller was actually a short film with a plot and viable story-line, and was conceived of well before Thriller was released as a single. That conception came about for a very simple reason...the sales of the album were beginning to bottom out, a situation that The King of Pop was not happy with. To the point of calling his manager and asking him 'What are we gonna do about it?

They did something that had never been done before...Made a video that'd actually be a mini-movie, and get a movie director, and a well known one at that, to direct it. John Landis directed, and he was contacted personally by Michael Jackson. Now this was unheard of thirty years ago...movie directors did not direct music videos....but Jackson told Landis his concept fot the video, and Landis became more intrigued the longer he listened, and finally said the magic words that caused Video Magic to happen...'I'll Do It'.

One of the hardest parts of making the video was the choreography...to quote Michael Jackson 'How do you make a zombie dance without it coming off as comedy???' So he worked with the dancers and choreographer Michael Peters and worked it out, creating the now legendary Zombie Dance scene.

The principal photography for the video was all done in October 1983, in various LA locations. The Zombie Dance scene? That was done at Union Pacific Avenue and South Calzona Street in East L.A. The theater?...The Palace Theater in Downtown L.A. and the house in the final scene was at 1345 Carrol Ave in L.A.'s Angeleno Heights neighborhood.

Michael Jackson's Thriller was released on December 2, 1983, becoming MTV's first World Premiere video as well as an instant runaway hit. It also did exactly what Jackson hoped it would do by breathing new life into sales of 'the album...and doing it just as the Christmas shopping season kicked in at that.

MTV snagged the broadcast rights for the video (To the tune of 250 Grand), Showtime the pay-TV rights (they paid 300 Gs) and Vestron Music put down a cool half million to market the VCR tape. We had just gotten Cable when this came out, and I remember the video being in constant rotation on MTV (Remember when they used to actually play videos???) and the documentary airing a couple of times a day. It's still as impressive to watch today as it was then, BTW. 

 

The video pretty much cleaned house at the first MTV Video Music Awards, on September 14^th of '84, bringing home The Moon Man for Best Overall Performance In A Video, Best Choreography, and Viewer;'s Choice. It also snagged a Grammy in '84 for best Long Form Video. Oh...and in 2009 it became the first music video to be added to The Library of Congress.

Of course if you listen to the lyrics, you realize that the song's actually about one of the oldest tricks in the book...a guy trying to talk his girl into watching a horror movie with him in order to inspire her to cuddle closer to him for protection...but the video took it in a slightly different direction that made it into the classic that it is.

And the song? This is another one that The Oldies Stations pull out of mothballs during October every year .(Part of me refuses, BTW, to acknowledge that a song released eight years after I graduated from high school can be considered an 'Oldie ;) ) Unlike several of Michael Jackson's hits, such as 'Billie Jean' or 'Beat It' you seldom hear 'Thriller' except at Halloween. And for being a song not written with the Spookiest of Holidays in mind, the song and the video are just about perfect for it!

So Enjoy...Thriller by Michael Jackson

And (YA knew I'd include this!) The Video...Michael Jackson's Thriller

A couple of little factoids about Thriller. When you see the video, note the Disclaimer at the beginning stating that the video was not about The Occult. Michael Jackson was a Jehovah's Witness when the video was released and he added the disclaimer to appease his fellow Witnesses. Unfortunately it didn't work, and the video created a lot of controversy among that group a fact that bothered Jackson right up to his death, and was one of severla fctors that lead to him cutting ties with the church some time later.. 
 

That jacket that Jackson was wearing in the video? It was sold at auction not too long ago for 1.8 million. 
 

Quincy Jones absolutely refused to release the master tapes of the song to John Landis so he could edit it for the video. So Landis and Jackson did what any enterprising pair of Entertainment IndustryA-listers would have done...they swiped a scene straight out of pretty much every comedy ever made. 

The two of them went to the recording studio at the severely 0-Dark-Hundred hour of 3AM or so, and walked right in. The guard, of course, recognized Michael Jackson, assumed that he had legitimate business there, shot the bull with him for a second, and let him in. Jackson and Landis found the masters, loaded them in a suitcase, and walked out with them...again, right past the guard. Then they drove cross town to Landis's base of operations, quickly duped the tapes, took them back, and repeated the process. No one was the wiser for years, long after any hard feelings could have resulted (And, me thinks, after the California Penal Code's Statute of Limitations on Breaking and Entering had expired!)

