What Did David Cassidy Originally Think Of The Music Of The Partridge Family? Pop Culture Trivia.

February 4, 2011

Mr. Pop History -
Back when David Cassidy and the Partridge Family were churning out hits, Cassidy really wanted to up the ante.
Here’s a quote from December of 1970 – when the hits just kept comin’. Remember – David Cassidy was hired as an actor – not a singer, but as he got into it, wanted to be a more “serious” singer.

Said Cassidy at that time: “The music we do is bubblegum to the trade. I think it’s a little better than most bubblegum. Sophisticated bubblegum. What it’s not, is George Harrison. That’s what I want to be doing. that’s what I will do…”

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What Was The Best-Selling Debut Album All Time? Pop Culture.

January 10, 2011

Mr. Pop History – It was the album, “Boston” in 1976 featuring of course – “More Than A Feeling.” The band was formed in 1975 by Tom Scholz, a senior product designer for Polaroid who had a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from MIT. He recorded a 12-track demo album in his home recording studio.

The band was fronted by lead-singer Brad Delp, who died early at the age of 55.

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Entertainment Themed Restaurants – Hard Rock Cafe vs. Planet Hollwyood

January 7, 2011

Mr. Pop History – The first was Hard Rock Cafe back in 1971. It began a trend of “themed” franchise restaurants.

Planet Hollywood came along in 1991. Soon as Planet Hollywood came along – and it seemed, both with bitter rivals. Soon came some lawsuits that had to do with proprietary marketing and such.

Planet Hollywood, unlike Hard Rock – suffered from a bad reputation of not-so-good food. Hard Rock Cafe was known for its trendy patrons and of course, rock ‘n’ roll motif.

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When Did The Rock Group, “The Eagles” Jump The Shark?

December 13, 2010

Mr. Pop History – This is a band that went through a number of member changes since they began – but “The Eagles” – probably the largest-selling band of the 1970′s, went downhill after their gigantic “Hotel California” album. The album sold 10 million and the title track won a Grammy in 1976. But for main songwriters Don Henley and Glenn Frey – there was just no way they were going to top it. By 1982, the band was gone. Both Henley and Frey went solo with respective albums and that… was that.

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CBS NFL Football TV Broadcast Sabatoged… Pop Culture History.

November 22, 2010

That’s right. cables were severed to prevent a scheduled televised game between the New York Jets and Washington Redskins at Shea Stadium. This was back in November 1972 and occurred during a strike by cameramen, engineers and other TV techs against CBS-TV.

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TV Show Bonanza – What Kind Of Money Did Lorne Greene Make? Pop. Culture. History.

November 8, 2010

With TV stars comes big money. During the Baby Boomer era – we remember the big shows such as “Bonanza.” What kind of money did star Lorne Greene make?

The answer – during the show’s last days, Greene was making top $$ – $32,000 per episode. This was back in 1972.  And he was probably the highest paid TV star at that time.

Not bad for Greene, who at the time, was still a Canadian citizen.

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“Walkman” Was A Pivital Appliance In Pop Culture History – Make No Mistake. Pop. Culture. History. Trivia.

October 25, 2010

Mr. Pop History – And so, we say goodbye to new cassette Walkman’s as Sony announces no more will be made.

Some of you thought it went away quite a while ago.

Make no mistake – The cassette “Walkman” – was the first of its kind and like any other successful product, spawned imitators and began a whole new genre of “taking music with you.” Up until 1979 – it was never that close and personal. As the cassette created a new format for tape, “Walkman” created a new format for cassettes. It was really cool to dub a record album to cassette – then listen to it on the run, on the walk or whatever.

Before the iPod, there was the Sony Walkman. It set the trend of taking it with you – your way – much like smart phones are doing today.

Gary West – www.mrpophistory.com    www.mrpopculture.com

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Barbara Walters Question. Pop. Culture. History.

September 10, 2010

From Doug N – Barbara Walters once conducted a talk show – by herself and as I recall, it was with celebrities and famous people. What was the name of that old talk show?

Mr. Pop History – From the early 1970′s, it was “Not For Women Only.”

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60 Minutes Question. This Week In History. Pop. Culture.

August 17, 2010

From James A – Before ABC’s 20/20, they had tried another news magazine-type show. What was it?

Mr. Pop History – NBC and ABC envied the ratings and financial success of CBS’ 60 Minutes. It took ABC a while. One was something called “Seven Days” – a sort of week-in-review program. The problem – you couldn’t rerun it – and the ratings weren’t that good.

Over at NBC? Some 10 magazine shows came and went before they hit the right formula and timing. More in another Q&A.

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Comedy Show About Venereal Disease… Pop. Culture. History

July 28, 2010

From Ron N – Mr. Pop, Someone told me there was a TV show – a sort of comedy about venereal disease. Was this on cable?

Mr. Pop History – No, but it was back in 1972, when VD was all the rage (everyone talked about it). The PBS show was called “VD Blues” with host Dick Cavett. According to the log-line, “VD is now reaching epidemic proportions throughout America.” “VD isn’t funny. Catch VD Clues before it catches you.”

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