Growing up in the 1970’s was simultaneously odd, terrifying, stupefying, yet absolutely liberating. We lived like child royalty back then: no real parenting other than the simple rules that we broke with little repercussions, free-range play zones that extended miles away from home, unsupervised sleepovers that lasted all weekend, empty fields next to abandoned buildings that were our outposts, and Freeform FM radio as our soundtrack blasting FM102 on pocket radios while we biked all over Westside Fort Worth.

The Midnight Special; it was our little guilty pleasure as rock-and-roll kids growing up in the 70’s. A lot of our parents were zonked out by 11pm, which made it easy to commandeer the television in the living room, keep the volume down just enough to hear, and watch fabulous glam, pop, and rock of the moment. Every hip fresh artists as well as cheesy saccharine Pop appeared on the show weekly. Once it was established and known, some of our parents even LET US STAY UP to watch it, because it was a modern cultural touchstone. My pal Brett and I must have been like 10 year-old Rolling Stone critics back then, devouring each episode weekly, digesting and dissecting every performance critically, and scooping up rock knowledge in the process. I didn’t know any kids our age who were hip to Todd Rundgren or New York Dolls in 1975, nor any who despised all of the popular singer-songwriters of the day that littered our path towards finding new rock messiahs. For decades, the only visual proof of these shows was fuzzy standard-definition VHS-tainted clips on YouTube that left a lot to be desired in the form of viewability. Slowly over the past 10 years, the clips have gotten better with more showing up as time passes. A few months ago, the vault was officially opened with HD clips making their way online, thanks to an official Midnight Special Channel. As of this writing only about 30 videos have been uploaded but they are promising to unload lots more.

Watching these clips today, I remember many as some of the pivotal points in my rock-n-roll life as the gilded age of rock progressed. REO Speedwagon’s first appearance blew me away back then, as did The Guess Who and Thin Lizzy. I witnessed the 1984 Floor Show, Jobriath’s penultimate TV performance, Fleetwood Mac debuting the Rumours line-up stoned out of their heads, Journey’s new singer Steve Perry’s first TV appearance. It’s where we discovered the majesty of heyday-era KISS. it seems like ELO was on the show practically once a month! It was heaven for me and my friends, raised on FM radio, searching out new sounds while keeping our ears to the ground every single day. Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert was also a live TV late-night staple at the time, whenever there was something sucky on Midnight Special. That’s where we first saw The Ramones and Rush, but that show didn’t have near the impact of The Midnight Special at the time for my crowd. When they cancelled MS, low and behold, SCTV’s Canadian comedy show took it’s slot. Kirshner went on broadcasting into the 80’s ushering in Friday Night Videos in its New Wave brilliance. But by then, MTV was in nearly every home, thus we were immersed in performances, music video dramas, and the magic of our music on film.

And my parents wonder why music took me away at such a young age…