United We Stand by The Brotherhood Of Man

 The 70's Yearly First Top 20 One Hit Wonders

1970-79

I've gone way too long without a post, so I'm going to pull a song-post marathon this week...and the subject isssssss...One Hit Wonders.


To be specific, each year's first top 20 One Hit Wonder, starting with 1970 and ending with '79.


I set a couple of guidelines for this one...it has to be a song that people actually remember, for one thing. Which also means it's just about got to be a Pop or Classic Rock hit. It has to have been played regularly on the Top 40 Stations. It has to be an artist that only cracked the Top 40 once...period. Therefore Greg Allman's hit 'Midnight Rider', for example isn't a true one hit wonder...his 'Backing Band' was actually The Allman Brothers who, as I recall, had a hit or three. Ditto, Todd Rundgren with 'We Gotta Find You A Woman. I can think of at least four Todd Rundgren hits without even breaking a sweat. Again...not a One Hit Wonder.


And, given the subject of this blog, it has to inspire the kind of memories that make you want to sing along with it. While we look back at the seventies, and remember it as a 'Simpler Time', the Seventies, particularly the first half of the decade, had some pretty dark moments here and there. There were lots and LOTS of politics goin' on in the first half of the decade, let me tell ya! And these politics generated some pretty strong, message sending hits that don't fit the category of 'Feel Good Songs.


And the biggie...it has to be one of those songs that, if you hear it today on an Oldies Station, you'll more than likely sing right along with it. After all...that's what this blog-thing's called.

There was still loads of the feel good, ya want to sing along with it music, of course. (And some of it sort of slipped a stealth political message in there while they were at it. One of those was a massive hit in early '72). So that's what I concentrated on...the songs that DJ's on the major Top 40 stations spun regularly and that blasted from radios and 8-Track players (The MP-3 and I-Pod's great Great Grandpappy!) constantly. Trust me, there were, literally hundreds of 'em. But there were only ten that were the first to crack the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 in any given year starting with '7'.

Sooo...lets take a look at the Seventies First Top Twenty One Hit Wonders. All the of 'em, from 'the still Sixties influenced songs of '70 to the first OHW's from the Disco Era years at the end of the decade.

United We Stand

1969

The Brotherhood Of Man

The first really memorable One Hit Wonder of the Seventies is still heard fairly regularly, and has become the anthem of any number of movements...though it was originally written as a love song. It was performed by a British pop group called 'The Brotherhood Of Man'. a name that was an umbrella name for a group of session artists that was formed in 1969. They didn't waste any time... 'United We Stand' was released in late '69 and hit big internationally in early1970, peaking in the U.S. at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 on Feb 7^th of that year.

It was written by Tony Hiller and Johnny Goodson, who was an original member of 'The Brotherhood Of Man. The female vocalist whose unique voice is heard singing the majority of the lyrics is either Sue Glover or Sunny Leslie. (Sunny'd later have a 1974 solo hit in the UK, as 'Sunny' with 'Doctor's Orders'...in 1975, Carol Douglas would score that year's first U.S. Top 20 One Hit Wonder when she covered the same song.

The Brotherhood of Man swapped out members regularly over the first several years of their existence, and the final quartet didn't include any of the members of the group that recorded 'United We Stand'. As for the band having a One Hit Wonder...they were a One Hit Wonder in the U.S. They were huge in Europe, scoring a number of hits on the right side of The Pond, and they were often compared to...and ultimately overshadowed by another...er...obscure little band named 'ABBA'

And 'United We Stand?' It was a huge hit internationally, and became one of the most covered songs in history. Though written as a love song, about a couple who stuck together through thick and thin, it became the anthem for any number of movements over the decades. One of the first was as the rallying call for the Democratic Party during the '72 Presidential Campaign. The Gay Rights Movement also adopthed it as an anthem. The song had a resurgence of popularity after 9/11 as an anthem for the American People. It's still well remembered and well loved by millions.

A pretty impressive legacy for a little song that was written as a love song and performed by a group of session musicians almost 44 years ago.

