Tag Archives: music

Sha Na Na S2 E4, E5, E6, E7, E8, E9, E10

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I took a deep dive into season to of the Sha Na Na show and watched seven episodes. I watched this many cause I wanted to get to episode 10, where the run of musical guests came to an end. However, this was how you take a non-musical guest and use him effectively. Of course, it was Billy Crystal.

It was interesting when Johnny introduced Billy Crystal, telling a story about Billy working with Sha Na Na in the past, before Billy hit it big with Soap. He must have been a warm-up act for the group. Awesome that he was willing to come back to the group after he had become a star. It was shocking to see what a resemblance Billy Crystal had to Johnny. They could have easily been brothers.

Billy did an act on the stage and participated in the comedy song skit by doing his impression of Howard Cosell.

Earlier that episode, Sha Na Na did a musical tribute to Little Richard, which was very cool too. This might have been the best episode of the series so far.

Not that the other ones were bad. Actually, I have found season two to be very solid. The group has really spread out the songs among each other, even though there were several songs that I did not recognize.

The show has done an effective way of bringing on their guest stars in this stretch of episodes. With Brenda Lee, she came into the diner, looking for a hiding place because she didn’t want to sing. She wanted to hide in the powder room or behind the counter, but the waitress said they would find her in both places. She then mentioned how the Shirells hid behind the counter but was caught (in a previous episode). I appreciate the continuity.

Then, in episode 5, Sha Na Na did their opening number on the stage, Santini took the microphone, and introduced the Coasters, who came up and sang “Charlie Brown.” I thought that was a cool way to introduce the guest star in a way they had never done before.

Chubby Checker came back to the show to perform again. I wonder if he had filmed this at the same time when he was on the show before in season one. He became the first headliner to return as guest star, though Milton Berle was on the show twice too.

Donny really showed off his voice in this group of shows. He had a beautiful rendition of Mr. Blue, another ballad in Oh, Donna, sang with Johnny on Let the Good Times Roll, and a street set version of Singing the Blues.

Jocko also had a bunch of songs in this stretch, including Do You Love Me, Tossin’ and Turnin’, and, a personal favorite, Ya Ya. Jocko wound up in several background dance moments when one of the other background dancers had to sing.

Speaking of that, I have a question that I wonder any time I see Jocko up front and Dirty Dan on the drums. I know a lot of the times, they sing live but to a backing track and they do not do the instruments or background vocals live. I just wonder, does Dirty Dan know how to play the drums or is it just for show? It does the same thing when Screamin’ Scott is somewhere else. In these episodes, I saw Johnny and Lenny on the piano. Are they just sitting there?

Screamin’ Scott is another interesting one because he covers guitar at times when Dirty Dan is on drums and he has been shown to play the banjo. I do believe he knows how to play the banjo because during the comedy skit based on the song “Battle of New Orleans,” which Scott sang and played banjo. However, in between the song, where they did some comedy, Scott played a bit to help someone do a song. It sure sounded as if he really did play that banjo in that moment.

We rarely see Donny on any instruments (although I saw him on a guitar once) and Denny never plays anything either. I wonder if that is because they can’t play these instruments and when someone steps in for an instrument, they know how to play it, even with the backing track. It is an interesting thought and it makes me think about it any time someone is not in their spot.

They also made the first reference to Sha Na Na’s appearance in Grease. They also played “Those Magic Changes” which was one of their big songs from the film. I wonder what the timeline of that movie compared to the show was.

Sha Na Na S2 E1, E2, E3

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I wondered what differences there might be to the show now that we have reached season two. There are a couple small things, but most of the show was fairly consistent with season one.

The changes included after the opening number on the stage, a member of Sha Na Na would come up to the microphone and do three or four jokes. These three episodes saw Jocko, Bowser and Chico take the mike. Most of the jokes turned out to be self-derogatory and not that funny.

The other thing I noticed was the show started putting the name of certain members on the screen with a jokey comment beneath their name such as “Jocko: Has a season ticket to the Ballet.” These were cute and could pop up at any time.

Otherwise, they had the same structure. It felt like Avery Schreiber was gone as the cabbie since they did not have him bringing the guest stars in like last season. Interestingly enough, two of the three episodes had Johnny pretend to do an imitation of the celebs, The Shirells and Little Anthony.

Episode two had Screamin’ Scott singing When the Saints Go Marching In during the comedy routine song. They actually had him sing the entire song before they paused for the joke. There were some other “heaven/angel” songs to go with the Saints one.

Episode three had Soupy Sales show up as a cop and a stage director. He was the “director” of the stage show, which was the comedy bit in episode three where Sha Na Na all dressed up as women to sing “I Enjoy Being a Girl.” It was slightly disturbing.

They had some of my favorite songs from Sha Na Na on these three episodes including “Baby, That is Rock ‘N Roll,” “Pretty Little Angel Eyes,” and “Teenager in Love.” In that last one, one of my favorite parts of that song is when Chico almost cracks himself up when he says “ax” instead of “ask” during the song. You can hear him giggle slightly.

