October 1982
Reviewed by VegaNova
Segment 1
"Elvis Medley" (Blue Suede Shows, All Shook Up, Teddy Bear, Hound Dog, Burning Love, It's Now or Never,
Return To Sender, Puppet On A String, Fools Rush In)
Segment 2
"Cotton Fields / Louisiana Skit"
"Louisiana"
Segment 3
"Tomorrow" (Tomorrow, Maybe)
Segment 4
"Child of the Rock"
Segment 5
"Goofy Gas"
Segment 6
"Abbey Road Medley" (You Never Give Me Your Money, Sun King, Mean Mr. Mustard, Polythene Pam, She Came
In Through The Bathroom Window, Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight, The End, Her Majesty)
The Tribute to Abbey Road tape was by far one of the best Showtapes produced during the ShowBiz era, and is one of the most unique. The showtape contains a short list of songs, but of these, many are classics that are as good if not better than those that followed. Such classics as Louisiana and the Elvis Medley were repeat favorites that would make appearances in later Showtapes. The entire show is tied together in the end by the "Abbey Road Medley" taken from the Beatles' Abbey Road Album. The medley is beautifully assembled and at the time was the longest show ever included on a ShowTape - nearly 14 minutes in length.
Abbey Road Medley - Rick Bailey is given his first lead singing role in this show - however, it's not as Beach Bear. He appears as the voice of the moon during "Golden Slumbers", and Aaron Fechter remains as Beach Bear's voice during "Polythene Pam" and also on other parts of the tape. (According to Aaron, Rick had played for the band for a few years and one day in the studio Rick was showing him a song and began to sing a little. Nobody knew he could even sing, and when Aaron called the rest of the band in to hear, Rick became embarrassed and didn't want to open his mouth again.)
Child of the Rock - This show was written by Duke Chaupetta, the voice of Dook. The intro of this show has Jeff Howell (Uncle Klunk), interviewing customers at a local ShowBiz. Donkey Kong can be heard in the background. The show also ends with one of the first references to Lawrence Welk - a hero to Burt "Sal" Wilson (Fatz) that would be referenced several times during the ShowBiz era.
Tomorrow - This was the show that introduced the world to the beautiful voice of Shalisa Sloan. She was only 11 years old when she was given the role of Mitzi. Creative Engineering held a recording session for child singers which were needed for backup vocals on "Child of the Rock". Shalisa stood out as such a talent that she was brought back in for another audition. At this second audition Shalisa performed a medley from "Annie" while her father played acoustic guitar.
Elvis Medley - Shalisa recorded her first studio song as Mitzi in this medley. The song was "It's Now or Never" and she had to sing in her head voice which she wasn't used to doing. Her parents feared that CEI wouldn't call her back.
Elvis Medley - This show was recorded again in 1984 in Spanish for the Trivia Night Showtape and Dook mentions that it was recorded "A year and a half ago". The Spanish version has the new voices for Beach Bear and Mitzi and ties into the showtape, because the trivia is to figure out what's been changed since the original version.
Louisiana - This song was recorded by Burt "Sal" Wilson and appears for the first time on this tape. It would later appear on compilation tapes, and a short mention of it happens in the "State Songs" skit on the Crazy Colander Head Night Showtape.
Goofy Gas - This was an original song that was written by Jeff Howell.
Child of the Rock - In October of 2005 Duke revealed his inspiration for writing "Child of the Rock" - it was a retaliation against how much press Burt "Sal" Wilson was receiving in the early days. All of the RAE character voices were aspiring stars at the time, and Duke felt cheated and stunted since his talent was going unrecognized.
Child of the Rock - During Jeff Howell's intro, one child claims his favorite musical group is "Clutch" - which was the name of the local Orlando band that Burt Wilson and Jeff Howell belonged to when they were discoved by CEI to help produce the Hard Luck Bears and Wolfpack 5 shows. Aaron paid the band Clutch $10,000 as amends for their loss of Burt and Jeff who became his full time employees.
Louisiana - There's a line in this song that goes "Uncle Sonny takes us for a ride" - this was based on an real account, as Burt "Sal" Wilson actually had an uncle named Sonny.
Abbey Road Medley - In a 2005 episode of Billy Bob's Newsblast, Shalisa pointed out the "Abbey Road Medley" as an example of how the Rock-afire recordings were quite a cut above what would be considered normal material for a kids show.
-4 out of 5 Tokens-
This Showtape is monumental for several reasons. It stands as a major turning point in the sound of Rock-afire songs - with the addition of Shalisa as Mitzi and the discovery of Rick Bailey's singing talent, the sound and lead vocals make a shift from here on out. No longer will songs be predominantly led by Dook and Fatz, and no longer will the voices of Beach Bear and Mitzi make people's skin crawl. "Abbey Road" is a Showtape filled with excellent songs, and stands as a moment captured in time - a time when the sound and cast of the Rock-afire Explosion is in a transitional period of flux, never to be the same way again. And the sound combinations that arise from this Showtape illustrate that period, afterall, where else can you hear both "voices" of Beach Bear sing in a medley together? If there is ever a line to be drawn or a bridge made connecting the Rock-afire of the Golden era to the voice changeovers which introduced the now-Classic era, the Tribute to Abbey Road Showtape is unquestionably it.
