Room 222 has to be one the most craptastic series ever. The principal’s combover alone deserves a bizarro world Emmy, and Karen Valentine displays an earth-shattering lack of acting talent. Unfortunately Lloyd Haynes was uanble to turn his ability to play a guy so neat he’s almost not black into a long-term career. It’s the kind of series where the scripts are so trivial you are forced to wonder — why do we all have to get along?
Ah, but I must have been about 5 when I first spotted Karen Valentine on this show and first had an inkling of the glory of love. Not to say that I feel this way when looking back at her, but I will always give credit where credit is due.
Great comments, BigSteve! I’d love to see the episode where a kid drops acid and jumps off the school roof. Anyone else remember that one? It always stuck in the back of my mind when I tripped.
I definitely remeber that episode. Maybe it was becuase of my two older sisters, but I watched that show all of the time. My favorite character was the black student with the big afro who spoke in “cool hep” way
I never noticed this before, but are any actual high schools actually that big? Do like 10,000 kids go to it? My high school was urban and a decent size, but Walt Whitman High looks like freaking Oxford.
The one episode I remember was when the new pitcher on the baseball team was blowing everyone away, and it turned out he was way too old and was only still in high school because he had been off fighting in The Nam. He complained to Lloyd Haynes (who I think had never been referred to as the baseball coach before that episode) “It’s not fair!” And Lloyd Haynes replied something along the lines of, “Yes it is. It’s not what you want, and I’m sorry you lost those years, but it’s fair.” I want desperately to believe that the kid cried and hugged him.
Mr. r waxes:
My favorite character was the black student with the big afro who spoke in “cool hep” way
“Heyyy, Mistah DIXonnn…” Yeah, him and his white kid with red ‘fro counterpart (Arnie?) were quite the madcap inter-racial duo. And, yes, Karen Valentine had my brother and I tuning in as well.
Exteriors for Room 222 were shot at Los Angeles High and it is a HUGE high school and even though they have that kind of diversity today, they don’t smile like that anymore (if ever.)
And didn’t like 50 other shows have LSD kids jumping off a roof? Mod Squad, Rookies, Dragnet…?
Did anyone notice that after the YouTube played you can rollover it to get a list of “related”videos? One of which is the opening to HOOKER! And they play in the same window! Cool.
After having a fine father/son rock deabte, he asked whether Ibaenez guitars would count as pointy. I said they where close but that I would check with RTH
So, what do you think? Are Ibaenez guitars against the commandment against pointy axes?
Andyr, you can tell Seth – or I could break the news to him next time I see him – that Ibanez guitars are pioneers in pointy guitar design. They only work for The Buzzcocks. Actually, I’m not sure what they played, but they’re often seen with black, pointy guitars of some sort.
I always thought the Ibanez/Steve Vai “handle” cut out of the guitar body was an infuriating example of a design concept I hated, but that made good sense.
Of course, Ibanez also made the “Rocket Rol” guitar, as made famous by Paul Stanley. I always thought that was a pretty cool looking guitar, in a Kiss sort of way. Cool in the same way BC Rich Mockingbirds were, back in the day.
I think we shouldn’t forget The Prince Exemption. Anyone else would me mocked for playing his custom guitars, but Prince should be allowed to be Prince.
A few interesting things to be found in some of the links off of this page, including:
Among the revelations: Lynne records drums one at a time, literally. The snare drum is laid down on one track, then the kick is recorded on another , then the tom-tom, etc. Even Ringo Starr , a frequent Lynne sideman, Bleu points out, complied with the shenanigans. Lynne doesn’t ever use a hi-hat, opting instead to replace the cymbal with acoustic guitars, which are always strummed in a measured rhythm, with no accents, as if they were percussion. Background vocals are recorded one at a time, as well, and then placed at the front of the mix, as prominent as any other instrument.
I had to double check as it seemed so unlikely but the new McCartney album (that so many apologists around here adore) is available on eMusic. With the 25 song free trial thing, you can sample it without financial injury.
No need to have double checked, Sammy, had you followed the original thread more closely. I already pointed that out in the Comments section – very subtly.
That news about Lynne’s recording techniques for drums is absolutely frightening.
I see that one of the members of this L.E.O. band is Tony Goddess, formerly of Papas Fritas, a band with some prock tendencies of its own. I also see your boy Sturmer is involved.
Mea culpa. I readily admit that I did not follow that thread very closely as not even the great Mr. Moderator could convince me that Macca could put out anything remotely interesting.
Instead I just spent my last allotted downloads on the New Fast Automatic Daffodils “Pidgeonhole”. Sounding good so far.
I also finally found a source for that Albini-Cheap Trick rerecord of In Color. Pretty dang cool. Am I the last person around here to find that? Fun cover of Lennon’s “Losing You”.
Room 222 has to be one the most craptastic series ever. The principal’s combover alone deserves a bizarro world Emmy, and Karen Valentine displays an earth-shattering lack of acting talent. Unfortunately Lloyd Haynes was uanble to turn his ability to play a guy so neat he’s almost not black into a long-term career. It’s the kind of series where the scripts are so trivial you are forced to wonder — why do we all have to get along?
Ah, but I must have been about 5 when I first spotted Karen Valentine on this show and first had an inkling of the glory of love. Not to say that I feel this way when looking back at her, but I will always give credit where credit is due.
Great comments, BigSteve! I’d love to see the episode where a kid drops acid and jumps off the school roof. Anyone else remember that one? It always stuck in the back of my mind when I tripped.
