Do Me Baby:
"Do Me, Baby" is a 1981 ballad performed by Prince, from his fourth album, Controversy. Although it was credited as being written by him, it is alleged to have been written by his former bassist and childhood friend André Cymone.[3] It was released as the third and final US single from the album. It was later included on his 1993 compilation The Hits/The B-Sides. In 1986, the song was notably covered by R&B singer Meli'sa Morgan. It was featured in one of the opening scenes of the 2007 film Rush Hour 3, with Chris Tucker's character singing along while listening to it on his headphones and simultaneously directing traffic with the dance sequences of Michael Jackson.
Meli'sa Morgan:
Meli'sa Morgan iis an American R&B/Soul singer–songwriter. Morgan had a string of urban contemporary hits from the mid–1980s to the mid–1990s. Most notable include her cover version of Prince's "Do Me, Baby" (1985), "Do You Still Love Me" (1986) and "Still in Love with You" (1992).
Do Me Baby:
"Do Me, Baby" is a 1981 ballad performed by Prince, from his fourth album, Controversy. Although it was credited as being written by him, it is alleged to have been written by his former bassist and childhood friend André Cymone.[3] It was released as the third and final US single from the album. It was later included on his 1993 compilation The Hits/The B-Sides. In 1986, the song was notably covered by R&B singer Meli'sa Morgan. It was featured in one of the opening scenes of the 2007 film Rush Hour 3, with Chris Tucker's character singing along while listening to it on his headphones and simultaneously directing traffic with the dance sequences of Michael Jackson.
Meli'sa Morgan version
"Do Me Baby"
American singer Meli'sa Morgan released a cover of "Do Me, Baby" in November 1985. Her version was a number one hit on the US Hot Black Singles chart,[7] where it spent a total of 24 weeks in 1986. It was also her only entry on the US Hot 100, where it charted for a total of 14 weeks and peaked at 46.
"True" is a song by the English pop band Spandau Ballet. It was released in April 1983 as the third single from their third studio album of the same name.
Second track is the B-side.
Art Lecture with Professor Dennis Raverty
Francisco Goya was a court painter to King Carlos IV of Spain but having lived through the Napoleonic occupation of his homeland, he had a much more pessimistic outlook on the possibilities of the ideals of the French Revolution, evident in his series of etchings entitled “The Disasters of War,” published after the artist’s death.
As Ian Levine once said:
The first pioneering record of the whole High Energy scene. Made after four years where I couldn't make a single recording simply because everyone said Disco was dead. Two million sales of this record proved them all wrong. But despite it being number one pop in France and Mexico, and number one in the US on Billboard's dance chart, it never even charted in England, despite selling fifty thousand copies here. Things have certainly changed since then.
Miquel came from Detroit, lived in England, had a small 1970s disco hit called "Symphony Of Love", and was the perfect artist to record my anthem. Her daughter, Sinitta, was Simon Cowell's first ever hit artist.
Dance Party USA playlist
Ray Parker, Jr. - Ghostbusters (1984)
Michael Jackson - Thriller (1982)
Devo - Peek-A-Boo (1982)
Rick James - Super Freak (1981)
Whodini - Haunted House of Rock (1983)
Dead or Alive - Something in My House (1986)
DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince - A Nightmare On My Street (1988)
Lecture with Professor Michael Rodgers
Belmont Park has a storied past. The 1.5-mile racetrack with its sweeping turns and long homestretch has challenged some of the greatest thoroughbreds of our time. Learn more about Belmont’s history, its luminaries, and unique contributions to the horse racing world.
From the VHS box:
Outta This world fun with the Romper Room gang.
Ever wonder that's up there in the stars? the Romper Room gang launches a fun-filled investigations of outer space in this entertaining video. Do-Bee, Kimble, Granny, Miss Molly and Up-Up not only talk about the stars, they also get to visit spaceship and interview a real-live astronaut. Instructive and interactive OUTTA SPACE gives pre-schoolers a highly entertaining introduction to out-of-this-world wonders.
