“It’s What’s Happening,
Baby.”
And yes, it was what was happening back in 1965.
Back then, I was an eight-year-old in a brand-new housing development, Rochdale Village in South Jamaica, Queens, New York, back then, the largest cooperative housing development in the world.
The development was rising up around me, with new buildings and structures seemingly rising up from nothing everyday.
It is a little difficult to describe the magic of this place to people who did not live there back then, but there was a real cooperative energy between all that lived there, because we were all in pretty much the same boat, young and old, black and white, kid and adult.
This was a “new” type of housing development, and we were all going to make it work.
And it did for a few years, but then it kind of was eaten up by its own weighty expectations, as well as the fact that we were talking about the late 1960s, where changes were happening at every level of our lives that was pretty much overshadowed the original goals of the development.
Anyway, back to 1965 … “It’s What’s Happening, Baby.”
The federal government had its own vision back then. Remember, these were the LBJ years, when the legacy of the JFK years was still intact, to a certain extent.
These were the Civil Rights years, where Dr. Martin Luther led marches through our cities and where legislation was put in place to make equality the law of the land.
The federal government wanted everyone to join in on this crusade, and what better place to do it than Rochdale Village?
The community was something of a template for what the government wanted, a brand new development where blacks and whites lived together in perfect harmony, a 75-percent white community—mainly Jewish—right smack dab in the middle of one of the longest running black communities in America.
So while not directly designed for Rochdale Village, the federal government’s Office of Economic Opportunity came up with a way to garner kudos for all of these changes happening in our world, and in June 1965, “It’s What’s Happening, Baby” premiered on the CBS network.
It was an hour show filled to the brim with the top acts of the day, mainly black acts from Motown—led by the Four Tops, Temptations, Martha and the Vandellas, Marvin Gaye and the Supremes—mixed in with some white acts, including Gary Lewis and the Playboys and Herman’s Hermits.
And there were the true crossover acts, the white soul acts who could really bring it to the table—the Righteous Brothers, of course.
And who led this parade of stars?
And yes, it was what was happening back in 1965.
Back then, I was an eight-year-old in a brand-new housing development, Rochdale Village in South Jamaica, Queens, New York, back then, the largest cooperative housing development in the world.
The development was rising up around me, with new buildings and structures seemingly rising up from nothing everyday.
It is a little difficult to describe the magic of this place to people who did not live there back then, but there was a real cooperative energy between all that lived there, because we were all in pretty much the same boat, young and old, black and white, kid and adult.
This was a “new” type of housing development, and we were all going to make it work.
And it did for a few years, but then it kind of was eaten up by its own weighty expectations, as well as the fact that we were talking about the late 1960s, where changes were happening at every level of our lives that was pretty much overshadowed the original goals of the development.
Anyway, back to 1965 … “It’s What’s Happening, Baby.”
The federal government had its own vision back then. Remember, these were the LBJ years, when the legacy of the JFK years was still intact, to a certain extent.
These were the Civil Rights years, where Dr. Martin Luther led marches through our cities and where legislation was put in place to make equality the law of the land.
The federal government wanted everyone to join in on this crusade, and what better place to do it than Rochdale Village?
The community was something of a template for what the government wanted, a brand new development where blacks and whites lived together in perfect harmony, a 75-percent white community—mainly Jewish—right smack dab in the middle of one of the longest running black communities in America.
So while not directly designed for Rochdale Village, the federal government’s Office of Economic Opportunity came up with a way to garner kudos for all of these changes happening in our world, and in June 1965, “It’s What’s Happening, Baby” premiered on the CBS network.
It was an hour show filled to the brim with the top acts of the day, mainly black acts from Motown—led by the Four Tops, Temptations, Martha and the Vandellas, Marvin Gaye and the Supremes—mixed in with some white acts, including Gary Lewis and the Playboys and Herman’s Hermits.
And there were the true crossover acts, the white soul acts who could really bring it to the table—the Righteous Brothers, of course.
And who led this parade of stars?
Murray “The K” Kaufman, one of the most popular disk jockeys of the time, who was creating his own persona as not only one of the most popular personalities on radio, but his empire also included television, concert promotion and records.
He had turned “Submarine Races” into a profitable business venture, with lots on the side, and it was evidently his pull that brought in all of these acts to do the show--
And his own persona catchphrase.
Many of the acts were filed live at his own concerts held in Brooklyn, like Dionne Warwick and the nearly forgotten Chuck Jackson.
A real revelation on the show was Little Anthony and the Imperials, who performed live and did more dance splits than a banana and ice cream could ever handle.
Other acts were filed in almost “video-like” settings, such as the Hermits—right on the streets of New York—and Gary Lewis and his band—at the beach somewhere, in a segment reminiscent of what was being shown during the same time period on ABC’s “Where the Action Is,” precursors to “The Monkees” TV show on NBC..
