LAUREN BACALL IN THE COOLEST PHOTO OF A PRESIDENT EVER

I remember seeing this photo of President Harry Truman many years ago, but could not remember who identity of the woman sitting on the piano. It was Lauren Bacall, who passed away today (8-12-2014).

For many people of my generation, our first knowledge of Lauren Bacall was through this song, "Key Largo," by Bertie Higgins.

A SAD U.P.I BULLETIN FROM 50 YEARS AGO TODAY - 11-22-1963

I'll admit I swiped this from a discussion board for radio pros. A radio newsman saved this United Press International teletype wire bulletin from November 22, 1963. When I began working in radio at KSMU in Springfield, we still had the teletype machine with the bells that went off for a major national or world news story. The only time it happened when I was on duty was a chimpanzee was runamuck at a supermarket (I can't remember where) and Geraldo Rivera was hit in the face with a chair during a taping of his TV show.

When you report news, you often have to read many sad and disturbing stories. Sometimes they are hard to read because they touch you and your life. I've had to read news stories about the first girl I ever loved going to prison on federal charges. I have had to read stories about the death of colleagues, co-workers, friends and family members. However, I humbly don't think I could read or would ever want to have to read what Walter Cronkite is doing in this famous clip. No matter who the President is, this is not the kind of news I would want to deliver.

The President's Analyst - Trailer

This is one of my favorite comedy movies of the 60s. Staring James Coburn, Severen Darden, and Godrey Cambridge. Also featuring Laugh-In's Arte Johnson, "Eve of Destruction" singer Barry McGuire, Virginia from Spider Baby, Grandpa Walton, Mr. Feeney from Boy Meets World and Schnieder from One Day At a Time.

Super President Theme Song!

A lost cartoon of the 60s. It would be great if it was on DVD.

COULD PAT PAULSEN & LORD SUTCH BE ELECTED IN 2012?

Since we are knee-deep in the 2012 Presidential election, I thought I would look at two political figures of the past, who made political elections fun. They were on different sides of the Atlantic Ocean and had different personalities, yet they were sort of doing the same thing. One was a proto-Gothic-shock rocker, the other a skinny, sad-faced fellow with a slow, monotone deadpan delivery. Screaming Lord (David) Sutch and Patrick Layton Paulsen ran for office for office from the 60s until their deaths in the 90s and, truth be told, could probably still get votes a whole decade after passing away.

Screaming Lord Sutch

David Sutch was an early British rock and roll performer. The "Lord" part of his name came from his habit of wearing a crown on stage in the early days. With the help of eccentric record producer Joe Meek, he created a stage persona of a ghoulish character with long green hair (this was in 1961), red lipstick, white face paint and blackened eyes. He recorded songs like "Til The Following Night (Big Black Coffin)," "Jack The Ripper," "Dracula's Daughter" and "She Has Fallen in Love With a Monster Man." None of these records were hits, but became quite influential and collectible due to his use of musicians like Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Ritchie Blackmore, Mathew Fisher, Noel Redding, Mitch Mitchell and (fellow partying buddy) Keith Moon.

In 1963, Lord Sutch entered into a Parliamentary special election for the seat vacated by Conservative John Profumo, who resigned after a sex scandal (which was the subject of the movie Scandal). At that time, he said he represented the National Teenage Party and said if elected he would lower the voting age from 21 to 18. He didn't win, but the idea picked up popularity and voting age was lowered in Great Britain. The Untied States followed suit in the early 70s. When Lord Sutch ran for Parliament, he usually included several serious issues in his platform, such as the rights and treatment of the disabled. Of course, the rest his platform included things like "Clothing-free Tuesday" and drivers license for dogs. In the 80s, Lord Sutch promised to win an election to be prime minister by changing his name to Margaret Thatcher. It apparently scared the Conservatives so bad that they raised the entry fee for candidates. This didn't stop Lord Sutch and his Monster Loony Party, which is still in existence and has a following with the younger generation. Sadly, Lord Sutch suffered from severe depression and took his life shortly after the death of his mother in 1999.

