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Today "70s Saturday" takes a look at Tex-Mex. No, not burritos and enchilladas but the cantina-rock that really took hold in the 70s. One of the most famous figures of Tex-Mex was Doug Sahm who, in the 60s, founded the Sir Douglas Quintet. Many thought with a name like that the group was from Britian and while the name was chosen to cash in on the British invasion the group's members were from Texas and Mexico, including organist Augie Myers. Their memorable hit was She's About A Mover. This 60s clip is a hoot. Sahm sings and plays guitar. The Quintet continued into the early 70s when they broke up. But in 1990 Doug and Augie formed what many refer to as a Tex-Mex Super group with Freddie Fender and Flaco Jimenez, the Texas Tornados . While this group began in the 90s, Doug Sahm had released albums as the Texas Tornados since the 70s. Here's a performace from the 1990s of one of my favourites: What Were You Thinking Of (When We Were Making Love)? Sadly, Doug...

"Cue the Tape" With those words Mama Cass broke the not-so best kept secret of the 60s. Most musical groups lip-synced their performances on the Ed Sullivan Show. The Mamas and the Papas certainly lip-synced this performance of Creeque Alley. Nevertheless it's a great performance of the group's 1967 #5 autobiographical hit. Thinking back to 67, a certain 15 year-old boy was totally smitten with Michelle Phillips. Oh, and the music wasn't bad either.

This is the prequel that for some odd reason didn't make it to the big screen. Sincerest apologies to Gene Roddenberry and J.J. Abrams. (Kirk voice over opening titles) Kirk: Stardate 1964.5. The hall was full that night – a sell-out. The Stratford gig playing Henry V was good training to take me where no actor has gone before: doing future pitch work for, oh, I dunno, maybe Kellogg’s All Bran or priceline dot com. (cut to Kirk on stage) And God forbid, my dear and faithful lord, That you should fashion, wrest, or bow your reading, Or nicely charge your understanding soul With opening titles miscreate, whose right Suits not in native colours with the truth... (Spock arrives via transporter effect) Spock: But, Captain, that would be illogical...indeed Shakespearian dialogue has always to me been illogical. Kirk: Where in blazes did you come from? How did you just...appear?! Spock: Well, Captain, I was reviewing some back issues of Popular Mechanics and... Kirk: Never mind Spock. H...

In my younger days, in another life back in the late 70s, I used to work for an all news radio network. I worked two hours on the air, beginning at 6 pm, one off, and a final hour on that was taped to be repeated an hour later. I read the news at the top and the bottom of the hour and filled the rest of the time with either pre-recorded or live interviews. That was a lot of air time to fill and starting my shift in the evening meant most of the newsmakers of the day had already been interviewed by other anchors. What's a guy to do? Well, this guy often turned to supermarket tabloids as a source for his research! I'd review several a day and start trying to track down the subjects of some of these outlandish stories to interview them. According to Wikipedia, the oldest tabloid known to date is the American "Daily News" which originated in 1919. If it did not have any news, it would simply make it up and use a photograph staged by the newspaper staff. No, say it ain...

Nothing affects Canadians and Americans more than a border issue. No, I’m not talking about the “tinder-box” free trade issue so unsubtly referred to as “Shop American” in the US. We’ll save commenting on that little cross-border relations gem for another time. I’m talking about a literal border crossing issue. This issue has shades of the American Wild West. It has the two key opponents, at least: Cowboys and Indians. At Cornwall, Ontario Canadian border guards vacated their offices and shut down the border crossing because they felt threatened by the Indians at Akwesasne. Akwesasne is an Indian reserve that is a jurisdictional nightmare. Not only does it straddle Canada on one side and the US on the other, but it also sits partially in Quebec, partially in Ontario and partially in New York State. Add the sovereign nation of Akwesasne into the mix and you’ve got more pepperonis than Italy’s pizza parliament. pic Ottawa Citizen The Canadian border personnel vacated their posts after n...

I came across an article at the Boston Globe's web site recently that made my hair stand on end and my, uh, ahem, male reproductive organ go limp. A young fella in Egypt, from a well-to-do family, fell in love with a "commoner" whom his parents forbade him to marry. To get back at his parents the guy grabbed a knife and sliced off his penis. Go-go gadget home vasectomy kit! Boy, I've heard of cutting off your nose to spite your face, but that's just a tad extreme. But you know, for some of us (depraved and lacking in taste and political correctness) there's always a lighter side to these things. Well, certainly not for this poor fellow but there for the grace of God go the rest of us. But I got to thinking what fun a headline writer might have with this story. For example: Man Takes Future Into Own Hands Man's Marriage Plans Cut Short The Penis Less Mighty Than The Sword Parents Against Relationship, Son Gets The Shaft Spoil the Child, Spare Rod Required W...

