Just Like Starting Over: An Alternate Beatles Timeline

[Button_Revenge]

“I truly could not guess where John and I would be if we had not accepted that offer, if we had not gone down and played that show.”

“Well, we’d be $3,000 poorer.”

“That’s true, yes.”
- Paul McCartney and John Lennon during an interview on the Tonight Show with Joan Rivers, May 1989


“That performance…that three-song, acoustic, makeshift performance…it brought Saturday Night Live from here, to here. After that, everyone was talking about the show, and watching the show, too!” - Lorne Michaels, creator of SNL, in the Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special, 2015

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April 24, 1976

Paul McCartney and John Lennon, two former members of The Beatles, were sitting in John’s living room, watching the television, when the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live returned from a commercial break.

Lorne Michaels greeted the viewers. “Hi. I'm Lorne Michaels, the producer of "Saturday Night." Right now, we're being seen by approximately twenty-two million viewers, but please allow me, if I may, to address myself to just four very special people; John, Paul, George, and Ringo: the Beatles. Lately, there have been a lot of rumors to the effect that the four of you might be getting back together. That would be great. In my book, the Beatles are the best thing that ever happened to music. It goes even deeper than that. You're not just a musical group, you're a part of us. We grew up with you. It's for this reason that I'm inviting you to come on our show. Now, we've heard and read a lot about personality and legal conflicts that might prevent you guys from reuniting. That's something which is none of my business. That's a personal problem. You guys will have to handle that. But it's also been said that no one as yet has come up with enough money to satisfy you. Well, If it's money you want, there's no problem here. The National Broadcasting Company has authorized me to offer you this check to be on our show.” He held up a check. “A certified check for $3,000. Here it is, right here. Dave…can we get a close-up on this? Which camera? Oh, this one.” The camera moved in. “Here it is, a check made out to you, the Beatles, for $3,000. All you have to do is sing three Beatle songs. ‘She loves you, Yeah, yeah, yeah’...That's $1,000 right there. You know the words. It'll be easy. Like I said, this is made out to the Beatles. You divide it up any way you want. If you want to give Ringo less, it's up to you. I'd rather not get involved. I'm sincere about this. If it helps you to reach a decision to reunite, it's well worth the investment. You have agents. You know where I can be reached. Just think about it, okay?” He held up the check for the last time.

“Thank you.”

The two former bandmates looked at each other, before laughing. Paul laughed so hard, that he fell off the couch.

John ran to his room. He returned back with his acoustic guitar strung around his body. “Let’s do it!”

“What do you mean?” Paul asked. “It’s 11 O’Clock at night! We can't just put on a show at 11 O'Clock at night!”

“So?” John responded. “We can get coffee on the way if you're tired, I know a place in Brooklyn. C’mon, Paul. We should go down, just you and me. We’ll just show up. There are only two of us, so we’ll take half the money.”

Paul thought of it for a minute. It was their day off, and the meetup would be work. He didn’t want to go to work…but what else did they have to lose? It would be a fun little joke, to crash the show and play three songs.

He sighed. “I’m in.”

 

[Button_Revenge]

“I was outside my dressing room, right? Phoebe Snow was just finishing her second song of the night, and then, boom! I saw John Lennon pass by in the corner, and I was just like…’Holy shit? Was that John Lennon?’ And I know Lorne put out a joke offer earlier for the Beatles and I was just thinking, ‘Did he actually accept that joke offer Lorne put out? Are Paul and George and Ringo there too?’ And…well, Paul was.” - John Belushi, an SNL cast member at the time, in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, June 1976.

“I remember having to negotiate with NBC for extra airtime. And lucky for me, they agreed. Reluctantly, at first, but they agreed.” - Lorne Michaels in a Reddit AMA, 2018
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April 24, 1976

John had just parked his car just outside 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Both him and Paul were about to perform for an audience of millions of people, as a joke. Was he really going to do this?

He was.

“Are you ready, Paul?” he asked.

“I’m ready if you are.”

And with that, they headed into the studio.

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That night, like any other night, Saturday Night Live returned from a commercial break. Normally, this would be the end of the show, but not tonight.

Instead, Lorne Michaels stood on stage, grinning from ear to ear.

“Hello, viewers of Saturday Night.” He began with an excited tone. “Earlier in the show, I sent a generous offer to the four Beatles (John, Paul, George, and Ringo), to play our show for a hefty sum of $3,000. I am very proud to announce that that offer was taken. Performing live for you, right here at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, please welcome John Lennon and Paul McCartney!”

The crowd screamed as a spotlight was shone on the two boys. They began their first song with just an acoustic guitar.

“Oh yeah.” Paul began singing. “I’ll tell you something. I think you’ll understand…”

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BEATLES REUNITE ON NBC SHOW

Paul McCartney and John Lennon, the two lead songwriters of rock band The Beatles, reunited today on NBC’s new sketch comedy, Saturday Night, after a 6 year hiatus following the band’s breakup in 1970. The performance was in response to an offer for them to perform by Lorne Michaels, the producer of Saturday Night, earlier in the broadcast. The offer, a sketch on the program, was deliberately meant to be a joke, with a pitifully low value of $3,000 offered for all four Beatles.

Lennon and McCartney played three songs from the band’s repertoire: “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”, “Help”, and “Let it Be”.

- An article from the New York Times dated April 25, 1976.

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Joan: "So why did you two do it? What made you think, “Oh, let’s play along and perform?”

Paul: "Well, we were both in New York at the time, which is also where Saturday Night Live is filmed, and we really had nothing to lose. Now, I was very tired, but John…he convinced me to get up and do it, just for a bit of fun."

John: "That I did."

Paul: "So we went down to the studio, just me, John, and an acoustic guitar, and everyone was just starstruck."

John: "So we chose the three songs to perform off the top of our heads, and we just did quick run throughs of the three songs. And after we were done with that, we performed. I wouldn’t say the performance is one of our best, but it could be worse. It could be lot worse. We had just practiced just one...maybe two times."

Paul: "I'm sure it was only once."

John: "So it was once. After the show, we just went back to my apartment and fell asleep."

Paul: "I remember when we woke up in the morning. We were all over the news. I expected the performance to be at least a little big…but not as big as it was."

- Excerpt from John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s interview on the Tonight Show with Joan Rivers, 1989

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After the SNL performance, Paul and John clarified that the performance was not the official reunion of the Beatles, and that it was simply a joke.
Paul was touring with Wings, John was caring for his son, George was recording an album, and Ringo was sorting out his record label. The Beatles were not reuniting, and this was just a one-off performance.

Which makes the next three albums a bit awkward.

- Taken from Mic the Snare's Deep Discog Dive: The Beatles, November 19, 2021

 

[Button_Revenge]

(Thanks to pls_no_steal for help on the album)
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PLAYBOY: “Will you be returning to Saturday Night Live any time soon?”

LENNON: “No. I don’t have enough time. I’m a bit busy caring for my son and all that. I’m also working on my next album. I know my fans have been waiting for a new one.”

PLAYBOY: “Is it a new Beatles album?”

LENNON: “...Who’s to say? I don’t want to deconfirm the possibility of a new Beatles record. It’s a fun idea to entertain.”

- John Lennon in an interview with Playboy Magazine, October 29, 1976

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In late 1976 and early 1977, Beatles fans started to speculate the possibility of a new album. John’s interview with Playboy, as well as other factors (Such as alleged sightings of the Beatles out in public together), only added fuel to the speculation. By January, fans of the Beatles were united and ready for a new release. It was the perfect time for Beatles news, or, in the case of one band, the perfect time to start a rivalry.

