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.

The Knudsen Brothers-- now known as Six...

A couple of days ago, I ran across this old video of an Osmond Brothers' special.  It originally aired in 1978.

I have to admit, I was most intrigued by Jay Osmond's hair.  It looks like he got a perm.  Perms were all the rage in the 70s.  I had a couple of them myself in the 80s.  Still remember the nasty smell of the chemicals.

This special includes performances by a lot of the big stars of the day.  Andy Gibb, Crystal Gayle, Bob Hope, Jimmie Walker, and a debut by a group of five young lads calling themselves The Knudsen Brothers.  The brothers sang barbershop, just like the Osmonds had done on Andy Williams' show.  They wore blue tuxedos and harmonized very impressively, although I think even in 1978, barbershop was a bit hokey.

I was curious about the talented boys, so I looked them up.  They now perform in Branson, Missouri and call themselves SIX.  That's because another brother joined the group.  The Knudsen brothers actually number ten, but only the eldest six are singers.  The other four work to support the group. 

SIX sings "God Bless the USA" in harmony...  I don't think it's bad, though I think I was more impressed by their debut on the Osmonds' special.

Like the Osmonds, the Knudsen Brothers are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  I asked on RfM if anyone knew this band back in the day.  One person said they were members of her ward back in Utah and provided free entertainment at their ward functions.  I'm not LDS myself and have never been.  My exposure to the church comes courtesy of my husband, who was LDS when we met and later resigned.  It wasn't hard for him, since he was a convert.  His daughters are LDS, and one is somewhat rabidly so.  I suppose I can thank them for introducing me to the culture.  Ex Mormons are some of my favorite people, though I'm not a fan of the church.

Anyway, I've never been to Branson.  It might be interesting to go there sometime, just because of all the performers there.  On the other hand, a lot of it seems to be acts that are family friendly and somewhat corny.  Kind of Las Vegas lite, with less emphasis on gambling, drinking, and other "sins"...  I guess this is where people go who miss the corny TV specials that were so popular in the 70s and 80s.  To be honest, I kind of enjoyed them myself, even though I was a kid at the time.