is it just me, or does that Midnight Special DVD set look kinda cool?

I just saw part of an infomercial for this...not Time-Life, but it definitely looks cool. But after S&H the cost will probably be $28 per disc, a little rich for me.

The problem with shows like MIDNIGHT SPECIAL is that they're only as good as whoever the guest was. And those DVD's look cool enough to RENT, but as far as BUYING?

I'm pretty sure my friend received at least one of these as a gift. I'll try to report back tomorrow, when I find out which one(s).

Seem to recall that Libby Titus and Phoebe Snow were on all the time. Perhaps there was a rule that there had to be one or the other on every episode. Perhaps the scheduling was synchronized with the alternation of McCloud and McMillan And Wife on the NBC mysteries series.

So during Columbo nights it was...Janis Ian?

Haha. Exactly.

Here is a discussion of the Phoebe Snow issue: http://www.juliuswechter.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8087&sid=6d2eb1a0dbcba3ec0ade6b8b9c0b9dad

After looking at the MIDNIGHT SPECIAL episode guide on TV.Com, seems like the Bee Gees (pre-disco) and Waylon Jennings were on that show a thousand times apiece...

Midnight At The Special
http://www.thevillageunderground.com/images/history_pic3a.jpg

Hm. Libby Titus seems to have been on only one time. Maybe I'm confounding and her home base was actually Don Kirshner's Rock Concert.

Unfortunately the episode guide for that show is rather incomplete.

...and when it comes to late night rock TV, everybody seems to have forgotten IN CONCERT (1972-75), which doesn't show up on TV.Com at all. Unlike the bright lights of THE MIDNIGHT SPECIAL, which may as well have been THE TONIGHT SHOW with rock bands, IN CONCERT was on ABC and was usually filmed right in the middle of a darkly-lit sweat-stained auditorium, featuring all the big acts of the time performing full sets instead of two songs here and there. However, the corporate brass must have interfered something terrible, because the last few episodes were all-country.

IN CONCERT, by the way, is not to be confused with (a) the updated version from the nineties, or (b) DON KIRSHNER'S ROCK CONCERT, which seemed rather dull in comparison.

wait so has anyone actually bought and/or watched these...?

I'm now seeing new infomercials, with different clips of the same artists...and it still looks great!

https://timelife.com/products/midnight-special/?utm_source=AllMusic&utm_medium=TotalAssault&utm_term=Midnight&utm_campaign=Y13GTLWBUS

https://timelife.com/system/screenshots/images/000/000/936/small/Chris_Cross_MS1.jpg?1407171051

I've got ripped copies of some of these but a lot is missing (would love to have all the Bee Gees clips...)

always cracks me up that Christopher Cross plays a double guitar in a football jersey... nothin says "I'm going sailing!" like a double guitar and a football jersey

Feel like anecdotally I am observing some extra funky drum breaks and added handed percussion on a few of these. Here on Linda Ronstadt singing "You're No Good," for example.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3SOosWH6_M

Oh wow. Apparently that is Andrew Gold on guitar and Skunk Baxter on congas.

And then the same band went on New York's Rocking Eve later that evening?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c41embg2Bfg
(around the 39 minute mark)

Mesmerized by these performances. Maybe I should post to a Linda Ronstadt thread though.

And then again, later that Rockin’ Eve, after midnight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c41embg2Bfg

Ha, wrong thread, but at least I spelled Rockin’ correctly this time.

https://deadline.com/2023/03/midnight-special-youtube-channel-david-bowie-tina-turner-elton-john-fleetwood-mac-1235280405/

Hopefully they'll finally unearth those Spencer Davis clips w/Chaki's Dad!

https://youtube.com/@themidnightspecialtvshow

Seems like they've already uploaded a good chunk of the Bowie 1984 Floor Show.

Excellent indeed.

Hopefully they'll finally unearth those Spencer Davis clips w/Chaki's Dad!

i found it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT4yIuArY_k

cool line-up. r.i.p. jim. you only had a few months left!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlJTLsc1ofs

savoy brown AND wishbone ash. guitars on guitars.

i love jim's "operator" at the beginning. sounds so good.

wishbone ash with their orange amps. #onethread

Hosted by Seals & Crofts with special guest appearance by Paul Butterfield's Better Days, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Arlo Guthrie, Leo Kottke, T. Rex, Uriah Heep, and Wolfman Jack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyQ1FpW2MyY

i'm glad i was around for stuff like this. i was young but all this music on t.v. kinda washed over me. and it was everywhere. variety shows. late night shows. even the daytime shows like mike douglas and dinah and merv had tons of music. i miss that.

Man that plugged in acoustic sound on the Jim Croce bit is so shitty

Leo Kotke performance is incredible

i love that arlo has to follow that insane bang a gong. haha! i want to see footage of that green room!

Hosted by War with special guest appearance by Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Climax Blues Band, Mott the Hoople, New York Dolls, and Danny O'Keefe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeELnIGjiMg

Hosted by Billy Preston with special guest appearance by Bo Diddley, Ned Doheny, Gladstone, Maureen McGovern, Buddy Miles, Steely Dan, and Wolfman Jack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0PLCH0TYB0

bo diddley and steely dan together at last.

At what point did the Midnight Special stop putting up those big lit-up letters behind the bands? How cool would it be to see NED DOHENY in ten foot neon? Of course, my 13-year old self would have been all "take it back to AM, you England Dan and John Ford Poser!"