Tulsa TV Memories Guestbook 131

TTM main | What's new on TTM? | GB Archive



Time: May 21 2003 at 13:23:18
Name: Mike Miller
Location: Vienna, VA
Comments: Lee Woodward. How could we ever forget that great old song: “Head for the roundhouse Nelly, the conductor can’t corner you there.”

To Danny Meyers, regarding Ray’s Café, I grew up on Ray’s food, especially the chicken fried steak and hamburgers. (It was only a block and a half away from my father’s dance studio.) The diner probably had the world’s most efficient waitress in Gladys. The café continued for years after owner Ray Miller died. His widow, Margaret ran it. The entire staff remained in place for well over twenty years. It’s now been closed for a very long time. Too bad!

For some reason, I remember the Rubiot on the west side of Lewis, closest to the River. Going south, I’d take a right into the parking lot. But, hell, those were my drinking days.



Time: May 21 2003 at 13:10:56
Name: Webmaster
Location: Tulsa
Comments: This, for sure, is underground radio today...L.A. Weekly article (PG-13 rated for language): "Is Anybody Listening? The beautiful chaos of Kill Radio" (short for "kill corporate radio"; motto: "L.A.'s most unruly radio station")



I have mentioned this previously: the undisputed best all-around search engine, Google, has a Toolbar available for download. Once installed, it becomes an integral part of your Internet Explorer browser (it is removable, too).

TTM already has a good search engine that will get you to the pages you seek, but archived Guestbook pages are pretty big to look through once you get there. With the the Google Toolbar, you can easily create your own on-the-fly buttons that let you search within a page.

Just type "Lionel" in the Google box, and voila! You now have a Lionel button. You can then find every mention of the King on any page you land on.

The same thing can be accomplished by going to "Edit/Find" on your browser, but you have to type in your word every time you search within a page. With the Toolbar, the button persists until you want to change it, making for a much more efficient search experience.

The price is right: free.



Time: May 21 2003 at 13:05:04
Name: Erick
Location: Tulsa
Comments: The Sonny Gray Trio didn't become part of Sam's show until he went to KOTV. I always thought Sam needed a Paul Shaffer-type, and Sonny fit the bill well.

Does anyone remember a situation that occurred while Sam was at KTFO where he worked at the 51st and Yale Arby's for a day? I think it had something to do with the fact that Arby's blocked off part of the parking lot. Motorists were entering the Arby's parking lot from a side street and driving through it to the adjacent strip shopping center. After they blocked it off, the other merchants put a sign on the barricade stating "Arby's put this barricade here". I think Sam went into an on-air rant about it and that led to his one day stint.



Time: May 21 2003 at 12:47:02
Name: Steve Bagsby
Location: Huff"s Service Station
Comments: Yup, Jim Bates was in the band on Sam Jones show. Bill's Jumbo Burgers is still around. I remember Harman's Restaurant advertising "The He-Man Breakfast" on Billy Parker's midnight show. I think Jim's Never on Sunday is still around.


Yes, Jim's is still in business. Wasn't Van's Hamburgers near Admiral and Harvard? Elliott's BBQ became Texas Tamales (great), which then moved down to the Brady district.



Time: May 21 2003 at 12:09:39
Name: David Bagsby
Location: Lawrence KS
Comments: The NE corner of 11th & Utica used to be the Pancake Place. On Sam Jones, I recall seeing the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey on there once and the caller was raving about how great the band was...turned out to be one of the guys in the band had snuck out to the lobby and called in. Wasn't Jim Bates the bassist in the house band?

7/14/2007: I found this image on eBay awhile back.

8/30/2007: And this image at the library.

The Pancake Place




Courtesy of the Beryl Ford Collection/Rotary Club of Tulsa


Time: May 21 2003 at 11:16:37
Name: Lowell Burch
Location: As Huey Lewis would say: T-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-tulsa
Comments: Sam Jones' late night live TV show! Sam has an engaging way about him, a nice voice, looks good, good mind. The set was great and the show was local. His local guests, such as magician Steve Lancaster, and his house band, Sonny's group, made for a fabulous show - except, in my humble and uneducated opinion, for two things!

Sam's political tirades were not worth wasting sleep over. Sorry but too many people out there were doing it and doing it better. One other thing, he wasted a great resource - his callers! Looking disgusted and hanging up on one once in awhile would have been cute - but all of the time? The rubes that called in to his show were hilarious! He should have kept them on the line and kidded them along a little. It would have made for great entertainment. He took them all too serious. Still, I would trade 90% of what is on TV for another show like Sam's.

