Anyone old enough to remember watching the old Midnight Special TV show? I know the collection has been out on DVD for a while but looking at some of these old performances on youtube made me remember watching them as a kid and how exciting it was to see these acts live for the first time. I MUST HAVE this collection! I remember only being able to watch the show at my grandparents' or friends' houses because my Dad wouldn't let us stay up that late. The first one I can remember seeing is Tina Turner performing Proud Mary and I was like and then I never recovered! Here it is...just as good as I remember as a kid:

Buy them on eBay, they're selling for like $5 each. I, like a damn fool, ordered them 5 years ago from Guthy-Renker via their infomercial and paid $20 a pop. And they only sent me half of the collection. MF-ers!

I have the Midnight Special DVD set. I ordered it off the infomercial a few years ago. It's not complete episodes, mainly it's just the really big hits from 1973-1980, plus a couple of stand up comic clips from each year (which I hardly watch )

therevolutionwillnotbe said:

Buy them on eBay, they're selling for like $5 each. I, like a damn fool, ordered them 5 years ago from Guthy-Renker via their infomercial and paid $20 a pop. And they only sent me half of the collection. MF-ers!

It cost less to buy the complete set at once than to get them individually, and there was an extra DVD with the set that doesn't come from getting them separately.

^^^ Thanks for the info! Did any of you watch the show live, growing up? I have wonderful memories surrounding that show...

purplethunder3121 said:

^^^ Thanks for the info! Did any of you watch the show live, growing up? I have wonderful memories surrounding that show...

I ain't that old. My TV watching in the 1970's consisted mainly of Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. But I watched the reruns on VH1 in the late '90s. Great stuff! It's a real shame how the show ended.

therevolutionwillnotbe said:

purplethunder3121 said:

^^^ Thanks for the info! Did any of you watch the show live, growing up? I have wonderful memories surrounding that show...

I ain't that old. My TV watching in the 1970's consisted mainly of Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. But I watched the reruns on VH1 in the late '90s. Great stuff! It's a real shame how the show ended.

Hey! Don't make me feel ancient! I was a kid, too, watching Sesame Street at home and covertly staying up late where I could and watching the Midnight Special--the Forbidden Pleasure! So-oo Bad! BTW that was a shame how the show ended.

Between that and Don Kirchner's Rock Concert? OMFG

IAintTheOne said:

Between that and Don Kirchner's Rock Concert? OMFG

^^^ Oh Yeah! That one, too! How could I forget?! And Don Kirchner was a riot--I could barely understand him when he spoke--like he had a mouthful of rocks (not the musical kind!)

purplethunder3121 said:

Hey! Don't make me feel ancient! I was a kid, too, watching Sesame Street at home and covertly staying up late where I could and watching the Midnight Special--the Forbidden Pleasure! So-oo Bad! BTW that was a shame how the show ended.

I keed, I keed.

What made 'Midnight Special' special was the live performances. It was like being front row at a concert. By the end, the show was moved to a small studio and the lip-syncing started to become prevalent. When you get to 1979 in the set you'll see and hear what I mean.

The show's producer, Dick Ebersol, requested the show be cancelled so he could take over 'Saturday Night Live' (which for some reason is still on the air). He then went on to produce 'Friday Night Videos'. As if playing videos requires anything more than someone to push a button. It just burns my ass how music is always the first to get the axe. And here we are in 2011 with absolutely no music on TV (and barely any on the radio).

[Edited 1/16/11 18:54pm]

therevolutionwillnotbe said:

purplethunder3121 said:

Hey! Don't make me feel ancient! I was a kid, too, watching Sesame Street at home and covertly staying up late where I could and watching the Midnight Special--the Forbidden Pleasure! So-oo Bad! BTW that was a shame how the show ended.

I keed, I keed.

What made 'Midnight Special' special was the live performances. It was like being front row at a concert. By the end, the show was moved to a small studio and the lip-syncing started to become prevalent. When you get to 1979 in the set you'll see and hear what I mean.

