Make Your Own Kind Of Music
- Thread starter Harry
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Kaisu
Well-Known Member
He seems to enjoy performing in this number though... Could be a rare coincidence or maybe his faking it.
Carpe diem
Well-Known Member
Another bad lip-synced segment from the very dreadful summer TV replacement MYOKOM. The only good thing from that show was a very good thing; the live medley of Karen at the piano with Richard. The rest is dreck.
tomswift2002
Well-Known Member
No, I don't think so. It was a summer series meant to be a place-holder for THE DON KNOTTS SHOW. Variety series were generally not rerun for the full summer as the guests would have to be paid again for the second run. So the US networks would either find a substitute host, or another show entirely, to keep the time-slot alive during the summer months.
A good example of this was when Glen Campbell hosted a summer series while THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS were on their summer hiatus. The Glen Campbell-hosted show went over so well that it became a full-time series on CBS.
These summer replacement series were truly throw-away entertainment, never meant to be seen again. They were just "of the moment". Since it aired in 1971, there were very few, if any, consumer video recorders on the market at that time. Only the richest of the rich could afford the giant videotape recorders of the day, and they probably weren't spending their time - or their tape - on an NBC summer series.
The videos that we do see come from leftover tapes that languish in vaults that have surfaced enough for someone to attempt a VHS or Beta dub years later. Then copies of copies. Obviously Richard and/or A&M must have kept copies as they used some of the "videos" for commercial release.
A good example of this was when Glen Campbell hosted a summer series while THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS were on their summer hiatus. The Glen Campbell-hosted show went over so well that it became a full-time series on CBS.
These summer replacement series were truly throw-away entertainment, never meant to be seen again. They were just "of the moment". Since it aired in 1971, there were very few, if any, consumer video recorders on the market at that time. Only the richest of the rich could afford the giant videotape recorders of the day, and they probably weren't spending their time - or their tape - on an NBC summer series.
The videos that we do see come from leftover tapes that languish in vaults that have surfaced enough for someone to attempt a VHS or Beta dub years later. Then copies of copies. Obviously Richard and/or A&M must have kept copies as they used some of the "videos" for commercial release.
newvillefan
I Know My First Name Is Stephen
tomswift2002
Well-Known Member
Sure it was meant as a summer replacement series, but how do we know that it wasn’t re-aired in syndication at some point in the early mornings of the 80’s or 90’s, or even aired in the late-70’s or early-80’s in a foreign country English-speaking country?
Kaisu
Well-Known Member
It's sort of a yin and yang phenomenon in my opinion.
Kaisu
Well-Known Member
Sorry to derail the discussion again from disco mania to another topic. I went and watched a video on youtube called "make your own kind of music highlights (1971). Crappy video quality and early 70's color palette was burning my eyes but it was fun to see Karen playing drums. The hamming of the tambourine was something else though...
Carpe diem
Well-Known Member
Here is another clip from MYOKOM that is stupidly unfunny. Look at the reactions of Karen, you can just tell she is ill at ease and forcing herself through this;
Karen's ultimate recollection of MYOKOM; Interviewed for FM100 some years later, Karen recalled the NBC endeavor as a mistake, saying they were "violently mishandled. Our TV exposure was disastrous. We realized it immediately, and we shied away from television".
-Randy L. Schmidt, Little Girl Blue, pg 81
Leaving the question...what kind of incompetent "management" were they under at this time?
Karen's ultimate recollection of MYOKOM; Interviewed for FM100 some years later, Karen recalled the NBC endeavor as a mistake, saying they were "violently mishandled. Our TV exposure was disastrous. We realized it immediately, and we shied away from television".
-Randy L. Schmidt, Little Girl Blue, pg 81
Leaving the question...what kind of incompetent "management" were they under at this time?
Carpe diem
Well-Known Member
Painfully true, newvillefan, painfully true...
GaryAlan
Well-Known Member
Regarding the issue of being mishandled by management:
Did management choose the song Druscilla Penny for that Television episode ?
There were only eight episodes of the summer series--MYOKOM.
It--that is, the Carpenters' being on MYOKOM--hardly made any impact, to my knowledge.
Did management choose Saturday for the Robert Young Special ?
Did Weintraub management choose Goofus or Man Smart, Woman Smarter for the 1978 special ?
Many of those early Carpenters Television spots were excellent:
Carol Burnett, Tom Jones, Bob Hope...
Did management choose the song Druscilla Penny for that Television episode ?
There were only eight episodes of the summer series--MYOKOM.
It--that is, the Carpenters' being on MYOKOM--hardly made any impact, to my knowledge.
Did management choose Saturday for the Robert Young Special ?
Did Weintraub management choose Goofus or Man Smart, Woman Smarter for the 1978 special ?
Many of those early Carpenters Television spots were excellent:
Carol Burnett, Tom Jones, Bob Hope...
GaryAlan
Well-Known Member
So, I have been watching every Video I can find of the
Make Your Own Kind Of Music program.
My verdict: Release on DVD !
This material--especially the MUSIC--is well worth watching.
Yes--I'll get hammered for this--
but, it (the program) is not as bad as it is made out to be !
And, that so-called
"Medley" never was 'aired' as one entire song, from what I can view.