- From Rock and Roll True Stories’ The Story of the Weirdest Rivalry in Rock, March 2, 2018

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“When ‘God Save the Queen’ was made, that was the final straw for Glen. He said the song made us out to be fascists. To him, anti-royalty was fascism. That pissed off Johnny to no end. The tension between him and Johnny got so tense, we had to led him go. That January, we fired him from the band. He was a good writer, and he played the bass well, but he just couldn’t cut it as a Sex Pistol. He was too normal, too clean cut. Too nice. He never got into any drama like the rest of us did. He didn’t fit in with the rest of us. Not just that, but he and Johnny’s dislike for each other was reaching an all-time high, and we could only choose one of them if we wanted to stay around.”

“Of course, that wasn’t the reason we told the papers. We were the Sex Pistols, and a reason that mundane wouldn’t fly. Instead, we made up a story about sacking him for liking the Beatles…we told them that he was going on too much about Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and that was too much for us. When we sent out the story to NME, we thought nothing of it. Someone out there might be offended by our decision, but so what? We were the Sex Pistols. We were used to controversy. We just put out ‘Anarchy in the UK,’ we were used to the contempt we had been getting, but…this was a different kind of contempt.”

- Steve Jones in an interview with NME, 2004

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Devoted fans of the Beatles responded swiftly and angrily to the news that Glen had been fired from the Sex Pistols for liking their music. They started off by holding signs at Sex Pistols shows proclaiming “Pistols never, Beatles forever,” “Bring Glen Back,” and “Dirty Rotten Punks”, among other. After the release of their second single, “God Save the Queen”, “God Save the Sex Pistols” was a popular anti-Pistol slogan, and would later become the title of the band’s first album.

Part of the reason why the rivalry became as infamous as it is can be attributed to the Pistols themselves. Instead of cooling down the rivalry, they taunted and mocked both the band and its fans at shows. Johny Rotten famously started many Sex Pistols shows around this era with:

“To all of you faggots who came here just to defend your shitty pop band…fuck the Beatles, and fuck you!”

This only aggravated Beatles fans more. Now, even non-devoted fans started to hate the Sex Pistols.

In April of 1977, Glen Matlock reported to NME the real reason he left the band, which was a mix of inner-band turmoil, not fitting in with the other members, and being too clean cut for the band’s dirty image. Unfortunately, this did nothing to stop the feud.

- Taken from thebeatlesbible.com, written December 19, 2009

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May 14, 1977

Spring is here and it’s been seven years since Paul and John and George and Ringo broke apart.

The world kept spinning and so did you. But we stopped spinning along with you.

But the Beat goes on, the Beat goes on.

Now Paul and John and George and Ringo are whole again.

We are spinning along with you once more.

The Beat goes on, the Beat goes on.

Apple Records

- Apple Records’ Press Release, May 14, 1977

 

[Button_Revenge]

This is the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite.

“Good evening. We have breaking news. The plane used by hard rock band Aerosmith on their current world tour has crashed in a field near Bernkastel-Kues, Germany. At this time, the status of the band members is unknown.”

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(Later, CBS Evening News returns from a commercial break)

“We have an update on the breaking news story from earlier. All onboard the aircraft have been seriously injured. So far, five are dead, guitarist Joe Perry, touring keyboard player Scott Cushnie, manager David Krebs, and pilots Walter McReary and William Gray have been confirmed to be victims of the crash. Drummer Joey Kramer is also currently in critical condition.”

- From CBS Evening News, July 5, 1977

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When our flight operations manager at the time, Zunk Buker, came back that day, he told us what happened. When he went up to inspect the plane with his father, it wasn’t in great shape. The crew, on the other hand, was nice, and they acted professional, if a bit jokey. When Zunk met them at the cockpit, They were listening to an interview with George Harrison on the radio. He thought about it for a good while, and decided to rent the plane. For us. He knew how much we wanted that plane, and so he booked it with us in mind. That was a great, great mistake, and we caused it.

- Steven Tyler in his 2013 biography, Does the Noise in my Head Bother You? A Rock n Roll Memoir.

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DEAR BEATLE PEOPLE,

The fabulous four are back again with another album, and we’ve just received news of it’s title. The album is to be called Starting Over, and will feature John, Paul, George, and Ringo back at it again, together at last after 7 years of solo work. We also have a release date: October 1.

They will unfortunately not be touring for the album. Paul has a baby on the way, and he wants to care for them after the album releases as much as he can.

- From The Beatles Monthly Issue No. 83, from August 1977.

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“All of us here at Rolling Stone are awaiting the release as much as you are. It’s expected to come out in a little more than a week. October 1, to be exact.”

- From Rolling Stone’s September 1977 issue, September 22.

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“Fans of the band have been waiting outside record shops for the release. Some have been camping out for more than 24 hours. We’ve interviewed some of them at the recently opened Rough Trade East Record Shop in London.”

“Yes, I’m very excited for the record. The Beatles have been a hugely important part of my life. I’ve been a fan since ‘She Loves You’ back in '63.” - Susan Taylor, 27

“I just like their music. I was a bit of a hippie in 1966, and I didn’t really care for their earlier work, but when one of my friends bought Rubber Soul and played it on our record player…I was just amazed. I was hooked on them shortly afterward.” - Ricky Goodall, 36

“I’m here with my friends, we’ve got a little bet going on to where the first person to get the album, we’ll have to pay them £100 pounds each. I personally think I’ll win. I am Paul, after all.” - Paul Turner, 20

“My mum introduced me to the Beatles, she really liked them. I started with their earlier work, and then just went from there. They’ve been my favorite band for years now. I wish I could’ve lived to see them in their prime.” - Stacie Holland, 15

“For these people, tomorrow just can’t come fast enough. The album will be out starting Tomorrow, October 1.”

- BBC News broadcast, September 30.

 

[Button_Revenge]

…On April 30, 1976, Apple Records’ distribution contract with EMI was to expire. Neil Aspinall, the current manager of Apple Records at the time, had a plan in store already to let it expire. But, following the Beatles’ performance on Saturday Night Live, he chose against it, and renewed it for another 5 years. The band hadn’t officially released their comeback album yet, but Neil would later say that “[He] could just feel it…he could feel that there was something special there.” And there was.

- From the Starting Over 25th Anniversary CD booklet, 1992.

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October 1, 1977

The album releases on the newly revived Apple Records. The album cover is a picture taken during the production of the album, with the fab four in the studio rehearsing.

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Song List:

1. (Just Like) Starting Over (Lennon)
2. I’ve Had Enough (McCartney)
3. Flight (Starr)
4. Safe and Sound (McCartney, Lennon)
5. Watching the Wheels (Lennon, McCartney)
6. Not Guilty (Harrison)
7. Beautiful Boy (Lennon, McCartney)
8. Free as a Bird (Lennon, McCartney)
9. With a Little Luck (McCartney)
10. Blow Away (Harrison)
11. Here Comes the Moon (Harrison)
12. Faster (Harrison)
13. Heart on My Sleeve (Starr)
14. I’m Carrying (McCartney, Lennon)

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The Beatles’ announcement of their breakup in April 1970 was a shock to fans and critics alike. After just seven short years of recording music, the band was done.

And nearly 6 years later, the reuniting of John Lennon and Paul McCartney on Saturday Night Live was nearly just as much of a shock to both fans and critics alike. A year after that, the Beatles officially announced their thirteenth album, Starting Over.

With the new record, there is a definite change in sound. One similar to Abbey Road and Let it Be, but with more modern production and songwriting styles.

