The Ed Sullivan Show

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Sullivan_Show

The Ed Sullivan Show was an American-based variety show that ran from Sunday, June 20, 1948-
Sunday, June 6, 1971. It was hosted by entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan.

Most of the early kinds of entertainment on the show included opera singers, vaudeville, popular artists, songwriters, comedians, ballet dancers, actors and actresses performing acts of plays, circus acts.  This show was produced by Marlo Lewis and wasn't called the Ed Sullivan Show originally. It's previous name was Toast of the Town. And on Sept. 25, 1955, it's name changed to the Ed Sullivan Show.  The show originally filmed at the Maxine Elliot Theatre on Broadway, but moved to the CBS Studio 50 which was renamed the Ed Sullivan Theatre. The Late Show with David Letterman films there and has been since 1993. On March 28, 1971 was the last filming of the Ed Sullivan Show, and the acts on that show was Joanna Simon, Melanie, Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass, Sandler and Young

On the show, he would have recurring characters, such as Topo Gigio, which was a little Italian mouse puppet. In the US in the 1960s, it was usually a family event to gather around the TV and watch the Ed Sullivan Show to see who would perform that night. And Sullivan was regarded as the person to come to for fame because who ever played on his show usually got noticed by someone in the world of show biz.

This show is best known to the WWII and baby boomers generation for playing acts of the 1960s, such as popular musicians of the decade, such as Elvis Presley, The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Beatles, The Jackson 5, The Doors, Lovin' Spoonful.

On Sept. 5, 1955, Elvis made his first debut. He sang the songs Don't Be Cruel and Love Me Tender, Hound Dog. He also played a second time, on Oct. 28, later that same year. He played Love Me Tender. On January 6, 1957, he played for his 3rd and final appearance. He sang Love Me Tender, Hound Dog, Heartbreak Hotel, Don't Be Cruel, Peace in the Valley. And from the way he danced, people thought it was vulgar, with his swiveling hips. So he was filmed from the waist up.

The Beatles
In late 1963, when Sullivan was passing through Heathrow Airport, he noticed an awful lot of girls hanging around and that's how he found out about the Beatles. They were returning from a trip to Stockholm where they played a warm up show for local act Lill Babs. He talked to Beatles manager Brian Epstein about letting them perform on the show and the manager had his own plans. He wanted his clients to get attention so he suggested that they play 3 times on the show, recieve top billing and play the first and last spots. They appeared on the show on 3 Sundays in February 1964. On February 9, 1964, they played their first show, where they played All My Loving, Till There Was You, She Loves You. And this was believed to be the event that opened the supposed floodgate to the British Invasion era of music. Their next show was broadcast from Miami, the same night that the fight between boxer Muhammad Ali(known as Cassius Clay then) and boxer Sonny Liston was going on. With all the people in the crowd for the concert, this almost prevented the Beatles from reaching the stage. Policemen had to keep order in the crowd to let them gain access to the stage, and they played the songs Twist and Shout, All My Loving and closed the show with I Want to Hold Your Hand. Their final appearance was on August 14, 1965, but was brodcast on Sept. 12, 1965. 3 acts went before them and then they came out to perform I Feel Fine, I'm Down, and Act Naturally. The songs they closed the show with was Ticket to Ride, Yesterday, Help! Even though this was their last show, they would provide promotional clips, especially for the 1966 and 1967 shows, which included the songs Strawberry Fields Forever, Rain, Paperback Writer, Penny Lane.

The Doors
On Sept. 17, 1967, The Doors got to play on the Ed Sullivan Show. They performed Light My Fire and People Are Strange. Before the group went on, lead singer Jim Morrison was told not to sing the lyric "Girl we couldn't get much higher" in the song Light My Fire. Unfortunately he sang the lyric anyway and that resulted in the band being refused to ever play again. And if you watch the video of the Doors performing the song, you can almost instantly tell that Jim Morrison was high. I don't think there eas a tim when he was ever sober.

You can tell he's high here!

