May 2009 - Let It Be

Although I was born in 1962, the decade of disco has always been my favorite. I have many childhood memories of growing up in the 1970s and I enjoy sharing these memories with my children.

THE BEATLES

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past several decades, you have probably heard of the Beatles. A pop rock band from Liverpool, England, the Beatles rocked the American music scene and continues to influence musicians today. During the highlight of the bands career, the Beatles primarily consisted of John Lennon (rhythm guitar, vocals), Paul McCartney (bass guitar, vocals), George Harrison (lead guitar, vocals) and Ringo Starr (drums, vocals).

The Beatles were an instant hit from the first moment they took the stage on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964. At that time, an unprecedented 74 million people watched the American debut of the Beatles. American teenagers tried to mimic the Beatles in every way, from the clothing to the hair styles to the slang they used.

Although mainly rooted in rock and roll, the Beatles worked with many different musical genres, including Tin Pan Alley and psychedelic rock. Formed in 1960, the Beatles announced their breakup in April 1970 and the final dissolution came in 1975. After their breakup, the band members went on to have successful solo careers.

The Beatles last “official” album - "Let It Be" - was released on May 8, 1970, 39 years ago. There has been heated controversy through the years about this last album, because most of “Let It Be” was recorded in January 1969, before the recording and release of the album, “Abbey Road.” Many critics and fans alike, argue “Abbey Road” should be considered the group’s final album. “Let It Be” was originally intended to be released prior to “Abbey Road” under the title “Get Back,” but the group was not happy with this version of the album, so it was temporarily put on hold.

The album was later overdubbed and remixed by Phil Spector and finally released as “Let It Be.” This album is a soundtrack album for the 1970 movie of the same name. The “Let It Be” movie is a documentary film of the band rehearsing and recording the album.

The songs on “Let It Be” include: Side One: “Two of Us”, “Dig a Pony,” “Across the Universe,” “I Me Mine,” “Dig It,” “Let It Be,” and “Maggie Mae.” Side Two: “I’ve Got a Feeling,” “One after 909,” “The Long and Winding Road,” “For You Blue,” and “Get Back.”

“Let It Be”
“When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
And in my hour of darkness she is standing right in front of me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be.
Whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree,
there will be an answer, let it be.
For though they may be parted there is still a chance that they will see,
there will be an answer. let it be.

Let it be, let it be, .....

And when the night is cloudy, there is still a light that shines on me,
shine until tomorrow, let it be.
I wake up to the sound of music, mother Mary comes to me,
speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

Let it be, let it be, .....”

May 2009 - Television

Starsky and Hutch (usually written as Starsky & Hutch) is a 1970s US television series that consisted of a 90-minute pilot movie (originally aired as a Movie of the Week entry) and 92 episodes of 60 minutes each; created by William Blinn, produced by Spelling-Goldberg Productions, and broadcast between April 30, 1975 and May 15, 1979 on the ABC network; distributed by Columbia Pictures Television in the United States and, originally, Metromedia Producers Corporation in Canada and some other parts of the world. Sony Pictures Television is now the worldwide distributor for the series.

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All in the Family is an American situation comedy that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971 to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, the show was revamped, and given a new title, Archie Bunker's Place. This version of the sitcom lasted another four years, ending its run in 1983.

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M*A*S*H is an American television series developed by Larry Gelbart, adapted from the 1970 feature film MASH (which was itself based on the 1968 novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors, by Richard Hooker). The series is a medical drama/black comedy that was produced by 20th Television Fox for CBS. It follows a team of doctors and support staff stationed at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in Uijeongbu, South Korea, during the Korean War. M*A*S*H's title sequence featured an instrumental version of the song "Suicide Is Painless", which also appears in the original film. The show was created after an attempt to film the original book's sequel, M*A*S*H Goes To Maine, failed. It is the most well-known version of the M*A*S*H works.

The series premiered on September 17 1972, and ended February 28 1983, with the finale becoming the most-watched television episode in U.S. television history with over 105 million viewers. The show is still broadcast in syndication on various television stations (mostly during the late night/early morning hours). The series spanned 251 episodes and lasted eleven seasons covering a three-year conflict.

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The Waltons is an American television series created by Earl Hamner, Jr., based on his book Spencer's Mountain, and a 1963 film of the same name, starring Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara. The show centered on the titular family growing up in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World War II. The series pilot was a television movie entitled The Homecoming: A Christmas Story, broadcast in 1971. The show originally aired in the United States on CBS from 1972 to 1981. After the series left the air, three television movie sequels were broadcast in 1982, with three more following in the 1990s. It is currently aired on Hallmark Channel in the USA and the UK.

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The Six Million Dollar Man is an American television series about a fictional cyborg working for the OSI (which was usually said to refer to the Office of Scientific Intelligence, but sometimes was called the Office of Scientific Investigation as well as the Office of Strategic Intelligence). The show was based on the novel Cyborg by Martin Caidin, and during pre-production, that was the proposed title of the series. It aired on the ABC network as a regular series from 1974 to 1978, after following three television movies aired in 1973. The title role of Steve Austin was played by Lee Majors, who subsequently became a pop culture icon of the 1970s. A spin-off of the show was produced called The Bionic Woman.

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Schoolhouse Rock! is a series of animated musical educational short films that aired during Saturday morning children's programming on U.S. television network ABC. Topics covered include grammar, science, economics, history, mathematics, and politics. The series aired between 1972 and 1986, and infrequently during the 1990s and 2000s, with new shows created between 1993 and 1996 until its cancellation by ABC in 2001.

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The Partridge Family is an American television sitcom about a widowed mother and her five children who embarked on a music career. The family lived in San Pueblo, a small fictional town in Northern California. The series was originally broadcast on ABC from 1970 to 1974.

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