Back in the 1950s and 1960s, the drive-in theater was the place to go for cheap entertainment, especially for families. Mom and dad could pack a freezer-chest full of pop, bags of chips, sandwiches, candy, and, of course, the kids, and head for the drive-in to watch a double-feature (kids seldom stayed awake for the second feature).
On warm summer nights, it was important to get inside before sunset, so that you'd get the best spot in the lot. The kids could then head for the playground, directly below the gigantic screen, and play until the first cartoon came on, which was their cue to run back to the car.
Here's a medley of spots that would run during intermission, the time between the two feature movies.
Mr. Sandman (1954) (new July 1)
Your Hit Parade was a weekly standard throughout the 1950s, presenting (supposedly) the top 7 pop hits of the week. There were several recording vocalists on the show, but with the exception of one, none ever had a hit big enough to appear on the show.
While the show professed to have the top hits in the country, it was never revealed how the tabulating took place. The American Tobacco Company sponsored the show, and its advertising agency "compiled" the hits each week. It's safe to assume that data collecting wasn't necessarily scientific.
Here is one of the vocalists on the show, Snooky Lanson, and friends singing Mr. Sandman, the number one hit of this particular week. Snooky is the one in the middle.
Peter Pan, from 1955 and 1960, Mary Martin (new April 17)
In the 1950s and 1960s, one of the fondest childhood memories of boomers was the annual presentation of Peter Pan, starring Mary Martin (1913-1990), mother to Larry Hagman (I Dream of Jeannie; Dallas).
To the best of my knowledge, there are only two surviving copies of these broadcasts: kinescopes from 1955 (black and white) and 1960 (color).I've had copies of these shows for some time, and it finally dawned on my to share them here.
The color 1960 show is from a very rare and expensive GoodTimes DVD, released around 1999. GoodTimes eventually went bankrupt and lost licensing rights of the 1960 show. Nobody seems to know who–if anybody–owns the copyright to this show.
Here are five clips from the shows, in RealPlayer format only.
Video #1, Bedtime (1955 show)
The teleplay opens with the Darling children (John and Wendy) pretending to be their parents, dancing. Michael, the little boy, Nanna, the "dog nurse", and Liza, the maid, also make their appearances. Cyril Ritchard and Margalo Gillmore play the parents.
Video #2, Neverland (1955 show)
Peter sings about his home, Neverland, to Wendy, who was the first to discover Peter in the childrens' bedroom. In a previous secret visit, Peter had lost his shadow; he had returned to the bedroom to find it.
Video #3, I'm Flying (1960 show)
Probably the most famous scene and song in the teleplay, here is the entire I'm Flying sequence, where the children are sprinkled with fairy dust and learn the secret to flying.
Video #4, Neverland Orchestral (1960 show)
A delightful, colorful song and dance by the maid, Liza (Jacqueline Mayro), who was sprinkled with fairy dust by Michael, and learned the secrets of flying to Neverland. Liza dances with Neverland's kangaroo, tiger, and of course, the dancing trees.
Video #5, I Won't Grow Up (1960 show)
Another famous song sung by Peter and the Lost Boys of Neverland. The Lost Boys were those who were lost by their nannies. Ultimately, they all came to live with the Darling family.
Carly Simon (1987) (new March 25)
From a spectacular concert in Martha's Vineyard in 1987, Carly Simon singing a very fun, All I Want Is You.
Ms. Simon seems to be having the time of her life in this concert and especially in this particular clip. The sun parted on this day, after a cloudy, showery week. And even though everybody is dressed for summer, Carly declined to play the piano herself because her fingers were "frozen" from the cold. It's probably safe to say that all that jumping she does is probably more to stay warm than to just have fun.
From a long out-of-print and very expensive DVD, on the now defunct studio label, Grandstand Entertainment.
Dave Clark Five (1960s) (new March 13)
On March 12, 2008, the Dave Clark Five was deservedly inducted into the U.S. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Sadly, just days before, the group's lead vocalist and keyboardist, Mike Smith (pictured), died of pneumonia.
The group was second only to the Beatles in record sales and popularity during the '60s. Their music and style were polished, friendly, upbeat, and just plain slick.