So Enjoy! United We Stand, by The Brotherhood Of Man.

(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden by Lynn Anderson

(I Never Promised You A) Rose Garden

1970

Lynn Anderson

'71's first big One Hit Wonder was a biggie. One of the biggest cross-over Country-Pop hits ever. On top of that, it was a huge international Pop hit (Hey, either go big or go home!). The song? (I Never Promised You A ) Rose Garden, often known as simply 'Rose Garden' by Lynn Anderson.

It was originally written by Joe Smith, in 1969, and recorded by several male artists as well as a girl group (The Three Degrees)...none of whom went anywhere with it. Then it was given to the incomparable Lynn Anderson, who was already a very well known and popular Country artist, as well as an award winning equestrian, by the way. Lynn took it, added her own spin to it, and released it as her third single with Columbia Records in early 1970.

It proceeded to simultaneously shoot up the Country and Pop charts like a pair of rockets, hitting #1 on the Billboard Country charts (Where it stayed for five weeks) and making it to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

And for good reason...who can forget that strong instrumental lead-in, followed up by Lynn belting out 'I Beg Your Pardon...I never promised you a ro-ose garden!' in that lovely Country twang of hers. It became an instant classic.

Lynn Anderson was another artist who was a One Hit Wonder on the Pop charts, but who racked up a slew of hits on the Country charts. And (I Never Promised You A ) Rose Garden ?. It's remembered well and fondly by millions, but you almost never hear it on the Oldies stations today (And if you do get lucky enough to hear it, it'll more likely to be on a Country station rather than an Oldies station). You'll still catch it once in a blue moon during a request hour, or a 'One Hit Wonder or Crossover Hit show. But it's not on the regular play lists, sadly. It's still an awesome song after nearly forty-three years. And it'll still be an awesome song forty three years down the road. Be nice if it became a hit again sometime. But for now it's '71's first Top 20 One Hit Wonder.

So enjoy! (I Never Promised You A ) Rose Garden by Lynn Anderson.

And as an extra! I dug down through YouTube, and found The Three Degrees version of the song, which is absolutely nothing like the Lynn Anderson version. I'll let you guys compare, and see which one you like best!

Sunshine by Jonathan Edwards

Sunshine

1971

Jonathan Edwards

Everyone who was a teen in early '72 remembers this one! And everyone sang right along with it when it came up on the Top 40 stations of America (All of 'em still AM in '72...it was WLEE in Richmond, and WGH in Hampton Roads).

Jonathan Edwards cranked 'Sunshine' out while living in a Musicians commune in Boston. There were several artists living in the complex (Several bedrooms with a big common kitchen/living/eating and apparently music playin' area in th middle). They'd write tunes, then play them for the other artists, with constructive criticism and commentary following.

The song's distinctive and well loved chorus was written on the go, so to speak, when Jonathan played 'Sunshine' for the other members of the group and hadn't come up with a chorus for it. The now classic 'How Much Does It Cost? I'LL BUY IT! The Time is all we've lost! I”LL TRY IT!!...' literally came to him as he played. One of his fellow musicians..Joe Dolce, who'd have a minor hit called 'Shaddup Yo Face' in 1983, told him that the chorus made absolutely no sense, and that he needed to go back and rewrite it. Thankfully, Edwards ignored his advice.

Then, if it hadn't been for an engineer accidentally erasing one of the tracks he was putting down for his album 'Please Find Me', Sunshine may never have been heard. Rather than redoing the song that had been erased, they did 'Sunshine, liked the way it sounded, and overdubbed bass and drums the next day.

Then it was released as a single by Atco Records...and flopped. Yeah, you read right. One of the premiere anti-authority anthems of The Seventies crashed so hard it dug a hole when it first hit the record stores. Some DJ's in Boston, however, liked it and played it off of the album, and it gained traction, and DJs in other parts of the country started playing it, and us Seventies Kids suddenly realized we wanted it. Six months later Jonathan Edwards had switched to Capricorn Records, and when Capricorn released it as a single, all that traction that all those DJs gave it let it climb the charts, peaking at #4 on The Hot 100 on January 15^th, 1972.

