The Age of the Secret Agent, Part II

In our last posting we spoke about the craze over secret agents and spies that swept the nation and its popular culture while were in high school back in the 1960s.

The source for a lot of it was the popularity of the James Bond movies. It spread to TV as well through hit shows like THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.

But it went even further than that...and sometimes the show formats were not the typical Cold War situations of Bond and Solo.

In many ways THE WILD, WILD WEST TV show was the merging of the secret agent, spy craze with a longstanding popular tradition on American network television, the western. And for good measure the show mixed in a little sci-fi and alternate history ideas.

THE WILD, WILD WEST ran for 104 episodes on the CBS Network from September 17, 1965 to April 4, 1969 featuring the adventures of two post-Civil War Secret Service agents, James West, played by Robert Conrad, and Artemus Gordon, played by Ross Martin. The two traveled around the country in a special luxury train (complete with a horse stable and a laboratory.

According to Wikipedia, The show was conceived as "James Bond on horseback" and always featured (like the Bond moves) "beautiful women, clever gadgets and delusional arch-enemies" as West and Gordon tried "to protect President U.S. Grant and the nation from all kinds of threats."

The I SPY TV show was little more like the Bond movie format following the exploits of Robert Culp as international tennis player, Kelly Robinson and his trainer, Alexander Scott, played by Bill Cosby. They traveled around the world as "tennis bums", but really they were both Pentagon agents chasing villians, spies and beautiful women (sound familar?)

The show made history as the first American TV drama to feature an African American male actor in a leading role. Bill Cosby, then known primarily as stand up nightclub comic who sold a lot of comedy albums, was so good in the show he won three consecutive Emmys as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama series.

I SPY was more realistic than the Bond films and other secret agent TV shows. It was a drama series with little comedy. There were no special gadgets or crazy villians. The show ran on the CBS Network for 82 episodes from 1965 to 1968.

In this interview, courtesy of YouTube, Robert Culp describes how the show's concept came about and how Bill Cosby got involved....

Believe or not, there's still lots more to talk about in our look back at the secret agent/spy craze that dominiated popular culture while we were in high school at Father Ryan. Back with Part III in my next posting.

In the meantime, if you have any thoughts or memories to share on this subject or anything else concerning our times together in high school between 1965 and 1969, please feel free to write them below or drop me an e-mail at pat.nolan@dvl.com.

A HEADS UP! Invitations to our Class party on Saturday night, June 6will be in the mail to you in the next few days. Please send in your checks, money for registration ASAP. Then check back here for directions to our classmate Jimmy Wilson's home and other details about the evening. We thank Jimmy and his wife for hosting the event again.

By the way, if you have contact information about classmates who you are not sure Father Ryan is in touch with, please let us know so we can extend them an invitation to our reunion if they want to come.

After 40 years, the more, the merrier!

The Age of the Secret Agent

Beginning a couple of years before we came to Father Ryan and continuing throughout the time we went to school on Elliston Place, a mania over secret agents and spies gripped popular culture and the media.

Maybe it was because of the real Cold War then underway between the United States and the Soviet Union. Whatever the reason, it all began in popular culture with the James Bond movies in the early '60s (based on the writings of Ian Fleming) with DR. NO and FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE.

While we were in school there was THUNDERBALL (1965), YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967) and ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (1969). All these movies were major hits and the tradition of the James Bond movies (the theme songs,especially the Bond theme by Henry Mancini, the special gadgets, the excitement, the danger,"shaken, not stirred," the Bond Girls) continues even today, over 40 years later. Some 22 Bond movies have been produced with another planned for 2011.

Over the years, several leading actors have played the title character, but in most fans' minds, the original is still the best to the play the role, Sean Connery....


Of course, the success of the Bond movies led to TV shows trying to capitalize on the public mania. The most successful one was THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. that ran on NBC for 105 episodes from September 22, 1964 to January 15, 1968. Starring Robert Vaughn as Napoleon Solo and David McCallum as Illya Kuryakin the show was a smash hit on top of the ratings for several years.

There are many other TV shows and even hit records that reflected our '60s fascination with secret agents and spies. We'll take a further look back at that in our next posting.

What are your memories of this era? Please leave your thoughts below or e-mail them to me at pat.nolan@dvl.com.

Speaking of Space.....

Space exploration was a very popular topic when we were in high school at Father Ryan. Not only were we edging ever closer to landing on the moon, but there were several TV shows that took space exploration to the "final frontier."

