One of TV’s great—and infamous moments—happened on this date in 1967.
The British rock group The Who appeared on the wildly popular program “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour”. As most rock fans know, The Who often wrapped up a show by destroying their instruments. In fact, The Who inspired Jimi Hendrix’s famous on-stage burning of his guitar during the Monterey Pop Festival just three months earlier.
Although the Smothers Brothers appeared to be conservative members of the so-called “establishment”, they were, in fact, anything but. The duo constantly fought with CBS brass over the content of their show, which more than skirted political issues and was openly critical of the war in Vietnam, among other things.
This “on the edge” perspective was no doubt part of the show’s appeal and ratings success.
Having the latest rock groups on was another reason to tune in.
Drummer Keith Moon was in the habit of placing an explosive charge in one of his two bass drums—coordinated to detonate while Pete Townsend was busy smashing his guitar. Well, for this national TV broadcast, Moon apparently decided to pack several times the normal amount of explosives into his drum kit.
What occurred after the singing of “My Generation” was a tad more than expected—enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr81olQ1ibk
Notice that bassist John Entwistle never seemed to lose his composure. The cloud of smoke enveloped singer Roger Daltry and Townsend-whose hair was singed and blown to one side! The explosion reportedly sent shrapnel into Keith Moon’s arm and has been blamed in part for causing Pete Townsend’s eventual near deafness.
Bette Davis reportedly fainted and the show was knocked off the air momentarily.
You won’t see that kind of thing from Justin Bieber…….ah! The good ‘ol days!
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