Chuck Harding and the Colorado Cowhands with Speck Rhodes

The photo above was probably taken sometime around 1950. No idea about the location but almost certainly one of the many promotional appearances KBOA put on in the early days. The performers are Chuck Harding and the Colorado Cowhands with a guest appearance by Speck Rhodes (checked suit). Rhodes was a country music comedian and entertainer best known for his appearances on the Porter Wagoner television show. The stage is the flat bed of some kind of truck.

I love everything about this photo (probably taken by John Reeder, a station employee): the kids crouched behind the piano; the string of lights. But the crowd is the best. Packed shoulder to shoulder, standing room only (no chairs). An event like this one is probably as close as these folks ever got to a “concert.” They would have heard Chuck and the boys from their countless live performances on KBOA and a chance to see them in person was a big deal. Few if any TVs at the time.

Trackdown (Trump con man episode)

“Trackdown is an American Western television series starring Robert Culp that aired more than 70 episodes on CBS between 1957 and 1959. Trackdown was a spin-off of Dick Powell’s Zane Grey Theater. Trackdown stars Robert Culp as Texas Ranger Hoby Gilman. It is set in the 1870s after the American Civil War. In early episodes, stories focused on Gilman going to different Texas towns in pursuit of wanted fugitives.” (Wikipedia)

I was nine years old in 1957 and remember watching Trackdown every week (no binge-watching back then). In those days we watched everything but westerns were must-see TV. In a 1958 episode a con mand named Trump comes to down and warns people the world will be destroyed and only he can save them… by building a wall.

And the actor playing Trump in the episode… looks a little like Fred Trump (right).

Truth in Advertising

Written by David Chiavegato and its director, Tim Hamilton, Truth In Advertising is a genuinely funny comedy that was nominated for a Palm d’Or in 2001. Colin Mochrie, best known as a regular on Whose Line Is It Anyway? in the US and UK, is the boss in an advertising agency where everybody tells the embarrassing truth about…advertising.

Camcorder video

This found photo reminded me of how difficult it used to be to record, edit and share video. Only the true geek (or your uncle) carried one of these cameras around. When you did get some video you had to get it off the camera and into that big old desktop computer (SCSI) where you could edit it with really bad software. If you wanted to share it you made the video teeny tiny to keep the file size down. Then all you could do was email it. No place to share. Better than Super8 but just barely.