Not The Beatles – but an irregular stimulation. ‘The Rutles,’ 1978
I’m rather astonished to find that I haven’t dropped any Monty Python or Rutles on Bionic Disco readers yet. Let’s remedy that straight away with a clip from the TV mockumentary The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash which first aired in March of 1978.
Here’s The Rutles performing “Get Up and Go” which bears an uncomfortably wonderful likeness to The Beatles “Get Back.”
Barrington Womble – a true super Starr
The Rutles, ‘Get Up and Go’ from ‘All You Need Is Cash’, 1978
Gem-snatchers; George Segal, Paul Sand and Robert Redford ‘The Hot Rock,’ 1972
Diamond heist flick, The Hot Rock, released to theaters in January of 1972. This action-dramedy, based on a novel by Donald E. Westlake, was directed by Peter Yates and features a screenplay by William Goldman.
A young Christopher “SNL/Spinal Tap” Guest joins New York’s finest. ‘The Hot Rock,’ 1972
Robert Redford stars as John Dortmunder, recently released from prison, who gets together a “talented” team of burglars and plans to lift a gem from a Brooklyn museum. George Segal, Ron Leibman, Paul Sand, Moses Gunn and Zero Mostel round out the cast.
Make sure and keep an eye out for a shot of the World Trade Center – still under construction – in the trailer below.
Do not creep around this man’s back stair. Gordon Lightfoot, ‘Sundown,’ 1974
Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot released his tune “Sundown” in March of 1974 and it went to the very top of the charts both here in the US and in Canada.
Who ordered the folksy 70s trio shot? Gordon Lightfoot, ‘Sundown,’ 1974
The song comes from the L.P. of the same name which also climbed to #1. Here’s Lightfoot performing live on The Midnight Special in 1974. Time to pour a glass of strawberry wine, kick back, keep it mellow…and ponder infidelity. Oh, man. Bummer.
Gordon Lightfoot, ‘Sundown,’ ‘The Midnight Special,’ 1974
In this edition of “Rad Ads” we execute a graceful crane-kick and leap back 33 years to the November, 1979 issue of Black Belt magazine.
Peeking inside we find all sorts of goodies that warrant a second look; from “Kickin’ Jeans” to “BIONICPUNCH” gloves and “BIONICKICK” boots. Yep, I couldn’t resist products with those tasty monikers. Here’s half a dozen ads. Kick that sucka! (By clicking one image you can easily enlarge and scroll through them all. Look to the lower right and click the next image link).
As you have likely heard by now – actor Larry Hagmanpassed away on Friday. 1970s-era fans will best remember Hagman as Major Anthony Nelson on reruns of I Dream of Jeannie (1965-1970) and as J.R. on nighttime soap, Dallas (1978 -1991).
Hagman should also be remembered for a great performance as Art Carney’s ner-do-well son in Harry and Tonto (1974) and for numerous appearances in TV series, TV movies and films such as Medical Center (1973), Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic (1975), Harry O (1975), Ellery Queen (1975), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), McMillan & Wife (1977) and many, many more.
“It is with sad news that we announce Larry passed away this afternoon, Friday, Nov. 23, 2012. His family has released this statement:
‘Larry was back in his beloved Dallas re-enacting the iconic role he loved most. Larry’s family and close friends had joined him in Dallas for the Thanksgiving holiday. When he passed, he was surrounded by loved ones. It was a peaceful passing, just as he had wished for.’
The family requests privacy at this time.”
Absolutely no one cooler…according to my six-year-old self. ‘Speed Racer,’ 1967
Happy Funshine Friday! To celebrate my Birthday today I’m going to post the old 1960s/1970s-era intro and outro for Speed Racer. This is one of those shows produced in the 1960s that ran constantly in reruns throughout the 1970s.
Speed Racer was my hands-down favorite growing up and I caught it on TV whenever possible. That tended to be difficult as it seemed to jump around quite a bit in the local syndication scheduling in Los Angeles. At least, that’s how I remember it. I would search for a magical Speed Racer episode, but rarely find one.
“Hurray for candy!!! I mean Speed! Did I say candy? Yum!” Spritle and Chim-Chim, ‘Speed Racer,’ 1967
The clip below presents the opening and closing credits with the Trans-Lux text and old Speed Racer logo. This is the closest I could find to what we would have seen as kids. These days, the Trans-Lux title has disappeared and a more modern, colorful Speed Racer logo is in place. Rev it up and go to it!
