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Obit: Don Kirshner, 76

DToTheJ

DToTheJ

Before he hooked up with Letterman, bandleader Paul Shaffer did a sendup of
Don Kirshner when he (Shaffer) was a cast member on SNL in the late 1970s.
 
Watch the show tonight. I bet Paul revives that character in tribute.

Don was an old time hit man. He worked tin pan alley when it was still being built.
 
Before he hooked up with Letterman, bandleader Paul Shaffer did a sendup of
Don Kirshner when he (Shaffer) was a cast member on SNL in the late 1970s.
Click to expand...

"With special thanks to Jerry Aldini of PolySutra Records"...IIRC, the Blues Brothers' first appearance on SNL was introduced by Paul Shaffer as Kirshner.

Don gave us "Rock Concert", but don't forget, he also gave us The Archies.
 
Don's supervision of The Monkees gave him the exposure he wanted....he also supervised the music for "I Dream of Jeannie" which used to come on right after the prefab four's show on NBC's Monday evening lineup. Kirsher up to that point oversaw the Dimension and defunct Colpix labels and their artist roster....including Carole King who co-wrote a few Monkees songs with Gerry Goffin.

The Kirshner label started out as Calandar Records using the same letterbox K logo. The Archies were even more prefab than The Monkees which was a turn-off for me as a teenager.

Kirshner's most notorious flop was "Toomorrow" a movie (and group)made in the U.K. for the Rank Organization in 1970. A soundtrack album was released on RCA with lots of typical Kirshner hype but never got off the ground. Toomorrow quickly became yesterday. Only member of the group that emerged from the rubble of Kirshner's flop was Olivia Newton-John with some help from singer Cliff Richard and backup musician/songwriter/producer John Farrar.
 
At first I have to admit that it does sound strange but I seem to recall reading in TV Guide way back in the early 80's where despite his role in the biz..Don Kirshner himself really didn't care that much for rock music. Then again maybe it isn't so odd. Take Garth Brooks for example. He was the one who had put country music back on the map in the early 90s YET Garth himself was much more into heavy metal ROCK music at the time such as KISS and POISON than he was with country music.

Come to think of it wasn't Dick Clark back in the 50's more of a JAZZ fan than rock and roll?

Gotta go where the money is.
 
mleach said:
YET Garth himself was much more into heavy metal ROCK music at the time such as KISS and POISON than he was with country music.
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Not exactly. He liked their shows, not their music. And if you ever saw his concert, that's what it was like.

But regarding Kirshner, his personal taste was more crooners than rock stars.
 
TheBigA said:
mleach said:
YET Garth himself was much more into heavy metal ROCK music at the time such as KISS and POISON than he was with country music.
Click to expand...

Not exactly. He liked their shows, not their music. And if you ever saw his concert, that's what it was like.

But regarding Kirshner, his personal taste was more crooners than rock stars.
Click to expand...

Then again when that KISS tribute CD came out in the 90's as I can recall Garth Brooks BEGGED to be on it ( and for little money too ) and he was as Garth did his version of "Hard Luck Woman". If Garth didn't like the music of KISS he would never had got involved with the cd in the first place.
 
mleach said:
If Garth didn't like the music of KISS he would never had got involved with the cd in the first place.
Click to expand...

You said he was "more into heavy metal ROCK music than country." Lots of country stars, from Conway Twitty to Johnny Cash have worked with rock stars. That doesn't mean they're more into rock music than country.
 
TheBigA said:
mleach said:
If Garth didn't like the music of KISS he would never had got involved with the cd in the first place.
Click to expand...

You said he was "more into heavy metal ROCK music than country." Lots of country stars, from Conway Twitty to Johnny Cash have worked with rock stars. That doesn't mean they're more into rock music than country.
Click to expand...

Sorry..I just remember that tidbit form Bob Kingsley's American Country Top 40 syndicated radio show that had mentioned that Garth Brooks had really enjoyed heavy metal rock moreso than he did with country. OTOH funny how people have this "idea' that country and rock stars are not allowed to have any contact with each other. Of Course NOT saying that YOU and I share this but my cousin the other day had found out that Tim McGraw and his wife Faith Hill were very good friends with the band..Metalica. She just could not believe it.
 
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