Here's another installment of Monday Music for all of the cool cats out there who know you have to be viewing the web version of this blog to see embedded videos. Per usual it's just tunes I've been digging over the last few weeks or so. We'll start with some quintessential Generation X slacker vibes. I absolutely hated this tune when I first heard it. You'd think I would have been up for it since I had been reading about Beck's antics in Flipside magazine, but it took years for me to grasp it's meta mythic state. What kind I say, I was a loser.
I'm a loser baby so why don't you kill me.
I lived on the farm of country music star Jimmy C. Newman for most of my high school years and got to know him and the members of his band. Most of them were Cajuns and they never forget to tell you that often. They were so proud of their culture and I thought they were very cool and interesting. Eventually, by just being around them so much I found myself subconsciously imitating their accent when I spoke with them. I watched Jimmy C. Newman and his band Cajun Country perform many times and much of the appeal of the music was provided by his accordion player Bessyl Duhon who is a legendary musician. This music seeped me into me and I've found myself on a Cajun music kick just this past week. I wish I could find the entire documentary of this which aired on PBS way back in the 70's. This features Louisiana musical giant Nathan Abshire.
Nathan Abshire
Thinking about Jimmy C. Newman naturally leads me to the tune "Alligator Man" which he co-wrote with Floyd Chance. He performed that song at every concert I saw. It's an ace tune and the man who is perhaps my favorite American musician loved to perform it too.
Alex Chilton "Alligator Man" 1998
And now for an upside down question mark with hair. This may have been released in 1990, but it's absolutely perfect music for a montage in an Eighties film. And this video..it's bonkers in the best way.
Steve Vai - I Would Love To
I wish this video was for the full song, but it's the 45 version we get. That will have to do. I find myself singing this song often these days. Black Sabbath was a visionary band. Such a combination of light and heavy in "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath."
They just tell you that you're on your own fill your head all full of lies.
I got The Who "Sell Out" box set and it's amazing. I had always rated the album highly, but immersing oneself in it like a bath of baked beans is truly the way to go. I am obsessing over it like a school kid really. This mono version of "Our Love Was" is just great. And then you've got to hear "I Can See For Miles" too. I hope everyone reading this has a great summer.
Our love was shining like a summer morning.
The Who lip syncing is still great cause they look hip
I couldn't resist any longer. I put my order in for this box set:
Then in July this baby will be coming out. I need to pre-order it soon:
The Who and The Beach Boys go together just fine. The Who are right up there with The Beach Boys on my favorite band of all time. Way ahead of the Beatles. The Beatles aren't even my favorite band from Liverpool. My current read is the Peter Stanfield book on The Who titled A Band with Built-In Hate: The Who from Pop Art to Punk. It's a really great book which is as much about pop culture as it is The Who. I highly recommend it.
My ever changing list of favorite bands may change from time to time, but The Who are always there. They're mod, they're pop, they're rhythm & blues, they're heavy metal, they're conceptualists, they're just this great combination. I've seen many people opine they are a band with a lead singer, lead bassist, lead drummer, and lead guitarist (although Pete is more aptly titled a rhythm guitarist), and it's not that far wrong. One of the grandest things about the group is their constant evolution. Pete Townshend's inability to ever be content is to our lasting benefit.
So about that list of favorites. I'm not numbering it since it's in no particular order, but I'll still keep it to 10. This is a list of bands as they pop into my head. Sorry solo artists. You can sit this one out.
The Who
The Beach Boys
Van Halen
Ramones
The Muffs
Cheap Trick
Jimi Hendrix Experience (they were a band! albeit one with a major dude leading the way)
I got a phone call this morning from a relative. I'm at the age when a phone call from a relative is a bad thing. My uncle had passed away. He was the last of the bunch on my mother's side of the family. 14 brothers and sisters in all with all but 1 of them reaching adulthood. My grandmother had her first child in the year 1922 when she was only 15. They were sharecroppers picking cotton in North Mississippi. My uncle was born in 1951. And now they are all gone. Enjoying the same status as kings and queens and other heads of state that have left this mortal coil. So, this morning is a bummer, innit.