Today, the most famous TV show of that genre is "Star Trek, created by science fiction writer, the late Gene Roddenberry." The program that ran for three seasons in the late 1960s has given birth to several other TV shows and revivals over the years, as well as 11 full-length feature movies, with the latest set to open at theatres in early May.

But you would never have guessed it based on the fact that the original show struggled to find its audience and was cancelled due to low ratings after just three years. But Star Trek did develop a growing and very strong cult following."Trekies" never gave up their devotion to the show and its characters (now going into multiple generations).

Here courtesy of YouTube is the way the original TV show opened back in its first season in 1966 as the voyages of the Starship Enterprise launched a media empire that continues to grow and to "live long and prosper" over 40 years later.


There was also another late 1960s TV show about space exploration that is still fondly remembered today. If you click on the photo above you can hear the theme song for "Lost In Space" written by composer John Williams.

"Lost in Space" was a take off on the novel "Swiss Family Robinson", also made famous by a Disney movie in the early '60s. It was produced by Irwin Allen, later famous for his many disaster films.

Like "Star Trek" the show lasted only three seasons (83 episodes from September, 1965 to March, 1968).It actually got slightly better ratings than "Star Trek", despite sometimes running in the same time slot against tough opposition like "Batman." But the show never developed a "Trekie" type following. It was also quite expensive to produce.

There was a full-length "Lost In Space" movie done in 1997 and some phrases from the show still live on our lingo today such as "Danger, Will Robinson" and "Oh, the pain, the pain." Ironically those lines come from characters, (the Computer Robot and Dr. Smith) who were not featured in the video below. Courtesy of YouTube, here's how the CBS Network tried to sell the show to its affilates in the summer and fall of 1965 just before its debuted....

On The Way To The Moon...

It was all but a done deal, an accepted fact that was going to happen.

Our late President John F. Kennedy had already set the national goal.

We were going to the Moon by the end of the '60s!

Space flights,under both the Gemini and Apollo programs,were frequent occurences while we were attending Father Ryan between 1965and 1969.

That included a very famous flight when the crew of Apollo 8 orbited the moon for the first time on Christmas Eve, 1968. It resulted in a prime time broadcast that reportedly attracted the largest audience ever in American TV history.

Courtesy of YouTube, here's a look back at that special event through a TV special produced by WGN-TV in Chicago and featuring one of the Apollo 8 astronauts, Jim Lovell. It is the fascinating story behind the story...

I still get goosebumps everytime I see and hear that broadcast, even more so than watching the actual landing on the moon which came with the Apollo 11 mission in July, 1969 shortly after we graduated from Father Ryan.

Earthrise from Apollo 8, December 24, 1968

On that Christmas Eve, 1968 I had been out with friends doing some Christmas-caroling. We had just come back in to warm up with some hot chocolate when the broadcast began. Watching the lunar surface on the far side of the moon drift by (it was something no one had even seen before) and then to witness the "earth rise" during the broadcast, all while listening to the words of Genesis left an impression on me that is still quite strong today.

So what are your memories of that event, or the space program in general while we were at Ryan? I suspect most of us at the time thought that lunar landings would continue for many years. Now it's been well over 35 years since someone walked on the moon. That will apparently change soon with new lunar explorations and even a mission to Mars on the planning boards. All this to inspire a new generation to look forward to a new future.

Rock & Roll

Rock & Roll music. Whether you were a jock or a geek, a brainiac or a nerd, this was the common language we all spoke and the one thing we all related to while we were in high school at Father Ryan from the fall of 1965 to the spring of 1969.

If you grew up in Nashville in the late 50s through the 1960s, you must remember the keen competition for listeners between 1300 AM WMAK and 1240 AM WKDA. The Good Guys versus the All-Americans. Now some people might have been so loyal they only listened to one of the stations, largely because they liked one or more of the D.J. (disc jockeys) there.

But I think most of us just switched back and forth, largely based on whether we liked the song was playing at that instant. Either way, the competition was a great boon for local listeners, and made listening to the radio one of the main things we did at nights and on the weekends as well as to and from school each day( although we likely needed our parents'permission to control the radio when one of them did the driving).



So what are your memories of listening to Scott Shannon or Noel Ball? How about Captain Midnight or Allen Dennis? Please feel free to leave your thoughts and memories below or send them to me at pat.nolan@dvl.com.

