This blog is dedicated to a dear friend, MK.
Tonight’s guests: Wild Cherry, A Taste of Honey, and Hot Chocolate (Absolutely no trend or pattern intended).
Burt Sugarman had an idea in the early 70’s. To take advantage of the popularity of the Johnny Carson Show, he suggested NBC air a weekly 90-minute music program immediately following the Carson show on Friday night. The Midnight Special was born and stayed on the air for over eight years.
Famous disc jockey Wolfman Jack was the announcer for the show that typically featured a different guest host every week. Helen Reddy and the Bee Gees were most often picked for that role.
Many musical styles permeated the 70’s, including R &B and disco. They were often highlighted on The Midnight Special.
The Righteous Brothers were the first and most famous “blue-eyed soul” artists. Numerous imitators followed.
Named after a flavor of cough drops, Wild Cherry started out playing straight rock. But with disco capturing the attention of fans, the band was bombarded with requests to "Play that funky music." It became their only hit, going to #1 in 1976.
Sometime around 1971, singer/bassist/guitarist Janice Marie Johnson and keyboardist Perry Kimble organized a band after they met at an audition for vacation gigs for Princess Cruises. They called the band, “A Taste of Honey,” after an old R& B song, one of their favorites. They quickly started playing in Southern California bars and military bases in the U.S. and abroad (Kimble would eventually leave the group).
Their first single came about after the group encountered a less than responsive audience at a military base. A Taste of Honey was unusual in that it featured two female guitar players. During this particular engagement, Johnson felt that the male crowd wasn’t warming up to them because they were chauvinistic.
Before the recording session for “Boogie Oogie Oogie,” Johnson was warming up on her bass, unaware engineers were rolling tape. The bass solo is a key part of their smash that sold over two million copies in 1978.
We close with a group formed in London in 1968. The band’s second album was filled with message songs of social and political commentary. But it was a light-hearted tune from that album that climbed the charts and enjoyed renewed fame in many films like “The Full Monty,” and in commercials. Hope you’ve enjoyed.
“Let the Midnight Special shine it’s ever lovin’ light on me.”