You wouldn't know it by looking at Pat Paulsen, but he served in the Marine Corp in World War 2. His foray into politics started as a series of monologues on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. The joke began as a parody of editorials on local newscast, usually given by the TV station's general manager. Paulsen modeled his persona off of a general manager of a California TV station, who was ill-suited for speaking on camera (Paulsen said in an interview with E! Network that this GM must have worked his way up from accounting to general manager). One of the traits Paulsen picked up from this GM was his clumsiness. The GM might spill a cup of water or knock over the microphone. The first editorial Paulsen performed was mainly double-talk, followed by announcer Roger Carol giving an CBS address for a transcript of the editorial. CBS was bombarded with letters saying, "That guy is funny. We want more of that." So the Pat Paulsen editorials became a weekly feature on the show during the first two seasons. It caught on so fast during the first season that Pat Paulsen was asked to appear as a government expert on UFO's in an episode of The Monkees.

The second season of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour fell during the turbulent election year of 1968. Early in the year, politicians such as Robert Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Eugene McCarthy, and others would give a speech then deny they were running for the office of President. At the end of one of the editorial segments, Paulsen told Tommy Smothers that there was a "rumor going around" that he would be running for President. Paulsen said, "I will not run if nominated, and if elected I will not serve." Eventually, Paulsen announced on the show his "candidacy."  He told the audience, "I'm honest enough to admit that I have some draw backs and disadvantages as a candidate. Although I am a professional comedian, some of my critics maintain that this alone is not enough."

In the editorials and the campaign, Paulsen used to dismiss criticisms by saying "Picky, picky, picky." This became his catchphrase on the show. He said that he belonged to the Straight Talking American Government Party or the STAG Party. His campaign slogan was "I upped my standards, now up yours!" He frequently referred to himself as "Just a common, ordinary, simple savior of America's destiny."

He not only ran in 1968, but in 1972, 1980, 1988, 1992 and finally in 1996. He was actually more successful in the 90s. In 1992, he came in second to George H. Bush in the North Dakota Republican Primary and garnered 10, 984 votes in the Republican primary that same year. He received 921 votes to come in second to Bill Clinton in the New Hampshire Democratic Primary in 1996. Tommy Smothers has said if Pat Paulsen probably could have one an election, if he had ran a serious campaign. Pat Paulsen died the next year of pneumonia, while being treated for colon and brain cancer.

There are elements of Lord Sutch and Pat Paulsen still with us in various forms. Lord Sutch's music and stage act influenced later acts such as Alice Cooper, David Bowie, Kiss, Ozzy Osbourne, the Damned, the Cramps, Marilyn Manson and Slipknott. Paulsen's editorials were sort of the forerunner of The Colbert Report, The Daily Show and Saturday Night Live's Weekend Update. However, the type of campaigns that made Lord Sutch and Pat Paulsen famous may be a thing of the past. A case in point is Stephen Colbert's attempt to run for President in 2008 ended as soon as it began. South Carolina Republicans raised the entry fee (Much like British Conservatives tried to do to Lord Sutch) and the Democrats said he wasn't a serious candidate (Remember Paulsen's joke about being a "professional comedian" -as he would say "Picky, picky, picky"). Of course, it should be noted that Pat Paulsen was always a write-in candidate rather than being on an official ballot.    

Much of the blame for this could be a response to the confusing outcome of  the 2000 Presidential Election. There were some who blamed candidates from other parties (i.e: Reform, Green, Constitution, Libertarians)  for throwing the count off for Al Gore Jr and George W. Bush (BTW - Dubya shares a birthday with Pat Paulsen - July 6). Some people also take politics way too serious after 9-11. These people seem to think we should have banned humor after 9-11. I remember when Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert held the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, one local blogger had a melt down on Twitter that they were "making light of our nations problems." No, they were poking fun at Glen Beck's rally a few weeks earlier, which the blogger gushed about for weeks afterward.

Think about this, both Sutch and Paulsen received more votes after there stardom was over. Was this because there was an underlying vision that appealed to people for years after the 60s or did the political scene get so goofy and stupid that Lord Sutch and Pat Paulsen seemed sane compared to the other people in politics? After all, Honey Boo Boo beat Paul Ryan in the TV ratings last week.  Maybe I should run for office and Honey Boo boo can be my running mate   

WHO REALLY KILLED JAZZ-HORN ROCK? NOT PRESIDENT NIXON

This post may shock some of you who read the old blog, but I am going to let a Republican off hook for something he often gets blamed for. First, a little rock and roll history.

