Top Of The Pops 1971

[Crisoforo Schuhmacher]

In a tumultuous era, 1971 was a year of musical innovation and rebirth fueled by the political and cultural upheaval of the time. Stars reached new heights, fresh talent exploded onto the scene and boundaries expanded like never before.

This one-hour special was part of a series of music programs featuring the Boston Pops Orchestra. In this program, conductor Arthur Fiedler and the orchestra are joined by some of the Sesame Street regulars for an evening of entertainment, performed for an audience of children. The original concert was given the afternoon of May 11, 1971 and, per the program notes, "recorded by WGBH-TV for later telecast." A nearly identical concert, with some additional selections, occurred for an adult evening audience the previous night, May 10.

The orchestra opens the program with a selection of musical offerings, including Julius Fucik's "Entrance of the Gladiators" and Franz von Suppe's "Light Cavalry Overture." The orchestra then plays "Kid Stuff" (a medley arranged by Richard Hyman, including "The Mickey Mouse Club March" and used by the Pops as far back as 1959) and Burt Bacharach's "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head."

Then the music from Sesame Street begins in earnest. The orchestra plays the theme song; the soloists from Sesame Street (Gordon, Susan, Bob, Mr. Hooper, and Cookie Monster) give a performance of Leopold Mozart's Toy Symphony; Bob, Susan, Gordon and Mr. Hooper sing "I've Got Two"; and Kermit the Frog solos on "Bein' Green." Bob and Susan sing "The People in Your Neighborhood"; Big Bird delivers a mouthful with "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ"; Gordon and Mr. Hooper sing Everybody Wash", and while still bath-minded, Ernie sings "Rubber Duckie." Big Bird conducts the orchestra in "Count 5," and the entire cast sings the theme song, this time with lyrics.

From Sesame Street Unpaved: "According to Danny Epstein, musical coordinator for Sesame Street, when the cast played ["Rubber Duckie"] with the Boston Pops (Big Bird conducted), the musicians were not allowed to squeeze rubber duckies in addition to playing their own instruments unless they were paid extra. Apparently, a rubber duckie was considered to be a second instrument, and each musician was supposed to receive additional pay if they played a second instrument. When it came time for the actual performance, only the percussion players squeezed the ducks. It was determined that the rubber duck was to be considered a percussion instrument."

Also from Sesame Street Unpaved: "During the performance [of "Rubber Duckie"] with the Boston Pops, Will Lee (Mr. Hooper) was to play a triangle. But he couldn't read sheet music, so he didn't know when his cues were. After trying several solutions, someone decided to tie a rope to Lee's leg. Offstage, Danny Epstein, the current musical coordinator, and Joe Raposo tugged the rope and flashed a signal flashlight whenever Lee was supposed to play."

Watch this video on YouTubeClick to load videoLearn more about this explosive year in music with the new docuseries, 1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything, an immersive series that will explore the musicians and soundtracks that shaped the culture and politics of 1971, premiering May 21 exclusively on AppleTV+.

As usual The Kings of A cappella are overlooked. The Persuasions. Who went on to record 22 more albums over their 40 year career. Only group in the biz for 40 years all but one original member, no a list agency, no Hollywood attorney, no serious booking agent after William Morris dropped them because they had no idea how to market them and most notable NO BAND. But their lead singer, arranger and producer was up there with Sam Cooke and David Ruffin. Jerry Lawson.

I spend much of my research efforts in the quest to document the lost and forgotten parts of confectionery history (i.e. the things you cannot find online), which leads me down many paths. One of the most obvious of those paths has been quite a few trips to libraries.

In this case, it was a trip to the New York Science and Business Library (or the SIBL as it is called) back in 2011. I found myself pouring over an industrial packaging trade magazine archive from 1978, when I came across the following page:

After discovering that photo, a pack or wrapper for a Blow Pop Candies squarepack became high on my want list, and my hunt for it began. In the ensuing years, I would identify a grainy image of a pair of display boxes for the product in the background of an old Charms promotional sales flyer which you can see here:

So as you can see, Blow Pop was a hit from the very beginning. But how did Charms come up with the Blow Pop concept? My theory is that it was directly evolved from their earlier efforts at combining their hard candy and bubblegum. You see, back in 1967, Charms first merged these two confectionery treats with their Charms Bubble Candy:

Yes, years before Blow Pops were even test marketed, Charms had created a product that offered bubblegum wrapped up in a delicious candy shell. Based on my research, it is the clear precursor to Charms Blow Pop and also presents a near-identical product to the Blow Pop spin-off product Blow Pop Candies in the square pack from 1977. Here they are side-by-side:

So, Blow Pop Candies were a spin-off of Charms Blow Pops which were an evolution based on Charms Bubble Candy which was the same product that would eventually become Blow Pop Candies. Or something. Whew!