From the VHS Box:
Introduce your children to numbers, letters and words with Romper Room and Friends. Kimble, Do Bee, UpUP and Granny Cat present an amusing approach to letter and number recognition. This program features the popular songs "Alphabetcha" and "Rhymetown." Your children will learn as they interact and join in the fun.
For 30 years, Romper Room has been education and entertaining millions of children. Now, you can share this wonderful experience with your children. Join them as they watch and learn with Miss Molly and the Romper Room Favorites, Kimble, UpUP, Do Bee and Granny Cat. Since the series is available eon videocassette, the programs can be replayed countless times to provide the repetition necessary for learning.
1984.
From the VHS box:
Share a Romper Room Birthday Celebration!
It's Kimble's birthday! And together with a group of Kimble's Friends, Miss Molly is throwing him the romper-stomper birthday party of a lifetime. The celebration comes complete with interactive fun and entertainment. KIMBLE'S BIRTHDAY is a great way to enrich your pre-schoolers birthday-or any other special day.
Not from Chicago, but this same version of Romper Room (with Miss Sally) aired in Chicago on WFLD Channel 32 during the 70s and early eighties
This particular broadcast is from KTXA Channel 21 in Fort Worth / Dallas, TX.
Also seen towards the end are the opening moments of Jimmy Swaggart's A Study in the Word program, plus a promo from someone before he became famous.
Includes:
Opening titles (which theme then consisted of a synthesized version of "Pop! Goes the Weasel") then outside at Walt Disney World where Mickey Mouse greets Miss Sally and the children, followed by a trip through the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse, then back in the studio Miss Sally promises more Disney clips later on, queries about Paddington Bear, a Pledge of Allegiance recitation, a flying exercise with mops and other similar objects, film clips of the Seven Dwarfs and Br'er Fox cavorting at Walt Disney World, more exercises and promises of "more fun."
Bumper
Commercial offer for Story of America cards
Bumper
'Do Bee' leads children into flying exercise, a lesson on manners, shots of children's drawings, film of tour of Jungle Cruise at Walt Disney World with lions, hippos and elephants, children pretending to be lions, giraffes and elephants (with pictures of same), and balloon exercises
Bumper
Promo for Gomer Pyle, USMC, for weekdays at 3:00pm
Marilyn Hickey promoting Today: The Best Day of Your Life for weekdays at 6:45am
PSA for Red Cross (disaster emergency relief)
Sam comes in holding a python, then Miss Sally previews upcoming shows (Tuesday: What Is a Reptile?, Wednesday: an expert discusses how circus dogs are trained; Thursday, a visit to Kennedy Space Center; and Friday, visiting an orange grove) before she looks into the Magic Mirror (and sees Louise, Jane, Mary Beth, Ryan, Timmy, Jason, Faye, Dolly, Alex, Tina, Rachel, Alonzo, LaTanya, Mike, Mark, Mary Beth [again?!], Maria, Julia, Ted - and you) and goodbyes.
Ending credits:
A Bert Claster Production
Featuring Sally Rogers
Drs. Gilbert B. Schiffman and Paul Daniels, Department of Education, The Johns Hopkins University and consultants to Romper Room have participated in the formulation of, and approved, the format for the Romper Room program.
The exercises on Romper Room have been developed in cooperation with the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.
Romper Room
Production assistance plugs for Eastern Airlines and Florida Citrus Growers (voiceover by Sally Rogers)
Animated station ID (voiceover by Larry James)
Bob and Marte (Robert and Martha) Tilton promoting Daystar for weekdays at 11:00am (this before he became nationally known for his Success-N-Life infomercial style series)
PSA for YMCA - "Great Ideas"
Opening moments of A Study in the Word, with Jimmy's opening preview of Biblical passages and other guests, leading into musical number from Dwain Johnson, "Reunion in Heaven" ("From Our Manila, Philippines Crusade")
(thanks to Chris Tufts for pinpointing the exact air date of this broadcast)
This aired on local Fort Worth / Dallas TV on Monday, August 10th 1981 during the 5:30am to 6:05am timeframe.
Here's an episode of the syndicated Romper Room and Friends, as aired over WFLD Channel 32. The host was Miss Molly McCloskey, and featured are puppets UpUp, Nutro the robot, Kimble, Paddington Bear and Granny Cat. (Sorry - no Do Bee this time.)
