Rant #2,290: A Brand New Me

We have almost gotten to the end of our journey.

2018 is just about over, and all I can say is "Good Riddance."

This was the most difficult and hardest year of my life.

I can't even fully get into why it was so bad, but I have illustrated much of the insanity to you time and time again at this blog, and it hasn't been pretty, to say the least.

But I think that with the close of this year tonight, I, personally, will put everything behind me and look for a new start in 2019.

Look, 2018 was such a bad year for myself and my family that 2019 cannot be any worse ... or at least I hope it can't.

As for me, I am going to turn over a new leaf, or at least try to.

I am going to lessen any pressure that I put on myself, and just look ahead to the day(s) at hand.

Much of the pressure I have put on myself comes from my work situation.

What I have decided to do is literally go with the flow, and grin and bear the uncertainly that has been doled out to me and the other five full time workers--yes, that is what it is down to--at my place of business.

There is nothing I can do about the situation, nothing at all, so why worry myself with it?

I will still look for another job, but if there is a day that I cannot find anything on the job boards--which I have proven to you are highly suspect to begin with--then well, there isn't anything for that day.

I mean, at least right here and right now, I have a job, so, like Alfred E. Neuman has said many times, "What, me worry?"

I say all these things, but being a worrier, it is going to be difficult to do, but I will certainly try to not get into a huff about this situation.

The one thing that I have is that my family is super strong, but this year showed some cracks. Those cracks are certainly repairable, and we are on the road to doing just that by doing things that will allow us to get back to some sort of normalcy.

My son is the focus of these efforts. He has a long road to go before he can reach the goals he has, and we have, for himself, and every day seemingly presents new challenges.

We are going to get there, or at least closer to where we need to be, in 2019, and we will do it as a family, which is the best and only way this can be done.

And we know that it will be a difficult road, as it has been over the years, but our son will eventually succeed, because like I have told him repeatedly, "Where there's a will, there's a way."

Although talk is cheap, I think for myself--and the world--we must lessen the political mishmosh that we are in right now as a society, and I am going to do my part by trying to lessen the rhetoric here.

I will speak up when I need to speak up, but on the whole, no matter what side of the pond we are on, we are all Americans, and we must start to act as one unified whole.

We must stop being so sensitive about everything, and we must stop taking ourselves so seriously.

We must learn to laugh at ourselves again, and stop being so critical of every little thing.

We must learn to smile, and even though it is kind of sappy, we must "Put On a Happy Face," and stop the nonsense.

I have this forum to do just that, and while not every thing I write here is going to be happy and joyous, I am going to try to put that "happy face" on much of what I write, which I think I already do here.

Politics is out; fun is in.

So all in all, through this rambling last Rant of the year, I am going to consciously look at the bright side, and stop the negatives.

I will write about material that I feel is necessary to write about, but I would rather make you smile and think than rile you up.

I have learned that it serves no purpose, and I hope that others find that out too.

This is the greatest country in the world, and let's get with the program, and stop the bashing.

So to sum up, yes, these are New Year's resolutions, and how many of those do we actually keep?

But I am going to try, and I mean, really try, to keep these that I have mentioned here.

It is the healthiest way to put a horrid year behind me, and look forward to making the year ahead a great one.

So to everyone, have a great new year, and I will speak to you again on Wednesday.

Classic Rant #939 (April 10, 2013): The Knicks Can Do It!

This is my second basketball-related Rant of the week, but right now, things are going really well for my team, the New York Knicks, so I figured now is the time to gloat a bit.

I have been with this team since 1965. I went to games in the old Madison Square Garden, the new Madison Square Garden, and they are as much in my blood as the Yankees are.

I was around for their two championships, in the 1969-1970 and 1972-1973 seasons. I lived and died with those teams, I really did, and they did not disappoint me.

This year’s team, the 2012-2013 version, isn’t as good as those two championship teams, but right now, they are riding an impressive winning streak--now at 13, with their win against the Washington Wizards last night--that has the entire New York Metropolitan Area thinking that after a 40-year drought, this might be the year that the Knicks bring home the championship trophy.

I remember those other championship years like they were yesterday, and let me tell you, being a city kid for the first championship and new to Long Island with the second championship, I have never seen an area galvanize behind a team like this.

Sure, the Yankees have been incredibly successful, but you had Mets fans who wouldn’t root for the Yankees under any circumstance.

Sure, you have the football Giants, but will a Jets fan ever root for the Giants. Pretty doubtful.

And you have the Rangers, but will Islanders fans or Devils fans ever root for them? No way.

But the Knicks are a different story.

Yes, the Nets are now in Brooklyn, but the Nets have never really been a rival to the Knicks in any way, shape or form, no matter where they have called home.

And now, the Nets’ fan base is developing. It might take years to ever reach even the vicinity of Knicks’ fandom.

Right now, the Nets are to the Knicks as the Clippers are to the Lakers: sort of poor cousins.

When the Knicks are good, it seems that everybody in this area is a Knicks fan, even people who don’t normally follow basketball.

I found this to be so true in 1969-1970, and on May 8, 1970, everybody in New York City was as proud as could be of the Knicks. I am sure people who never followed basketball followed the Knicks to the championship that year, on Willis Reed, Walt Frazier and the rest of the team’s shoulders.

The same could probably be said about 1972-1973, with Earl “The Pearl” Monroe on board, but again, I had moved out to the suburbs by then.