And yet, the album still feels like the classic Beatles we know and love. Tracks like “I’ve Had Enough” and “Safe and Sound” feel like simple Beatles tracks at their best. “Starting Over”, the big single from the album, is an amazing song from start to finish. “Blow Away” and “Not Guilty” prove George is just as good of a songwriter as John and Paul. Ringo gets in on the action, too, with “Flight” and “Heart on my Sleeve” being two of his best contributions to Beatles records yet.

-Excerpt from John Swenson’s review for Rolling Stone, October 20, 1977

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The Beatles don’t improve on their sound in any major way, but that doesn’t detract from a great release. The songs are improvements from the band’s recent solo material, and none of them feel like solo projects forced onto a group album. The Beatles are back, and I welcome them with open arms. A

- Robert Christgau’s review for The Village Voice

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Three singles were released from the album:

(Just Like) Starting Over/Free as a Bird (Released October 1, 1977)
Blow Away/Flight (Released Novmber 11, 1977)
With a Little Luck/I’ve Had Enough (Released January 20, 1978)

Their chart peaks:

(Just Like) Starting Over (Peaked at #1 in US for 6 weeks, #1 in UK for 7)
Free as a Bird (Peaked at #2 in US, #2 in UK)
Blow Away (Peaked at #1 in US for 4 weeks, #1 in UK for 6)
Flight (Peaked at #4 in US, #2 in UK)
With a Little Luck (Peaked at #1 in US for 2 weeks, #1 in UK for 6)
I’ve Had Enough (Peaked at #3 in US, #2 in UK)

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Billboard #1 Hits of 1977 (Second Half):

July 2: "Gonna Fly Now (Theme From Rocky)" by Bill Conti
July 9: "Undercover Angel" by Alan O’Day
July 16: "Da Doo Ron Ron" by Shaun Cassidy
July 23: "Looks Like We Made It" by Barry Manilow
July 30: "I Just Want to Be Your Everything" by Andy Gibb
August 6: "I Just Want to Be Your Everything" by Andy Gibb
August 13: "I Just Want to Be Your Everything" by Andy Gibb
August 20: “Best of My Love” by The Emotions
August 27: “Best of My Love” by The Emotions
September 3: “Best of My Love” by The Emotions
September 10: “Best of My Love” by The Emotions
September 17: "I Just Want to Be Your Everything" by Andy Gibb
September 24: “Best of My Love” by The Emotions
October 1: "Star Wars Theme/Catina Band” by Meco
October 8: "(Just Like Starting Over)” by The Beatles
October 15: "(Just Like Starting Over)” by The Beatles
October 22: "(Just Like Starting Over)” by The Beatles
October 29: "(Just Like Starting Over)” by The Beatles
November 5: "(Just Like Starting Over)” by The Beatles
November 12: "(Just Like Starting Over)” by The Beatles
November 19: "Blow Away” - The Beatles
November 26: "Blow Away” - The Beatles
December 3: "Blow Away” - The Beatles
December 10: "Blow Away” - The Beatles
December 17: "You Light up My Life” - Debby Boone
December 24: “How Deep is Your Love” - Bee Gees
December 31: “How Deep is Your Love” - Bee Gees

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“Starting Over was absolutely massive. 3 Million copies, sold in the first week. The reason it didn’t sell more was because the stores couldn’t keep up with the demand. 32 Million copies have been sold since it came out. We were considering holding back Street Survivors until November just so Beatle fever could die down a little bit. We released it that October anyway, and it still did well. But I remember, everybody was trying to capitalize on it, the Beatles were popping up everywhere.”

- Ronnie Van Zandt being interviewed for the 2005 TV movie The Beatles: After the Breakup.

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Following the massive success of the album, Beatlemania seemed to emerge again, as Beatles-inspired media of all types sprung up.

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Voiceover: You know the Beatles, but do you know the Beagles? America’s favorite dog rock band is right here at a Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theater location near you! These animatronic pups can play 16 classic Beatles hits, right here for you! So come on down to Pizza Time Theater for games, grub, and all-around fun!

- From a 1979 Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theater commercial, exact date unknown

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On March 22, 1978, All You Need is Cash, a TV movie parodying the story of the Beatles using the fictional band The Rutles, was the most watched show in its timeslot. It was reaired the following April. Thanks to the success of the original 1978 film, in June of 1979, Trying Again, the direct sequel to the original film, was released. It chronicled the Rutles’ careers after their breakup, and their reuniting in 1976 following Ron Nasty and Dirk McQuickly playing together in a New York bar after a drunkard offers them $5 and a pretzel dog to do so. Like the previous movie, it came with a soundtrack album released later that year. The soundtrack record, also known as Trying Again, parodies solo Beatles tracks released after the band’s breakup, as well as tracks off of the recently released Starting Over.

Trying Again Soundtrack (Songs being parodied in parenthesis):

1. I Wonder (Imagine) [No relation to the Kanye West song of the same name]
2. Look Up (Isn’t it a Pity, What is Life)
3. Queen Elizabeth (Band on the Run, Uncle Albert, Admiral Halsey)
4. I Was the Best Rutle (I’m the Greatest, Back off Boogaloo, the No No Song)
5. I’m in Love (Silly Love Songs, Maybe I’m Amazed)
6. Lucked Out (Instant Karma, Working Class Hero)
7. My Sweet Rut (My Sweet Lord)
8. C’mon! (Jet, Live and Let Die)
9. Just Don’t Call it Wings (Flight, Heart on my Sleeve)
10. You’re Pissing Me Off (I’ve Had Enough, Watching the Wheels)
11. Rain Clouds (Faster, Blow Away)
12. Try Again (Or Just Give Up) (Starting Over)

The band were reportedly big fans of both Rutles films.

 

[Button_Revenge]

“You know, it’s crazy to think that this show, which before the performance was just seen as filler for the dead airspace that used to belong to Tonight Show reruns, had such an influence that we got the Beatles back together. And I hope it just keeps growing from here.”

- Lorne Michaels on Saturday Night Live (Season 3, Episode 2), October 8, 1977.

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Later that year, the band would report that they would not be touring for the album, as earlier that year, Paul’s son James would be born. Both Paul and John had children they wanted to care for at the time, and so, a tour was declined.

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“Ladies and gentlemen, the Sex Pistols!”

- Miskel Spillman introducing the Sex Pistols on Saturday Night Live, December 17, 1977. (The footage of her introducing the band on the show would become a minor meme in 2020, for the juxtaposition of her old appearance and the Sex Pistol’s raunchy name and infamy).

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The Sex Pistols performance on Saturday Night Live was an integral moment in the band’s career. There was originally a bit of worry that visa problems would cancel the performance and delay the tour, but luckily, the Pistols had cleared their problems after a planned interview with Hit Parader had to be scrapped due to problems with visas, specifically with bassist Sid Vicious.

The band performed two songs, “Pretty Vacant” and “Anarchy in the U.K.”. Apparently, the producers of SNL learned nothing from the band’s Top of the Pops performance earlier that year, or didn’t know of its existence. The band took the opportunity and proceeded to pronounce “Vacant” as “Va-Cunt” for the entirety of their performance. Aside from that, the performance introduced mainstream American audiences to the Pistols music. They were already known overseas for their controversy and Beatles hatred, but many Americans hadn’t heard any of their music, due to bans from major retailers.

But come January, American audiences would come to know the Pistols even better.

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The Sex Pistols started their American Tour on December 28, 1977, in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia. On December 31, they reached Chicago, Illinois. On January 3, they played in Alexandria, Virginia. On January 5, Atlanta, Georgia.