This past week there were two dominant stories running in the Canadian media that kept editorial cartoonists busy. The federal Minister of Natural Resources left secret documents in - of all places - a network's parliamentary TV studio. Despite calls for her resignation she wasn't fired. Her 26 year-old political aide was. Meanwhile, General Motors filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and through the American and Canadian federal governments taxpayers poured in millions of dollars to save it...

The Lie-Clock A man died and went to Heaven. As he stood in front of the Pearly Gates, he saw a huge wall of clocks behind him. He asked, 'What are all those clocks?' St. Peter answered, 'These are Lie-Clocks. Everyone on earth has a Lie-Clock. Every time you lie, the hands on your clock move.' 'Oh', said the man. 'Whose clock is that?' 'That's Mother Teresa's', replied St. Peter. 'The hands have never moved, indicating that she never told a lie.' 'Incredible', said the man. 'And whose clock is that one?' St. Peter responded, 'that's Abraham Lincoln's clock: the hands have moved twice, telling us that Abraham told only two lies in his entire life.' 'Where's Brian Mulroneys clock?' Asked the man. St Peter replied, 'Jesus has it in his office. He uses it as a ceiling fan.' merci Leaman Perils of a Catholic Upbringing As I walked down the busy sidewalk, knowing I was late for Mass, ...

This week's "70s Saturday" showcases a group that owned the 70s - Fleetwood Mac . Originally a struggling British blues group experiencing moderate success, this incarnation with former duo Buckingham/Nicks (Lindsey and Stevie) took off into the stratosphere. So many Fleetwood Mac songs feature Stevie Nicks on vocals but You Make Lovin' Fun features the other woman of the group, Christine McVie. She also wrote the song which was the fourth single issued from 1977's immensely popular album Rumours.

I've been singing the refrain to this week's 60s tune all week, so I figured why not feature it. A famous example of the Phil Spector "wall of sound" Da Doo Ron Ron by The Crystals was a 1963 smash hit, reaching #3 on Billbaord's hot 100. The song's been covered by everyone from The Carpenter's to Bob Dylan and a version by teen heart-throb Shaun Cassidy hit #1 in 1977 (hey, there's just no explaining some things). The Crystals , a defining example of the "girl group" movement in popular music, have a fascinating history which includes Spector-produced hits in the early 60s featuring different lead singers. Da Do Ron Ron features Dolores "LaLa" Brooks . A close listen (or look) at the lyrics makes you realize "Da Doo Ron Ron" could well be a euphamism much like Sienfeld's "yadda-yadda-yadda"! I met him on a Monday and my heart stood still Da doo ron ron ron da doo ron ron Somebody told me that his name was ...

In 1971, the Byrds sang I Wanna Grow Up To Be A Politician. These days, one has to ask one`s self: why? The song was a catchy tongue-in-cheek jab at the then current state of American politics. Richard "I am not a crook" Nixon was in the third year of his first mandate. The song was prescient in a way. Two years later Vice-President Spiro Agnew resigned amid charges of bribery, tax evasion and money laundering from his tenure as Maryland's governor. A year later, Nixon himself resigned rather than face certain impeachment over his role in Watergate. Unfortunately, questionable activities and illegal acts have always been a part of politics. What's even more unfortunate is that they always will be. Here in Canada several years back we went through the "sponsorship" scandal, undertaken by certain members of the then governing Liberal party. The taxpayer-funded kick-back scheme that funneled cash from the government to ad and marketing agencies and on to Li...

I used to have a boss who always used the phrase "displacement activity". She said that's what she called everything she did except for what she was supposed to be doing. I dunno, I used to call it procrastination, but I had to admit "displacement activity" sounded better, more positive, reinforcing if you will. She was of German heritage and the German phrase for displacement activity is Übersprungshandlung. Wow, a displacement activity might be just to spell that! When you think about it, displacement activity is kind of like Attention Deficit Disorder for adults. But it's self-directed and you don't have to take drugs for it. For example, over the last two days I've done everything but sit down to write this post. And I filled the time with displacement activities - one after another. I made myself breakfast and showered. I paid bills. I watched the French Open. I cleaned the pool. I read a magazine. I visited a bunch of blogs. I trimmed my nose...

What the hell is going on with tennis? I've been watching some great matches for a week and-a-half now from the French Open at Roland Garros. By the way, why did the French name a tennis stadium after a noted World War I aviator? What's up with that? Unless of course the stadium's founding fathers had the sweeping, dipping and looping camera angles that the French broadcasters practice in mind when they chose a dignitary after whom to name the place. Sadly, in a huge upset, four-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal was defeated. Some 23rd seeded Swede (Robin Soderling) felled the mighty top-seeded player. And I think I know what happened. At the French Open the reddish-orange clay courts stand out in stark contrast to the military green of the billboards and stadium. It's quite different from the grass at Wimbledon. But the clay isn't the only colourful thing at Roland Garros. What the heck ever happened to "tennis whites", long the standard uniform of t...

