Friday, May 16, 2014
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Saturday Night, 1972.
Among other things, bandleader Neal Hefti is known for the theme song of the mid-1960’s TV show, Batman. Back then, if someone did music for a popular TV show, there had to be an album of music supposedly related to the show. In Hefti’s case, it was an album called “Hefti in Gotham City.”
On that album was a cut called “Gotham City Municipal Swing Band.” That cut was an ersatz marching band tune.
I don’t know how many dozens of copies that album sold, but “Gotham City Municipal Swing Band” was the type of song that would have been used on small-town radio stations as a sport theme or perhaps on a TV station as a kiddie-show theme.
To residence of the San Francisco Bay Area, though, that tune is remembered as the theme of “Creature Features,” KTVU’s weekly horror film show.
The host of that show was Bob Wilkins. Bob Wilkins was not your typical horror movie host. No, he was not Elvira, nor was he Svengooly. He was, well, Bob Wilkins:
Bob would spend some of his on camera time reading the TV Guide listings for Saturday night, asking why you were watching him. He was very droll and had a very dry wit. Those things, along with his ever-present cigar, made him a cult favorite in the Bay Area. From the Neal Hefti theme to Wilkins’s arid sense of humor, Creature Features was a part of that long-ago era.
The summer of 1972 was a special time for me. My oldest brother and his wife were living at home; my other brother was home from college, and I was getting ready to enter my junior year in high school. There were a number of things the three of us would gather around and watch together. Saturday night offered the most memorable programs of them all.
The night would start with Creature Features on channel 2 from Oakland.
Later in the evening, or night, we would watch – thanks to that modern marvel of cable TV – a late night movie on KCRA from Sacramento. That movie was hosted by a guy named Geoff Wong.
Curiously enough, Bob Wilkins used to work for KCRA and hosted a Saturday night movie. When he left, the station showed movies without a host. Their ratings went into the gutter. They asked Wilkins if he might suggest a new host. Wilkins suggested a friend named Geoff Wong. With that, the “Charlie Chan Film Festival was born.
Wong would show old Charlie Chan movies from the ‘30’s and ‘40’s. One week he had as a guest Victor Sen Young. Young, most remembered as playing the cook Hop Sing on the TV show Bonanza, had played Charlie Chan’s number 2 son to Sidney Tolar’s Chan. As I recall, the show was taped on Tuesday. Between the Tuesday taping and the Saturday airing, Young was shot in an attempted plane hijacking when flying out of San Francisco International Airport.
The regular guests on the show, whether they had anything to do with the old movies or not, tended to wear skimpy attire. Wong was especially happy to have Playboy Playmates as guests.
One of the fun parts of the show, though, was that Wong offered a secret decoder ring for 25 or 50 cents. Week after week Wong would give a message in code for people to decode with their rings. Of course, my family didn’t need no stinking ring. We would dutifully take down the secret message every week. We had vowed to crack that secret code no matter how long it took. My mother, who had an intense dislike for TV and would never stay up late to watch an old movie, even joined in the quest for the elusive code. It was a family project. Every Sunday morning we would look at the latest message, add it to the previous messages, and see what we could do. I don’t know how many months it took us to crack the code, but we finally did. We were happy we didn’t send in the money.
A few months later, KCRA added the Sherlock Holmes Film Festival to its Saturday Night programming. That would last until about 2 AM. One summer morning I stayed up until dawn; the first time I ever did so. Somewhere I have a slide of the morning sunrise from my bedroom window taken that morning.
It is hard to believe that this was over forty years ago. Sometimes I feel sorry for young people today who do not have such memory making things. I hope they find some anyway.
On that album was a cut called “Gotham City Municipal Swing Band.” That cut was an ersatz marching band tune.
I don’t know how many dozens of copies that album sold, but “Gotham City Municipal Swing Band” was the type of song that would have been used on small-town radio stations as a sport theme or perhaps on a TV station as a kiddie-show theme.
To residence of the San Francisco Bay Area, though, that tune is remembered as the theme of “Creature Features,” KTVU’s weekly horror film show.
The host of that show was Bob Wilkins. Bob Wilkins was not your typical horror movie host. No, he was not Elvira, nor was he Svengooly. He was, well, Bob Wilkins:
Bob would spend some of his on camera time reading the TV Guide listings for Saturday night, asking why you were watching him. He was very droll and had a very dry wit. Those things, along with his ever-present cigar, made him a cult favorite in the Bay Area. From the Neal Hefti theme to Wilkins’s arid sense of humor, Creature Features was a part of that long-ago era.
The summer of 1972 was a special time for me. My oldest brother and his wife were living at home; my other brother was home from college, and I was getting ready to enter my junior year in high school. There were a number of things the three of us would gather around and watch together. Saturday night offered the most memorable programs of them all.
The night would start with Creature Features on channel 2 from Oakland.
