Relax.
That is what I need to do, and I think that in this pandemic-laced world, we all need to slow down a bit.
And that is why after many months of not shamelessly plugging something that I do, I am going to do just that right now.
So here is my shameless plug:
I am a Baby Boomer, and I am a Baby Boomer inside and out.
While the world is not my oyster anymore, it doesn’t mean that the values that I learned as a kid don’t cross over into today’s world.
They certainly do, and I think that we need them more than ever today.
And that leads me to plug my Facebook site, which is called "Where the Action is—Yesterday and Today … and Tomorrow.”
You can find it right here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/598790963991601
It is a fun site, a site where no politics are spoken about, a site that is just fun, fun, and more fun.
The site focuses on the TV show “Where the Action Is,” an ABC afternoon show that ran during all or part of three TV seasons, from 1965 to 1967 on the network.
ABC was the fledgling, third network at the time, and they were starting to build up an impressive lineup of shows that appealed to younger viewers like me, everything from sitcoms like “Bewitched” to soap operas like “Dark Shadows.”
One of its most popular mainstays was “American Bandstand” hosted by Dick Clark, where the hottest acts and dances were featured first daily, and then once a week on Saturday.
Weekday daytime was still a big hole in the network schedule, as it was populated by soap operas basically appealing to stay-at-home women, and Clark wanted to get into that part of the business, so he designed this show, “Where the Action Is,” to focus on Baby Boomers and their music.
The “Action” in the title took place at parks, amusement parks, beaches, really anywhere that kids could gather and watch performers who appealed to their age group sing the hit songs of the day.
The black and white show was first pitched to CBS, but they rejected it, and ABC grabbed it just as fast, as a half hour weekday show which kind of ran with their Baby Boomer focus at the time.
Running from Monday to Friday each week, the show featured the hottest recording acts of the day—less the Beatles, Rolling Stones and the Dave Clark Five—and also created new ones.
Hosted by Steve Alaimo and Linda Scott—two kind of bland but very talented personalities who had interesting recording careers themselves—the show not only brought the “American Bandstand” credo of Baby Boomer fun to weekday afternoons, but it also made stars out of several previously unknown acts, including Tina Mason, Keith Allison, and, of course, Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Northwest rockers who were perfect runaway stars, what with their Revolutionary War getups, their boy next door looks, their antics, and, of course, their garage band music, which was a mix of everyone from the Beatles to the Kinks to the Rolling Stones all rolled into one.
Anyway, the show lasted into 1967, when I believe that that time period was given back to local ABC affiliates to program themselves.
The interesting thing about “Where the Action Is” is that in the more than 50 years since it ran its final show, it has never been officially anthologized, and only a relatively small segment of episodes last to this day, mostly in hard to watch, kinescope form.
The stuff that exists is really incredible, showcasing performers who had scant time on the air mixed with others who appeared on TV frequently even after the show’s demise, most prominently the Raiders, of course.
Right before Dick Clark passed away, he was supposedly working on something with these episodes, but with his passing, whatever he was doing with them went to grave with him.
You can find a lot of the episodes and performances on YouTube, but that leads me to my site …
The site I run talks about one thing, and one thing only, and that is “Where the Action Is.” Every day I put up a “Today In WTAI History” blurb, where I list who was on the show on a particular day, such as today, October 7.
I also try to match a clip of the daily “Song of the Day” with what I can find on YouTube, which isn’t always that easy to do, but I have found plenty of material there.
And then site members talk about the clip, bring up their memories of the song or the act, and I am happy to say we have members who were actually either on the show—a few of the Action Kids dancers are members—or were in the audience during the tapings.
It is a fun site, nothing more, a place to spend a few minutes a day just to look back at a different time un our lives, and that the fun that we had that was really backboned by the music that we listened to.
And remember, this is music that was pre-Woodstock, just touching on the rising psychedelic craze that was coming around at the time, so the music is pretty safe, much of what you would hear on your favorite Top 40 AM radio station at the time with a few extras.
So if you are into the original Supremes, Question Mark and the Mysterians, the original Kinks, the Standells and the antics of Paul Revere and the Raiders, this is the site for you.
So again, the site address is https://www.facebook.com/groups/598790963991601
Give it a try. I think you might like it.
And the word “pandemic” is never used on the site, which is a real plus in and of itself.