If you need some help to prod your memory check out this website that is promoting a new book now available about the history of radio and TV broadcasting in Nashville.

http://www.nashvillebroadcastinghistory.com/

I can highly reccomend the book which is written by Lee Dorman, who himself once worked for WKDA (look very closely at the WKDA Hits List above.That's Lee's picture at the very bottom. You will also find lots of memories of long ago days in Nashville TV looking through the website as well.

Prom Time

Father Ryan held its annual prom this past weekend (Saturday night, April 18).

While in our day this event was staged in Ryan gym (see above), for many years now it has been an off-campus activity. This year it was held at the Doubletree Hotel downtown with the theme "EVER AFTER."

Anyone remember the themes of the two proms we attended? I had to consult the PANTHER Yearbook and as best I can tell, the themese were "VENTIAN HOLIDAY" and EVENING IN PARIS."

Tickets for this year's prom were $15 a couple and $10 for an individual ticket. I can't remember. Did we have to buy tickets to go to the prom?

All I remember is renting the tux, the shoes, getting the corsage for my date, going to the prom, dancing a little, then standing in line for what seemed like forever to get our prom photo taken. Then maybe a little more dancing and hanging out, before we left to go get something to eat, then to someone's home for the after-prom late-night dinner and/or breakfast.

Anybody still got their prom photos? Do you still remember who you took to the prom both junior and senior years? Anybody in our class take the same girl both years? Anyone marry their prom date? My two dates were Becky Lemming (junior year) and Molly Hudgens (senior year). I can't find any of the photos, and I only keep in touch with Molly. I haven't seen or heard from Becky in years.

So what your story? And who did you double-date with to go to the prom?

Your memories of prom night are welcome. Please click on the remarks link below to leave them here on the blog.



Prom was the first time most of us could stay all night without getting into big trouble. So I am sure there must be some stories to tell. And with 40 years having gone by, I am pretty sure it's safe to share them now. :)

By the way, can you imagine us going on a prom date now? Staying out all night, we'd be wrecked for a week!

The Transformation of Nashville

The Nashville we grew up in during the 1950s and 1960s was pretty much a one skyscraper,little Southern town. The L&C Tower, seen above, was as tall and as big as it got while we were attending Father Ryan.But over the last 40 years that's changed a lot!

Today Nashville is becoming a major American city. It is "Music City, U.S.A", a tourist and convention destination; a community that has finally come to understand and relish its unique position as the Mecca for Country Music (and now other genres of music, as well).

Nashville in 2009 is home to not one, but two major league sports franchises, the NFL Titans and the NHL Predators. That's something none of us would have believed possible back when we were in school on our Elliston Place campus..

There are many people who are responsible for Nashville's transformation over the last four decades, but perhaps none more so that the man pictured above. He is Eddie Jones, the long time Executive Vice President of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and the last editor of the city's afternoon newspaper, THE NASHVILLE BANNER.

While working with the Chamber, Eddie helped laid a lot of the groundwork for modern day Nashville. That includes, while we were still in school in 1967, public referendum approval to allow liquor to be served by the drink in the city. The end of the old hyprocisy of "brown bagging" and private clubs, helped attract many new hotels, restaurants and businesses to town.

Eddie Jones also helped bring them here through his work to create the city's Airport Authority which has greatly improved Nashville's air service over the years along with his efforts to begin the Nashville Convention and Vistors Bureau which has helped make the city an even greater draw for tourists and conventions.

Eddie Jones died last week at the age of 85. But what he helped create here in Nashville will live on in our city for many years to come.

FULL DISCLOSURE: Eddie Jones was a long time friend and mentor of mine. We worked together at DVL Public Relations and Advertising for the last 11 years of his life.

Father Ryan & The MLK Assassination

It was early in the evening on April 4, 1968, 41 years ago.

It was a school night, so many of us might have just been sitting down to or finishing our dinner. Or maybe (for a change) we were doing our homework. All of us completely unaware of what was about to happen.

Then came the shocking news from Memphis which echoed all across the nation, the world and now throughout history....



It is interesting to note the soundbite CBS News used from Dr. King's last speech. It was not the portion of his comments that have gone down in history as "The Mountain Top" speech because of Dr. King's near prediction of his own death as he closed his remarks...



The murder of Dr. King in Memphis had an immediate impact on those of us attending Father Ryan. As was mentioned earlier in the CBS News report, Governor Buford Ellington quickly called out the National Guard.