Lee, the first funny title that pops into my head is that old bluegrass standard, "Don't Run Though the Screendoor, Honey. You'll Strain Yourself." (rimshot)



Time: May 21 2003 at 11:08:37
Name: Steve Bagsby
Location: The layaway counter at the S&H Greenstamp Store
Comments: I got to be on Sam Jones' show when American Theatre Co. produced "Always Patsy Cline" in 1996. We went to KOTV after a rehearsal, and I remember they had Sam, a camera man, and the band crammed in this little space next to the News room. I don't know how they managed to breathe in such a tight spot! Sam was great to us and made the show easy to do.



Time: May 21 2003 at 10:58:07
Name: Danny Meyers
Location: trying to escape reality by visiting Tulsa in my mind
Comments: This website is like therapy only a lot cheaper... I'd like to ask the locals for an update on some of my favorite eateries from my Tulsa days. I know a number of these places are gone but I am curious about the circumstances of their demise: Ray's Cafe on 15th and Peoria, Harman's (four eggs was the most I could handle) Jim's Never on Sunday, Bill's (?) Hamburgers on Admiral between Utica and Lewis(a native told me that if you asked for "mustard only" on your burger that they'd give you an extra beef patty. I tried it once and doggone if he wasn't right), and last but not least Elliot's BBQ on Peoria. What was the name of the place on the NE corner of 11th and Utica?



Time: May 21 2003 at 07:35:28
Name: Erick
Location: Tulsa
Comments: As much as I enjoyed Sam's show on KOTV, I really liked his show on KTFO in the early 90's. "Open Line" was on at 10pm, and it started as a half hour. This was before Clear Channel purchased 41 (the purchase is what led to Sam's move to KOTV). I don't think the show had much of a budget, as the set consisted simply of a desk with a monitor (on the monitor was the show itself), set against a sky blue background.

At some point, as the show was gaining popularity, it expanded to a full hour. It was about this time that Sam began promoting Gary Shore's weather forecasts on channel 2. In fact, he would be keeping an eye on Channel 2's news broadcast and as the weather was being introduced, he would stop the program, and in a long exaggerated endorsement, encourage viewers to switch to 2 to get Gary's forecast.

After the show went to KOTV, it lost some of its appeal to me. Part of what I liked was how cheaply the show was produced. This made it seem more honest. I also enjoyed its short stay on KLOT-25, when I could pick up the signal. After Gary Shore left Channel 2, he even appeared nightly on this incarnation of the show (which lasted roughly 3 weeks).



Time: May 21 2003 at 06:50:03
Name: Lee Woodward
Location: Tulsa
Comments: The Rubiot was on the East side of Lewis and was a substantial building. It had a stage on the south end that faced the "Room" which had tables for food and beverage service. Don't know if the building is still there or not.

Also, I may have overstated the bookings when I said every weekend as Sonny's own group held the fort most of the time. I'm sorry I can't remember all his side men. I know Kenny Quinn was one, John Rigney was another. Both of these fellows still play in Tulsa. One or two other fellows would alternate sometimes. I recall a bass player from the Philharmonic was also there sometimes.

Anyway, a great venue.



LeeTime: May 21 2003 at 00:09:13
Name: Lee Woodward
Location: Tulsa
Comments: I have been told twice that Sam Jones is working at a Wal-Mart store on East Admiral or Eleventh Street. He worked as an assistant to a former mayor for awhile didn't he? Same job as Karen Keith has now for Mayor LaFortune. What's a mother to do?

Since Sonny Gray was mentioned earlier and his "Rubiot" jazz club, let me light the way. Sonny built the "Rubiot" (on So. Lewis between 61st & 71st) from scratch to be solely for the purpose of presenting jazz in the best light. He had all the big names, from Teddy Wilson, Joe Williams. Every weekend was a headliner. I remember hooking up one afternoon with vibraphonist Gary Burton at the old Trade Winds pool, exchanging bizarre song titles.

Two of his I remember were; "What's that in your pool..Algae?" and "Take my love and shove it up your heart!" I only remember one of mine; "Come on Baby, let's get this straight!" Sorry!

Sonny also promoted up and coming talent. One of these was a female singer named Annette Sanders. One of the best I have ever heard. Trust me! I heard she had a deal with Decca. She was here many times and even did a concert at T.U. which was a gas. I later learned that she went back to New York to a boyfriend musician who was an addict. He was kind enough to take her down with him. Just like River Phoenix, a great career move.