I only got a Facebook account way back when for no real reason. My account just sat there for the longest with just one friend from my high school days. Then he got me into playing a game. Soon the only reason I added friends was to help play Mafia Wars. That particular game was fun for a few months, but it didn't take too long to see there would never be an end result. It was your typical donkey chasing a carrot on a stick game. So I quit playing it. Facebook, itself, blew up during this time circa 2009/10 and soon I was reconnecting with old friends which was fun. It was like Myspace, but where Myspace was an atom bomb, Facebook was a hydrogen bomb. I enjoyed it. I liked seeing photos of my peers and their lives. I liked people sharing their top ten musical lists or funny videos. But then 2016 came and went like a hurricane. Suddenly people started becoming political. You were soon either/or.
And this dismayed me. I remember talking with some friends...and I mean really talking with them face to face and they said they agreed with me that they didn't want to log into Facebook to see people spout off their opinions. Sure, you're welcome to do it, but I am free to either delete you or, more benignly perhaps, just hide your timeline. The friends I was talking to began sharing their political thoughts on Facebook shortly after our conversation. Guess what? I hid those people. It didn't matter if they were left wing, right wing, or just plain nuts. I hid them. I am an equal opportunity avoider of political nonsense on Facebook.
So, what are my political views then? Do you want to dox me perhaps? Facebook actually calculates your political views. I have forgotten how to find this data, but I know when I looked it up they thought I was a Democrat. Nope. So I must be a Republican then? Nope. I'm an actual independent thinker and voter which is perhaps a rare thing these days. But, I'm not really here today to talk about the legalized crime of politics. That is just one of many irritants to infect social media. I will add something here that everybody must know deep down in their hearts to be true: no matter how many political views you post, no matter how many memes you share; it's not going to change even one person's mind. If that method works, then the country as a whole is in far worse shape than any of us can imagine.
So politics as a whole came along and made Facebook a worse place. It wasn't as much fun to hangout there. Next you can add Facebook's constant tweaking of, admittedly their environment, which gets annoying. Once you've gotten rid of the political garbage and joined some cool groups devoted to your interests the garden gets tilled and you find debris and weeds abound. I belong to lots of groups on Facebook. Some of them are devoted to the era I spent my formative years, I belong to some movie groups, and some television show groups. These groups have this in common: unless they are policed by hardcore administrators they get overrun by spammers. Even worse than that though is people who can't be bothered to look things up so people just post the same damn stuff over and over and over and over again. It's tedious.
I was accused of being a spammer recently when I linked to my Electric Cowboy festival piece posted here. I protested this since: 1. it was a reply to a comment about the festival 2. this blog isn't for profit so what good does it do me to gain traffic here? There was a convoluted response about people spamming posts just for likes. I don't need the dopamine rush of likes at Facebook. Because here's my last bit about the social media giant and then I'll get back to my regularly scheduled lack of posting here in 2021 (although there is some Martin Theatre movie listings coming in the next few months).
Facebook can shove it because nobody really cares that much anymore anyways (never mind this screed which proves I might care just a little I suppose). Nobody under the age of 21 or so maintains anything much there. I know my own children rarely do anything there. Heck, my youngest doesn't have an account and I doubt he ever will get one. Nobody really cares that much about your vacation photos or about the fact that you have coffee every morning. That funny meme you just shared has been shared by 10 or more people today and it wasn't even all that funny when it first appeared 5 years ago. Another thing; have you ever noticed how much snark is on there? So many people try to be funny in their comments and it all gets so tiresome. Or even worse, they try to be the smartest person. I've had enough of smartest people. I've had enough of dumb people. I've even had enough of myself some days. I'm going to go back to the way it was before I joined that data collecting wretched hive of scum and villainy.
It's been quite a while since I dropped some Monday music so how about today. Here's some tunes I've been digging the most the last few weeks.
First up is some Cleveland power pop from 1980 by Wild Horses. Dig that "Oh yeah alright" in the chorus and then the great bridge. "You've got your finger on the trigger, but there's nothing in your gun." This comes from a superb YouTube channel called I Don't Wanna Cry. Like and subscribe and get lots of obscure power pop.
Wild Horses - Neighborhood Angel
Kim Shattuck is so missed. The Muffs are in my rock and roll hall of fame.
The Muffs - Really Really Happy
Here's another from the fabulous I Don't Wanna Cry YouTube channel with some power pop from Iowa. "Green Hearts" by Luxury is just an insanely great tune. I love how guitarist/singer Rick Swan stretches out syllables. It reminds of the way Liz Stokes of The Beths does the same thing. If you see this record in the wild for cheap pick it up. I would love to get a copy, but the median price right now is $75. Wow.
