The Thorn Birds: Remembering the miniseries

Rachel Ward and Richard Chamberlain in "The Thorn Birds".
Source: http://bookorbigscreen.blogspot.com/2011/10/one-superlative-song-existence-price.html
(May be subject to copyright)

It was one of the most watched television events of the 1980s, and a symbol of one of those things we have lost – the epic television miniseries.

For four nights, record numbers of viewers faithfully tuned in to see if a priest played by Richard Chamberlain, would bow to carnal desire and finally get together with Meggie Cleary, played by newcomer Rachel Ward.

“The Thorn Birds” was one of the most memorable miniseries of the 1980s.

The story
Chamberlain plays Father Ralph de Bricassart, an ambitious young Catholic priest, who is posted to a small community in Australia. He gets the attention of Mary Carson, a local matriarch, who tries desperately to tempt him to break his vows, but never succeeds. Ralph curries her favour in the hopes she will make a sizeable contribution to the Catholic Church and further his own ambition. Meanwhile, over time, he grows closer to young Meggie Cleary who grows into an attractive woman.

When Mary Carson dies, it is discovered she has left the bulk of her estate to the church and made Ralph the executor. That forces him to choose between ambition and staying close to Meggie. It was a master manipulation from the grave by a jealous Mary Carson. Ralph chose to pursue his ambition.

The remainder of the miniseries focuses on what becomes of Ralph and Meggie. He goes off to Rome and progresses all the way to the position of cardinal. Meggie will marry Luke O”Neill, a farm worker who does not fulfill Meggie, and eventually she will leave him. Inevitably, Ralph and Meggie will cross paths from time to time resulting in no end of drama.

It was a riveting story.

The mini-series
One of the hallmarks of television in the 1980s was the mini-series.

It all really started in the 1970s with “Roots”, which became the most watched mini-series of all time. “The Thorn Birds” would be number two.

It was so successful that I did not watch it when it first aired in March of 1983. Instead, my mom told me all about it. “The Thorn Birds” was so popular, I watched it when it was rerun in January of 1985. Because it was so dense with detail, my mom’s explanation was not a spoiler at all. It just whet my appetite.

Richard Chamberlain, who played Ralph de Bricassart, became a mini-series legend. He started in a miniseries called “Centennial” in 1978 then really hit it big with “Shogun” in 1980. That mini-series, set in feudal Japan and based on the James Clavell novel, was a real television event.

There would be many more – “Rich Man, Poor Man”; “The Blue and the Gray”; “North and South”; “Masada”; “Winds of War”; “War and Remembrance”; “Marco Polo”; “Space”; “Master of the Game”; and so many more.

It was such a big part of television viewing back then. The mini-series allowed producers to tell longer stories than could fit in a two-hour made-for-TV movie, yet were not meant to be series television.

It was the epitome of appointment viewing, because everybody tuned into whatever minis-series it was, and it was all the talk at school the next day.

Parting thoughts
This was another idea that sat at the bottom of my blog’s closet for a long time. I initially wrote it down when I heard Colleen McCullough, who wrote the book “The Thorn Birds”, passed away in 2015.

It brought back some interesting memories. “The Thorn Birds” cemented Richard Chamberlain’s place as a mini-series star, while it launched the careers of Rachel Ward, who played Meggie, and Bryan Brown, who played Luke. Interestingly, Ward and Brown met on the set of “The Thorn Birds”, fell in love and got married. They are together to this day.

“The Thorn Birds” would go on to be nominated for 11 Primetime Emmy awards, winning for outstanding achievement in makeup; outstanding art direction for a mini-series or movie; outstanding film editing for a mini-series or movie; outstanding lead actress in a mini-series or movie for Barbara Stanwyck who played Mary Carson; outstanding supporting actor in a mini-series or movie for Richard Kiley; and outstanding supporting actress in a mini-series or movie for Jean Simmons. Chamberlain was nominated for outstanding lead actor; Brown and Christopher Plummer were nominated for outstanding supporting actor; Piper Laurie was nominated for outstanding supporting actress; and “The Thorn Birds” was nominated for outstanding mini-series or movie.

What I will always remember was how much my Mom loved “The Thorn Birds” the first time she saw it, and told me all about it. I really don’t know why I didn’t watch it that first time in 1983.

I did not make that mistake twice when it re-aired in 1985.