I get a good feeling about the current team now. Sure, there are some great teams in the NBA this year, led by the Miami Heat, a team that just came off a near-record 27-game winning streak.

But the Knicks actually beat them three of four games this year, so there is a chance for a major upset.

Anyway, led by Carmelo Anthony, it looks like the Knicks are for real again. They have a chance to do something terrific, and I am really rooting for them.

I want my son to experience something like what I experienced way back when, and this might be the year to do it.

Let’s see what happens. The playoffs are right around the corner, and anything can happen during those games.

And, would it be that crazy a thought to think that the Knicks could be NBA champions by the end of June?

Rant #2,289: I Heard It Through the Grapevine For Once In My Life the Love Child was the Wichita Lineman and it was Stormy

Today is December 28, the final Friday in the 2018 calendar year.

I won't ever rate this year very highly in my list of "Best Years of My Life" (don't worry, there are no more "Best of" lists in our future here right at the moment), but 2018 is what it is and will soon be was what it was.

Good riddance.

But let's go back 50 years, to this exact date, December 28, 1968--what were you doing and what were you listening to on your AM radio?

Back at my house, we were probably listening to WABC, the AM powerhouse that back then, you could even pick up as far away as in Florida--that is how far its reach was.

That was a much different time than now, but I don't think 1968 itself would go down as one of out better years, as it was, of course, the year that we lost Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King.

But whatever the case, we listened to music to bathe our grief, lift us up and make us feel good, even in the midst of a terrible year.

So here is what we were listening to exactly 50 years ago, the top 10 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, when being in the top 10 on this chart actually meant something.

Coming in at No. 1 was Marvin Gaye's classic "I Heard It Through the Grapevine. This song had been around for a few years before it hit with Gaye, as a song originally done by Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. And, of course, who could forget Gladys Knight and the Pips' version? Gaye gives one of the best vocal performances of his career with this song, and how sad is it that he, like Kennedy and King, had his life ended by gun violence?

The second most popular song in the country 50 years ago was "For Once In My Life" by Stevie Wonder, which meant that two Motown songs topped the chart this week. This tune was just another great song from this musical genius, who was all of 18 years old when this song hit the big time.

Coming in at No. 3 was "Love Child" by Diana Ross and the Supremes, so we have to update what we said, the top three songs on the chart came out of Motown, not the top two. Ross and the girls didn't do too many "political" songs, but this one was one of them, and it is one of their best.

The fourth top song on the chart, and the first non-Motown tune, was "Wichita Lineman" by Glen Campbell. The ace guitarist was at his hottest as a performer at this time, having hits with Jimmy Webb songs, hosting his own TV show and getting his feet wet on the silver screen. This song is a certifiable classic, one of the best country/rock/adult contemporary hits ever.

Rounding out the top five songs on this week's list was "Stormy" by the Classics IV featuring Dennis Yost. Yes, this is an atmospheric hit from the same people who brought us "Spooky," and it stands as one of the most mellowest of hits from this turbulent decade.

At No. 6 was a song for the that time and that place if there ever was one. "Abraham, Martin and John" by Dion musically told of us the journey the three people in mind in the song had taken, and the journey we, as a country, had taken with them. It was as heartfelt a song that ever reached the Hot 100, and Dion's vocals are absolutely magnificent.

Song No. 7 on the chart was another Motown tune, this one a concoction where Diana Ross and the Supremes and the Temptations met on a very popular TV special and conquered our aural senses. "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" put the top two Motown singing groups together on one record, and we went for it lock, stock and barrel. It also features what I believe is one of Ross' best vocals.

In the eighth position on the chart is one of the few "fun" songs on the upper reaches of the Hot 100 for this week, Johnnie Taylor's "Who's Making Love" from Stax Records. Stax's music appealed to both blacks and whites and was grittier than Motown's was, and this is a good example of that, one of the label's biggest hits.

Coming in at No. 9 was Bobby Vinton's "I Love How You Love Me." I was never much of a fan of Vinton's, but his run of hits had mass appeal during this period, and it is a good counterpart to the previous song on the chart: one gritty, the other pappy, to say the least.

Rounding out the top 10 was yet another Motown tune, "Cloud Nine: by the Temptations. I mean, what a great song this is! Mixing soul and psychedelia, this tune might just be the best song the guys ever recorded. I saw them at Westbury Music Fair during the summer when this song was just breaking, and the love that this tune projected to the audience has stuck with me forever!

The highest debuting single on the Hot 100 for this week was "Daddy Sang Bass" by Johnny Cash. Although still more country than rock or pop, Cash, like Campbell, was expanding his audience at the time with a weekly TV variety show. This song, which was written by Carl Perkins and featured background vocals by the Statler Brothers, came in at No. 64, but only got up to No. 42 on the chart a few weeks later.

Teh biggest mover on the chart--the song that moved up the most places from the previous week's chart to this one--was "Hey Jude." No, not the Beatles' former No. 1 song, but a cover version by Wicked Wilson Pickett, featuring Duane Allman on guitar. The singer was covering a number of songs to chart success 50 years ago, putting his own spin on songs like "Sugar Sugar" and "Abraham, Martin and John" ("Cole, Cooke and Redding"), but this was the first of these covers, and it moved up from No. 90 last week to No. 43 this week, a jump of 47 places. The single eventually lost steam, and only got up to No. 23.

So there you have it. While the world was still in mourning over the deaths of Kennedy and King, we were trying to put an end to our grief listening to Motown and to Dion's epic tune about those we have lost.