Luxury - Green Hearts
Since I mentioned The Beths let's listen to a tune which I've shared here before, "Jump Rope Gazers" which features some syllable stretching. The video is neat too. It's like E.T. with a much cooler alien.
The Beths - Jump Rope Gazers
I got a still sealed copy "Playin' Up A Storm" by The Gregg Allman Band from Wuxtry Records in Athens, GA this week. I didn't go there. I ordered it online. I have been to Wuxtry, both locations way back in 1986, so it was cool to get another record from them. I got The Pandoras way back in 1986 with Kim Shattuck on bass of course. This Allman tune is a slow burner. You know he spent lots of his youth living in Nashville so perhaps that's one of the reasons why I dig him so much.
The Gregg Allman Band - It Ain't No Use
RIP Paula and Kim. The Pandoras were great.
The Pandoras - Stop Pretending
I've been on a Cheap Trick bender the last few weeks. They are, along with Kiss, the band I discovered in elementary school and they have been with me ever since. Their latest album, In Another World, is good, but I still miss Bun E. Carlos behind the skins. Four of their songs were used in the classic teen exploitation film Over the Edge which was on constant rotation on my cable TV circa 8th grade and here's a cool unofficial video of "Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace" which should whet your appetite for a region free blu-ray coming at the end of this month from Arrow Films. I've preordered my copy.
Cheap Trick - Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace
In case you ever wondered what the original "Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace" by Terry Reid recorded in 1969 sounds like here you go. It's a killer tune.
So, I had a post deleted by big brother. It was the post titled 'I Was a Teenage Game Show Junkie." It had somehow violated the malware and viruses policy even though as far as I know the only links in it were to YouTube videos. It's not as if I can validate that since it's gone for good. I would never intentionally have links that lead to garbage, so I may end up doing away completely with them. We'll see how it goes. Carry on as your were.
Postscript: I got an email this morning saying the post had been re-evaluated and reinstated. I don't see it yet, but I presume it will show up again. It's good to be vindicated.
Forty years ago this monster slab of rock and roll arrived. I want to know what they were thinking at Warner Bros since "Hear About It Later" was not issued as a single from Fair Warning. I think that tune would have been a smash hit even with the 45 second instrumental beginning. The bridge (or is it considered the chorus) of the song is pure pop heaven. I love this record, but wish side two just had one more song on it.
Many years ago I lived in a 2 story farmhouse on Manson Pike and like most of the places my parents either rented or was buying it was short-lived. We had bought this home with 5 acres and lived there from 1977 into 1978. I have fond memories of it even though it's long gone. I'm pretty sure the new hospital sits on some of those 5 acres now. What does this have to do with "Cow Jam 1981?" Not much probably, but one of my memories of living in that farmhouse was that on one night a big rock concert was held on the property that was behind ours. I remember my father cussing about it the day of the show. I could see the glow of the lights and hear the music throughout the night. This "Cow Jam 1981" reminds me of that night. I've yet to find any definitive answer on the nature of that concert from 1977/8, but it was perhaps similar to this one. It's also curious to me to see that the DNJ says it's going to take place on the McFarlin farm which was next to the property we were living on in 1977/8, while the notice from the MTSU student paper Sidelines says the concert is going to take place on Primm's Farm. This would have placed the event also near our old place on Manson Pike. Sure, it's several years later, but I suspect the location saw concerts there often over the years. If you happened to attend this show let me know in the comments.
Acts noted to be playing April 23, 1981:
Billy Earl McClelland Band
Square Wave
The Piggys
The Winters Brothers
Cow Jam notice in the April 22, 1981 DNJ
Sidelines April 14, 1981
Sad Postscript: There was a second "Cow Jam" held later on September 24, 1981. After the show was over an attendee, a young 18 year old man Stacey Thatcher, was walking home on Highway 96 when he was sideswiped by a hit and run vehicle. Thatcher was alive at this point, but couldn't walk to get help. He passed away due to the injuries before being found several hours later. Sheriff Craig Snell was quoted in the DNJ that he would try to prevent any future "Cow Jams." The driver of the hit and run car would be found and sentenced to 5 years in prison for vehicular homicide. The parents of Stacey Thatcher filed wrongful death suits totaling $8.25 million against the driver and passengers in the car and the organizers of the event. I know they got a very small portion of this from the driver as part of his sentencing, but I don't know about the rest. Money, however large an amount, is no solace for the life of a child. I hope they found peace. The only references to "Cow Jam" I could find in 1982 and 1983 were all references to this tragedy. Some sage advice: don't drive drunk.