Sitting there beside me all four nights to watch it again, was my Mom, and she loved it just as much the second time around.

I could see why.

Richard Kiel: Much more than a giant

Richard Kiel as Samson in "The Longest Yard".
Source: https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/215258057167832167/
(May be subject to copyright)

He could have just been another giant on screen – a one dimensional oaf, a goon, a barbarian.

Instead, Richard Kiel represented his size well, playing multi-dimensional giants. Sometimes he was terrifying, sometimes he played his part for laughs, and sometimes he was just plain endearing.

In the two parts I remember best, he was a hulking inmate who was part killer and part softie in “The Longest Yard”, and a villain who turned good and loving in two James Bond movies.

Along the way he also dabbled in some television in the 1980s.

I was sad to hear Richard Kiel passed away a few years ago, and I had been meaning to explore his career a little closer.

His name lurked near the bottom of a list of ideas in a dusty old folder on my computer’s desktop, but now it is seeing the light day.

Early roles
Richard Kiel was seven feet two inches tall, the result of too much growth hormone growing up. He would break into acting in the 1960s and often play the bad guy in everything from “The Wild, Wild West” and “The Man from U*N*C*L*E” to “Gilligan’s Island” and “The Monkees”.

Richard Kiel as a Kanamit in "To Serve Man",
one of my favourite episodes of "The Twilight Zone".
Source: http://martingrams.blogspot.com/
2013/03/the-twilight-zone-to-serve-man.html
(May be subject to copyright)

“To Serve Man”
He also had a role in perhaps my favourite episode of the original “Twilight Zone", which I did see in the 1980s.

Kiel played a Kanamit, a member of a towering alien species who have come to Earth in friendship. They eradicate the world’s problems and appear to be a dream come true. One day, the Kanamit leaves a book at a press conference, and American linguists work to decipher it. They start with the title, “To Serve Man”. That puts everyone at ease, because that means they are there to help – to serve. Meanwhile, the story really revolves around one man, played by Canadian actor Lloyd Bochner. As the episode progresses, he becomes more comfortable with the Kanamits and decides to take them up on their offer of a trip to their home world. As he starts to board the departing ship, his friend comes running up, yelling the rest of the book has been deciphered.

“It’s a cook book!” she yelled, but it was too late for him to escape.

It was awesome.

I saw that episode as part of one of the “Twilight Zone” marathons Channel 7 played one weekend when I was in junior high. I was hanging out at my sister’s place in Lethbridge on a Saturday afternoon when I saw it.

Interestingly, in the 2019 re-boot, the Kanamits make another appearance and hint at still dining on humans when they decide to order out and get some “extra crispy”. It is unfortunate Richard Kiel died before that and could not complete that circle.

Life on the gridiron
Perhaps the first role I saw Richard Kiel in was as “Samson” in “The Longest Yard” where he played this towering inmate. When Paul Crewe, played by Burt Reynolds, goes to see him about playing on his football team, Samson is lifting 400-pound barbells with ease and says he was Mr. Florida 1964. He does not seem too eager to play football. Then Crewe tells him they are playing the guards. Samson smiles, says he would like that, and is looking forward to it. Then he returns to lifting 400 pounds like it was nothing.

We see his softer side in practice one day when he is slugged by Shockner, the meanest of the prisoners. Samson laments he broke his nose and Shockner did it in purpose. Crewe soothes him, saying he didn’t. Not only does he reset Samson’s nose, but he gets Shockner to apologize. Samson is just ecstatic like a little kid, telling everyone Shockner said he was sorry.

Then, during the big game, Samson is playing defence and gets a dirty hit from a guard. He vows to clothesline that son of a b—ch if he comes through the middle again. Sure enough he does, and Samson clotheslines him. Samson stands over him and exclaims joyously, “Hey, I think I broke his f—king neck!”. The medic comes over and says, “I think he broke his f—king neck!”

“I told you I broke his f—king neck!” Samson responds, and the whole defence mobs him with delight.

Even the public address announcer gets into the action.

“I think he broke his f—king neck!” he says over the loud speakers.

It was awesome.