So what exactly does the song mean? Jonathan Edwards is mum on the subject...he says he's gotten thousands of letters analyzing the tune, and that all of them are far more creative than what his inspiration for the lyrics actually was...so he's going to let everyone haven their own take on what this classic's true meaning is. The one thing he does admit, though, is that his dislike of authority weighed in heavily on the lyrics. And that was pretty much everyone's take on it with numerous variations on the theme, and it became an anthem against everyone and thing from the dad or assistant principal who had ticked you off to Big Government...be it local, state, or Federal.

Lots of people also think it was an Antiwar song...Anti-Vietnam War protests were reaching a fever pitch at about the time 'Sunshine' was released, and if you really listen to the lyrics, you can definitely hear that. Others think that the turbulence and stress over what was going on in our own government might have motivated Edwards as he penned it. But, as he noted, everyone had their own idea of what it meant, and he thought it'd be a lot more fun to let everyone do their own analysis of the song rather than imposing his thoughts on the millions of people who made the song a hit.

And it was a huge hit...I can definitely remember it being on the radio pretty constantly during a good bit of '72 (My Freshman year in high school...man time flies!). BTW, a little bit of history-type trivia, with 'Sunshine' right smack in the middle of it...Jonathan Edwards played it over and over again at the infamous 'Mayday' rally in Washington DC on May 2^nd, 1972.

It's never left play lists since it was released and you can still hear it on Oldies stations pretty regularly. Heck, it was even used to sell Jeeps!! (Personally I think any advertising exec who encourages, allows, or even suggests the use of a classic song for a commercial should be sentenced to 100 years of listening to the worse American Idol auditions 24-7, but that's just me)

'Sunshine's one of those songs that...happily...will always be around, me thinks...our kids and grand kids'll be hearing that classic guitar intro, and Jonathan Edwards opening up with 'Sunshine Go Away Today...' long after we're gone. And this is a good thing!

So enjoy! Sunshine, by Jonathan Edwards.

Hey Babe What Would You Say by Hurricane Smith

Oh Babe What Would You Say

1972

Hurricane Smith

If, during the sixties, you were the engineer on all of the Beatles early albums (From '62 to '65) then recorded three of Pink Floyd's early albums, what do you do for a follow-up? How 'bout pen a song that harks back to the big band and jazz era and make it the first Top 20 (And, in fact, the first top 10) One Hit Wonder of 1973.

That's exactly what Norman Smith...better known as Hurricane Smith (And as 'Normal Smith' to a dude named John Lennon and some guys he played music with)...did when he penned 'Oh Babe What Would You Say'. He actually wrote it for Lennon after he became a solo artist, hoping he'd record it. Smith was persuaded to record it himself when record producer Mickey Most heard it and was seriously impressed with what he heard. He was right to be impressed... Hurricane Smith's little throwback to the past became a pretty massive hit in the winter of '73, peaking at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 on Feb 17^th, 1973. He had several more hits in The U.K., but Hey Babe What Would You Say would be his only U.S. top 40 hit.

Smith said he wrote it thinking of his own youth, the music he listened to, and being too shy to ask a girl to dance at ballrooms. All those memories melded together to create one of the unsung classics of The Seventies, with one of the most epic saxophone solos ever pressed into vinyl.

I can remember hearing this one when I was a just-licensed teen...the song hit #3 the day after my 16^th birthday...and loving that sax. It was just a laid back, soothing 3:22 worth of music that just left you feeling relaxed and mellow whenever you heard it...a definite throwback song to our parents' era, and I really don't think there was another song anything like it...especially a smash hit...during the 70s.

You never ever hear this one on Oldies stations anymore...wish it would show up, on, say, 107.3 or 106. 9 up around my neck of the woods (That'd be Richmond and Hampton Roads respectively.) Be nice to hear it once in a while...and really, guys, ya gotta love that sax!!

So Enjoy! “Hey Babe What Would You Say, By Hurricane Smith..a very early music video at that!

And as a bonus...Hurricane Smith performing the song live on The Tonight Show, with Johnny Carson. This performance has more of a 'Dixieland' vibe to it that the original ...I prefer the original's 'Big Band/Jazz sound, but both are nice, And yes...that is a polyester Leisure Suit he's wearing!