Some took up positions in residential neighborhoods in North Nashville, where they greeted some of our black classmates (Lindsey Draper,Ted Lenox,Carlton Crutchfield, among others) the very next morning, standing guard with fixed bayonets when our friends went out to get the morning paper.Frankly, it was a reaction that not only shocked and frightened them, but made them more than a bit mad, I remember one of them telling me.

It was a difficult time all over the country, especially in those early hours after the King assassination when presidential candidate, Robert F. Kennedy, soon to be the victim of an assassination himself, spoke to a crowd in Indianapolis...



Despite Robert Kennedy's words, there were riots in more than 100 cities all over the country, including a few acts of violence here in Nashville. Mayor Beverly Briley imposed a dusk to dawn curfew for nearly a week here in town, as the National Guard stayed camped out in Centennial Park, just behind Father Ryan.

All day long while we were in class, you could see and hear the movement of troops as jeeps, personnel carriers, even a few tanks when up and down the road behind school. We even joked that the aircraft carrier, U.S.S. Missouri, then on duty off the coast of North Vietnam, would soon be coming down the Cumberland River.

But despite the tragedy of the situation, something occurred that was of benefit to Father Ryan. According to our classmates Phil Mattingly and Jimmy Wilson, our wrestling team was desperately trying to raise money for a new mat.

They had been selling doughnuts to get the funds, and the influx of so many hungry National Guardsmen proved a real boon to their efforts. In fact, they more than exceeded their money goal for the mat from feeding the troops (even though they remember some of the doughnuts had gotten a little stale).

My strong memory of that historic week was being involved as a singer in what I believe to be the first folk mass wedding ever held in Nashville at Holy Rosary Church. I was involved with Class of 1968 members Bob Sharp and Bob McKeown along with Chris Williams of the FRHS Class of 1970.

Now today, nobody would think twice about singing folk songs or having a guitar or an electric bass at a Mass. But back in 1968, it seemed as odd and different as suggesting that one day there would be a national holiday to commemerate Dr. King.

We'd already had at least one priest back out of saying the nuptials. Then the King murder made matters even more surreal, as a couple of members of the wedding party were called up to serve in the Guard,and the wedding itself, along with the reception were moved up to the afternoon to avoid problems with the curfew.

Our last minute practices were also difficult to schedule to avoid conflicts with being caught out after hours. I clearly remember riding home from Donelson and seeing all the businesses closed and shuttered, with police and Guardsmen everywhere.

But, when I think back, that was the kind of crazy year it was in 1968, even if all you were doing was going to high school at Father Ryan.

What are your memories of that historic time? Please feel free to share them below. I have adjusted the settings so leaving your comments is very easy to do, or e-mail them to me (pat.nolan@dvl.com).

That Jersey Boys Spirit

When we were growing up and attending Father Ryan High School, there were few, if any, opportunities to experience the highest level of Broadway-type entertainment here in Nashville.

The Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) has helped correct that shortcoming over the last few years, and never has that been more apparent than with the current touring production of the multiple Tony-Award winning JERSEY BOYS show which is winding up its two-week plus stay here in Music City.

I had a chance to see the show Wednesday night (April 1), and while my daughter, Kelly, who lives in New York City, would surely tell me the Broadway cast and production is better, it would be very hard to prove it my book. Never have I heard a Nashville audience leave a TPAC production with more praise for what they saw and heard. It was a true '60s revival!

JERSEY BOYS is based on the lives and careers (with many ups and downs) of the original Four Seasons, one of the dominant groups on the Top 40 rock charts, beginning in the early 1960s, well before we entered Father Ryan, and continuing with hit records throughout our high school years.

The Four Seasons had their own special, distinctive sound helping them chart 29 Top 40 hits, including 5 Number One songs and selling more than 100 million records between 1962 and 1978. That includes between 1965-69 such hits as "Bye, Bye Baby", "Let's Hang On", "Working My Way Back To You", "I've Got You Under My Skin", "Tell It To The Rain" and C'mon Marianne" among others. The Four Seasons were one of the few American groups who managed to survive and even thrive during the British Invasion that dominated the pop charts here in the U.S. starting in early 1964.

Here, courtesy of YouTube, is a medley of Four Seasons hits recorded from a TV Show appearance back in 1967.....



And to prove there is always a Nashville connection, one of the original members of the Four Seasons, Bob Gaudio, who was also the creative force and writer of many of the group's hit songs now lives in Nashville.