The Great White North

My 1981 Bob & Doug McKenzie 

Great White North comedy album,

in pristine condition.... cheers!

Back in the late 70's, I found myself a cool little homegrown TV show called SCTV, aka Second City Television. Pretty much every comic actor off that show went on to very big things in Hollywood. Like John Candy, Rick Moranis, Harold Ramis, Dave Thomas, Andrea Martin, Catherine O'Hara, Joe Flaherty and Eugene Levy. Even Martin Short. And a few others during its 1976 to '84 run.

The sketch comedy show was an offshoot of the Toronto Second City troupe.... well, you might already know that the Second City comedy clubs are sprinkled across North America, and provide a creative forum for young aspiring comics. The Toronto club had a wealth of talent at the time, and these good folks took their show onto broadcast TV. And what a pop culture phenom they spawned!

Not only has the show itself become an institution (a Canadian one, at that) but the myriad of crazy characters, the inventions of the cast members, have carried on as legendary fixtures of the program, some still popping up here and there in these modern times. 

The most famous characters, of course, would be Bob and Doug McKenzie, the lovable hosers from the Great White North (that's Canada, eh). Their low-key antics were largely improvised as they bantered about beer, backbacon, and other Canadianisms. Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas played the toque and plaid-wearing dopes with the stubby bottles.

Ed Grimley, the geeky character played by Martin Short found new life beyond SCTV, as he appeared on SNL on occasion. John Candy gave life to vain variety show star Johnny LaRue, a role conceived with such nuance that one forgets this guy isn't real. And Flaherty's Count Floyd found an unusual forum for fame beyond the show... rock band Rush used some film footage of the corny Dracula-style character to open one of their songs (The Weapon) in their 80's concerts. 

A fun little recollection of the SCTV legacy

as written by troupe member Dave Thomas

SCTV played out like an early version of 30 Rock.... sort of. The fictitious TV station was run by the tyrannical owner and president Guy Caballero (Joe Flaherty), who went about in a wheelchair, even though he was a physically fit man. But mentally insane, I must say. The weaselly, heavily sweating Moe Green (Harold Ramis) managed the station for a time, then was succeeded by Edith Prickley, hilariously portrayed by Andrea Martin; decked out in leopard-skin outfits, Prickley was a flamboyant and crass addition. 

Oh, and news anchors Floyd Robertson (Flaherty again) and Earl Camembert (Eugene Levy) were always funny in their own style of cringe humour, usually where Floyd mocks and humiliates Earl on the air. Never a dull moment. 

Some of these actors put their impressive celebrity impressions to work as they mimicked stars like Bob Hope (Thomas) and Woody Allen (Rick Moranis). Watching an episode of SCTV was like seeing an entire programming day in the life of a TV station. We got news, sitcoms, dramas, talk shows, kids shows, commercials, game shows, you name it. All were done as parodies, though the brilliant comedy could lean in any given direction... from silly to dark humour and anywhere in between on the laugh scale. 

I watched SCTV in all of its incarnations, from its early half hour format to its sadly bloated late night slot, which ultimately led to its demise. Though I haven't seen the show in decades, I still have an appreciation for the imaginative genius behind it. The collaborative forces were key to its success and longevity. Sure, the individual actors honed their chops during the course of the program, but they were a troupe first and foremost, an ensemble cast. And it didn't take long to see great biting comedy that could only be briefly matched by the SNL gang of the 70's and part of the 80's. 

My personal favourite segment from SCTV was The Great White North. I still own my near mint condition vinyl record by Bob and Doug, with a guest appearance by Rush's Geddy Lee on the hit song "Take Off!". I no longer own a turntable to play this LP, but I do have a CD version.... for Christmas listening, since there's a Yuletide theme on the album. Oh yeah, and though the Bob and Doug logo is nearly worn off, my trusty bottle-opener is still in fine working order. Yup, I was a fan - of both Great White North - and beer. 

Well used since '81, my Bob & Doug McKenzie

bottle opener is still in active service

Brain Shake

Very light reading, Why AC/DC Matters skims across

the band's career, with some odd and funny anecdotes

Australian-based rockers AC/DC have been in the news a lot lately, thanks in part to the head-scratching behaviour of their drummer Phil Rudd. Rudd, who was with the band in their early days, was dismissed in 1983 (his personal issues led to band conflict), but then returned in '94. He's been with AC/DC ever since, though his current status is on shaky ground. The percussionist has recently been charged with death threats and possession of narcotics. Jeez, a rock star behaving badly?

Rudd hasn't been fulfilling his duties as a band member either, missing first a photo shoot then a video shoot, and on top of that hasn't been very reliable about showing up for rehearsals. What's up with that? You'd think if you were in one of the world's most famous bands, you'd want to hang onto that job, eh?

