They hired the lead singer because Donald Fagen had such terrible stage fright, he didn't want to be front and center. They ditched the lead singer not too long after this. Skunk Baxter on the congas, by the way...
@KevyNova I grew up on Steely Dan in the 1970's. They had one great hit song after another, & a unique sound.."jazz rock." Great songwriters, great musicians!
Real Musical talent. In those days they had to practice. I was 19 when this song came out. No computer less TV. We had to engage in person more often then now. Great times and fun with more love songs. Lots of music back then that told a story.
@@shable1436 Paul Williams wrote many of the monster hits of the '70's. "We've Only Just begun", "Old Fashioned Love Song", and my personal favorite "Where do I go from here". I wish he'd come up with a third verse for that song since it's a story song but comes to no conclusion.
Being a teenager in the 70s was really something special. The music was out of this world. It seems like yesterday, very grateful to have lived it. A galaxy far,far away.
As a New Yorker who grew up in NYC during the Mad Men era of the 1960s and having graduated from Richmond Hill High School in 1974 I agree with you 100 percent! What music series do we have now on TV ? Nothing but good for nothing late night TV talk show hosts from CBS,NBC, and ABC.
I was 14 years old when this came out in February 73. I tried to watch every show that I could. I believe I was so lucky to have been living in the 70's as it gave us some of the best, most iconic music. I appreciate this YT Channel for keeping this show and the music current and available for a new generation of listeners...
14 myself at this time. A January kid. We were all freaking out over The Midnight Special. The best acts live every Friday -- cool, man ! With comedy mixed in, too. Ultra cool !! Steely Dan definitely stood out. As many of the younger generation are finding out through today's Reaction Videos Channels, the music from the 70's is incomparable. No disrespect to the 60's, 80, and 90's. They have their great music, too. But there is no arguing the fact that the 70's had it all, and was the seed for all of the good music that was to follow. With the release of the The Midnight Special series on RU-vid, the talent of the bands and solo artists that were around throughout the 70's is now on full display.
They were using tricks of technology available to them at the time. Most midnight special guests "performed" their own song that had been edited down to an acceptable time to fit the shows schedule. They are really singing and playing - but it's not really what you are hearing. The drums are almost always real and being played over their own song.
For me, each and every one of these Midnight Special shows is just pure gold. I was so young at the time of the original airing. Now, as an adult, being able to see all these episodes is truly phenomenal. I can truly appreciate how really wonderful this era of music and television really was. These were they days growing up, good times, and great music. Wonderful memories! 💖 Happy Friday 🥳 Thank you for sharing! 💖 Happy Cinco de Mayo! 🍻 🥳
@@themidnightspecialtvshow Are we going to see all of the episodes in time? I would love to see the episode with Sparks from 1974 which I haven't seen in almost 50 years. Thanks!
@@themidnightspecialtvshowcan you upload Paul Williams ""Cried Like a Baby" from the Midnight Special September 19 1975 episode 1 season 4? I hope I can show it to the singer songwriter Paul Williams since I know him. I loved the clip of him singing out in the county and he hopes to see that September 19th 1975 performance of Cried Like A Baby too.
@@matthewperry2650 ok cool cool luv those tunés as well I always thought Donald did all the singing except for "Dirty Work" which was by this cat David Palmer idk if related to Robert Palmer🤔 😹😹😹😹✌🏼
I grew up in the 60s and 70s and while the records I bought leaned more toward Robin Trower, Hendrix, etc. these songs were the real soundtrack of my youth & strike a melancholy yet joyful chord in my memory. They were played in Dad's car, on jukeboxes, at restaurants, grocery stores and school cafeterias. Everywhere! I was young and (thought) very cool. I wish I would have appreciated the art, ingenuity and craftsmanship of these gems more than I did. Every single one was unique. Very little showboating, just awesome melody, poetic lyrics and outstanding arrangements. We are so lucky to be able to revisit them and reminisce. Thank you so much for making them just a tap away! 🎶
@@jimdep6542 Absolutely, as are the rest of the bandmates. I'm just really impressed with Paul's vocal phrasing and energy on this tune, I know he wrote the song and TDN made it a big hit but just a side I hadn't seen from 'ol Paul, great times for sure! ;-)
Sadly singing to a track here....the beginning of the end to many live performances as disco took over the charts like The Blob in the Steve McQueen movie.
