Happy Mother’s Day from Bionic Disco to you and yours! Hope you have a fine celebration of motherhood.
Here’s to my mother, Stella, who moved back to her hometown of Texas from sunny L.A. some time ago. Have a great one, Mom! Thanks for letting me stay up late and catch the first season of Saturday Night Live back in ’75. My sense of humor thanks you.
Moore family portrait, California, spring 1974. Yours truly proudly ruining yet another photo with a goofball look, mom Stella, sister Lexi
Gary Wright weaving the dream, 1976
Ex-Spooky Tooth keyboard player, Gary Wright, released “Dreamweaver” in 1975. The song took its own sweet time weaving its way up the charts, reaching #2 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in March of 1976.
Fun Facts: In 1954, child-actor Wright performed nightly on Broadway with Florence Henderson (later of The Brady Bunch) in the hit musical Fanny.
Wright’s follow-up single to “Dreamweaver”, “Love is Alive”, also rose to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 (Aug. ’76). So close!
'Created from the cosmic legends of the universe...' Super Friends, 1973
Hana-Barbera’s Super Friends debuted in September, 1973 and ran until 1986 (if you count all of its mutant permutations.) The main heroes in action each week were Superman, Batman, Robin, Wonder Woman (vroom! vroom!), and, uh…Aquaman. And let’s not forget about those powerless hangers-on; Wendy, Marvin and Wonder Dog. If you were lucky you might catch sight of a guest star such as the Flash, Plastic Man, or Green Arrow.
Whenever I hear of the Super Friends the first thing that pops into my mind is narrator Ted Knight dramatically intoning “Meanwhile, back at the Hall of Justice…” Ah, thems were the days. Good ol’ Ted. Enjoy the show’s intro below and have a happy Funshine Friday.
Brunettes have more fun! The 'new' Jan Brady, January, 1971.
It’s time for another memory-blasting “Brady Bunch Moment”. Today, we enjoy another wacky heartbreak sequence involving troubled middle-child, Jan. Yes, it’s the outrageous, wig-wearing “New Jan Brady!”
The episode entitled “Will the Real Jan Brady Please Stand Up?” first aired on January 15, 1971 during season two of The Brady Bunch. Fun Fact: Pamelyn Ferdin who appears in this clip playing “Lucy” also played “Lucy” in three animated Peanuts specials in ’69-71. Enjoy Jan’s pain!
In posts past, we took a look at stand-out Time Magazine covers from 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1973. Today, let’s turn our attention to the year 1974.
Major events included Richard Nixon resigning the presidency before he could be impeached. Gerald Ford took office and pardoned Nixon. Jack Nicholson, Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, Mary Tyler Moore and Valerie Harper were hot in entertainment and heiress Patty Hearst was kidnapped by and later joined the SLA. Feast your peepers.
Chris Udvarnoky in The Other, 1972
Directed by Robert Mulligan and based on the book by Tom Tryon, The Other was released 40 years ago in May of 1972.
I saw this movie at a very young age, and although the film oozed with creepiness, I still found it fascinating. I probably related to the young actors (Chris and Martin Udvarnoky) on some level. Sadly, Chris Udvarnoky (Niles Perry in the film) died in October, 2010 at the age of 49. Enjoy the trailer and seek out The Other.