It wasn't a great time in our country's history, but the music was absolutely incredible, serving to soothe our country and make us feel a bit better about ourselves and our future.

Speak to you again on Monday. Have a great weekend.

Rant #2,288: Bubblegum Is the Naked Truth (Finale)

We are in the home stretch of the list that no one ever asked me to do, the top 25 bubblegum songs of all time.

In the bubblegum world, not only do the Beatles rule, but so do the Ohio Express, the 1910 Fruitgum Co. and the Lemon Pipers.

Yes, it is a very strange, very gooey world, but 2018 is the 50th anniversary of the height of this music, and with just a few days to go before this year ends, we have to hurry a bit to honor it in its proper 50-year context.

To review, here are the top 20 bubblegum hits of all time, as chosen by yours truly:

1) Archies - "Sugar Sugar"

2) Monkees - "I'm a Believer"

3) Ohio Express - "Yummy Yummy Yummy"

4) 1910 Fruitgum Co. - "1, 2, 3 Red Light"

5) Beatles - "I Want To Hold Your Hand"

6) Tommy James and the Shondells - "I Think We're Alone Now"

7) Tommy Roe - "Dizzy"

8) 1910 Fruitgum Co. - "Simon Says"

9) Ohio Express - "Chewy Chewy"

10) Beatles - "She Loves You"
11) Lemon Pipers - "Green Tambourine"
12) Herman's Hermits 0 "I'm Henry VIII, I Am
13) Jackson 5 - "ABC"
14) Jackson 5 - "I Want You Back"
15) Partridge Family - "I Think I Love You"
16) Bobby Sherman - "Julie, Do Ya Love Me"
17) Tommy James and the Shondells - "Mony Mony"
18) Shirley Ellis - "The Name Game"
19) American Breed - "Bend Me, Shape Me"
20) Monkees - "Valleri"

And here are numbers 20 through 25 ... well, sort of.

21) Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart - "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight": No list of bubblegum songs would be complete without this tune, written and performed by the "Lennon and McCartney" of bubblegum writers/producers/singers. The song, which reached No. 8 in late 1967, exudes the bubblegum spirit, with its innocent lyrics leading into some minor adult themes. Forever known for their Monkees connection, I bet you didn't know that Boyce and Hart had their hands on the themes to the TV shows "Bewitched" and "Days Of Our Lives" and several movies, including "Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows" and "The Ambushers." This song simply personifies what bubblegum is all about--fun, more fun, and a very slight leering attitude.

22) Cuff Links - "Tracy": Another song that absolutely must be on any true list of the best of bubblegum music, the made-up studio group was led by Ron Dante as its lead singer on much of its output--yes, the same guy who led the Archies! This song, written by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss and which reached No. 9 in 1969, again is so very innocent, but also has that leering attitude that makes bubblegum music exactly what it is. And this supposed "group," which was supposed to hail form the rock and roll bastion of Staten Island, New York, was simply Dante with studio musicians, who would record a half dozen songs a day and stick different group names on the songs, hoping for radio airplay and success. This was one of the concoctions that succeeded.

23) Strangeloves - "I Want Candy": One of the weirdest acts to come out of this era was the Strangeloves, who were said to come out of Australia and played the part whenever they were interviewed, with thick, heavy accents directed toward the Aussie way of life. Nothing could be further from the truth. This act was actually made up of singers/writers.producers Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer, together or individually producers of the likes of the Angels, the McCoys and the Go-Gos. But this tune, written by the trio, reached No. 11 in 1965, is another bubblegum staple, recorded by many acts including Bow Wow Wow. It has that Bo Diddley beat, and is another of the great earworms of this era.

24) Cowsills - "We Can Fly": Well, if the Partridge Family is on this list, you almost have to have the real life family band, the Cowsills, on the list too. Honestly, they had bigger hits, but their very bubblegum existence was defined with this tune, which only reached No. 21 on the chart in early 1968. Written by the group and Artie Kornfeld--later greatly associated with the Woodstock concert--the song is light and airy and kind of psychedelic in its approach to things. Not as a big a hit as "The Rain, the Park and Other Things" or "Indian Lake," this is still the Cowsills at their sunshine pop best, and yes, Susan Cowsill is on this record, which makes it all that much better.

OK, here is where things get off kilter and weird on our list.

25) Vik Venus: "Moonflight'/Rock and Roll Dubble Bubble Trading Card Co. of Philadelphia 19141: "Bubble Gum Music": Goodness, where do I begin? These two tunes absolutely, positively have to be on our list, so I kind of stretched the bubblegum truth, we have 26 songs on the list, not 25. The former was a traditional "cut-in" song, reaching No, 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969, where a storyline was created--here, a reporter ("your main moon man") interviewing the crew of a rocketship going to the moon. This was the height of the moon craze, with astronauts actually landing on the moon, and this record goes with it, cutting into the story with soundbites of various Buddah label acts, including the Ohio Express and the 1910 Fruitgum Co. And what makes it even stranger is that Vik Venus actually was ... popular New York City disk jockey Jack Spector, who, many years later, actually died while on the air. The latter song, which reached No. 74 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969, pretty much summed up the entire bubblegum music scene, but threw into its name-dropping tune the likes of the Monkees, the Ohio Express, Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, and such bubblegum "stalwarts" as "Herbie" Alpert and ... the Grateful Dead! And the song was written and produced by Bob Feldman and Jerry Goldstein, two thirds of the Strangeloves! Yes, it does not get any better than these two songs, so they both had to be included on our list.

