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HÜSKER DÜ RÜLES

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Film Flashback June 12, 1966

All Elvis breaks loose in this week's film flashback to June 12, 1966 in Murfreesboro, TN. There are only 2 choices and I know which movie I'd want to see on this date. Paradise-Hawaiian Style is playing at the Princess while The Wizard of Mars (filmed in Ultra-Depth) plays the Starlite Drive-In Theatre. 

Paradise-Hawaiian Style is a fairly inept attempt to replicate the success of Blue Hawaii from 1961. The scenery is wonderful and the songs aren't too bad, but the story is paper thin and Elvis is not only a bit overweight, but he basically phones it in for this film. Even with those glaring negatives I still like the movie as a disinterested Elvis is still Elvis. I grew up watching his films on local television reruns and even the worst of them have a place in my beloved childhood memories. 

I have never seen The Wizard of Mars, unless maybe in passing on TV, so it's a mystery to me. David L. Hewitt directed this psychotronic movie and Hewitt was also known for his special effects work. The capsule summary of the movie says it is about 4 astronauts who end up stranded on Mars where they end up encountering the wizard played by John Carradine.  The Martians are modeled on L. Frank Baum's Flatheads of Oz. The movie definitely received a huge push as you can see from the newspaper ad and the photo. The Starlite Drive-In which was located out on Shelbyville Highway 231 would not survive the year with the last listing for the drive-in coming in the September 30, 1966 DNJ for the movies Mudhoney plus Swamp Woman. 

Random Crap From An Old Notebook the recurring feature is finally recurring

Haha. Long ago in 2009 I wrote a post titled Random Crap From An Old Notebook which was exactly what it was. When I was a much younger man who still had long curly locks on his head I was constantly writing and doodling in little spiral notebooks. I would also keep score when I played along with Jeopardy so you'll find these pages filled with numbers and then some question at the bottom. Anyways, when the first random crap post was done I said it was to be a recurring feature here, but I never posted another one. Until now. Eleven years in the making I drop another one for you dear readers. Maybe it won't take so long to do it again. This entry comes from a notebook called This Sucks Experiments in Prose that I wrote mainly during fall of 1986. There's a long, unfinished letter to my friend D.D. where I review the R.E.M. concert at the Grand Ole Opry House on September 10, 1986 which I may share on here one of these days. "These Days" was the opening song of that Life's Rich Pageant tour date.

There was a short story writing contest in Creem magazine to win a trip to see R.E.M. then so I was trying to write something to enter it, but never followed through. That's sort of the story of my life. I never follow through.......

This story I found might have been one of my attempts at that contest or it might not have been. I was writing lots of stuff back then. I have found variations of this guy meets a cool girl at the rock club in different notebooks so it was probably just a preoccupation in my mind. It was titled Commentary for some reason.

From 1986:

She read with poetry. Because she bought me a beer at the Exit/In. We left for awhile and drove around until we got lost. She had red hair cut the way I liked it. I asked directions at a convenience store somewhere in Green Hills. I found the main road full of hills like a rollercoaster. My hands were shaky. We almost wrecked lots. I impressed her. I kissed her. I gave her my prayer beads. She kissed me.

The band stopped playing. My head stopped spinning. I looked around and nobody was there except for a bartender and a few friends of the band. The bathrooms were empty. So was my heart. I stumbled out into the night....wasn't I just out there before....where did I park the car. I noticed my prayer beads were missing. Another night clubbing. Shaky keys in the ignition. Night posts flash by. Where did my love go...vanishing poetry in the night.

Sunday Showcase The TV Schedule Only Edition June 1975 - June 1981

We interrupt this Sunday's regularly scheduled Showcase review to bring you 7 days worth of Nashville television schedules. I will begin on Sunday June 8, 1975 and end on Saturday, June 13, 1981. The reason for this special edition is Fan Fair. Fan Fair began in April of 1972, but was moved to June the next year where it remained a staple of country music for decades at the Nashville State Fairgrounds until morphing into the CMA Music Festival which is held downtown. The Sunday Showcases from the first week of June are full of Fan Fair related articles and events which would be great if that's all this weekly foray into the past was about, but I'm more into strange advertisements, rock concerts, and television/movie type entries. So due to Fan Fair I could not find one single issue I wanted to review. So it's this Frankenstein monster of a weekly TV schedule that spans years instead of days. The only stipulation I made was all of the schedules had to be from June and they had to cover a 7 year span. 1975 - 1981 was prime television viewing for me as I was 9 most of 1975 and would have been 14 in June of 1981. It's a regular nostalgia mini-series. I hope you enjoy it.