Sonny's club was undone by the staff who gave a new meaning to "profit sharing." If a human form of termites existed, they worked there and sadly a great club died. The only "chops" saved were Sonny's. The rest went out the back door.


National jazz names playing at a Tulsa exclusively-jazz club...wish I could have been in on that. Was the Rubiot that building on the east side of Lewis that is now a restaurant with an uphill drive into the parking lot? Or is the original structure still there?



Time: May 20 2003 at 22:19:21
Name: Wade
Location: Tulsa
Comments: Does anyone remember the ad campaign leading up to Sam Jones' tenure here on TV?? Seems like the ads would just feature the top of his head and the text would read something like "He's Almost Here"...and each time the ad appeared, a little more of the top of his head would show.

Hope those were real ads and not some dream I have remembered all these years.


If so, then I had the same one.



Sam JonesTime: May 20 2003 at 15:44:18
Name: Mike Miller
Location: Vienna, VA
Comments: Don’t have any updates on Sam Jones, but I knew him while news director at KTHV, Channel 11, a cellar dweller in Little Rock. (Great call letters eh?)

Sometime around 1977, give or take a year, Sam was anchoring the evening news, and was about to get canned when the owner, Robert Brown, decided to clean house and create a new image, news set and personnel. I was brought in as news director and managed to talk Brown into allowing Sam stay on doing weekends. He was not a happy camper, however.

"You're on with Sam Jones” must have proved an interesting title for his Tulsa show. Sam was always “on.” When you had a conversation with him, it was like he was on stage, performing. I don’t know if this was a 24-7 act or whether he changed a little after moving to Tulsa. I managed to catch his TV show one night with Sonny Gray and he seemed the same, old Sam. Of course, he was “on” while “on” television.

I’ve never run across anyone quite like Sam Jones. I enjoyed being in his audience, both on and off the air.



Time: May 20 2003 at 14:13:51
Name: Charles
Location: Boot's Drive-in
Comments: The train restaurant was on 11th St. (not Admiral.....that area of Admiral is a neigborhood and then fields where we used to play little league.)

The name of the restaurant when it first opened was the Iron Horse. I think it changed names later.



Time: May 20 2003 at 13:02:29
Name: Deric Davis
Location: Cherry Street
Comments: Does anyone know what business used to be off of 41st just west of Sheridan on the south side of the road between Academy Sports and the BOK Tech Center (Memorex). Every afternoon I drive by and see the remains of a driveway, and the address numbers with street lamps, but it goes to a vacant field. Curiosity gets to me...Thanks!


It might be the location of the old Seismograph Service Corporation...I'll be in that area this afternoon and will try to take a look (later: oops, I forgot).



Time: May 20 2003 at 12:27:27
Name: Rich Lohman
Location: My Town...na na NA na naahhh...
Comments: I was tripping 'round the city the other day and I was wondering if anyone remembered a restaurant that was made out of an old railroad passenger car and it was located out on Admiral east of 169.

I went there only once, likely when I moved here in 1973 or shortly thereafter. I remember that when you ate there and you were a kid, you received with your meal a token that could be redeemed for ice cream in the back of the car. The restaurant closed and the car is long gone, but the sign was an old watering tank for the old steam locomotives and I believe it's still there.

To add to the obscurity here I think the TV ads featured Gailard Sartain. The location again is east of 169 by about 2 blocks and west of the old Village theater on Admiral.


Yes, I remember eating there...wasn't it called The Depot? See Charles' entry two up from here for a better answer.



Time: May 20 2003 at 12:21:22
Name: David Ritchie
Location: Tulsa, OK
Comments: Nice Site!

I was looking up some information on "UHF" and came across your site. When I saw that you had a section on Channel 2, I was interested to see if there were any pictures/information on my grandfather someplace there. He was General Manager of KTEW in the late 70s and possibly early 80s. I don't really know the exact timeframe. His name is Bill Ritchie.


Nothing yet, but with his name out here, there could be soon.



Time: May 20 2003 at 12:18:10
Name: Rich Lohman
Location: America's Most Beautiful City...
Comments: Sam Jones was a customer of mine when I worked in the deli of the Reasors at 31st and Mingo. The store is closed now but I did serve him a couple of times in mid to late 1999.

