hamptons.com

I was talking to my my friend Stan Blitz and somehow we got on the subject of Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello movies. Now I am not sure where Stan stood, but for me, I thought they were so hokey and corny that I actually liked them. I laughed clear through them and it got me thinking…

 Where are the Frankie Avalon’s Annette Funicello’s of today? We really don’t have them. It is not Hanna Montanna, it is not the Jonas Brothers, and please have mercy on us all it is not Justin Bieber. Let’s face it,  we simply do not have teen age movies with pizzazz and class and down right fun any more.

 There is no one out there like Avalon and Funicello. They had chemistry on screen. They made beach parties the thing of the 60s and introduced a whole line of beach party movies. Beach Party aired in1963, then Muscle Beach Party came in1964 Bikini Beach was also 1964 and Beach Blanket Bingo was in1965.  

 I suppose anyone could have written these silly scripts which usually involved goofy boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, surfers and beach bunnies, rock ‘n roll, and good old fashioned squeaky clean fun. But clearly no one can do that today!

 Did I say squeaky clean? I mean beyond squeaky clean. Shucks and golly gee was probably about as down and dirty as it got in these movies. It really was about wholesome fun which today is absolutely unheard of.  Maybe that is one reason these movies became so iconic. Today we do not have anything that is simply clean fun. Not when it comes time for bathing suits and beach party’s. It all turns to sex, drinking and whatever else.

zillow.com

 There was something about these silly movies that would become part of American history. Let’s face it, Avalon and Funicello couldn’t act so well and neither one of them looked like teenagers. The story lines were corny and the filming was awful, but what these movies did for us was make us feel good for a few short hours.

 These movies also helped make surfer music cool and nifty. In fact these movies produced some real music hits. These movies would produce much more than sappy beach movies, they created fads. Can’t say we do that today anymore either. Guess we are too busy scoring points with our video games and texting to enjoy those simple pleasures of music and fads.

 Well I salute the corny beach movies and am thrilled what it did for the 60s. Since no one will ever be able to reproduce these, you can certainly rent them or get a peek of them on youtube. So hats off to Frankie Avalon Annette Funicello—they just don’t make them like this anymore.

I go to bed rather early. Come on I get up with the chicken, literally, so I go to bed early. It’s not like when I was younger. When I was younger staying up late was easy. I did not get tired; in fact, there were some things that I looked forward to when I stayed up late. Like TV shows. We did not have cable when I was young, so imagine my surprise when some of the greatest TV shows aired at midnight, and that got me thinking…

 In 1973, I believe I was a freshman and there was a TV show on that made being an awkward teen a little easier. I could not wait to hear the theme song, it went something like; Let the Midnight Special shine a light on me / Let the Midnight Special shine a light on me / Let the Midnight Special shine a ever-lovin´ light on me. …

 Yes, it was the Midnight Special which originally aired in 1972 and it was to have been just one show. Well you know how that worked out. The Midnight Special ran from 1973 to 1981. Not so bad for a shows that was to be aired just once. Much like a Lays Potato chip no one can eat just one, and no one could watch just one Midnight Special. It was a hit. It was the king of late night pop/rock.

 You see the producer Burt Sugarman was pretty skeptical about doing a late night show with rock stars. After all, rock and rollers were not exactly business savvy and who knew if they would show up on time, and who knew if they would even remember showing up, for that matter who knew if they even cared. So Suagrman was smart, he hired someone he figured would dress up and show up, someone who looked wholesome. Now remember I didn’t say someone who was wholesome, just someone who looked it. That person was John Denver.

 Okay I know I know, John Denver wow. But listen it was not the host that made the show that night, it was the guests that night that made the show so unforgettable. Cass Elliot, Argent, Linda Ronstadt, The Everly Brothers, David Clayton-Thomas from Blood, Sweat & Tears, War, The Isley Brothers, Harry Chapin AND Helen Reddy. By the way Reddy, the queen of housewife rock and roll hosted the show as a regular for a short time. Wolfman Jack hosted as a regular as well.

 With a line up like that how could Sugarman do just one show?  So the show turned into a weekly series that aired at midnight. The show literally had hundreds and hundreds of recording artists that appeared on the show.

