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Just a nice Jewish boy: A young Gene Simmons on ‘The Mike Douglas Show,’ 1974


 
A couple of weeks ago, DM’s Amber Frost showed us a pretty ridiculous TV news feature taking the gargantuan ‘70s arena rock band KISS to task for having the temerity to market themselves. The whole thing was full of tedious old-fart tut-tutting, and it frankly felt like the band wasn’t actually being scolded for their publicity machinery, but rather for being young and nothing at all like Tony Bennett.

So when I ran across this Gene Simmons interview on the old Mike Douglas show from 1974, I expected more or less the same vibe—the show, after all, was one of the champs of a soon-to-be-obsolete style of daytime variety programming that gave a reliable home to fading stars and alter kocker holdovers from the late vaudeville and early television eras for a demographic of stay-at-home housewives that was about to shrink significantly. So when it turned out that Douglas and his other guests reacted to Simmons’ startling kabuki-ghoul appearance in stride and just joked with him like anyone else, it was quite a surprise.
 

 
This was in the early days of KISS, so Simmons didn’t really have his schtick nailed down yet, and his efforts to project a menacing, demonic character fall WAY flat, as if to answer the question of what shock-rock looks like without shock. His professed desire to drink the audience’s blood and his self-characterization as “evil incarnate” barely seem to elicit much more than a shrug from the audience.

The interview is saved by a pretty amazing exchange between Simmons and old-school comedienne Totie Fields, who joked that it would be funny if Simmons, under the makeup, turned out to be “just a nice Jewish boy.” Simmons, of course, is not just an actual Jewish boy, but an Israeli sabra born Chaim Witz, and he drolly (and pretty Jewily) retorted “You should only know…” Fields owned the moment by interjecting “I DO! You can’t hide the hook!” Fields herself was born Sophie Feldman, and could probably spot a Member of the Tribe using a showbiz pseudonym a mile away.

The appearance also includes Douglas interviewing the winners of a kissing contest (*eyeroll*), and a band performance—as in an actual live-in-studio performance, it’s not mimed—of the early song “Firehouse.”
 

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
NBC explains KISS to old people, 1977
KISS: Their X-rated early days

Posted by Ron Kretsch
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08.14.2015
11:12 am
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James Brown co-hosts ‘The Mike Douglas Show,’ cooks ham hocks & cabbage, sings, 1971
03.12.2014
03:32 pm
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Mike Douglas and James Brown
Mike Douglas and James Brown sing “You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You”

I missed the heyday of Mike Douglas, but watching this video, it’s easy to see how he was able to concoct such an enjoyable mid-afternoon chat brew every weekday. Douglas’ adoption of a groovy ‘70s-style six-petaled flower was an inspired touch, as it stamped him as the older, tie-wearing white dude who was down with the hippies and “Black is Beautiful” and funky music and all that. Douglas never seemed to mind much of anything, and his charmingly shambolic, super-easy going style helped create a talk show that’s waaaaay looser than anything you’d see today (outside of podcasts, of course).

The date on this video, very recently uploaded to YouTube and with just a smattering of views, is May 11, 1971. James Brown is introduced as co-host, and indeed Brown does hang around for the whole episode—he does three songs in all, and it must be said that he’s makes for a rather distracted co-host; he’s no Andy Richter up there. But who the hell cares, he wasn’t there for his ability to be subservient to Mike—he’s James Brown!!

His musical numbers bookend the program, starting with “I Cried” followed by, remarkably, a full-fledged duet of the old Dean Martin ditty “You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You”—Brown seems mildly poleaxed at the idea, and plays along only intermittently, but Douglas is seriously into it. It’s genuinely funny when Douglas tells him to “try to find the beat, James.” Also, who’d've guessed that Douglas does way more dancing than Brown?

In the interview portion we get an actress named Betsy Palmer, who later teaches Douglas and Brown how to make ham hocks and cabbage, although, as she admits, “it’s Czech more than anything,” certainly not super similar to the authentic soul food Brown is used to. Then, hilariously, Douglas tells the home viewer not to consult the Internet for the recipe but rather to write this address:
 
Ham Hocks and Cabbage
 
Brown caps off the hijinks with a terrific rendition of “Your Cheatin’ Heart”. (By the bye, the album he was promoting was Sho’ Is Funky Down Here.)

 
via Classic Television Showbiz

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
James Brown meets Alfred Hitchcock

Posted by Martin Schneider
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03.12.2014
03:32 pm
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Amazing performances by Patti Smith on the Mike Douglas Show - 1976/77
11.28.2011
01:34 am
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Patti Smith with neck brace. Photographed by Robert Mapplethorpe.
 
I remember seeing Patti Smith’s first performance on The Mike Douglas Show in 1977 and thinking how unexpectedly cool that show was. Just imagine how dumbstruck daytime TV viewers must have been seeing The Patti Smith Group popping up between episodes of As The World Turns and re-runs of Dobie Gillis. Hell, I was even blown away!

I actually had to go to a friend’s house to watch Patti on the Douglas show because I didn’t own a TV set. It was the first time I saw her perform live and it confirmed everything I imagined The Patti Smith Group would be: wild, inspired, unadulterated rock n’ roll. And part of what made this particular performance so bona fide is Patti and the band didn’t condescend to or mock the daytime TV format they were operating in. They put their hearts into it. Every fucking show mattered to them, whether it was sandwiched between soap operas or on the stage of legendary Manhattan punk clubs. Patti was a punk without the wiseass, holier-than-thou bullshit. She wanted to spread the rock gospel throughout the nation, from the Bowery to double-wides in middle America. Everybody was invited to the party.

The first half of the video was shot on December 7, 1976 and broadcast on January 19, 1977. The second half, with Patti in a neck brace, was aired on Apr 19, 1977. It was her first live appearance after falling 15 feet off a stage and breaking several neck vertebrae in Tampa Florida on January 23, 1977.

Thanks to Jim Laspesa at Bubbling Over who continues to unearth gems from his impressive video archive.

Ask The Angels, Free Money, I Was Working Real Hard and Keith Richards Blues.
 

Posted by Marc Campbell
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11.28.2011
01:34 am
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Rarely seen video of Patti Smith on daytime TV in 1978
05.22.2011
07:37 pm
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Patti Smith appears on the Mike Douglas Show - March 8, 1978.

A giggling Kristy McNichol seems quite amused by Patti. Anne Meara, Jerry Stiller and William Shatner were also on the same program. Imagine a Shatner/Smith duet of “Rock and Roll Nigger.” One can only dream.

Patti is ostensibly on the show to promote her book Babel. Odd to see a poet making the daytime television rounds to promote a book of poetry that was published in a limited edition. She ends up spending most of her time talking about Muhammad Ali.
 

 

Posted by Marc Campbell
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05.22.2011
07:37 pm
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