I did ask him if he was going to be going back on the air anytime soon and he told me something about how there were a few legal obstacles in the way. No mention of an on-air argument with Sonny Gray.

Don't know if that helps anyone with this, but for the record, I miss the guy too. His program was a good one, that's for sure.



Time: May 20 2003 at 03:06:05
Name: Bob Weiszmann
Location: Simi Valley, CA & St Maries, ID
Comments: I moved to Tulsa in late 1952, was a senior at Central. Didn't graduate in June because I managed to get kicked out twice.

I've lived in Tulsa now and then since those days, and have a couple of kids and five grandchildren living there now.

Does anybody remember the name of the drive-in restaurant on 11th street where we hung out?

How about the Big Ten Ballroom?


Could that drive-in be Bishop's? See it at the Retro Tulsa Internet Museum.



Time: May 19 2003 at 13:25:22
Name: Mike
Location: Houston
Comments: Mention of the great October flood of '86 brought back some memories.

I lived in Tulsa at the time and recall the local TV stations freaking out over impending flooding in the Riverside area which never happened, while just 50 miles to the north my childhood home of Bartlesville was literally cut in half for a time by the Caney River. I think B-ville finally made the news a day or so later. :-)

This is my first post and I must say this site is going in my WWW Hall Of Fame. So many memories and so well-documented. Thanks for all the hard work.


Thank you very much, Mike.



Time: May 19 2003 at 11:40:51
Name: Danny Meyers
Location: down memory lane
Comments: Mike, classify this as you wish, it's actually a bit of counterculture trivia more than anything...

Came across the name Susan Silver whilst browsing previous guestbooks for a name Mike Bruchas reminded me of (legal stipulations prevent me from saying any more). I presume this is the same Susan Silver who was the Student Association Academic Affairs Chairperson at TU College the same year I ran the Social Affairs Council. Lovely lady, think I went out with her once...anyway, just wondering if anyone who's still listening remembers the concert I produced in the Great Hall at Westby Center featuring Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys.

Without going into specifics, let's just say this bird would never have flown in our politically correct millenium. It caused something of a ruckus on campus the following Monday. IN retrospect, I probably shouldn't have booked Kinky Friedman for Parents Weekend. I heard from J. Paschal Twyman's office, the Association of Black Collegians, the Newman society. I don't think there was anyone who wasn't offended.

But what I remember most of that day was a chat I had with one of Kinky's sidemen, a guy named Billy Swan (he sang "I Can Help" a few years later.) He asked me to pass his best wishes on to Billy Parker; I did so - Mr. Parker was delighted to hear from him.

Just curious if anyone remembers this show.


Wish I did. I've read several of Kinky's detective novels, starring himself and the puppet head keychain with parachute. Some of Kinky's equal offense crowd-pleasers: "Get Your Biscuits In The Oven And Your Buns in the Bed", "They Ain't Makin' Jews Like Jesus Anymore" and "The Ballad of Charles Whitman". Lyrics available on Kinky's site.

Susan Silver can be seen on News page 1.



Time: May 19 2003 at 07:33:21
Name: Erick
Location: Tulsa
Comments: Regarding Sam Jones, I would be surprised if his KOTV cancellation had anything to do with an argument between he and Sonny Gray. After the show left KOTV, they appeared for a few weeks on low-powered channel 25 (then KLOT, now MTV2). Likely the reason the show was cancelled is because KOTV wanted to air The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder immediately after David Letterman, and Sam was in the way.

I'm not sure if it has been mentioned, but there will be a KTUL 50th anniversary special on the 10 o'clock news tonight (Monday). I've been seeing commercials for it over the weekend. Lots of old clips, and lots of 8's The Place.



Time: May 18 2003 at 19:38:13
Name: Mike Bruchas
Location: Underground at 20th & M NW in DC
Comments: Larry Burnett I hope is still the voice of the Lakers on KLAC in LA. As mentioned here before - he and the late Bill Tietgens were contemporaries at TU. Larry still has the bona fides of working both at 8 and 6 before going to Denton, TX and on to ESPN in the early years.

Larry - you need to leave us more of a timeline of where you have been!

My friend, Fran Panzo - most recently here at BET on Jazz worked with Larry at ESPN many moons ago...



Time: May 18 2003 at 16:54:07
Name: Sonny Hollingshead
Location: Sand Springs
Comments: Nibbling on tidbits from TV41. A few entries back someone mentioned "Charlie O". Well, by golly, one of the fringe benefits of working at KGCT on Main St. in 1981 was that, for $1 per month (or was that per paycheck?) we got a couple of sodas per day.

