Sunday Showcase August 5, 1979

It's time once again to dive into the past and see what was shaking in an old Sunday Showcase. Hart To Hart was coming to TV and Mac Davis was promoting North Dallas Forty on the August 5-11 cover. What sort of goodies can I find inside this week's edition? 

KDF and Sound Seventy in association with Service Merchandise were presenting another One For The Sun at Hermitage Landing. It was later in the summer than the one's I remember from the Eighties and the line-up wasn't as large or well known, but from little seeds big plants grow.

You could park for 50 cents in the Cain Sloan parking lot and see the concerts held at the Tennessee Theater. Your upcoming choices were folk and soul acts. The wild & crazy toga party night sounds like fun since you'd get a free beer if you wore your toga. 

The Hee Haw honeys were promoting good dental hygiene by helping to celebrate National Smile Week. Hee Haw was a staple of my house growing up and by 1979 at the age of 12 I was beginning to pay much more attention when Misty Rowe was on the screen.

Sonny Bono was the big guest star on The Love Boat on this weekend. It was a rerun since it was the dead of the summer, but Bono's character Deacon Dark was a pretty hilarious take off on Kiss. 

SMASH IT!

Speaking of Kiss, they were coming to play a sold out show at Municipal Auditorium on August 14th. They were at their peak Seventies popularity with "I Was Made For Lovin' You" becoming their second gold single. You could purchase your Kiss clothes at Castner Knott and maybe even get to meet the band in person if you won their contest. I wanted to see the show, but I was still too young according to my parents. I did get a blue pair of Kiss shorts though.

Paul hits the wrong chord in 1979

tonight Paul is going to give it all to you

Local new report on the Nashville show (thanks to Wes for reminding me this was out there!)

REO Speedwagon were coming just a few days later. They were like many of the so called "dinosaur corporate rock" acts of the Seventies: they toured and toured and toured building up a live fanbase for the most part without the benefit of Top Forty singles. Their kind of hard rock gets put down by critics and other music fans, but I admire the work ethic of such bands even if the music sometimes doesn't move me. REO would get their Top Forty success a little over a year later with the release of Hi Infidelity. 

REO riding the storm out live in Germany later in 1979

The Belle Meade Theatre is presenting a slew of old horror movies along with some live appearances of Frankenstein's monster and Dracula (although...how can Dracula put in a live appearance since he's undead) with the notice that if you're brave enough to sit through the whole show and leave unassisted you'll receive a free 2 for 1 pass and a free gift. It seems like it would have been better at Halloween, but I suppose they were going after the kids on summer vacation.

One of my favorite movies ever was playing this week at Cinema South and at the Hickory Hollow Mall Cinema. I didn't see Breaking Away in the theatre, but I did see many movies at Hickory Hollow over the years. 

If you didn't want to go to the movies or a rock concert maybe you could go dance the night away at Pal Joey's at I-24 and Harding Place. You could take lessons in disco at the Dance Center of Nashville and "enjoy the rest of summer with DISCO" according to their advertisement. 

This Sunday Showcase review is brought to you today by Computer World. They will help you own, operate, or program small computers. They'll even provide a free session to you. 

Now that you've got those disco dance lessons under your belt it's time to spend the next decade enjoying the disco lifestyle...........BUT WAIT, what is that I see in its first week in the Top 10 Records.....YES, IT IS......"My Sharona" by The Knack hits number 2 it its first appearance on the local Nashville top ten sales chart. You're going to need to trade in your leisure suit for some skinny ties and learn some New Wave dances and forget about the Hustle. I can still remember the very moment I first heard "My Sharona" come blasting over the radio that summer. I was riding in a car with my cousin Freddy with the radio tuned to KX104 and then that drumbeat began and I was instantly hooked. It had such a fresh urgent energy and the bridge/solo of the song takes it into outer space.

There was still some fantastic disco hits on the charts this week with "Good Times", "Ring My Bell", "Making It", along with Donna Summer's more rocking "Hot Stuff" with the Barbra Streisand disco-ish "Main Event" tune.  I'm not saying discos disappeared or dance music vanished as there is always a demand for it, but this was the last gasp of the disco craze began by Saturday Night Fever that had come to dominate the pop music charts. 

Local Tennessean (originally from North Carolina) Charlie Daniels stood atop the charts with "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" which had crossed over from the country charts. I always thought the part where "the band of demons joined in" was the best part of the tune. Charlie passed away on July 6, 2020 and he will be missed. 

we want the best, we won't settle for less

almost rang the phone off the wall

RIP Charlie Daniels you were amazing!

my I I I I I I I I I I I