Rockin' Funnies: Fire, ala Elmer Fudd via Robin Williams (1980's)

 Sometime in the early 80's, Robin Williams incorporated a brief excerpt of Bruce Springsteen's "Fire", which later became a hit for the Pointer Sisters, into his stand-up act. Less than a minute of pure bliss.

Musical Interlude: Survivors (1975)

 The Smothers Brothers returned to television in 1975, hoping to start anew. However, it didn't last too long, and, aside from their comedy-drama, Fitz & Bones, would not try again with a variety show until the 1988 writers' strike.

From the 1975 series comes this number that resonates even today, in the face of the intentional, ham-handed handling of government affairs by the current administration. John Stewart, formerly of the Kingston Trio, released "Survivors" that year, and is joined by the Smothers Brothers, Ringo Starr, Lily Tomlin (who was on the big screen that year in "Nashville"), Bob Einstein, Pat Paulsen, Steve Martin, & Don Novello, making a rare appearance without his Father Guido Sarducci persona.

Too bad it doesn't play on radio, 51 years later.

Celebrity Rock: Under The Bridge (2024)

From The Masked Singer:

We found out that Dr. Ken Jeong is a huge Red Hot Chili Peppers fan. Contestant Sherlock Hound got a rise out of Jeong with a compact cover of the Chilis' 1991 smash, "Under The Bridge".

Some folks initially thought it was Hootie & The Blowfish frontman Darius Rucker under the mask. Nope. Turned out it was former baseball pitcher Bronson Arroyo, who played for a number of teams, including Cincinnati, Boston, & Arizona, during his career. Jeong got in on the fun calling out, "One time!" prior to the chorus. 

Y'notice how judge Robin Thicke is sounding like his late father, actor-singer-songwriter Alan Thicke? Maybe his next album will cover all the theme songs dad wrote.....

Musical Interlude: Paradise medley (2025)

 The Steps of Faith Foundation is a non-profit in the midwest that hosts the annual ThunderGong event to raise money for disabled persons.

Last year's ThunderGong show, and earlier ones, have featured actors Jason Sudeikis & Sam Richardson (Ted Lasso), Will Forte (ex-Saturday Night Live, The Last Man on Earth), and musical headliner "Weird" Al Yankovic.

From last year, Richardson, Sudeikis, & Yankovic do a medley of songs with "Paradise" in the title, starting with Stevie Wonder's "Pastime Paradise", which begat the late Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise", which, in turn, led to Yankovic's "Amish Paradise"........

There's more where this came from, including Forte & Yankovic's cover of Chappell Roan's "Pink Pony Club", down the road.

What Might've Been: The Spike Jones Show (1954)

 Bandleader Spike Jones and his City Slickers landed their first television series as a mid-season replacement in the winter of 1954 on NBC. Small problem. Jackie Gleason was already an established draw over on CBS, and Spike was sent packing after 5 months. Jones would return with three more short-lived series between 1957-61, this time on CBS.

In addition to the City Slickers, Jones also had his wife, Helen Grayko, as a featured vocalist, and recurring regulars including Bill Dana, Len Weinrib, and, in this next clip, Billy Barty.

For those of you who may only know Billy from his work for the Kroffts in the 70's, as well as his later TV & film work (i.e. "Under The Rainbow"), this is a treat in and of itself. And now you know why Billy was so at home in primetime when he made appearances on Donny & Marie (like the Osmonds, Barty was a Mormon).

Spike made a number of Soundies in the 40's, including a hysterical number, "Clink! Clink! Another Drink!", with Mel Blanc. We'll bring that out another time.

No rating. Just a public service.

Musical Interlude: All You Fascists Bound to Lose (2026)

 In 1944, during World War II, Woody Guthrie wrote "All You Fascists Bound to Lose", which may have been a rallying cry for the US during the war.

82 years later, actress-singer Bette Midler gathered a group of her Hollywood friends, including Barbara Hershey and Saratoga native David Hyde Pierce (Frasier) for an updated version of "Bound", adding contemporary lyrics & images taking aim at-----who else?-----president Trump.