A good deal, except that some folks got a little greedy. Then Charlie O, like all good things, passed into the history books at Channel 41.



Time: May 18 2003 at 14:09:07
Name: Mike Pierce
Location: LG CA
Comments: In Guest Book 113 Jim Reid wished for a copy of the Ken Reed's "Mahu Mansion on the Hill" piece. I've tried to email him directly to let him know, I have a copy on Betacam tape. I shot and edited the piece with Ken. Jim I'd be interested in trading you a copy for the old Total 8 party reel? I think you said you had one. Let me know.


With a VHS copy, I could get it out here in RealVideo.



Time: May 18 2003 at 13:05:07
Name: Kash (via email)
Location: OU
Comments: I happened on your website when doing a search for "You're on with Sam Jones."

I watched that show when I was in high school, and I was wondering what he was doing these days. Any word on him? Why was he fired? I heard he had an argument with Sonny Gray on air, but I don't know how substantiated that is...

I grew up in Pawhuska watching all the Tulsa channels. I go to school in Norman, but I periodically check out the Tulsa World. Today I noticed a name I hadn't thought of in ages - Clayton Vaughn. So many memories...

The website is great. Keep up the good work!


Thanks!

I hadn't heard about a disagreement on-air. The cancellation was likely due to economics. The station probably could make more money with network programming. Too bad...I like local programming like Sam's show (obviously).

We haven't heard what Sam is up to these days. Anyone know?




Time: May 18 2003 at 12:53:29
Name: Larry Burnett
Location: L.A.
Comments: I just found your page and noticed that someone was trying to find me.

I left ESPN in 1990 and have been in Los Angeles since then. I am, currently working at KLAC-AM as host of the Laker Radio broadcasts and I handle the play by play on TV and radio for the WNBA Champion, Los Angeles Sparks.

I found some great stuff on the site. Great names and memories from the past.


Welcome, Larry.



Time: May 18 2003 at 10:50:47
Name: Mike Miller
Location: Vienna, VA
Comments: To: RWW in Florida. The "Rubiyat" coffeehouse you asked about is not linked to Sonny Gray’s jazz club. Gray’s club was way south of the by-pass.

According to additional Internet searches, Sonny was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in 2001 and a Resolution listed the club as the "Rubiot." Hope I didn’t confuse you as much as I confused myself!


Thanks for the correction...your note has it both ways, so future internet searches will be more likely to find it. Here's the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam for completeness and for background on the significance of the name. It's also fascinating...I was ignorant of it, all but the title until today.

One further correction: Sonny's ex-partner is Suzan Gray with a "Z".



Time: May 18 2003 at 10:33:32
Name: Jim Ruddle
Location: Rye, NY
Comments: Jay Barbree was working out of a little wooden shack that housed the local radio station when I was at Cape Canaveral, in 1957. We had yet to launch a satellite, although von Braun and his team had a Redstone ready to go. The navy had a prettier launch vehicle, Vanguard, and it was beautiful until it blew up on the pad that December. Jay, being on the ground during the entire Mercury program development, knew all the players and all the stories. It's remarkable that he's still going and even more remarkable that somebody at the network level realizes what a source he is.

As for Bing, the guy revolutionized singing in America, and was an innovator in many ways. I mentioned one of his records to a fiftyish fellow I know who said: "Oh he was that old guy who used to do those Christmas shows."

For years, Crosby's birthdate was given as 1904, but was eventually corrected to 1903.


Here is an excellent interview with Gary Giddins, author of Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams, on Bing's major contributions to jazz and popular music. There are several early recordings in RealAudio at the bottom of the article. Bing was a wild man in his youth; he and Louis Armstrong smoked reefer together!

I recently read a good thriller set in 1958 about the tense days before America's first successful satellite launch: Code To Zero by Ken Follett.



Time: May 18 2003 at 08:55:51
Name: Lowell Burch
Location: On the High Ground
Comments: I forgot about Huckett's Bowling Alley. I had a schoolmate who liked to take me out to a place on Sheridan, just north of Admiral (no 244 at the time), and on the east side of the road. One night, we bowled 16 lines each. I had a sore arm the next day! My high score? 165. They did not write me up on the sports page.

Nice pic of cameraman Sartain.


Bowl-A-Rama was on Sheridan, north of where I-244 is now, and near the current OETA building. The structure is still there as a warehouse, I believe. It was across the street from a grocery store, Jitney Jungle, disussed here in Guestbook 101.



