Thank God for Shindig!
Birthday shout out to the great music variety show
FRIDAY FLASHBACK + HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHINDIG! On this day in 1964, ABC-TV premiered SHINDIG!, a rock’n’roll variety show. It was created as a rapid response to the waning Folk Music Revival scene and the cancellation of shows like HOOTENANNY. SHINDIG! was produced in London and Los Angeles to blend a wave of British Invasion rock bands with the American home front. Considering it was a rush job, SHINDIG! was a remarkably efficient and high-energy model of A-list talent and team work. Regular dancers included future stars Toni Basil and Teri Garr. Back-up singers included Bobby Sherman, The Wellingtons, and The Blossoms with Darlene Love. The house band (a.k.a. The Shindogs) morphed into the legendary Wrecking Crew, the studio musicians who’d play on literally 100s of records. SHINDIG! had stiff competition with other hit TV shows at the time, so the producers dropped in celebrity guests like Zsa Zsa Gabor, Hedy Lamarr, and Vincent Price to broaden the show’s reach
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From A to Z, the list of performers (available on a Wikipedia list) included future
legends of not just pop, rock, and soul music, but a smattering of country and jazz acts. I was but a kid whe SHINDIG! was on the air and saw only a couple episodes at the time (I’d catch more in reruns and on DVD), but if life is a series of prescient surprises, as an adult musician I’d go on to meet and/or even work with artists who appeared on SHINDIG!: Brian Auger, The Beach Boys, Chad & Jeremy, Spencer Davis, Jackie DeShannon, Donovan, The Everly Brothers, The Grass Roots, The Kinks, The Lovin’ Spoonful, Bill Medley, and Davy Jones (then a solo act being groomed for The Monkees)
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The debut episode featured The Everly Brothers, The Righteous Brothers, and Sam Cooke—acts that influenced my own sense of musicality and performance. On that note, I offer my Sam Cooke tribute song “Sam Said,” as it refracts on the journey one takes to get to an artistic and spiritual platform (Sam passed away later that same year).
...and thank God for SHINDIG!
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