Richard Kiel as Jaws in two James Bond films.
Source: https://variety.com/2014/film/news/
james-bond-villain-richard-kiel-dies-at-74-1201303251/
(May be subject to copyright)

Man with the steel teeth
Richard Kiel would turn his heads in the James Bond espionage thriller “The Spy Who Loved Me” in 1977, as a gigantic assasin with steel teeth named Jaws. He easily kills his victims with a combination of strength and those teeth, yet Bond eludes him. The time I remember best, is when Jaws has Bond in a death grip and the only way the spy can escape is by breaking a lamp and shocking Jaws in the teeth to release his grip. Jaws also survives everything and just keeps coming, and is seen to survive at the end of the movie.

He returns in 1979 in “Moonraker”, once again employed by a villain Bond has to battle. This time around, Jaws finds a girlfriend that softens his temperament. He turns against his employer, and helps Bond. The last time we see him is in space, being left behind with the love of his life. We discover they did make it back to Earth safely.

He had become a good guy, and it was awesome.

Hulking out – almost
Something I just recently discovered was that Richard Kiel was one of the actors tapped to try out for the role of the Hulk in the television series “The Incredible Hulk”. It was 1977, and Arnold Schwarzenegger was also considered for the part. Kiel made it to the pilot stage, but the producers realized they wanted someone more muscular, and not so tall, and Kiel so replaced by body-building champion Lou Ferrigno.

The 1980s and beyond
Richard Kiel didn’t have a lot of parts in the 1980s, but he did make guest appearances on TV in both “The Fall Guy” and “Simon and Simon”, as well as roles in movies such as “Cannonball Run II” and “Pale Rider”.

Richard Kiel kept working on television, films, most notably “Happy Gilmore” and “Inspector Gadget”, and in video games as Jaws, until 2012. He died in 2014 at the age of 74.

Parting thoughts
Richard Kiel had a productive and fruitful acting career, playing a wide variety of roles.

At a time when he could have so easily been typecast as a villainous giant, or a lovable oaf, he gave a humanity and sense of humour to roles that could have been one dimensional.

That made him much more than a giant.

Remembering AM 106: An indelible impression

The familiar logo of popular
Calgary radio station AM 106 in the 1980s.
Source: https://forum.calgarypuck.com/
showthread.php?t=143255
(May be subject to copyright)

It was kind of a strange thing.

With two really good pop and rock music radio stations in Lethbridge, often my ghetto blaster or car radio found itself tuned to a station broadcast from Calgary, and often the reception wasn’t very good.

But it had some compelling features that made me and some of my friends want to keep tuning in.

It was called AM 106, sounding more like an FM station, although it was 1060 on the AM dial.

Tuning in
To be honest, I am not sure why I tuned in to AM 106 for the first time. I knew I had heard about it from somewhere, likely someone at school or maybe one of my music-savvy cousins, because I did not find it by accident I don’t think. However, it was so close to 1090 CHEC on the dial, maybe I did find it by accident.

Whatever the origin, once I found it, there was a lot to keep me coming back.

Playing the hits
AM 106 had a couple features I just loved – the Top 6 at 6 and its sibling the Top 10 at 10. They were both countdowns based on the number of votes each song received through the station’s “hitlines”. That meant people had to phone in to register votes, which is really impressive because back in the ‘80s, the only phones were land lines. People did not have phones with them 24/7 like now, they had to seek them out to make a call.

What I and a couple of my friends really liked was, if you wanted to know the name of a song or you wanted to tape it off the radio, the Top 6 at 6 and the Top 10 at 10 were guaranteed spots to hear those songs.

A good example was back in 1986 when I was working with my buddy Mat and some other friends cleaning out some chicken coops. There was a ghetto blaster playing, and I heard a song that sounded like new Chicago. It couldn’t be that sound tough, because their lead singer, Peter Cetera, had left. After the song ended, I waited for the deejay to say who sang it but, as was often the case, he didn’t.

So that night, I tuned in the Top 10 at 10 and heard the song again – plus an explanation. The song was “The Glory of Love”, the first solo release for – Peter Cetera.

Thank you AM 106.

Showdown
Another feature was “Showdown” where two songs went head to head. One was the “Champion” because it had earned the most votes on the day’s “Hitlines” the day before. The other was the “Challenger”, which was a new song trying to de-throne the “Champion”. To do that, all it needed to do was get more votes than the champion. If the champion kept winning night after night, it was retired after a certain number of nights, I want to say five for a complete week.

It was a good way to hear brand new releases.

“Showdown” was much like what TSN does with its “One-V-one” highlight of the night.