First up is Sunday June 8, 1975. I would have watched the Three Stooges on Channel 2 at 8:30. I might have then gone to First Freewill Baptist Church on Sulphur Springs Road. Once home I would have watched the Lone Ranger or the Atlanta vs New York baseball game until I grew restless and went outside to play for the rest of the afternoon. Six Million Dollar Man and Mannix would be my most likely prime time viewing.

Sunday June 8, 1975

I should have been done with the school year so Monday June 7, 1976 could possibly be a full day of television viewing if the weather was bad. WZTV Channel 17 is now an option so if I was up at 7 in the morning I'd be tuning in to Spiderman instead of Bozo. WLAC Channel 5 is now WTVF and I would probably still look in on Captain Kangaroo, but I recall being almost a fanatic about Green Acres so I'd switch to WNGE Channel 2 at 830. It seems weird to me now that Happy Days reruns were already being shown every weekday, but I definitely was watching them. There's just so much awesomeness to see here. WTVF was running their Dialing for Dollars promotion for their 3:00 movies and that was always fun. My prime time would be spent enjoying Monday Night Baseball. 

Monday June 7, 1976

A year later and Happy Days is still in syndication on WNGE Channel 2. It had stiff competition with the second half of The Price Is Right now opposite it. My mother was still working nights at this time and she didn't miss Bob Barker's show. I became very adept at many of the games. My favorite game show ever was The Match Game which aired in the afternoon on Channel 5. Afterwards I'd tune to The Gong Show on Channel 4 or perhaps Speed Racer and then The Brady Bunch. 6 to 7 I'd be laughing at The Beverly Hillbillies and Hogan's Heroes on Channel 17. Prime time was ABC with my beloved Happy Days and Laverne And Shirley. Then it would be M*A*S*H and One Day At A Time on CBS or on this particular night I might have switched over to watch the Reds play the Mets.

Tuesday June 7, 1977

Daytime television is much the same in 1978 as it was in 1977. Dinah Shore and Mike Douglas still have 90 minute long talk shows on WZTV. Channel 5 no longer has afternoon movies, but WSM Channel 4 does. It would basically be between Channel 5 and Channel 17 for me from 3-5:30 as each station has great shows. The Life And Times of Grizzly Adams was cool and Wild Wild West was too, but I would attempt to get control of the television from my father and often would get to watch the entirety of ABC's lineup on Wednesday night. Eight Is Enough fascinated me since I have no siblings. 

Wednesday June 14, 1978

Bozo is gone from WNGE 2. I don't know when it ended, but it was still there in June of 1978. I was too old for Captain Kangaroo by this point so Good Morning America was probably what was on. Laverne and Shirley has replaced Happy Days in the 10:00 in the morning spot on Channel 2. Little Rascals and The Brady Bunch air from 3-4 in the afternoon, but I was just as likely to tune over to Channel 5 to see The Addams Family at 3:30 especially since it segued right into Gilligan's Island which was a mainstay. I had been a big fan of The Waltons in prior years, but I guarantee Channel 2 was on with Mork and Mindy and Angie. I've spoken of my love for the Angie show here before. Barney Miller and Carter Country were both shows my father enjoyed. Barnaby Jones got lots of play in our home too as my mother now worked days and she loved detective shows. The local news shows from each channel were always racing to stay ahead of their competitors and WTVF now had a helicopter! Next thing you know, they'd have color weather radar.

Thursday June 14, 1979

We're up to 1980 and I've included the capsules of the shows too. I know I would have probably watched the Dukes of Hazzard rerun where they meet Cale Yarborough if I wasn't going roller skating on that night. Mike Douglas has vanquished Dinah Shore and only his 90 minute long talk show remains. The Incredible Hulk is also on CBS on this night. Dallas was well on its way to becoming a phenomenon, but The Prisoner was airing on WDCN Channel 8 public television and I would watch it without understanding much of it back then.

