KAPTAIN KOOL and the KONGS
updated as of nov 16th '03
the extensive review from page 5 has moved here, and will be rearranged soon
The band never got the recognition they deserved, DEBRA CLINGER was the most talented having previously been in the ROCK FLOWERS ( see page 18), and with her sisters the CLINGERS ( see page 2)the band were promoted as a glam rock band for kids, but they made some great music on the show which never made it onto their sole lp of '78, which was a pop lp with a couple of new wave songs.....actually their heaviest music ended up onto vareity shows like the BRADY BUNCH HOUR, and the DONNY AND MARIE SHOW, would u believe ?
yes this is the glitter pop-rock band from the KROFT supershow, featuring micheal lembeck as kaptain kool, debra clinger as SUPERCHICK, and louise duarte as nashville, mickey mcneal as turkey (he used to read poems on the show) and FLATBUSH, a founding member who left under mysterious circumstances.......their best songs were performed on tv, search online for some bootlegs like we did and you'll find out this band had a wholke catologue of glam rock/pop music, and thee songs are what should have surfaced on their debut lp, now they are forever lost, and these days only enjoyed by folks like us who have these bootlegs, u can read about some of these songs below, after the lp review
their pop lp from 78 contains some good pop music and a few corny imitations of CARPENTERS - style pop (who had some great tunes themselves), , but it is notable for their good attempts at new-wave with 'CRAZY GIRL ' a rockin' number sung by KAPTAIN KOOL, and SUPERCHICK's 'YOU SAVED ME' is actually a really good BLONDIE-ABBA type new-wave-bubblegum song.......and a couple of others are pretty good too, such as the single 'and i never dreamed' '78, which came out as a 45..........
......SUPERCHICK also sang with her sisters in the CLINGER SISTERS, ( see page 2 )and was in a band called the ROCK FLOWERS ( see page 18) who had 2 lps, and a bunch of 45's that came with toy dolls called - rockflowers- in the early 70's....... anyone know rare info about these 2 bands, please let us know, and MICKEY MCMEEL has done session work with 3 DOG NIGHT, FREDA PAYNE, and FLASH CADILLAC.....we have added a great article and pictures on the KONGS on the bottom of our 'shrine to Debra Clinger', (see our 'gateway')............ here is the best KROFFT SUPERSHOW site online http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/6009/ u can find WONDERBUG, SIGMUND, and ELECTRA WOMAN and DYNA-GIRL too !.....
KONGS VIDEO REVIEW:
yes there are video clips available on bootleg recordings, we were lucky to be sent a video of old performances, they performed the opening to the krofftshow, dancing a bunch of kids inviting everyone to come along, another one was a theme song called which went 'were kaptain kool and the kongs',
and they did at least one 50's glitter style-rock number, that is pretty campy, these were still in the glitter era in '76, and were full of inspired looniness, the song is entitled 'LET'S GROOVE'...... later they performed a good disco-type song called 'and i never dreamed' in silver suits !.
....and their performance of 'CRAZY GIRL' is one of their very best, MICHAEL LEMBECK, and DEBRA CLINGER lead on all the songs, and we must say we are in awe of debra's performance as SUPERCHICK, she was a great singer and a BEAUTIFUL GIRL, we were told she lives somewhere in tennessee today, or is the residence really in l.a. ?
'NAMES'
'NAMES' a rare KONGS song was performed on the very first BRADY BUNCH VARIETY SHOW on jan 23rd,'77, this one has to be their heaviest tune performed, hard glam guitar, drum stomp, heavy bass , KAPT. KOOL sang lead on this one, some lyrics are 'u set my wheels in motion, u put the world insight, givin' me the notion, make me feel allright' !......and
'tired of looking at the funny people,showing off their names', don't need no names'...unfortunately the producers had the band perform in front of a swimming pool with 2 girls in swimsuits doin flips in the water, these underwater scenes were shown within this song, and the camera went back and forth between the girls swimming and the band playing WHY ? the sex appeal that SUPERCHICK, and NASHVILLE gave off was allready very strong, and these underwater scenes come off as pretentious, and this was the band's pivotal moment in rock, afterwards the band have a strong look of confidence, especially DEBRA....
the song has lyrics that suggest equality and not to judge a book by it's cover, we ask, how come this one and the ones below from the osmond show not included on the lp ? they are much, much better than the songs that came onto the lp except for maybe 'u saved me', and interestingly they show the band developing their hard glam sound as punk was beginning to form as a movement, allthough they were not taken seriuosly as most of folks in their category were not either.........later the band jions the BRADY family for a rendition of the DEFRANCO family's 'HEARTBEAT, (It's a Lovebeat)', we have to admit is was a pretty good disco number .........
added nov 14th '02
from a DONNY and MARIE show - jan 14th '77......... KAPTAIN KOOL and the GANG sang some more great numbers, actually it is more like a medley, the first song may be the 2nd heaviest song we have ever heard from the band, FLATBUSH sang a RARE lead performance with the whole band singing backup to a funky disco-rock tune with lyrics 'Hey what gives', he does a good job singing lead, wonder whatever happened to him as he left the show after a year or so ?....next DEBRA aka SUPERCHICK takes over lead and sings a soft-pop song about a 'crystal carousel',- 'cyrstal carousel, what a tale you'd tell'....... very nicely done,however it was way TOO SHORT, next KAPTAIN takes lead and the band goes into the song 'LET'S GROOVE' an old song from their mixed bag, also on this show was MERLE HAGGARD doing a nice old fashioned country song.....well we know some of u out there are asking, how far back into nowheresville can we go ? farther than your thinking, however we'll draw the line at reviewing the OSMONDS....
anyways this band was a lot of fun, they were a 70s assett....
article on the band, MAY TAKE A FEW SECONDS TO UPLOAD
I have never liked working. To me a job is an invasion of privacy --Danny McGoorty Irish Pool Player
Thinking men cannot be ruled. --Ayn Rand
rare show photo dated 9/9/77 *
