Sunday Showcase Tune In Special 1975 - 1980

This week I'm not going to review one Sunday Showcase. I'm going to bring to you loyal readers some of the many Tune In pages which were featured instead. I'm sure you remember the Tune In part where a current popular song's lyrics and chords would get published along with a blurb about the performing artist which was quite often not the person who wrote the song. I believe this Tune In section didn't originate in the Sunday Showcase, but was originally part of the Sunday Magazine in a sub-section titled Young World. I grabbed a few of these for you. You will have to click on the photos to make them bigger. I've added YouTube of the studio versions of the tunes if you want to play along.

January 20, 1975

August 17, 1975

The first Tune In featured in a Sunday Showcase proper is "Lyin' Eyes" by the Eagles. It was the November 9, 1975 issue if you really want to search it out. Why did The Tennessean begin putting the Tune In page in the Sunday Showcase? I would guess the biggest reason is that the Sunday Magazine and it's sub-section Young World ceased to exist and was replaced by the nationally syndicated Parade insert. Here's one of my all time favorite entertainers Groucho Marx on the cover of that first Parade featured in The Tennessean.

From here on out the Tune In section would be in the Sunday Showcase thrilling us kids, teenagers, and adults alike with songs and artists we might sometimes like. It would be popular tunes of the day from rock, country, and soul featured. This was a real treat in an era where the only way to get song lyrics and music was to either buy a songbook or perhaps Hit Parader magazine which featured songs of the day. This part of the Sunday Showcase was usually on one of the last couple of pages of the section right after the Ask Showcase page so I'd flip to the back just to see if I liked the tune or not before starting at the front. I hope all of these tunes take you back to those days. My method for picking the songs was to randomly take a date and see if it was a song I enjoyed back when I was a kid except for one. If you think you know which one I didn't like feel free to add a comment with your guess. One hint: it's not "Hot Rod Hearts." I was rather overjoyed that I found that one randomly. I bought the 45 when I was in 8th grade. I was just a dreamer killing time. I'm posting the songs chronologically. 

November 23, 1975

January 18, 1976

August 8, 1976

March 6, 1977

December 18, 1977

February 5, 1978

August 13, 1978

March 11, 1979

August 26, 1979

September 2, 1979

April 13, 1980

October 19, 1980

A few short weeks later on November 2, 1980 Tune In would feature "Coming Out" by Diana Ross. That was a tune that was in heavy rotation at the skating rink just like the "Hot Rod Hearts" single so it's cool to see it here. Next week's paper wouldn't have a Tune In. There is a story about celebrity children facing perils instead. November 16, 1980 would have a song, but it's not labeled Tune In. It's just a country tune called "She Can't Say That Anymore" made popular by John Conlee. "Smoky Mountain Rain" is featured the following week and a Brenda Lee tune in the November 30th edition of the paper. The Milsap sung "Smoky Mountain Rain" had crossed over to the pop charts (I bought the 45) so maybe the paper was just forgetting the Tune In title. Sadly, that wasn't the case. The December 7, 1980 paper revealed that Tune In had been tuned out as from now on only country songs would be featured under the new page title of Nashville Beat. No longer would I flip straight to the back of the Sunday Showcase to see if it was a song I liked. A part of my youth was now gone. It's the nature of life. I loved the Tune In page, but for whatever reason (probably money) it was removed and something else took its spot. This sounds very familiar in light of Nashville's current boom. Oh well, enjoy this Diana Ross song written by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic that used to get me roller skating at top speed at Skatecenter West aka Jack's. 

December 2, 1980