Friday June 13, 1980

I couldn't resist sharing this great photo of some Fan Fair fans. 

Well, it's the end of the week and Saturday means cartoons all morning, country music shows, and lots of sports throughout the rest of the day before prime time gives way to escapist fare like Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, and B.J. and the Bear. I enjoyed the Walking Tall television series even though it was short lived. 

Saturday June 13, 1981

Every week there would be a separate little handy guide to all of the sports coming on TV during the week. I would try to watch as much baseball as I could although I would often get bored and wander off. NWA Wrestling on Channel 17 was another thing though. I would not miss it and would watch every second of it. 

That's all for this week. Next Sunday I'm revisiting 1985 where everybody wants to rule the world. 

Film Flashback June 5, 1981

Good ole stoner humor. I think it dates back to ancient times. There's movies with stoners about being stoned and then there are stoner movies which are great to watch if you are high. What's funny to me is these films appeal to those who like to get high and to those who don't.

Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams didn't make either of the lists I linked to above, but it was definitely playing at the Martin Twin on June 5, 1981. They play a couple of stoners dealing dope out of a really whacked out looking ice cream truck. Stacy Keach and Paul Rubens star with our leading guys Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong. I couldn't find a decently made trailer so enjoy them performing "Save The Whales" instead.

There's a double dose of comedy at the Martin with Richard Pryor starring in Bustin' Loose which was also playing. Pryor is a parolee who is assigned to drive a bus load of special needs children across the country. The fantastic Cicely Tyson plays the school teacher and it's her dynamic with Pryor that really drives the movie. It was a huge hit making over 6 million dollars during its opening weekend having been released on May 22.

Save The Whales

Bustin' Loose

If I had just looked at the June 5, 1981 Daily News Journal I would have thought that was all that was playing at the Martin Twin on that night, but I decided to look through Thursday's paper to see if I could find a cool restaurant ad to include this week. I didn't find a restaurant ad. I found something much cooler. Perhaps you saw the ad and knew what was going on or perhaps you just went to see Bustin' Loose and got surprised with a free ticket to see the preview of Raiders Of The Lost Ark on June 5th, 1981. I don't think you need a summary of that movie. It went on to be the highest grossing film of 1981 with almost $400 million made worldwide and in addition to the sequels it spawned all sorts of pop culture items. It's interesting to think of the movie getting a sneak preview a week before its general release. Paramount had a lot of money invested in Lucasfilm and there was some concern when Raiders only made $8 million on its opening weekend, but I think Paramount ended up happy in the end.

Raiders of the Lost Ark trailer

The Marbro Drive In has one of their all night weekend extravaganzas. I have compiled an almost complete history of the movies that played the Marbro and these themed all night events happened every few months. I will be posting the list of all of the movies beginning in July of this year once I figure out exactly how I want to do it. The Marbro always fascinated me when I was a kid since I never got to see a movie there. It would have been awesome to be around for this particular horror movie night. You can click on the movie titles if you want to know more about them. After the weekend ended two of the movies would play the rest of the week.

The Unseen

Screams Of A Night

The Dark

Beyond The Door

You could often see Mark Hamill in the Star Wars movies at Cinema One, but on this night you could see him play a policeman who falls for Kristy McNichol in The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia. Dennis Quaid and Kristy McNichol are siblings on their way to Nashville trying to make it in the music business. Both of them sing in the film! Dennis Quaid's character runs afoul of the law and the cop played by Hamill tries to help them out. I have not seen this film and it's out of print so I'm hoping to find a complete version online or maybe pick up a bootleg DVD of it soon. The filming locations are Trenton and Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, Chattanooga and Manchester (opening credits), Tennessee which makes me want to see it even more. 

The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia

Kristy McNichol sings!

Sunday Showcase May 31, 1981

Lawrence Welk, Donald Duck, and Andrea McArdle dressed as Dorothy walk into a bar...

...and you get the cover of this week's Sunday Showcase review. I had a big crush on Andrea McArdle when I was few years younger after seeing her on the Tony Awards or something. I don't understand why a television movie from 1978 is getting such a push in 1981, but seeing her wearing ruby slippers is cool. I did watch Rainbow when it aired the first time as I also adored Judy Garland when I was a child. 