@@bloozedaddy That's too bad too, because the Spinners with a live band was a *force* (check out the desert-island record SPINNERS LIVE, recorded at the Latin Casino, then in Cherry Hill, New Jersey). There are MS performances by the group properly backed by a band led by the indomitable Maurice King on RU-vid.
@@bloozedaddy Union rules, I'm afraid. Live vocals done over newly-recorded tracks. When War was on Soul Train, they were 100% live, but, those performances were few and far between.
@@CoCotheTurtle pretty sure it wasn't against AFM rules to have a live band on the show... It was just cost probitive for disco groups and they wouldnt be able to have the orchestration for that Philadelphia Sound. It's just a shame it so much of TV into Karaoke Night. I grew up watching all the live performances on this show and Rock Concert. Things radically changed within about a five-year span.
Absolutely amazing band with a ground breaking original sound all of their own. Nobody ever sounded like Steely Dan. Skunk very underrated guitarist this dude could shred. And of course we know all about the incredible musicianship of Walter and Donald. One of the greatest bands of all time.
Shout out to what I consider to be the classic lineup of The Spinners with Bobby Smith, Philippé Wynne, Billy Henderson, Henry Fambrough, and bass-vocalist extraordinaire Pervis "12:45" Jackson. Interesting how groups would occasionally sing live over pre-recorded tracks. Thom Bell gave them those songs, arrangements and production, but their chemistry made the material iconic.
Not so rare...I saw Paul in 1970's in Berkeley Community Theater in the mid 1970's give a full concert of his songs. He also supported via concert every LP he released (appearing in concert all over the U.S.) and I know one Paul Williams concert (1 hour long) shown on t.v. from Canada (in Edmonton) and appeared on Johnny Carson's tonight show over 30 times and sang during each appearance. The Midnight Special still has several appearances they have yet to release of Paul, including the times he was the host of the Midnight Special (as J. Rivers is doing here) himself.
pure human voices singing with spirit! Musical instruments played live by other humans. I recall the late night enchantment watching these at 10-11 years old. Still WOW!
Wow! This Midnight Special channel is awesome. Thank you very much for posting all these incredible performances. I was a big fan of this show in my teenage years. Looking forward to all your future clips.
@@themidnightspecialtvshow Thanks for posting the entire shows! I was incredibly young when theses originally aired. Remember opening the bedroom door so I could listen. Didn’t last long, got busted by my own nightlight! Yes, that young 😆
This show was the soundtrack to my childhood. During the summer we had no bedtime so my two sisters and I would watch this show every Friday night. Good old Wolfman Jack. Johnny Rivers, Peter Frampton, Wild Cherry, Steely Dan, Steve Martin in his “let’s get small!” days. This show was the best! Along with Soul Train.
Damn...it just doesn't get Any better than this.... what an Amazing line -up.....Denny on lead guitar and Jeff on.. Bongos??! 🤔Midnight Special.. Still Rules... 2024. ..Hell Yeah. ..Mr Dilly.. Approved !!!
Never missed this show. No matter what was going on, made sure I was home on time🤙 As a note, the fantastic female group backing the Wolfman are the Blackberries!! Backed up Many Groups, including Humble Pie on Black Coffee, ck it out
Loved and STILL love Paul Williams! He's 83 and STILL working!! When you look at his music bio, you can't help but notice the HEART in all his songs - which could ONLY come from a big, warm, insightful, loving heart!! ❤❤❤
I'm so glad that these episodes are being remastered, with the original sponsors and sounding crystal clear. I like to see remastered Love Unlimited Orchestra's "Love's Theme" when it was performed on here, please. It is a great performance.
I was 13 when I watched this back in 1973, this show was one of the only ways to see bands unless you went to concerts, rockandroll was my thing for sure. Thank you for great flashbacks.