I came searching for the Charms flat pops. I remember when they came out with the sweet and sour flavors ( reminded me of tie dye colors) in seventh grade. I loved that they were thick and lasted a long time. They were also tightly wrapped in cellophane. The ones they sell now are small and not wrapped with the dot cellophane. Not the same.

I just stumbled upon this, looking for info on an old charms pop flavor I loved. it was short lived, and I believe it was Charms, but could be mistaken? It was peach or apricot, and would have been somewhere in the 1979-1981 range. Does anybody have any recollection of this one? And Tracy Minor above- the only flat cinnamon sucker stick called Fire that i can recall (which i, too, loved!), was the old Jolly Rancher sticks.

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Back in 1971, Richard Nixon was president, the Beatles were newly broken up, and Fiddler on the Roof was one of the biggest movies at the box office. But also, a new network called National Public Radio broadcast for the first time. In honor of the anniversary of NPR's first broadcast, we're stepping back to give you a special edition of What's Making Us Happy This Week, as we might have offered it up 50 years ago.

There's a stretch of about 30 seconds in Isaac Hayes' "Theme From Shaft" that contains roughly a half-dozen iconic moments, from perfect little bursts of strings and horns to the wearily pleading exclamation of "But I'm talkin' 'bout Shaft!" to that pitch-perfect way Hayes delivered the words, "Right on." Rarely has a single excerpt from a single song conveyed so much.

Sometimes when you reach a certain age, around 12 or 13, you encounter art that turns you into High Fidelity's Rob Gordon. Marvin Gaye's What's Going On was that piece of art for me, my entry point to becoming the annoying kid who could be disdainful of their peers for not caring as much about this deep, important work. It took some growing up before I could fully appreciate the album as something more than a catchy status symbol. What's Going On is, to me, the quintessential social issues pop album; it doesn't feel like it's preaching to you; it's not sappy.

Erykah Badu is an award-winning singer and songwriter who has been hailed as one of the most gifted rhythm and blues singers of the current era and has earned her title as the Queen of neo-soul; a mix of modern soul and R&B with influences from hip-hop, jazz, pop, African music, and beyond.

Born February 26, 1971 in Dallas, Texas as Erica Abi Wright, Badu was raised by her mother, godmother, and two grandmothers alongside her siblings Eevin and Nayrok. Badu had an early exposure to the dramatic arts as her mother Kolleen, and her grandmother, both acted in local theater.

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Finished in L40M Poplila (Pop Lilac), L51M Beatblau (Beat Blue) and L63M Hippigrn (Hippie Green) the Pop Bug appears to have been a repeat of the 1970 Pop Beetle based on the North American specification VW typ.113 Saloon Beetle. The only evidence we have about this virtually unknown Edition is a single photograph taken on the dockside at Emden port in 1971.

Further evidence that the cars in the photos were 1971 models can be found in the steering wheel with chrome horn ring just visible through the rear window of the Beatblau car together with the fact that the rear windows are of the (smaller) 1971 size that the improved 1972 version.

And when Rolling Stone magazine interviewed Syd Barrett in 1971, they found a wilted flowerin place of the acid-eating gnomic madcap who, with his ruffled shirts, crushed velvet trousers and mirrored guitar, had once embodied the fleeting euphoric ethos of the nascent London underground scene back in 1966-67.

As the patron saints of the 1960s spiritus mundi publicly sought to snatch each other from their respective pedestals, they unintentionally mirrored the reality of a music world splintering into dozens of irreconcilable pieces.

Those who have been following the previous instalments of this excellent Grapefruit series will also be familiar with artists and groups featured in prior box sets-Octopus, Lifeblud, Cliff Wade, Airbus- who rub shoulders once again with long established underground and progressive favourites such as Nirvana, Procol Harum and Kevin Ayers.

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