I awoke at 7 to a winter wonderland. Everything was white, including the street. Normally, Oaklyn is the best town in the area at clearing the streets. If the streets here weren't clear, none of them in the area were passable, period. I called Acme, told them there was no way I'd be able to get an Uber today even if my knee was up to pushing carts in deep snow, and went back to sleep.
It was still coming down when I got up again, and the dark gray sky basically said that it would continue to come down for a long time. I think you can guess that no one went anywhere or did anything today. I spent most of the day in front of my laptop, listening to records and going through Once Upon a Time In the Land of WENN, seeing what needs to be edited and where I left off.
In fact, I spent a lot of the afternoon putting a dent in the records I've bought in the last few months. Soundwaves is a K-Tel release from 1980. There's some really great stuff here, some of the biggest hits of the early 80's - "Upside Down" by Diana Ross, "Funkytown" by Lipps Inc, "I Wanna Be Your Lover" by Prince, "I Was Made for Lovin' You" by Kiss, "Lost In Love" by Air Supply - but my favorite is one I didn't even know existed until I bought this. I know Meco did a Star Wars: New Hope disco instrumental medley (it still turns up on the radio from time to time), but I had no idea he did one for Empire Strikes Back, too. It's pretty awesome. You've never lived until you've heard an electronic version of "The Imperial March."
I thought two Rupert Holmes records from the early 1980's suited both the snowy weather and the story I was working on. Anyone who's seen Remember WENN or heard the cast albums for Curtains and The Mystery of Edwin Drood knows Rupert loves playing with masks and hidden identities, and that's the theme of Adventure from 1980. "The Mask" sounds like Victor in the third season, "Blackjack" might as well be Scott Sherwood's anthem, and Betty certainly was "Cold" to him during much of the third and fourth seasons. "Adventure" is what Scott wanted with Betty, and "You'll Love Me Again" and "I Don't Need You" have a lot of Hilary and Jeff in them.
Full Circle from a year later is somewhat similar. Things are a bit more romantic here. "You Remind Me of You" has a title from the Marx Brothers, but is honestly very sweet. There's also "Loved By the One You Love," "Love at Second Sight" (Hilary and Jeff again), "My Lover's Keeper," and the title song.
The Moody Blues' The Present wasn't nearly as big of a hit as Long Distance Voyager, their previous album, had been, but that doesn't mean it lacks merit. "Sitting at the Wheel" and "Blue World" were minor hits at the time, and there's the dreamy "Running Water" and "Under My Feet." In fact, it made for rather nice reflection music on an afternoon that kept switching between snow, frozen rain, and sleet.
Finished the night with dinner, a shower, and the Sunday Match Game marathon. There were quite a few panelists named Robert or Bob who appeared on the 1973 - 1982 run of the show. The first and most prominent was Price Is Right host Bob Barker. He turned up on the second week and would appear sporadically through 1980, usually to promote Price. He had some of his most memorable episodes in the late CBS run and early syndication, including the time he protested Gene covering the slit skirt of a pretty casting coordinator and when his chair broke and sunk below the desks.
Bobby Van was the other regular "Bob" during the 70's run. He was usually seen with his dancer wife Elaine Joyce, but he did make occasional appearances on his own from 1973 through 1977. His first appearance on the show was sitting next to Elaine on the top row in 1973...and one of their answers to a question was so sexually-charged, that episode is now banned from the airwaves.
Three Roberts and Bobs were semi-regulars during the later and syndicated years. Robert Walden of Lou Grant, a former student of Charles Nelson Reilly, turned heads and made hearts flutter from 1979 through 1981. Robert Pine, the only actor to last through the entire six seasons of CHIPs, was a genial "dad" presence from 1978 through 1980. Character actor Bob Donner of Mork and Mindy started off in 1980 and would last through the end of the syndicated series in 1982, making occasional appearances on The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour as well.
There were other guys named Bob or Robert who only appeared for one or two weeks. Robert Vaughn of The Man From U.N.C.L.E appeared twice, in a memorable week in 1973 with Nancy Dussault and McLean Stevenson, and again in 1975. Comedian and game show host Robert Q. Lewis and Robert Culp of I Spy and The Greatest American Hero made their only appearances early on in 1973. Broadway star Robert Morse did a hilarious week in 1974 where he imitated an ape and accidentally blurted out an answer. Brett was more than happy to kiss action star Robert Urich during his only week in 1975. Robert Mandan of Soap did incredibly well in 1978, probably the best of any star who only played one week.
Get to know a lot of guys named Bob in this hilarious and happily snow-free marathon!
Oh, and you've probably already guessed that the Collingswood School District, including the Thomas Sharp School, is closed tomorrow. I checked their website around 3 PM. Good thing I'm already off of the Acme on Monday (and Tuesday) anyway. I'm not going anywhere tomorrow but here.
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