They continue to get the musical acts, which really helps the show. These musical acts are acts from the 50/60s era that were probably happy to get a call to be on Sha Na Na. Bobby Rydell couldn’t have been too busy in the late 70s/early 80s.

Sha Na Na S1 E22, E23, E24

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I finished up Sha Na Na’s first season on YouTube this morning with three pretty good episodes. I do believe that some of the errors that the show did in the first half of their first season were addressed midway through and it did seem better.

Episode 22 kicked off with Blue Moon, which was strange because I am almost certain that that song has already been done on the show. I don’t think that it was just the pilot episode either. I didn’t go back through my reviews to see, but it felt very familiar. The last song of the season was sung by Dirty Dan, and it was Dream Lover, which, again, I thought I had already heard this season. I’m not sure it was a good sign if they were repeating songs just during their first season.

They continued with the musical acts as guest stars instead of comedians or actors. Dion, Marth Reeves and the Vandellas and Bobby Vee all were able to perform and added so much to each episode. The poor comedy was kept to a minimum and the show became more of a musical variety show.

Martha Reeves stuck around after her song and did some jokes with Bowzer and Lennie, both of which were funny. You can do that if it is written well.

Sha Na Na does a fantastic job of finding the right voices to blend together. They had the song Charlie Brown sung by Screamin’ Scott and Jocko, and they sounded great together. Then, they had their best singers< Johnny, Bowzer, Donny, Santini and Denny doing Remember Then, which is sensational.

In episode 23, they did one of the comedy bits where they all dress up and they called it Swine Lake. At first, I thought to myself, “What am I watching?” but as it went on, I started picturing it as an act on the Muppet Show. Had this been the pigs from the Muppets doing this “ballet” I wouldn’t have blinked at it. So, by making Sha Na Na human Muppets, I found much more enjoyment in the skit than I would have before.

Avery Schreiber, who has been a cabbie all season long, came into the diner and did a skit/song where he danced like a robot. It was a bizarre moment. It was another that kind of grew on me and I liked the effort of him doing something different than just drive his cab onto the set and bring the guest star. Apparently, the song was called Mechanical Man and it was a song Avery Schreiber wrote the song as a way to express his unhappiness over how he was being seen as an actor.

Dirty Dan had several songs in this block of three including Dream Lover, Da Do Run Run, and part of the Mexican skit in episode 22.

The comedy bit song in the 24th episode was Ahab the Arab, which was a song b Ray Stevens. I was surprised, since I thought this was too recent for Sha Na Na to do it. However, I did a quick Google search and it said that the song was released in 1962, meaning it fell right into Sha Na Na’s wheelhouse.

This brings to a close season one of the variety show. I am curious to see if there are any changes from season one to two or if the changes they made in the middle of season one will just continue.

Sha Na Na S1 E19, E20, E21

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Sha Na Na was one of my favorite shows as a kid so I am enjoying the trip down memory lane with the boys. I have to say that I still believe that the show is so much better when you have guest stars on the show with musical abilities.

These three episodes featured: Chuck Berry, Bobby Rydell and Leslie Gore. If I were them, I would have had Chuck Berry do a second song on the actual stage set. They had him do “Roll Over Beethoven” in the road set, which was great, but he could have done another one on the actual stage with the live audience.

They did brink Leslie Gore out to the stage to the audience when she was on episode 21. It just felt more special than the others, even though Chuck Berry knocked the performance out of the park.

In episode 20, Sha Na Na performed “Unchained Melody, which may be their best performance ever on the stage. The song was at a quicker pace and the background choreography was spot on. A lot of times, Sha Na Na look a touch out of step with the background dancing. I mean, they are singers and not necessarily dancers. However, this performance was fire. Unchained Melody, which was more well known as by the Righteous Brothers, was originally performed as a doo wop song by Vito and the Salutations in 1963. This is the version Sha Na Na was doing.

We also got some great vocalization with Bowzer and Johnny in Lovers Never Say Goodbye, in episode 21. This group have some great singers that compliment each other really well. Bowzer and Johnny work perfectly together in this song.

Alley Oop was one of the most distinct memories I have of the comedy skit songs the group would do. They would break in the song to do some silly joke. Most of the jokes were cringy, but I did love the song performed by Dirty Dan and Screamin’ Scott.

They still overuse the crowd noise/laugh track, but it is not as distracting as it was in the first half of season one.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #48

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Spoilers

This week for the Sunday Morning Sidewalk, we start a two episode documentary on HBO Max about Billy Joel called Billy Joel: And So It Goes. This is truly a first for the Sunday Morning Sidewalk because the first episode is almost 2 and a half hours long. Next week’s is about the same. We have never had an episode for the Sunday Morning Sidewalk as long as this was.

Honestly, I love Billy Joel, but, when the show first came out on HBO Max, the runtime of the documentary was something that put me off. However, the timing of this worked out perfectly as The Haunting of Hill House ended last week, and the next series would start over Christmas break from school. I have two weeks off from teaching and so anything that I did not get to watch on a Sunday because of the length of the documentary could easily be watched during the week. It was perfect.

