Ernie Kovacs' Theme Song: "Oriental Blues" by Robert Maxwell

[Martianspider00]

Deeds of The Leeds "Red Dragon" Hannibal LOL

[TheStanbabe]

Dear Rolko,Wait no more..Ernie's tv work is available once again on DVD.

[143AC]

Dear Bob Zani,

You're right that the critics never appreciated Ernie's work..only his tv fans truly appreciated his visual genius.Hopefully,today's fans of visual comedy(If they're are any left?)will enjoy seeing more of this truly creative and talented gentleman.

[WSenator1]

On another EK site, someone asked a good question - Had he lived longer, what would his career path have been? Think of what would be laid out before him if he lived a normal lifespan (he would have been 81 in the year 2000): improved video tape, VHS, DVD, computer graphics. Had he made it into the 21st Century and still in his right mind - YouTube! It staggers the mind.

[143AC]

Dear Rolko, I think that a more appropriate time to rerelease Ernie's tv work..would

be in January of 1919..his 100th birthday. I'm hoping the trustees and the lawyer handleing his estate will be agreeable

to rereleasing his work for a new generation of tv comedy fans.

[rolko52]

@143AC As long as the Mayans allow it! ;-)

[rolko52]

@143AC The year 2012 will be the 50th anniversary of his death. Hopefully we fans could perhaps persuade a media outlet (like Comedy Central) to rerun his classics. I am sure the trustees of his estate would be attuned to perpetuating his legacy.

[fromthesidelines]

If there had been an announcer at the beginning, he would have said, "'THE ERNIE KOVACS SPECIAL', featuring Joe Mikolas, Jolene Brand, Bobby Laugher and Maggi Brown....presented by DUTCH MASTERS- 'Step Up To Finer Smoking Pleasure', with Dutch Masters, 'The Finer Cigar'..."

[rolko52]

@fromthesidelines That would have been the convention, but Ernie was indeed unconventional!

[fromthesidelines]

Ernie began using the Maxwell recording of "Oriental Blues" during the second season of "TAKE A GOOD LOOK" (1960-'61). Then, he used it as the theme for his monthly series of specials after that show ended in the spring of 1961. He taped about seven of those before his death in January 1962. The "Dutch Masters" ashtray at :22 is the same one that was prominently displayed on his desk on "TAKE A GOOD LOOK"...

[wmbrown6]

@fromthesidelines - Which recording of "Oriental Blues" did Mr. Kovacs use in the 1950's? And as for Maxwell's version, what was the 45 release?

[bobzani]

Sadly, I'm old enough to have seen Ernie's stuff LIVE! I loved em then and now. He was a pioneer in visual effects, but was unappreciated at that time. His shows were not very well received. But, his sense of humor was wild.

[WSenator1]

@bobzani - Why "sadly"? I'm probably about your age, because I first saw EK's stuff live as well. One of my strongest memories of his work was the Eugene "Silent Show." It didn't freak me out that much, after seeing WB Cartoons, Tex Avery cartoons, or The Three Stooges. True, it is a shame that he was underappreciated in his time, but at least he is somewhere knowing that people like us know him as the genius that he was.

[jpstenino]

@bobzani Why do you say "Sadly" ???

[bobzani]

@jpstenino I said sadly because this stuff is 50 yrs. old and reminds me how old I am!

[KawhackitaRag]

Oh, and Will Donaldson was not related to Walter, as far as I know. Instead, he was another songwriter and the husband of more famous pianist Muriel Pollock (who was a real piano whiz in the 1920's).

[KawhackitaRag]

"Oriental Blues" was written by Jack Newlon in 1933. I know nothing about him. The first theme of this rag is a shameless rip-off of the first theme of "Rialto Ripples" by George Gershwin and Will Donaldson, and which some people say was in turn a rip-off of something by Luckey Roberts.

[mrspaz121]

AWESOME!

[rolko52]

Thanks for the response. I hope that all Kovacs fans enjoy these gems as long as possible.