Focus were outstanding in this episode and goes to enhance Midnight Special’s reputation for a variety of great music from the USA and beyond. Jan Akkerman is the Dutch guitar God and he had a minor hit later in the U.S. with She’s so Devine so please check that out.
Does anyone remember stack stereos, you know amplifier, equalizer, tuner, dual cassettes, turntable, maybe an 8-track or reel to reel, 4ft tall speakers with 15in woofer, 3in tweeter, 2 smaller speakers just above the bed for the 4-channel effect. Also, a headphone jack so you can put your can headphones after your parents went to sleep.
I had to buy mine piecemeal and I never got around to buying an equalizer... didn't have a lot of disposable income between the ages of 14 - 18... Good times!
@@gordonspond That was the magic of putting together a quality stereo. You buy an amplifier, turntable, and a set of headphones (Cans), head down to the pawn shop, get a receiver with a built in 8-track so you can record songs off records and America's Top 40s to play in the car. Then save up a couple of weeks proceeds from the lawn mowing operation, then go down to an audio store, pawn shop, or JC Penny's and get a set of Pioneer, Klipsch horns, or Bose speakers, then piss the neighbors off. Eventually the upgrades begin, an equalizer, more speakers, cassette or reel to reel, or a better turntable. Next thing I had a room full of gear, and a profound hearing loss, LOL.
Focus' Thijs Van Leer is a freak of nature. Not to mention guitarist Jan Akkerman was one of the world's best guitarist. They certainly deserved the standing ovation. RIP bassist Bert Ruiter.
What a range of talent, R&B, Blues, Rock, I love the variety. Gladys if you need me I could be a Pip (Claps hands, spins, Sing "I know you will") I know all the moves. BB King, Earth Wind and Fire, Focus (though I haven't seen Focus live before) I know, Stories and Chris Smith may be one of those songs I remembered that never gets played on the oldies channel. Can't hardly wait!
Well, that was a terrific show! Gladys and the Pips were awesome, as always. Focus had me out of focus! lol Stories were great, too. Even the acts I wasn't familiar with were good. Thanks to all the party people in the chat, and to you The midnight Special!🤩😊
Gladys and Mavis, similar singers and I love them both ❤And that Pips harmony on Midnight Train..woo woo..! Keep the train rollin Midnight Special and thank you thank you thank you! Humble request: Allman Brothers, if a show with them hasnt been done😎👍🏻
Now I can see that you all loved Gladys, Chaka, Natalie Cole Dionne Warwick yall thought all of them were sexy but yall never said nothing about Patti LaBelle. Did you all find her sexy?
What a spectacular show. Gladys Knight & the Pips as host were amazing. And then, Focus III to end off the show. Happy New Year to all! Thank you Midnight Special.
I saw them in NYC in early 1973, third bill on a show that also had Dr Hook and was headlined by a prog band called Flash who kinda disappeared pretty quickly. EWF seemed to jam a lot that night, with a lot of energy…kinda like here. I enjoyed them but never would’ve guessed that they’d become one of the biggest and best bands of the 1970s, who’s well written and tightly arranged songs would create their own genre of pop/R&B and would still be being played and loved by millions around the world 50 years later. I now consider myself lucky to have seen them at the very start, when they were just planting the seeds.
@@GuiitarBilly and also remember they were also one of the first bands to actually perform real magic on stage I read an article back in 1997 in this magazine that was popular at the time called vibe magazine and it was a short interview with Maurice White talking about in 1973 how they were introduced to the world of magic and there were things that were taught to them things to this very day that he couldn't reveal to the public at that time
I can’t count how many Jethro Tull concerts I went to in the 70’s but each one was just amazing. Loved Tull! Ian Anderson sure could play that flute. 👍🏻
I can't believe they could pull off Hocus Pocus live. And it sounds just like the record only faster. What a great guitarist, What a great yodellist too..... And House of the King was faster and good too.
@David-tv3dk I read once that they speeded it up on purpose because the midnight special wanted a shorter version. So Focus just played faster to fit everything in.
There's just such a sheer abundance of talent and joy in the show. Even the acts I didn't listen to much back then will bring a tear of rejoicing for such awesome pure talent...