I watched Part 1 today, and the doc was fascinating. It reveled a ton of details that I was unaware of pertaining to Billy Joel. The early career depression that led him to attempt suicide a couple of times was truly unexpected.

Many rock documentaries do not feature some of the worst times of the performer. They may gloss over things that they do not want to explore. I did not get that feeling about Billy Joel: And So It Goes. The cliché phrase “warts and all” seems to fit as the first episode talked about Billy’s drinking, his depression and suicide attempts, his attitude toward the record companies, just to mention a few. All of this came together to show us a cool portrait of this musician.

There were plenty of talking heads in the film including comments form Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, John Mellencamp, as well as people closer to Billy. His wife/manager Elizabeth Weber was an essential character in the narrative of Billy Joel’s early successes, and she appeared through the entire episode. Of course, we also heard directly from Billy Joel in multiple settings and time periods.

The first episode ended just after the motorcycle accident that Billy survived and the split of his marriage with Elizabeth.

We will finish episode 2 next Sunday.

Blood in the Sand

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It all began on a dark and stormy night, where a dark person waits with a dark purpose.                         

“Nooo! Stay back! Help!”

 “Susan! We’re coming!” said Hanes. 

“Oh my god,” said Tara. 

“What’s all the noise? Can`t you see people are trying to… oh,” said Joyce.

5 hours earlier. “Hello all you wicked wacks listening to all my songs and raps, I got 

another song for you so don’t touch that dial.” said the DJ on the radio in Dave’s car. “The weather is going to be bad tonight with a sandstorm through the night.”

 “Wrong station,” said Dave as he swapped stations to find the right one. “LOUWWWWWW” 

“Take me home” 

“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire” 

“That’s it. That’s what I’m looking for,” said Dave. 

  “Ahhh, I finally arrived, Brd Manor. It took three airplanes, two buses, and a car with a tree, but I made it,”said Dave as he masked the beauty of the mansion. 

“Dave!” said a familiar voice. All of the sudden a girl comes blasting through the door and ran at Dave. 

“Joyce!” said Dave to Joyce as they did their secret handshake. 

“I’m so glad you could come!” Said Joyce “I have your room all set. So set your stuff in the guest room, and I will introduce you to the family.”

 As he walked down the hall to his room. He heard someone’s muffled voice down at the other end of the hall. When he got to the door he peeked inside and saw a woman yelling at the phone. 

“If you think you can get my fortune you are dead wrong! No! You listen! I am not going to my entire estate to the likes of you, ” said the woman who looked vaguely familiar 

“I see you’ve met my mom, Ms. Susan Brd,” said Joyce. 

“ You scared me, wait, that’s Susan Brd one of the wealthiest people in the continent,” said Dave. “Yes, my crude, rich, never-spending-time-to-see-her-family, mother,” said Joyce.  “You do not want to get on her bad side, trust me. Oh and there are my brothers from other fathers. Jack Brown and Hanes Motov.” 

“Hey Joyce, who’s your friend?” said Jack. 

“I was just showing my old college buddy, Dave here, around the house,” said Joyce. “Can I show him? Only I can give him the best tour around the old place,” said Hanes. “Sure, just make sure you are back by dinner. Today it’s spaghetti and meatballs,” said Joyce. 

“Thanks, you won’t regret it. Come on Dave,” said Hanes.

1 hour and 46 minutes later. Hanes and Dave enter the corridor.  

“I think that’s everything.” Said Hanes. “Oh look at the time, we’re going to be late for dinner, let’s go this way…No…maybe…no.” 5 minutes of tedious searching later. “ Oh, hi Tara. Dave This is Tara Oster, our maid/butler/cook/housekeeper, and most of all, Joyce’s all out friend since her dad was the one who spent time with us. But, he died when she was four and mom sent us off to boarding school but didn’t send Joyce. It was just her and Tara.” 

“And underpaid. Hello master Dave,” said Tara. 

“Hello Tara,” said Dave. 

“I think we better go,” said Hanes. 

They finally arrived at the dining room and sat down to eat. 

“So you finally decided to come and sit down to eat,” said Susan. “You probably got lost in the house again like Thanksgiving, didn’t you?” “No…Yes.” Hanes said as he looked away. “He almost always lies,” said Joyce. 

Many minutes of silence passed by until Dave said. “Great cooking.” And everyone looked at him. After dinner Dave said, “ Let’s play a game.” 

“That’s a good idea,” said Jack. 

“Okay what will we play?” asked Dave. 

“Why don’t we play Guess Who,” said Jack. 

“That is a great idea,” said Hanes. 12 rounds of Guess Who later. “Let’s be done and get some sleep,” said Jack. 

“Okay,” said Hanes. 

“Time to turn in,” said Dave with a yawn. 

“Goodnight,” said Jack. 

There was a knock at the door. As Dave opened the door he saw an ebony silhouette of a man against the dark Saudi Arabian sky. 

“Hello I am John Hathers, my car broke down and I was wondering if I could stay here for the night. Till the car shop opens tomorrow morning.” 

“Well sure John. You can stay for as long as you like. Please, come in,” said Dave. “Thanks,” said John. 

“I’m Dave.” 

“Hi Dave,” said John. 

