I WAS IN A GROUP BEFORE I WAS A STAR

I thought it would be fun to list the solo artist, who first got our attention as a member of a group that their solo career later eclipsed. I left off a few obvious ones because we knew the group well enough that we followed them on to a solo career, i.e: All four Beatles, Michael Jackson, Lionel Ritchie, Phil Collins, Ozzy Osbourne, Diana Ross and Kenny Rogers. The groups I mention either had very minor “bubbling under” or regional hits, one hit or two or three minor hits. In some case another person’s name was on the band, but a major star was in the band or group somewhere. Also many of these were years before the artist made it big


Al Kooper - The Royal Teens/Blues Project/Blood Sweat & Tears
Wilson Pickett/Eddie Floyd - The Falcons
Bert Convey (game show host) - The Cheers
Patti LaBelle/Nona Hendryx - The Blue-Belles
Jake Holmes/Joan Rivers - Jim, Jake & Joan
Carly Simon - The Simon Sisters
Alan Arkin (actor) - The Tarriers
Tommy Chong- Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers
John Phillips/Scott McKenzie - The Journeymen
Michael Martin Murphy/Boomer Castleman - The Lewis & Clarke Expedition
John Denver - The Mitchell Trio
Linda Ronstadt - The Stone Poneys
Billy Joel - The Hassles
Debbie Harry - The Wind & Willows
Rick Derringer - The McCoys
Nick Gilder/Bryan Adams - Sweeny Todd
Duane & Greg Allman - The Hourglass
Joe Stampley - The Uniques
Delbert McClinton - The Ron-Dels
Ted Templeman (producer) - Harper’s Bizarre
Eddy Grant - The Equals
Marc Bolan (T.Rex) - John's Children
Gary Busey(actor) - Carp
Todd Rundgren - The Nazz/Runt
Dusty Springfield - The Springfields
Keith Emerson - The Nice
Rod Stewart - The Moontrekers/Jeff Beck Group
Peter Frampton - The Herd
Boz Scaggs - The Steve Miller Band
Don Williams - The Pozo Seco Singers
Chuck Woolery(game show host) - The Avant-Garde
Ted Nugent - The Amboy Dukes
Teddy Pendergrass - Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
Billy Squire - Piper
Paul Carrack - Ace
Vince Gill - Pure Prairie League
Bobby Brown - New Edition
David Lindley - Kaleidoscope
Don Glut (filmmaker/film historian/author) - Penny Arkade
Taj Mahal/Ry Cooder - The Rising Sons
Rupert Holmes - the Street People
Chevy Chase (actor) - The Chameleon  Church
Billy Idol - Generation X
John Beck (actor) - The Leaves
Nick Lowe - Kippington Lodge
Dave Edmunds - The Love Sculpture
David Bowie - David Jones & the Lower Third/The Manish Boys
Warren Zevon - Lyme & Cybelle
Albert Hammond - The Magic Lanterns

I put the Magic Lanterns last to clear up one of the great misconceptions of rock and roll. Albert Hammond, who wrote the Hollies classic “The Air That I Breath” and had a hit with the song “It Never Rains In Southern California,” joined the group after they had a hit with a song called “Shame Shame.” However, many people have been under the mistaken impression that the bass player, Mike “Oz” Osbourne is Ozzy Osbourne. Some record stores and dealers have sold the Magic Lanters LPs for high prices, claiming it is early material from Ozzy Osbourne. Don’t be fooled!

DESDINOVA PICKS THE 60 BEST SUMMER SONGS

Once again I stole an idea from KY-3's Ethan Forhetz. One the KYTV website this week Ethan picked his 10 favorite summer songs. Like last time, I couldn't stop at only ten, I went to sixty again.

