The “Gong Show” would have to be on the Top Ten list of “It’s So Bad, It’s Great” TV shows for sure. I did not watch it much but it was the ’70s equivalent of shows like “America’s Got Talent” or even “Idol” as the people with absolutely no talent came on the show thinking they were the next greatest thing. None of them were if I recall. Oddly enough, the “Gong Show” came on in the summer of 1976 as a daily show (thus potentially having enough for said marathon). We had to be smoking dope to watch shows like that.
So, it’s time (pun intended) to bring back some classic Guess Who. I love “No Time” and even dig its original version which you rarely hear on radio these days. I am a particular fan of the Guess Who while Randy Bachman was their guitarist/writer. When he left to form BTO, the Guess Who slid off my radar, and apparently most other folks too.
Original version
httpvh://youtu.be/oqeSUAlI5uI
And the second, more popular version
httpvh://youtu.be/NPX48NpSRvo
Which of the modern shows would even try and put someone like the popsicle twins on the air?
Gong Show!! 😀 Outstanding!! I still think Plan 9 should have had a shot on it, even if they blew up completely back stage before actually making it on air.
I had all the Guess Who original vinyl. They didn’t do enough, and they sure as hell cranked out several outstanding tunes. The whole No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature was virtually an anthem for me for several years. Made it onto quite a number of custom-mix playlists, very often with The Outlaw’s Green Grass and High Tides plus assorted Allman Brothers, Joe Walsh & Ten Years After.
I did not ever see them live when Bachman was still with them. However, I did catch them three different times in the Philly area in the early 1980s when they opened for a re-vamped Steppenwolf. Actually bootleg recorded one of their shows using one of the original Toshiba walkmans. Considering all factors, wasn’t a bad bootleg, even if it was near total ass by any audiophile standards. Lost bit of history now. I keep watching to see if it ever turns up digitized online somewhere. I know I passed out at least 20 copies at the time.
Funny thing about that show: I got busted entering the venue for a bowl and a baggie of Extra Kind in my shoe. The security pulled ’em out and said “These yours?” I said “Never seen ’em before.” and he stuffed them in his pocket & waived me through. With a walkman and five spare cassette tapes tucked under my belt on my back. But, I was already well-medicated and the show was a storm of great ‘oldies’ plus a sprinkle of new. Was still a bit extra crispy around the edges from a Jerry Garcia Band show the night before, so it all came together memorably.
Sheiss! Botched the email addy. Of course that was really me. 😉
Nice strip, Byron. Thanks!
As I understand it, The Gong Show was an endless parade of William Hung(s). Sooo scary!
Single panel looks good. So does the previous multi-panel. You’re off to a good start for the year!
I was born in 1977, so I don’t remember it except as reruns throughout the 80’s.
I do know of ONE act that went on the Gong Show and DID become the next greatest thing: The Mystic Nights of the Oingo Boingo, later simply shortened to Oingo Boingo. The leader of that band of course being the incredible Danny Elfman. 🙂
technically tho, richard elfman (danny’s brother) was the leader of the “band” at the time (which was really more of a performance art troupe that was disguised as a band). when richard left it to pursue other interests (such as film), danny took over and it eventually became just “oingo boingo”, more focused on music and less on performance art.
the judges for their episode of the Gong Show were Bill Bixby, Buddy Hackett and Shari Lewis. they didn’t get gonged, and they won the money ($516.32)! so maybe a few acts did go on to become popular somehow… i wonder if there’s a list somewhere.
richard elfman’s film, “forbidden zone”, became a cult film. and was pretty brilliant for what it was: bizarre. 😀 the mystic knights appeared in that film as well, with danny playing Satan of all people. that sequence is up on the youtubes i believe, and is pretty damned amazing (probably the highlight of the movie)…
Byron, like you I didn’t catch the Gong Show much during its original run – too busy trying to conquer the rock n roll world, placate the Gods of Party On Hard, chasing nookie, & trying to keep myself in beer money. But in the early-to-mid 80’s I caught the re-runs pretty regularly. I thought the show was a scream – mostly because of its zany revolving cast of judges, barely controlled mayhem & unscripted “impromptu-ness”…
As for the Guess Who, from early ’69 til the end of ’70, one of the best rock bands playing imo. I didn,t get to see them until about ’73 or so, on a tour with (if I remember fuzzily) 3 Dog Night. I do remember being extremely disapointed with them as they just were not very good. By then they’d already gone thru several personell changes & technically the only original was drummer Gary Peterson with Burton Cummings on vocals (even tho Cummings is mostly identified with The Guess Who, he wasn’t their original vocalist..), but without originals Bachman & bassist Jim Kale, they had none of their punch & certainly didn’t sound like the “No Time” era band. Thankfully, I didn’t have too long to wait until Randy resurfaced with Brave Belt & then BTO!
i remember that the Gong Show was so popular, that they even did a “Gong Show Movie”… The Unknown Comic was the rage for a bit, too!
Speaking of Randy Bachman…. he has a radio show on CBC Radio called Vinyl Tap that is pretty awesome. He plays music and tells lots of stories about being on the road… and I just happen to have a link for you!
http://www.cbc.ca/vinyltap/