And then there is the sad news that AC/DC's rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young suffered a stroke and was then diagnosed with  dementia. Malcolm, along with brother and lead guitarist Angus, were founders of the band way back in 1973. It must be hard for Angus to not only see a beloved and longtime bandmate leave, but also to see his own brother going through hellish health issues. Dementia is a terrible condition that causes drastic psychological changes, like paranoia, altered personality, and hallucinations, among other symptoms. I don't see how anyone could stand on stage and perform a concert with all of that going on in their head. 

AC/DC was one of my favourite bands when I was a teenager in the late 70's and early 80's. I never had the ear-shattering pleasure of seeing them perform live, but I kept on top of their album releases for many years. I think the last AC/DC album I ever got fresh off the store shelf was 1983's Flick of the Switch (a gift from my brother, actually). It was after that release that I felt the guys were repeating themselves far too much. There are only so many ways you can rearrange three chords and play a blues scale within the confines of the AC/DC formula. Hey, it worked great for ten years, but nothing they did after that ever came close to the quality of their 70's albums, nor the chart-busting Back in Black and even For Those About to Rock of the early 80's. But I commend the boys for their work ethic and ability to hammer out such a long career and sustain a loyal following that spans generations. 

Malcolm in the early days... one of rock's great

masters of the catchy riff and solid rhythm

Doors of Perception

It was on this day - Saturday November 15th - in 1966 that The Doors signed their deal with Electra Records to record seven albums. They managed six albums in their career, and that wasn't all that many for a band with such a huge and lasting effect on rock music. The Doors sure packed a big influence into their music. Their style and lyrics were unique enough in that day and age that the band stood out from the pack. 

First and foremost, The Doors had no bass player, an oddity in the music business! Instead, keyboardist Ray Manzarek provided bass lines on his Fender Rhodes piano bass while creating melodies on his Vox or Gibson electric organs. 

The band wasn't too crazy about their agreement to release Break On Through as their first single.... with lyric changes to get radio play. Their lyrics about getting high were considered a bit too much for the general public back then. Yeah.... just listen to rap music nowadays, or even twenty years ago, to see how far things have come. Anyway, Break On Through has an interesting history. Even though it is now one of the The Doors' most popular songs, it originally didn't even crack the Top 100 in the States. 

I first heard The Doors on rock radio in the late 70's. The tunes played most back then were Break On Through, Light My Fire, Hello I Love You, Roadhouse Blues, L.A. Woman, and Riders on the Storm. There was one night when that station played the entire L.A. Woman album, and that was when I fell in love with the weird and hypnotic song The Wasp (Texas Radio and the Big Beat). I remember chowing down on that near-trance track with the headphones on, loving Morrison's spoken word lyrics. 

All I knew of The Doors for decades came to me via radio and my Best of the Doors tape... and later the CD. I also read the David Dalton biography of Morrison and The Doors. But boy, was I missing out on a lot of fine music. Finally, within the past decade, I snapped up their six studio albums and was able to fill in the gaps and understand the true impact of this quartet out of Los Angeles. Morrison's lyrics, like "his brain is squirming like a toad", either annoyed or impressed listeners. The man's words were often interesting enough, certainly visual and jarring, poetic, and sometimes controversial. But it was the beauty of the instrumentation - the cohesive elements of the band - that made a big impression on me. 

Robby Krieger's guitar style wasn't your typical rock'n'roll. Not very often, anyway. Stuff like The Changeling and Roadhouse Blues were pretty straightforward rock, but then we had influences from other genres creeping into songs like The Crystal Ship, The End, Spanish Caravan, and Indian Summer. Classical, jazz, non-Western music, and so on. Krieger's ability on the instrument  is obvious on every song, whether it was a "hit" or not.

The Doors might not get the same attention as The Stones or The Beatles when folks talk about the 60's, but they set standards for live performance, especially the image of the singer/frontman. It can't be denied that Jim Morrison made a huge mark on the rock world in that respect. He, along with Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin, established the template for rock star singers.... all swagger and sex appeal, and Morrison took the bad boy image to extremes unmatched at the time. Band-mate Manzarek himself said Morrison "embodied hippie counterculture rebellion". Dangerous and volatile, Jim appeared cool as a cucumber.... until he had roused his audience into a frenzy with his antics. Great rock'n'roll!

Missed It By That Much

I feel like a heel using such

a cheap phone plan....

Back before Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, Mel Brooks co-created (with Buck Henry) a little old spy satire for 60's TV called Get Smart. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Get Smart was among my favourite childhood shows, right up there with The Monkees and Batman. I remember having battles with my parents over finishing watching Get Smart whenever dinnertime overlapped with the show. They usually relented and let me see it to the end. 

The series ran from 1965-1970, very respectable for a TV program at that time. Don Adams was a blast as Agent 86, Maxwell Smart, but he also had a top-notch cast supporting him. Barbara Feldon as Agent 99 was Max's love interest, and Edward Platt as Chief suffered Max's missteps with hilarity. 