These locations were chosen for a reason. Instead of playing at places like New York’s CBGB, the band explicitly wanted to go to locations they knew mainstream rock fans would be at, and would thereby generate controversy for the band.

But this came back to bite them. Incidents throughout the tour got the band in worse shape than ever before. Johnny Rotten, the band’s vocalist, was suffering from the flu during the tour. Sid Vicious, the bassist, was deep in a heroin addiction. In Pittsburgh, Vicious spat on a man booing in the front row. In Alexandria, he imitated masturbating on stage. By their fourth show, they were in shambles, and on the brink of breaking up. But the final nail in the coffin would come in Memphis, on January 6.

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SEX PISTOL ARRESTED AFTER MEMPHIS PERFORMANCE

John Ritchie, better known by his stage name of Sid Vicious, the bassist for punk rock band Sex Pistols, has been arrested for assaulting a man following the band’s performance at the Taliesyn Ballroom here in Memphis, Tennessee.

After the concert, Vicious left his Holiday Inn in search of drugs, specifically heroin. While on his search, he entered a nearby Shell gas station & convenience store.
According to eyewitness reports, Warren Matthews, the man attacked by Vicious, was taunting the bassist on controversies relating to his band. Vicious, under the influence of drugs and known for outbursts at his shows, proceeded to beat up Matthews until police arrived.

- From the Memphis newspaper The Commercial Appeal, January 8, 1978

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The Sex Pistols officially announced their disbandment the following day.

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BEATLES BUST AT GRAMMYS GENERATES CONTROVERSY

On February 23, some of the best songs and albums of the year were honored at the 20th annual Grammy awards…but one massive album wasn’t.

Starting Over, the Beatles’ return to the mainstream, which was both a critical and commercial smash, was not on the ballot. The reason? The album came out on October 1…the day after the eligibility window ended. Because of this, the album will be eligible for the 21st Annual Grammys next year.

This has caused a bit of an uproar. Fans of the band are asking for the rule to be changed.

“The rule is just awkward and it really makes no sense,” says Elizabeth Franklin, a fan of the band who is starting a petition for the Grammys to change their eligibility window. “Steely Dan’s Aja, which was nominated, by the way, came out just 8 days before Starting Over, and it got nominated for Album of the Year. A January 1 to December 31 window would make much more sense. Most people think of music in calendar years.”

Of course, not everyone wants the rule to change.

“I really don’t see how this would help,” Founding Grammy committee member Llyod Dunn said about the issue. “It’ll only change the date that has to wait a year to be voted on from October to January. And that’d be needlessly complicated for the people involved.”

When asked about it by a reporter, Beatle George Harrison responded, “We honestly don’t care too much about it.”

- From the Washington Post, March 1978

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On March 6, 1978, Aerosmith released Draw the Line, their last studio album with influence from Joe Perry. He wrote or co-wrote 5 of the 9 tracks, and played guitar on the final versions of “Milk Cow Blues” and “Critical Mass” (A later 2004 reissue would come with a second CD with demos where he played on “Draw the Line”, “I Wanna Know Why”, and “Bright Light Fright”). The album was received positively by critics.

 

[Button_Revenge]

Sid Vicious (Real name John Ritchie) would serve 6 months in prison for assault. While in prison, he would serve a forced cold turkey detoxification. In February, he would receive a letter from Johnny Rotten (Real name John Lydon). Here are the contents of that letter:

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DEAR SID,

I hope things have been good for you, or at least as good as it gets. You most likely know this already, but the band’s broken up. That’s not what matters right now, though.

I don’t want you to just do more heroin, do more meth and drink more liquor when you get out. On the American tour, you honestly disgusted me. You’re in terrible shape, and, let’s face it, you’re an addict. The addiction’s obvious, and it’s taking a toll on you.

I hope that you can find a bright spot during your sentence. I want you to stay away from drugs while you’re there. When you get out, I want you to go to rehab. Even if you don’t go, please do something. I don’t want you to die, and if you continue on doing as you’re doing now, that might be just what happens.

From,

Johnny

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“Following the public backlash because of our late acknowledgment of the Beatles’ Starting Over and the soundtrack to the film Saturday Night Fever, both of which have had their nominations delayed because of their release dates being outside of our window, we at the Recording Academy have chosen to reconsider the window that albums must release in.

Starting with the 22nd annual Grammy awards in 1980, we will be rescheduling the Grammy voting process. The album eligibility window will be changed to January 1 - December 31 of the past given year. The voting process will occur in January of the next year. The nominations will be revealed in February. The show will happen in either May or June.

We are making these changes to better encapsulate a given year’s music, and to honor that entire year, instead of just most of it. This should make the nominations less confusing and more straightforward. “

- Excerpt from the Recording Academy’s press release, July 1978

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“A Splendid Time is Guaranteed For All!”

- Tagline on the movie posters for the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band movie, 1978

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For many fads, they blow up quickly and fade away slowly. They simply stop being noteworthy and slowly fall from the mainstream until they become obscure again.

For some special fads, there is one specific piece of media or event that can be pointed at and called the fad’s killer. History will remember it as the final nail in the coffin for the fad, even if the fad in question limped along for a while after the event.

The short return of Beatlemania from the fall of 1977 to the summer of 1978 is of the second type.

On July 21, 1978, the film Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band released, with The Bee Gees and Peter Frampton as the lead stars of an ensemble cast. The film was a jukebox musical comedy, whose soundtrack fully consisted of Beatles songs, most of which are from the albums Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road.

The film is a celebration of the Beatles, wrapping a storyline around their songs and the characters in them. Besides all three of the Bee Gees and Peter Frampton in the lead roles, the film had musicians fill out most of the cast including Olivia Newton-John, Alice Cooper, the members of Heart, the members of Earth Wind and Fire, Donna Summers, Barry Manilow, Stargard, and Billy Preston, a good friend of the band and one of their closest collaborators. The film also involved the band’s producer, George Martin, and their engineer Geoff Emerick, lending their credibility to the film.

The film could not have been produced at a better time. The script was completed in 1976 and the soundtrack began to be recorded in the spring of 1977, just before Starting Over would be announced. The filming didn’t start until October, right at the time Starting Over was released. The only setback the film had was with Aerosmith’s involvement. They were planning to star in the film as the “Future Villian Band”, and to record a version of “Come Together” for the soundtrack, but they could not appear in the film after their plane crash. Heart took their place and recorded their own version of Come Together.

The good timing attracted many stars to the project. Olivia Newton-John, Donna Summers, Heart, and Barry Manilow have all stated that they were either completely or mostly inspired by the rise in interest towards the Beatles to star in the film.

…So why didn’t it work?

It worked for a week, at least. The film was the 2nd best performing film at the box office, only behind Grease, which Olivia Newton-John was offered to star in, but chose this film instead (The character she would’ve played, Sandy, was instead played by Anne-Margaret). The soundtrack was released two days before the film came out and sold very well during its first week.

