One of the things I did with my handy-dandy cassette-corder was hold the mic up to the TV and record whole programs.
I’ve lost the tapes on which I saved some Mazeppa shows, but I remember some. The following are burned into my cheesy memory, but did not make it into the wonderful LOST TAPES OF MAZEPPA video series.
Mr Mystery Campaign Song from Randy
In the fall of 1971, Mr Mystery was running for Oklahoma Governor. His campaign slogan was taken from the Tulsa World’s classified section, “white space increases readership.” (Jim Millaway played Mr Mystery, who wore a stocking-cap ski mask which covered his face and head.)
This was a tape sent in by a viewer named Randy. It was an instrumental track of “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head,” with Randy singing along:
White space increases readership,Vote for Mr Mystery, he’ll take the voters on a trip!Oops, my tongue began to slip![spoken] Bye!
Duchess Party Barn
Sherman Oaks hosted an episode of “Tulsa Teen Town Topics.” Every time he asked his guest a question, the guest responded with, “At the Duchess Party Barn tomorrow night at 7 o’clock.”
I never found out what happened!
How to Drink Seb’m-Up Cool!
This was a brief blackout in which Coach Chuck endeavored to teach us just that. He popped open a bottle of Seven-Up and chugged it in about four seconds. He started to say, “Now listen here …” but before he could say more, he erupted with a belch so earthshattering that he fell to the floor, unconscious.
Fire Up the Songbird, Penny!
One person remembers this “Shy King” segment in this way: “Once, he started, for some unknown reason, a weird sketch on his Tulsa late show that was about Sky King, a show you're going to have to look up because it was stupid and forgettable. At any rate, there was a table top full of tiny plastic trees and a model plane. There had to be a small plane. It WAS Shy King, after all. So Gailard sez the catch-phrase from the show: Let's fire up the Song Bird, Penny! And he proceeded to pull out a blow torch. He certainly did NOT know what this was going to do to the little plastic trees and plane on the table top. It was glorious.”
The way I remember it: The model plane was sitting on an otherwise-empty piano bench. It had probably been drenched in lighter fluid or something. Shy’s voice pealed, “Fire up the Songbird, Penny!” A match dropped onto the plane. It burst into fire. BLACKOUT.
Here's my attempt of what that looked like.
And with this post, MARCH MAZEPPA MADNESS forever fades into the sunset. Believe it or not, I have run out of Mazeppa! But never fear, Mr Sartain! You’ll forever keep and anarchic, silly, slapstick part of our hearts!
"Why can't this night go on forever?"
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See you on Monday to commence 2023's APRIL FOOLISHNESS!