Make Your Own Kind Of Music program.
My verdict: Release on DVD !
This material--especially the MUSIC--is well worth watching.
Yes--I'll get hammered for this--
but, it (the program) is not as bad as it is made out to be !
And, that so-called
"Medley" never was 'aired' as one entire song, from what I can view.
tomswift2002
Well-Known Member
I don't think that nurse sketch, as it is presented in that video, was aired as one whole segment. It looks like that video was made up of multiple sketches. Although, considering that I'm not from the early-70's, I did not get the jokes.
Put yourself into the time period in question. It's the summer of 1971. Carpenters have exactly three albums and a Christmas single in the can. So all totaled, there were 35 non-Christmas songs available for this television program.
Now next one must understand that Carpenters were only two of a set of rotating stars/hosts of this show. Each one got to do something on every episode. Karen AND Richard shared duties in this series, and generally performed as a duo or part of the larger stage group that we see. Other hosts were Al Hirt, Mark Lindsay, comedians Patchett & Tarses, and musical group, The Doodletown Pipers.
Each episode went through the alphabet, doing a segment for each letter. With "X", there aren't very many words that start with X, so they came up with the X-ray bit. Each week, they'd throw one of these short sketches in for the letter X. A different one each week.
This was the era of ROWAN & MARTIN's LAUGH-IN, where short "blackout" sketches became the "in" thing, so this show incorporated them for some of the letters of the alphabet.
Since Richard was one of the hosts, when it came turn for him to perform, there weren't a whole lot of Richard-only songs in the Carpenters three-album repertoire, so "Druscilla Penny" and "Saturday" and "I Kept On Loving You" would be naturals, assuming they didn't want to dig too far into the failed album TICKET TO RIDE/OFFERING.
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GaryAlan
Well-Known Member
Found much detail here:
The Carpenters TV Show
Songs and airdates:
"Close to You , Reason to Believe, We've Only Just Begun, New World Coming"
September 7
"Bless the Beasts and Children, Superstar, Ticket to Ride, I Wanna Be Free"
August 31
"All I Can Do, Let Me Be the One, Trains and Boats and Planes, Maybe It's You"
August 24
"Rainy Days and Mondays" Baby It's You"
August 10
"Don't Be Afraid, Hideaway, I Kept on Loving You, Love is Surrender, What's the Use"
August 3
"Bacharach/David medley, One Love, Drusilla Penny"
July 27
"Help, For All We Know, Mr. Guder, I Kept on Loving You, Wishin' and Hopin' "
July 20
"We've Only Just Begun, Close to You, Rainy Days and Mondays"
The Carpenters TV Show
Songs and airdates:
"Close to You , Reason to Believe, We've Only Just Begun, New World Coming"
September 7
"Bless the Beasts and Children, Superstar, Ticket to Ride, I Wanna Be Free"
August 31
"All I Can Do, Let Me Be the One, Trains and Boats and Planes, Maybe It's You"
August 24
"Rainy Days and Mondays" Baby It's You"
August 10
"Don't Be Afraid, Hideaway, I Kept on Loving You, Love is Surrender, What's the Use"
August 3
"Bacharach/David medley, One Love, Drusilla Penny"
July 27
"Help, For All We Know, Mr. Guder, I Kept on Loving You, Wishin' and Hopin' "
July 20
"We've Only Just Begun, Close to You, Rainy Days and Mondays"
Must Hear This Album
Well-Known Member
I confess I find most of the YouTube clips endearing time-capsules, per some of the above commentaries (although some of the sketches were cringe-worthy, especially the nurse skit featuring the Mama Cass’ x-ray, where Karen pulled out an extended x-ray image to “widen” the frame, poking fun at Cass’ weight. Ugh.).
One thing I’ll posit, however, about the Make Your Own Kind Of Music series; while the duo clearly regretted doing it, I suspect the weekly, national television exposure was largely responsible for driving-up sales for the tan album (which became their biggest seller, non-compilation, in the US).
One thing I’ll posit, however, about the Make Your Own Kind Of Music series; while the duo clearly regretted doing it, I suspect the weekly, national television exposure was largely responsible for driving-up sales for the tan album (which became their biggest seller, non-compilation, in the US).
Another Son
Well-Known Member
I would be happy to see a lot of 'Make Your Own Kind of Music' released. Although Karen looks awkward for some of the songs, such as when she is standing to sing 'Superstar' and 'One Love', I really like the clips where she performs from behind the drums. The 70s costumes look good, too - but not the parachute that Karen wears for one of the songs or the dress that they squeezed her into for 'Superstar'. No wonder she looks awkward. She was probably embarrassed. The bright pant suits look good, though. I think the skits should be left out, except when Karen plays the drums, and that the 'medley' of short songs should definitely be included.
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John Tkacik
Well-Known Member
John Tkacik
Well-Known Member
Carpe diem
Well-Known Member
The skits for this show were asinine, the "canned" laughter irritating, the awful wardrobe of Karen, the lip-syncing (if they were allowed to perform their tunes "live" it would've been outstanding). The whole concept of having performers sitting on letters 15 feet in the air was dumb also. "violently mishandled" is an understatement.
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