Well, dear readers, this week is flying by, like a gazelle watching Kathryn Kuhlman. Does anyone still remember Kathryn Kuhlman? I certainly do. I believe in miracles. I discovered Miss Kuhlman in the early 1970s whilst channel surfing in the days when channel surfing only took about eight seconds, since there were only about nine channels to surf. And once I came upon Miss Kuhlman and heard her proclaim in that very unique voice of hers, “I believe in miracles,” (she actually said, “I believe-uh in miraclessss”) I was mesmerized, I was hooked, I watched her all the time. I told all my friends about her and her catchphrase. I did a perfect impression of her and can still do it. And, of course, long-time dwellers on this here site know one of our longest running gags is, “And now – Dino at the piano,” which, of course, was Miss Kuhlman’s intro to the very interesting Dino (at the piano). There has never been anything on television quite like Miss Kuhlman’s program. Today, it would be unthinkable to have such a program on regular TV. But it was a different and far more entertaining world back then. I believe her program went out on channel 13 in Los Angeles, and on commercial breaks you got their amazingly hilarious local business spots, just stills with a narrator who said things like, “For ribs, try Jack’s Rib Shack.” But no amount of my telling you will replace the real deal, so here is a link to her program on You Tube – at about the 3:35 mark you’ll meet Dino – at the piano. It’s must see TV. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn6X25mqA5Y. Of course, when we get our new fancy-shmancy upgraded software, I’ll just be able to simply drop the video right into these here notes, rather than link to it. Won’t that be fun? For now, just cut and paste the link into your handy-dandy browser. Isn’t that a miracle? And I believe-uh in miraclessss. Warning: The video begins about thirty seconds in – it’s just black and a slate before that. But this program is right around the time I would have discovered her – 1971. What the HELL am I talking about?
Yesterday was a day I like to call The Big Heat. It was almost one hundred degrees in the San Fernando Valley and environs. I got up at around nine-thirty and was going to jog right then and there, but I kept getting delayed and didn’t get out the door till eleven. It was already in the high 90s by then and I thought I was going to die on the way back, but I made it fine. The helper came by to get some invoices, and then I went and had a turkey sandwich and no fries or onion rings, after which I picked up no packages. Then I came home and began finalizing song choices. I think we’re fully cast now – we should hear a confirmation this morning from our final cast member. And we booked our guest star, the delightfully delightful and always vivacious Miss Susan Watson. It’s going to be a fun show. I then prepped our new release – wrote the blurb and got the audio samples in. I also booked a mid-June trip to Washington DC to work with the East Coast Singer in preparation for recording her new album in July here in LA. Then I finally sat on my couch like so much fish.
Last night, I watched a motion picture on Blu and Ray entitled Repo Man. I’ve seen the film once or twice before. I know it has a huge cult following and I do enjoy some of it, but it wears its “quirkiness” on its sleeve so heavily that for me it just becomes tiresome. One of the reasons for its continuing popularity is its punk rock music, music I just don’t like at all. The performances are good, the film does have its moments, and the director, Alex Cox, whose first film this was, is clearly in love with director Robert Aldrich’s film, Kiss Me Deadly. The transfer on the Criterion Blu and Ray is fine and looks just like a film from pre-1985 should look.
After that, I did some work on the computer, listened to some music I had to listen to, took a shower, and that was that. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must get a good night’s beauty sleep.
Today, I shall jog, I shall finalize the song choices and continue assigning them to our singers. Once that’s all finished, then I shall send the singers mp3s and their sheet music – I have a good deal of the music already, but am still waiting on quite a few things. I shall eat something light but amusing, I shall hopefully pick up some packages, and I will prep our eBlast for the new release – we’re either announcing Wednesday or Thursday morning.
The rest of the week is meetings and meals, but mostly writing two more sets of liner notes because the masters for those two projects have been finished for almost a month now – it’s been daunting because one release involves three films and the other release involves two films, and I had to view all those in preparation of writing the notes. I think I have to see something at some point this week – hopefully someone will remind me.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do a jog, finalize song choices, get singers their material, eat, hopefully pick up packages, prep and then relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What were your favorite outré TV shows of the late 1960s and early 1970s – those Kuhlman type shows that were completely unique on local channels? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland where I shall believe-uh in miraclessss.