Here they are, singing Over and Over (quality of clip is only fair).
The 5th Dimension (1982) (new Feb 10)
Here is an extremely rare live performance of the group performing at Caesar's World in Atlantic City.
In 1982, when this concert was filmed, there were only three of the original members in the group. This clip, Up, Up and Away, is from a tape that was released in the 1980s. That tape is next to impossible to find; I did not know it even existed until recently, when a copy surfaced.
Promo: Bewitched, Love on a Rooftop, That Girl (1966-7) (new Jan 22)
Here is a rare television promo for shows that aired in the '66-7 fall season. The shows were: Bewitched, Love on a Rooftop, and That Girl.
The three famous women in this promo are Elizabeth Montgomery, Judy Carne (of Laugh-In fame), and Marlo Thomas. Nearly the entire cast of Bewitched is deceased, which is strange, as many of the cast members were not that old. Ted Bessell ("Donald!") died in the '90s at only age 61. And Peter Deuel, who played Judy Carne's husband, unceremoniously shot himself dead one evening in 1971, right after watching his own show (likely, Alias Smith and Jones).
The Mamas and the Papas (1966) (new Jan 14)
One of the most famous groups from the mid-60s, the Mamas and the Papas—their name inspired by a Hell's Angels member—remained a group for only about 2.5 years. Their fame was relatively brief, productive...and often troubled.
Here the group is singing a brief but pretty Beatles tune, Nowhere Man. Sadly, the only surviving member of the group is the long-haired blonde in this clip, Michelle Phillips.
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Preservation and sharing are RoadOde's purposes. This is a not-for-profit website dedicated to our remarkable television heritage...warts and all. We strive to bring the best quality possible, which is attained using state-of-the-art software that enhances picture and audio quality.
Do you have it?
RoadOde is seeking rare or privately filmed footage that can be shared with the world. Most visitors to the site are interested in Outtakes and Carpenters.
Did you attend a state-fair concert back in the '70s, when Richard and Karen were touring, and did you film it (preferably, transferred to video)?
Did you capture a famous person on film, perhaps somebody no longer with us?
If you have such footage, please contact me at the e-mail address shown under the Home tab, above. If your content is used on the site, you'll receive credit, an applicable link, and reimbursement of any shipping costs.
RoadOde is designed for high-speed connections only. If you are unable to view the videos here, and the tips in the left column do not help, it is your PC's configuration that is the problem.
While the content here celebrates the past, everything else celebrates today's technology in multimedia, high-speed access, and current hardware.
The copyrights of all video and music are owned by the respective artists and/or companies. Here, they are shared for educational enjoyment only.
Unfortunately, nearly all of the videos are not available commercially. Ran
Mamas and Papas (1966) (new Mar 17)
A couple of months ago, I put this group's version of Nowhere Man on the site, and it was the most downloaded clip on RoadOde. Obviously, the Mamas and the Papas are still well received.
In this clip from Hullabaloo, they sing California Dreamin'. Watch the lead male singer, Denny Doherty, eying the pigtailed dancer during the instrumental part...you can almost read his (dirty little) mind.
Trivia: Did you know that the Asian male dancer in this clip (one of the favorites on Hullabaloo), Patrick Adiarte, was the young Prince Chulalongkorn in the King and I and also appeared in seven episodes of MASH as Ho-Jon?
Fred Astaire (1951) (new Feb 28)
Fascinating clip of Fred Astaire, seemingly defying gravity in The Royal Wedding, a film which made its way into the public domain.
The trick was to have the entire room rotate, along with the camera in a fixed position, while Astaire danced, always at ground level. All of the furniture and accessories had to be in firmly fixed positions.
Petula Clark, Downtown (1965) (new Feb 10)
Hullabaloo was a mid-60s show which featured all the top hits and artists of the day. Each week, a different guest host introduced the acts; Petula Clark was one such host.
Here she is singing one of the biggest hits of 1965, a song that is still well known today, Downtown.
The Hollies (1965) (new Jan 22)
Early British invasion group from the mid-60s, The Hollies consistently had some of the catchiest pop music of that era. In hindsight, it is amazing how productive this group was, cranking out hundreds of songs, many of them still well-known today.