One such striking “video-like” performance was buy the Ronettes, in a musical segment which must have turned some people on their ears, as the ladies pursue a boy—a white boy—again on the streets of New York.
All of this was done with racial harmony in mind, that we could do it all if we bought into the government’s plan.
Again, this was 1965, and our eyes and minds were still in Camelot. Whether the plan worked was up for discussion, but this show was good, a forgotten classic of its time.
I remember watching this show, and I remember that our community was alerted to the program with flyers and other means preceding its broadcast.
I mean, we had already bought into the plan living in our community, and this was the way the government deemed it was supposed to be.
Anyway, the decades passed, and this show was a relic of the times, pretty much forgotten. I know that I forgot all about it.
But this weekend, during another pledge drive, the show was unearthed, brought back to almost crystal clear standards in glorious black and white, and it was shown for the first time since 1965 on PBS stations.
The show was only an hour, and a fast-moving hour at that, but pledge drives pad these shows with talk, talk and more talk as they try to get your money.
This show was pretty much like that, but the pledge breaks were filled with interviews with those performers who were on the show, including the Hermits’ Peter Noone and Mary Wilson of the Supremes.
Ironically, it was Wilson’s final interview before she passed away a few weeks ago.
Anyway, to sum it all up, I watched this show, and I remembered one thing from it—that Fred Gwynne of “The Munsters” appeared unbilled as Herman Munster during one of the musical segments.
I did not remember the segment—it was Cannibal and the Headhunters; “Land of 1,000 Dances”—but I remember that he danced with the other dancers during the segment.
I watched with my wife, and when I saw “Herman” appear over a hill, I knew that my memory was 1,000-percent intact.
You just have to watch this show when it comes on again on your local PBS station—it will be on during March and I think into early April around the country—and you will be totally amazed at the talent on this show.
Murray “The K” prances around almost every segment in one way or another, and while he eventually burned himself out—as Alan Freed did—he was also a relic of the time period, and his own performance is not to be missed.
I implore you, you have to see this show, you just have to.
“It’s What’s Happening, Baby.”
Many of the acts were filed live at his own concerts held in Brooklyn, like Dionne Warwick and the nearly forgotten Chuck Jackson.
A real revelation on the show was Little Anthony and the Imperials, who performed live and did more dance splits than a banana and ice cream could ever handle.
Other acts were filed in almost “video-like” settings, such as the Hermits—right on the streets of New York—and Gary Lewis and his band—at the beach somewhere, in a segment reminiscent of what was being shown during the same time period on ABC’s “Where the Action Is,” precursors to “The Monkees” TV show on NBC..
One such striking “video-like” performance was buy the Ronettes, in a musical segment which must have turned some people on their ears, as the ladies pursue a boy—a white boy—again on the streets of New York.
All of this was done with racial harmony in mind, that we could do it all if we bought into the government’s plan.
Again, this was 1965, and our eyes and minds were still in Camelot. Whether the plan worked was up for discussion, but this show was good, a forgotten classic of its time.
I remember watching this show, and I remember that our community was alerted to the program with flyers and other means preceding its broadcast.
I mean, we had already bought into the plan living in our community, and this was the way the government deemed it was supposed to be.
Anyway, the decades passed, and this show was a relic of the times, pretty much forgotten. I know that I forgot all about it.
But this weekend, during another pledge drive, the show was unearthed, brought back to almost crystal clear standards in glorious black and white, and it was shown for the first time since 1965 on PBS stations.
The show was only an hour, and a fast-moving hour at that, but pledge drives pad these shows with talk, talk and more talk as they try to get your money.
This show was pretty much like that, but the pledge breaks were filled with interviews with those performers who were on the show, including the Hermits’ Peter Noone and Mary Wilson of the Supremes.
Ironically, it was Wilson’s final interview before she passed away a few weeks ago.
Anyway, to sum it all up, I watched this show, and I remembered one thing from it—that Fred Gwynne of “The Munsters” appeared unbilled as Herman Munster during one of the musical segments.
I did not remember the segment—it was Cannibal and the Headhunters; “Land of 1,000 Dances”—but I remember that he danced with the other dancers during the segment.
I watched with my wife, and when I saw “Herman” appear over a hill, I knew that my memory was 1,000-percent intact.
You just have to watch this show when it comes on again on your local PBS station—it will be on during March and I think into early April around the country—and you will be totally amazed at the talent on this show.
Murray “The K” prances around almost every segment in one way or another, and while he eventually burned himself out—as Alan Freed did—he was also a relic of the time period, and his own performance is not to be missed.
I implore you, you have to see this show, you just have to.
“It’s What’s Happening, Baby.”
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.