I don't know if those of us who lived in Murfreesboro in 1981 (I had just moved back after living in Smyrna for a year) realized that Big K was on its last legs, but that was the case which makes this 3 page ad from the April 22, 1981 Daily News Journal even more bittersweet than mere nostalgia would suggest. We had moved right into the S curve off Clark Boulevard by Mitchell-Neilson Elementary so Memorial Village was an easy bicycle ride away when I had a bicycle that didn't have a flat tire or broken chain otherwise I was hoofing it over there. I spent most of my time in Family Billiards playing pinball since I could often play for hours on just 1 or 2 quarters on the Playboy or Mata Hari pinball machines. It would be June of 1981 when Big K merged (more like they got consumed) with Wal-Mart.
Check out all of the awesome things you could purchase during the outdoor sale 40 years ago. I think I'll grab some of those over the calf tube socks.
Here's a photo of the front of the Murfreesboro Big K which I may have shared before. It was posted to Facebook by Danny Campbell who I believe was the photographer.
There was plenty more to choose from in a Columbia House ad from the March 29, 1981 Parade section of the Tennessean, but these will do nicely for a Monday Music post. It's a very mellow batch when Billy Joel is the hardest rocking of the bunch. Still, I have fond memories of hearing tunes from these artists when I was in junior high school. Make sure you're viewing the web version of this blog and enjoy some embedded videos.
Busy, busy, busy. It seems like the more I stay at home for work the busier I am. Then there is my YouTube channel where I am posting an original song each week this year. The sloppiness of the performances may not show it, but I do actually rehearse the songs. My son's sophomore year season on his high school soccer team began this last week so I'll be going to many of the games, unlike last year when the season was cancelled after just a couple of pre-season ones. That's why you're not seeing many posts so far this year. But never fret, I've got some ideas percolating through my noggin. Perhaps I will finally make good on the story of my senior year of high school which happened so many years ago now.
Today's topic is just some random memories. Spring is here and I thought I'd walk to my mailbox barefooted. Ouch!! I used to run around barefooted all the time when I was pre-school age and on into my pre-teen years. It was nothing. The only thing that ever bothered me was when the parking lot asphalt got really hot and if you could survive that you got a wonderful cool payoff once you entered the department store, which for me was most likely either Big K or Clarks. It was a rare occasion if I got to go to Roses and if we were going all the way out there my mother would have made me wear shoes. The "no shirt, no shoes, no service" era had begun, but store's didn't seem to care if children were barefooted. Once I reached my teens it was flip-flops in the spring and summer.
The department stores mentioned are long gone from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, but loom large in my mind. When I was just 4 or so my parents would just turn me loose in the toy departments when they shopped. It was probably only for a quarter of an hour or less, but it seemed like forever. There was the one time in Clarks when I had played with the toys long enough that at first I got bored, but then grew terrified that my father had forgotten me so I started crying and a person stocking the shelves took me to the manager's office which was up this big flight of stairs while they paged my father. I would sometimes go back and glance up those long stairs when I was older (say 10 instead of 4) and wonder how I could have been so scared.
My father, nor my mother, would ever have forgotten me. I'm an only child and while we too poor for me to be spoiled with material things, I suppose I was spoiled by their love. Now that both of my parents have left this world I think about them often. I'll be driving down the road and suddenly I'll think about my father. It won't be some Hallmark card event either. I'll think about riding down the highway in a blue Ford Ranger he owned. I'd have my head out the window and he'd tell me to get my head back in the vehicle. Then I think about how interesting he was in his inimitable grouchy way. He'd served twice in the U.S. Army. He'd got out after being drafted and then re-enlisted to serve in Vietnam circa 1965-67. He went to the vocational school in Shelbyville where he learned to weld and lay bricks. He worked at the Nashville Bridge Company for several years before trying to make a go as an independent bricklayer doing contract work. He worked at Clark & Iron Metal when I was around 4 and then went back to them when I was a senior in high school. He managed the country singer Jimmy C. Newman's ranch during most of high school days.