Whew!! Can they play any faster? Love Thijs Van Leer’s yodeling-singing-fluting-whistling-keyboards-his shirt (did I miss anything?) and his high pitch is outta sight great! 🇳🇱 Dutch Perfection! 😳 🥰 “Stories” band are so very bluesy-sexy, their guitarist Steve Love is darn 🥵! Haven’t heard this Groovy tune before (their 1st one), and like it! 💃
@@KittyGrizGriz Yeah right . Steve . I'm sorry I was thinking of the dude from The Beach Boys . I looked up the stories on Wikipedia and they don't even have him listed for a Wikipedia page or anything and I tried pulling him up on Facebook and no go. It's as if the guy didn't even exist. 🙋
Stories turned the tables and copied songs from the British charts: Firstly Brother Louie was a hit in England by the great Hot Chocolate and Mamie Blue was a hit for the recently deceased Roger Whitaker. Stories I believe had some connection with the 60’s group Left Banke but I could be entirely wrong about that.
@@stephengriffin1428Thank you, I remember Hot Chocolate did the 1st version of Louie song. Doing a rendition of another’s song shows respect. I love Mamie Blue song too my 1st time hearing it, so darn groovy
Stories' record label (Karma Sutra) forced "Brother Louie" on them. A song they didn't care for but was stuck with when it became their summer 1973 #1 hit single. Of course, their label wanted an immediate follow-up. Resulting in the similar "Mammy Blue". Neither song truly represented the band. As their next album (that featured "Mammy Blue") was more progressive rock. RIP drummer Bryan Madey.
Wow! I hadn't realized Madey had passed away. Stories is one of my favorite bands of all time. I knew that Michael Brown who cofounded the band had passed away some years ago but I didn't know about Brian.
Yeah but that's a great great version of that song so it should have been done by them by the powers that be. The original version is cool but that singer from the stories is doing something with his voice that most singers wish they can do . Even BB King was probably impressed. Do you know whatever happened to Mike love that guitar player?
@@chriskroll4166 Steve Love was in a band after Stories. I can't remember their name. He also did a lot of session work. I believe that he is still alive.
@@chriskroll4166 All I know is he left soon after the "Travelling Underground" album (February 1974). Perhaps disgruntled they were now billed as Ian Lloyd & Stories. He hooked up with that bizarre Bowie wannabe Jobriath. Both Steve Love and new Stories keyboardist Ken Bichel played on Jobriath's 1973 debut album. After that, he was in a Canadian disco studio group named Black Light Orchestra. Then nothing.
They give Gladys & the Pips a big hand at the end of their first number but, Jesus, they just sat there, not clapping, not moving, during that energetic performance. Sometimes the hipper-than-thou crowd just didn't "get" Motown and r & b. Btw - the group had just left Motown at this point and were starting a great second career.
@@frankbartoszak7637 That must of been his "Derringer" band I'm guessing. Big fan of that group. Vinny Appice - drums, Danny Johnson , guitar. If you like that stuff and you haven't checked it out give a listen to Axis - "It's A Circus World". That's where Derringer picked up both of those guys. Good heavy three piece band.
Chris Smither is wonderful, haven’t heard of him before love those writers-strummers-singers. The close up shots of his finger picking are cool, so is the drumming sound, is that his feet making it??
Hocus focus, their performance is not hocus focus only the song title. Great talents of the 70s era .Gladys Knight is fabulous singing midnight train to Georgia. WOW EWF, Philip Bailey in his younger days.
I did some research and apparently Monda is Dick Monda, the guy with the glasses and moustache playing behind Wolfman Jack and sometimes singing with the girls. According to Discogs, he produced Wolfman Jack EP "Ling, Ting, Tong" from 1973. He is mostly known for his pseudonym Daddy Dewdrop who reached number nine on Billboard in 1971 with the song "Chick-A-Boom (Don't Ya Jes' Love It)". As for the backup singers I think two of them are Patty and Kate Harris who sang with Monda in the 70s but I could be wrong on that.
My local AM channel would play pop, soul, country, rock, one right after the other, so good. That with the Friday night dedications, it was "must hear" radio. On RU-vid, they have clips of music from my station from that era, I listen and go back in time.
The next show after this from October 12, 1973, is another good one. It was hosted by The Bee Gees, and featured appearances by Chuck Berry, Apple and Appleberry, King Crimson, Barbara Mason, and Lee Michaels.
