That’s the Young Rascals on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1967. They were a blast.
They mostly get lumped in the “Blue-eyed Soul” category. That’s semi-amusing, because with one exception, they’re goombahs with olive oil voices and guinea charm, and definitely sans blue eyes.
Ed Sullivan featured scads of interesting music on his shows over the years, usually before they’d become well-known. He was famous for introducing Elvis and the Beatles to mass audiences, but if you look over the rosters of his show, you’ll find dozens of acts like the Young Rascals that got notable for the first time by appearing on his stage.
Ed was the coolest square that ever lived. He was a popular sportswriter in New York, and eventually sidled over to doing reviews of Broadway shows and a smattering of gossip. That was enough to get him a gig on the early days of teevee. He started broadcasting in 1948, when very few people even had a teevee, and he lasted until 1971, setting a record for the longest run of a variety show in history.
Ed’s great gift, if you want to call it that, was encapsulated by comedian Alan King: “Ed does nothing, but he does it better than anyone else in television.” And the Young Rascals proved Fred Allen’s quip, that “Ed Sullivan will last, as long as other people have talent.” They did, and he did.
3 Responses
As a 100 per cent Italian (half Pugliese and half Sicilian) American, I resent the remark about blue eyes. Go to Sicily some time, plenty of blue eyes there. But glad you loved the Rascals,
Hi Peterr- Thanks for reading and commenting.
I’m a blue-eyed Sicilian.
Ed definitely had an eye–or was that an ear– for picking out talent. The Beatles would have made it big without appearing on his show, but their appearance on Ed Sullivan put them on the fast track in the US.
While washing dishes at a pizzeria (Sicilian husband and Irish wife. Their son married a Ukrainian), I was surprised to see the Spanish singer Raphael on the Ed Sullivan show. I knew of Raphael from spending a summer in Mexico. Saw his movie and bought his album. Another example of Ed Sullivan’s talent-spotting.
A classmate of mine was a redhead of Italian ancestry- but from Milan. Decades later, with flowing grey hair, she reminded me of Sophia Loren. Next time I saw her, she had dyed her hair purple. Oh well. I knew an Italian immigrant in Venezuela- blond (catire) hair. Takes all kinds.