Black artists

The Supremes
These ladies were a personal favorite of Ed's. They had almost 20 performances. Over the 5 years they performed on the show, they snag 15 of their singles. Back then, the Supremes consisted of Diana Ross, Florence Ballard, and Mary Wilson. In Oct. 1967, they were billed as Diana Ross and the Supremes, I guess Diana Ross' ego got too big! And Ballard basically replaced Cindy Birdsong and when Diana Ross quit, Jean Terrell stepped in in March 1970.

Here are some of the black artists who performed on the show:

• Frankie Lymon
• The Supremes
• Marian Anderson
• Louis Armstrong
• Pearl Bailey
• LaVern Baker
• Harry Belafonte
• James Brown
• Godfrey Cambridge
• Diahann Carroll
• Ray Charles
• Nat King Cole
• Bill Cosby
• Count Basie
• Dorothy Dandridge
• Sammy Davis Jr
• Bo Diddley
• Rocio Durcal
• Duke Ellington
• Lola Falana
• The 5th Dimension
• Ella Fitzgerald
• The Four Tops
• Aretha Franklin
• Dick Gregory
• W.C. Handy
• Lena Horne
• The Jackson 5
• Mahalia Jackson
• Eartha Kitt
• Gladys Knight and the Pips
• Little Anthony and the Imperials
• Moms Mabley
• Johnny Mathis
• The Miracles(later to be known as Smokey Robinson and the Miracles)
• Melba Moore
• The Platters
• Leontyne Price
• Richard Pryor
• Lou Rawls
• Della Reese
• Nipsey Russell
• Nina Simone
• Sly and the Family Stone
• The Temptations
• Martha Reeves and the Vandellas
• Tina Turner(then known as Ike and Tina)
• Leslie Uggams
• William Warfield
• Dionne Warwick
• Dinah Washington
• Ethel Waters
• Flip Wilson
• Jackie Wilson
• Nancy Wilson
• Stevie Wonder
• Otis Redding

Broadway

West Side Story- Carol Lawrence and Larry Kert singing Tonight, members of the Jets gang singing Cool

My Fair Lady- Julie Andrews singing I Could Have Danced All Night and Wouldn't It Be Loverly, Rex Harrison singing Why Can't the English?, Stanley Holloway singing With a Little Bit of Luck

Camelot- Richard Burton and Julie Andrews performing various acts, and Robert Goulet singing If I Ever Would Leave You and C'est Moi

Show Boat- Andrew Frierson singing Ol' Man River, Carol Bruce singing Bill

Carnival- Anna Maria Alberghetti performing Love Makes the World Go 'Round

Bye, Bye Birdie!-  Dick Van Dyke performing Put on a Happy Face, Chita Rivera performing Spanish Rose, Paul Lynde singing Kids, Hymn for a Sunday Evening

Oliver!- Georga Brown performing As Long as He Needs Me, Davey Jones singing Consider Yourself

Oklahoma!- John Raitt, Celeste Holm, Florence Henderson and Barbara Cook performing the title song, Celeste Holm performing I Cain't Say No

Sweet Charity- Gwen Verdon performing I'm a Brass Band and If My Friends Could See Me Now

The Roar of the Greasepaint- Anthony Newley singing Who Can I Turn To?

Flower Drum Song- Pat Suzuki performing I Enjoy Being a Girl

 

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes- Carol Channing performing Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend

Hair- The cast singing Aquarius/Let the Sun Shine In 

Hello, Dolly!- Pearl Bailey singing Before the Parade Passes By

I Do! I Do!- Gordon McRae and Carol Lawrence singing the title song, and McRae singing I Love My Wife, and My Cup Runneth Over

Kiss Me, Kate- Alfred Drake, Patricia Morrison, Lisa Kirk, Harold Lang singing Another Op'nin Another Show, We Open in Venice, Wunderbar

Man of La Mancha- Richard Kiley singing The Impossible Dream, Joan Diener singing What Does He Want of Me

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown- Gary Burghoff, Reva Rose, Bob Balaban, Skip Hinnant, Karen Johnson, Bill Hinnant singing the title song and Happiness

Ethel Merman- singing songs from Annie Get Your Gun, Gypsy, Happy Hunting, Panama Hattie, Anything Goes

Hermione Gingold and  Maurice Chevalier singing I Remember It Well from Gigi

Controversies

Bo Diddley

On. Nov. 20, 1955, rock and roll singer Bo Diddley. He was asked to play Tennesses Ernie Ford's song Sixteen Tons, but he instead played his R&B hit Bo Diddley. This made Sullivan mad. When Diddley went backstage, Sullivan said, and I quote: "You're the 1st black boy that ever double crossed me!"