Honorable mentions have to go to "Quick Joey Small" by the Kasenetz-Katz Singing Orchestral Circus; "Red Rubber Ball" by the Cyrkle; Indian Giver by the 1910 Fruitgum Company; and "Little Willy" by the Sweet. That last song listed here was a bubblegum song per se, but broke just about every rule related to the genre, including being so forward and outward with its sexual message that it heralded the next mutation of bubblegum, "glitter," which really didn't take over in the U.S. as it did in Europe, but did produce some hits, including several by the Sweet, Gary Glitter's "Rock and Roll (Part 2)" and T. Rex's "Bang a Gong."

And this includes David Bowie's early gaggle of tunes, too, when the Spaceman was finding his way on the early path to his unique career.

Later bubblegum songs by the likes of the Bay City Rollers--"Saturday Night"--and Cheap Trick ("I Want You To Want Me," and yes, they are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)--would have been on this list for sure, but they came too late in the 1970s for inclusion.

And even though I hate to admit it, bubblegum music, to a certain extent, morphed into disco music, which hit in the mid-1970s, and hit it big, combining studio creations with a lifestyle that was so overtly sexual and drug-related that it kind of made its origins in bubblegum music non-existent for a while.

But in 2018, with the 50th year of the height of bubblegum music in the air, how can "Push Push (In the Bush)" even compare one iota to "Yummy Yummy Yummy?"

It can't, and that is the point: bubblegum music really is the naked truth, allowing your mind to create whatever storyline you want with the music and lyrics--and that is what makes it so special.

I hope you enjoyed this list as much as I did creating it. 

Classic Rant #938 (April 9, 2013): Goodbye, Annette

I am in mourning today, I really am.

Annette Funicello, who at least to me was America's sweetheart, died yesterday of the affects of multiple sclerosis. She was just 70 years old.

The lovely Annette first came on the scene in the mid 1950s as one of the kid stars of Disney's "The Mickey Mouse Club." She was one of numerous kids who were on the show, but she stood out from the rest, not just because of her singing, dancing and other theatrical talents, but because of ...

Well, yes, because of them.

In a much more conservative era than those that succeeded it, the 1950s were one where voluptuous women's figures seemed to be in vogue.

Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Mamie Van Doren, Sophia Loren and others epitomized that era, and that led to America's fascination with Annette.

On the show, right before our eyes, Annette was maturing, and let's say, maturing very, very well. Even adults started to watch the show with their kids to see this phenomenon happening.

Yes, this young girl could hold her own in the figure department next to Monroe and the others, and America reveled in Annette's evolving figure.

Both during and after the show, Annette was building up a nice resume. She had become a singing star, with a couple of hits to her name. Sadly, the only record of hers that I own, "First Name Initial," has a beat up picture sleeve that kind of obscures her loveliness, but it is all that I have.

Anyway, she appeared in many, many movies and TV shows, including the remake of "The March of the Wooden Soldiers, "Babes in Toyland," which was far inferior to the original, its only asset, or assets, being Annette.

She also was on many TV shows, and had a semi-regular gig on "Make Room For Daddy."

But even the early 1960s weren't as conservative as the 1950s were, and people seemingly wanted to see what kids were doing in their spare time, especially California kids, and the exploitative genre of the beach movie was created, and was seemingly created to highlight Annette ... and her now very voluptuous figure.

A whole series of cheapo beach movies were released, such as "Beach Blanket Bingo" and "How To Stuff a Wild Bikini." Annette and her long-time pal Frankie Avalon starred in many of these, basically portrayed as the virginal couple against the forces of some type of evil.

Now, while these films showcased the figures of Annette and other women--including a very young Linda Evans--Annette's character was such that they had to downplay her assets, so if you watch the films, she is probably the most covered up of any of the female stars of those films.

Sure, those bathing suits showed plenty, but Annette didn't show as much, and that was done purposely.

But whatever the case, these films were like printing money, and each made millions upon millions of dollars in an era where you could show a lot, but couldn't show everything yet on film.

During this period, she married, had children, and rumor has it that she turned down Hugh Hefner's plea to have her pose nude in Playboy. She said she wouldn't do it because, to paraphrase, "Walt Disney wouldn't like it."

As the 1960s wound down, she kind of wound down too. She felt the need to become more of a full-time mother, so she kept her appearances to a minimum. She did appear in one of my all-time favorite films, the Monkees "Head" film, as one of the guest stars, and she was pretty ubiquitous in numerous commercials for Jif peanut butter. And she also appeared on numerous game shows too.

In the 1980s, with nostalgia running high on the 1960s, she was cast with her old pal Avalon in "Back to the Beach," a retro comedy about the beach.

Annette was missing lines, missing her cues, didn't feel well all the time and reports are that she had herself checked out, and the diagnosis was not a good one.

She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, the debilitating illness that can rob one of muscle control, among other things. She finished the film--the movie was so successful that there was talk of more films and even a TV show based on the film--did promotions for it, but then faded off to deal with her illness.

She set up her own MS foundation, and progressively got worse with the disease.

Annette became the face of MS for as long as she could, but then the illness got her, and got her really badly.

At the time of her death, she reportedly was in an MS coma from the effects of the disease. She could not walk, could not speak, and needed around the clock care.

To me, Annette was one of the world's great beauties. She could have used her assets for all they were worth, but at the height of her fame, she decided that domesticity was her preferred way of life.