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band Soundtrack Album Track Listing (With performers in parenthesis):

Side 1:

1. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (The Bee Gees, Paul Nicholas, Peter Frampton)
2. Here Comes the Sun (Olivia Newton-John)
3. Getting Better (Peter Frampton)
4. Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds (Donna Summer & Stargard)
5. I Want You (She’s So Heavy) (Bee Gees, Donna Summer, Paul Nicholas, Donald Pleasence, Stargard)

Side 2:

1. Good Morning Good Morning (Paul Nicholas, Peter Frampton, The Bee Gees)
2. She’s Leaving Home (The Bee Gees, Jay MacIntosh, John Wheeler)
3. You Never Give Me Your Money (Paul Nicholas and Donna Summer)
4. Oh Darling (Robin Gibb)
5. Maxwell’s Silver Hammer (Steve Martin)
6. Rise to Stardom Suite [Featuring Polythine Pam, She Came in Through the Bathroom Window, Nowhere Man, and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band Reprise] (The Bee Gees and Peter Frampton)

Side 3:

1. Got To Get You Into My Life (Earth Wind & Fire)
2. Strawberry Fields Forever (Olivia Newton-John)
3. When I’m Sixty-Four (Frankie Howard and Olivia Newton-John)
4. Mean Mr. Mustard (Frankie Howard)
5. Fixing a Hole (Barry Manilow)
6. Because (Alice Cooper and the Bee Gees)
7. The Death of Strawberry [Featuring Golden Slumbers and Carry That Weight] (Peter Frampton and The Bee Gees)

Side 4:

1. Come Together (Heart)
2. Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite (Peter Frampton, the Bee Gees, and Barry Manilow)
3. The Long and Winding Road (Peter Frampton)
4. A Day in the Life (Barry Gibb and the Bee Gees)
5. Get Back (Billy Preston)
6. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Finale) (Full Cast)

After the first week of great sales for both the movie and soundtrack, people started realizing something.

They were both terrible.

Universal Pictures had high hopes for the film. They anticipated it to be that generation’s Gone With the Wind. Instead, it was a clunky, awkward movie that didn’t work. The musical numbers were strung together carelessly and randomly. It ranged from tolerable to downright embarrassing. It was kitschy and overly whimsical. The Bee Gees couldn’t act, and neither could Frampton. When the Beatles went to see the film on opening day, everyone but George would completely shun the film (George would call the film ‘A cute idea that didn’t come out well). Despite the great opening weekend, the film would only be a minor success, grossing $25 Million against a budget of $13 Million.

The soundtrack would be received no better. Aside from Earth Wind & Fire’s “Got to Get You Into My Life” and Heart’s “Come Together”, almost every cover was seen as either bland, clumsy, poorly suited to its artist, or just generally bad. Robert Christgau gave it a D+. The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (Published in 1989) gave it one star. Rolling Stone gave it zero stars. The record was also the first record to “return platinum”. Over four million copies were returned back from stores to the album’s distributors.

The multimedia flop stunted or killed the careers of many of the people involved. The Bee Gees would have one more hit album before falling from the spotlight. Peter Frampton would only have one more Top 40 hit in his career. Olivia Newton-John would never act again (besides a cameo in a 2010 Glee episode). Alice Cooper wouldn’t have another hit until 1989.

Beatlemania’s return was prosperous and celebrated, but with the flop of both the Sgt. Peppers film and album, it was yesterday’s news.

 

[Button_Revenge]

“I got out of prison in July, then I got into rehab a few days later. Nancy and i had made it a habit to…do drugs together, but I had to sit down and tell her…I didn’t want to do that any more. I wanted to get off the habit, and…it was going to be hard. And it was. I had a lot of times when so felt like just quitting and getting off the wagon. But…it was alright at the end. And I owe that to Nancy and Johnny. Nancy was a bit hesitant at first, but…she understood and respected me for it, and Johnny was the one who came up with the idea in the first place, so I owe all of this to him.”

- Sid Vicious in a 1980 interview with NME.

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The cartoon franchise Scooby Doo was in a tough place in 1977. The show’s ratings were at a very low point, the lowest they had been in the show’s 8 years of existence. The show was also was losing money for the network, and it was on the verge of cancellation.

With that in mind, the show’s writers had to come up with something that could captivate an audience, draw in viewers, and make Scooby fresh again.

And that they did.

Following the Beatles’ boom in popularity in 1977, an idea for a special themed to a similar band to regain interest in the show was thrown around. It would be 45 minutes long and have twice the budget of a normal Scooby Doo episode.

The plot was as follows:

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Mystery Inc. goes to Chicago to investigate a case at a rock concert. They meet British rock band Bug Out (A parody of the Beatles, made up of vocalist Jimmy Larson, guitarist Greg Hamilton, bassist Bill Stewart, and drummer Ritchie Strat, along with their manager Johnny Gold), the band playing when the ghost of their former bandmate Phil Malcolm haunted the show and scared the audience out and into a show for Bug Out’s rivals, the Rocks (a parody of The Rolling Stones). The gang teams up with the band on their tour, and they investigate the situation as they tour the world. While on the tour, they meet the Rocks on multiple occasions, who act rude and egotistical. The clues start to piece together, and point to the Rocks as the source of the ghost.

As said by Velma in the episode itself: “It all makes sense now! The Bug Out crowd were drawn to the Rocks show…the same day the Rocks were selling tickets to their concert at half price!”

Fred and Daphne even sneak into the Rock’s tour bus, posing as reporters for a newspaper. When the band is asked if they know anything about a Ghost, the lead singer Mickey Jones responds with, “Oh, yes. We’ve been working on that for months. It’ll blow those old geezers Bug Out out of the water. How did you know about that? We’ve been trying to keep it a secret.”

The case is fairly open and shut until the Rocks’ show in Rome, Italy, on the same night as a Bug Out show also in Rome. Shaggy and Scooby go to apprehend the band, when the hear the band talking.
“Are you ready to get on stage?” The guitarist says to the drummer. “Ready as ever. I can’t wait to play ‘Ghost’.” The vocalist chuckles. “”Ghost’ is our best song year. I can’t wait to show it off.”

The ‘Ghost’ they were talking about was a song.

Later, while Shaggy and Scooby are away, the ghost comes back, and chases two of the Rocks’ members are chased by the ghost backstage, causing them to get trapped in their backstage dressing room together with the door locked. While they’re trapped, Scooby and Shaggy are forced to take their place and sing one of their songs, “Rock n Roll Music” to their audience, to much fanfare from the audience.

Meanwhile, Daphne and Velma try to chase down the ghost backstage. Fred sets up a trap for it while they do that, Fred sets up a trap to catch the ghost. After much chasing, the ghost is caught, and is revealed to be…Johnny Gold, Bug Out’s manager, who set up the ghost at Bug Out’s show to generate publicity for the band, and at the Rocks’ show to embarrass the band and ruin their show. Everyone reconciles, Bug Out finishes their tour, and the Mystery Gang celebrate another solved mystery.

The episode was also a musical, featuring four songs. “Bug Out,” “Keep on Rockin’ On,” “Ghost”, “Rock n Roll Music,” and a rock cover of the main theme song.

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The special was set to air in the fall of the next year, which would give the crew about a year to work on it. Within that year, they secured Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones to voice two members of the Rocks, and Ringo Starr of the Beatles to voice Ritchie Strat of Bug Out.

There was one major problem with the episode, though. With the songs, celebrity guests, and extended length, the special had gone over budget.

ABC, Scooby’s network, were not pleased. Scooby was already close to cancellation, due to it being an old property that was no longer relevant, and it generating a viewership that was below average. ABC’s executives, after much discussion, made it clear to the show’s staff: They weren’t going to pay for an over-budgeted show that was an old hat. They made a deal with the crew: If the episode wasn’t a hit, the show was over.

The crew made it their duty to put out the best episode they could, a sure-fire hit for the network. The special itself was also marketed frequently on the network. It was even given a primetime slot: 7:00 PM EST on Sunday, August 20, 1978.

And yet, it wasn’t good enough.

