Batman Gum Cards

One of my very favorite things that summer was the BATMAN gum cards! I used to carry my set--and yes, I quickly amassed the whole set with tons of duplicates--in my pocket by the time Second Grade started. It was a big thick stack rubber banded together. I got quite a bit for 'em when I finally had to sell them just a few years ago.

Below you'll find a link to the art from all 55 of the cards of that first series!

http://hairygreeneyeball3.blogspot.com/2011/07/bubblegum-batman-66.html

The Beatles at Candlestick Park

Their final official concert performance!

Paul Revere and the Raiders--Kicks

History hasn't been too kind to Paul Revere and the Raiders and that's too bad. They really were one of the biggest groups of the sixties with a number of Top 40 hits, an enormous amount of TV exposure, a gimmicky stage presence and a charismatic lead singer. What's not to like? This was one of their most memorable and successful hits and it came out in 1966.

Strange Tales

Here we have the year's run of STRANGE TALES. Originally an anthology of fantasy stories, the title became the home to an ultimately unsuccessful series starring the Fantastic Four's Human Torch. Quietly, in the back, Doctor Strange began his series by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee. When spies came into vogue, Marvel cleverly took the heroes of its WWII series, SGT FURY AND HIS HOWLING COMMANDOES and updated them to the modern-day espionage world. NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D. replaced the Torch series in '65. Originally the S.H.I.E.L.D. strip would alternate covers with the DR STRANGE strip but for some reason, throughout most of this year, the spies won out.

This was too bad as Ditko, in his waning days at Marvel,pulled out all the stops and delivered some of his best work. The S.H.I.E.L.D. strip while well done and interesting, didn't really hit its stride until late in the year with the arrival of new artist Jim Steranko who would go on to be the most influential new talent of the decade in the comics field.

Ozzie and Harriet

Perhaps exemplifying the change brought on by 1966 more than anything else was THE ADVENTURES OF OZZIE AND HARRIET.

Bandleader Ozzie Nelson and his wife/band singer Harriet Hilliard took a chance at a radio sitcom in 1944 and it turned out to be a hit. Like many radio stars they played thinly disguised versions of themselves, complete with their own names. Their two sons, however, were originally played by actors. As the show reached a peak in popularity, there was a feature film called HERE COME THE NELSONS. When television boomed, THE ADVENTURES OF OZZIE AND HARRIET with its gentle humor and family values was an easy and successful transfer.

With the boys, David and Ricky, now playing themselves, America literally watched the kids grow up throughout the fifties. By the end of the fifties, the easy-going but savvy Ozzie had allowed Ricky to stretch his chops as a rock 'n' roll singer on the show. The lines of fiction and reality blurred as Ricky became a real-life teen idol at the top of the charts. Into the sixties, both sons married in real life and their real wives played "themselves" on the show.

But even though the Nelsons were America's favorite family, THE ADVENTURES OF OZZIE AND HARRIET finally came to an end on TV in March of 1966. After 22 years all told. Even some color episodes toward the end couldn't hide the fact that the Nelsons represented the black and white fifties...and by 1966, that was a looong time ago.

Dylan

One person for whom 1966 was most definitely an up and down kind of year is Bob Dylan. On the one hand he was fresh off his best received album to date. On the other, he was still being severely chastised in some quarters for his decision to "go electric" the previous year. In 1966, Bob teamed for the first time with Levon and the Hawks, the band soon to be known as...well...The Band! In summer, his double album, BLONDE ON BLONDE came out to widespread critical praise and he was elevated even higher in some quarters by both critics and peers. Not long after that, however, Dylan was involved in a motorcycle accident and his recovery would keep him on the sidelines and out of public view for the next couple of years.

Call Me--Donna Loren

Donna Loren was the Dr Pepper Girl in the sixties. In fact, she was the ONLY Dr Pepper girl! She also appeared in several of Frankie and Annette's BEACH PARTY films as well as in a memorable role as Susie the corrupt cheerleader on a 1966 Joker episode of BATMAN! I had the great pleasure to interview Ms. Loren a couple of years back. A delightful and talented lady who has recently started singing publicly again. Here's a link to our talk:

http://booksteveslibrary.blogspot.com/2009/08/my-talk-with-donna-loren.html

This clip is from Milton Berle's failed, short-lived attempt at a comeback variety series in '66, on which Donna was a regular.