I was reading a news story recently about the value of the Canadian dollar (it was approaching par with it's American counterpart - a rare development) and I couldn't help but wonder if our currency is the laughing stock of international money markets. Not because of it's value, but because of it's name. Think about it. The Brits have their pound. The Japanese their yen and the Americans their dollar. But in Canada we have our " loonie ". That's right, our dollar is named after a bloody bird - and not even an exotic one. Our currency is named after the common Canadian loon. And it's not even paper; it's a coin. Which makes for heavy pockets and purses. Couple this with the fact that the Canadian $2 is only available in coin - it's called the " toonie " - Canada is a nation of men with droopy pants and women with bad backs. My wife recently cleaned out her change purse and found $35 in pennies, nickles, dimes, quarters, loonies and t...

The epicurean tastes of Governor General Michaelle Jean were on the minds of Canadian editorial cartoonists this week, as were the nuclear tests in North Korea. And Brian Mulroney's unique approach to paying taxes on income received in plain brown envelopes was still fodder for some pundits.

This week's 70s Saturday recalls one of the greatest "make-out" songs of that decade - "Samba Pa Ti". The song was included on Carlos Santana 's second album, 1970's Abraxas . A certain 18 year old found the music was pretty cool, and the album cover art wasn't bad either. Here's a live version of the song from a 1998 concert in Zagreb Croatia.

We kill two birds with one song this week. We celebrate the birthday of vocalist Gary Brooker , who turns 65 today, and we enjoy his group, Procol Harum's, biggest hit, released in 1967. Brooker founded Procol Harum in the mid 60s. In the 70s he played in Eric Clapton's band for a time and today often tours with former Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman's group the Ryhthm Kings. As a child of the 60s I could never make up my mind which was more bizarre - the group's name or the lyrics to A Whiter Shade of Pale . We skipped a light fandango, Turned cartwheels 'cross the floor. I was feeling kind of seasick, But the crowd called out for more. The room was humming harder, As the ceiling flew away. When we called out for another drink, The waiter brought a tray. And so it was that later, As the miller told his tale, That her face at first just ghostly, Turned a whiter shade of pale. She said there is no reason, And the truth is plain to see That I wandered through my ...

You gotta have heart Miles and miles and miles of heart Oh, it's fine to be a genius of course But keep that old horse before the cart First you've gotta have heart The media in Canada is all agog over Governor General Michaelle Jean eating raw seal heart. While visiting the Inuit village of Rankin Inlet in the northern territory of Nunavut Jean witnessed the carving of a seal and asked the locals if she could try the heart. She said she did it to show solidarity with seal hunters and said it is difficult to believe anyone would characterize the traditional hunting practices as inhumane. That may be so. But did she have to eat a seal's raw heart to prove her point? Earlier this month the European Union called the seal hunt "inherently inhumane", voting to ban seal products. Well, we certainly know where Canada's Governor General stands on this issue. There's been no reaction yet from Seal.

If you had to identify the one thing that truly unites Americans with their northern neighbours, what would it be? The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? How about McDonald’s, Arby ’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken? Or maybe it’s that we’re both great democracies? You’d have to be unpatriotic – or an illegal alien – to disagree with that but no that’s not it. Maybe it’s that each of our economies is in a tailspin? Or that we share the world’s longest undefended border? Nope, sorry, it’s none of the above. What really unites Canadians with their American brethren (and sistren ) is their love of beer! Tall-boys, stubbies, quarts, pints, cans, kegs or out of a tap, the nectar of the gods comes in many forms, shapes and sizes. Now Canadians may hold their beer in a stein but they also hold it in high esteem. And they have a very distinct view of the quality associated with American beer. Canadians may be known for their politeness and reserved nature but when it comes to the...

Now I ask you, does it look like this woman needs any more chicken - grilled, fried or otherwise? No, I think not. And she may have just set race relations back a decade by shilling for Kentucky Fried Chicken. But I digress. If you're not aware of what I'm referring to, allow me to hallucinate. KFC has come out with a new line of "grilled" chicken. Commendable, considering they've only now decided to hop on the "eat healthy " band wagon that their competitors reluctantly initiated about 15 years ago. Enter Oprah. In an act of kindness (yeah, right, there's a deal in there somewhere) Mrs. Television directed viewers to her website where they could download coupons for a free grilled chicken meal. The promotion was so successful KFC ran out of chicken in some centres and had to issue rain cheques. Over a matter of days KFC issued over 4.5 million free meals before having to temporarily suspend the promotion. Nevertheless, KFC says it's extr...