1. Walking On Sunshine    Katrina & The Waves
2. Summer In The City    The Lovin' Spoonful
3. Good Vibrations    The Beach Boys
4. The First Day Of Summer    Tony Carey
5. Summertime        Billy Stewart
6. Soak Up The Sun    Sheryl Crow
7. Magic        The Cars
8. Hot Fun In The Summertime    Sly & The Family Stone
9. Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochran/Blue Cheer/The Who
10. Saturday In The Park        Chicago
11. Summer Rain       Johnny River
12. Summer Breeze      Seals & Crofts
13. Cheap Sunglasses    ZZ Top
14. Hot In The City    Billy Idol
15. Cruel Summer    Bananarama
16. Heat of the Moment   Asia
17. School's Out        Alice Cooper
18. Pleasant Valley Sunday    The Monkees
19. Beach Baby    First Class
20. California Gurls (feat. Snoop Dogg)    Katy Perry
21. Kokomo          The Beach Boys
22. Light My Fire       The Doors
23. Twisting By The Pool      Dire Straits
24. Vacation    The Go-Go's
25. Heat Wave    Linda Ronstadt
26. Echo Beach    Martha & The Muffins
27. Paper Sun    Traffic
28. Rio    Duran Duran
29. Boy On a Roof   The Outnumbered
30. Goin' Crazy!    David Lee Roth
31. Short Shorts      The Royal Teens
32. Sausalito Summernight    Diesel
33. Summertime, Summertime    The Jamies
34. Turn Down Day    The Cyrkle
35. Under The Boardwalk    The Drifters
36. September   Earth, Wind and Fire
37. I Got A Line On You          Spirit
38. The Theme From "A Summer Place"    The Percy Faith Orchestra
39. Summertime Girls    Y&T
40. Bummer In The Summer    Love
41. Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini    Brian Hyland
42. A Summer Song    Chad & Jeremy
43. Come On Down To My Boat       Every Mother's Son
44. Beautiful Girls    Van Halen
45. Holidays In The Sun     Sex Pistols
46. Black Water    The Doobie Brothers
47. Fun, Fun, Fun       The Beach Boys
48. Gimme Little Sign    Brenton Wood
49. Here Comes Summer      The Dave Clark Five
50. Cool Change   Little River Band
51. Rockaway Beach    The Ramones
52. Grazing In The Grass        The Friends Of Distinction
53. Sunshine Of Your Love    Cream
54. Moonlight Feels Right    Starbuck
55. We're An American Band    Grand Funk Railroad
56. Born To Run    Bruce Springsteen
57. Hello, I Love You            The Doors
58. Long Hot Summer    The Style Council
59. All Day Music          War
60. Summer Holiday    Cliff Richard
61. One Summer Night    The Danleers

DRINKING FROM THE GARDEN HOSE & EATING LEAD PAINT DOESN'T MAKE YOU SUPERIOR TO ANY GENERATION!

When I started this new blog, I thought I was going to stay away from the controversial opinion post that I did on the original Desdinova blog. However, I feel a need to direct some criticism at my generation that I had hoped we would not be apart of like previous generations.
I have read several recent articles in radio and music trades that say that the "generation gap" no longer exist among parents and their children (at least with music). Teenagers are downloading music from the 40s - the 90s, while some of the parents are listening to Lady Gaga, the Black Eyed Peas and Nickleback.
Sadly, there are some people of my generation that didn't get the memo. These people seem to be repeating the mistake made by our parents, only they are doing it on Facebook and through e-mail. They forward it in an over circulated e-mail or they post cut and paste the status on Facebook.
These are usually a laundry list of how the younger generation has it better than we did. Like the "generation gap" propaganda of the previous generation, all of this makes the younger generation inferior to the writer's generation. The tone is overall hateful and disrespectful toward young people.
For some reason, the people who write these e-mails and Facebook post act like they are superior to the current generation because they cannot use modern technology. 

Another thing I notice with these e-mails and Facebook post is the glorification of child abuse. It makes beating children a positive.
These e-mails and Facebook post also seem to make out that ingesting harmful chemicals make a person superior to the younger generation. They seem to glory in eating lead paint and drinking from a garden hose. That seems to be the big one. Most of these act like drinking from a garden hose makes their generation superior to those who drink bottled water. 
What bothers me about this stuff is that my generation is falling into the same trap as a our parents. I would hope that people of my generation didn't ever utter the words "When I was your age." Sadly, we are sending it all over the Internet and Facebook.
I HATE ADULTS AND THIS KIND OF STUFF MAKES ME EMBARRASSED TO BE ONE!!!
Of course, an opinion, like this one, is why I'm considered the Super Villain of the Ozarks!!! Mwu-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

DESDINOVA PICKS THE 60 BEST TV THEME SONGS

KYTV news anchor Ethan Forhetz opened a can of worms with a feature on the KY 3 website. Ethan chose his Top 10 favorite TV theme songs. The problem is ten doesn’t cover the number of great TV themes.

I’m going to give you a list of some of what I consider the greatest TV themes of all times. Unlike Ethan, I have created a criteria for my list.

