Sunday Showcase Review December 20, 1970

Our journey back in time this Sunday takes us December 20, 1970 where the great guitar picker, songwriter, actor, fisherman, and Scooby Doo guest star Jerry Reed graces the cover of the Sunday Showcase. He was one of my favorite entertainers. 

knock 'em in the head with a stump

Once upon a time you could get Firestone branded bicycles. The Monster GTO, a 20-inch Starguard GTO, Miss GTO, the 20-inch Flame GTO, or the Warrior Princess GTO could be yours for under $50. The mini-bike would set you back $139.95 without tax. Mini-bikes were all the rage in the Seventies. 

Bewitched was a show that I caught in syndication later than 1970, but I thought this was a nice promotional photo for a show I later enjoyed quite a bit. I had also totally forgotten that they had a second baby named Adam. The Christmas episode "Sisters at Heart" is a very memorable one in which Tabitha wants to be her friend Lisa's sister. It was a very special episode before those became a thing. Perhaps it was the very first one. 

The Safari later became the Villa. The Mercy Blues probably played both iterations. 

Creedence on 8-track cartridge. Pendulum had just come out a few weeks before. You could hear "Have You Ever Seen The Rain" on an infinite loop. I checked and none of the Creedence tunes got interrupted mid-song by the program clicking over. Sweet!

you keep on changin' your face

The pre-Christmas sale was happening at Electra. I think they sell electronic related goods, but this ad seems to be selling us something else. 

The place to be on December 29, 1970 was Municipal Auditorium where the Jackson 5 and their revue would perform. 

shake it shake it baby

Holiday Inn commercial 1970

Another great Holiday Inn ad with the iconic sign. If you wondered what you had to eat on Christmas at Holiday Inn the menu is right there. Children 5 and under got to eat for free. 

Holiday Inn Christmas commercial 1970

The Top 10 Records are a pop smorgasbord. I had just turned 4 so I was probably aware of many of these songs. I do recall really liking the Bobby Goldsboro Show, but that was a few years away from airing. The Carpenters hit with 2 tunes in the Top 10 even if the title is wrong on the Christmas one. Karen Carpenter had one of the finest voices ever and wasn't a bad drummer either. I have never heard of Mashmakhan, so I have to include that one below. Jerry Reed's "Amos Moses" is a Best Bet.

Mashmakhan

to think this Paul Williams classic was a bank commercial first

I think I love you

BONUS

There was another insert in the paper called Young World and I liked this ad included in that section. 

Sunday Showcase May 4, 1975

John Wayne heads to Tower Bridge in London on the front cover of this week's Sunday Showcase from May 4, 1975. Brannigan was the movie which was playing at the Loews Crescent downtown. I've done a whole series of posts about what I believe is every movie that played the theatre after Loews took over the lease. Here's the post to the movies that played there in 1975. It was one of his last film roles.

Brannigan trailer

This week's Sunday Showcase review is brought to you by Friedman's Army Surplus Stores with two convenient locations in Nashville and one store located in Murfreesboro. I really miss these stores. I wonder if you can still buy Duck Head clothes? I guess I need to search the net and see.

There's not lots to cover this week so I'm getting right to the Top 10 Records. Number one is "Philadelphia Freedom" which is not by a solo Elton John, but is credited to the Elton John Band. The song title was a tribute to Billie Jean King's professional tennis team the Philadelphia Freedom, but not about the team according to lyricist Bernie Taupin. One of my father's favorite artists is in number 3. My dad got a real kick out of Freddy Fender. My favorites from this list would have to be Linda Rondstadt, the Carpenters, and America. 

I have many copies of the Heart Like A Wheel album on record and CD

Carpenters - Only Yesterday

the official vinyl video - ok well whatever it's Sister Golden Hair

I don't watch regular broadcast television anymore. It's probably because they don't have cool movie line-ups like WNGE2 did back in the day. They had something worth viewing from morning until late night. Now it's a wasteland of talking heads with their insufferable infotainment. I occasionally have to suffer through some of it when I had a doctor or dentist appointment as they will usually have a local station on in the waiting room. I just don't see how anyone can watch that stuff.

Two of the Top Ten Record sellers in Nashville were headed to town for concerts in May. I really love this ad from Sound Seventy Productions for upcoming shows. Nice clean newsprint with excellent ticket graphics for each artist. First the big ad and then each one separately with a video afterwards.

America was riding high in 1975. I didn't like these guys much in my younger days, but I've really come to appreciate their song craft. That's one of the best things about music is how it aways finds you in the end. "I've been hit by purple rain."

