Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Taking the temperature of life in the 70s...

The late film critic Gene Siskel called the movie that debuted on the night of December 14th, 1977, his favorite. He really must have loved it because he saw it 17 times. It was great music that made the movie, not a classic plot or dialogue like, "would you just watch the hair? I work on my hair a long time and you hit it. He hits my hair". Dopey lines similar to "yo Adrian" from "Rocky" and a backdrop of the entire borough of Brooklyn dancing to a disco beat couldn't kill this movie but it was the music that made it...

"Saturday Night Fever" was a film based on a 1975 New York Magazine article by Brit Nik Cohn. The piece he wrote was called "Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night". In the late 90s Cohn admitted that the article had been completely fabricated. I mean what does a newly arrived import from Britain know about Brooklyn or a disco lifestyle ? Exactly...

The Bee Gees wrote the musical score and the soundtrack was one of the biggest selling albums of the 70s. The movie would help popularize disco music and make John Travolta a household name. In addition to Travolta and half his family, the movie featured Donna Pescow and Karen Lynn Gorney who would not become household names. Fran Drescher has a bit part and even Monti Rock III sneaks in, playing, what else? A deejay...

If you saw "Saturday Night Fever" for the 1st time today you would probably laugh a lot at the dopey dialogue ("Tony, you're the king out there. You're a great dancer") and lack of a plot other than living for another night at the disco but you would still like the music that made the movie...

More December 14 Memories...

1799) George Washington, our 1st president, dies at his home in Mount Vernon, Virginia at 67...

1911) Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen becomes the 1st person to reach the South Pole (35 days ahead of Captain Robert F. Scott)...

1915) Jack Johnson becomes the 1st black world heavyweight champion...

1946) The U.N. General Assembly votes to establish U.N. headquarters in Manhattan...

1955) The Tappan Zee Bridge opens to traffic...

1961) Jimmy Dean's "Big Bad John" becomes 1st country song to go gold...

1963) Dinah Washington dies of a drug overdose at 39 (She had 34 top 10 hits on the R&B charts. Her biggest hit is the duet with Brook Benton, "Baby (You've Got What It Takes)" that tops the R&B charts for 10 weeks and becomes a big pop hit but none of her hits was as great as "What A Difference A Day Makes")...

1968) Tommy James & the Shondells release "Crimson & Clover"...

1969) The Jackson Five make their 1st appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show"...

1970) Smokey Robinson & the Miracles top the charts with "The Tears of a Clown"...

1974) Styx releases "Lady"...

1977) "Saturday Night Fever" premieres in New York City (feature story)...

1980) Yoko Ono calls for a 10-minute silent vigil around the world for her husband John Lennon, shot to death 6 days earlier...

1995) White House classified documents are released revealing that the FBI spied on John Lennon in the early 70s in an attempt to have the former Beatle deported. One report criticized Yoko Ono's singing ability (and that's wrong because ?)...

1995) "Frank Sinatra: 80 Years My Way" airs on ABC-TV...

1999) BMI names "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin" as the #1 composition on the performing rights group's list of "Top 100 Songs Of The Century"...

1999) A former Beatle plays the Cavern Club in Liverpool for the 1st time in 36 years when Paul McCartney does a one-nighter there...

1999) Charles M. Schulz announces he's retiring the "Peanuts" comic strip (the last original "Peanuts" comic strip is published on February 13, 2000)...

2000) The FTC approves the $111 billion merger of AOL and Time Warner...

Happy Birthday To...

1922) "60 Minutes" producer Don Hewitt...

1932) Abbe Lane...

1946) Patty Duke...

1946) Dawn's Joyce Vincent-Wilson...

1949) Okay Red Sox fans, close your eyes...Bill Buckner...

Commentary...

The late film critic Gene Siskel liked "Saturday Night Live" so much that in addition to seeing it 17 times he bought the famous white disco suit worn by John Travolta in the movie...

The original version of the movie was rated "R" but there was a "PG" version that was released in 1978 in an attempt to attract a more youthful audience. Only the R-rated version is available and in widescreen only...

A sequel, "Staying Alive" was released in 1983 with John Travolta reprising his Tony Manero role but "Staying Alive" was no "Saturday Night Fever"...