Andrea McArdle sings Stormy Weather

April Wine were coming to play the Tennessee Theater on June 16. They are not mentioned in the ad, but Franke and the Knockouts were the opening act. "Just Between You And Me" was a bit smash for April Wine at this time and "Sweetheart" was a top ten hit for Franke and the Knockouts too in the spring of 1981. I like April Wine's hard rock material and I love that they (like their fellow Canadians Rush) shot a music video at the now gone Le Studio.

April Wine "I Like To Rock" shot at Le Studio

"Just Between You And Me" live in 1982

Franke and the Knockouts on American Bandstand

Tunesmith Jesse Winchester would play the Tennessee Theater a few days after April Wine. He was out promoting his Talk Memphis album so I'll include "Say What" which made it into the Top 40 in June of 1981. 

"Say What"

Last week's Sunday Showcase review ended with ZZ Top's 1976 World Wide Texas Tour and here they are back again in 1981 along with Loverboy. I think they left the wild animals in Texas this time.  ZZ Top were touring after releasing the Devo inspired album El Loco. You think I'm joking, but the use of synthesizers on the record, in particular on "Groovy Little Hippie Pad" was inspired by Gibbons seeing a soundcheck by Devo. I couldn't find any good 1981 live footage, but I did find a good version of "Groovy Little Hippie Pad" from 1982 and you really can hear the Devo coming through which is fascinating.  Loverboy would be headliners the next time they played Nashville. 

"Groovy Little Hippie Pad" live in 1982

There was a big new attraction at Opryland opening. The Grizzly River Rampage with its rough and tumble white water rafting was all set with Grizzly Adams himself,  Dan Haggerty, coming to town for the occasion. I've probably written this before and I'll write it again, but I have never set foot inside Opry Malls and never will. I despise those money hungry jerks at Gaylord that leveled one of the happiest places on the planet. I rode the Grizzly River Rampage often over the years and loved getting wet if the weather was really hot and humid. I would have loved to have gotten season passes for my family of 5, but it wasn't to be. 

Rock 106 was the best hard rock FM station in Nashville until the station was sold and the format was changed to easy listening junk. There was a legacy left however with the Homegrown compilation album. I've got it in my collection. 

8th grade had just ended for me or perhaps it was still going for a week or so as I remember watching the Thurman Francis Junior High tumbling team do a routine set to the Stars on 45 "Medley" during the last week of school. "Morning Train" had been a favorite of my girlfriend Lisa that spring. I bought the Styx album after finding $40 on the ground. I also bought Pony tennis shoes and went to a carnival on that windfall. Kim Carnes's "Bette Davis Eyes" was a monster that year. 

I've heard it all before

Sheena

I'm a jet fueled genius

her hair is Harlow gold

Even though it wasn't in the Sunday Showcase here is some bonus Rush from Le Studio. 

"Tom Sawyer" from Le Studio

"Limelight" from Le Studio

Film Flashback May 29, 1975

If you were in the mood for a trio of biker films back on May 29, 1975 then Murfreesboro, Tennessee would have been the place to be. The Marbro Drive-In has Angels Die Hard, Bury Me An Angel, and Angels Hard As They Come on the marquee. I'm not going into the summaries of these movies. They are biker flicks. There's leather and violence, but most of all there's motorcycles. Bury Me An Angel is interesting since it is told from the woman's perspective and Jonathan Demme co-wrote and produced Angels Hard As They Come.

Angels Die Hard trailer

Bury Me Angel trailer

Angels Hard As They Come opening credits

The Martin Twin in Jackson Heights Plaza has a couple of oddball entries this day. Death Race 2000 would become a drive in staple after its run in regular movie houses. It's a Roger Corman produced dystopian vision of a world in which the greatest sport is running people over and its greatest champion is named Frankenstein. The movie is ridiculous, over the top, and lots of fun if you like bleak humor. Sylvester Stallone is part of the cast with the very cool Mary Woronov and star David Carradine. 

Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins stars Alan Arkin, Sally Kellerman, Mackenzie Phillips, Charles Martin Smith, and Harry Dean Stanton among others. Arkin plays driving instructor Rafferty with Kellerman and Mackenzie playing the Gold Dust Twins McKinley and Frisbee who kidnap him. He goes rather willingly with them to New Orleans. It's a quirky counter culture road trip film very much of the era. I saw it on TCM a few years back and thought it was okay. 

Death Race 2000 trailer

Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins trailer

Young Frankenstein is playing at the Cinema One. It would play at Cinema One, Martin Twin, and the Marbro Drive In at various times over the years. This was a huge hit for Mel Brooks. Gene Wilder is dynamite - I love Teri Garr "roll in the hay" - Madeline Kahn is divine - Marty Feldman makes a great Igor - Cloris Leachman is frightening - but the big star is the monster played by Peter Boyle. It's such a well crafted comedy with an obvious love of the original Frankenstein movies that you can watch it over and over again and find something new to love each time. Murfreesboro definitely loved it.

Young Frankenstein trailer

Tuesday Tunes

It's Tuesday. Here's some tunes. Several by Redd Kross. I really like them. I've been listening to all of these tunes the last few weeks.

do it now don't hesitate

it's show time

put a stack of records on the stereo

we listen to the Knack

get me some of those rays

not quite right

I hate when stupid things ruin a perfect day

I wanna feel the sun rays

she's going nowhere

Memorial Day 2020

Take a moment to reflect. 

Sunday Showcase May 23, 1976

I'm off to visit 1976 this time around.

Our journey this day is into the Bicentennial year where a former star of Your Hit Parade graces the cover of the Sunday Showcase. I had not heard of Snooky Lanson before reading this issue as Your Hit Parade's heyday was long before I was born, but he had a lengthy and successful career in entertainment including being a pitchman for Crown Ford.

Snooky with a jazzy take on Heartbreak Hotel

100 Oaks Shopping Center (yes, that's right - it was not called a mall officially during this point in time, but the ad does state "all this week in the Mall" which is strange) is saluting radio all week. All of the big Nashville stations were participating with remote broadcasts and live performances. 

100 Oaks Office Tower promo film which shows the shopping center

The mid-Seventies was the peak for customizing vans and here's a cool advertisement from Middle Tennessee's largest showroom and inventory of custom van parts: C & S Custom Vans. 

If you really wanted to kit the floor of your van out you might want some shag carpeting or perhaps you need it for your whole house. Shag carpet was another culture marker which peaked in the Seventies. I think the carpet makers and vacuum cleaner companies were all in on it together. 

We continue on with the fads of the Seventies with the ultra popular Earth Shoe which could be picked up at Green Hills Village Shopping Center/Lower Mall. Remember, just because a shoe looks like the Earth shoe doesn't mean it works like the Earth shoe.

After I've kitted out my custom van and bought some new Earth shoes I might head over to the Women's Building at the Fairgrounds and check out the Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy David Allen Coe in concert on May 29th. I met David Allen Coe once. He was a very tall, large man.

The Top 10 Records in Nashville for this week are once again that great hodgepodge of Seventies music with all kinds of styles to choose from. Radio and society in general had yet to be demographic-ed and segmented to death. I loved "Boogie Fever" as a 9 year old kid and still love it today. Paul McCartney & Wings are on the local chart for the 2nd week with "Silly Love Songs" which went on to be the best selling single of the year in the US. Two television themes are in the top 10 with Happy Days and Welcome Back, Kotter represented. I loved both of those shows. 

Pratt & McClain 

Welcome Back to that same old place you laughed about

Silly

Sylvers on The Midnight Special

You could boogie all night at Tuff Rocks Disco located in Tusculum Square. There were only 2 ads for it when I did a general search so I don't know if it lasted long. I like the ad and name of the disco. I assume Troy Shondell was the vocalist who had put out some records for Liberty and Sunset Records among others.

Perhaps commercial pop radio and disco wasn't your bag. KDA-FM was bringing progressive rock giants Yes to Municipal Auditorium on June 1. 

Yes live in Nashville June 1, 1976

We end the Sunday Showcase review this week by planning to get the heck out of Nashville and head to Atlanta to see ZZ Top's World Wide Texas Tour. This was the tour where they brought the livestock. I guess if you were going to fill a baseball stadium in the Seventies you needed to go big on your promotional material as this full page ad attests. I bet quite a few people from Nashville made the drive down on that day.