Brooks was asked to come up with a show that could cash in on the two big spy franchises of the 60's, James Bond and Inspector Clouseau (Pink Panther). Need I say more? The resulting mash-up of espionage and silly and physical comedy worked like a charm. I loved the Pink Panther and knew a little of the Bond stuff at that time. Agent 86 always managed to half-way bungle his missions but by the end of each episode, he either accidentally came through with flying colours, or good ol' 99 showed up to lend a hand. 

The bizarro plots usually centred around Smart acting as field operative for the American counter-intelligence agency called CONTROL, often taking on the villainous agents of KAOS. A whole wack-load of well-known (maybe not at the time, but certainly later on) actors played KAOS agents, including Leonard Nimoy, Tom Bosley, John Byner, Ted Knight, and even Vincent Price.

The crazy gadgets that appeared on Get Smart were inspired by those in the James Bond films, though for this TV comedy, they were taken to ridiculous extremes.... like Max's shoe phone, the Cone of Silence (which rarely worked properly, and always resulted in Chief blowing his top), and the assortment of nutty booby-traps in Smart's apartment (which often backfired on Max himself). 

Richard Donner, a long-respected movie director, took the chair now and then during Get Smart production. Donner is best known for the films The Omen, Superman (1978), The Goonies, the Lethal Weapon movies, and Scrooged. I'd sure like to revisit the Get Smart episodes to see how Donner fared during his early days in TV. Someday.

The occasional character Hymie the Robot was a hoot.... always taking commands literally, unexpectedly expressing emotions, and frequently stating that he was "programmed for neatness". 

Agent 13 sometimes popped up in an episode, too, though he was always stationed in very unfortunate spots, like washing machines, trash cans, and fire hydrants. Talk about a disgruntled employee!

The spin-off movies never quite recaptured the magic of the 60's TV series, even though we all desperately wanted them to succeed. I must admit, though, that I enjoyed the 2008 "re-boot" starring Steve Carell. Carell was, and still is, a favourite comic actor of mine, and I felt like he captured the essence of Adams' Maxwell Smart, while bringing his own deadpan goofiness to the role. About as near a success as one can expect. But why no sequels?

Would you believe.....

Holy Molars, Batman!

This past week, I had some dental issues, but thankfully no major work was required and the problem seemed to fix itself. The dentist couldn't find the actual cause of the pain I felt when I chomped into a sandwich, but he thought maybe the tooth was bruised (I'd never heard of such a thing before, but I'll defer to the expert, who also said this can heal on its own) or that there was a hidden crack. I'll have to wait and see.

Which brings me to molars, and then to Batman, more specifically the 1960's TV series. Was there ever a cooler show for kids back then? Cartoons aside (and this almost qualified as a cartoon with the colourful "Ka-pows!" that splashed across the TV screen whenever somebody landed a solid punch), there were few programs that had such broad appeal. Sure, there were the grown-up jokes which I certainly didn't understand when I was a youngster, but down on my level, Batman appealed to my sense of the silly (like parking the Batmobile and then putting change in the meter). And the totally pure-of-heart values of Adam West's Batman didn't come off as cheesy to the young me... instead, as a positive role model, he became an example of what I might aspire to as a person. Maybe not scaling skyscrapers and punching evil clowns, but at least becoming someone with a good set of morals and values. I talk a bit more about this in another post about heroes

But the deadpan delivery of such ridiculous lines was often lost on me, just a dopey kid who wanted to see the Dynamic Duo punch it up with the Joker's henchmen. The TV show was pure camp, a send-up of the much more serious characters who first appeared in the DC Comics. As a lad, I enjoyed both the Batman and Robin books and the "lone Batman" ones. DC's Detective Comics introduced Batman to the world in the May 1939 issue, and then Robin was brought on board in April 1940 - all long before my time. I wonder who could have predicted back then that these comic book crime-fighters would become such enduring characters in pop culture. 

The Dark Knight Returns briefly revived my interest in the published Batman back in the mid-80's. I was fresh out of school and in my first real job when this four-issue series hit the stands. Artist Frank Miller offered us a gritty, stylized version of Batman, Robin, and even Superman in this story arc. The books are about retired and aging Bruce Wayne dusting off his cowl and cape for another round with the bad guys. And of course, the books inspired the 2008 movie The Dark Knight, which kicked off a dark and serious reboot of the film franchise. I must admit I'm not a big fan, mainly because I just can't get over the light-hearted fun of Adam West's 60's Batman. The TV show was my childhood.... I wore a Batman T-shirt, and I play-acted the character the way Adam West did. Do kids today play-act the whispering Christian Bale's Dark Knight, a Batman of few words? He's tough, yes, but fun?

Oh, and who can forget the Batusi go-go dance of the 60's? Get down with your bad self, Caped Crusader....