How soon d'ya think Trump'll start whining about this?

Musical Interlude: A Whale of a Tale (1954)

 I have seen Disney's adaptation of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea in a more condensed form when it aired on The Wonderful World of Disney. I don't, however, remember seeing it all, as some parts may have been edited for time.

The only song in the movie was "A Whale of a Tale", co-written by future TV icon Norman Gimbel, and sung by the film's star, Kirk Douglas.

How Douglas never made a musical is beyond me.

Anyway, Douglas appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in December 1954. The world's most famous dimpled chin could've been Popeye if the comic strip hero had been adapted for a feature film back then.....

As Popeye himself would say, well, blow me down!

Celebrity Rock: Fever (1972)

 From season 5 of Here's Lucy:

Jim Bailey guest stars in an episode in which he is asked to step in for Phyllis Diller when the latter comes down with laryngitis.

Here, however, is Jim, as himself, with Kim (Lucie Arnaz) for a duet cover of "Fever", made famous by Peggy Lee.

Best known for his impersonations of Judy Garland (who was his mentor, and he'd later tour with Liza Minelli) and Barbra Streisand, in addition to Diller, Bailey did release a live concert album, which is likely a collector's item. Bailey passed away in 2015.

Musical Interlude: You Gotta Have Heart (1956)

 From The Ed Sullivan Show:

"Damn Yankees" had been on Broadway, and became a movie with Tab Hunter. Ed brought in Broadway cast members Charlotte Rae, Dick Shawn, James Komack, and chart topper Teresa Brewer to perform "You Gotta Have Heart".

13 years later the Mets' post-World Series celebration included a cover of "Heart" on the very same stage. Komack wouldn't sing again, that we know of, until he recorded the theme to his own failed sitcom, Sugar Time, more than 20 years after this appearance.

Musical Interlude: All My Love (2024)

Tomorrow, Dick Van Dyke turns 100.

A year ago, Van Dyke made his first music video, appearing with Coldplay on "All My Love", which includes archived footage from The Dick Van Dyke Show and some of his movies (i.e. "Mary Poppins").

Happy birthday, Dick.

Celebrity Rock: Lulu's Back in Town (1975)

 The one aspect of Redd Foxx's act that was criminally underrated was the fact that he could actually sing.

In season 5 of Sanford & Son, Fred teams with Smiley Rogers (Timmie Rogers, who famously did an Alka-Seltzer ad with Sammy Davis, Jr. around the same time) for a cover of "Lulu's Back in Town". Allan Drake is Rodney, the MC, who is also Fred's brother-in-law (don't ask).

We'll find some more musical spots down the line.

Celebrity Rock: All of Me (1975)

 We had this one up before, and, then, it was taken down. Now, it's back, and let's hope it stays.

From season 4 of Sanford & Son:

Fred (Redd Foxx) reconnects with old friends Al & Bow Legs, and sings with the latter in a duet of "All of Me". Scatman Crothers (Chico & The Man) guests as Bow Legs.

There's more with Fred and other musical guests, one of which also will be brought back, in the coming weeks.

Celebrity Rock: Voices Carry (2024)

 It was inevitable, you can say, that Kate Hudson would transition from acting to music.

Music, you see, is in Kate's blood (Mom is Oscar winner Goldie Hawn, dad is Bill Hudson of the Hudson Brothers), and last year, Kate released her debut album, "Glorious", which had her appearing on The Voice and on Howard Stern's Sirius XM show.

Here, she nails a cover of 'Til Tuesday's "Voices Carry":

I'd like to think a Grammy is in Kate's future. You'll remember Goldie sang in at least one movie, "The First Wives Club", and maybe more. 

Talk about a monster jam: New Orleans, Lookin' For a Fox, Please, Please, Please, & Checkin' on my Baby (1998)

 The climax of "Blues Brothers 2000" was a battle of the bands between the titular group and an all-star band assembled by a voodoo queen (Erykah Badu), who certainly knew her music (Badu was also a singer, herself), as her group included:

Eric Clapton.

BB King.

