A priceless piece of history... Karen, Tina, Olivia, Peaches, and Toni singing an Eagles hit!

I watched Tina Turner's HBO documentary the other day.  Included within that program was a clip from the time period during which Tina Turner was recovering from her marriage to and divorce from Ike Turner.  Tina joined Olivia Newton-John on a TV special she did around 1980 or so.  It was quite the epic party, and also included Elton John, Andy Gibb, and it looks like Cliff Richard was also on hand.

Check out Toni Tennille, Tina, Olivia, Karen Carpenter, and Peaches from Peaches and Herb.  Crazily enough, as I played this, my husband thought Peaches was me.  

Dayum!  Lots of talent up there!

What do you know?  Someone uploaded the whole show!  Wonder if I want to watch it?

Now THIS is entertainment!  I think this aired in April 1980; so I would have been seven years old.

I actually kind of miss these sorts of shows.  They were fun to watch, and the people behind them were legitimately talented.  Yes, they were often corny, but they allowed us to escape life for awhile.  I was as child at the time these aired, though, which may be why I liked them so much.  There's no accounting for taste, especially when you're a little kid.

I think most of these folks had the odd TV special... well, the women did, anyway.  I know The Carpenters and the Captain and Tennille did them.  And poor Tina was once on The Brady Bunch Hour.  Now THAT is an embarrassing way to make money!  But at least they didn't make her wear a skin tight polyester jumpsuit.

Easy as Pie!

I had another one of my sudden song flash memories today.  This time, it's the song "Easy as Pie" by Peaches and Herb.  It was from their 1978 album, 2 Hot which included their monster hits "Shake Your Groove Thing" and "Reunited".  I still love to listen to both of those songs today, even if they are firmly entrenched in the disco era.

I'm not sure how I ever heard "Easy as Pie", since it was not necessarily a hit... I must have heard it somewhere, though, because it popped into my head today.  I had to listen to a sample of it on iTunes.

"Easy as Pie"... oddly enough, I think this popped into my head when I noticed the that it was the same title of a country song by Billy Crash Craddock.

This is a very upbeat song and Peaches and Herb do a pretty good job harmonizing.  The lyrics are cute, too, especially if you like sweet stuff.  This was the B side to "Reunited", which is probably why I heard it as a kid.  Someone probably had it on their jukebox or something.  Do people even use jukeboxes anymore?

A sweet live version of "Reunited", which is a favorite song of mine from the 70s.

And you can boogie to this song...  Wonder what they mean when they sing "Shake Your Groove Thing"...  Bumpin' booties indeed!

I can't deny that I really enjoy disco sometimes.  I find it a great mood lifter, even if it's music from my early childhood and I wouldn't want to relive those years.  I kind of like the 70s, though, if only for the music of that era.  You could hear anything on the radio and the person doing the singing didn't have to be gorgeous to be successful.

The 70s were fun... especially if you didn't have to worry about inflation, Vietnam, or racism...  In other words, it was kind of cool to be a kid in those days.

Bonding with my MIL over music...

While my husband and I were visiting Texas, we hung out with my mother in law.  She's a neat lady who loves smooth jazz and music from the late 70s.  It was funny.  We were sitting at her kitchen table and she had the radio going.  I heard Muzak and said, "Hey Parker, is that Muzak?"

She laughed and said, "I hadn't noticed."  My mother-in-law changed her name about ten years ago and goes by Parker now.

I happen to be very aware of music.  I hear it in stores and in cars... I pay attention to it in restaurants, even if it's just supposed to be background noise or set the ambiance.  I like a lot of it, except Muzak.  It's mainly because my control freak dad used to force me to listen to it on road trips.

Anyway, Parker changed the channel and it was playing all sorts of great hits.  The keys to my Dungeon of the Past mind jangled as the memories unlocked and I was loving it.  Here are a few songs we heard.

And I heard Anne Murray's version of "Killing Me Softly With His Song".  I had no idea she had recorded it.

I felt like I was six years old again and living in Virginia.  It was magical.

I am really blessed to have a great mother in law.  We get along and share a mutual hatred of my husband's ex wife.  I look forward to visiting with her often... and bonding over more music from the Dungeon of the Past.