Seasons In The Sun by Terry Jacks

Seasons In The Sun

1973

Terry Jacks

Seasons In The Sun’, by Terry Jacks, is another hit that everyone who was a teen during the Seventies remembers and very few of those who were around back then had a neutral opinion of it...and that same opinion divide exists to this day. The song was either a deep, soulful, and insightful goodbye from a dying man to his loved ones, or the worst drek ever to hit the pop charts, depending on who you talked to (And sometimes on their mood at the time you talked to them.). Someone  must’ve liked it though…it made it to #1 on the Hot 100, and sold around 14M copies world-wide.

In some ways (And this is one of those 'IMHO' type deals) it was a bit of a contradiction. The song, and especially the chorus, had one of the most upbeat rhythms and melodies of any Pop song during the decade, which contrasted big-time with the rather maudlin, and dark subject matter. The beat makes you just want to sing along with it, then you realize that you're singing about the protagonist's impending death.

And speaking of the song's kinda depressing theme, contrary to one of the popular rumors of the times, Seasons In The Sun was not Terry Jacks telling his own family goodbye (I actually remember someone telling me that ‘And after he finished recording it he just sat in the studio and sobbed…’)  Didn’t happen, gang. In fact as I write this Terry Jacks is alive, kickin’, and very involved with the Environmental movement.  ‘Seasons In The Sun was actually an English language cover of a ’61 song called ‘Le Moribond’  by Belgian poet-composer Jacques Brel, who performed it in French.  Now here’s the kicker…Jaques Brel retired from the music scene just before Seasons In The Sun was released, giving no reason for his sudden retirement. Brel was an extremely popular artist in Europe, and was at the pinnacle of his popularity, so his fans were, understandably, stunned.  Brel never explained the reason for his sudden retirement from the Music Scene, but the reason was made clear six years later when he succumbed to the cancer he’d been battling since shortly before his retirement. SO, while neither Terry Jacks or Jaques Brel wrote it from personal experience, it was an unintentional foreshadowing of Brel’s fate.

Terry Jacks wasn’t even the first artist to cover it, by the way…The Kingston Trio beat him to it by about eleven years. It was also covered by the British band The Fortunes in ’68, making Terry Jacks the third artist to cover it...but he almost wasn’t the third artist to cover it. Season’s In The Sun was almost (Are ya ready for this???) a Beach Boys song. Somehow I can’t quite picture the Kings of Upbeat Summer Pop singing ‘Seasons In The Sun', and apparently neither could they, because they never finished recording it. Terry Jacks was actually producing the Beach Boys version, and when they abandoned it, Jacks snatched it up and recorded it on his own label (Goldfish Records). He excised a couple of verses that spoke of the protagonist’s wife’s infidelity from the original version, then added one of his own…the verse that begins “Goodbye Michele My Little One…’ was an ode to his young niece Michele, who died on Martha’s Vineyard.  

He released his version in December 1973, and it shot up the charts, making it to #1 on The Billboard Hot 100 on March 2^nd, 74…it’d sit there for three weeks.

This was another song that’s been well covered over the years, and was even ultimately covered by The Beach Boys, though their version didn’t chart. A version by Bobby Wright made it to the top 40 of The Billboard Hot Country Singles in 1974, and it’s been covered by artists as diverse as Andy Williams and Blink 182.  Westlife went Platinum in The U.K. with their cover of it in 1999, but possibly the most controversial cover of ‘em all was the version by Nirvana. Seasons In The Sun was the first single ever bought by a kid named Kurt Cobain, who often referenced it in interviews, telling the interviewer that the song made him cry as a child. Kurt. of course, committed suicide in April of 1994 , and many Nirvana fans to this day question whether the song somehow helped influence his decision to take his own life. Their cover of it was informal, and never intended for release, but ended up being included in the DVD portion of their 2004 boxed set ‘With The Lights Out’.

And today? 'Season's In The Sun's still heard pretty regularly on the Oldies Stations, and will likely be for decades to come...it was one if the true classics of The Seventies.  And all of us Seventies kid'll probably sing right along with it when we hear it.

So Enjoy! Season's In The Sun, by Terry Jacks

Doctor's Orders by Carol Douglas

Doctor's Orders

1974

Carol Douglas

1975’a very first One Hit Wonder was also the very first one to crack the Top 20 that year, and it’s another one that just about anyone who was a teen back then instantly recognizes from the intro...both the music, and it’s spoken intro... ‘Hey Baby, I went to the doctor today...’