 The Midnight Special was about live performances and all of the who’s who. Some of the folks that performed were; Journey, Procol Harum, Electric Light Orchestra, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Aerosmith, Elton John, Ray Charles, James Brown, Bo Diddley, Rod Stewart, AC/DC, Tina Turner, Heart, Van Morrison, Marvin Gaye, Janis Ian, Billy Joel, Todd Rundgren, Aretha Franklin, David Bowie, Billy Crystal, B.B King, Kiss, The Guess Who, Andy Kaufman, Doobie Brothers, Cheap Trick, Richard Pryor, Joan Baez, Kris Kristofferson,  The Cars, Eddie Money, Blondie, Jim Croce, T.Rex, Al Green, The New York Dolls, Fleetwood Mac, War, Genesis, King Crimson, REO Speedwagon, and the list could go on and on….

 The Midnight Special was pure magic when I was a kid.  Today it still seems magical thanks to youtube were I go to watch some great performances. With all the TV stations out today you would think there would be good programing like this, but sadly we are stuck with lifeless music programing.

 So do you remember the Midnight Special?

drexel.edu

This weekend I thought it would be a great day to go to a movie. The only problem was I could not find a movie that caught my attention. Not one that was worth the money that it costs these days to see a decent flick and it got me thinking…

They just don’t make good movies the way they used to. Oh yeah sure, there is 3D and so much special effects that the actual movie plot I guess just doesn’t matter. However, there are some great classics from the 60s that I think I would still pay money to see.

 One of the movies that symbolize the 60′s ideals for me was Easy Rider that came out in 1969. The film was used great music and the cinematography was groundbreaking by using natural settings. The actors Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper did a grand job and it is a movie that I honored as a kid.

 Though my mother forbid it The Graduate which came out in 1967 was one of those every kid should see movies even though every parent did not want their kid to see it, which made it more fun to watch it as a kid. It stared Dustin Hoffman who plays a college student who’s seduced by an older woman named Mrs. Robinson, played by Anne Bancroft. This to me was the introduction of innocence and seduction.

 Psycho was one of those movies I did not see till I was older. It came out in 1960 and to this date I believe it is a Masterpiece. No need for 3D and gore. This was just in black and white, had some blood splattered on a shower curtain and it was enough to send chills up your spine.  Norman Bates “It’s my mother’ still echo’s in my head. Only a genius like Hitchcock could have crafted a classic like this. He should have had stock in see-through shower curtains because to this day, I talk to people who after seeing the movie, can only take a shower with see-through shower curtains.

 In 1968 Roman Polanski directed this classic horror story of a woman who may be pregnant with Satan’s baby and called it Rosemary’s Baby. I recall my sister hiding the book and reading it because this was another movie our parents would not let us watch. It really is a classic film and makes your imagination sort of wonder…hmmmm is my that guy a pain in the rear or is he really the child of Satan?

 One of the more classic films of our time was Mary Poppins. This 1964 film was simply magical. Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke did a smash up job on this movie and I am not sure where any child of the 60s would be without a spoonful of sugar!  I am glad to see Emma Thompson these days play a very similar role as Nanny McPhee who plays a nanny who uses magic to help with children. Movies such as Poppins and McPhee are classics for children of all ages.

 One of my favorite movies as a kid was Bonnie and Clyde. I don’t know what it was, but I loved Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. They played Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker, the two real-life bank robbers. These two did a great job and their chemistry was perfect! Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid had many similarities with the Bonnie and Clyde. The movies was played by two great actors, Robert Redford and Paul Newman who played real life robbers. Again the chemistry with the actors is what made this movie into a classic.

 Other great movies of the 60s included Goldfinger, The Sound Of Music, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Funny Girl, Dr Strangelove, Midnight Cowboy, Days of Wine and Roses, Fantastic Voyage, To Kill a Mockingbird, West Side Story, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Mutiny on the Bounty, Alice’s Restaurant, The Pink Panther, Romeo and Juliet, and another one of my favorites, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner. Come on the list is way too long. I am sure I left out one of everyone’s favorite movies.

The point being is this; though I appreciate good special effects, I wish we had directors and writers like we did in the past to produce such great movies that were so good; we just didn’t need all the hoopla to make a movie a classic.