The special did fairly alright considering the circumstances, and very well for Scooby Doo’s standards. The viewership was three times higher than the average airing of Scooby Doo, mostly helped by the primetime slot and excessive advertising, and Newman’s Law, the movie that aired the week before as the ABC Sunday Night Movie, got roughly the same amount of viewers that Scooby did.

And yet, it wasn’t good enough.

The special did well, but not well enough. More money was spent than it was earned. The reason it failed has been speculated on. Maybe Scooby really was too old and formulaic to be popular again. Maybe the show’s advertising budget put the show in a hole as deep or even deeper than the one it was in in the first place.

But overall, the special was a flop. And so, it was decided, Scooby was over.

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“Just four weeks ago, Lynyrd Skynyrd released the single off of their upcoming album, Son of a Gun. Now, jumping three notches to #4, here’s “Crown of Thorns”!”

- From Casey Kasem’s Top 40, November 4, 1978

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On October 7, Lynyrd Skynyrd announced their next album, Son of a Gun, set to be released the following January. With the album came the lead single “Crown of Thorns”, a narrative piece about a man who murdered another and got away with it. The song was co-written by both lead singer Ronnie Van Zandt and guitarist Allen King.

The song would become Skynyrd’s biggest chart success up to that point, peaking at #4 on the Billboard Charts on November 4th.

 

[Button_Revenge]

Thanks for waiting for me, everyone. And now, your feature presentation.

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Lynyrd Skynyrd’s sixth studio album, Son of a Gun, was released on January 9th, 1979, with the following tracklist (Songwriters in parenthesis):

Side A:

1. Mama Said (Allen King, Ronnie Van Zant)
2. Gimmie a Chance (Gary Rossington, Van Zant)
3. Tennessee (Steve Gaines, Van Zant)
4. Paying The Price (Gaines, Van Zant)
5. Time Will Tell (Gaines)

Side B:

1. Crown of Thorns (King, Van Zant)
2. Honest Young Man (Rossington, Van Zant)
3. Time to Waste (Gaines, Van Zant)
4. She’s Alright (King, Van Zant)
5. What’d I Do (Rossington, Van Zant)

Along with those, the songs “Jacksonville Kid” and “Georgia Peaches” were B-sides for the second and third singles, “Mama Said” (which peaked at #14) and “Tennessee” (Which peaked at #25).

The album was well received when it was first released. Robert Christgau gave it an A, and Rolling Stone gave it four stars. Fans saw it as the band’s best since their debut, and the record was very successful, peaking at #3 on the Billboard 200.

Retrospective reviews have also been kind. The album currently has a 3.77/5 on rate your music. Rolling Stone ranked it #413 on their 2012 “Greatest Albums of All Time” list. In 2020, it moved up to #388. AllMusic gave the record four and half stars out of five. The Encyclopedia of Popular Music gave it four stars.

Overall, the album was seen as a success. A success that would carry Lynyrd Skynyrd into the 80s and possibly beyond.

But, in March of that same year, the band announced a short hiatus. Whatever the future history was for the band, it was going to have to wait.

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January of 1979. It had been one year since the Sex Pistols broke up.

John Lydon had already formed a new band with his friend John Wardle and guitarist Keith Levene. Public Image Ltd., as it had been called, had already released their first album in December of 1978.

Previous bassist Glen Matlock had also started his own band, Rich Kids. The band was a lot poppier than the Sex Pistols, switching the Pistols’ punk sound for a new wave sound.

Besides them, Sid had taken a break from music during his rehab, and guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook hadn’t recorded any music since the break up. There were even some rumors in certain circles that Jones and Cook were going to form their own successor band.

Sid, after a year in prison and then rehab, was ready to get back on his feet. He was off drugs, and he wanted to get back into playing music.

So, in January of 1979, he met up with Jones and Cook again for a friendly jam out, with Jones on guitar, Vicious on bass, and Cook on drums.

The songs were performed fine, but nothing special popped with them. Vicious’ bass playing was clumsy and Jones and Cooks’ playing were pretty standard. Halfway in, Vicious gave up playing bass. “Fuck this. I’m gonna try singing. That alright with you two?”

And so, the band launched into the Stooges’ “Down on the Street”, a song they all had experience in playing.

But something felt different about this cover. Sid turned out to be a great frontman, and he brought the song to life. He was energetic and fun, and brought the cover to the next level.

After about two hours, the jam finished. Once everyone left, there were thoughts that seemed to enter everyone’s mind. There had been talks of Sid replacing Johnny as frontman for the Pistols, but Sid’s drug habits had put a stop to any development of that.

But, as shown during the jam, it worked. When Sid was frontman, he had brought an original energy, one that could carry the rest of the band if they decided to carry on together.

But would they? Who knew. The jam inspired new life into the band, but was it enough to hold the band together?

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The Beatles Dominate 21st Grammys​

The big winners at the 21st annual Grammy Award ceremony Thursday night — televised from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles by CBS‐TV — were John, Paul, George, and Ringo — The Beatles. Soft, predictable pop music swept the rest of the awards, with disco getting mostly snubbed, winning much less than expected.

The Beatles took home four Grammys. The really big award — Album of the year — for Starting Over, the biggest-selling album of all time, Record of the year and Song of the year for their hit single of the same name, and Producer of the Year for George Martin, who has produced for the band for the majority of their career.

The Bee Gees only won two Grammys, a major setback for the Australian disco-pop trio. The group had been nominated for six awards, but lost out to The Beatles in four of those categories, only winning Best Pop Vocal Performance By a Duo or Group and Best Arrangement For Voices.

The rest of the pop awards were won by middle-of-the-road pop. Barry Mannilow won male pop vocalist, and Anne Murray won female pop vocalist. Miss Murray’s award, which came as something of a pleasant surprise, was over a field consisting entirely of soft pop entries. In addition, the new artist Grammy went to Taste of Honey, a black female pop duo that offered one of the nicest live performances of the telecast; other new‐artist nominees included such tougher rock types as Elvis Costello, whose very consideration came as a surprise, and the Cars.

- From the New York Times’ John Rockwell, February 17, 1979

 

[Button_Revenge]

McCartney: “You know, a lot of the songs on that album wouldn’t be what they were without all four of us. Like take ‘I’m Carrying’ for example. That wasn’t originally a piano song. I played it for the guys on guitar, and George was like, ‘Hold on there Paul, let me just try something with that tune,’ and he played it on piano and it was great.”


Harrison: “That happened on a lot of the tracks on that album. Blow Away was originally much slower, and Watching the Wheels was synthesizer-based, but we kept tweaking the songs until we found things that worked for all of us.”

Starr: “Flight was originally called Wings, but Paul didn’t want there to be too big of an association between us and Wings, so I volunteered to change it.”

McCartney: “Yeah. I want Wings to stand as their own separate band, not just “Paul’s second band.” So Ringo offered to change the name.”

- The Beatles in an exclusive press conference, 1978

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Wings had taken a hiatus following their 1976 tour, and that break would extend well into ‘77 and ‘78 with the Beatles reunion. Jimmy McCullough, their lead guitarist and bassist, and Joe English, their drummer, both left the band during the break.

In 1978, the hiatus stopped, and they worked on their next album. They recruited lead guitarist Laurence Juber and drummer Steve Holly to fill in the missing spots.

In the Christmas of 1978, they released a non-album single as a group, the folk song “Mull of Kintyre”. The single was very big, selling about 1.3 million units. The public were a bit tired of the Beatles by that point, but despite that, the single was the 4th best selling single of 1978 in the UK.