Steve Winwood.

Travis Tritt.

Isaac Hayes.

Dr. John.

Bo Diddley.

Charlie Musselwhite.

Billy Preston.

Paul Shaffer (The Late Show With David Letterman).

Jimmie Vaughn

Lou Rawls.

Clarence Clemons.

Jack DeJohnette.

It all ends with the groups coming together to jam with Gary US Bonds on his 60's classic, "New Orleans". As the music plays, a state trooper (Nia Peeples, ex-Party Machine) starts to groove to the beat. I honestly think Chuck Norris saw how well Peeples fit into a uniform, so he recruited her to join the cast of Walker, Texas Ranger some time later. I digress.

As the credits roll, we hear "Mighty Mack" (John Goodman) with "Lookin' For a Fox", followed by Junior Wells and "Checkin' on my Baby", and, finally, James Brown with one of his classics, 'Please, Please, Please".

Musical Interlude: Rock On (1989)

 In case you thought General Hospital had the top 40 on lockdown in the 80's (i.e. Rick Springfield, Jack Wagner, et al), they weren't alone by the end of the decade.

Michael Damian, formerly of The Weirz, had joined the cast of The Young & The Restless in 1982. Seven years later, he had a #1 hit with a cover of David Essex's 1974 1-off, "Rock On", used in the movie, "Dream a Little Dream".

This clip comes from TBS' Night Tracks:

Michael is still on The Young & The Restless after all these years. Props to WROW's Jaime Roberts for some of the info.

Musical Interlude: Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show (1999)

 David Spade may have bombed at the box office with 1999's "Lost & Found", but he also had one of the best parts of the movie.

Dylan (Spade), a budding restaurant owner, has fallen for a French cellist (Sophie Marceau), and is looking to impress her. Unfortunately, she's also spoken for, and her intended has arrived in town. When the fiance ruins Dylan's lip-sync performance of Neil Diamond's "Brother Love's Traveling Salvation Show", Dylan finds some inspiration to continue on his own.......

A most unusual "duet", sure, but remember, David was part of that star studded Saturday Night Live roster in the early 90's with Adam Sandler, Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, et al. Didja really think he couldn't sing?

Celebrity Rock: Hot Rod Lincoln (1993)

 While filming the feature film version of "The Beverly Hillbillies", Jim Varney contributed to the soundtrack with a straight up cover of Commander Cody's legendary "Hot Rod Lincoln". The video includes footage from the movie, some scenes being shown twice with Varney and co-stars Diedrich Bader, Erika Eleniak, Cloris Leachman, Dabney Coleman, and Rob Schneider, among others.

Too bad this "Lincoln" didn't chart.

Celebrity Rock: Ringo (1964)

 Bonanza star Lorne Greene scored a mammoth hit on the country charts in 1964 with "Ringo", a tale about a lawman's final meeting with an old friend turned outlaw.

An Allan Sherman fan channel posted the video.

In his career, Greene also recorded vocals for the Bonanza theme, and his last known recording was in the mid-80's animated musical, "Heidi's Song".

Celebrity Rock: Here's Some Love (1978)

 While Donny Most was part of a combo on Happy Days, and had but one solo number ("My Funny Valentine"), there was a time when he could have rivaled castmate and pal Anson Williams for teen mag covers.

In 1978, Most recorded a cover of Tanya Tucker's 1976 #1 country hit, "Here's Some Love". There's no video footage available, so this audio clip will do.

I wonder if Donny cracked the Hot 100.......

Musical Interlude: Three Stars Will Shine Tonight (1962)

 "Three Stars Will Shine Tonight", otherwise known as the theme from Dr. Kildare, peaked at #10 on the Hot 100 for the show's star, Richard Chamberlain, in 1962. Co-written by two of the pre-eminent TV theme composers of the day, Jerry Goldsmith & Pete Rugolo, it was Chamberlain's only real hit on the charts.

There is no documented video footage, so we'll settle for the audio track. MGM's record division released the single.

In memory of Chamberlain, 90, who passed away due to complications from a stroke over the weekend. Rest in peace.