I’m ruling out theme songs that were around before the TV show was created. This rules out Make Room For Daddy (“Danny Boy”), American Bandstand (Les Elgart’s “Bandstand Boogie”), Bosom Buddies (Billy Joel’s “My Life”), the Golden Girls (Andrew Gold’s “Thank You For Being a Friend”), Leave It To Beaver (“The Toy Parade”), Benny Hill Show (“Yakity Sax”), Absolutely Fabulous (Brian Auger and Trinity’s version of “Wheels On Fire”), Captain Kangaroo (“Puffin Billy”), The Young and the Restless (from the soundtrack of Bless The Beast and The Children), Crime Story (Del Shannon’s “Runaway”), the Avengers (An instrumental known originally as “The Shake”), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (Gounod’s “Funeral March For a Marionett”), That 70's Show (Big Star’s “In The Streets”) and the CSI shows (Most of The Who’s greatest hits).

Also if the song was carried over from radio or a movie, I have disqualified it. This leaves out Dragnet, Gunsmoke, The Lone Ranger, The Green Hornet, The Roy Rogers Show, the Hitchhikers Guide To the Galaxy (A double whammy since it was on the “One of These Nights” LP by the Eagles) and M*A*S*H, Shaft, Magnificent Seven, In The Heat of the Night and Fame.

I put an asterisk next to shows with two different theme songs (open and close).

Let start this list.

1. Batman
2. Hawaii 5-O
3. The Monkees*
4. Gilligan’s Island
5. Beverly Hillbillies
6. Twilight Zone
7. Secret Agent*
8. The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson
9. Peter Gunn
10. The Flintstones
11. Friends (“I’ll Be There For You”)
12. Rawhide
13. The Addams Family
14. Bonanza
15. Dark Shadows
16. Davy Crockett
17. Andy Griffith Show
18. Mary Tyler Moore Show
19. The Virginian
20. Happy Days
21. Dr. Who
22. Miami Vice
23. Ironside
24. Welcome Back Kotter
25. SWAT
26. Cheers
27. Rockford Files
28. Mission: Impossible
29. Hill Street Blues
30. Dukes of Hazzard
31. Route 66
32. The Banana Splits Adventure Hour
33. I Love Lucy
34. Love Boat
35. Dallas
36. The Greatest American Hero (“Believe It or Not”)
37. WKRP In Cincinati*
38. Have Gun Will Travel*
39. Soul Train (TSOP)
40. Here Comes The Brides (“Seattle”)
41. All In The Family*
42. The Jeffersons
43. The Mod Squad
44. Star Trek
45. Bob Newhart Show
46. Sanford & Son
47. Name of the Game
48. Spider-Man (60's Cartoon)
49. The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
50. Baretta
51. Daniel Boone
52. Cornet Blue
53. Man From U.N.C.L.E
55. The Untouchables
56. The Adventures of Johnny Quest
57. Perry Mason
58. The Munsters
59. Mannix
60. Ally McBeal

GREEN LANTERN CARTOON INTRO (1967)

This is the intro to the Green Lantern cartoons that aired as part of the Superman/Aquaman Hour. They were produced by Filmation Studios. Green Lantern's voice was by legendary radio/movie actor Gerald Mohr. The narrator was Ted Knight, who was later on the Mary Tyler Moore Show and Too Close For Comfort.

THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER - TONY CAREY

This song reminds me of summer. I had this 45 in high school. I love the video.

THE MYSTERY OF THE LITTLE BEAVER PUZZLE

I may have a retro toy mystery on my hands. When I was about seven or eight years old, I was visiting my sister in Oklahoma. I went with my brother-in-law to get the car serviced. Since it was going to take awhile, we walked over to an antique shop (It was the only thing close) and looked around. Most of the stuff was vases, china and lamps (You know - old lady stuff). The only toy of any kind in the store was a Whitman tray puzzle. The picture was of a Native American boy and girl. The boy had caught a fish and the girl was cooking a fish in a frying pan. My brother-in-law pointed out that the boy was Little Beaver, the sidekick of a comic strip cowboy named Red Ryder. The puzzle was about $1, so he bought it for me. The copy write on this puzzle is 1954. There is a code number of some sort on it of 2628:29.

I have for the past few weeks been Googling to find out information on a possible price for this puzzle. I can't find any information on this puzzle. I can't even find a picture of it. I have seen several collectors and website showing two different Little Beaver puzzles. One pictures Little Beaver carrying an injured deer through the woods, as the other woodland animals look on in appreciation. The other puzzle depicts Little Beaver walking on rocks in a brook. I also cannot find any reference to a girl in the comic strip.
So I have decided to post photos here of the puzzle. If you have any ideas on this or have any info, you can either leave a message or contact my by e-mail at d4windsbar@yahoo.com.