The band was ready to release an album, and they soon did. In April of 1979, they released London Town, their sixth album as a group, their first double album, and last album on their contract with Capitol. The tracklist was as follows:

1. Getting Closer
2. Backwards Traveller
3. Spin it On
4. Cuff Link
5. Children Children
6. Girlfriend
7. Old Siam, Sir
8. Famous Groupies
9. Again and Again and Again
10. Deliver Your Children
11. Arrow Through Me
12. Name and Address
13. So Glad To See You Here
14. Goodnight Tonight
15. Morse Moose and the Grey Goose

While there were some worries from Wings fans that the album would just be leftovers from the Beatles sessions, Paul quickly denied these rumors, saying that the next album would be mostly based in synthesizers and take influences from disco, punk, and new wave music.

So how did it come out?

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Since his solo debut in 1970 with the casual, albeit totally original McCartney, this Beatle has been lending his truly prodigious talents as a singer, songwriter, musician and producer to some of the laziest records in the history of rock & roll when not with his original group. With the exception of Band on the Run and Venus and Mars, McCartney's work with Wings has proven to be as scattershot as it is puerile, each abortive rock snippet and silly love song feeding the mounting bewilderment about his direction (or utter lack of it) as an artist. Who, one felt compelled to ask, is in charge here? London Town provides the final, obvious answer: no one.

- From Timothy White’s review in Rolling Stone

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Fifteen titles on a 50 minute LP--and only one, “Famous Groupies”, I could remember after it had finished. McCartney is throwing fickle lyrics and leftover Starting Over melodies at the wall--and nothing’s sticking. D+

- From Robert Christgau’s review

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London Town is Paul McCartney's attempt at reassembling Wings after the 1977 Beatles reunion. Assembling a new lineup for Wings, and evolving the sound of the band to heavily include synthesizers, McCartney leads the group through a set of his most undistinguished songs, ranging from forced arena rock to formulaic adult contemporary to dull acoustic ballads. The dull, uninspired songs make this an overall weak record.

- Stephen Thomas Erlewine’s retrospective review for AllMusic

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“The whole point of the record was for Paul to show how Wings could stand on their own, and instead, he proved why he needed the other Beatles. For Starting Over, Paul, John, George, and Ringo submitted their own ideas to the album, and what the band determined as the best got on the record. For London Town, it feels like Paul’s the only one in charge, and no one’s objecting to anything he does or adding ideas of their own. If anyone else was in charge, they’d have the good sense to not end off the album with a 6 and a half minute song called ‘Morse Moose and the Grey Goose’!”

- From Todd in the Shadows’ Trainwreckords review of the album, March 20, 2020

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While there were positive assessments, the overall assessment, both then and now, is that the album was a poor showing of Paul’s work when he had nobody to tell him what worked and what didn’t.

While the album wasn’t received well critically, it was expected to do well financially, and yet the album still did worse than usual. This can be attributed to multiple factors:

1. The album just wasn’t plain good. The bad reviews scared away potential non-Wings fan buyers, and the tracks fell out of rotation on radio fairly quickly, which leads us to…
2. The underperformance of the singles. While “Mull of Kintyre” was massive in Britain, it only made a small dent in America, only getting in the lower 60s on the Hot 100. The lead single “Old Siam, Sir” didn’t hit the American charts at all, and only peaked at #35 on the UK singles chart. “Getting Closer” did better in America yet worse in England, peaking at #68 in the UK and #23 in the United States.
3. Starting Over. While it may seem odd, the album’s biggest competitor was the Beatles album released right before it. The album’s lower quality was only highlighted by the quality of Paul’s previous record, and London Town was often unfavorably called the dregs of the previous album’s recording session. Speaking of the Beatles…
4. By the winter of 1978, the Beatles boom had busted. This was also around the time Wings started releasing singles for the album. The album was released after people were getting tired of the Beatles’ overexposure, and that didn’t help radio play or album sales.

That’s not to say the album sold badly - for an act other than Wings, it would’ve sold well. The album sold over a million copies in the US, and went to #9 on the British charts. However, for Wings numbers, this was a fairly big disappointment.

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Hanna-Barbera were in a bit of a pickle in 1978.

Scooby Doo had been canceled, and the show was over for the foreseeable future.

But, something had to replace it. Something big, too. Scooby couldn’t just be replaced with another Flintstone or Harlem Globetrotters spin-off. Scooby was a flagship franchise, and to replace it, they’d have to replace it with another flagship franchise.

Yet, they had to choose something safe. They didn’t want to put their bets on a new franchise just to see it flop.

Meanwhile, a Casper the Friendly Ghost spinoff show was in production while this was happening. It was to be set in the future, and was to feature Casper as a “Guardian Ghost” to two female Space Police Officers.

While this series was in its early production, Hanna-Barbera were looking for a sure-fire hit to replace Scooby.

And that’s when an idea came around.

What if, instead of being a spin-off of the Casper concept, it was instead a straight reboot of Casper? There hadn’t been a Casper cartoon show since the 60s, and Harvey Comics had already okay-ed the licensing.

It wasn’t guaranteed to work (nothing was), but it had a pretty good chance. It was an already iconic character, using the same formula shown to work before, and with Hanna-Barbera’s talent and notoriety, it could really be a hit.

So the concept went through, with it set to air around October of that year.

In June of 1979, they started advertising for the show. There were mostly Television ads, but perhaps the most famous way they advertised the new show is when they partnered with Harvey Comics to make a special Flintstones comic book, which went out on store shelves on June 29, 1979.

The comic sold fairly well, and while not being the first Flintstones comic book, was the only one published by Harvey Comics.

And so, with the word out, the Casper the Friendly Ghost cartoon was ready to come out.

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Reporter: “And what do you think of this new wave of disco-dance music?

McCartney: “I can’t speak for the others, but I quite like it. It’s funky, it’s fresh. That “Disco Duck” song from a few years back is a favorite of mine.”

Starr: “I’d agree with Paul there. I wholeheartedly welcome it.”

Lennon: “I’ve always been a fan of black music…and it’s good that it’s getting so big, and there are a lot of great songs and bands that I just adore…”

Harrisson: “Sorry to be a bit of a buzzkill, but…disco just hasn’t clicked for me yet. I’m not really a fan of it or the new punk that’s come around…”

- The Beatles in an exclusive press conference, 1978

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By 1979, disco music had seemingly plateaued at the top. While Sgt. Peppers had been a shot in disco’s arm, disco was still trooping on. Within the first half of 1979, 10 of the 13 #1 songs were disco songs. Rock artists like The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Queen, The Grateful Dead, KISS, Chicago, and the previously mentioned Wings were using elements from disco in their songs. Pop and country artists, too, with Barbera Streissand, Dolly Parton, Connie Smith, Bill Anderson, and Ronnie Milsap were recording disco or disco-inspired songs.

Pre-existing songs, like TV themes, jazz standards, and big band tunes were being remixed into very successful disco songs. Along with that, many TV themes and ad jingles from the era took influence from the genre. Many struggling rock radio stations around the country turned to disco to get more listeners.

With disco everywhere…it became a bit much, and rock fans soon became sick of the genre. Rock artists who took disco influence were accused of selling out. The Dead Kennedys “Saturday Night Holocaust” likened disco to government apathy and escapism.

But the peak of disco’s hatred came in July, when the Chicago White Sox announced they would offer 98 cent tickets for anyone who brought in a disco record. After the game, the records would be placed in a pile and blown up.

The promotion was frontheaded by Steve Dahl, a Chicago shock jock and avid disco hater. A few weeks before the event, he got a valuable asset - an interview with Ronnie Van Zandt of Lynyrd Skynyrd.

