wsLA Times states: "Don Kirshner, the veteran music mogul who shepherded songs from a monstrously talented stable of young writers to the top of the pop charts in the 1960s, launched the career of the Monkees and then became a familiar face to millions of rock fans as impresario of his late-night music TV series in the 1970s, died Monday of heart failure in Boca Raton, Fla., where he had lived for the last decade, a family spokeswoman said Tuesday. He was 76.
"Don Kirshner's Rock Concert" brought the biggest names in rock and pop music to television in live performances instead of the lip-synced sessions that often characterized rock music on television.
Each week Kirshner, usually dressed in a high-collared leisure suit, dryly introduced acts in his distinctive Bronx accent, including the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Sly & the Family Stone, Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith, Barry Manilow, the Eagles, Devo, Prince and countless others over the show's run from 1973 to 1982."
Those in my age bracket will remember that show well, as there was no MTV, so DKRC was pretty much it for music on television. Another part of my childhood dies...
R.I.P. Don
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HOBBY OR ADDICTION?
DiscDude ~
ReplyDelete>>....."Don Kirshner...launched the career of the Monkees"
Who everybody from here to the Lucky Cuss Saloon in Tombstone knows were better than The Beatles!
>>.....died Monday of heart failure in Boca Raton, Fla.
Shoulda been taking his LECITHIN!
>>.....Each week Kirshner...introduced acts...including the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Sly & the Family Stone, Van Morrison, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, Aerosmith, Barry Manilow, the Eagles, Devo, Prince and countless others...
Including WAYLON JENNINGS!
Yup. And another one bites the dust. I was raised on avocados and 'Don Kirshner's Rock Concert'!
Oh well, we'll always have avocados.
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
We didn't have avocados in Philadelphia...but we had cheese steaks.
ReplyDeleteAnd then, because fried steak smothered in cheese was just a little too healthy, we invented cheese fries!
Although the Arizona deep-fried Twinkie is no slouch in the artery-clogging department.
After that, kinda makes avacados sound healthy huh (I read somewhere they were high in fat).
If your heart simply stops beating, isn't that heart failure. So aren't all deaths technically heart failure?
>>.....After that, kinda makes avacados sound healthy huh (I read somewhere they were high in fat).
ReplyDeleteYeah, they are, but it's the "good"-4-U fat, not the "bad"-4-U fat.
>>.....If your heart simply stops beating, isn't that heart failure. So aren't all deaths technically heart failure?
Good point! You need your own version of "Sex, Tattoos & Violence R Us" for posting pithy observations just like that one.
~ D-FensDogg
'Loyal American Underground'
Good fat...bad fat...maybe the bad fat is simply misunderstood...
ReplyDeleteI wonder if one of Don's last thoughts was, "I hope they don't have a picture of me in one of those leisure suits at the ceremony."
A lot of late Friday nights were spent watching his show. First your "Bay Street" blog, now this-a lot of memories are being pulled out of mothballs this week!
DK's Rock Concert and Midnite Special were two of my favorite shows of that era. Those along with Johnny Carson's Tonight Show were about all I ever watched on TV back then.
ReplyDeleteLee
Tossing It Out
I hear ya, Lee-
ReplyDeleteAnyone under fifty won't understand, since they were raised in a world with cable and MTV.
Back when Don was on the air, not only was he the only game in town, it was late on Friday night after all the parents had gone to sleep.
A generation grew up on his show...