Later in the evening, or night, we would watch – thanks to that modern marvel of cable TV – a late night movie on KCRA from Sacramento. That movie was hosted by a guy named Geoff Wong.
Curiously enough, Bob Wilkins used to work for KCRA and hosted a Saturday night movie. When he left, the station showed movies without a host. Their ratings went into the gutter. They asked Wilkins if he might suggest a new host. Wilkins suggested a friend named Geoff Wong. With that, the “Charlie Chan Film Festival was born.
Wong would show old Charlie Chan movies from the ‘30’s and ‘40’s. One week he had as a guest Victor Sen Young. Young, most remembered as playing the cook Hop Sing on the TV show Bonanza, had played Charlie Chan’s number 2 son to Sidney Tolar’s Chan. As I recall, the show was taped on Tuesday. Between the Tuesday taping and the Saturday airing, Young was shot in an attempted plane hijacking when flying out of San Francisco International Airport.
The regular guests on the show, whether they had anything to do with the old movies or not, tended to wear skimpy attire. Wong was especially happy to have Playboy Playmates as guests.
One of the fun parts of the show, though, was that Wong offered a secret decoder ring for 25 or 50 cents. Week after week Wong would give a message in code for people to decode with their rings. Of course, my family didn’t need no stinking ring. We would dutifully take down the secret message every week. We had vowed to crack that secret code no matter how long it took. My mother, who had an intense dislike for TV and would never stay up late to watch an old movie, even joined in the quest for the elusive code. It was a family project. Every Sunday morning we would look at the latest message, add it to the previous messages, and see what we could do. I don’t know how many months it took us to crack the code, but we finally did. We were happy we didn’t send in the money.
A few months later, KCRA added the Sherlock Holmes Film Festival to its Saturday Night programming. That would last until about 2 AM. One summer morning I stayed up until dawn; the first time I ever did so. Somewhere I have a slide of the morning sunrise from my bedroom window taken that morning.
It is hard to believe that this was over forty years ago. Sometimes I feel sorry for young people today who do not have such memory making things. I hope they find some anyway.
Monday, January 20, 2014
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Remembrance Day 2013
HEROES
On the outbreak of the First World War Chavasse offered to serve in France. He was transferred to the Western Front in November 1914 where he was attached to the Liverpool Scottish Regiment. In the first few months he was kept busy dealing with trench foot, a condition caused by standing for long periods in mud and water.
In March 1915 the regiment took part in the offensive at Ypres, where poison gas was used for the first time. By June 1915 only 142 men out of the 829 men who arrived with Chavasse remained on active duty. The rest had been killed or badly wounded. Chavasse was promoted to captain in August 1915 and six months later was awarded the Military Cross for his actions at the Battle of Hooge. In April 1916 he was granted three days leave to receive his award from King George V.
In July 1916 Chavasse's battalion was moved to the Somme battlefield near Mametz. On the 7th August the Liverpool Scottish Regiment were ordered to attack Guillemont. Of the 620 men who took part in the offensive, 106 of the men were killed and 174 were wounded. This included Chavasse who was hit by shell splinters while rescuing men in no-mans-land. For this he was awarded the Victoria Cross. In February 1917 he was granted 14 days leave in England.
He returned to the Liverpool Scottish Regiment and took part in the offensive at Passchendaele. For nearly two days he went out into the battlefield rescuing and treating wounded soldiers. It was during this period Noel performed the deeds that gained him his second Victoria Cross. After being badly wounded he was sent to the Casualty Clearing Station at Brandhoek. Although operated on he died on 4th August 1917. Noel Godfrey Chavasse was Britain's most highly decorated serviceman in the war.
Friday, March 1, 2013
HAPPY BIRTHDAY NURSE LADY RED!
Woot! It's our lovely lady red's FIRST Birthday as an RN. Happy First Birthday Nurse lady red.
Remember, 7UP is for babies, so be sure you spike yours with something stronger than milk.
May I suggest:
Of course 7 and 7 needs cake....
And we all got together to record your Birthday song, enjoy!
We couldn't possibly have a Birthday without flowers, so here's a field of tulips for you to tiptoe through...
And last but certainly not least, a sexy man to sing in your ear:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETIE xxx
Remember, 7UP is for babies, so be sure you spike yours with something stronger than milk.
May I suggest:
Of course 7 and 7 needs cake....
And we all got together to record your Birthday song, enjoy!
We couldn't possibly have a Birthday without flowers, so here's a field of tulips for you to tiptoe through...
And last but certainly not least, a sexy man to sing in your ear:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETIE xxx
Friday, December 21, 2012
6 Versions of A Christmas Carol
Every year, my mother would read an old, well-worn copy of
Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. While
maybe not too many people read it today, a number of film versions of have been
made. I thought it would be fun to look at some of them.
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