Whatever happened to Rock & Roll on TV? Sure, there are "On Demand" music channels and VH1 and, if your cable system carries it, Palladia. But what is there for the person who has only BASIC CABLE channels? The regular networks are devoid of Rock Music shows. I'm talking about more than just 1 song per show, like you get on Conan, Letterman, Leno, etc. What I am talking about is 90 full minutes of multiple Rock acts, each doing 3 songs per set. That's what I'm talking about, man.
Is anyone old enough out there to remember "The Midnight Special"? Burt Sugarman's Midnight Special ran from 1973 to 1981, and it was freakin' great. Over the years, the program featured performances by AC/DC, Aerosmith, David Bowie (as Ziggy Stardust), Electric Light Orchestra, B.B King, Beach Boys, Blondie, James Brown, The Cars, Cheap Trick, Bo Diddley, Doobie Brothers, Fleetwood Mac, Peter Frampton, Heart, Billy Joel, Elton John, Kiss, Eddie Money, Van Morrison, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Todd Rundgren, Rod Stewart, and many more. I looked forward to it and would always try to tune in. Now, it's available on DVD, I've heard. Great Christmas Present Idea, in my opinion.
As long as we are reminiscing, remember RADIO?
I'm not talking about TALK RADIO. I'm not talking about SATELLITE RADIO. I'm talking about AM Radio, played on a transistor radio so bad that you could hardly make out the words to any of the songs. Then came smooth FM radio...not playing simply the Hits, but playing "entire sides" of LPs. My theory was that the FM DJ's were smokin' funny stuff, zoning out, and just forgetting to lift the needle off the record. Anyway, it was freakin' great!
On the radio, in the old days, you could hear entire concerts sometimes. The mighty "King Biscuit Flower Hour" was awesome, and some of those classic shows are now archived on the Internet at:
concerts.wolfgangsvault.com/ct/king-biscuit-catalog/2.html
If you were in the mood for very odd and/or funny tunes, there was the "Doctor Demento Show" which featured "Two Hours of Mad Music and Crazy Comedy". I am very happy to say that the good Doctor is still "In". He is still doing his weekly show which is as funny as ever. You can find it at:
http://www.drdemento.com/
I may just have to do an entire blog, or maybe a whole week of blogs, about Dr. Demento. For fans, the realm of "dementites and dementoids" encompasses an entire vast bizarro universe.
It just occurred to me that what we really need is: DR. DEMENTO TELEVISION. That would be freakin' great!
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