Shindig!

THE FOLLOWING IS AN UPDATED ENCORE TIM MOORE BLOG—BACK BY REQUEST!!! (I like that.):


With virtually all of our media now “on demand”, it’s sometimes hard to imagine the “event” status of TV shows from days gone by.

I’ve blogged before about the loss of what I call “common media experience”—the days when HUGE segments of the U.S. population would tune into a particular television show. We were all engaged with the same media experience—at the exact same time—and the uniqueness of these time-bound episodes were defining moments for millions.
A bond of shared experience was created—and subsequently related in the coming day(s) between young and old.

The Beatles appearing on “The Ed Sullivan Show” is perhaps one of the most prevalent, but there were many others, including the ABC-TV show “Shindig!” which aired it’s very last episode 45 years ago this month—after 2 years on the air.

Hosted by L.A. Disc Jockey Jimmy O’Neill, those two years were PACKED with a virtual “Who’s Who” of rock’n roll. Everyone who was anyone made getting on “Shindig!” a priority.

Even though I think the name was a little lame, the show itself chronicled the rise of a new generation’s music. With time-shifting, DVR’s, YouTube and such, there is ZERO sense of urgency to “tune in” to any show at the time it is broadcast--with the possible exception of “American Idol” or “Dancing With The Stars” Even these shows will be “available” the very next day—or maybe sooner!

Not so with “Shindig!” If you wanted to catch your musical heroes, you had to block out the time, warm up the TV and set those damn rabbit-ears just right. And, since there was only ONE television in the house, you often had to bargain with other family members who had no interest in watching Sam Cooke, Del Shannon, The Dixie Cups or Chad & Jeremy. If you won the argument, those same family members were still there—in the room, reluctantly viewing YOUR show and no doubt providing a biting commentary to go along with it. Such was the family dynamic in the early days of both rock and TV.

Here are a couple of great videos from Shindig! A couple of young upstart bands who appeared…The Beatles and The Rolling Stones:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3u0NP_n9AwU




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pP2E31NGrs

In addition to the acts, there were the dancers-called the “Shin-Diggers”, one of whom was Terri Garr, who would later become a famous actress.

The success of “Shindig!” prompted NBC to compete with their own show called “Hullaballoo” (another horrible name). Originally a half hour, then expanded to an hour, then split into two half hour programs on different nights, the ratings began to slip in October of 1965.

The writing was on the wall—and “Shindig!” was replaced in its Thursday time slot by “Batman”. Despite the short run, however, “Shindig!” has cemented its place in both pop culture and rock & roll history.

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