ZZ Top live in Maryland November 1976

World Wide Texas Tour report

Film Flashback May 22, 1976

May 22, 1976 was a Saturday night in Murfreesboro, Tennessee so what better time to go see a movie. You could see a matinee (well, not on a Saturday at the Cinema One), then hop over and see the first showing at another theatre, and still have time to see the late movie even. It's a Burt Reynolds bonanza on this night with your choice of Gator at the Cinema One or The Longest Yard at the Marbro Drive In. Before we go to the movies how about visiting Shoney's since they have a strawberry carnival going on.

Gator is ostensibly the sequel to White Lightning, but it feels more like a reboot to me. Burt plays Gator McKlusky who is back to making moonshine so the Feds pinch him to help in bringing the evil Bama McCall (played superbly by Jerry Reed) down. Lauren Hutton plays Burt's love interest while Jack Weston is the federal agent. There is an awesome boat chase at the beginning of the film and lots of other crazy stunts including one that almost got Hal Needham killed. The movie is really great at times, but it seems to swing wildly in tone like it can't figure out if it's an action drama or action comedy. I do like it enough to own the blu-ray. I didn't get to see it in the theatre, but remember catching it every time it aired on network television. It was the first film that Burt Reynolds directed.

We comin' to getcha Gator

Time to pay some bills here. I promised Frank I would run his Bicentennial ad for the money saving Save-A-Chips. Frank's IGA was one of my father's favorite grocery stores along with A & P which was later changed to Giant Foods, and Darwin's Shop-Rite. 

The Martin Twin has a couple of future drive-in movie staples with The Pom Pom Girls and the Roger Corman produced Eat My Dust. Eat My Dust would play the Marbro in November 1976, February 1977, and May 1978 while The Pom Pom Girls would play at the drive-in March 1979, January 1980, February and August 1981, and February 1982 paired with The Cheerleaders. I know such arcane information since I am compiling a list of every film that played Marbro Drive-In which I plan on sharing here beginning in July. Both films may have played additional times, but I'm just up to March 1982 and still have a few years to go. But for now the movies get their first run at Jackson Heights Center.

The Pom Pom Girls is your typical teen sex comedy of the era with a preoccupation with cheerleaders, football, and R rated hijinks. The movie would actually be re-released later with the nudity removed so the film could get a PG rating. The movie has future Revenge Of The Nerds star Robert Carradine in his first lead role. I've never seen this movie, but I do have this DVD set with it on it so I guess I need to give it a chance. I dig the Seventies cars and fashions in the trailer.

Their last chance to raise hell

Let's pause for another commercial. This time it is for the anchor store at Memorial Village: the great and wonderful Big K which was my second favorite department store in Murfreesboro.

Ron Howard wanted to get into directing so Roger Corman said sure, I'll let you direct a movie for me as long as you star in Eat My Dust first. So Ron starred in this great car chase film in order to direct and star in another car chase film called Grand Theft Auto the next year. Eat My Dust is about a high school kid stealing a stock car to impress a girl who ends up with riding with him. Many of the film's chase scenes were incorporated into the very similarly plotted Smokey Bites The Dust in 1981. This is a movie I really enjoy with great car chase footage and a certain wistful quality later during a time when the car is hidden away.  It was often matched with Gone In 60 Seconds during its drive-in run.

Ron Howard pops the clutch and tells the world to eat my dust

The Marbro Drive-In has a couple of superstar movies with Diana Ross starring in Mahogany while Burt Reynolds is onscreen for almost every scene in another of my favorite films The Longest Yard which was featured in the January 10, 1975 Film Flashback. You can click that link if you want to hear about that one. As for Mahogany I have never seen this movie, but I like Diana Ross and Billy Dee Williams is super cool so I may have to check it out. The movie also features Anthony Perkins and Bruce Vilanch is in it too. If you are unfamiliar with the movie I'm sure you know the massive hit tune from it. The "Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" performed by Diana Ross garnered an Academy Award nomination for best song and hit number one on the Hot 100 Billboard charts. 

Diana Ross not only sings, she is a fashion designer

Do you know where you are goin to....well do you?

I think I broke his @*$&!^G neck!