I was stumbling around YouTube when I noticed the following notice...
These are your recently watched videos. We respect your privacy, and do not share this information with anyone. You can clear your history by clicking the 'Clear Viewing History' link at bottom.
Done! Now one needs to know what videos I've watched--or do they? Heh, heh, heh (coughs) ha, ha...
Bob Crane-Check out Swingin' Bob Crane on the skins. They just weren't whistling dixie when they said he could play, he actually could. This is a clip from him on the Red Skelton Hour from 1967. Bob Crane liked playing the drums. You know what else Bob Crane liked? Having sex and filming it with the "state-of-the-art" film/video products of the day. Well, let's not remember him for that or his unctuousness, but then again, it's impossible.
Tyrone Davis-There It Is- This is a clip from Tyrone Davis at probably the Kit Kat/Boom Boom Lounge. Here Davis is lip-syncing to his 1972 classic "There It Is." Given his satiny, tasseled ensemble and the synthesizers, this was videoed years after the song was a hit. It's a great clip anyway.
Favorite Line: "I followed them to a little 'ol place/Where they sit right down/And ordered a taste." Hilarious.
The Dramatics-I'm Going By The Stars in Your Eyes (1976)- You know, I don't give a heck about that old zodiac either. I love to pretend to actually like new music, but I don't, hate 95% of it. This is the kind of stuff I usually listen to. This clip not only features one of my favorite groups, but also my favorite era for Soul Train. On this track, the singers are the late Lenny Mayes, he leads it, LJ Reynolds and Ron Banks--the dude with the high voice.
Now, Now: The Dramatics are one of those groups that are much loved. How much? Here's a comment from a YouTuber contrasting the guys to Earth Wind and Fire.
"Its all bout the dramatics so the elements can go sit down cause they ain't shit..."
Funny...
Little Richard- On Jimi Hendrix (1973) Before Little Richard found a happy balance between the sacred and profane, he made for an often uncomfortable presence on talk shows and the like. This is the peak of that era. This clip is from the 1973 documentary film Jimi. As we can clearly see here, Little is far way from the church at this point. And how many catchphrases/witticisms are in this? About 100.
Transcription: Between me and GTL66, a fellow commenter on YouTube, I, I mean, we give you this, committed to print.
"...I got ta take ya higha! Not off a some cocaine uh uh uh some piece of grass or some uh uh heron, but Jimi was gonna take em higha than that!!!" That's oddly profound--and true.
George Burns-Fixing a Hole- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band- After all of those clips, it was time for a real classic featuring one of the premiere singers of our time. Thank God this was filmed, we'll always be able to see it.
Recording Info: This take was different from the one that appeared on the 1978 soundtrack. This is one of the best performances ever.
4 comments:
Genius, as always.
Though I am an Earth, Wind, and Fire fan, I will not go postal over that dude referencing them as "elements". Anyways, good videos, and AWESOME blog idea.
Thanks Steve, that's very cool. That guy should have been ashamed of himself talking about Earth Wind and Fire like that, they didn't ask to be compared with the Dramatics, I don't know why he did, especially with the band vs group thing. It cracked me up though...
Great clips Jason!
Back when E! used to air reruns of "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour", they showed an episode of Bob Crane displaying his drumming skills. He was pretty good on the skins.
Over the past couple of months, I have really been enjoying watching the classic episodes of "Soul Train" on Saturday afternoon. With tunes like "The Stars In Your Eyes", "Get Up and Get Down", and "Hey You! Get Off My Mountain", The Dramatics were one of those groups that I think should have been bigger than they were.
Little Richard never fails to crack me up. I don't know if you have seen it, but on the DVD version of the concert doc "Chuck Berry Hail! Hail! Rock and Roll", there is an extended segment of Chuck, Little Richard, and Bo Diddley gathered around a piano talking about the early days of rock and roll. Richard drops some gems during the segment. Here is my favorite:
I did get arrested... for long hair. They said, "Why do you have on all that stuff you have on?" They didn't know it was just natural beauty on duty.
Thanks Malcolm! And how about Bob Crane, I was stunned. Greg Kinnear said something about not learning how to drum like Crane did and he wasn't lying LOL
Oh yeah, the Dramatics are favorites of mine, they were just cool. They never really got adequate label support no matter where they went. Oddly enough I liked Lenny Mayes's voice most of all.
Little Richard's crazy. I was trying to look on YouTube for that clip you mentioned, can't find it, I might have to actually buy it heh heh...
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