Win a prize
AM 106 also had the “Designated hit”. The station would announce a particular song as the “Designated hit”. When it played, the first person who heard it and called it in won a prize. It engaged listeners and was another reason to tune in.

Voices of radio
Through the magic of the Internet, I re-discovered another vital part of AM 106’s appeal – the deejays. There were two in particular who came to mind – Rick Sadler and Glen Slingerland. Sadler is still in Calgary while Slingerland has been in BC this century.

However, I was able to find some recordings of both Sadler and Slingerland, and others, and it took me right back to the 1980s.

Here are some links:

Rick Sadler: 1988 – https://soundcloud.com/westernbroadcasters/rick-sadler-am-106-april-14-1988

Glen Slingerland: 1988 – https://www.radiowest.ca/sound/cfcnslingerland880414.mp3

Don Stevens: 1987 – https://www.pugetsoundradio.com/2014/07/04/106-calgary-aircheck-1987/

Parting thoughts
I keep thinking AM 106 had to have something different if me and so many others were willing to brave static and poor reception to listen to it.

Getting a chance to listen to some snippets of it online reminded me that AM 106 just had something different. It had this unique sound. Maybe it was the deejays and the Top 10 at 10, or just the music.

Whatever it was, AM 106 left an indelible impression on my musical memories of the 1980s.

Rich Little’s “A Christmas Carol”: Comic genius

The characters Rich Little played in his rendition a "A Christmas Carol".
Source: https://www.christianskitscripts.com/scrooge/2018/09/10/rich-littles-christmas-carol/
(May be subject to copyright)

He was the master of impressions, a man who could imitate anyone and everyone. He could not only do the voice, but the mannerisms, and even a celebrity’s little ticks and quirks.

By the 1980s, Rich Little had been entertaining crowds for decades with live shows in Las Vegas and California, and on television, most notably Dean Martin Roasts among other shows.

Rich Little was Canadian, a national treasure who came to produce a one-man television special that showcased all his talents.

That show was “Rich Little’s Christmas Carol” and I saw it almost as much as I saw “Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas”.

Like the dickens
I always admired Rich Little’s creativity. Although he made his living being the opposite of creative by imitating famous people, I was amazed by the way he told a story using impersonations of famous people as characters. He did it with “Robin Hood” in 1982, but it started with Charles Dickens' story “A Christmas Carol” on CBC in 1978. I would go on to see it in reruns around Christmas time through much of the 1980s.

In this one-man show, Rich Little interprets the story of Ebenezer Scrooge in his own way. The story unfolds as Scrooge, a miserly old bachelor who hates Christmas, is taken through a journey of his own life by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. Ultimately, he sees the error of his ways and catches the Christmas Spirit.

In Rich Little’s telling, he played the story’s characters impersonating the following celebrities, courtesy of Wikipedia:

• Ebenezer Scrooge – W.C Fields;

• Bob Cratchit – Paul Lynde;

• Fred – Johnny Carson;

• The two soldiers – Laurel and Hardy;

• Jacob Marley – Richard Nixon;

• Ghost of Christmas Past – Humphrey Bogart;

• Fezziwig – Groucho Marx;

• Dick Wilkins – Jimmy Stewart;

• Ghost of Christmas Present – Peter Falk as Columbo;

• Mrs. Cratchit – Jean Stapleton as Edith Bunker;

• Tiny Tim – Truman Capote;

• Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come – Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau;

• The three businessmen – James Mason, George Burns, and John Wayne;

• A boy – Jack Benny.

Parting thoughts
“Rich Little’s Christmas Carol” was another part of the annual Christmas fare on TV in the 1980s in the three-channel universe.

When I first saw it, I was just intrigued with one man doing all these impressions. It was also my first exposure to the story of “A Christmas Carol”.

To this day, when I see some version of “A Christmas Carol”, I imagine Richard Nixon as Jacob Marley and Truman Capote as Tiny Tim.

It was only when I got older, and began to understand who some of these people were that I really appreciated something.

Rich Little’s comic genius.

“Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas” – A gift

Emmet Otter's Jug Band, with Emmet second from the left,
and his mother Alice right in the middle. It is an amazing Christmas classic.
Source: https://lithub.com/is-emmet-otters-jug-band-christmas-a-work-of-genius/
(May be subject to copyright)

Of all the Christmas shows that come on TV every season, there was one that stands out for me even now, more than 40 years later. It is not Charlie Brown, the Grinch, or Frosty the Snowman, although all three hold a special place in my heart too.