She will live on forever in all her movies, music and TV appearances as an icon for a different era, one where we knew when to stop when it came to personal sexuality.

Annette, to me, is one of the major symbols of that era, and I don't think that anyone who was around during that period will ever forget her.

I know that I won't.

Rant #2,287: Come On, Get Happy

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good morning!

The big day came and went for me, and I guess it represented the ultimate gift for this particular overworked person--a few days off to recharge my batteries.

Once my family and I got some things in order that needed some immediate updating, we were able to spend a decent holiday together, most of the time doing next to nothing, which was fine with me.

On Christmas Day, the highlight of the day for my family could not be found in presents, but in presence, and being home to soak it all in.

The holiday simply isn't what it once was, and certain businesses know that there is money to be made even on Christmas. For one, the Burger King by us was open on a shortened schedule, as were several diners and other places where if you didn't want to cook, you didn't have to.

For me, personally, what could have been a real boring day--and yes, it was boring to an extent--was made a little move lively by the fact that the New York Knicks always play on Christmas Day--or for 53 of the past 72 years they have--and they had the Christmas matinee yesterday, against the Milwaukee Bucks at festive Madison Square Garden.

The game was televised on ESPN, and I was there way before the 12 noon start of the game--the first of four NBA games that day--to see the Knicks play one of the best teams in the league, led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, one of the game's biggest stars.

The Knicks are rebuilding, and doing it brick by brick, literally, and it showed, as the Bucks walloped the Knicks--not that I had even a minor feeling that the Knicks would win this game.

When the game was over, I decided to become adventurous, and I went from watching the Knicks--an absolutely terrible team--to a team of yore that was absolutely terrific.

Somehow, on YouTube, somebody found a rusty old tape of the last and final ABA game, from 1976, the year of our bicentennial, when the then-New York Nets beat the Denver Nuggets to win the final ABA championship.

The video can be accessed at https://youtu.be/tmsX7GZbblY

I happened to be at that game--and was at all the Nets playoff games that year--so I was part of history, in a way, because a few months later, the NBA and ABA merged, and the upstart league was no more.

But I got to see Julius Erving at his finest, and during this game and series, I also got to see several other players at the height of their prowess, including Dan Issel, Bobby Jones, David Thompson, Brian Taylor, Al Skinner, and, of course, Super John Williamson.

And the hair, the clothes, the uniforms--pure 1970s schtick, and you just had to laugh at these things, things that could only have been looked at as "normal" looks in the 1970s.

The video, which suffers from up and down audio and video throughout--really brought back so many memories of the original Nassau Coliseum, and when that arena was relatively new.

The colors were so garish, even for somebody so color deficient as I am, but again, this was the 1970s.

And yes, as I marveled at Dr. J and wondered how tiny Monty Towe was even in this league, I also searched for myself in the video. My friends and I were sitting in the middle section to the left behind one of the baskets, and the video did show very long shots of that area, so I probably was on the video, but there was no way I could make myself out.

It was too fuzzy, too grainy, but what I could see was that this was simply a great game, probably the best, most exciting basketball game I ever attended.

The place, for once, was packed with more than 15,000 fans, very unusual for a Nets team that rarely drew half of that amount during normal games.

The place was jumping, it was if a Knicks crowd came to the Coliseum, and the players gave their maximum effort.

Some interesting points that I had forgotten from 42 years ago included that the game was televised by then fledgling Home Box Office--not yet HBO--and regular programming, including several movies, were pushed back or postponed by the televising of this game, which they must have gotten the rights to at the last possible moment, as the two announcers--more about them later--gave a list of postponements and changes early on in the game for Home Box Office across the country.

The two announcers--Steve "Yes My Brother Is Marv"--Albert, who became much more famous for boxing announcing than for basketball announcing during his long career--was the lead announcer, with Bob Goldsholl--a local announcer for hire who was a popular sports figure during the 1970s and 1980s on New York TV--doing the color.

They were the TV announcers for the Nets at the time, and you can hear in their voices that while they were supposed to be impartial, they were out and out rooting for the Nets to win this game.

(As an aside, doing the radio feed was John Sterling, who went on to become the New York Yankees' beloved announcer.)

And I had forgotten a lot of little things about the game. I did remember that the Nets were down 22 points in the third quarter, and managed to storm back late in the fourth quarter, but I thought I remembered that Julius Erving took over the game and really was the dominant force bringing the Nets all the way back and finally winning out.

Boy, was I wrong! Dr. J had his usual game--31 points, and a large amount of rebounds and assists--but it was a relatively quiet, less bombastic game from him. A revelation to me was that Super John Williamson and Brian Taylor were the guys who cemented this win, along with Jim Eakins, a journeyman center who had the game of his life in this contest.

Dr. J won the MVP award for the series, but he was more a cog in the machine than the lead processor.

I had forgotten that, forgotten that completely.

The cameras went into the locker room to view the hubbub that happens after every championship game in every sport, and the two announcers were engulfed in people as well as in champagne.

And I did see one of the ball boys--if I was 19 years old when this game was played, then this kid must have been 15 or 16--take a "zup" of champagne, which you would never see today, and for good reason.

And although this was not on the video, of course, I did remember that it was impossible to get out of the Coliseum that day, and it probably took at least an hour or more to drive back home.

Forty two years later, the Coliseum still stands, but in another form. The New York Nets have morphed into the Brooklyn Nets, and have set down roots in Kings County after a long stint in New Jersey. The Coliseum is home to the Nets' G-League team, the Long Island Nets, but if they get 2,000 fans a game, it is a lot.