"Elvis Medley" (Blue Suede Shows, All Shook Up, Teddy Bear, Hound Dog, Burning Love, It's Now or Never,
Return To Sender, Puppet On A String, Fools Rush In)
Segment 2
"Cotton Fields / Louisiana Skit"
"Louisiana"
Segment 3
"Tomorrow" (Tomorrow, Maybe)
Segment 4
"Child of the Rock"
Segment 5
"Goofy Gas"
Segment 6
"Abbey Road Medley" (You Never Give Me Your Money, Sun King, Mean Mr. Mustard, Polythene Pam, She Came
In Through The Bathroom Window, Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight, The End, Her Majesty)
The Tribute to Abbey Road tape was by far one of the best Showtapes produced during the ShowBiz era, and is one of the most unique. The showtape contains a short list of songs, but of these, many are classics that are as good if not better than those that followed. Such classics as Louisiana and the Elvis Medley were repeat favorites that would make appearances in later Showtapes. The entire show is tied together in the end by the "Abbey Road Medley" taken from the Beatles' Abbey Road Album. The medley is beautifully assembled and at the time was the longest show ever included on a ShowTape - nearly 14 minutes in length.
Abbey Road Medley - Rick Bailey is given his first lead singing role in this show - however, it's not as Beach Bear. He appears as the voice of the moon during "Golden Slumbers", and Aaron Fechter remains as Beach Bear's voice during "Polythene Pam" and also on other parts of the tape. (According to Aaron, Rick had played for the band for a few years and one day in the studio Rick was showing him a song and began to sing a little. Nobody knew he could even sing, and when Aaron called the rest of the band in to hear, Rick became embarrassed and didn't want to open his mouth again.)
Child of the Rock - This show was written by Duke Chaupetta, the voice of Dook. The intro of this show has Jeff Howell (Uncle Klunk), interviewing customers at a local ShowBiz. Donkey Kong can be heard in the background. The show also ends with one of the first references to Lawrence Welk - a hero to Burt "Sal" Wilson (Fatz) that would be referenced several times during the ShowBiz era.
Tomorrow - This was the show that introduced the world to the beautiful voice of Shalisa Sloan. She was only 11 years old when she was given the role of Mitzi. Creative Engineering held a recording session for child singers which were needed for backup vocals on "Child of the Rock". Shalisa stood out as such a talent that she was brought back in for another audition. At this second audition Shalisa performed a medley from "Annie" while her father played acoustic guitar.
Elvis Medley - Shalisa recorded her first studio song as Mitzi in this medley. The song was "It's Now or Never" and she had to sing in her head voice which she wasn't used to doing. Her parents feared that CEI wouldn't call her back.
Elvis Medley - This show was recorded again in 1984 in Spanish for the Trivia Night Showtape and Dook mentions that it was recorded "A year and a half ago". The Spanish version has the new voices for Beach Bear and Mitzi and ties into the showtape, because the trivia is to figure out what's been changed since the original version.
Louisiana - This song was recorded by Burt "Sal" Wilson and appears for the first time on this tape. It would later appear on compilation tapes, and a short mention of it happens in the "State Songs" skit on the Crazy Colander Head Night Showtape.
Goofy Gas - This was an original song that was written by Jeff Howell.
Child of the Rock - In October of 2005 Duke revealed his inspiration for writing "Child of the Rock" - it was a retaliation against how much press Burt "Sal" Wilson was receiving in the early days. All of the RAE character voices were aspiring stars at the time, and Duke felt cheated and stunted since his talent was going unrecognized.
Child of the Rock - During Jeff Howell's intro, one child claims his favorite musical group is "Clutch" - which was the name of the local Orlando band that Burt Wilson and Jeff Howell belonged to when they were discoved by CEI to help produce the Hard Luck Bears and Wolfpack 5 shows. Aaron paid the band Clutch $10,000 as amends for their loss of Burt and Jeff who became his full time employees.
Louisiana - There's a line in this song that goes "Uncle Sonny takes us for a ride" - this was based on an real account, as Burt "Sal" Wilson actually had an uncle named Sonny.
Abbey Road Medley - In a 2005 episode of Billy Bob's Newsblast, Shalisa pointed out the "Abbey Road Medley" as an example of how the Rock-afire recordings were quite a cut above what would be considered normal material for a kids show.
-4 out of 5 Tokens-
This Showtape is monumental for several reasons. It stands as a major turning point in the sound of Rock-afire songs - with the addition of Shalisa as Mitzi and the discovery of Rick Bailey's singing talent, the sound and lead vocals make a shift from here on out. No longer will songs be predominantly led by Dook and Fatz, and no longer will the voices of Beach Bear and Mitzi make people's skin crawl. "Abbey Road" is a Showtape filled with excellent songs, and stands as a moment captured in time - a time when the sound and cast of the Rock-afire Explosion is in a transitional period of flux, never to be the same way again. And the sound combinations that arise from this Showtape illustrate that period, afterall, where else can you hear both "voices" of Beach Bear sing in a medley together? If there is ever a line to be drawn or a bridge made connecting the Rock-afire of the Golden era to the voice changeovers which introduced the now-Classic era, the Tribute to Abbey Road Showtape is unquestionably it.