This song, Look Through Any Window, was their first record to place in the top 40.
Herman's Hermits (1965) (new Jan 13)
Another British invasion group from the mid-60s, 17-year old Peter Noone was lead vocalist. Noone's stage name was "Herman", named after a cartoon character that he supposedly resembled ("Sherman", from Peabody's Improbable History).
The group had a string of number one hits throughout the '60s, rivaling The Beatles in popularity. Guitarist Derek Leckenby, the one wearing the horn-rimmed glasses, died of cancer in 1994; he was 51.
Here they are, singing Can't You Hear My Heartbeat.
Jessica Savitch
On October 3, 1983, Jessica Savitch, one of the public's most trusted newswomen, appeared in a live news spot...under the influence of drugs (possibly cocaine). Most viewers didn't know that Ms. Savitch had a lifelong history of emotional tragedy and drug abuse.
This particular telecast was not archived by NBC; it is famous not only because it spelled the end of Ms. Savitch's career, but also because of its elusiveness, even on the Web.
Jessica Savitch is admired to this day for carving her place in the male-dominated broadcast news world. There were reasons for what happened to her that night. None of us should experience what she experienced in her very brief life. See the video in TubeTown.
Back in the 1950s and 1960s, the drive-in theater was the place to go for cheap entertainment, especially for families. Mom and dad could pack a freezer-chest full of pop, bags of chips, sandwiches, candy, and, of course, the kids, and head for the drive-in to watch a double-feature (kids seldom stayed awake for the second feature).
Your Hit Parade was a weekly standard throughout the 1950s, presenting (supposedly) the top 7 pop hits of the week. There were several recording vocalists on the show, but with the exception of one, none ever had a hit big enough to appear on the show.
Video #1, Bedtime (1955 show) 
Video #2, Neverland (1955 show) 
Video #3, I'm Flying (1960 show) 
Video #4, Neverland Orchestral (1960 show) 
Video #5, I Won't Grow Up (1960 show) 
From a spectacular concert in Martha's Vineyard in 1987, Carly Simon singing a very fun, All I Want Is You.
On March 12, 2008, the Dave Clark Five was deservedly inducted into the U.S. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Sadly, just days before, the group's lead vocalist and keyboardist, Mike Smith (pictured), died of pneumonia.
Here is an extremely rare live performance of the group performing at Caesar's World in Atlantic City.
Here is a rare television promo for shows that aired in the '66-7 fall season. The shows were: Bewitched, Love on a Rooftop, and That Girl.
One of the most famous groups from the mid-60s, the Mamas and the Papas—their name inspired by a Hell's Angels member—remained a group for only about 2.5 years. Their fame was relatively brief, productive...and often troubled.
RoadOde is designed for high-speed connections only. If you are unable to view the videos here, and the tips in the left column do not help, it is your PC's configuration that is the problem.
A couple of months ago, I put this group's version of Nowhere Man on the site, and it was the most downloaded clip on RoadOde. Obviously, the Mamas and the Papas are still well received.
Fascinating clip of Fred Astaire, seemingly defying gravity in The Royal Wedding, a film which made its way into the public domain.
Hullabaloo was a mid-60s show which featured all the top hits and artists of the day. Each week, a different guest host introduced the acts; Petula Clark was one such host.
Early British invasion group from the mid-60s, The Hollies consistently had some of the catchiest pop music of that era. In hindsight, it is amazing how productive this group was, cranking out hundreds of songs, many of them still well-known today.
Another British invasion group from the mid-60s, 17-year old Peter Noone was lead vocalist. Noone's stage name was "Herman", named after a cartoon character that he supposedly resembled ("Sherman", from Peabody's Improbable History).
On October 3, 1983, Jessica Savitch, one of the public's most trusted newswomen, appeared in a live news spot...under the influence of drugs (possibly cocaine). Most viewers didn't know that Ms. Savitch had a lifelong history of emotional tragedy and drug abuse.
This particular telecast was not archived by NBC; it is famous not only because it spelled the end of Ms. Savitch's career, but also because of its elusiveness, even on the Web.