Yet none of them can top my all-time favourite Christmas show. A product of Jim Henson’s Muppet studio, there is nothing like “Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas.”

In the beginning
It was way back in the 1970s when I was in elementary school that I first saw “Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas”, and it left a lasting impression.

It opens with an old favourite – Kermit the Frog – narrating. He tells the story of Emmet Otter who lives with his mother Alice on “The River”. They both do odd jobs to make ends meet, with Emmet more of a fix-it man while his mom does laundry. Emmet’s dad had been a snake-oil salesman – literally – who died although we never found out how. We do know that both Emmet and Alice love him and miss him dearly.

They both want to provide a great Christmas for each other, but have no money to do it. Then they get their chance. There is going to be a talent show with a $50 grand prize. Emmet joins a jug band to enter while Alice decides to enter as a solo act. However, both have to make big sacrifices. In order to make a washtub bass for the band, Emmet has to put a hole in his ma’s wash tub, which is her sole source of income. At the same time, Alice needs a dress to perform. The only way to get the money to buy one, is to hock Emmet’s tool box, his sole source of income. Both struggle with their decisions but go ahead, unbeknownst to the other.

The night of the talent show arrives and all is revealed. Tragedy strikes too, as someone performs “Barbecue”, the song Emmet’s band intended to perform before they do. Now, they don’t want to look like copy cats, so they hastily rehearse a new song outside. Meanwhile, Alice performs and kills it. Then Emmet’s band performs and does well too.

However, before the judges deliberate, a late entry performs. They are “The Nightmare”, a bad-boy band from a neighbouring town, who electrify the crowd and win the prize.

Emmet, his band and his ma all walk home together where they reveal what they have done. All is forgiven as they sing together, combining their two songs from the talent show. They are overheard by Doc Bullfrog, who owns a nearby restaurant. He offers them a job, enough money for everyone to live on. The show ends with them doing their first show.

The special concludes with more words from Kermit the Frog.

That story has always tugged at my heart strings.

The show goes on
Over the years I watched it on CBC every year. One time, “Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas” was on at the same time as our annual Christmas concert at St. Joseph’s School. We actually got to watch it in our classroom, because we had already done our part of the concert. Another time, we hurried home after our Christmas concert in order to catch it on TV.

I kept watching it through junior high and high school on CBC, then lost track when I left home for university in 1987.

However, about 10 years later I returned to Southern Alberta, and that first Christmas back I saw “Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas” once more. It was no longer aired by CBC because there were likely too many other choices. Instead, it was on the specialty channel Showcase, and still as good as ever.

Kindred spirits
When I started dating my spouse, she told me she had this Christmas tradition she always did. I am pretty open to things, but I was shocked by what she described.

“I watch ‘Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas’ every year,” she said.

My jaw dropped open.

That was one of the first of many times I knew we were kindred spirits and she was the one for me.

A couple years later, after she got to know my family better, she said Emmet and his mom reminded her of me and my mom. I smiled because my mother’s name is also Alice.

The best part of it all? She has “Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas” on DVD so we can watch it whenever we like. We do not have to rely on CBC, Showcase, or any other broadcaster.

Parting thoughts
“Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas” will always have a special place in my heart. Not only is it a charming story about the love between a mother and son, but also about friendship, sacrifice, and loyalty.

It was the kind of story Jim Henson did best.

Whenever I see “Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas”, I miss Jim Henson not only for the stories he told in my childhood and the influence he had on my life, but I am sad the next generation won’t be able to share that same gift.

And at the end of the day, that is what “Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas” is – a gift.

Bryan Adams’ “Christmas Time”: A holiday favourite

I was 15 the first time I heard it, but it immediately became my favourite pop music Christmas song.

In an era of everything from Cory Hart singing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Rein Deer” to Bruce Springsteen singing, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”, for me nothing beats Bryan Adams’ “Christmas Time”.

More than 25 years later it is still my favourite.

The history of the song
Adams wrote “Christmas Time” with longtime partner Jim Vallance. They released it late in 1985, coming off the heels of a very successful year for Adams whose album “Reckless” had produced hit after hit after from “Run to You” and “Somebody” to the number one hit “Heaven” and the anthemic “Summer of ‘69”.