I think I've shared this song before since it's so great

It's been pretty cool to see Linda Ronstadt get so much recognition over the last year or so. She was arguably the premier female rock artist of the Seventies and I have always loved her voice. She would be coming to the New Grand Ole Opry House on May 19th. Just a few short years before it would have been the Exit/In for her, but her fame was exploding and she needed a bigger place to perform.

Live "You're No Good" January 1975

Some people who were really in the dark might have said Alice Cooper was arguably the premier female rock artist of the Seventies, but of course Alice is a dude. The name was at first just the name of the whole band before Vincent Furnier decided to take on the persona and by 1975 the band was dissolved and he had become a solo artist with the release of Welcome To My Nightmare. The stage show was compared to a Broadway production and would be coming to Municipal Auditorium on May 25, 1975. I'm a bigger fan of the original band days, but I do enjoy most of Alice Cooper's work and with Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner on guitar for this tour you know it rocked. It would have been super cool to see this show especially with Suzi Quatro opening. She's in my rock and roll hall of fame.

Glycerine Queen live Japan 1975

From the 1976 Welcome To My Nightmare film

John Prine would be playing the War Memorial Auditorium on May 30th. I wish John was still around to be playing today, but we lost him on April 7th to the coronavirus. 2020 has been such a bust so far that there are moments that this journey back into time is quite comforting. Prine was an interesting artist. He never broke through into the stardom of a Willie Nelson or Kris Kristofferson, but like those guys his appeal broke through with everyone that heard him. I know metal music fans, punk fans, and lots of commercial country music fans who would all get along famously if you bring up John Prine's name. Godspeed good sir.

Souvenirs - this is the studio version

The Eagles would be coming in June to Municipal Auditorium and the Charlie Daniels Band would be playing May 13th at Columbia State Community College.

I must admit much of interest in movies has to do with their newspaper ads. Drive-in movies generally had to make do with much less newsprint in the Seventies so much of the appeal is with just the fonts of their often scandalous titles. Here's what was playing this week at 4 drive-in's and the Colonial Twin in Hendersonville which I suspect was much like the Martin Twin in Murfreesboro.

Next week I'm heading to the 80's with television Nazi's being chased by Pac Man. Or something like that. 

Sunday Showcase March 7, 1971

It's all about Disney On Parade on this Sunday Showcase cover. The date was March 7, 1971. I was only 4 years old and I'm pretty sure I was still living in Mississippi, but was about to move back to Murfreesboro, Tennessee very soon. There's a lot of what would be considered cheesy in this issue so lets get to it. 

Disney On Parade was set to take over Municipal Auditorium for several days. I suppose it was like Disney On Ice without the ice. Here's a clip of the Bare Necessities tune from 1971 if you want a taste. 

If you have time to kill someone has uploaded an hour's worth of the 1971 Disney On Parade. Since this was aired on The Wonderful World Of Disney I'm pretty sure I would have watched it as a child since I never missed that show. 

  

The 5th Dimension would be coming in the next month for their first live appearance in Nashville. They were one of my favorite bands when I was a small child and I still enjoy their music today. 

Marilyn McCoo is totally enchanting

It's noted that the Carpenters are up for 6 Grammy awards. They were also a huge favorite when I was little and I have never stopped loving them. It's been interesting seeing them go from artists thought of as being cheesy middle of the road to bonafide hip artists. All I know is that Karen Carpenter could really play the drums and she sang like an angel. 

I've probably shared this before because it's super cool.

For All We Know number 5 in Nashville during this week

I don't see the Carpenters listed in the Murphy's ad, but I bet you could find their 8 track stereo tapes there too.

 

The Top 10 Records in Nashville this week run the gamut from super cheesy bad apples to a tripped out dead on arrival horror story. There's lots of stuff to enjoy on this list and none of it is a guilty pleasure. 

Top of the Pops lip sync fun

Scratchy 45 makes it even scarier

I don't care what they say I don't care what you heard

Remember a post or so back when I shared an ad from the Villa? Well, before this place was the Villa it was called Safari and the band booked to play it looks amazing to me. 

Finally we come to this promo for the WSIX newsmen. WSIX was the ABC affiliate, but it wasn't on channel 6, it was on channel 8. The call letters came from the 638 Tire Company owned by the Louis and Jack Draughon brothers who also began and owned WSIX which was a radio station located at 980 on the AM dial. The television station was the second station in Nashville beginning in November 1953. By 1971 the Draughons had long left the picture having sold the station to General Electric in 1966. The call letters would become WNGE in 1973 when the station swapped its frequency with the local PBS station with channel 8 becoming channel 2 during prime time December 11, 1973. I find this ad promoting their newsmen funny especially when it was followed a few pages later by the sensationalist blurb about drugs. 

That's all for this week. I'll be back next week with another one of these cheesy blog posts.