Before There Was MTV.

When some talk about the good ol’ days of music TV they're referring to... when MTV used to actually play music... before they went to... “Pranking Un-Wed 15 Year-Old Moms Who Were Cat-fished”.

But some of us remember further back... when there were a bunch of TV shows totally dedicated to music, waaay before there were VJ’s and Madonna and Weird Al.

And those shows were certainly big hits in The Forever Kid's household.

First there was... The Lawrence Welk Show. Mr. Welk defined “square”. We never really watched him, but I did catch his act while switching channels. He was even too lame for parents. I do think my Grandma loved him?!

Lawrence’s “shtick” was playing the accordion, (as did several of my classmates at PS 91), and having lots of “champagne bubbles” filling his studio. “And a-one, and a-two, and a-three”… Cool “catchphrase, huh?

Then, Ladies and Gentlemen… Liberace! Yeahhh...hmmmm??

As a kid, I wasn’t really too sure exactly what was going on there. But he certainly wasn’t boring. He was rather…um…“sparkly”. The music? Not so much. Who knew someday he’d be portrayed by Kirk Douglas’ son?? And have his wardrobe style adopted by “fat Elvis”?

Next up… Sing Along With Mitch! Starring “musical conductor” Mitch Miller. (Who bizarrely happened to be one of my Uncle Joe’s best friends!?)

Mitch, himself, always scared me. He looked like the Devil, with his signature goatee and plastered-on smile.

The show itself…wasn’t much of a “show”. Mitch (the Devil), would stand in front of a chorus of about 25 all-white, very Republican-looking males in some kind of homo-erotic statement. And being a bit TOO smiley… (as if in some sort of musical cult)… they would harmonize on American “classics”. BUT…the show’s massive popularity came from the TV audience being able to see the song lyrics pop onto the TV screen... and, by following the “bouncing ball”… all America could Sing Along With Mitch! I must admit… The Forever Kid and family joined in heartily!

But singing wasn’t our only musical TV participation.

Every Saturday evening we would be invited to a party… Arthur Murray’s Dance Party.

Here, our hosts, Arthur and Kathryn Murray, “dressed to the nines”… (looking a bit like they just came out of formaldehyde), would teach us (and a celebrity guest), some “sweet moves” on the dance floor. And there would be my Mom and Dad, my sister Ellen and me… standing in front of the TV in our living room… learning the Cha Cha.

There was even a musical game show… the original Name That Tune, with host, George DeWitt.

The contestants, not only had to be the first to identify a song based on only a few notes… but then had to RUN all the way across the stage… and ring a gong! (All this for a prize structure started with $5 per tune!!) We loved the show so much… we got the “play at home” box game… complete with LP record… and GONG!

But no question… our family favorite music show was…

Your Hit Parade.

It was definitely an early precursor to MTV.

We would eagerly wait each week for America’s top 7 hit songs to be revealed. Then, with great fanfare, the Top 3 would be announced… and then performed by the Hit Parade singers… Snooky Lanson, Gisele MacKenzie, Dorothy Collins and Russell Arms.

A rather vague “storyline” was built around each song... and presented on an elaborate (?) set. For me, the very best part of the show... was the inventive ways they would come up with... to reveal the “number rating” for each song…

For example:

A cop sleeping at his desk, with feet propped up… and there, painted on the sole of his shoe was the number 3… and that would introduce...“Jailhouse Rock”.

Or a fisherman would reel in what appeared to be a “big catch”… but instead it was a giant number 1… which would introduce....“The Shrimp Boats are Comin’”.

But alas, the innocence of my childhood was left behind… as I entered my “cool (or not-so-cool) teenage” years. And that brought a whole new wave of music TV.

Of course, there was the “classic"... American Bandstand.. But, back then, truth is, as much as I liked Rating a Record… I always felt that Dick Clark and his gang was for the “older kids”.

Then, just as I became one of “the older kids”, along came…

Shindig!

I was already buying records, singing along and Twistin’ the Night Away... So…I was ready!! No longer would I have to sit with the family, watching Ed Sullivan and suffer through... the “comedy stylings” of Myron Cohn and Wayne and Shuster… or dancing dogs… or Bulgarian contortionists …
just waiting for the stone-faced Ed to say...

“And now for you youngsters…”

and finally have him bring on the latest attack of the British Invasion… (who were usually drowned out by screaming girls). No more waiting!

Shindig was wall-to-wall teen music! Rock ‘n Roll, Soul, Pop. Every superstar showed up: The Beatles, Elvis, James Brown, The Who, The Supremes, The Beach Boys, Aretha. And I remember some rather "random" guest stars: Orson Welles, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Boris Karloff, Mickey Rooney, Sal Mineo, Rosey Grier, Raquel Welch, Vincent Price !??

Then there were the Shindig “regulars”… Bobby Sherman, Jackie DeShannon, Glen Campbell, Donna Loren and The Blossoms (with Darlene Love)... And my favorites... The Shindig Dancers (Including Teri Garr!?!)

Soon, Shindig got so popular, that it was scheduled for two nights. Everyone I knew watched both nights…and talked about it the next day.

Sadly it was eventually cancelled… but, all was not lost… it was replaced by Batman !!

Shindig begat lots of other teen music shows… The “biggie”…

Hullabaloo!

While Shindig was in black and white... Hullabaloo was in full living color!!
With big-budget sets and production. It booked all the biggest top pop stars too.                                                                

But what I remember most, was eagerly waiting...  to see who would be this week’s "Guest Host". Besides music stars like Petula Clark, Paul Anka, Liza Minelli, Frankie Avalon … they came up with some odd choices too… Woody Allen,? Robert Vaughn? George Hamilton? Alan King?  Dean Jones?  Noel Harrison (Rex’s son)? Michael Landon? Soupy Sales???   

And it must be noted...  that Hullaballo did popularize one of the great male fantasies of the day…            the “Caged Go-Go Dancer”.                                                                                                                   

Political correctness aside… I must admit that I was in love with  star dancer Lana Edmonds Jr… with her mini-skirts,  thigh-high white vinyl go-go boots  and wildly bouncing pony tail.  Niiice! 

There were the other copycat teen music shows… Upbeat, Lloyd Thaxton, Shivaree, the super-sexy Hollywood A-GoGo.. and my local favorite... Clay Cole... (who made personal appearances at Palisades Park).

We even had music in the afternoon… Where the Action Is… a Dick Clark production, where Paul Revere & The Raiders would take us to... Malibu, San Francisco, New York City, Bear Mountain(?)… wherever the “action” was.

Finally, a bit later, came my absolute “fave”... and a major force in my life…

SOUL TRAIN!!

Mr. Don Cornelius, the grooviest crowd in town, my favorite R&B/Soul acts, the “Scrambled Hit Song Title Board", and of course... the unbelievable Soul Train dancers!!

I could watch the Soul Train “line” forever!

Don't know if I liked the sweet moves or the wardrobe better... BUT…I gotta say… I still use my Soul Train “moves" to this day.

Love, Peace and Sooooooul!

I leave you with the theme song I still remember from Your Hit Parade:

"So long for a while, That's all the songs for a while, So long to Your Hit Parade, And the songs that you picked to be played, So long!"

Would love to hear about your early music show memories.