PBS's 'Wall $treet Week' with Louis Rukeyser, "TWX in 12 Bars" (( Stereo ))

[AaronBruceLadner]

Did Aynone Else get Mad when Louis Rukeyser left Wall Street Week?

[ogservice]

If Rukeyser were alive today, the market the past two years would have killed him!

[Kodos13]

Giving this video thumbs up is a definite *BUY* signal.

[helmantoler]

My father would come home from work on a Friday evening and he and I would watch this show together (I was about 5, it was 1980). This song had brought out an involuntary reaction in me to get up and dance around in paroxysms that used to make my Dad laugh. Then he explained what a share of stock was, and what terms like "volume" and "dilution" meant to me. I lost my father this year, but this song really brought back some long-untapped memories. I would love to make it my ringtone - any ideas

[lostintracy]

when i was a kid for some reason i liked watching this in my room on friday nights. i would sit there, play with my toys & it would be on for background noise. i liked the theme song. (i was a weird kid)

[AaronBruceLadner]

When I First Saw "Wall Street Week with Fortune", I got Mad and Said, "BRING BACK LOUIS RUKEYSER!!".

[Similie]

I loved the elves!

[johnwoa]

It has been many years now, but Friday nights at 8:30 p.m. will never be the same without Mr. Rukeyser. I lived for Friday nights and Lou's program. I even got my mother hooked on the show. She initially told me way back then that she probably wouldn't be interested in it. But, within a few weeks, she was hooked! I wonder whatever happened to Mary Farrell and Marty Zweig?

[YYZSkinhead]

This song is percussionist gold. I play the vibes and various percussion and would love to play it live. Stewart Copeland did a similar intro playing a typewriter on the Rumble Fish soundtrack.

[samanthabellisio]

This is great, so glad to see my Grandfather was loved and is missed by so many

[edcrawf]

I think this theme is fused into my sub conscious. I am in my mid 30's and remember as a kid my grandfather would have this on Sat mornings. That set of grandparents lived in NJ and my family would visit 1-2 times per year. I never did get to see much cartoons as a kid, but somehow this was on without fail. He had a big sheet of paper out on his steel table, leaning back in an old style leather office chair. Tracking stocks, monitoring the pundits. Just amazing how many memories come back.

[paragshah2112]

@edcrawf my god i know what you mean. i share the same experience and i still punch the tune up when i catch myself whistling it.

[edcrawf]

@paragshah2112

Funny how many of us had similar experiences. Different world now. Too much emphasis on screaming and ranting or raving about the hottest or coldest stock of the nanosecond.

[paragshah2112]

@edcrawf yeah well, you know, its not like i had money in the game at that age either. our kids will warmly remember all the sound board cow bells and rubber chickens of today when they "remember spending time with ... " as they were coming to an age where they were starting to get awareness of how the world works outside their little microcosm and how it absolutely effects their little microcosm as well.

[KutWrite]

I always liked this song - and the show.

PBS blew it by firing this guy.

Great pix of Rukeyser, BTW - I wonder about the topless pool shot.

[Stratman78]

@KutWrite That was a picture that I stumbled on the internet which I think was from Playboy magazine. I was looking for pictures of Louis Rukeyser that had good resolutions when I found that one and I though "Oh wow! That's an unusual picture of him! That's going in!"

[adrianplaut]

@KutWrite they didn't fire him he became ill and couldn't do the show anymore pbs tried to get him back many times while he was ill but he just gave up finally and i guess he died

[wmbrown6]

@adrianplaut - Actually, MPT DID fire him . . . the show he gave up after being overcome by the illness that ultimately took his life was his subsequent "Louis Rukeyser's Wall Street," which originated from CNBC and was aired on some public TV stations (ironically, a few of which actually axed what became "Wall $treet Week with Fortune" to make room for Rukeyser's other program, such ill will having been created by the manner in which MPT sacked him).

[jellyfishattack]

@adrianplaut MPT did fire him. He was forced to start a new show, Louis Rukeyser's Wall Street, on CNBC. Many PBS stations (although, not all), took his new show and dumped WSW w/Fortune. Unfortunately, he had to quit his new show after only 2 years (I'm not exactly sure) because he became sick (cancer, I think), and eventually succumbed to his illness.

I'm 35 and I love hearing TWX in 12 Bars, it brings back so many happy memories of Lou and my grandparents too.

[jellyfishattack]

@KutWrite I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks the song was as great as the show!

MPT really blew it when they fired Lou, he was WSW.

[ddavenport]

And now, Wall Street Week...with Jim Cramer!

[FairDealDan]

Its weird...I make my living as a musician / college music teacher. I remember being interested in this show because my dad watched it...the theme music presented here really grabbed me (odd time signature you know....)  Now I watch CNBCall day... Jim Kramer / Larry Kudlow and I'm totally into the stock market.....

[ogservice]

There was a long-running joke in the local newspaper about how no one else could possibly play George Washington for a President's Day Parade than Louis Rukeyser.

I think he wore his hair that way on purpose just to match the portraits.

[MrAaronLadner]

Good Evening, I'm Louis Rukeyser.

This is Wall Street Week...

Welcome Back.

[kmarooon]

Loved this show to death...miss the 1980s and 1990s

[akarpo]

hard not to get emotional when hearing this; I remember my Dad and I would go my grandfather's house on Friday nights and although I had little, if no knowledge of what was being talked about I was still held captive by Rukeyser's showmanship; the man was simply engrossed in what he did, he loved it, and you could tell. His unique sense of humor and witty remarks really made it memorable.

Incredible how much this country and economy have changed. I miss the old days.

[KutWrite]

@akarpo Yeah; I liked the "elves," and how he'd call predictors back each year to answer for their errors or genius.

[BarneyFife82]

Wow... this brings back some memories. My grandfather used to watch this in the 80s at night while I was playing with my toys in front of the TV..

[keithlaney]

Sorry for the two star rating. I accidently tapped my mouse pad on the stars rather than the play icon. This video deserves five stars.

[Stratman78]

Hey, that's alright. No big deal. We all make mistakes.

[merluxia]

I used to watch this with my dad every night before bed. id sing along with the theme every time :) miss you dad!!! (and lou!)

[andrewps84]

I echo your sentiments. My dad and I used to watch this program together all the time, and now he's gone too...videos like this are great to see.

[Ringo84]

I remember this theme. My grandfather watched this show for a while in the 90s.

[MrAaronLadner]

If Louis Rukeyser hadn't been Fired by PBS, i think that Wall Street Week would've been on longer.

[walker51735]

@MrAaronLadner I agree with your comment. If Maryland Public Television, (MPT) the producers of the show allowed Louis Rukeyser to pick his own successor, they is a good chance that the viewers would still watch and support the program on PBS stations nationwide. Remember it was Maryland Public Television who fired Louis Rukeyser, unceremoniously I may add, even though Wall Street Week accounted for more money raised than any other PBS show for PBS stations nationwide.

[MrAaronLadner]

I remember this Theme Song. When you heard it, you knew it was time for Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser.

I still miss Louis to this Day.

[1717silver]

@MrAaronLadner Louis makes me crave those days of ethical capitalism.

[boattrainpaddy]

One of (if not the finest ever) the best musical themes ever created for a television show.

'TWX in 12 Bars' has everything to make one think of Finance, London, Wall Street, NY City all with the fast pace induced by the Telex machine in the background.

Terrific!!

[Davidt33]

There's a mistake on the date. Louis Rukeyser's last show of Wall Street Week was March 22, 2002 not May 22.

[Stratman78]

Thank you for the correction on the Information blog. Thought I made a mistake in the video.