I definitely remeber that episode. Maybe it was becuase of my two older sisters, but I watched that show all of the time. My favorite character was the black student with the big afro who spoke in “cool hep” way
Karen Valentine? You’re joking, right?
Mmm … Denise Nicholas …
I never noticed this before, but are any actual high schools actually that big? Do like 10,000 kids go to it? My high school was urban and a decent size, but Walt Whitman High looks like freaking Oxford.
The one episode I remember was when the new pitcher on the baseball team was blowing everyone away, and it turned out he was way too old and was only still in high school because he had been off fighting in The Nam. He complained to Lloyd Haynes (who I think had never been referred to as the baseball coach before that episode) “It’s not fair!” And Lloyd Haynes replied something along the lines of, “Yes it is. It’s not what you want, and I’m sorry you lost those years, but it’s fair.” I want desperately to believe that the kid cried and hugged him.
Solid.
Mr. r waxes:
My favorite character was the black student with the big afro who spoke in “cool hep” way
“Heyyy, Mistah DIXonnn…” Yeah, him and his white kid with red ‘fro counterpart (Arnie?) were quite the madcap inter-racial duo. And, yes, Karen Valentine had my brother and I tuning in as well.
Exteriors for Room 222 were shot at Los Angeles High and it is a HUGE high school and even though they have that kind of diversity today, they don’t smile like that anymore (if ever.)
And didn’t like 50 other shows have LSD kids jumping off a roof? Mod Squad, Rookies, Dragnet…?
Other shows might have had LSD kids jumping off the school roof but none as artfully as Room 222.
Did anyone notice that after the YouTube played you can rollover it to get a list of “related”videos? One of which is the opening to HOOKER! And they play in the same window! Cool.
I did not notice that, but now I have relieved it.
HOOKERRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!
This goes without saying.
Will someone please write in “Walter Becker’s Beard” for today’s Big Choice Poll? I would, but I squandered my vote already.
New Issue – My son, Seth, and I just had this conversation. he wanted to know why pointy guitars were bad
http://www.groovedisques.com/command.htm
After having a fine father/son rock deabte, he asked whether Ibaenez guitars would count as pointy. I said they where close but that I would check with RTH
So, what do you think? Are Ibaenez guitars against the commandment against pointy axes?
Andyr, you can tell Seth – or I could break the news to him next time I see him – that Ibanez guitars are pioneers in pointy guitar design. They only work for The Buzzcocks. Actually, I’m not sure what they played, but they’re often seen with black, pointy guitars of some sort.
Aren’t Strats pointy too then? And then why is the least pointy guitar (a Steinberger) verboten?
A Steinberger has four points!
I always thought the Ibanez/Steve Vai “handle” cut out of the guitar body was an infuriating example of a design concept I hated, but that made good sense.
Of course, Ibanez also made the “Rocket Rol” guitar, as made famous by Paul Stanley. I always thought that was a pretty cool looking guitar, in a Kiss sort of way. Cool in the same way BC Rich Mockingbirds were, back in the day.
I think we shouldn’t forget The Prince Exemption. Anyone else would me mocked for playing his custom guitars, but Prince should be allowed to be Prince.
BigSteve:
True about Prince, but he’s never looked cooler since he put down the Morphodite/Ankh guitar and picked up a powder-blue Strat.
Yours geekily,
GearMaster X-2000
Strats have rounded points. Pointy guitars can hurt someone. Steinbergers are headless – THAT’S another can of worm!
FRITZ GETS IT SHAMELFULLY WRONG
What was I thinking? The Paul Stanley-endorsed Ibanez that I always thought was kind of cool was the Iceman, not the Rocket Roll! Duh!
http://vintageibanez.tripod.com/iceman/images/psad.jpg
HYPER-UBER-META-SUPRA-PROCK, FOR THOSE THAT ARE INTO THAT SORT OF THING
http://www.myspace.com/bleuleo
A few interesting things to be found in some of the links off of this page, including:
Among the revelations: Lynne records drums one at a time, literally. The snare drum is laid down on one track, then the kick is recorded on another , then the tom-tom, etc. Even Ringo Starr , a frequent Lynne sideman, Bleu points out, complied with the shenanigans. Lynne doesn’t ever use a hi-hat, opting instead to replace the cymbal with acoustic guitars, which are always strummed in a measured rhythm, with no accents, as if they were percussion. Background vocals are recorded one at a time, as well, and then placed at the front of the mix, as prominent as any other instrument.
I had to double check as it seemed so unlikely but the new McCartney album (that so many apologists around here adore) is available on eMusic. With the 25 song free trial thing, you can sample it without financial injury.
http://www.emusic.com/promo/25test/index.html?AID=10395158&PID=2421398
and have enough left over to get the new Spoon album when it comes out on July 10.
No need to have double checked, Sammy, had you followed the original thread more closely. I already pointed that out in the Comments section – very subtly.
That news about Lynne’s recording techniques for drums is absolutely frightening.
I see that one of the members of this L.E.O. band is Tony Goddess, formerly of Papas Fritas, a band with some prock tendencies of its own. I also see your boy Sturmer is involved.
Mea culpa. I readily admit that I did not follow that thread very closely as not even the great Mr. Moderator could convince me that Macca could put out anything remotely interesting.
Instead I just spent my last allotted downloads on the New Fast Automatic Daffodils “Pidgeonhole”. Sounding good so far.
I also finally found a source for that Albini-Cheap Trick rerecord of In Color. Pretty dang cool. Am I the last person around here to find that? Fun cover of Lennon’s “Losing You”.
Tell me where the Cheap Trick stuff is, and I’ll tell you that the Aquarium Drunkard site has a boatload of bootleg Neil Young.