Mike BruchasTime: May 17 2003 at 22:19:07
Name: Mike Bruchas
Location: Happy 100th Birthday, Bing Crosby
Comments: Chocolate Cowboy - a singer??? There WAS a Chocolate CowGIRL who was - well an exotic dancer who toured thru Tulsey - no I never saw her perform....

Yeah, Der Bingle is gone but had he been here with B. Hope - imagine what a celebration...Too bad Matt Bunyan at StarShip can't do his Bong Crisby Xmas radio spots any more...

Have you oldsters noticed Jay Barbree at NBC is doing NASA reports on NBC? A voice from my youth and he is still on air...someone did a story on the late Jules Bergman of ABC not long ago - I think Barbree and Bergman were contemporaries....

I am re-cutting older History Channel shows for breaks fot ORBIT TV's feed to the Mideast. I forgot Bob Brown voiced several of these shows. I cut down the Cheryl Ladd "Biography" show and he was the narrator. Also did Candice Bergen but CBS' Anthony Mason did that v.o.



Time: May 17 2003 at 21:21:06
Name: Ron Rosson
Location: Denver, CO
Comments: Does anyone remember the "Chocolate Cowboy"?



Time: May 17 2003 at 18:57:20
Name: Wilhelm Murg
Location: fighting my way through fuzzy memories
Comments: The Colt 45! That's it! I was getting that music superimposed over the "Like Father Like Son" imagery in my mind. After hearing the song on the reruns of KOVACS it replaced the COLT 45 music in my head. I remember picking out some of those runs from the COLT 45 ad on the piano when I was in elementary school. Now I feel as stupid as the people who thought Chuck Mangione's "Feel So Good" was the LOVE BOAT theme!

So is "Susan" by The Buckinghams the song that uses Charles Ives' "Central Park After Dark?"



Time: May 17 2003 at 17:26:04
Name: Matthew Morrison
Location: Tulsa
Comments: I just wanted to say that I love this website. I think it is great that you are keeping all these wonderful memories of Tulsa's past. Keep up the good work!!!


Thanks to you and Deric for the kind words.



Time: May 17 2003 at 15:08:54
Name: Mike Miller
Location: In beautiful, downtown Tysons Corner, VA
Comments: As I recall, the Rubiyat (or however it was spelled,) was first opened by Sonny (and lovely wife Suzan) Gray who used it as a jazz club.

The place later housed several restaurants.



Time: May 17 2003 at 14:35:41
Name: Deric Davis
Location: Cherry Street
Comments: This site is the most fascinating and addicting I have come across. I am 28, so my earliest memories start around 78 and 79.

Does anyone remember an odd company called Charlie-O or Charley-O's that would install a carbonated water tap in your kitchen and give you a variety of syrups that you could mix for soda? It was a home fountain drink service in the early 80's. Does this sound familiar to anyone?


I do remember it, and Charlie O is apparently still a going concern in OKC. You can see and read about Charles O. Gordon (also noted for creating "Dr. Enuf") at Soda Traderz. Interestingly, he had a hand in the Mountain Dew story on the same site.

Here is TTM's Pop bottles page.



Time: May 17 2003 at 13:49:23
Name: Webmaster
Location: In the ring
Comments: Wilhelm Murg asked in the previous Guestbook:

"Wasn't there an anti-smoking ad that used an instrumental version of the "Song of the Nairobi Trio (Solfeggio)" from the ERNIE KOVACS SHOW? I remember hearing that music on a PSA (I think) back in the late 60s/early 1970s."


It just came to me...Wilhelm might be referring to a classic TV ad for Colt 45 Malt Liquor. The tune is very similar; listen for yourself.

In the ad, while a bullfight is in progress, a very calm individual is enjoying a Colt 45 at a little table directly in the ring. At one point, the bull upends the table and its occupant, but this doesn't ruffle the drinker, since he doesn't spill any of his beverage.



Time: May 17 2003 at 11:28:29
Name: Webmaster
Location: Tulsa
Comments: We were discussing Huckett Bowl, the old Rubiot club, and Tulsa coffeehouses of the folk/beatnik era. A recent rash of tornados in the surrounding area produced a number of comments about TV coverage of past tornados and floods. Mayfest is going on. Lionel-napping and Penguins on Parade were also topics.

All this and more in the just-archived Guestbook 130.




Back to Tulsa TV Memories main page