Doctors Orders was originally penned by the British songwriting trio of Roger Cook, Roger Greenaway, and Geoff Stevens., and was written all but specifically for former Brotherhood Of Man singer Heather Wheatman...better known as ‘Sunny’ of ‘Sue and Sunny’, a pair of Indian born British sisters who sang as a duo. 
 

Sunny went Solo after Sue (Real name Yvonne Wheatman) married her long time sweetheart and, as her sis put it, ‘Decided she wanted to make babies’. Fellow former Brotherhood of Man member Roger Cook knew that Sunny was going solo, penned the song with her vocals in mind, then gave her a call and asked her to give it a listen...she did, liked it, thought she might be able to do something with it, and recorded it. CBS snapped it up and released it, and it slowly gained momentum (The BBC had concerns about the idea of a woman discussing Intimate concerns with her doctor ...those Brits take things so literally!) and finally made it to the top 10 in the UK...peaking at #7...in May ’74. But this wasn’t the version that charted in the US in ’75...exact same arrangement, just not the same version.

‘Say What?’ you ask??

See, Sunny's label, Midland International, wanted the song covered by an artist in the U.S., and ran an ad in ‘Showbiz’ Magazine, looking for a singer to do just that. One of the singers who auditioned to cover the tune was a veteran...but pretty much unknown...singer by the name of Carol Douglas. She got the gig....then almost lost it. Carol Douglas cut her version of ‘Doctors Orders' and was told she sounded awesome (And when you give it a listen, you’ll concur...the lady has some serious pipes, she do!) but...she sounded too Black.

Huh???

 There might be a reason for that...after all, the very lovely Carol Douglas is indeed African-American. Now, there have been significantly more...make that way more... than a few Black singers, both solo artists and groups, from the classic artists of Motown, to the lovely ladies of Destiny’s Child, who have kept multiple songs in the upper reaches of the Billboard Hot 100. Songs that are classics, favorites, and that’ll be heard on multiple forms of entertainment media long after all of us are shopping at that Big Record Store In The Sky. So I fail to see the issue here. But apparently Midland was thinking ‘Sunny’ when they posted the ad in Showbiz. Actually, they were thinking of Carol Douglas' voice-over voice, as she recorded a good numnber of commercials for radio, and conceded that she sounded different in them than she did when she...well...sang. Happily Midland both gave her the gig, and kept her vocals intact.

They ultimately got the sound they wanted, pressed sent some test records during the fall of ’74, then sent ‘em to some NYC discos to see how the tune would be received. Does the phrase ‘The Crowd Went Wild’ mean anything? Doctor’s Orders was just about an immediate smash. It was rush-released in November of ’74, cracked the Hot 100 at #79 when it debuted, cracked the Top 40 in December, and peaked at #11 on February 8, 1975. 

 

Doctor’s Orders’ is a legitimate classic in my book and it’s always amazed me that Carol Douglas didn’t really hit it big...again, the lady can flat out sang’   She had several minor hits that were big on the club circuit and on the dance/disco charts, but that didn’t even create a ripple on the mainstream Pop charts...the closest she ever came post 'Doctor's Orders' was with a tune called ‘A Hurricane Is Coming Tonight’ that made it to #82 on the Hot 100.

Her one big hit was and is a ‘Chick Song’ in many ways...I really don't think many guys would admit to singing along with it, and definitely not ‘Singing Into A Hairbrush’ to it. There may, however, have been some covert male head bobbing when Carol Douglas crooned ‘Doc-tor Orders Baby’ from the speakers while girlfriends and female friends did the singing., (I had a friend in high school who could absolutely nail this song...sadly she never did anything with her singing other than enter the Thomas Dale High School Talent Show a couple of times). 

 

The song’s peppy, upbeat tempo coupled with Carol Douglas’ smooth vocals are just as sweet to listen to today as they were nearly 40 years ago, and thankfully this is one that hasn’t disappeared from the playlists....Oldies stations have it in fairly regular rotation. And that’s as it should be.

So Enjoy! Doctor’s Orders by Carol Douglas.