And I am in my 60s now. That is a change in itself that when I watch a video like this, I really can't fathom or believe. Where have all the years gone?

So that is what I did on Christmas Day, It was fun watching the game in 2018, but it was even more fun watching the game from way back when, when Dr. J was the greatest basketball player on the planet and I, as a 19 year old, thought that people in their 60s were, well, old.

It is great to look back, isn't it?

Classic Rant #937 (April 8, 2013): Net Gain

On Saturday evening, my son and I visited the brand spanking new Barclays Center in Brooklyn to take in a Nets game.

I had heard a lot about it from other people who have seen events there, so I figured I would take it in with my son in tow.

I was born in Brooklyn, had roots in Brooklyn for years, but since my grandmother passed away in the early 1990s, my visits to my old home borough have been few and far between.

And during that time, urban blight kicked into the borough, but right now, Brooklyn is actually the hot place to be in New York City, with major retailers, tony shops and high-end residents literally erasing the urban decay and replacing it with the upscale.

We made our way to the game a few hours before it was to begin, as we were coming from Long Island. It is a bit of a trip, made worse by the fact that unlike going to Madison Square Garden, where you take one train into Penn Station, to go to Atlantic Terminal in Brooklyn during this time of day, you have to take two trains, changing at another of my old hometowns, Jamaica.

It was only a slight hassle for us, as the connecting train was waiting for us as we got there. We boarded the train, and onto Brooklyn we went.

The Barclays Center, literally right across the street from the Long Island Railroad station, looks like a spaceship had landed right on Flatbush Avenue. Sure, you've got the Best Buys and Pathmarks around it, but this huge facility still kind of looks out of place in a neighborhood that was once known for its smaller, mom and pop businesses.

Anyway, we got there slightly early, and waited to get in. Once inside, we made our way to our seats. We were sitting in the upper 200 section, and let me tell you, I do mean upper. This was the steepest climb I have made since we were last at Yankee Stadium, and the lighting all the way at the top is absolutely terrible.

The row numbers are displayed so poorly up there, and the lighting is so poor, that even the usher didn't know where our seats were, and she admitted this to us. But between the three of us, we found our seats, and from there, we were fine.

I went to get food, and you can find just about everything there, from sandwiches, burgers, to pizza. The price is pretty steep--three slices of pizza, one water and one soda cost me $28--but the pizza was actually pretty good.

As was the game. With the place pretty much sold out, the Nets beat the dreadful Charlotte Bobcats 105-96. The Nets were actually outplayed by the horrible, but tenacious, Bobcats team for about 99 percent of the game, but talent finally won out, and the Nets pulled away in the last minute or so.

As a Knicks fan, I was kind of rooting for the Bobcats, but my old Net pride showed. In the rafters of the building were the championship pennants from those years in the ABA when the Nets were one of the dominant teams in that fledgling league.

Also, there were the retired numbers of such great players as Julius Erving and "Super John" Williamson. I used to go to Nassau Coliseum all the time in the 1970s to see this team play, and it brought back lots of memories.

I had not seen the Nets play a home game since the final game of the history of the ABA in 1976, when the Nets won that league's final championship before being absorbed into the NBA, so it was pretty much a thrill to see them again 37 years later, and put up a win. As I said, I was kind of rooting for the Bobcats, but looking back, not really.

I guess I did want the Nets to win.

As the game ended, people slowly filed out of the arena, and I found it interesting that the down escalators were actually working. It's been my experience that at the end of games in arenas like Madison Square Garden, you can use the escalators, but they are turned off for safety reasons, so it is more like using the stairs. Here, the escalators were on. Very curious indeed.

Anyway, we proceeded out to the street, and walked to the railroad station. Our train to Jamaica was waiting for us, and within minutes, we sped off.

The train in Jamaica wasn't waiting for us, and we had to wait about 15 minutes for our connection. Not great, but the weather was nice, so it wasn't that bad.

We got home at about 11:45, so everything went pretty smoothly, I must say.

The Barclays Center is truly a beautiful arena. It has everything a fan would want from an arena, including good sight lines and other amenities.

No, I don't think I would sit so far up again, but all in all, I really liked the place.

As an alternative to going to Madison Square Garden, that is just what it is.

There is nothing like seeing an event in the Garden, but we will visit Brooklyn again next season.

You can count on that.

Rant #2,286: Wonderful Christmastime

Well, here we are, just a few days before the big day that we all have been waiting for, which is, of course, Christmas Day on Tuesday, December 25.

And as an aside, as I have outlined in the past, I do look forward to the holiday too, not for its religious implications, not for its gift giving tone, but because it gives me a few days off to exhale.

I am also off from work on Monday, December 24, so I have what amounts to a four day weekend to look back, to look forward, and to try to relax.

This has been a very, very tough year for myself and my family, so just when I thought we would get a breather this year during the holiday, something else happened yesterday that just jumped onto the black cloud that my family has been under seemingly the entire year.

But we will survive, we will make it through this latest crisis, although it certainly will not be easy.

But back to Christmas, the thing that I think I like about it the most is that when you walk around, you see everyone with a pep in their step that they don't have at other times throughout the year.

Maybe it is simply that they are in a rush to buy presents, but whatever it is, people seem to be moving around with a kick in their step this time of year.

And I do mean in their step, and only in their step.