“Shhh. Don’t want to wake the whole house,” said Dave. “There is your room, please call me if you need anything.” John was very grateful of Dave.

    “Nooo! Stay back! Help!” 

“Susan! We’re coming!” said Hanes. 

“Oh my god,” said Tara. 

“What’s all the noise? Can`t you see people are trying to… oh,” said Joyce. Susan was 

lying on the floor motionless. Everyone stood in amazement. Jack’s eyes filled with tears, and he began to cry. Tara just stood there motionless, looking at her late boss. 

“Is she, dd…dead?” Stuttered Joyce. 

“Everyone get in their rooms and lock their doors. Tara, call 911.”  

“But” 

“No but’s!” Dave said before Jack could say anything. 

“I will call you one at a time to interrogate you.” 

15 minutes later. “Nothing, not a bit of motive and plenty of opportunity for all of them. I might as well get some rest,” Dave thought. “No use staying up all night not finding out anything.” 

As he walked into his room, he found it a mess. His luggage was on the ground, the bookcase was knocked over, and everything else was wrecked. He heard someone running down the stairs so he ran after them. He caught the person and found out it was Jack. 

“Jack what are you doing trying to sneak your luggage out of the house in a sandstorm?” said Dave. 

“I don’t want to be a part of this,” said Jack. “I just wished we had one good holiday before she passed away. The family being away and all we didn’t have many holidays together. Was that too much to ask of God?” Dave locked eyes with Jack and locked the door. 

“You need to leave,” said Dave in a woman’s voice. He walked back to his room and Dave could hear Jack scream into his pillow from Timbuktu.

“AHHHH!” 

“Here we go again,” said Dave. 

“That was Joyce!” said Jack. 

“What’s wrong?” said Dave. 

“Someone went past my window with a gun,” said Joyce. 

“Come on Jack, we can catch them if we hurry,” said Dave. “It’s time for a chase scene montage.” 

5 grueling minutes of chase scene montage with music later. “We lost them whoever they were,” said Dave as he ran out of breath. 

“We can’t stay out here, it’s too…” Jack’s voice could barely be made out in the storm. Once they got inside they couldn’t see. 

“Jack, Hanes, anyone.” Dave called but no one answered. 

“Dave!” called Jack. “Where are we?” 

“I think we are in the kitchen,” answered Dave. “See if you can find something to wipe our eyes off with.” 

“Find something, see, we can’t even find each other and our eyes are filled with sand,” said Jack sarcastically. 

“Ahh, found a towel,” said Dave. 

“Here you go Jack. Now, you head to bed and I will see you later.” 

As he went to the living room he saw someone walking crouched toward the parlor room. 

He followed and  found out it was Hanes. 

“Hanes,” said Dave “ What are you doing up this late?” 

“Nothing.” said Hanes as he looked away suspiciously. 

“Tell me the truth Hanes,” said Dave. 

“Okay we all hated her, we all hated Susan. We held a secret meeting before this event to talk about how we all hated her. We all wanted her to kick the bucket, I never thought someone would actually do this but here we are. In a house full of people and with a dead body.” He said as his voice got more serious and became louder. 

“Cool your jets Hanes. Everyone in this house is safe with Detective Dave Maceade on the job,” said Dave. 

“Someone is dead.” Hanes said sarcastically. 

“I was off the job then.” Said Dave. “Now, you go to bed and get some rest and I will see you and everyone else in the morning.” 

Dong. Dong. Dong. 

“Three’o’clock, hmm. So far so good, might as well get some coffee,” said Dave as he talked to himself. He whipped off the sand on the window and looked through it. “Looks like the storm is over.” 

He grinded the coffee beans and poured them into the coffee machine. 

“Man, last night was crazy,” said Joyce as she walked into the kitchen. 

“Well good morning to you too,” said Dave. 

“Ohh, are you making coffee, in that case. I want an espresso with two pumps of hazelnut, four pumps of vanilla, three marshmallows, extra whip, small bits of chocolate, and a partridge in a pear tree,” said Joyce. 

“Very funny, coming right up,” said Dave. 6 minutes later. “Finished with your espresso with two pumps of hazelnut et cetera et cetera,” said Dave. “Exactlly how you like it, extra toasty.” 

“Wow,” said Joyce. “You have a real gift. You could go places with a talent like that.” “Thanks, but I like it when I am a detective,” said Dave. “I just get so much thrill out of it, solving mysteries, crimes, and murders. It’s just so exciting.” Jack and Hanes came walking down the stairs. 

“Morning you two,” said Dave. “We were wondering when you would come down.” 

“Have a seat,” said Joyce 

“Thanks,” said Hanes. 

“Can we get some coffee?” asked Jack. 

“Write your orders down,” said Dave. 

“I slept like a log,” said John. 

“Oh yes, Everyone this is John Hathers. His car broke down and I let him stay for the night before the whole multi billionaire dying and all that other stuff,” said Dave. 

