THE GONG SHOW - Chuck Barris (1976 - 1979)

Todays Whacko Wednesday Feature is one of my all-time fave TV shows. "The Gong Show" came on in the in 1976, and stayed on the air until mid 1979, the brainchild of Mr. Chuck Barris, who, just in case you don't know, also created "The Dating Game." That's where it all started! Chuck has got to be one of the most interesting people to ever walk the planet, too bad he just passed away last year at the age of 87, so any secrets he had, he took with him, and I don't think he would have told anybody the truth if they ever asked him anyway! So this one's for Chuckie!

I get the feeling that Chuck wasn't always the happy go lucky guy he portrays on the show, but for me, he was hilarious about 90% of the time, and that's a good ratio!

Chuck wrote a fictional autobiography called "Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind" that was made into a movie directed by George Clooney in his first attempt at directing, that came out in 2002 and starred Sam Rockwell as Chuck.

If you're a Gong Show fan, this movie will drive you crazy because it portrays Chuck as the lovable game show host and he's also a 'not such a nice guy' hit man for the C.I.A. Chuck never claimed it wasn't true, but there doesn't appear to be any real evidence to back up his story, but........Who the Hell really knows? We're talking about Chuck Barris here, not some normal person!

The Clone Rangers are just one of the acts you can find on YouTube, but it's hard to find anything that is decent quality! Everything looks like it was recorded on a VHS tape, mabye even on the slow speed, but it doesn't really detract from this array of awesome entertainment that much!

I forgot the name of this act, but you get the idea!

I didn't know that there were Gong Show bubblegum trading cards until yesterday!

After Chuck, my favorite recurring cast member was the lovely and hilarious singer Jaye P. Morgan! Jaye P. had been a successful singer long before this show was ever thought of. She had a big hit in 1951 called "Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries," and I think that concept is how she has lived her life, to the fullest!

Also in 1976, Jaye P. came out with this album of funky pop soul songs on the Candor label. It's good enough that I still have my copy, and am listening to it right now! Jaye P. was just cool!

One of the regulars on the show was Gene Patton, aka Gene Gene, The Dancing Machine! Gene tears it up right here, and gets everybody so excited that...........

.........On an uncensored version Jape P. actually exposes herself! Now that's some damn fine daytime TV!

This weird Ventriloquist disassembles his dummy and gets gonged for his efforts!

This guy played Mason Williams' "Classical Gas" Jimi style on his acoustic guitar!

What outfits!

Sometime they actually had very talented people on like this gal who can actually sing and belts out a powerful number!

So now we get to the good part! I've seen a lot of great stuff on The Gong Show including "The Mystic Knights Of The Oingo Boingo, but for me, I think one of the best acts ever on the show was the fabulous Bait Brothers!

These guys kill it, and to prove it, here's the link so you can go watch it yourself! If you've never seen their act, you're in for a treat! 

The Bait Brothers and "Shake The Ground!"

The Bait Brothers also appeared in "The Gong Show Movie" and even made an appearance on Don Kirshner's "Rock Concert" TV show!

This performance by Tami and the Starlets is truly amazing. It's at the very beginning of this longer clip that is also on YouTube. You've just got to see and hear Tami perform Captain and Tennille's "Love Will Keep Us Together!" Have Mercy!

One of my favorite comedians, Gary Mule Deer is extremely amusing as always when he attempts to use a corn chip as a guitar pick!

Leave it to Chuck!
They rudely close the curtain on this old guy about 30 seconds into his schtick, and that's where I'm going to leave you!

That's about it! I am literally going to go watch some more Gong Show as soon as I finish writing this sentence! I could use a good laugh right about now, and Chuck always managed to bring it!

THE OUTER LIMITS: Moonstone / Season 1 Episode 24 - 1963

Today's tale is all about a lunar expedition exploring the moon's surface, they accidentally discover a large spherical object they call a Moonstone. The General on the Moon Base is at odds with the Major over an old grudge. Then, the crew becomes involved in an intergalactic conflict when intelligent life forms from the planet Grippia are discovered inside the sphere, what are refugees from their tyrannical leaders who have learned about their discovery, and are on the way to get them, unless the humans can find a way to help...

This episode stars Ruth (THE BIG CLOCK) Roman as Professor Diana Brice, Alex (THE CLONES) Nicol as General Lee Stocker, Tim (BLACK JACK) O'Connor as Major Clint Anderson, Curt (THE MAN) Conway as Dr. Philip Mendl and Hari (THE LOST MISSILE) Rhodes as Lt. Ernie Travers.

Everything's cool on the Moon until a weird orb from space is detected, it ends up crashing down on the lunar surface...

Before it crashes though, we get a peek at the things inside the orb. What the!!..

Some of the crew go out searching for the orb. One guy falls into a hole in the sand and recovers the orb, so, they take it back to the base.