I don't know what it is, but driving this year has been worse than I have ever seen it.

People are doing the craziest things on the roads, and I personally have avoided several accident situations because, well, I happen to be a very good driver.

I have never seen so many people going through red lights in my life, and it is making me think that perhaps every light in my area should be outfitted with cameras, and tickets given to the perpetrators.

On Wednesday, I just avoided not one, but two red light jumpers at the same light, and thankfully, the car behind me was paying attention as I was, because he could have easily rear ended me as I slammed on my brakes to avoid these two fools, one after the other.

And yesterday, somebody simply decided to go through not one, but two lights as I was making a turn at my green light, and somehow, I avoided this dummy too.

A pep in the step I can take, but people who are in such a hurry that they turn their cars into potential death machines ... no, been there, done that, and I don't want to have to go through that again.

So have a "Wonderful Christmastime," as Paul McCartney warbled some years ago in his classic Yuletide song, one of my favorite Christmas songs due to its relative simplicity and theme.

Have a great weekend, a great holiday, and I will speak to you again on Wednesday, which, by the way, is both the first day of Kwaanza and my sister's xxth birthday ... as well as Boxing Day in England.

And it is a workday too! Will wonders never cease?

I guess it is truly a season of wonders, isn't it?

Classic Rant #936 (April 5, 2013): Thumb's Up

Yesterday, renowned film critic Roger Ebert lost his long battle with cancer.

Ebert was best known for his verbal sparring with fellow Chicago film critic Gene Siskel on "At the Movies" and various shows which pitted the two against each other, critiquing movies and at the same time, trying to one-up themselves.

It was entertaining television, and became must-see television just to see the two of them go at it.

They were rivals in print, writing for two Chicago-based rival newspapers, and they brought all of that verve to the TV screen.

Some say that movie critics are failed screenwriters or actors, and in Ebert's case, this might have been true.

Few remember that Ebert wrote the screenplay for arguably one of the worst films ever released by a major studio, "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls," a Russ Meyer concoction, that was about the exploits of a female rock and roll group.

Even by 1970s standards--when sexuality on the screen had finally moved from adult movies to major motion pictures--this movie was bad, really bad, but has become something of a cult classic during the past 40-plus years.

After that fiasco--a period which Ebert actually always looked fondly upon--he stuck pretty much to movies, something he was very good at.

And on the show, when Ebert and/or Siskel gave a thumb's up to a movie, it was a stamp of approval, a film that you could go and see and enjoy.

A thumb's down could kill a film right then and there.

I think that the power of that show was that it was more than two professional film critics arguing about the merits of the latest films.

Neither was what one would call a matinee idol, and it was like you were arguing about how good a film was with your next door neighbor or your best friend. That is what those two brought to that show.

And even though it was a simple premise, they made it work.

I always found Siskel to be the slightly snobbish one, pointing to film as more than art, a very aloof character who thought he knew more than the average fellow about the movies.

Ebert, to me, was more the everyman, the guy who knew plenty about the movies but was more grounded than his fellow critic.

Siskel died several years ago, and Ebert carried on without his TV partner in various forms.

By the way, he is the only film critic with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.

When the cancer hit, and it affected his jaw and his speaking, he was bright enough to use the newest technologies to keep his name prominent and his voice heard.

It was just announced earlier this week that Ebert's cancer had returned, and evidently, he went quickly.

So here's a thumb's up to Roger Ebert, who can now argue the virtues of film with his TV partner, Gene Siskel, once again.

I am sure the rivalry is still intact in the great beyond. They wouldn't have it any other way.

Rant #2,285: Bubblegum Is the Naked Truth (Part 4)

Yes, we are nearing the end of this quest to list the greatest bubblegum music hits of all time.

Nobody asked anybody to draw up such a list, but with the 50th anniversary of the height of the bubblegum music experience in 2018, time was getting sparse to celebrate this when it should be celebrated, so it was now or never.

I chose now.

To review, here are the top 15 bubblegum hits of all time, as chosen by yours truly:

1) Archies - "Sugar Sugar"

2) Monkees - "I'm a Believer"

3) Ohio Express - "Yummy Yummy Yummy"

4) 1910 Fruitgum Co. - "1, 2, 3 Red Light"

5) Beatles - "I Want To Hold Your Hand"

6) Tommy James and the Shondells - "I Think We're Alone Now"

7) Tommy Roe - "Dizzy"

8) 1910 Fruitgum Co. - "Simon Says"

9) Ohio Express - "Chewy Chewy"

10) Beatles - "She Loves You"
11) Lemon Pipers - "Green Tambourine"
12) Herman's Hermits 0 "I'm Henry VIII, I Am
13) Jackson 5 - "ABC"
14) Jackson 5 - "I Want You Back"
15) Partridge Family - "I Think I Love You"

And here are numbers 16 through 20.

16) Bobby Sherman - "Julie, Do Ya Love Me": Actually, any of his spate of hits from 1960 to 1971 or so could have been considered here, but I picked this No. 5 tune from 1970, written by Tom Bahler, because I think it epitomizes everything good about bubblegum: singalong lyrics, happiness, and well, some type of latent sexuality. Sherman had been around for at least a decade in Hollywood before he finally hit paydirt, but when he did, he and David Cassidy picked up after Davy Jones as TV's most popular teenybopper singer. Sherman was spurred on by his starring role in "Here Comes the Brides," and he had arguably the best hair of any TV personality ever. Perfect for bubblegum idolatry. 