Wikipedia reveals it was released on clear, green vinyl with a picture sleeve. I never did see the single in the record store though.

It reached number 31 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart and number 39 in Canada, although it peaked at number four on the Billboard 100 Christmas chart. It earned a gold record in Canada too for selling 100,000 copies.

“Christmas Time” remains a song that receives regular airplay every year at, well, Christmas time.

No music video for "Christmas Time" was released in the 1980s. However in December of 2019, Adams released the above video on YouTube.

Christmas on the farm
I still remember the first time I heard it. I was in Grade 11, lying in my water bed on the farm. I used to have this ghetto blaster that I listened to music on. By then, it was mostly 1090 CHEC radio, because they played singles more than albums. My Dad usually went to bed around 9 p.m. Our farm house had paper thin walls, so after 9 p.m. we always turned the volume down on the TV and the radio. After I got that ghetto blaster, I also got a pair of head phones. I used those when listening to the radio after everyone went to bed. I recall hearing “Christmas Time” over my head phones. The next time I heard it, I just pinned the volume and made my head phones vibrate.

That was not the last time I turned the volume right up when “Christmas Time” came on. In fact, this past Christmas season I pinned it again when the song came over CJOC 94.1 FM.

Parting thoughts
Every year, when “Christmas Time” comes up on the radio, I am taken back to Christmas time on the farm. It was such a good song.

I think I love it most because it is not a cover like so many other pop classic Christmas songs. It is an original song written and performed by Bryan Adams himself. There are no expectations, nothing to compare it to, unlike a song that may have been recorded a dozen times by a dozen different performers.

It also has a positive message about the joy the Christmas season brings in a world of joy and freedom.

What more could you ask for in a Christmas song?

Here’s to a new year

Initially this was intended to be posted on January 1, but things just got in the way.

I wanted it to be a New Year’s Resolution of sorts, pledging to write more this year. I wanted to build on the success I had in the latter part of 2020 when I reeled off 65 straight posts. When I recorded my second highest total, 72, and my best output since 2014 when I had 71 posts.

But I never got there.

It is best, looking back, to do it now. I have posted for the entire month of April, 30 straight days, and am embarking on a new month and continuing this latest streak.

So this is not so much a resolution to start of a calendar year, but a resolution for a 12-month period.

The writing habit
That resolution is a simple one – to develop the writing habit. There is no point in setting goals of this many posts in a month or that many posts in a year. Instead, it is much more valuable to create that habit of writing regularly. It takes something like six weeks, or maybe a couple months, to develop a new habit. That is what I am going to try to do.

To that end, I keep what I like to call my word count log, where I write down how many words I write every day. It seems to help because it sure is gratifying to look back and see what has been accomplished, and how the writing habit has a cumulative effect. Even a few words a day turns into a lot more when they're all added together after a week or a month.

It has also done some other things for me.

Blog ideas
My writing back log has been cleared up. I had exactly 30 post ideas sitting in the “Draft” folder of the blogging software I use. Those are all gone – all posted and there for the world to read now.

Some of them were topics that I just started because I wanted to keep a streak going. I did not give them much thought. But, I just could not delete them because they caught my attention for some reason, so I wrote about them. This has taught me two things – one is to not pick topics whimsically or haphazardly but give them some thought. The other is creating an actual post makes it real, so it becomes something I had to finish. And sometimes, it meant I started out by just free writing about a topic, such as David Cassidy or Morgan Woodward, and found a theme, some connection to the 1980s, that turned into a pretty serviceable post.

I shouldn’t say the back log is gone, because there are still a few things. I will deal with those, then I will get on with another aspect of this whole process for me – my bulging idea file. Sitting in two file folders in my work office are newspaper clippings, printouts from the Internet, and notes I have scribbled to myself on scraps of paper and the backs of envelopes. Now is the time to dig deep in there. I know, there are a lot of topics I have already used, but I know there are many more I have not done yet. That is the beauty of scribbling a note right away – striking while the iron is hot – because often I forget about it soon after I wrote it down. Re-discovering these ideas is energizing.

Parting thoughts
Always at the back of my mind I have thought if it would be possible to post 1,000 entries. Right now I am at 390. This will make number 391. I am not sure if I will get there because I am just under 40 per cent there and it has taken 8.5 years.

