Sha Na Na

With ever episode of Sha Na Na, we laughed a little, learned a little, and sang a little. Admittedly, I was like five years old when I saw this show on TV, but I thought it was, as they say "wicked awesome." They should release this on DVD for sure.

I was never a huge fan of 50's rock, but I still couldn't help liking this show.

This was like every other comedy ensemble. Putting the greaser rock songs in and having guest stars from the same era helped a lot. You always wondered which lost classic they'd cover next. And putting comedy into the performances was great too.

Of course Bowzer pretty much owned this show. It would not have worked without him. Some of his humor sounded ad-libbed too. The guy was a trip.

Other favorite were Big Lenny (Why do the big guys always have the high tenors?) and Santini. (Great deadpan from him.) Great show.

I loved this show and I always will.

I refuse to die before I get the episodes on DVD, especially the one where the Ramones guest star. Oh man, how frickin' cool is that. One thing that is rarely mentioned in rock trivia is the fact that SHa Na Na, of all bands, influenced punk rock, even today you can hear the style of what they did in pop-punk. Essentially, the took a standard song and sped it up and that's what the Ramones did (and they all dressed like Bowzer haha!!!) OK, so they really influenced me.

They had some really fine original songs too, in addition to the re-vamped oldies, and since they were 'hippies' and spoke ill of president Nixon *gasp* they will always be cool, as long as war and hatred rage across this planet. This fact makes my Sha Na Na cover band, Baa Na Na (started way back when I was too young to see the irony) something I will be forever proud of.

Grease for Peace!! (more than ever)

How odd it is that some people still think that Sha Na Na emerged and made their mark on the movie GREASE which later led to this short lived variety show.

Before GREASE (1978), HAPPY DAYS (1974) and American Graffiti (1973), there was Sha Na Na, who formed in 1968 and played in Woodstock in 1969. They also had a slew of singles and 3 albums to their credit before their label (Kama Sutra) released THE GOLDEN AGE OF ROCK 'N' ROLL on a 2-album set in 1973.

Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids may had appeared on American Graffiti and in 1975 as Fish & the Fins on HAPPY DAYS. But they got there by pretty much copying the style of Sha Na Na! While I was not too wild about variety shows nor was I too wild about acts that would lipsinque, Sha Na Na were the exception to the rule. Their blend of comedy and music made their variety show a hit with their fan base, which also included us critics out there on the fringe, drawn to their brand of entertainment, like a moth to a light. Even my mother, whose teenage years were spent during the "big band era" (and not a fan of rock & roll) enjoyed this show.

One classic performance was a version of "A Lover's Question" (by Clyde McPhatter-1958/Atlantic Records). The setting looked like something out of THE WEST SIDE STORY. And each of the members was sitting on a window sill or on a fire escape! Classic rock 'n' roll as we like to remember it! Grease for peace!!!

Sha-Na-Na was a syndicated musical variety show which of course centered on the music group Sha Na Na who were well known for recreations of 50s and 60s classics. The jokes and skits were often pathetic but the music was pretty good and the band members (all ten of them) always seemed to be having a good time. They never took themselves too seriously and weren't above making fun of themselves. Bowzer was the leader and always closed the show by going "Do-Do-Do-Do" over and over while making muscles, which was a joke as he was pretty skinny and barely had any muscle. The guests were often from the 50s/60s era but once in awhile, they had more current guests like the Ramones and Kim Carnes. A show like this would never be made today, even with contemporary music stars but looking back, Sha Na Na was pretty fun to watch.