Listen: Where The Action Is / Freddy Cannon FreddyCannonAction.mp3
Let’s face it. The theme song to ABC’s syndicated daily pop show, WHERE THE ACTION IS, titled ‘Action’ by Freddy Cannon, was so good, even The Ramones could have covered it.
I lived for WHERE THE ACTION IS and saw many a great act each day after school. Our local Syracuse affiliate, WSYR-TV, was wishy-washy, and many times pre-empted it with other things. Looking over the complete, chronological list of episodes and guests, I’ve only just discovered missing Pinkerton’s Assorted Colours, The Action and Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich for just that reason. Indeed, I’m a bit crushed having now discovered these atrocities. Scumbags.
But seeing an LA centric act almost daily, given they were basically down the street from the studios, must have been daily bliss. To name a few: The Guillteens, The Ikettes with and without Ike & Tina Turner, The Vejtables, The Leaves, The Seeds, Gary & The Hornets, Love, Dino Desi & Billy, The Buffalo Springfield, Jan & Dean.
Not to mention the RnB stuff: Martha & The Vandellas, Doris Troy, The Royalettes, Mary Wells, Brenda Holloway, The Toys, Maxine Brown, Kim Weston, Carla Thomas, Billy Stewart, Bobby Hebb, Alvin Cash & The Crawlers or Felice Taylor. I still replay The Vibrations doing ‘My Girl Sloopy’ vividly in my memory.
Then there were the black and white segments from England, a real high for we Anglophiles: The Small Faces, Gary Farr & The T-Bones, Them, The Mindbenders, The Zombies, The Moody Blues, The Kinks, Unit 4 + 2, The Who, Wayne Fontana, Marianne Faithfull, The Yardbirds and The Cryin’ Shames.
Tags: ABC-TV, Alvin Cash & The Crawlers, Billy Stewart, Bobby Hebb, Brenda Holloway, Carla Thomas, Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich, Dick Clark, Dino Desi & Billy, Doris Troy, Felice Taylor, Freddy Cannon, Gary & The Hornets, Ike & Tina Turner, Jan & Dean, Kim Weston, Love, Marianne Faithfull, Mary Wells, Maxine Brown, Pinkerton's Assorted Colours, The Action, The Buffalo Springfield, The Cryin' Shames, The Guilteens, The Ikettes, The Leaves, The Mindbenders, The Moody Blues, The Ramones, The Royalettes, The Seeds, The Small Faces, The Toys, The Vejtables, The Vibrations, The Who, Them, Unit 4 + 2, Where The Action Is, WSYR-TV