In 1967, by a group called the "American Music Band" recorded the music for the Roger Corman/Peter Fonda film The Trip. They soon renamed themselves The Electric Flag, after being signed to Columbia Records. They released their first LP in 1968. This group featured a jazz-influenced horn section.

Also in 1967, Al Kooper of the Blues Project and former Mother of Invention member Jim Fielder decided to create a "rock and roll Big Band" sound based on 40's Big Bands, Maynard Ferguson's band and producer James William Guerico's use of brass backing for the pop group the Buckinghams. They called this group Blood, Sweat & Tears. They also released an LP on Columbia in 1968.

Also, in 1968, producer James Willaim Guerico began working with another Chicago group called The Big Thing. They signed to Columbia and released an LP under the name Chicago Transit Authority in 1969. After that first LP they shortened their name to Chicago.

Soon there was a Canadian jazz-horn rock band on the GRT label named Lighthouse. Over on Capitol Records, a jazz-horn band called Ides of March debuted. Columbia added another jazz-horn band in 1970 with Chase. In 1971, Warner Brothers brought out Tower of Power and RCA gave us the Nite-Lighters. I should also mention two more jazz-piano rock bands, Spirit on Columbia (Surprise!) since 1968, and Steely Dan, who first appeared on ABC in 1972. 

However, by 1973, the jazz-horn bands were not as popular as they had been in their 1969-1970 heyday. Only, Chicago, Tower of Power and Steely Dan managed to stay around to the 80s. Ides of March later dropped the horns and reformed as Survivor. Many rock historians and radio DJs have claimed what hurt the jazz-horn bands was Blood, Sweat & Tears performing at the White House during Richard Nixon's presidency. This supposedly made these groups "uncool." While this sounds good, I think it was two other factors.

Like many fads, jazz-horn rock suffered from overkill. Jazz-horn rock was radio friendly for both the heavy FM album rock stations and AM Top-40. Since it was popular, the record companies wanted to cash in on it. The problem was one record company did the most cashing in: Columbia. As I mentioned Electric Flag, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Chicago, Spirit and Chase were all on Columbia, not to mention about four or five other jazz-horn bands, as well as Ramsey Lewis and Miles Davis, who released critically acclaimed "rock albums." (Let's face it, after Miles Davis did Bitches Brew, there really wasn't any point in some of these bands trying to do jazz rock.) Columbia had put all their eggs in one basket. The story goes that a jazz-horn band called Soft White Underbelly sent a tape to Columbia. When they asked why they hadn't been signed, someone at Columbia said, "We're sick of bands with horns. We're now looking for the next Led Zeppelin, Grand Funk Railroad, Deep Purple or Black Sabbath." The group submitted at new tape with a more heavy metal sound under the name Blue Oyster Cult and the rest is history.

If we want to blame some person, lets blame this kid from Awkward Family Photos and all others like him. Lets face it, we have all heard garage bands do horrible covers of the Beatles, the Stones and the Who songs or country bands, who think they can do songs by CCR, the Eagles, Skynard or the Band. It gets worse when bands try to do Led Zep, Sabbath, Kiss or Van Halen. No band should even consider covers of prog rock bands like Jethro Tull, Yes, or the Moody Blues.

However, just about any good junior high/high school/college pep or marching band can do great version or "Spinning Wheel," "25 or 6 to 4," or "One Fine Morning." I recently heard a MSU Bears Basketball road game on KTXR and while Art Hains was recapping the first half of the game, the home team's pep band was playing Chase's "Get It On" behind him. The school band doing a killer version of your song, hurts your rock and roll street cred more than playing for Tricia Nixon and Tricky Dicky.

The late 70s saw a short boom in jazz fusion groups like Weather Report, Spyro Gyra, Return To Forever and Pat Metheny Group. The closest thing to the jazz-horn bands of the late 60s/early 70s in recent years would be the Dave Mathews Band, which was popular in the 90s with radio programmers. However, many of the big hits of the jazz-horn boom are still heard on radio and still downloaded to MP3 players.

I'll provide you with a list of my favorite jazz-horn hits. Meanwhile, check out this website, Horn Rock Heaven.

REAGAN GIVES CHESTERFIELDS FOR CHRISTMAS