“So, John, what do you do for work?” asked Joyce. “I am a DJ; I was on the way back from the radio station when my car drove into a sand dune. I tried to back out but I was too stuck, I tried to push it out but I was in too deep,” said John. “So I walked for what felt like forever until I got to this house. When I walked up to the front door and Dave answered, he let me in and let me stay in the guest room for the night. And I’m so happy he did if he hadn’t. Then I would not have met all of you.” 

“Do you think you have met everyone?” said Jack. 

“Because there is one person you haven’t met.” 

“Good morning everyone,” said Tara. 

“That’s Tara,” said Dave. “The butler of her late employer Susan Brd, aka the woman who died last night.” 

“Sorry, for everyone’s loss,” said John. “I know I didn’t know her very well being a celebrity and all but, she must have meant so much to you all.” 

“Actually,” said Dave. “They all hated her.” 

“What?” said John. 

“They hated her, each and everyone of them. They all had a reason for wanting her dead. From her not spending time with her kids to staff not being paid enough,” said Dave when a thought appeared in his mind. “And I think I know who is behind this.”

“Who?” asked Joyce. 

“The only person who isn’t here. You can come out now.” Dave called around the corner and out came Susan Brd. 

“Susan!” Joyce gasped as she began to faint. 

“She’s going to faint.,” said John. 

“Catch her,” said Hanes. 

“I got her,” said Dave. “Fall into my arms.” Joyce fell through his arms and onto the floor. “Opps,” said Dave. “Yes, it was Susan pulling the strings this entire time. Ever since she knew about the secret meeting Hanes told me about last night she was furious with all of you so much that she figured out a plan to pay you all back. She was going to pretend to be dead like one of you knocked her off. But, John and I showed up and really confused things. But she had taken some pills to make her fall asleep for hours, making us think she was dead. And we would have known she wasn’t dead if we had checked her pulse, which is a rookie mistake that no one should miss with a straight train of thought. Which, let’s face it, none of us had that last night. You all were so worried about her and you all cared about her for one of the first times ever.” 

“You all cared,” said Susan as her eyes began to fill with tears and a second later she started to cry. As everyone tried to comfort her Dave remembered something. 

“So I just remembered I called the police so Susan is going to jail, sorry Susan,” said Dave. 

4 minutes later. As the police arrived, put Susan in the cruiser, and left, Dave felt a sense of fulfillment. 
4 short months later. Susan will spend 50 years in prison for faking her death and her evil scheming. Jack and Hanes became the biggest acts in show business to hit New York since Hamlet. Tara started her own fashion line for staff like butlers, maids, cooks, and housekeepers. Joyce went on to start her own tech company called The Most Expensive Electronics and Tech for the Wealthist People. I know a very long name right, like her coffee order. And Dave, well I went on to be the next Benoit Blanc. I went on to start a family and I started this book series which started with the mystery I call “Blood on the Sand.”

Sha Na Na S1 E17, E18

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I noticed some differences in these two episodes than I did int he previous ones. First, it seemed as if they got control of the laugh track. It was still there, but it was much more in control. It was not as loud as it was in the previous 16 episodes and I actually did not notice it for awhile. That was a HUGE item for the show.

Then, the comedy, which was always real bad in most of the first 16 episodes, wasn’t that bad here. It was still not the greatest comedy I ever heard, but it was considerably better. I did not cringe as much as I did in the first part of the season.

They had a new set, a diner where they could go for some of the backstage bits. It was much improved. We had way few of the ridiculous bits by some of the other members of the cast. I wonder if they let some of the others go.

These two episodes had the benefit of having guests that could sing. The first one was Johnny Ray, who I am not sure I knew, but who I was incredibly impressed with. He sang a song on the street set that was great. He was also singing it live. I was fascinated with the way he moved his mouth as he sang. No one would move their mouth like that if they were lip synching.

The second episode of the night had Chubby Checker, who sang Let’s Twist Again (Like We Did Last Summer). He was also clearly singing the song. Truthfully, there were some times he was screaming it. It brought a lot of energy to the show. There is no doubt that when the show has singers as guests, things just seem stronger.

They had a couple of comedy songs- first Rip Van Winkel and then My Baby Loves A Western Movie, and I have to say, I thought both were decent and had some funny moments. I really prefer the group on the stage or in the street set, but these comedy bits were fun too.

These episodes had some solid songs including All Shook Up, Poetry in Motion, Yakety Yak, and Earth Angel.

Things are looking up. Some of my biggest complaints from the first part of this season seems to have been addressed, and just turning that damn laugh track down is a major step in the right direction. Next episode looks to have Chuck Berry as a guest star so that means more music from the guest. That is the way to go.

Sha Na Na S1 E13, E14, E15, E16

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Had a run of four episodes of Sha Na Na tonight and I have the same complaints that I always have. The laugh track/applause track is just terrible. Honestly, the first 10-15 seconds of every song is impossible to hear because of the fake clapping. Second, the humor is terrible. This show is so much better when they have a musical guest so they can sing with Sha Na Na instead of doing this cringe-level comedy bits.

These four episodes only had one guest star that sang. It was Della Reese and that episode was the best of the four. It did have a pretty racist comedy bit called House of Kyoto, but other than that, this was the one.