The interview was about an hour long, and was fairly usual…until the end, when Dahl reminded listeners to visit the upcoming Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park in Chicago, at 5:00PM on July the 12th.

The interview wasn’t an enormous success, but it did attract Skynyrd fans to the promotion, many of whom also hated disco. He also got the time wrong - the doors opened at 6:00, not 5:00.

When July 12 came, people were ready. They were walking towards the ballpark carrying Anti-Disco signs and wearing anti-disco T-shirts.

And there were lots of them…around 10,000, to be exact, at the ballpark at 5:00 - an hour before the park’s doors opened. At the rate people were coming in, there were concerns the ballpark couldn’t fit everybody. It was evident that the promotion worked, but it worked too well. They had too many people, and they were all a little too enthusiastic about their hatred of disco.

But despite that, the show went on. By 6:00, around 50,000 people had arrived to the park - a little more than the park’s capacity of 45,000.

It was looking like a shitshow, and there was no going back…or was there? That’s when an idea came around. What if, to manage the massive toll of people and to shake off excess visitors, they delayed the game, blaming it on another matter? It was projected to rain, so the excuse wasn’t that suspicious…

And so, at 6:20, they announced a delay of the game to the following day due to projected rain and storms.

…This was a very stupid decision that only made the situation worse, for the simple fact that it pissed people the fuck off.

And when this news spread outside the ballpark, they did not take it lightly. Many started rioting, yelling, and throwing their records at guards.

And that’s when things got bad.

One man - who still, nearly 43 years later, is still unknown - was pissed off enough that he made an attempt to rush into the ballpark…and he made it in. Suddenly, many others who saw the successful rush attempted it themselves…many of which also got in.

Soon, there was a large-scale rush into the ballpark, and the park was overrun with tens of thousands of very pissed off disco haters, a good few of which were drunk.

And they started utterly trashing the place. Batting cages, cafes, food stands, and dugouts were destroyed, bases were stolen, records were thrown and set ablaze, and the ballpark was completely trashed. Employees inside the park reportedly locked themselves in the press box to avoid the rioting. 73 people in total reported injuries relating to multiple factors, including getting crushed or trampled in the entryway, getting hit by thrown objects, injuries relating to fights, tripping on fallen objects, and one man who drunkenly fell down a flight of stairs.

The crowd seemed to have gone by 9, but the completely trashed ballpark still remained. The White Sox ended up having to forfeit the game to their competitors, the Detroit Tigers.

The next day, everyone involved apologized, but the damage was still there, and the White Sox were forced to forfeit not just the game the night of the Disco Demolition fiasco, but two others with the Tigers. Manager Don Kessigner was fired in August.

 

[Button_Revenge]

"I actually went around the baseball park yesterday after the chaos, and I found that it was just surrounded with disco records dropped on the floors and thrown around - Which, I have to say, it's a bit counterintuitive that we ended up opening the biggest disco record shop in all of Chicago. The record are even free!"

- Steve Dahl on his radio show the following morning, July 13, 1979

“No, we’re not going to be working on anything soon, or at least we’re not planning on it. Although, one day, about a month or two ago, Paul came up to me and asked, ‘Hey, I’m working on a Christmas track, wanna? And - While to be honest, I was interested - I had just finished a year and a half’s work of recording and promoting Starting Over. And that album was huge - I think it’s sold like 20 million albums by now - But I had to decline. And this is a bit of an announcement for my fans, too - To put it simply, I'm tired. I need some time to rest after all of that, y’know, care for my family too. My next album - I don’t anticipate it coming out for a few years. As for songs, perhaps in a year or so, if Paul asks me again to do a song, i’ll agree, but - I just need some time off. Don’t we all?”

- John Lennon being interviewed, October 11, 1979

-

In early August of 1979, multiple nights at the Roxy club in London had been booked by an unknown band.

That band was White Elephant Gift Exchange from Manchester. That band featured vocalist Ron Jones, guitarist Jamie Stevens, bassist Mike Goodson and drummer Charlie Palmer.

That band was not real.

Keen eyed punks in the crowd might have noticed the band looked familiar - In actuality, they were John Ritchie (Sid Vicious), Steve Jones, Glen Matlock, and Paul Cook under pseudonyms.

After the January jam session, the three remaining Sex Pistols continued meeting whenever they could - usually every month. The band started to form a chemistry together. It seemed the warring of the 1978 US tour was nowhere to be found - it was just three guys playing music together.

Still, the band felt they were missing something. Johnny was a good frontman, and he had improved as a bass player from his time in the original Sex Pistols, but he couldn’t focus on singing and playing bass at the same time. The band attempted to recruit John Lydon, but when asked, John respectfully declined, citing his involvement with Public Image Ltd as the main reason he couldn’t join.

Luckily, soon after, an opportunity came for the band. In mid-1979, Glen Matlock’s new wave band, Rich Kids, announced their disbandment after two years of being together. Almost immediately after, John, Steve, and Paul met up with him, asking him if he wanted to play bass in the reunited group. After hearing them play a few songs, he accepted the offer.

In July, the now four piece band began practicing together. Through the practices, they also started to write music.

In August, the band booked multiple nights at the Roxy under a fake name, calling themselves fake names, and had a set filled with covers of various punk songs - including two Sex Pistols “covers” (Anarchy in the U.K. and Holidays in the Sun) - as well as a few original songs the band members had written in the meantime.

When the band debuted White Elephant Gift Exchange, the reception was very positive. The crowd seemed to enjoy both the covers and the new songs.

It seemed the new Sex Pistols were in a good place…but what now?

-

Aerosmith was not in the best place after their 1977 plane crash.

Joe Perry, David Krebs and Scott Cushnie were dead. Joey Kramer was badly injured.

The last album, Draw the Line, was released in May of 1978 using mostly recordings made after the plane crash with Brad Whitford on lead guitar and Johnny Winter group drummer Johnny Caldwell, as well as a few recordings made before the plane crash. The two lead singles, “Draw the Line” and “Kings and Queens”, peaked at #34 and #50 respectively.

Soon after that, Joey recovered from his injuries and was ready to drum for the band once again. Despite this, the band was still missing a lead guitarist. To make matters worse, drug problems kept the band from recording for some time.

So, in 1978, the band held auditions for new lead guitarists. After over 1,000 auditions, the band had chosen a guitarist: Bob Deal, a blues rock guitarist from California who had a history with bands from the area. He seemed like a perfect fit for the group, and he was also an occasional songwriter.

In early 1979, they started recording for their next album, Off Your Rocker. Unfortunately, Steven Tyler had difficulty completing vocals and lyrics for the album, mostly because of his rampant drug addiction.

With the budget slowly dwindling and Aerosmith’s popularity also slowly waning, the band was sent on a short US tour. Unfortunately, the tour worsened the band’s relationships, and the rampant drug use only worsened. They often fought amongst each other, and live performances often came out sloppy.

Luckily, in August, a record materialized, and on August 31, Off Your Rocker was released.

And it was a huge flop.

Reviews of the album, both then and now, are polarizing. Some liked Deal’s harder edge in the songwriting process, seeing it as a change needed to the group, while some saw it as a hard clash towards the group’s normal style. Rolling Stone gave the album one star, and the Collector’s Guide to Heavy Metal gave the album an 8/10. Robert Christgau called the record a complete trainwreck, and Steven Tyler called it his favorite Aerosmith album.
Most reviews, however, weren’t as negative, nor as positive as many of the major ones. AllMusic gave it a 2.5/5. Rateyourmusic, a website where music fans can rate albums on a 5 star scale, has the album listed as a perfect 3 out of 5.