Maybe developing a writing habit will get me there.

So here's to a new year of writing and forming the writing habit.

St. Louis Blues memories: Bernie Federko, their first super star

Bernie Federko was the first super star of the
St. Louis Blues, playing there much of the 1980s.
Source: https://www.athletepromotions.com/
speaker/bernie-federko/
(May be subject to copyright)

He was the St. Louis Blues’ first super star.

He holds several team and records but was largely unheralded by virtue of playing in anonymity in St. Louis. In fact, Wikipedia reveals he was voted the most overlooked talent in 1986.

Yet, he was a prolific playmaker with four 100-point seasons, more than 1,100 career points, at least 50 assists in 10 consecutive seasons, and 1,000 games played.

For his efforts, Bernie Federko was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002.

He was in my thoughts when St. Louis won their first ever Stanley Cup two years ago.

Prelude to success
Bernie Federko was taken seventh overall in the 1976 NHL Entry Draft after a stellar three-year career with the Saskatoon Blades of the then Western Canada Hockey League. He had 50 points in his first season then exploded for 39 goals and 68 assists for 107 points in his second season and an incredible 187 points in his third season with 115 assists and 72 goals. He added another 18 goals and 27 assists for 45 points in the playoffs that season. He left Saskatoon holding the team record for assists. In his final year he led the league in assists and points in the regular season and playoffs. He was also named league most valuable player and a league all-star.

He did not join the St. Louis Blues right out of junior, but instead joined their Central Hockey League affiliate the Kansas City Blues for the 1976-1977. He would go on to be a league all-star and rookie of the year with 30 goals and 39 assists for 69 points.

After that he was St. Louis bound.

Federko got progressively better with the Blues as the1970s came to an end, with 23 points in his rookie season in 1976-1977 and 41 points in 1977-1978. Then he hit his stride with 95 points in 1978-1979 and 94 points in 1979-1980.

He was poised to break out and become an elite scorer at the dawn of the decade.

Decade of excellence
The remainder of Bernie Federko’s career spanned the 1980s, with his retirement at the end of the 1989-1990 season.

He started the decade with his first 100-plus point season in 1980-1981. It was obvious he was a playmaker, because he recorded 31 goals and 73 assists for 104 points.

The 1981-1982 season saw Federko score 30 goals and add 62 assists for 92 points, following that up with a similar season in 1982-1983 with 24 goals and 60 assists for 84 points.

His career peaked over the next three years, scoring more than 100 points in each season. In 1983-1984 he had a career high 107 points and a career high 41 goals, the only time in his career he hit the 40-goal mark. He added 66 assists that season. In 1984-1985 he had a career high 73 assists to go with 30 goals for 103 points. Then, in 1985-1986, he scored 34 goals and 68 assists for 102 points.

He would not hit the 100-point mark again, but he continued to perform at a high level with at least 20 goals and 45 assists in his final three seasons in St. Louis. In 1986-1987, 20 goals and 52 assists for 72 points, followed by 20 goals and 69 assists for 89 points in 1987-1988.

At the outset of the 19889-1989 season, Federko was named captain of the Blues after the retirement of Brian Sutter. That season, which would be his last in St. Louis, he recorded 22 goals and 45 assists for 67 points.

At the end of the season he and Tony McKegney were shipped to Detroit for Adam Oates and Paul McLean. He had 17 goals and 40 assists for 57 points and retired at the end of the year.

He finished his career with exactly 1,000 games played recording 1,130 points on 369 goals and 761 assists.

Parting thoughts
Bernie Federko was the St. Louis Blues’ first super star. He finished his career with several club records that still stand. He holds St. Louis records for career points with 1,073; career assists with 721; career games played with 927; career playoff assists with 66; and shares the team record for assists in one game with five.

He was also the first NHL player to record at least 50 assists in 10 consecutive seasons.

The Blues retired his number 24 a year after he retired and he was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002. He was the first true St. Louis Blue Hall of Famer, having spent virtually all his time as a Blue.

He never won an NHL trophy nor was named to an all-star team, but his credentials speak for themselves.

The numbers he put up made Bernie Federko the Blues’ first super star.

St. Louis Blues memories: Brian Sutter, leadership personified

Brian Sutter was the captain of the St. Louis Blus for much of the 1980s.
Source: https://www.hhof.com/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/
SearchPlayerGallery.jsp?player=14489&photo=7
(May be subject to copyright)

He was the captain of the St. Louis Blues through the 1980s, but was just as well known for leading another team – his five brothers who also played in the NHL.