Technical note: Audio was a little rough - attempt was made to clean it up a bit but it's still fairly hissy and also fades out at times.
This was at the point where the Metromedia era was coming into full bloom, with the logo set in a very closely-kerned Helvetica Bold - but bumpers continued to show the old Field era logo.
Includes:
Early Metromedia-era 32 ID (voiceover by Jim Barton)
Opening titles, followed by UpUp having trouble with barbell, a sequence with Nutro (the world's first nutritional robot) involving a guessing game, and Kimble in an outdoor segment with soccer players.
Bumper (with message created by airplane in sky)
Super Cartoon Sunrise promo for Tom & Jerry for 7:00am, The Flintstones for 7:30am, Woody Woodpecker for 8:00am and Popeye for 8:30am (voiceover by Dr. Don Rose)
PSA for Junior Achievement with Vince Evans of the Chicago Bears
Afternoon Fun promo for Inspector Gadget for 3:00pm, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe for 3:30pm and The Flintstones for 4:00pm (however, the end indicates a 2:00pm start - huh?) (voiceover by Dr. Don Rose)
PSA for Chicago Department of Human Services (teen going to play basketball and give young child a helping hand)
Another Jingle Bumper with Field-era 32 logo and "In Chicago, the kids' choice is Channel 32!" (that's not Miss Molly shown in the bumper - is it Miss Sally, who was on Romper Room before this new version took over?)
Return bumper, with sky message in reverse
Miss Molly catches Paddington Bear reading book with three children alongside him, leading to reading of "Paddington's Lucky Day"; followed by UpUp at San Diego Wild Animal Park to see the gorillas; Miss Molly, Nutro and children playing a game of "Freeze"; and Granny Cat showing Kimble how to use his muscles.
"We will return" sky bumper
Promo for Inspector Gadget (with mustache only featured in the pilot) for 3:00pm (voiceover by Jim Barton)
PSA for YMCA - "Y Indian Guides"
Promo for He-Man and the Masters of the Universe for 3:30pm (ending voiceover by Jim Barton)
PSA for Dairy Council - "Balance in Everything"
"Romper Room" Field-era jingle bumper
Return bumper
Miss Molly continues Paddington story, after which UpUp, emerging from behind tree, complains about not having brothers or sisters, leading to a song; afterwards, Miss Molly does her Magic Mirror demonstration, and concludes the program on behalf of the regulars (including Do-Bee, whom we do not see in this edition).
"Romper Bomper, Stomper boo, tell me tell me, tell me do. Magic mirror, tell me today - did all my friends have fun at play?"
Miss Molly "sees" Sherry, Tiffany, Ryan, Thomas, Brett, Carol, Julia, Pat, Heidi, Leslie, and you!
Ending credits:
Executive Producers - Sally Claster Gelbard, John Claster
Directed by Jon Stiehm
Associate Producer - Terri Braudes Akman
Cast:
"Miss Molly" - Molly McCloskey
"Kimble" - Bruce Edward Hall
"UpUp" - Bruce Edward Hall
"Do Bee" - Candy Claster
"Paddington Bear" - Candy Claster
"Granny Cat" - Molly McCloskey
Story Song Man - Carmino Ravosa
Puppets Built at Great Jones Studio By John Orberg and Matthew Stoddart
(program fades out at this point)
Promo for Mork & Mindy for 5:00pm and What's Happening for 5:30pm (voiceover by Jim Barton)
Station ID / promo for Three's Company for 6:30pm (voiceover by Jim Barton)
Interesting to note that there are no real commercials in this broadcast - just PSAs and promos.
This aired on local Chicago TV on Sunday, October 16th 1983 during the 6:00am to 6:30am timeframe.