I read a tweet awhile ago from Jon Bausman who spoke about the early season comedy being less than they had wanted. He said he thought it got better in later seasons. I sure hope so.

Fact is, when Sha Na Na is singing, this show is sensational. These four episodes had some bangers in them, including Mr. Bass Man, All I Have to Do is Dream, and Why Do Fools Fall in Love, which I believe are done multiple times over the years on the show.

The strangest song of the four featured Pamela Myers singing with Frank Gorshin, who was doing impersonations of celebrities like Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman etc. Gorshin seemed really weird during this segment, but it was interesting to hear Pamela Myers sing the song. It was in the old parked car bit that they usually run.

Other celebrities on these four episodes included Adrianne Barbeau, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Kristy McNichols, Rosey Greer and Milton Berle. I think they had taped more bits with Milton Berle when he was on the show earlier in the year and they just inserted them into this episode because at the end of the show, Bowzer did not thank Milton Berle for being on the show. He only thanked Rosey Greer. Why was Rosey Greer booked for the show?

Looking ahead, Chubby Checker and Chuck Berry are coming up soon. Those are the type of guests I want to see on Sha Na Na. More music, less of all the other background jokes.

Sha Na Na S1 E11 & E12

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You see the contrast between episodes here amazingly well.

Episode 11 featured the Lennon Sisters and episode 12 featured Zsa Zsa Gabor.

In episode 11, there was a limited amount of comedy bits, with the main one being what seemed to be similar to the Muppet Show’s At the Dance skit where members of Sha Na Na danced with the Lennon Sisters and the camera followed them to each couple to tell a bad joke. That was a decent little use of the comedy (though that laugh track is still just obnoxious).

Also in episode 11, they did multiple songs including Rockin’ Robin, Runaround Sue, Tonight You Belong to Me (with the Lennon Sisters on the stage), The Great Pretender and a tribute to Elvis (interestingly, they never used the word Presley. I wonder if it was a rights thing.) in that tribute they did three songs, Heartbreak Hotel, Love Me Tender and Hound Dog.

Honestly, episode 11 may have been my favorite one so far.

Then, episode 12 was an over-reliance on the comedy bits. Way too many of them because none of them were funny. Plus, the songs were limited to Sha-Boom and 16 Candles. They did a comedy bit featuring The Lion Sleeps Tonight with Sha Na Na dressed up as cannibals.

Episode 12 may have been my least favorite so far.

When the show focused on the music, it was outstanding. When they pushed the comedy, especially without the guys in the band, it flopped. The comedy bit with The Lion Sleeps Tonight was just too long and, again, not funny.

They have so many great singers in Sha Na Na, I want them to play more music and I believe it worked much better when the special guest star(s) were musical too. I have nothing against Zsa Zsa, but her bits were just not as entertaining as the Lennon Sisters singing.

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere

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The latest big time musician biopic was released this weekend, with The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White taking the stage as Bruce Springsteen.

The film takes a certain part of Springsteen’s life, specifically the time he was working on recording his album Nebraska, and tells the story of that period. There are flashbacks to Bruce as a child with his alcoholic/abusive father, but the main emphasis of the film is getting Nebraska written, recorded and released.

Jeremy Allen White is spectacular as Springsteen. He gives a sensational performance as The Boss, going as far as doing his own singing for the role. He really does sound like a young version of Springsteen. I would also like to shout out the performance of Jeremy Strong, who played Jon Landau, Bruce’s friend and manager. Strong is always great and he puts in a very subtle and workmanlike performance here.

The music is great. It was odd at first as the music did not seem to include any Springsteen songs as had Lucille by Chuck Berry and Urgent by Foreigner. The first scene we see is Bruce playing Born to Run, so there was that. The Springsteen music does come over the course of the movie.

The film’s script deals heavily with the depression that Springsteen was dealing with, something that he has dealt with over his life. Springsteen made Nebraska as a very personal record and the songs all meant something to him, which was why he could not compromise with them.

I do think the film felt a little long, as some of the scenes became repetitive. There was a storyline with Springsteen and a girlfriend at the time, Faye Romano (Odessa Young). This was an interesting storyline and did not show Bruce in the best light. I liked Faye and I have to say that I was rooting for her.

I think Springsteen fans will love the movie while those who are just there for the film itself may find it a touch dull. I would not say that I am a Springsteen fan, but I do like him so I was entertained enough. I definitely think that the performance of Jeremy Allen White was better than the movie itself.

3.6 stars

Sha Na Na S1 E6, E7

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I watched two more episodes of Sha Na Na on YouTube tonight and it has become apparent that the first season of this show had the same strength and weaknesses in them.

Strengths: The songs are great. Specifically, the songs the group does on the stage in front of the studio audience. Donny did a cool rendition of “Come and Go With Me” and led the singing in “Rock Around the Clock.” Johnny, whose voice is so heavenly, did “Teen Angel” and gives an epic sob in the middle. Then, one of the best street songs so far was “Breakin’ Up is Hard to Do” with Donny and Chico taking the main part of the song. This was one of the better choreographed songs so far. Great basketball pass at the end of the song from Santini too.

