40 years ago this week LIFE magazine published their November 03, 1972 edition featuring Joe Namath on the cover.
With a hearty thanks to Google Books, let’s dip inside this issue and take a loving look at 10 “Rad Ads” from four decades back. This’ll be fun. (By clicking one image you can easily enlarge and scroll through them all. Look to the lower right and click the next image link).
That’ll do ‘er for now. Did you notice the abundance of harvest gold/yellow in the ads? Welcome to 1972.
Bob Marley and the Wailers make their UK TV debut ‘Old Grey Whistle Test,’ 1973
Enjoying your weekend? Well, why not enjoy it just a little bit more? Here’s Bob Marley and the Wailers with “Concrete Jungle.”
“Concrete Jungle” originally appeared on Marley’s April, 1973 L.P., Catch a Fire. The version on display below comes from an appearance that year on the UK’s Old Grey Whistle Test. The band’s first appearance on British TV.
Note: The clip ends somewhat abruptly, but the three and a half minutes that are there are magic.
“These cats is rough (ruff?)” ‘The Houndcats,’ 1972
“Yeah, anytime there’s a rumble out West. Who do you call? You call the best!
‘Cause everyone knows it’s as simple as that. The best in the West is a Houndcat.”
DePatie-Freleng produced 13 episodes of The Houndcats and they originally ran on NBC from September, to December, 1972.
The show was a sort of animated Mission: Impossible with the ‘Cats using their varied abilities to solve assignments. Catch the intro below and have a happy Funshine Friday!
Creeping out the 1970s ‘Kolchak: The Night Stalker,’ 1974
In keeping with the spooky Halloween theme – old news now on November 1st, I know, but I’m writing this on All Hallow’s Eve – today’s Show Toppers features Kolchak: The Nightstalker.
Kolchak: The Nightstalker first aired as a TV movie (The Nightstalker) in 1971 and continued with another TV film (The Night Strangler) in 1973. The series proper originally ran Friday evenings on ABC from September, 1974 to August, 1975.
Darren (‘A Christmas Story’) McGavin is Carl Kolchak ‘Kolchak: The Night Stalker,’ 1974
Darren McGavin starred as Chicago newspaper reporter, Carl Kolchak who investigated and reported on supernatural and downright bizarre stories. Kolchak’s disbelieving editor, Tony Vincenzo, was played by Simon Oakland. Jack Grinnage and Ruth McDevitt rounded out the cast. Take in the spooky intro below.
“ABC’s answer to trick or treat” ‘The Paul Lynde Halloween Special,’ October, 1976
On October 29, 1976 a comedic monster known as The Paul Lynde Halloween Special ate up television screens across America. Here now, in its entirety, you can watch that marvelous beast in frightening action once again.
Are you brave enough to enjoy the full 50 minutes of horrific 1970s fun? Get a load of this line-up and you’ll want to dive right in: KISS (rocking three songs in their network TV debut)! Florence Henderson! Billy Barty! Witchiepoo! Tim Conway! Pinky Tuscadero! The Wicked Witch of the West! Betty White! Donny & Marie Osmond! And more…
Middle America meet Kiss ‘Detroit Rock City,’ ‘The Paul Lynde Halloween Special,’ 1976
‘The Paul Lynde Halloween Special,’ 1976
Huge thanks to Vintage Los Angeles for posting a link to the special on their Facebook page and sparking my re-post. Happy Halloween!
“Your lips may say “No, no,” but there’s “Yes, yes’ in your eyes.” ‘The Goodbye Girl,’ 1977
The Goodbye Girl hit theaters in November of 1977. Written by Neil Simon and directed by Herbert Ross, this comedy, a critical and commercial smash-hit, won the Golden Globe for Best Picture (musical or comedy) and netted star, Richard Dreyfuss, the Academy Award for Best Actor.
The picture is a real charmer with some laugh-out-loud moments and I can remember relating to and liking child actress and Academy Award-nominee Quinn Cummings at age 11.
Quinn Cummings, ‘The Goodbye Girl,’ 1977
I was already a fan of Dreyfuss from Jaws and American Graffiti and November ’77 turned out to be a hell of a month for the actor. Close Encounters of the Third Kind opened just two weeks earlier. Talk about “Career Highs.”
I enjoyed Academy Award-nominee Marsha Mason’s performance as well but didn’t realize at such a young age what a hottie she was. Intelligent, witty and sexy. Wow! Catch the trailer.
40 years ago this week LIFE magazine published their November 03, 1972 edition featuring Joe Namath on the cover. 