Remember Jell-O salads and cheese sprayed out of a can? Take a nostalgic look back at the food innovations and marketing approaches that transformed how we eat. Using classic cookbooks, mass-market advertisements, and family magazines, we'll explore how society and technology shaped American food from the 1940s through the 1960s. Presented by historian Leslie Goddard. Taken from Oyster Bay-East Norwich Public Library.
with clips of "Dancing Lady" (1933) - with Joan Crawford and "Blansky's Beauties"(1977) - with Caren Kaye & Nancy Walker
Joan Crawford:
Joan Crawford (March 23, c. 1904–1908 – May 10, 1977) was an American actress. Starting as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway, Crawford was signed to a motion picture contract by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1925. Initially frustrated by the size and quality of her parts, Crawford began a campaign of self-publicity and became nationally known as a flapper by the end of the 1920s. In the 1930s, Crawford's fame rivaled MGM colleagues Norma Shearer and Greta Garbo. Crawford often played hardworking young women who find romance and financial success. These "rags-to-riches" stories were well received by Depression-era audiences and were popular with women. Crawford became one of Hollywood's most prominent movie stars and one of the highest paid women in the United States, but her films began losing money and by the end of the 1930s she was labeled "box office poison".
Caren Kaye:
Caren Kaye (born March 12, 1951) is a retired American television and film actress who has appeared in dozens of films and guest-starred in many TV series. She attended Carnegie Mellon University and holds a Ph.D. in psychology. She is best known for her roles in the 1983 film My Tutor and the short-lived sitcoms The Betty White Show (1977-1978), Who's Watching the Kids? (1978), and It's Your Move (1984-1985).
Nancy Walker:
Nancy Walker (May 10, 1922 – March 25, 1992) was an American actress and comedian of stage, screen, and television. She was also a film and television director (such as of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, on which she also made several guest appearances). During her five-decade-long career, she may be best remembered for her long-running roles as Mildred on McMillan & Wife and Ida Morgenstern, who first appeared on several episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show and later became a prominent recurring character on the spinoff series Rhoda.
Dancing Queen:
"Dancing Queen" is a Europop song by the Swedish group ABBA, released as the lead single from their fourth studio album, Arrival. It was written by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Stig Anderson. Andersson and Ulvaeus also produced the song. "Dancing Queen" was released as a single in Sweden on 15 August 1976, followed by a UK release and the rest of Europe a few days later. It was a worldwide hit. It became ABBA's only number one hit in the United States, and topped the charts in Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Germany and Rhodesia. "Dancing Queen" also reached the top five in many other countries.
Dancing Lady:
Dancing Lady is a 1933 American pre-Code musical film starring Joan Crawford and Clark Gable, and featuring Franchot Tone, Fred Astaire, Robert Benchley, and Ted Healy and His Stooges (who later became The Three Stooges with Curly, Moe and Larry). The picture was directed by Robert Z. Leonard, produced by John W. Considine Jr. and David O. Selznick, and was based on the novel of the same name by James Warner Bellah, published the previous year. The movie had a hit song in "Everything I Have Is Yours" by Burton Lane and Harold Adamson.
Blansky's Beauties:
Blansky's Beauties is an American sitcom television series and ostensible spin-off of Happy Days that aired on ABC from February 12 to June 27, 1977. The main character of the series was introduced on an episode of Happy Days, then set in the early 1960s, but the show is set in the present-day of 1977. The series was a ratings flop and was cancelled after only 13 episodes.
Dance Party USA playlist:
Mel & Kim - That's The Way It Is
Terence Trent D'Arby - Dance Little Sister
J.J. Fad - Way Out
Dazz Band - Single Girls
Barbara Pennington - 24 Hours a Day
Marshall Jones - I Burn
As Laurie Maitland commented on YouTube and said:
I am not entitled to Kathy Redfern, because she is no singer in the world, plus due to her being tone-deaf, she got no talent. She couldn't sing like other girls of pop music like Teena Marie, Kelly Marie, Cyndi Grecco, Cindy Bullens, Cyndi Lauper, Rita Coolidge, Dusty Springfield, Barbra Streisand, Barbara Dickson, Cilla Black, Lulu, Toni Tennille from Captain & Tennille, Karen Carpenter from The Carpenters or even Bobbie Gentry that sang "Ode to Billy Joe". Instead she whispered in a disruptive manner too much to upset people in the middle of 10cc's "I'm Not in Love", which it was very short-lived. I had to slam her from repeating that same old prejudiced spoken line, "big boys don't cry" more than several times in a row, that didn't have what it took, which it offended all the men and boys all over town. That's why I am not a big fan of her. So I prefer Eric Stewart from 10cc singing the serious heartbroken ballad, "I'm Not in Love" that I am always fond of.