17) Tommy James and the Shondells - "Mony Mony": James might be the godfather of bubblegum music, but if you read his book about his dealings with his record label, he took great offense at that designation. Nonetheless, this 1968 tune, written by Bobbie Bloom, Ritchie Cordell, Bo Gentry and James himself, again features all the facets of bubblegum music which are good. James confirmed in his book that the title of the tune--a song that reached No. 3 on the charts--came from the Mutual of New York (MONY) building in Manhattan.

18) Shirley Ellis - "The Name Game": If James was the reluctant godfather of bubblegum music, then Ellis was the godmother. She had several tunes that really laid the groundwork for bubblegum, including "The Clapping Song," but this particular tune, written by Ellis and her husband Lincoln Chase, really hit the nail on the head in 1964, basically creating a music game where you took a name and bent it and stretched it in a fun way. The song reached No. 3 on the chart, and while the name "Nick" was immortalized in the song, the name "Chuck" was not!

19) American Breed - "Bend Me, Shape Me": Well, if Ellis' song bent and stretched names, this song bent and shaped our minds, becoming one of the great music earworms of all time. Written by Scott English and Larry Weiss, this tune--which reached No. 5 on the Hot 100 in 1968--also features an incredible hook, one of the best in the annals of bubblegum history. And if you thumb your nose at the song and the band, let it be known that two members of this act went on to form Rufus, the rock and roll hall of famers which made a star out of Chaka Khan.

20) Monkees - "Valleri": Why not choose the Monkees' other No. 1 hits--"Last Train to Clarksville" and "Daydream Believer"--to be on this list? The reason is that this particular 1968 smash, which reached No. 3 on the chart and was written by all-time bubblegum hitmakers Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, has more elements of bubblegum than those two other songs, which were very subtle message songs. This song was just bubblegum from beginning to end, featuring Davy Jones at his bubblegum and teenybopper finest. Incredibly. the song is important in the annals of rock and roll history, as one the earliest bootlegged tunes, having been out since 1966 but not legitimately on record until two years later. DJs took the track off the TV show and played it two years before it was legitimately released. And you thought Bob Dylan's music was the earliest of the bootlegs!

Well, there you have it, the top 20 best bubblegum tunes of all time.

Next week, we will round out the list of the top 25, and let me tell you, there are about 25 different tunes that could be in the final five on this list, but by next week, I will whittle it down to just five--and it won't be easy.

Bubblegum music really is the naked truth, but it is also really difficult to compile a list like this.

Speak to you again tomorrow.

Classic Rant #935 (April 4, 2013): Pay Cuts

It was announced yesterday that President Obama will be taking a 5 percent pay cut on his annual $400,000 salary.

He is reportedly doing this to show solidarity to other federal workers, who face furloughs if an agreement against overall federal pay cuts--called sequestration--is not reached soon.

Bully for the President. It's a nice move, a good cosmetic move, but what actually does it all mean?

Not much, really not much.

Just on the face of it, taking a 5 percent salary cut from his salary amounts to not much at all, especially when you add in the expenses that he gets paid away from his salary.

I mean, when was the last time he and first lady went supermarket shopping or gassed up the family car?

Look, I know, he can't take furlough days off, like what is facing other federal workers if Congress--and he himself--do not come to some type of agreement on these cuts.

But let's look at the federal worker, what he or she faces, and that is where the real problem in this whole thing rests.

If a federal worker is making $50,000, let's say, and he has to take a furlough day off a week for the next six months, we are talking about a major bite from his paycheck, thousands of dollars for people who can least afford it, especially those with families.

Their only perks are that they get just about every holiday off, certainly not the perks the President gets.

These are real people with potentially real money problems coming up if this thing isn't settled, but let's face it; why should politicians really care about the people that they serve and the hardships they are going through?

Many of these elected officials are themselves making nice six-figure salaries, and they get plenty of perks too. And that is just from their jobs as Congressmen. Many of them also get salaries from other positions they hold outside of their elected duties, so certainly enough of them are doing well enough to make them almost aloof and apart from the constituents they are supposed to be serving.

I mean, what salary will they be losing in all of this?

Why the President and Congress have not gotten together yet to stop sequestration dead in its tracks is beyond my comprehension. It greatly impacts so many other things beyond what my focus is here--including the military--that you really have to wonder about these guys and gals we have elected to represent us.

What are their true goals in Washington?

Honestly, if this thing is not resolved soon, cuts are going to impact everyone. It has already happened. Although not necessarily tied into sequestration, look at your own paycheck. It is like we took a hit already, as our paychecks are smaller.

And I don't know about you, but my taxes went sky high.

Personally, I would vote any of our elected officials out of office if they do not produce during their first terms. Of course, people won't do that, but that is the only way, seemingly, to get anything done in Washington.

Bring in new blood, I say, eager people who haven't yet yet been taken in by their own egos as Washington politicians.

I would also limit the Presidential term to six years, and just one single term.

Look, if you can't get things done in six years, why do you deserve another chance?

As we have it now, the President can serve two four-year terms, but what is the first term anyway?

Is it just so he can get his feet wet in the way things are done in Washington?

Heck, I hate talking about this stuff, but let's face it, everyone is affected by it, so it must be talked about.

And when I read that the President is taking a pay cut, well, what's that all really about, anyway?

He should be doing more, much more, to make Americans feel confident again.

Taking a tiny pay cut like this isn't really doing anything, is it?

What is the point?