Buddy Holly and the Crickets

On Jan. 26, 1956, Buddy Holly and the Crickets were due to perform. They were scheduled to perform 2 songs. They were going to play Oh, Boy! But Sullivan wanted them to substitute another song for that one because he thought it was too rowdy. So by now, Sullivan was furious, he cut their songs from 2 to 1, and purposely mispronounced the name Holly, and also mispronounced the band as the Picketts, and also made sure the microphone for Holly's electric guitar was off. To show the audience the technical glitch wasn't his fault, he cut loose with a solo. 

Jackie Mason

On October 18, 1964, comedian Jackie Mason flipped the finger to Sullivan on air! 

Bob Dylan

On May 12, 1963, Bob Dylan was scheduled to play on the show. He was going to play Talkin John Birch Society Blues, which was basically making fun of the John Birch Society and the red Communist paranoia attached to it. Bascially Dylan told Sullivan "If I can't play my song, I'd rather not appear". He left the show rather than perform

The Doors

The event attached to this is also above. The Doors were scheduled to perform on the show on Sept. 17, 1967. They were to play People Are Strange and Light My Fire. Sullivan asked them that they omit the lyric "Girl, we couldn't get much higher" from the song Light My Fire. Morrison ignored it and sung the lyric anyway. Sullivan was furious. He told them they'd never be allowed back.

The Doors singing Light My Fire

The Rolling Stones

On January 15, 1967, The Rolling Stones were scheduled to perform their hit Let's Spend the Night Together. But Sullivan kindly asked them that they change the title. They complied, but every time they got to the clean new title of the song, Mick Jagger would roll his eyes upward, at the new lyric "Let's spend some time together". As a form of revenge, the Stones went backstage and changed into Nazi uniforms with swastikas on them. Sullivan was furious! He demanded they change into their previous clothes which resulted in the Stones leaving and Sullivan saying they'd never be allowed to play again. But it was considered to be 2 sets of rules, as he said nothing to Diana Ross and the Supremes about their song Love Child, which was about having a baby out of wedlock

Performing the song (I Can't Get No)Satisfaction

Parodies

• Billy Joel's Tell Her About It, Nirvana's In Bloom, OutKast's Hey Ya, The Red Hot Chili Peppers Dani California all joke around with Sullivan's style of performance
• RAIN- A Beatles tribute band, they open their concerts with a prerecorded footage of a man like Sullivan introducing the act and playing on a stage similar to the stage the Beatles used
• All You Need is Cash- a mockumentary of a fictional band called the Ruttles, and features footage of the Beatles redubbed for the sake of comedy
• The Fab Four- Beatles tribute act hosted by a Sullivan impressionist
• Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp- children's live action show, with character named Ed Simian
• The Flinstones, a 1960s cartoon about stone age family, featured a version of Ed Sullivan named Ed Sulleystone

Movie Review

Austin Powers Goldmember

In this movie, it takes place in 2002. The character Dr. Evil has a hideout behind the famous Hollywood sign. He and his 'minions' will go back to 1975 to retrieve John Van der Smut, aka Goldmember, who has a way of making a tractor beam from cold fusion. Shortly after this, Austin Powers and British Intelligence arrest him. Austin is knighted for his effort and notices his father isn't there, the famous Nigel Powers, played by veteran English actor Michael Caine. So when he finds that his father has been kidnapped, he travels to 1975 for clues and is led to a roller disco club called Studio 69 where he finds Foxxy Cleopatra, played by R&B musician Beyonce. Her character is an FBI agent undercover in the club. This movie is pretty funny too, mainly because it takes place in 1975, which is different than the 1969 Swinging London scene from the 1st 2 movies, and you get to see Michael Caine be funny, hard to picture this one!!

