Sonja and I listened to a 1964 Smothers Brothers record this morning. On the cover is a picture of Dick smashing Tommy over the head with a guitar. That is some funny shit.
"I can remember fucking near pissing myself watching the Smothers Brothers on tv," I said to Sonja, who was listening to the record as she crunched her cereal. My brother and I loved the Smothers Brothers so much we even performed skits we thought were every bit as funny as their shit. I was Dick, Axel was Tommy. Axel's funniest bit was when he would lay on the floor, raise his legs high in the air and light his farts on fire. When Axel's fuel was mom's homemade beans it was like a KISS concert in the living room some nights.
"They were the funniest brothers since the Marxs," Sonja said between milky crunches.
Listening to Tom and Dick got me reflecting on how much joy I have experienced watching television. Anne Murray entering my life on Don Messer's Jubilee; Bobby Orr and Gordie Howe skating back and forth across across the screen; Yo-Yo Man.
But it has not just been the technology of television entertaining me. Radio, records, movies, punk rock shows, computer crap and much, much more all delivered to me with technology. Walking the dog is probably the only thing I do unaided by technology and even then it is an activity I do in Jetson shoes developed by a team of doped up scientists who could cure cancer with the Olympic sized budget they have to work with.
Today I am watching a Canadian Football League game when taking breaks from raking up wet leaves. The leaf raking is technology free but it is more fun watching Canadian football in November. Motherfuck the Bombers!
3 comments:
The Smothers Brothers live here. They own a car dealership and an auto parts warehouse and a couple of other businesses. I have never run into them. They always had on the best bands. The Who on their show was the coolest thing ever.
I do not remember the guest bands the Smothers had on their show. I was (and remain) a huge Who fan, just like just about everybody else who became disgusting punk rocker when they grew up some. Too bad I do not remember shit.
I will admit to the worst sort of cheating. I supplemented my memory by going to YouTube, where I watched the The Who's appearance on The Smothers Brother's show. It was back when they used to destroy all of their instruments at the end of their set. Dick Smothers stood there and watched, slack jawed as they rammed microphone stands through speaker cabinets and flailed away at the demolished drum kit with guitars. When it was over, he walked up to Pete Townsend, who grabbed the big dreadnought guitar Dick was carrying and smashed it to pieces,
It blew my tiny and still forming mind. I'm so fucking glad.
The Holy Modal Rounders were on Laff In, a show I felt was vastly inferior to The Smothers Brothers. They were not allowed to finish their song. The Who were allowed to finish anything that needed finishing on The Smothers Brothers. Fuckin' A.
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