Here's something new to geek about--that is, if you're like me and are a fan of 80's music. I was curious about a cable TV program that aired in the late 70's and early 80's called Video Concert Hall. I Googled it and found numerous references to it (not the least of which was on Wikipedia) and even a fan blog site. Because I'm too tired to write out a complete description of the show, here's a borrowing from Wikpee (rhymes with chick-pea):"Video Concert Hall was an early USA Network television program featuring an unhosted rotation of music videos. Often credited as being the precursor to MTV, Video Concert Hall was reportedly the most popular programming on QUBE, a cable television unit of Warner Communications. VCH, as it was often called, was created by radio and cable television executive Lloyd G. Crowe (Jerry Crowe) and Charles W. Henderson (Charles Henderson), a pioneering journalist and former employee of TriStar Pictures. Video Concert Hall was produced by Henderson-Crowe Productions and Video Concert Hall, Ltd. at studios in Atlanta, Georgia. Crowe and Henderson served as executive producers of Video Concert Hall as well as other top-rated syndicated musical variety TV specials. Billboard, the American magazine covering the music industry, said in a cover story that Video Concert Hall was the first ever nationwide video music programming on cable television. Video Concert Hall creators Charles Henderson and Jerry Crowe are considered the "fathers" of television's video music programming. Video Concert Hall ran daily on USA Network from 1978 to 1981 on a seemingly arbitrary schedule, appearing on early morning, daytime, late night, and early evening timeslots alike for durations ranging from one to four hours. Video Concert Hall was also carried on another cable/satellite network, the Satellite Program Network - SPN, and was seen worldwide on AFRTS, the Armed Forces Network, and frequently as video entertainment on commercial airline flights."
Okay, sounds like a silly thing to geek over, but remember this was before MTV, when it was unusual to see performances (lip-synched or otherwise) of your favorite bands on TV. For instance, on any given hour of VCH, I would almost be guaranteed to see The Who play "Baba O'Riley" in a concert clip from the film "The Kids are Alright." I was a Who fanatic, you see, and this was Spokane WA, a place that would never and has never (as far as I know) seen a Who concert. (And to further give you a sense of my geekitude, I bought a Hohner harmonica just so I could play along with Roger in this live version of the song. And, in fact, I'll add this dangerous confession: I bought a Hohner just the other day to see if I could, 27 years on now, still play the solo--and I can!) In addition to the Who, however, with whom I was plenty familiar, VCH was the place I could see (many for the first time) performances by The Police, Iggy Pop, Gary Numan, The Cramps, The Buggles, The Dickies, The A's, Squeeze, Tim Curry, Devo, Blondie and many many more. Now that I look back at it, the show was astonishingly broad ranging.
But now here's the weirdest part of the VCH site I've found: fans have collected many of the original videos that the show aired and posted them. So now we have a facsimile, of sorts, of VCH we can visit any old time right here on the net. How groovy is that? Huh?
What? Is that a note of regret I hear in the voice in my head?
Yes, I've been brooding lately on the strange way the net (as well as other electronic media--DVD box-sets of old TV shows, for instance) has taken some of the mystique out of my memories of things. I'm sure I'm not the first to note this. VCH, for example, was something that existed sort of dimly, but warmly, in my memory. My brain had absorbed it and, I suppose, distorted it somewhat, making it my own. Now that the site has come along to clarify the reality of the program, it all seems diminished somehow--I know not how, exactly. So I guess I'm torn, in yet another way, about the "miracle" of the net. We have at our fingertips the ability to instantly investigate, clarify, and verify--but at times might it be better to just leave some memories alone and let them sit there hazily in our brains? Just a thought, as DCE used to say...But anyway, here's a link to the VCH site, for your viewing pleasure: http://videoconcerthall.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20A
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Remember, life is a richly embroidered tapestry and, if we look closely, among the many threads which mingle in the weave, we will find these five golden strands: (1) The writings of Montague Summers. C of E clergyman turned Catholic convert who wrote books on many topics but mostly the occult and gothic literature. His goofball tomes on vampires and werewolves (both of which he professed to believe in) have a place of honor on my shelves. (2) The Sellwood Cat Hospital. The only vet clinic slash art gallery I know of. Go there to see paintings by Daniel Gill, or check out their website at http://www.portlandcats.net/ and Gill's website here http://connective-tissue.com/ (3) The Wisdom Bone (according to my colleague Scriv-Dawg) on a dog's skull, otherwise known as the sagital crest, that little ridge in the back center of the skull (although not exclusive to dogs). (4) The name Kukla. Which means doll in Greek. (5) The skin in the portraits and figures painted by Lucien Freud. Textured, layered, subtly colored (lots of blue!), and somehow translucent like real skin, especially white, pastey, British skin, like that of the Reverend Alphonsus Joseph-Mary Augustus Montague Summers:
Outa here!JBF
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