The Late Night Wars

In case you have been living under a rock the past week, Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien are in a battle royal over the coveted 11:35 PM time slot on NBC TV. I don't usually get political on this blog but in my opinion NBC is screwing Conan royally. I am a bit biased as I have friends who work at The Tonight Show who will lose their jobs because of this, but I really don't understand why NBC is so in love with Jay Leno. Conan has not been given a decent chance at the helm of the greatest late night show in history and he's being ousted for the return of someone who failed miserably in a brand new show. There are those who say that Conan's ratings were bad as well but even NBC has stated that that may be from the weak lead in due to people turning their channels to get away from Leno at 10:00. There are also those people that are voicing their opinion saying that these two guys are going to both make out in the end as Conan stands to make a huge profit if his contract gets pulled. But let's think about everyone who works for Conan. They just recently packed up their lives and their families' lives and moved from New York to California. Now, a mere months later, they are left with no job. Not to mention that they will not be making a huge sum of money the way Conan will if it all falls apart. I think NBC is making a big mistake. All of this makes me miss the days when it was a class act. I am of course talking about the reign of Johnny Carson. He was the true King of Late Night and no one can take his place. During the Carson years, the Tonight Show was more than just an advertisement for the latest movie or tv show. It was an honest to goodness form of entertainment. People were invited on the show because Johnny wanted them on. Not because they had a new movie or a new sit-com or even a new record. It was just people that were on because Johnny felt that they were interesting and people wanted to see them. It was a lot cooler and as far as I'm concerned, it will never be the same. In 1974, Casablanca Records issued a collection of some of the best moments of the Tonight Show on a two record set entitled, "Here's Johnny: Magic Moments From The Tonight Show". It features a roster of guest stars that would rival any late night show: Lenny Bruce, Groucho Marx, Ike & Tina Turner, Bette Midler, Lucille Ball, Pearl Baily, The Smothers Brothers, George Carlin, Billie Holiday, Glen Campbell, George Burns, Buddy Hackett, Jack Benny, Dean Martin, Desi Arnez and more. Here is that two record set for you to enjoy!

Here's Johnny! Magic Moments From The Tonight Show
Here's Johnny! Magic Moments From The Tonight Show Part 2

Classic Television Episode of The Month: The Incredible Hulk

In honor of the release of my new single, "Tattered Clothing", here is an episode from the classic series! Enjoy!





You can buy "Tattered Clothing" at the following sites:

I-Tunes
Amazon

All proceeds from the sale of this single will go to The Richard S Dart Memorial Arts Scholarship.

A Song For All You Hulk Fans

Today marks the release of my new single, "Tattered Clothing". I wrote the song about 5 years ago and recorded it in various cities over the last year of the Avenue Q Tour. It features some great playing by some great players. It is an ode to the 70s television classic, "The Incredible Hulk". It is available on I-Tunes & Amazon and will soon be available on Rhapsody, Napster, emusic and Lime Wire. All proceeds from the sale of this single will go to The Richard S Dart Memorial Arts Scholarship.

Rockin' In The New Year

I had originally wanted to post this on New Year's Eve but time kind of got away from me and I didn't have it ready. So, I thought that it would make a great addition to the Elvis Birthday Celebration instead! Here is what many consider to be one of the best shows that Elvis ever put on. It's from December 31, 1976. The place was the Pittsburgh Civic Center in Pittsburgh, PA. It was the final show of Elvis' 27th tour. This tour has gone down in history as being probably the best tour he did. It featured such great shows as "A Hot Winter Night In Dallas" and "Burning In Birmingham". I posted the Dallas show in December of 2008 (you can check that out here) Nobody can really know what happened to Elvis in this particular moment of his career, but whatever it was, was strong enough to make him wish to please everyone in the crowd and prove to everybody that he was the truly greatest singer of all time. This particular recording holds a special place in my heart. It is an audience recording and as most of you know, I am not a huge fan of audience recordings as there are so many great sounding sound board recordings from Elvis' shows. This one, though far from a great sounding recording, is special to me because I inherited the album from my father. I remember when my dad came home with this record and I will always remember how great it looked. I always found the art work to be really cool for some reason. It was the first time that I had ever encountered a bootleg recording and my father was very good at explaining what it was. Over the years, I have amassed quite the collection of Elvis concert recordings and I always turn away the audience recordings. This one, however, will be in my collection forever. Here is that classic recording of that classic concert! Here is "Rocking With Elvis New Year's Eve". Enjoy!

Rocking With Elvis New Year's Eve Part 1
Rocking With Elvis New Year's Eve Part 2

BONUS:
Here is some amateur film footage from that very concert! Enjoy!

Happy Birthday To The King!

Today would have been Elvis Presley's 75th birthday. It's pretty amazing to think that he is still an icon to this day. Millions of people flock to Graceland and get caught up in the excitement of it all and even if you are not a fan, you somehow become one by the time you have left the house. I have been there many times and each time it gets better and better. To help celebrate the King's birthday today, I am posting the audio tour from Graceland. For those of you who have been there, it's a great way to relive going through the mansion. For those of you who have not, it gives you a good sense of what goes on in the tour and will hopefully make you want to go see it for yourself. Keep checking back during the rest of this week as I will be posting more Elvis goodness! For now, here is The Graceland Audio Tour! Enjoy!

Elvis Presley's Graceland Audio Tour

Super 8 Theater Presents: Don Knotts in The Reluctant Astronaut

Singles Collection Episode 57: ELO Bows To Rock and Roll

It's hard not to love ELO. The list of hits are astounding and you can actually trace the change in popular music from the seventies to the eighties through their hits. The same band that was doing lush string arrangements with falsetto harmonies in songs like "Telephone Line" would drop the strings and harmonies and lower their voices and give us some good old rock and roll. In fact, their 1983 hit single is entitled, "Rock and Roll Is King." The song went through many changes during recording and at one point was going to be called "Motor Factory" with a completely different set of lyrics. The single proved to be ELO's last UK top twenty hit single, and reached #19 in the U.S. It is and always has been one of my favorites. Here it is for you now. Here is ELO with "Rock and Roll Is King". Enjoy!

ELO-Rock and Roll Is King

Year Five: Post One

This month, Dartman's World of Wonder starts it's fifth year! I am truly amazed that it has been that long since I first decided to share all of my wonderful artifacts from pop culture with the world. What's even more amazing is that with each year, the World of Wonder gains more and more followers and fans and I am truly honored and surprised at all of it. To kick off this fifth year, I am posting an album from one of my all time favorite artists, the great Ernie Kovacs. "The Best of Ernie Kovacs" was not released in Ernie's lifetime but came about in the seventies as an audio remembrance of the great television pioneer. It features some of the greatest bits from the long running "Ernie Kovacs Show" as well as some of the great music used on the show as well. (most of the music would eventually see the light of day on a CD compilation released in the 90s). I was incredibly happy to find this album at the college radio station that I worked at back in my academic years and was even happier to relieve the station of it when they decided to go to an all CD format and get rid of their records. I now get to share that album with you! Here is "The Best of Ernie Kovacs". Enjoy!

The Best of Ernie Kovacs