Movie Review

Austin Powers and the Spy Who Shagged Me

Basically the title comes from a play off the title of one of the other James Bond movies, the Spy Who Loved Me, and contains parts of Diamonds Are Forever(laser gun plot and cloning), Moonraker(outer space trips), You Only Live Twice(secret volcano base), the Man with the Golden Gun(Mini Me based on the character of Nick Nack), On Her Majesty's Secret Service(opening sequence when Vanessa dies)

Basically what this movie is about is while he is in cryogenic freezing, someone breaks in and steals Austin Powers'  "mojo", the force that makes women just crawl all over him. Mike Myers plays multiple roles, as Dr. Evil and as another character called Fat Bastard. And in this movie, the character Dr. Evil has a clone of himself that is 1/8 the size of him called Mini Me, played by Verne Troyer. Dr. Evil has designed a time machine that he uses so he can go back to 1969 and steal Powers' mojo.

But meanwhile the real Austin is in 1999 enjoying his honeymoon with Vanessa Kensington. And when Austin Powers has to go back to 1969, he gets his own time travel machine, in the form of a Volkwagen Beetle, that has been totally 60s-ified, with 1960s psychadelic colors. If you see this movie and see the car, I will get a VW Bug and design it like that, lol!! That would be my car!!!! When he arrives back in London 1969, he arrives at a party at his apartment with a CIA agent named Felicity Shagwell(Heather Graham). When Austin is told there is an assassination attempt on him, both the spy and the agent escape and chase after a character called Mustafa(Will Ferrell) and he tells them that Dr. Evil has set up an island volcano hideout. 

Basically the movie ends with Dr. Evil escaping, and Austin and Felicity going thru the time machine back to 1999. This movie is pretty funny. All 3 of these movies basically poke fun at the James Bond movies, but never offensively. I love them, they're hilarious!!!!

Movie Review

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

For those who may not have ever seen this or ever heard of it, this movie is about a British ladies man named Austin Powers, who also is a spy, a sort of James Bond-like figure. It's funny and supposed to be poking fun at the James Bond movies in a funny way. He is a British spy who lives in the Swinging 60s of London.

His enemy in the movie is named Dr. Evil, and the same actor plays both Austin and Dr. Evil, Mike Myers. This movie is basically a way of lightly poking fun at the James Bond movies, and I love these movies, they are really funny!! The movie begins in 1969, when he is trying to stop Dr. Evil and is cryogenically frozen and wakes up 30 years later in 1997. He works with Vanessa Kensington, played by beautiful English actress Elizabeth Hurley. Basically the movie is about him trying to stop Dr. Evil, and trying to charm ladies along the way with his charms. Sorry if that doesn't seem like the best description, sorry. But it's really funny, and will make u laugh!! And in the movie he drives a Corvette convertible with the Union Jack, aka British flag design on it. And I would give this movie a 5 out of 5 star rating for funny movie!! And plus, some of the music used is actually from that decade, they don't use any Stones or Beatles music, but they do use music from the Who, the song My Generation.

C is for Cher

Cherilyn Sarkisian was born on May 20, 1946 in El Centro, California. She is a well known recording artist, TV personality, actress and director. She is also known for her marriage to Sonny Bono.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cher

In 1965, she and Sonny appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, and they sang. They also appeared on Ready, Steady, Go!, which for all who are from England would know this show. This was the English equivalent to the Ed Sullivan Show. A lot of English bands and artists may have performed on this show during the 1960s. She ws known for her dark, exotic looks, and then became a fashion designer, starting the trend of bellbottoms and unique gowns and hippie attire.

In 1974, she had a show called called The Cher Show, which had famous people on in, such as David Bowie,Ray Charles, Pat Boone, Cheryl Ladd, Linda Ronstadt, Lily Tomlin. Alot of the suggestive outfits she wore then were made by fashion design legend Bob Mackie. This show ran for 2 and a half seasons before Cher, who was pregnant at the time, decided to cancel it. 3 days after her divore from Sonny Bono was finalized, she married rock musician Gregg Allman  on June 30, 1975. They had 1 son named Elijah and divorced after 2 years.