My mother, on the other hand, bounced around at a few places when I was small, but ended up working 30 something years at Greer Stop-Nut Smyrna which made stop nuts primarily for the airplane industry. I still remember the smell of the place from the times I waited for her to get off work as I sat in the small cafeteria area and also the smell of the industrial grease on her clothes. I know she ran tapping machines, but there was probably more to it than that. Factory work is not for everyone, but the company was good to her.
It's time, once again, to run a somewhat frequent feature at this blog called Monday Music. I share a bunch of music videos and if you make sure you're looking at the web version you can enjoy the videos too. I might one day make all of these posts into a playlist, but for now I like it this way.
First up is Canadian AOR band Haywire with a superbly 80's video for "Standing In Line." I would have thumbed my nose in disdain for this back in the 80's, but I love this stuff now.
Haywire
Lest you think I've gone down the AOR path completely, here is some relatively recent music that I love. Lindsey Jordan of Snail Mail is great.
Snail Mail
This Shins video encapsulated quite a bit of the musical artists I loved from the independent scene so I took notice. It helped that the song was great.
The Shins
"Forever Young" is an awesome tune made even more awesome with this cover by Australia's Youth Group. The video is perfect.
Youth Group
The Breeders with a hypnotic tune and the video is an homage to Black Sabbath. Can't beat that.
The Breeders
There are often times when Pulp is my favorite of the Brit-pop bands of the 90's. This is one of those times. I think my friend D.D. Blank loves this tune because of all of the "yeah, yeah, yeahs."
Pulp - Babies
I do believe this is a copacetic Monday Music.
Local H
Bonus, in case you want to compare Black Sabbath to the Breeders.
I was actually a game show junkie for all of my childhood, but "I Was a Teenage Game Show Junkie" sounds much better. I believe if you ask almost any person from Generation X about what they did when they stayed home from school because of being sick the subject of watching game shows will come up. It is a cherished memory for us. If you really felt bad or were just faking it there was much comfort in laying on a couch under a blanket with something to drink and snack on close at hand (probably just crackers or toast if your stomach was upset) while Bob Barker, Richard Dawson, Gene Rayburn, and other greats beamed out from your television. I'm not going to get into much detail on game play, but you can click on the links to IMDB if you want to learn more. There are lots of full length episodes of these game shows on YouTube too. As always, if you want to see the embedded videos you need to be viewing the web version of this page. So here's my list of my favorite game shows growing up circa 1970-1986 along with honorable mentions which is where we begin.
Honorable Mentions
These are all game shows that I enjoyed or found interesting that didn't make my Top Ten. If one of them is your favorite let me know in the comments.
Tattetales hosted by Bert Convy. The first version that ran from 1974 - 1978 is the one I remember fondly. I just loved that the celebrity couples would have one person in an isolation booth and then would appear in a box.
Tattletales closing credits 1975
Concentration hosted by Jack Narz. I believe this version ran from 1973 - 1978. It definitely ran at 6PM on my local ABC station in 1976. I would stay at a babysitter's house every weeknight until my mother picked me up around midnight and the old widow lady, Mrs. Green, who kept me usually only tuned her station to channel 4 WSM which was the NBC affiliate. She made an exception for The Waltons on CBS and for Concentration on ABC. She would also let me watch the Donny and Marie Show.
Concentration intro 1974
Tic Tac Dough hosted by Wink Martindale. I guess this was technically called The New Tic Tac Dough, but it ran after the local news for many years. Wink was a great host and it was cool that he was originally from Tennessee. My father and I enjoyed this very simple game. Watch out for that dragon! Thom McKee sure did winning $312,700 in money and prizes.
The Magnificent Marble Machine hosted by Art James. This short lived game show had a giant pinball machine. I love pinball. If the show had lasted more than a season it would have been in the top ten.
The Magnificent Marble Machine opening
Now on to my Top Ten game shows I loved from 1970-1986.
10. High Rollers hosted by Alex Trebek. The late, great Alex Trebek was already super cool in my book when he hosted this awesome show which used giant dice. The tagline was tantalizing, "every decision is a gamble and every move can be your last." You give me any show which used supersized props and I was probably going to watch it back then.
High Rollers opening July 4, 1975
9. To Tell The Truth hosted by Garry Moore. This show ran for the longest time in the 6:30PM Central slot on our local CBS affiliate channel 5 WLAC later to be WTVF. When I was really young I didn't enjoy that my father would always watch the show. I didn't realize it was a game. I figured it out around the age of 6 or 7 though and I would try to guess who was telling the truth too. It was always a blast if I figured it out and my father couldn't. If I was judging by what I like today this very well would probably make the top 3, but I've devised this list to reflect my tastes during my younger days.
