The Midnight Special (music show)

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by lv70smusic, Sep 17, 2017.

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  1. lv70smusic

    lv70smusic Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    San Francisco, CA
    Another example of me being late to the party, I only recently picked up the 11-dvd set of The Midnight Special. Anyone interested in this set, it's easy to find the 11-disc set for under $50 on eBay now.

    Even though I was a teenager when this was on, I don't even think I was aware of it at the time because I was never awake after midnight so all of these performances are new to me. I have been blown away by some of the performances -- even by some artists that I didn't expect to particularly enjoy (most notably Elvin Bishop's "Fooled Around And Fell In Love," featuring Mickey Thomas on lead vocal. I love this song any way, but I was stunned by Thomas' vocal. So precise yet full of feeling.

    I know that the show featured mostly live performances (in fact one of the bonus features that has clips of various people talking about the show indicates that acts were required to perform live). Obviously this didn't remain true during the last couple of years of the show's run, with some obvious lip sync performances by Blondie, Peaches and Herb, Chic, and probably others I haven't watched yet. What surprised me, however, was that Bay City Rollers' "Saturday Night" was clearly a lip sync and that was much earlier in the show's run. Wonder how they convinced the producers to let them lip sync?

    I'm impressed with the variety of artists presented in this set. I've definitely skipped some stuff as I've been watching (even though I like some Alice Cooper hits, one disc simply has way too many tracks by them), but generally these are enjoyable discs from beginning to end. Too bad they authored them with beginning and ending credits for each episode represented even though the full episodes aren't present. It results in having to watch/hear the credits way too many times if you're playing discs back to back.
     
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  2. GuildX700

    GuildX700 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    Certainly some great performances on that show, I miss it, but $50 is too much for my tastes.
     
  3. beccabear67

    beccabear67 Musical omnivore.

    Location:
    Victoria, Canada
    I bought an earlier set of 7 DVDs and enjoyed that as the performances are real ones. Definitely a wide variety of artists. There were also some behind the scenes interviews. Before that I had a couple of the single disc releases and was glad the box set didn't replicate what was on them.
     
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  4. mpayan

    mpayan A Tad Rolled Off

    I have most of these and love em. But the intro repeat over and over and over really gets old. I wish they would release some entire shows. And while they are at it release entire Don Kirshner's Rock Concerts also!
     
  5. Ken K

    Ken K Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sayreville, NJ USA
    Does anyone know if Bobby Darin's appearance is on this set? It was his very last TV performance, and all that circulate of it are crummy bootleg copies several generations down. Would love to see it in pristine quality?
     
  6. lv70smusic

    lv70smusic Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    San Francisco, CA
    I don't think so. I did a marathon viewing yesterday -- all 8 discs of the music performances. Granted, I skipped some tracks that I didn't like, so I didn't listen to everything. I don't think I would have skipped Bobby Darin, though, and I don't remember hearing him. Then again, after several hours of watching and listening I'm sure I couldn't list everything that played!
     
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  7. milankey

    milankey Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kent, Ohio, USA
    I think even the worst acts on those dvd's would be more interesting to me than most of the new music being released today.
     
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  8. ando here

    ando here Forum Resident

    Location:
    North Pole
    Thanks for the warning. :tiphat:
     
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  9. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    I found a few MS DVDs used...that's about the only way I'll buy them...enjoyable.
     
  10. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    I agree...a different world back then.
     
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  11. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    I don't see him in the list, you should double-check me : Various - The Midnight Special

    Available everywhere online. Import CDs has the lowest price. I'll put it on my wish list. This one's perfect for a % off sale !
    .
     
  12. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    Watching the individuals I bought off Amazon in 2009, and these don't look too bad.

    And there are performances on these, that aren't in the 11 disc set too ?!?!?!

    Wow ! That's a lot of performances. I saw the note on Discogs about the 11 disc set missing a bonus disc from a 7 disc set ?

    Wonder how many different discs and sets the completeist MS fans have ?
    .
     
    Last edited: Sep 24, 2017
  13. Dave Garrett

    Dave Garrett Senior Member

    Location:
    Houston, TX
    The 7 disc set was the standard 6-disc set plus a bonus disc - I believe that configuration was a Costco exclusive.
     
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  14. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    My Oppo is upscaling (?) the Bee Gees to a nearly HD picture !?!?!?
     
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  15. Ghostworld

    Ghostworld Senior Member

    Location:
    US
    I'd love to see some of this, but looking 70s "fashion" makes me want to claim to be a millennial.
     
  16. townsend

    townsend Senior Member

    Location:
    Ridgway, CO
    What (in the hell) happened to the Don Kirshner's Rock Concert DVD set --- oh, I guess it is still "coming" -- Don Kirshner's Rock Concert | DVD Set of Classic Music Series

    Or we might say, "a long, long, long time coming" and it will never arrive. Ridiculous how this stuff never gets released, rotting on vaults. Michael Hedges died in December 1997 -- its been almost twenty years since and still, not a single filmed concert released to the public. I know they are out there -- not just from youtube clips, but I watched a good portion of one concert broadcast on cable years ago. This is just the "American" way.
     
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  17. Holy Diver

    Holy Diver Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    Great show. This is one of my favorite performances.

    REO Speedwagon - Roll with the Changes. Gary Richrath just tears it up on guitar.

     
  18. townsend

    townsend Senior Member

    Location:
    Ridgway, CO
    Featuring the guitarist extraordinaire, Gary Richrath. He could really play, very melodic and energetic. He unfortunately passed in 2015.
     
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  19. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    There's a seller on eBay with great ratings, selling several of these for only $38.88 w/free Media Mail shipping !!!
     
  20. Clark V Kauffman

    Clark V Kauffman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Des Moines, Iowa
    I see that Deep Discount has the 6-DVD set for just $12.
     
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  21. ky658

    ky658 Senior Member

    Location:
    Ft Myers, Florida
    I was never a fan of this show growing up, but the original "In Concert", that's another story...
     
  22. driverdrummer

    driverdrummer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Irmo, SC
    I like the performance of Ambrosia-How Much I Feel. Super 70's!!
     
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  23. DarylB

    DarylB Forum Resident

    I read that the Midnight Special recorded over 400 episodes while Don Kirshner's Rock Concert has 230,which is kind of odd because they both came out the same year.There could be more shows that were taped.
     
  24. chicofishhead

    chicofishhead Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chico, California
    In the Midnight Special book, they list 423 episodes, but they count repeats. I think there about 350 different ones, a few of which are compilations of highlights from previous shows. But you're right it's still quite a few more than Kirshner.
     
  25. DarylB

    DarylB Forum Resident

    There's probably more Rock Concert episodes than the 230 in which was sourced?
     
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