When you pick-up a book entitled THE LUCKY STRIKE PAPERS, you might expect a hard-hitting investigation of the tobacco industry. But, open the first page of this breezy,affectionate valentine to the early video era and your unfiltered theory goes up in smoke.
Andrew Lee Fielding authored this smart,yet,nostalgic, tribute to a televised entertainment institution, NBC-TV'S YOUR HIT PARADE, and to the significant role his own Mother, Sue ( Fielding ) Bennett played as a star performer on the innovative and industrious, musical-variety show.
( YOUR HIT PARADE STARS SNOOKY LANSON & SUE BENNETT )
Each week a company of versatile and vibrant performers would dramatize the weeks most popular songs. Even in television's genesis, they found creative and captivating ways to visually essay the music America loved.
On occasion, YOUR HIT PARADE left the confines of NBC's, venerable STUDIO 8-H,shooting the complex, LIVE show on location at the nearby Rockefeller Center Skating Rink or on the deck of the S.S.United States,days before the oceanliner embarked on its maiden voyage.
Mr.Fielding was kind enough to send me an autographed copy of this passionate and human look at life in front of the cameras and behind the scenes at a series that may have been the true template for the music videos that filled cable television a generation later. I want to apologize for taking so long to share this story with you, and to thank him for this excellent book and for his kindness.
While I have no financial interest in THE LUCKY STRIKE PAPERS by Andrew Lee Fielding I want you to know that it is available for purchase at this website:
http://www.luckystrikepapers.com/
One note,while LUCKY STRIKE may have sponsored many of America's favorite television programs, I DO NOT ENDORSE SMOKING.
Below, I have posted some YOU TUBE clips of YOUR HIT PARADE, which aired from 1950 to 1959 on NBC-TV. Enjoy!!!!!
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