Hilarious House of Frightenstein

Here's the opening to a fondly remembered program The Hilarious House of Frightenstein which was released on DVD recently. Yes, that's Vincent Price doing the opening.

 

This clever syndicated 60 minute comedy-variety kid show starred Price as the narrator and Billy Van (Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour) as mad scientist Bwanna Clyde Batty. Also seen: Fishka Rais as Igor, Guy Big as Count Munchkinstein, Joe Torbay as Gronk, and Julius Sumner Miller as The Professor.

Here's the first episode from 1971 followed by an interview with Billy Van & the cast.

 

Profiles in Beauty : Golddigger Robyn Whatley

 Robyn Whatley-Kahn (a former Dean Martin Golddigger) It seemed like a dream… they, the Greg Garrison Productions office, producers of The Dean Martin Show, were paying “me’”… paying me to do what I love: singing and dancing - AND doing it alongside the legendary Dean Martin as one of the Dean Martin Golddiggers! 

 I experienced singing to over one million people amid standing ovations from the sold out performances in the 1,400 person capacity “Celebrity Room” at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. We were the opening act for many of the legendary entertainers of the century, signed autographs, and were involved in numerous photo sessions and countless newspaper interviews. Rehearsals were held at the NBC studio with the Carol Burnett show rehearsing in the studio on our left and the Tonight show across the hall. We were surrounded by stars from day one. 

I was lucky enough to perform in Monte Carlo, Montreal during the Olympics, Las Vegas, and Acapulco to name a few. There were many concerts as well as numerous charity functions. Also, we had repeated performances as guest stars on the Mike Douglas Show plus, of course, the many Dean Martin TV Specials. All of this with 7 other women who are still my dearest friends.   

Life was a mixture of being “on the road” in fabulous places, and then regular day to day life in L.A. On tour in those “golden days” of show biz included singing in the amazing historic Rat Pack Tour with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. TV cameras were whirling with a 7,000 person capacity crowd at the Westchester Premiere theatre (Sinatra had so many bodyguards that believe me, we were “well” protected). 

The old Mae West quip, “Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?” took on a whole new meaning. 

 Read more of Robyn Whatley's 
memories of Dean Martin and more!

Rare Bootleg Lou Reed Performance from 1977

Lou Reed has died, no cause yet but he recently received a liver transplant. Rolling Stone can eulogize him better than I, he was one of those performers embedded in the Rock & Roll DNA and will be for generations. His best work will always crackle with life.

 Here's a 1977 bootleg recording of Lou Reed from the Bottom Line New York, Satellite Of Love:

 

Failed Wonder Woman TV Show Pilots

by Billy Ingram

  The hottest TV show in the nation in 1966 was Batman. Taken completely by surprise (it was so way-out everyone thought it would tank) the networks scrambled to find another established comic book character to capitalize on the craze.

 In 1967, Batman's producer William Dozier put writer Stanley Ralph Ross on the spec pilot - it was his job to come up with a format to bring Wonder Woman to the home screen. A brilliant and prolific TV writer/producer/actor, Dozier also served as Batman's narrator who intoned, "Same Bat-time... same Bat-channel" at the end of each episode.

Stanley Ralph Ross was quoted as saying, "Professionally what happened was that, after writing for Batman, I became more or less known as a person who knew how to write adaptation of comic books for television."

This resulted in a dreadful five-minute film for Warner Bros., a domestic sitcom entitled Wonder Woman: Who's Afraid of Diana Prince? It was the story of a typical American super-powered housewife. Think Bewitched with a tiara. Wonder Woman was played by two different people - a homely gal in the role of Diana Prince (Ellie Wood Walker of The New Interns) and a beautiful woman (Linda Harrison) after she morphed into Wonder Woman.



Read more about WONDER WOMAN ON TV at TVparty! 
and watch scenes from  the 2011 Wonder Woman pilot!

The Latin Casino Nightclub in Cherry Hill, NJ

THE LATIN CASINO

I spoke in 2011 with guitarist Chuck Anderson who's had a remarkable career playing for some of the biggest names in show business. He got his big break as the house guitarist at The Latin Casino in Cherry Hill New Jersey; I've been fascinated by this legendary Dinner Theater lately. A 3,000 seater, people dressed to the nines and came from all over the Tri-State area to see the finest entertainment outside of New York City. Frank, Dean, Hope, Rickles, all the greatest Vegas performers would do a week or two a year at the Latin which opened in 1960 after moving from Philadelphia.

It was only when Atlantic City legalized gambling and opened huge showrooms with non-compete clauses that led to the club's reinvention as a discotheque in 1978. The place suffered a serious fire in the mid-1980s and never re-opened. People who lived in Philly and Cherry Hill at the time will always remember The Latin Casino, a place, ironically, where you could not gamble.

Here Chuck Anderson talks about the club and shares behind the scenes stories about some of the biggies that played the Latin like Anthony Newley, Wayne Newton, Perry Como, and Peggy Lee who employed a one-armed drummer. Chuck Anderson has a blog here that you should check out, especially if you're a jazz lover. If you have memories of The Latin Casino I'd love to hear them!