These were times with no autotune on singing voices. The Spinners are soooo smooth and sound so nice!!!!!! And Steely Dan must be the hardest working band around and sound very tight!
I closed my eyes both songs and I was a little girl on the metal swing set in the back yard with the spinners on the radio wafting out the kitchen window. Magical.
I'm enjoying watching the full episodes of Midnight Special. Please keep showing new ( olde ) episodes. Also I have missed one or two episodes on RU-vid if anyone knows how I can still watch them please let me know. Thank you!
Big Paul Williams fan here! Love this guy. Someday Man LP is a lost gem of an album and what an incredible songwriter. He was fantastic in Phantom of the Paradise as the satanic villain. The music from Paul on the soundtrack displays a wide array of talent. Covering everything from Surf to Glam to melodic pop. Incredible. Thanks Paul you need more recognition. ✌️
@@rocklazenby8266 Paul has a "songwriter's voice" and it is fine. I would MUCH rather hear Paul sing HIS songs than anynody else (that includes Streisand). Singing is NOT always hitting the right notes, it's the feeling expressed, and Paul puts HIS feelings into every song he sings. If you "perfect" tune into American Idol (but then can't write songs ANYWHERE close to the quality od Paul's songs, can they?). Paul singing HIS songs are REAL. If you want FAKE go get some University graduate with an BA and MS degree in Music Theory, they will always sing on key and "perfect" (and FAKE). People interested in REAL ART will ALWAYS choose the voice of Paul Williams over FAKE singers who are singing material prepaired for them (feeling they must be "perfect"). Paul Williams and HIS voice are what TRUE ART is all about. I KNOW: why don't YOU go to the louve in Paris and complain that the colors are "off" on the Mona Lisa
Paul Williams singing his tune “Out in the Country” (a hit for Three Dog Night) is pure gold. Thanks Burt S. for sharing these full MS episodes. It takes me back to my adolescence in New Orleans.
Paul Williams wrote We've Only Just Begun, Rainy Days & Mondays for the Carpenters, Out In The Country and Just An Old Fashioned Love Song for 3 Dog Night, So Many People (recorded by The Neighborhood & Chase), just to name a few of his songs
@@deirdre108 yep.. Looks like he's on that one for Do It Again and both pups for Reelin'. Skunk has some weird looking bucker in his also. Denny's looks like a PAF.
@@bloozedaddy Thanks! Enjoying the warm, bluezy tone with his setup. Liked to have heard more SD in this episode. Interesting that Larry Carlton was in the Johnny Rivers band for this show. Carlton was fantastic when he played with SD--one of my favorites.
I use todays technology to mirror my smartphone to my 55 in. smart tv, turn out the lights, then I'm returned to a simpler time as a 14 year old on a friday night in 1973. those days it was a 19 in. Tv with UHF and VHF and no remote.
The Ace Trucking Company featuring the late, great George Mammoli who weighs over 400 pounds and was in movies Mean Streets and Steven Prince, friends with Scorsese.
The troupe consisted of Willard, founder Michael Mislove (formerly of The Pickle Brothers), Patti Deutsch (who became well-known as a regular on Laugh-In), Bill Saluga (best known for his character Raymond J. Johnson, Jr.), and George Memmoli (a character actor you’d know from a ton of movies).The company was active from the late 60s through the mid 70s, and was frequently on variety programs like The Tonight Show, Mike Douglas, Dick Cavett and The Midnight Special
@The Midnight Special grew up in the 70s watched this show on Friday nights. Really love the whole show to watch on my TV. Brings back great memories of youth and awesome music.
The troupe consisted of Willard, founder Michael Mislove (formerly of The Pickle Brothers), Patti Deutsch (who became well-known as a regular on Laugh-In), Bill Saluga (best known for his character Raymond J. Johnson, Jr.), and George Memmoli (a character actor you’d know from a ton of movies).The company was active from the late 60s through the mid 70s, and was frequently on variety programs like The Tonight Show, Mike Douglas, Dick Cavett and The Midnight Special