Time to figure out what in the Hell's going on with this damn thing!

Major Anderson gets caught in an equipment explosion, possible killing him. The creatures in the orb expose themselves and one emits a ray that heals the Major! What do you know, they're friendly little monsters!!

Well, the little critters can communicate too, they tell the Earthlings about their plight to escape the evil leaders on their planet.

The bad guys show up, they want to take the good guys back to their planet and extract their knowledge to use against their enemies.

The Earthlings refuse to hand the orb over, so, the aliens destroy equipment in the lab!

The good guys have a plan, in order to get the Earthlings off the hook, they turn themselves in to the bad guys, then, blow themselves up, preventing any extraction of their knowledge!

The bad guys leave the Moon and go back to their planet from where they came! So, there you have it, another wild episode from... The Outer Limits!! Tune in Wednesday when Eegah!! brings us more precious Dungeon Cargo!..

SAN FRANCISCO ROCK: A NIGHT AT THE FAMILY DOG - Ralph J. Gleason - (1970)

It's high time for a Seventies San Francisco Saturday Night Special in The Dungeon! Tonight's feature is a TV movie shot by San Francisco television station KQED, that was made by critic Ralph Gleason of Rolling Stone fame in 1970. It's not as fancy and polished as "Monterey Pop," but is still a pretty cool piece of musical history!

This show features the talents of three of the bay area's finest, Santana, The Grateful Dead, and Jefferson Airplane! The Family Dog was a production company run by a man named Chet Helms. When you see all those hippie psychedelic posters with The Doors, and Captain Beefheart, and 13th Floor Elevators mixed in with the local bands like Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Country Joe and the Fish, and Big Brother and the Holding Company (who Chet also managed) in the line up, Chet was the guy responsible. He was known as the Father of The Summer Of Love!

A 23 year old Carlos Santana is one of the highlights of the show!

The rest of the band was Mike Carrabello, Dave Brown, Jose Chepito Areas, Michael Shrieve, and Gregg Rolie! They perform "Incident at Neshabur," and the classic "Soul Sacrifice."

Next up were The Grateful Dead! Even though The Dead never had any major hit songs, each and every remaining member is worth 30 or 40 million dollars!

The original Grateful Dead were more of a blues affair that was founded and led by front man Ron "Pigpen McKernan, and did some covers like "Hard To Handle," and it's really good to see them perform here!

The Grateful Dead were in a state of metamorphosis! The band was moving into an area of psychedelic noodling that would become their signature sound, and the days of "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl" were being left behind!

And so was Pigpen! Pigpen was a drinker, and didn't take psychedelic drugs, and went from being the front man to being a backup player on tambourine and congas on most songs. He played some keyboard, but the music went beyond the whiskey haze he was comfortable with! Three years later, Pigpen would join the infamous 27 Club! It was the end of the original Grateful Dead! The rest is history! The other two songs they perform here are "I Know You Rider," and "China Cat Sunflower."

Next up was The Jefferson Airplane!

Gracie Slick looks extremely stoned throughout this entire performance, and if you asked her, and she could remember, I'm sure she would agree!

The dancers always crack me up for three reasons or another!

Most folks probably don't know that Jack Casady is one of the most talented bass players on the planet! It's his tone that sets him apart from all the others, and what a rich tone it is! Rich enough that it goes all the way back to the sounds of Little Anthony and the Imperials! Jack is currently still playing with Hot Tuna and on tour! You can check it all out on his website!

Now this is classic shit! During an instrumental break, Paul Kantner decides to smoke a cigarette! Just walking that fine line between irrelevant and irreverent!! That's the path I choose!

Grace is too loaded to realize she's blocking the shot or just doesn't care, but then they were just keeping it real! Oddly enough, art and reality can exist on the same stage!

Jorma Kaukonen has long been one of my favorite guitarists, but "After Bathing At Baxters" I think Jefferson Airplane's trip peaked. Jorma and Jack formed the great band called Hot Shit, I mean Hot Tuna, and with the addition of papa John Creach on violin, they smoked it! Here's the link to Hot Tuna's website and tour dates, because you're going to want to see them if they come anywhere near your town!

I've always like the vocal styling of lead singer Marty Balin, and his solo album called "Bodacious" is just as good as the first Hot Tuna album!

 Two records that should be in everybody's collections

When Jefferson Airplane became Jefferson Starship, I tuned out forever! It's really funny how those things happen! This concert ends with what they call a super jam, with all three bands up on stange!

This concept has since been labeled as a Clusterfuck, and rightfully so, because when you get that many people on one stage, and you really didn't rehearse, it's just pretty much a wall of something between noise and music, but not even really in a good way!

There's really no fair comparison, because "Montery Pop" was a film about a filmed music festival, and this is a show about music, or, if "Montery Pop" would have been filmed in this more simpler form, it would have been a lot better! It's a San Francisco musical historian's dream, a night to remember!