As Ian Levine wrote:
My first record to cross over in America. Barbara had first signed to Island but our two releases didn't take off like Evelyn Thomas and L.J. Johnson's did, and I was determined to give her a showcase record for her talent. "Twenty Four Hours A Day" started off breaking on the Northern Soul scene, and resulted in Richard Searling being forbidden to play it any more at Wigan. But my mentor Martin Davis signed it to United Artists, and it came out in America and topped the US Disco Charts in Billboard in 1977 for a staggering seven weeks, and people today still tell me it was one of the biggest and most beloved records of the entire Disco era.
“Super Trouper” was a hit single for Swedish pop group ABBA, and was the title track from their 1980 studio album Super Trouper, written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. The song, with lead vocals by Anni-Frid Lyngstad, was the last to be written and recorded for this album. “Super Trouper” is included on the Gold: Greatest Hits compilation, as well as in the Mamma Mia! musical.
The name “Super Trouper” referred to the spotlights used in stadium concerts.
Music video
In October 1980, the music video for “Super Trouper” used the largest number of artists that ABBA have ever used in a music video. The spotlight featured throughout the music video is, in fact, a CCT Silhouette follow spot, as opposed to a real Super Trouper. The city of Glasgow mentioned in the lyric was suggested by Howard Huntridge who worked with their then-UK publishers Bocu Music. The music video was directed by Lasse Hallström.
Reception
“Super Trouper” was a successful single for ABBA. It topped the charts in Belgium, West Germany, the UK (their ninth and final No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart),[1][2] Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands. It reached the Top 5 in Austria, France, Norway, Switzerland and Mexico, while peaking in the Top 10 in Finland and Spain. In the United States, where ABBA never quite managed to achieve the same sort of popularity experienced elsewhere, the single reached No. 45. However, combined with “Lay All Your Love on Me” and “On and On and On”, it topped the US Hot Dance Club Play chart.
“Super Trouper” was A-Teens' second single from their 1st album The ABBA Generation, a cover of ABBA’s song. When the single came out in the fall of 1999, it became a hit around the globe, just as its predecessor “Mamma Mia”, also an ABBA cover. “Super Trouper” debuted at No. 2 in Sweden and was later certified platinum .[5]
It also became their only Top 5 hit in Germany peaking at #4. The single also reached No. 21 in the United Kingdom, No. 18 in Switzerland, No. 15 in Norway, No. 11 in Austria and No. 12 in Netherlands.
Music video
The music video was directed by Sebastian Reed and was filmed in Sweden. The video shows a girl so obsessed with the band that she owns posters, magazines, mugs, clothing, and even a key chain. She also copies the band’s choreography that is shown on TV. Some of the articles that feature pictures of the band come to life in the video.
In the first few seconds of the video, before the actual song starts, Mamma Mia can be faintly heard in the background.
The video was a hit in most TV stations charting inside the Top 10 countdowns in late 1999 and early 2000.
American alto pop singer Debbie Sims covered this song from her 1998 album, “Songs of Andersson & Ulvaeus”, produced by disco producer Ed O'Loughlin (who produced for American girl-group disco/soul singer Carol Douglas) in an American disco style with a lot of rhythmic, percussive disco beats that sound like “Do You Love What You Feel” by R&B star Chaka Kahn and her band Rufus.
Personnel
Acoustic Guitar – Björn Ulvaeus
Bass – Mike Watson
Drums – Per Lindvall
Guitar – Janne Schaffer
Keyboards, Synthesizer – Benny Andersson
Percussion – Åke Sundqvist
Debbie Sims 1998 cover
Lead Vocals – Debbie Sims
Backing Vocals – Christine Burnett, Dennis Englewood, Helen Taylor, Joyce Berry, Laurie Maitland, Liz McKay, Lupe MacKenzie, Matthew Foster, Tricia Copperfield
Bass – Vince Fay
Drums & Congas – Daryl Burgee
Electric Piano – Joel Bryant, Greg Phillinganes
Grand Piano – Laurie Maitland
Guitars – Paul Jackson Jr.