That is what I need to do, and I think that in this pandemic-laced world, we all need to slow down a bit.
And that is why after many months of not shamelessly plugging something that I do, I am going to do just that right now.
So here is my shameless plug:
I am a Baby Boomer, and I am a Baby Boomer inside and out.
While the world is not my oyster anymore, it doesn’t mean that the values that I learned as a kid don’t cross over into today’s world.
They certainly do, and I think that we need them more than ever today.
And that leads me to plug my Facebook site, which is called "Where the Action is—Yesterday and Today … and Tomorrow.”
You can find it right here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/598790963991601
It is a fun site, a site where no politics are spoken about, a site that is just fun, fun, and more fun.
The site focuses on the TV show “Where the Action Is,” an ABC afternoon show that ran during all or part of three TV seasons, from 1965 to 1967 on the network.
ABC was the fledgling, third network at the time, and they were starting to build up an impressive lineup of shows that appealed to younger viewers like me, everything from sitcoms like “Bewitched” to soap operas like “Dark Shadows.”
One of its most popular mainstays was “American Bandstand” hosted by Dick Clark, where the hottest acts and dances were featured first daily, and then once a week on Saturday.
Weekday daytime was still a big hole in the network schedule, as it was populated by soap operas basically appealing to stay-at-home women, and Clark wanted to get into that part of the business, so he designed this show, “Where the Action Is,” to focus on Baby Boomers and their music.
The “Action” in the title took place at parks, amusement parks, beaches, really anywhere that kids could gather and watch performers who appealed to their age group sing the hit songs of the day.
The black and white show was first pitched to CBS, but they rejected it, and ABC grabbed it just as fast, as a half hour weekday show which kind of ran with their Baby Boomer focus at the time.
Running from Monday to Friday each week, the show featured the hottest recording acts of the day—less the Beatles, Rolling Stones and the Dave Clark Five—and also created new ones.
Hosted by Steve Alaimo and Linda Scott—two kind of bland but very talented personalities who had interesting recording careers themselves—the show not only brought the “American Bandstand” credo of Baby Boomer fun to weekday afternoons, but it also made stars out of several previously unknown acts, including Tina Mason, Keith Allison, and, of course, Paul Revere and the Raiders, the Northwest rockers who were perfect runaway stars, what with their Revolutionary War getups, their boy next door looks, their antics, and, of course, their garage band music, which was a mix of everyone from the Beatles to the Kinks to the Rolling Stones all rolled into one.
Anyway, the show lasted into 1967, when I believe that that time period was given back to local ABC affiliates to program themselves.
The interesting thing about “Where the Action Is” is that in the more than 50 years since it ran its final show, it has never been officially anthologized, and only a relatively small segment of episodes last to this day, mostly in hard to watch, kinescope form.
The stuff that exists is really incredible, showcasing performers who had scant time on the air mixed with others who appeared on TV frequently even after the show’s demise, most prominently the Raiders, of course.
Right before Dick Clark passed away, he was supposedly working on something with these episodes, but with his passing, whatever he was doing with them went to grave with him.
You can find a lot of the episodes and performances on YouTube, but that leads me to my site …
The site I run talks about one thing, and one thing only, and that is “Where the Action Is.” Every day I put up a “Today In WTAI History” blurb, where I list who was on the show on a particular day, such as today, October 7.
I also try to match a clip of the daily “Song of the Day” with what I can find on YouTube, which isn’t always that easy to do, but I have found plenty of material there.
And then site members talk about the clip, bring up their memories of the song or the act, and I am happy to say we have members who were actually either on the show—a few of the Action Kids dancers are members—or were in the audience during the tapings.
It is a fun site, nothing more, a place to spend a few minutes a day just to look back at a different time un our lives, and that the fun that we had that was really backboned by the music that we listened to.
And remember, this is music that was pre-Woodstock, just touching on the rising psychedelic craze that was coming around at the time, so the music is pretty safe, much of what you would hear on your favorite Top 40 AM radio station at the time with a few extras.
So if you are into the original Supremes, Question Mark and the Mysterians, the original Kinks, the Standells and the antics of Paul Revere and the Raiders, this is the site for you.
So again, the site address is https://www.facebook.com/groups/598790963991601
Give it a try. I think you might like it.
And the word “pandemic” is never used on the site, which is a real plus in and of itself.
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