The show's producer, Dick Ebersol, requested the show be cancelled so he could take over 'Saturday Night Live' (which for some reason is still on the air). He then went on to produce 'Friday Night Videos'. As if playing videos requires anything more than someone to push a button. It just burns my ass how music is always the first to get the axe. And here we are in 2011 with absolutely no music on TV (and barely any on the radio).

[Edited 1/16/11 18:54pm]

I totally agree with you! The fact that it was LIVE in the early days made you feel FRONT ROW CENTER and I will never forget the excitement of that as a kid...not to mention the amazing performances I had the privilege to see and hear! I feel sorry for youth now...they don't get the same experience at all...and I am not being a snob when I say that!

IAintTheOne said:

Don Kirchner

Michael Nesmith almost punched him out in the late 1960's and was the main person who got Don fired from being The Monkees musical director. During a meeting Mike punched a hole in the wall and told Don that could have been his face.

MickyDolenz said:

IAintTheOne said:

Don Kirchner

Michael Nesmith almost punched him out in the late 1960's and was the main person who got Don fired from being The Monkees musical director. During a meeting Mike punched a hole in the wall and told Don that could have been his face.

Seems like ole Don had other problems besides being an unlikeable character and talking like he just came from a dentist's office...

I ordered these DVDs several years ago from the infomercial.

SoulAlive said:

I ordered these DVDs several years ago from the infomercial.

^^^ So what do you think of the collection?

IAintTheOne said:

Between that and Don Kirchner's Rock Concert? OMFG

That used to be my "special" time, lol. Everybody else in the house would go to sleep, and I would stay up late and watch both these shows. PURE MAGIC! My body may have been sitting there in the house, but my mind was a thousand miles away watching all those great performances.

Wolfman Jack was The Man! May he be resting peacefully.

PDogz said:

IAintTheOne said:

Between that and Don Kirchner's Rock Concert? OMFG

That used to be my "special" time, lol. Everybody else in the house would go to sleep, and I would stay up late and watch both these shows. PURE MAGIC! My body may have been sitting there in the house, but my mind was a thousand miles away watching all those great performances.

Wolfman Jack was The Man! May he be resting peacefully.

^^^ Yeah, he was special wasn't he! What a personality! And he used his appearance and voice to his full advantage...

purplethunder3121 said:

SoulAlive said:

I ordered these DVDs several years ago from the infomercial.

^^^ So what do you think of the collection?

I love it One of my favorites is the DVD that focuses on 1976.It includes performances by Carlos Santana and George Benson performing "Breezin",as well as Diana Ross performing "Love Hangover".

purplethunder3121 said:

^^^ Thanks for the info! Did any of you watch the show live, growing up? I have wonderful memories surrounding that show...

Yeah...I AM "that" old & it was a great fuckin show. What bugs me is that we don't get this kind of thing anymore.

It would seem "simple". You have talent....gear up & play live (if even on tape) on T.V. Just not enough of this, IMO.

Thank God for YT & folks that ARE out there doin it RIGHT live, to this day.

George Benson and Carlos Santana performing "Breezin" on The Midnight Special (1976)

back in those days young black girls watching Tina must have been so excited

She always danced so classy not like the girls nowadys

JamFanHot said:

purplethunder3121 said:

^^^ Thanks for the info! Did any of you watch the show live, growing up? I have wonderful memories surrounding that show...

Yeah...I AM "that" old & it was a great fuckin show. What bugs me is that we don't get this kind of thing anymore.

It would seem "simple". You have talent....gear up & play live (if even on tape) on T.V. Just not enough of this, IMO.

Thank God for YT & folks that ARE out there doin it RIGHT live, to this day.

I also used to watch this show.Back in the day,we didn't have MTV and VH-1 but we had alot of shows to see our favorite artists on......Soul Train,American Bandstand,Solid Gold and the Midnight Special.Saturdays were alot of fun back then