Horns Arranged by Lou Del Gatto
Percussion – Alan Estes
Producer – Ed O'Loughlin
Strings Arranged & Conducted by Don Renaldo
Soul Train playlist
The Isley Brothers - I Wanna Be With You
The Gap Band – Shake
Barry White - Any Fool Could See
Carrie Lucas – Dance with You
Foxy – Hot Number
Donna Summer – Hot Stuff
Sister Sledge & Chic – We Are Family
G.Q. - Disco Nights
Narada Michael Walden - I Don't Want Nobody Else
Carrie Lucas - Sometimes a Love Goes Wrong
Yvonne Stevens (Taka Boom ) Night Dancing
G.Q. – This Happy Feeling
Dance Party USA playlist
Colonel Abrams - How Soon We Forget
Company B - Full Circle
Helen & Shirley - Heartache
Natalie Cole - The Urge To Merge
Nancy Martinez - Crazy Love
Alexander O'Neal - Fake
Michael Jackson - Bad
Not only one of the landmark records of the disco era, Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" also anticipated the emergence of techno -- sleek, pulsating, and sensual, its signature galloping bass line and sequencer-driven rhythm established the sonic blueprint for virtually all of the dance music to follow in its wake. Written by Summer in tandem with her longtime production team of Giorgio Moroder and Peter Bellotte, upon its 1977 release "I Feel Love" heralded a massive shift from the lushly orchestral disco records popular during the middle of the decade toward a harder-edged, electronic approach -- completely computer-generated, the song's futuristic sheen combines with its dreamily orgasmic vocal to create an experience that's both clinically remote and primally erotic. Summer's second Top Ten hit, "I Feel Love" ranks alongside Brian Eno's Another Green World and Kraftwerk's Trans Europe Express among the era's seminal electronic recordings, and is perhaps even more pivotal because of its mainstream success; a subsequent 20-minute remix by Patrick Cowley pushed the envelope even further, while in 1985 the Jimmy Somerville-led Bronski Beat recorded a hit cover featuring Marc Almond.
Dance Party USA playlist:
Oldie pop hit from 1981: Squeeze - Tempted
Poison - Your Mama Don't Dance
Eighth Wonder - Cross My Heart
Ten City - That's the Way Love Is
Jody Watley – Real Love
Jomanda - Make My Body Rock
Grace Jones - I'm Not Perfect (But I'm Perfect For You)
Alexander O'Neal - (What Can I Say) To Make You Love Me
Evelyn King – I Don’t Know If It’s Right – R&B/Disco oldie from 1977
Guy - Teddy's Jam
Tiffany Darwish - Radio Romance
Guy - I Like
Sweet Sensation - Never Let You Go
Diana Ross – Love Hangover ‘89
"The Winner Takes It All" is a song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA. Released as the first single from the group's seventh studio album, Super Trouper (1980), it is a ballad in the key of F# major, reflecting on the end of a relationship. The single's B-side was the non-album track "Elaine". The song peaked at No.1 in several countries, including the UK, where it became their eighth chart-topper. It was also the group's final top 10 hit in the United States. It was written by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, with Agnetha Fältskog singing the lead vocal.
On this song, "The Winner Takes It All", Pattie Brooks, Myrna Matthews, Danielle McCormick, Marti McCall, Denise Maynelli, Petsye Powell, Laura Rammer, Marie Tomlinson and Brooks Hunnicut never sang backup.
In a 1999 poll for Channel 5, "The Winner Takes It All" was voted Britain's favorite ABBA song. This feat was replicated in a 2010 poll for ITV. In a 2006 poll for a Channel Five program, "The Winner Takes It All" was voted "Britain's Favorite Break-Up Song."
I prefer the shortened version that is less Halloween to me and more nighltfie disco with only the singing part, provided by Janis Siegel as a powerful disco diva in the style of Ian Levine & Fiachra Trench from that pop music vocal group.
