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Does Anyone Remember Don Webster and Upbeat
There was a show that I remember watching as a kid called Upbeat hosted by Don Webster. Recently I was trying to find a clip where Don nearly got hit by a guitar at the end of a Lemon Pipers song but that clip has apparently disappeared from You Tube.
What I discovered is that Mr Webster passed away in Dec 2018 and that he was Canadian and began his career in Hamilton ( I presume on CHCH ). The show featured a cross section of rock and pop talent live and I enjoyed the fact that you could see a lot of up and coming bands on the show and I had no idea that the host was Canadian. The show was syndicated out of Cleveland and I remember watching it I guess on Buffalo TV around 1967 and 68.
I just read on wiki that the Velvet Undergroud appeared on Upbeat in 1969 in their only national TV appearance and that's a badge of honor !
Last edited by Fitz (January 1, 2019 9:08 am)
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Re: Does Anyone Remember Don Webster and Upbeat
I have a fairly dim memory of Upbeat - I think it was on the old WGR here but only for a short time. They also showed another obscure (for this area) program called The Lloyd Thaxton Show, which came out of a local L.A. station, and consisted of various well known groups lip syncing their hits on stage.
I can't seem to corroborate this anywhere, but it seems to me Johnny Rivers did the theme song at one point. Anyway, while it was one of those afternoon things for kids and teens, it was a massive hit in its home market, where Thaxton regularly out-rated everything on the air against him.
Ken Levine, one of the great TV comedy writers of all time (MASH, Cheers, Frasier, etc.) wrote a piece in which he remembers Thaxton after the host passed away in 2008.
"If his budget was more than $4.95 a show I’d be shocked. His set consisted of four panels (probably cardboard) with musical notes drawn on them. Kids from local high schools were invited to dance on a soundstage the size of an elevator. He won his time slot daily, trouncing the competing news broadcasts."
It shows just how important this guy was to those who remember the show and it's well worth the read.
Meanwhile, the video below features rare footage of this long lost treasure from 1965, featuring an unknown singer named "Michael Blessing." A year later, everyone would know him, albeit by an entirely different name - Mike Nesmith of The Monkees.
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Re: Does Anyone Remember Don Webster and Upbeat
I remember Loyd Thaxton vaguely and it was on in this area maybe a year before Upbeat. Upbeat ran in the area maybe around 1967/68. I had heard about Michael Nesmith as Michael Blessing but had never seen any video. Thanks for that. Interestingly Nesmith was on Colpix records and the Monkees on Colgems.
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Re: Does Anyone Remember Don Webster and Upbeat
Chatham Ontario born Don Webster was a talented guy.
The Upbeat show featured just about all the big names bands & solo artists of the 60's.
I was was a fan of both the show and the man.
RIP
Last edited by unclefester (January 1, 2019 10:10 pm)