She has also done acting. She appeared in the 1985 movie Mask, in which Eric Stoltz plays a teen with a disfigured face and she plays his loving mother. She also has appeared in movies like Witches of Eastwick, where she played a witch, Suspect where she played a lawyer, Moonstruck in 1987, where she played a frumpy Italian bookeeper.

In 1989, she wrote the song If I Could Turn Back Time, in the video it shows her wearing black leather and a fishnet suit, performing on a Navy battle cruiser. This video caused a lot of controversy because it showed her in a see-through outfit and you could see a butterfly tattoo on her lower back

In 1990, she starred in the movie Mermaids, and in 1998, she was in London when then daughter Chastity Bono called and informed her of Sonny Bono's death from a skiing accident. He was a popular California congressman married to 4th wife Mary Bono, he was 62. She chose to give the eulogy at his funeral and she teared up while giving it. Later that year, Sonny and Cher got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2010, she starred in the movie Burlesque along side Christina Aguilera.

She is also a supporter of gay rights, because her now son Chaz Bono was born a female and came out as a lesbian at 17, and that's when she noticed that not everyone gets the same rights because of sexuality.

1960s!!!!!!!!!!!

IDK why, I've been in a 1960s mood lately. I just adore this decade, all the cool fahions, all the cool music, all the cool pop culture, you name it, if I could, I'd live in this decade!!!!

Pop Culture

History

• August 28, 1963- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gives his famous I Have a Dream speech in Washington D.C.

• August 7, 1964-The Beatles come to America and that is what is believed to bw what started the time known as the British Invasion, where suddenly large amounts of British pop/rock bands and artists come to America to strike it famous

George Harrison was always my favorite!!! He was so cute.......
• February 21, 1965- Malcolm X is killed in NYC

• Oct. 2, 1967- Thurgood Marshall is sworn in as the first black Supreme Court Justice
• Dec. 6, 1969- The Rolling Stones give a free concert at the Altamont Speedway in N. California. And it is believed that the Hell's Angels there had a hit out on Mick Jagger's life. 4 people died there as well.

I think thet only one dressed normal in this picture is Charlie Watts!
• Cassius Clay, aka Muhammad Ali, wins the Heavyweight Chapmionship

• Woodstock- 3 days of peace, love and music
• May 1, 1960- American "U2" spy plane shot down over the USSR
• Stonewall Riots in NYC mark the start for the movement for gay rights
• Dec. 3, 1967- first open heart transplant by Dr. Christiaan Barnard in South Africa

Music

• The Beatles
• The Rolling Stones

• Sly and the Family Stone
• The Mamas and the Papas
• The Monkees

• The Doors

Movies

• Performance

• Goldfinger
• On Her Majesty's Secret Service
• Georgy Girl

• Yellow Submarine
• Midnight Cowboy
• The Flower Drum Song
• In the Heat of the Night

People Born/Famous
Celebrities and people popular:
Rosa Parks

Martin Luther King Jr

Malcolm X

The Beatles
The Rolling Stones
Julie Andrews



People born:
Jet Li

Bono(What a sexy hunk of guy!!!!)

Federico Castellucio

Hugh Grant

Hiroyuki Sanada

Elizabeth Hurley

Hugh Jackman(Man is he hot!)

Daniel Dae Kim

Jeremy Clarkson

James May

Richard Hammond

Michael Imperioli

Pictures from the 1960s

Fashion

Cars

Music!

Mick is my favorite one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

George was my favorite!!

Pop Art

Pop Culture

If only this came in a VW Mini Bus!

British model Twiggy

Martha and the Vandellas

Sorry, just had to throw this in, because today, the 26th of July, is Mick Jagger's b-day, the big 6-8. He'll stay sexy 4 ever!!

Hey look, my future car, lol!

Gerry and the Pacemakers. Since the 1960s was known as the Swinging 60s in England, I'll put up some pics of some of the popular British bands of that decade.

The Dave Clark Five

Original poster for Woodstock

Singer David Bowie in the movie Labyrinth

Picture of David Bowie in the 1960s, here you can really tell he has 2 different colored eyes!! That is so cool!!! And it makes him very attractive!!

I'm a sucker for tie dye!!