8. The Joker's Wild hosted by Jack Barry. Giant slot machine with devils. Need I say more? I loved this show that always seemed to bounce around our local television schedules. I so wanted to pull the lever and answer the very easy questions offered. I was cognizant at an early age that game shows had once been pulled from television due to a fixing scandal which made me wonder about this show. Was the giant slot machine on the up and up? I'm sure it was, but my young mind wasn't convinced.
Knowledge is king and Lady Luck is queen.
7. Family Feud hosted by Richard Dawson. Dawson was one of the most popular panelists on CBS's Match Game so ABC selected him to be host of the Feud. The show got off to a slow start, but soon became the most popular game show on daytime television. I know my mother and I loved it during the first few years. The game play became very formulaic and I know I became a little bummed that it didn't really matter how well each team did for the first few questions. What mattered was when the money values were tripled later on. Dawson's constant kissing of each lady contestant was a little strange too. The best part of the game was the last part where 2 family members competed for the big money. "Survey says!"
Richard Dawson laughing
6. Sale of the Century hosted by Jim Perry. This version of the show was a huge favorite of mine during high school. I liked the fast pace, the fact that the questions weren't super easy, and that the contestant had to make a decision to take their money, perhaps spend some of it on prizes, or go for everything.
Clip from Sale of the Century 1984
5. The Price is Right hosted by Bob Barker. Really, you can jumble this amazing show in with the next 2 shows as I like them all just about the same. I remember when the show was only a half hour and then when it went to an hour. The best thing about this show is that you could play along from your home and it felt so great when you'd do a better job than the contestants. There was also the variety of the games and the famous exhortation from announcer Johnny Olson to "Come on down!" Bob Barker and his beauties will be in reruns forever.
A new car!
4. The Newlywed Game hosted by Bob Eubanks. I remember my mother watching this one in the early 70's and I thought it was funny when the couples would bicker. I didn't really get the sly humor or what "making whoopee" meant, but it was a cool show. I liked the layout and set design....are those the same thing? Then when it came back later on in the decade I understood the humor and enjoyed it even more. Eubanks, for me, was unflappable and the key component of the show.
Some funny moments from The Newlywed Game
3. The $10,000 Pyramid hosted by Dick Clark. This word guessing game was a blast and it was one my mother and I always watched when she was working nights and I was out of school. It was very interesting to see which celebrity was good at the game. Dick Clark was brilliant too. All of these top 5's on my list owed much of their success to their hosts. It was also neat to see the prize money go up ever so often and the name of the show reflected that change.
1975 $10,000 Pyramid opening
2. Jeopardy! hosted by Alex Trebek. This reboot in 1984 could not have come at a better time for me. I was starting my senior year of high school and a couple of teachers decided to sponsor a quiz bowl team. I decided to try my luck and I made the team. I think everyone made the team. Our yearbook photo has about 30 people in it, but only 10 or so of us stuck with it and went to all of the meets. I loved it since I was a trivia mad person. The revived Jeopardy! came on right after school let out too so it was perfect to help hone my trivia skills. I would get a piece of notebook paper and keep up a running tab of the answers I got right before the contestants and I always wrote out my final jeopardy answer too. I did the online test for Jeopardy! many times over the years, but I never got the call so either I wasn't that smart or it could be that, even I if had aced the test, my name didn't get randomly pulled. I would have loved to have met Alex Trebek just so I could ask him about his High Rollers days.
Incorrect answers
1. Match Game hosted by Gene Rayburn. It's true that I didn't get the double entendre of many of the answers when I was younger nor did I realize that the celebrity panel was often well into many alcoholic drinks by the time the Thursday and Friday shows aired (a week's worth of shows was shot in a day with 3 of them filmed after a lunch break so they got looser and looser as they drank), but I still loved the antics of the cast members, especially Charles Nelson Reilly and Brett Somers, and I also really dug Gene Rayburn who seemed like he would make a cool older uncle. I later got to understand the humor and that made the show even more hilarious for me as I watched it while eating an after school snack of Coke and a honeybun. I thought it was super cool that the year was used in the title and it was neat when it changed. I still love watching old reruns of this show. It was irreverent and probably quite offensive to the sensibilities of today, but to me it's still the best.