Weaknesses: Comedy. The comedy on the show just feels too forced. I hate the crowd noises they add because there are several times where it just intrudes on the song. In the comedy song bit “Along Came Jones” the can laughter and applause made it hard to hear the song. Pamela Myers’s acting in this song was atrocious (though she was a Tony-nominated actress). I do not think I have laughed once with the back stage skits from Kenneth Mars, Philip Roth or Jane Dulo. At least Avery Schreiber’s cab driver character has a few laughs.

Two comedians were the guest stars on these episodes with Charles Nelson Reilly and Phyllis Diller. Both had some good moments. I am a big fan of CNR, especially during his days on the Match Game, which he referenced in the episode.

I remember being a fan of Lennie Baker as a child. Being a chubby kid, I related to Lennie. I have to say though, watching him do his background dancing is always funny. Lennie has a tremendous voice though.

I have really enjoyed the musical parts of these shows so far, but the rest have been a bit of a trudge to get through. The music is absolutely the stand out from these talented musicians.

Taylor Swift: The Official Release Party of a Showgirl

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I was not sure if I was going to go to this. This was a limited release film coinciding with the release of Taylor Swift’s new record, “The Life of A Showgirl.” I would not be considered a “Swifty” by any stretch of the imagination, but I did go to the ERAs Tour film and I enjoyed it well. It worked into the schedule tonight so I wound up in Cinemark with a ton of teenage girls and a few other adults to see this film.

It is not really a film. It is also not really a concert film. It showed us the brand new video for the song “The Fate of Ophelia,” all of the lyric vids of the other 11 songs, and several behind the scenes shots of Taylor in the prep for the video, both with rehearsing and discussion of the creative.

Taylor Swift was the director of the video as well so she was shown to be the definitive creative force behind it. There were times when it seemed that she would speak and everyone else would just agree with her. I would have liked to see someone make a comment that wasn’t just “Oh how awesome you are.”

As a middle school literacy teacher, I did love the fact that she made a comment about a metaphor, followed by a comment on alliteration and then mentioned imagery. I hope the kids in the theater heard those terms.

As for the music, it was a bit of a mixed bag. It was clear that “The Fate of Ophelia” was the best song on the album. They showed us that video at the beginning of the movie and at the end. It was definitely my personal favorite as well.

I did notice that Taylor Swift’s songs on this album had a tendency to be repetitive, in one specific manner. She seemed as if she ended every song in the exact same way. The music slowed or stopped and she repeated one line that she had sung during the song, as if she were really emphasizing it. It was fine, but I did notice it so I would have liked maybe some variety in the end of the songs.

The songs that I did enjoy included “Elizabeth Taylor,” “Actually Romantic,” “Wood,” “Opalite,” and “Cancelled.” There were two songs that I did not like at all. They were “Father Figure” and “Wi$h Li$t.” “The Eldest Daughter,” “Ruin the Friendship,” and “Honey” were good. The album’s title track, “The Life of a Showgirl” was underwhelming, but not at the level of “Father ZFigure” or “Wi$h Li$t.”

The experience in the theater was as much a reason to go to this as anything else. It was fun with the audience cheering and applauding throughout the film. No one sang along in my theater, but it was fun to be part of the mass.

Overall, this was not much of a film, but it was a solid experience and I was happy to have chosen to see it. “The Fate of Ophelia” is easily the hit of this album and was the most important of the songs with this movie.

3.6 stars

Sha Na Na S1 E3, E4, E5

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Grease for Peace!

I am back with the next three episodes of season one of Sha Na Na. This was one of my favorite shows as a kid and I always looked forward to seeing the next episode.

I just have to say, some of the negatives stand out more for me now than it did when I was a kid. The comedy is downright bad. Very few of these bits were funny at all. The only ones that seemed okay were the ones in the car with one of the members of the band and Ginger. The can laughter made it all the more obvious that it wasn’t funny.

The exception was the bits during episode 5 with Milton Berle. He brought in members of Sha Na Na and would makes jokes with them. These bits felt fairly improv-like and you can see the members of Sha Na Na trying to keep from laughing. Some did better than others. Johnny was working that gum over hard during his moment with Berle.

You do have to respect how they passed around singing responsibilities on the show. In these three episodes, only Santini did not have a lead vocal or a duet. Duke of Earl and Silhouette was performed by Denny. Party Doll and Itsy Bitsy teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini was done by Chico. Whole Lotta Shakin’ was led by Screamin’ Scott. Screamin’ Scott and Jocko combined for Poison Ivy. Bower sang with Ethel Merman with Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better. Lenny sang Too Chubby to Boogie. Dirty Dan sang Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow. Johnny sang the last song of episode five, though I did not recognize the title. The whole group had a part in The Name Game.

Admittedly, some of the background dancing gets too hectic at times and it gives the audience too many things to try and focus on. However, episode five gave us something different as this was the first time that we got to see shots of the live audience and their responses to the stage songs. I liked that variation on what they had done prior.

The dancing was okay during Carol Lawrence’s dance of The One, from the Broadway musical A Chorus Line. The whole group of Sha Na Na provided chorus line dancing.