And as a bonus!  Sunny’s version of Doctor’s Orders

A few notes and facts and such!

What a lot of people don’t realize, this just may have been the first Disco song... the first one to enter the Top 40 at any rate. The ‘Bubble’ guitar effect, and ‘Gallup’ drum effects that became such a big part of Disco music? They were invented by, respectively, Guitarist Jerry Friedman and drummer Carlos Martin (He came up with the effect by pounding n the conga with his fists.) for this song.

Carol Douglas, who grew up in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant, was prepping for a career in the Entertainment Industry early in life. She attended both the Willard May School for Professional Children, and Quintanos High School for young professionals, and onbe of her classmates was Patty Duke, who starred in a hit sitcome in the early Sixties. Carol Douglas actually set out on an acting career as well as a singing career, and guest stared on an episode of The Patty Duke Show.

Love Hurts By Nazareth

Love Hurts

1975

Nazareth

I can almost bet that when we 'Seventies Kids' remember '76's first real big 'One Hit Wonder', we remember it's strong, snappy, guitar intro, and the short but equally awesome guitar solo about two thirds of the way through the song just as well as we remember the vocals...which were pretty kick-ass in their own right. Also memorable was the fact that this was one of those songs you that were just about guaranteed to hear about 30 seconds after you broke up with your girl or boyfriend. You could just about bet on it.

The song is, of course, Nazareth's classic Rock ballad 'Love Hurts'...but the thing is they weren't the first...or second...or even third artist or group to record the song. They just had...by far...the most success with it.

Felice and Boudleoux Bryant wrote 'Love Hurts' back in early 1960, and The Everly Brothers recorded it and added to their album 'A Date With The Everly Brothers in July of that year...but didn't release it as a single. Next up...and first to make a hit out of it...was Roy Orbison in 1961 when he released it as the 'B' side of his international hit, 'Running Scared'. But...and it's a biggie...'Love Hurts' was only a hit 'Down Under', in Australia. It didn't even crack the Hot 100 in The US.

The Who also covered it in 67, and played it occasionally at early shows...but again, never released it as a single. It was also covered by Mark Winter, Jimmy Webb, and the duo Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris. This last cover was recorded in '73, just before Parson's death, and released on their 1973 compilation album 'Grievous Angel'. Though the album got awesome reviews, it tanked commercially...and again 'Love Hurts' flew beneath the Hot 100 radar. Parsons, and his mix of Country and Rock, which he called 'Cosmic American Music', is now considered to have been extremely influential for both genres...and you can hear touches of both in their version of the song.

Nazareth got their chance with the song in '74, when they included it as a track on their legendary album 'Hair Of The Dog' and, As 'Da Old Fella' says...they took the ball and ran with it...and scored big. With both the album and the single. Nazareth was a Scottish band, and extremely popular in Europe, and Hair Of The Dog made them international stars. That album is rightly considered a classic, it's title track became a constant staple of Rock Radio...and 'Love Hurts' became a international megahit, cracking the Top 10 in nine (Count 'em) nine countries, going all the way to #1 in six of them.

Nazareth released 'Love Hurts' in The U.K. almost a year before it's US release, so it got lots of traction and,as I recall, even a little bit of airplay on this side of The Pond before it was officially released. It didn't waste much time down in the dark world of The Uncharted...it started climbing the charts pretty much instantly, and peaked at #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 on March 13th, 1976. You were just about sure to hear it multiple times on any given day back then (On both Rock and Top 40 stations), and it's been a staple on Playlists ever since. It was played so often that it became one of those songs that was as comfortable as an old sweater, with Hard Rock and Pop aficionados alike mouthing the lyrics right along with Dan Macafferty's vocals as he crooned 'Love Hurts...Love Scars...It Wounds, And mars...' At least it was as comfortable as an old sweater unless you heard that classic guitar intro just after you got told 'It's Over'

You can still hear 'Love Hurts' regularly on Oldies stations...and better yet, you can even hear Nazareth live if you're lucky enough to be near a city where they're performing....they've never stopped performing, though backing vocalist/bass player Pete Agnew's the only original member left.

It's always nice when a classic like 'Love Hurts is still going strong! Wish it'd happen more often!