Forget BB King, forget Earth, Wind & Fire, forget everything. I don’t care. Focus is the band! Focus is the best! Focus is the highlight here! Focus is the best ever. Just forget anything else!
Ian Lloyd Is Still Playing Clubs At 77 Years Old He is Classically Trained Gladys Knight Just Beautiful Through and Through The Elements I Mean Earth Wind & Fire BBKing Ladies and Gents Let Me Share a Story I Was in a Elevator With Wolfman Jack in The Mid 1980’s in The Old Security Pacific Bank Building on Hollywood Boulevard and Cahuenga Blvd The Day Was For a Star ⭐️ on The Hollywood Walk of Fame Which None Other Than Wolfman Jack Was To Honor Alan Freed Those of You Whom Don’t Know Who Alan Freed is Alan Freed Was Wolfman Jack’s Influence He Was The Top Radio DJ in The Early Days of Rock n Roll Whom Got Caught Up In a The Big Payola Scheme of The 1960’s None The Less That Ruined Alan Freed’s DJ Career and Wolfman Jack Was in The Elevator With Me To Honor His Idol Mr. Alan Freed There is a Star on The Walk of Fame on Cahuenga Blvd and Hollywood Boulevard On The North East Corner Thank you Music 🎶 Makes The World Go Round
Gladys Knight & The Pips doing The Staple Singers remake "Heavy Makes You Happy". Never heard of the Focus song "House Of The King" before!! Did Focus toured with Jethro Tull back then??? Thought it was Dick Monda (known back then as Daddy Dewdrop) who did the song "Chick-A-Boom" in 1971. The song "Mammy Blue" was first done by The Pop-Tops & also the late Roger Whittaker in 1971.
love all that music but unfortunately , they edit the last Focus song , they maybe had not let Wolfman jack sings and keep it for another program, or have less talking by G.Knight / pips .... Focus were so much a musical band influenced by jazz/classical and medieval music, it's a near a crime to edit that band ....
Riding with the King...♡ ☆ & .... Gladys has a " Licence to Kill" ...( the song from a Bond movie, that Eric Patrick Clapton and others were involved in pre-final whistle ! ♡ ) God bless ♡
THIS WAS A GREAT TAPING MOST PERFORMANCES WERE SPECTACULAR. BB KING IS THE MAN. TWO SONGS FROM THE SHOW WERE THE SOUNDTRACK OF THE SUMMER 1973 FOR ME. EVIL BY EARTH WIND AND FIRE AND TO KNOW YOU BY BB KING. THAT IS THE SUMMER I SPENT AT MY GREAT AUNT AND UNCLE HOUSE. THERE WAS A RECORD SHOP LOCATED NEAR THE APARTMENT BUILDING UNDERNEATH THE TRAIN STATION ON 51ST STREET IN CHICAGO. EVERYDAY WHEN MY SISTER AND I PASSED THAT TRAIN STATION ON OUR WAY TO SUMMER CAMP. THAT RECORD STORE WAS BLASTING FOR THE WHOLE STREET NEIGHBORHOOD THE MOST POPULAR RNB SONGS OF THE DAY. EVIL WAS ONE AND SO WAS BB KINGS TO KNOW YOU. GYPSY MAN BY WAR AND I BELIEVE IN YOU BY JOHNNY TAYLOR.
Funny thing about Wolfman's "I Ain't Ever Seen A White Man." At the end of this song about racial harmony, he walks into the crowd and says to someone: ''Go ahead. Get close to that ugly red-head kid.'' It's at 43:22.
Earth Wind & Fire is one of my all time favorite bands,along with Stories & 70's rock band Focus,on this episode,is worth watching Great episode,RIP Maurice White and Bert Ruiter.
Okay, I admit it: I'm really slow on the uptake sometimes. I've been a fan since the Grapevine, but I never appreciated what a social breakthrough this group represented. Countless male stars have had a trio of female singers; it was almost formulaic. Help me out here: Are there any other examples of a female lead with male backup?
But for the male stars, they were backing singers, not necessarily part of the band. "Gladys Knight and the Pips" were a singular band and it was a family affair. Gladys was backed by her brother and two cousins.