Episode five was my favorite of these episodes as it felt like they did some different things and the Milton Berle comedy worked so much more than some of the other episode comedy bits.

Sha Na Na S2 E0, E1, E2

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I was on Twitter/X a few days ago and I came across a Tweet by Jon “Bowzer” Bausman stating that the full episodes of the Sha Na Na TV series was going to be available on YouTube soon. I was excited to hear this as this was a big part of my childhood. I loved Sha Na Na and they turned out to be my first ever concert at Five Flags Center in Dubuque.

I have spent years watching musical clips from the show on YouTube and the news about the full episodes was great. I figured I could make this one of my rewatches here at EYG.

I went to YouTube and searched for Sha Na Na series and I found a playlist from pattyoc01, who had been one of the prolific posters of the Sha Na Na clips over the years. The playlist had all of the episodes on it.

I have a feeling this may not have been what Jon Bausman meant when he posted his tweet. I have a suspicion that a more clean and professional version may be coming in the future. However, I was excited to start the rewatch so I dove into the pilot (listed as episode 0) and the first two episodes of the series.

Sha Na Na consisted of the following group members on the show: Bowzer, Johnny, Screamin’ Scott, Santini, Denny, Lennie, Donny, Dirty Dan, Chico, and Jocko.

The musical numbers are far and away the best part of these first three episodes. The comedy on the show was, at best, iffy. Some of it was groan-inducing. I saw another tweet from Bausman stating that he knew the humor of the first season was not the beat, but he felt the following seasons got more clever.

I was always focused on whether they were lip synching the music. I know that they had done, at least for the stage songs, live singing with the instrumental and the back up singing being pre-taped. You could usually tell from the powerhouse vocals of Johnny Contardo. Some of the street songs or comedy sketch bits (such as the Monster Mash bit in the pilot) were clearly being lip synched. It was obvious that Bernadette Peters was not singing live in episode two either. It was not a major issue, but I am more impressed when they let their vocals come through.

A great example of this was in the third episode where five of the group’s best singers, Johnny, Bowzer, Donny, Lennie and Santini sang an a cappella doo wop version of “I Wonder Why.” This was an amazing performance with these five really blending their voices into a fantastic harmony.

Other songs performed in this first three episodes included Blue Moon, Teenager in Love, Yakkety Yak, Tell Laura I Love Her, Rama Lama Ding Dong, Personality, Little Darlin’, and Runaway.

Along with Bernadette Peters in episode two, Rita Moreno and Frank Gorshin guest starred in the other two episodes however whatever Gorshin did seemed to be cut from the episode on YouTube. This is another reason why I think this may not be the collection that Bausman was referring to in his tweet.

I have to say that this is a bizarre series as the show constantly tells you as an audience member that Sha Na Na is terrible. The show puts down their music, their intelligence and everything else. You would think that they shouldn’t be downgrading their stars, even if it is nothing more than a running joke. It is clear that these ten men are remarkably talented (although they may not have been the greatest dancers ever to grace the screen).

Seeing this show once again gives me a huge feeling of nostalgia. I forgot this show when compiling my Top 100 TV Shows list that I am currently counting down with the Daily Countdown on EYG. This should have probably had a spot on that list.

For the first three episodes… Goodnight sweetheart, well it’s time to go…

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues

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I am a huge fan of This is Spinal Tap. It is not only a cult classic, but, for me, it is one of my all time favorite movies. So I was very excited when I saw that there would be a sequel bringing the boys back together.

Spinal Tap is David St. Hubbins, Nigel Tufnel and Derek Smalls. These three, along with director of the film Marty Di Burgi, have been making the promotional rounds, talking about the movie. Of course, these characters are being portrayed in kayfabe by Michael McKeon, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer, and director Rob Reiner.

The new “mockumentary” follows the guys as they reunite after years to play one more contractually required concerts. The film is about Spinal Tap getting back together, dealing with their problems and rehearsing for the big show in New Orleans.

I love Spinal Tap and this was a lot of fun. It was great seeing these characters again, even if seeing them aged is a bit of a shock. The music is wonderful. The lines are funny. I assume they did the same kind of improv that they used in the first film.

I am going to say that there was no way this was going to match the first film. This is Spinal Tap is such a brilliant film, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues was never going to be able to reach the levels of the first one. However, this was still a lot of enjoyment. There was something missing in the story. Perhaps it was the tension between the band that was causing that feeling, but there was something that brought the story down a touch.

It does tell you how iconic Spinal Tap is when you can get Paul McCartney and Elton John to come to your film and sing with the band. There were a couple of other cool cameos here including Questlove, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Chad Smith, and Lars Ulrich (of Metallica).

A lot of the jokes are recycled, including clips from the original movie. There are a bunch of new songs, but none of them received the full song version in the film. We do get full versions of “Cups and Cakes,” “Stonehenge,” and “(Listen to the) Flower People.” I would have liked to hear a few of the new songs extended outside of the slight usage in rehearsal footage or band discussion.

These critiques are minor for me as I laughed and enjoyed the reunion film. Fans of the original movie are going to have a lot of fun with this new sequel, which would make a great double feature with the original.

4.4 stars