So Enjoy! Love Hurts, by Nazareth.

Gonna be a slew of bonus vids for this one, gang! First, The first version, by The Everly Brothers.

Next up, Roy Orbison's cover.

And finally, Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris cover.

Don't Give Up On Us Baby by David Soul

Don't Give Up On Us Baby

1976

David Soul

Why is it that every time I hear the lovely instrumental intro for 1977's first big One Hit Wonder... which was also an international hit and one of the prettier songs of the year...I have this vision of a red Ford Gran Torino with a white vector stripe sliding to a perfect, tire-screaming, rubber burning sliding stop...hmmm, why could it be????

Could be because the artist who sang this classic love song was also the actor who played Detective Ken Hutchinson on the legendary '70s crime drama 'Starsky and Hutch. Yep...Ken Hutchinson recorded 'Don't Give Up On Us Baby'. OK, actually, David Soul recorded the song at the same time he was portraying 'Hutch'. And it was legitimately huge...If you polled any given group of 100 people who were teenagers in 1977, you'd be hard pressed to find five who couldn't, upon hearing the intro, join right in with David Soul as he crooned that first 'Don't Give Up On Us Baby...' And that's pretty much world wide, BTW...not just in the good ol' U S of A.

David Soul actually started his career as a singer and recorded some pop songs in the early 60's that went...nowhere. So he got an inspired idea. He donned a ski-mask, took a picture of himself wearing it, and sent said photograph to The William Morris Agency...one of the premiere entertainment talent agencies in New York City,...introducing himself as David Soul and telling them that he wanted to be known for his music. They liked his idea...really really liked it...and he was immediately added to the regular cast of daytime talk show The Merv Griffith Show (Huge in the mid-late 60s) as the infamous 'Covered Man', a role he took on, and sang in, for two years.

His singing career didn't go anywhere just yet, but his acting career took off when he was cast in an episode of Flipper, then signed a contract with Columbia Pictures in 1967. This began a string of guest shots as well as supporting and costarring roles that ultimately culminated in his snagging the role he's best known for in 1975...and in '76 he used his success in acting to kick off the singing career he'd always wanted in the first place.

He actually released an album before he recorded 'Don't Give Up On Us Baby', but in his words 'There was absolutely nothing there worthy of being released as a single'. At the suggestion of his label... Private Stock...he teamed up with songwriter/producer Tony Macaulay, and recorded 'Don't Give Up On Us Baby'.

It was released in late '76 and began climbing the charts in both the US and the UK, finally landing the coveted top spot in both markets in April of '77. It'd hang on to #1 in the UK for four weeks, and for a single week in the US. It'd also be his only Billboard Hot 100 hit in the US, though he'd have several more hits...including another #1, with a tune also penned by Tony Macaulay called 'Silver Lady', as well as a #2 UK hit called 'Going In With My Eyes Wide Open'...in the UK.

This is another one that was played over and over on the Top 40 stations during the Winter, Spring, and Summer of '77, and as I noted above, just about everyone who was a teenager back then recognizes it instantly, (And we liked it...immensely)...but many have no clue about the connection between a classic late '70's love song and an action packed Cop show featuring one of the baddest Ford Torinos to ever grace the Small Screen.

This is also another one that you'll still hear on the Oldies Station today...most likely one that features a mix of oldies (Like 107.3 here in the Richmond area), and again., it's a good thing when a classic from our Misspent Youth turns up and starts the memories flowing.

So Enjoy! Don't Give Up On Us Baby' By David Soul.

And as a bonus...David Soul's second UK #1 Hit...Silver Lady. This one has a completely different sound from 'Don't Gie Up On Us Baby'

A Second bonus...#2 UK Hit 'Going In With My Eyes Open, also penned by Tony Macaulay. David Soul really did have an awesome voice.

And as a final bonus...if we're talking David Soul. AKA Ken Hutchenson, we gotta' have a car chase scene from Starsky and Hutch...better yet, a chase scene with Two of the iconic 'Striped Tomatoes!

In this scene, BTW, watch for a black '59 Chevy that almost gets creamed numerous times during the chase (We TV Viewers aren't supposed to notice things like that ya know) This same car shows up numerous times during the seasons the show was aired, a couple of times as the pursued vehicle.