Here's the story behind the full original from Disco Lab (Halloween Edition):
Sometimes disco was futuristic (robots controlled by the beat) and sometimes it looked to the past (New York high society steppin’ out to mingle). The retro vibe gave a boost to The Manhattan Transfer, a swing-vocal combo formed in 1969 who found a surprise hit with the gospel number “Operator” in 1975. For a few years, the group’s retro ’20s-’30s sound struggled to have hit records in the US, though they broke through consistently in the UK.
All this would change with the group’s fourth album Extensions. One cut, the disco-inflected medley “Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone,” became a surprise hit for the group. It fused the trademark Transfer vocal sound with a spooky, mystical vibe. Extensions was released on Halloween, 1979, which meant that the diehard MT fans had a great supernatural dance party jam for the evening. Everyone else had to wait a year because “Zone/Tone” wasn’t issued as a single until 1980.
“Twilight Zone/Twilight Tone” fuses the theme from the ’60s TV show Twilight Zone with an eerie new composition. Its title perhaps inspired by Duke Ellington’s “In A Mellow Tone,” “Twilight Tone” describes a magical piece of music that sucks its listeners “through a tunnel of the mind” into some alternate dimension. The third verse suggests that swing-band leader Glenn Miller’s 1944 disappearance over the English Channel led to him “play[ing] trombone in the mystic unknown zone.” (Manhattan Transfer had a UK hit years earlier with Miller’s “Tuxedo Junction.”)
The first minute or so of the record recreates the famous Twilight Zone TV theme, complete with ersatz Rod Serling narration; “Rod” returns later to set the stage for the Glenn Miller segment. (Serling passed away in 1975; one wonders if he’d have been flattered to have been immortalized on a dance record.)
The 6:22 remix (extended only slightly from the 6:05 LP version) plays through the TV intro and the first two verses, then lapses beautifully into a guitar solo. A breakdown picks up the Herrmann theme again via a couple different guitar lines, bringing us into the Serling reprise. After the Glenn Miller section, the record ends disappointingly with endless repetition of the “here in the twilight” lyric, perhaps of interest to present-day vampire-fiction fans but boring to everyone else. At least a boogie-woogie piano solo creates some interest.
This bright and energetic number does a good job of propelling a Halloween party into a “pyramidal locomotion from a mystic unknown zone.” And that’s before the jello shots!
I'm glad I was able to purchase this CD before it will go out of print again. The sound quality is excellent.
I recall when back in the day "Fun time" hit the radio stations, A danceable tune with a contagious beat.
"Surrender" is my other favorite song here. Although this was not probably the best album from this duo
compared to "2 Hot!"and "Twice the Fire", it was "worth the wait" to have it re-released on CD. I hope that
"Twice the Fire" can be released on CD very soon.
The previous work was feeling that there was a feeling of tension, but here is a calm couple manzai (excuse!)It does not go until, but it has become a lot of happy feeling.Is there something change between the two people?The duo of men and women can be used to imagine the surrounding area, regardless of whether you prefer or not.The quality of the music is not lowered, but the atmosphere is slightly different.After the success of the disco chart, the first track “FUN TIME” seems to have become a hit tune for this album on Moro. It is now a work of disco classics.
I'm glad I was able to purchase this CD before it will go out of print again. The sound quality is excellent.
I recall when back in the day "Fun time" hit the radio stations, A danceable tune with a contagious beat.
"Surrender" is my other favorite song here. Although this was not probably the best album from this duo
compared to "2 Hot!"and "Twice the Fire", it was "worth the wait" to have it re-released on CD. I hope that
"Twice the Fire" can be released on CD very soon.
The previous work was feeling that there was a feeling of tension, but here is a calm couple manzai (excuse!)It does not go until, but it has become a lot of happy feeling.Is there something change between the two people?The duo of men and women can be used to imagine the surrounding area, regardless of whether you prefer or not.The quality of the music is not lowered, but the atmosphere is slightly different.After the success of the disco chart, the first track “FUN TIME” seems to have become a hit tune for this album on Moro. It is now a work of disco classics.