The Sutters left their mark on the NHL, and continue to do so, and it all started with Brian, oldest of the hockey-playing brothers and second oldest of seven boys.

When Alex Pietrangelo, the captain of the Blues, hoisted the Stanley Cup for St. Louis in 2019, my mind drifted back to the 1980s when it was Brian Sutter who wore the “C” and gave everything he had.

Breaking the trail
Brian Sutter started his career in the Alberta Junior Hockey League, playing two years with the Red Deer Rustlers, then two years in the then Western Canada Hockey League with the Lethbridge Broncos.

This was the same path his five younger brothers would take to the NHL.

The St. Louis Blues took Sutter in the second round of the 1976 NHL Entry Draft. He played half a season in he minors with the Kansas City Blues before joining St. Louis and staying with the big club from 1976-1977 until injury forced him to retire at the conclusion of the1987-1988 season.

Spirit of St. Louis
Brian Sutter had one of his best statistical season in 1978-1979 with 41 goals and 39 assists for 80 points, but he provided much more to the team than offence.

He was named captain of the Blues in the 1979-1980 season. He brought the intangibles that made him a natural leader – effort, determination, hard work, guts, and tenacity.

His first year as captain he had 23 goals and 35 assists for 58 points, following that up in 1980-1981 with 35 goals and 34 assists for 69 points.

Then he had four strong seasons of 74 or more points. In 1981-1982 he had 39 goals and 36 assists for 75 points, then had almost an identical season in 1982-1983 with 46 goals an 40 assists for 76 points.

Sutter followed in 1983-1984 with a career high 51 assists along with 32 goals for a career best 83 points. His production began to dip from then on. He had his last 74-plus point season in 1984-1985 with 37 goals and 37 assists for 74 points.

The 1985-1986 was marred by injury for Sutter, who only played 44 games, but still recorded 19 goals and 23 assists for 42 points. However, the Blues had their most successful playoffs in the 1980s. They beat Minnesota in the first round then outlasted Toronto in seven games to win the Norris Division. They advanced to play Calgary in the Campbell Conference Final, which doubled as the Stanley Cup semi-final. Calgary seemed to take control early, taking a 3-1 series lead only to have the Blues mount a furious comeback and tie the series 3-3 before falling in the seventh and deciding game.

Sutter only played 14 games the following season, scoring three goals and adding three assists for six points. He wrapped up his career in 1987-1988 with 15 goals and 22 assists for 37 points in 76 games.

Brian Sutter retired from the NHL with a total of 303 goals and 333 assists in 779 games. He added 21 goals and 21 assists for 42 points in 65 career playoff games.

Lethbridge memories
Brian Sutter was the first of the six brothers to play for the Lethbridge Broncos. Sadly, I never saw him play because I was too young, and we didn’t start going to Bronco games until a few years later. He and Darryl, the next youngest, are the only ones I did not see in Lehbridge. The other four – Duane, Brent, and twins Ron and Rich – I did see play. I always wished I had seen Brian play with the Broncos.

I did see him in a Broncos uniform though. One day on our farm I was cleaning out some newspapers from an outhouse we had and I spotted the sports section of The Lethbridge Herald. It was a publicity shot of the Broncos. Steve Tambellini, who would go on to be drafted by the New York Islanders and play for several teams, is sitting on the ice reading I think it was The Herald, while standing behind him were teammates Archie Henderson, Darcy Regier, goaltender Rollie Boutin and Brian Sutter. Most of those players had some time in the NHL.

Parting thoughts
Some people are just born leaders. They have those intangible qualities that make people want to follow them.

From an early age, Brian Sutter had those qualities. Whether it was because he was one of the oldest in a family of seven brothers, the fact he was raised on a farm and instilled with all those values of hard work, dedication, persistence, resiliency and so much more, or because he just had the personality of a leader, he was a leader.

Sometimes, you can see players who will make great coaches. Often they are the captains of their teams.

After Brian Sutter retired, he coached the Blues, Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames and Chicago Blackhawks, winning the Jack Adams Trophy for coach of the year after the 1990-1991 season, and leading all four teams to the playoffs.

When you put it all together, Brian Sutter was leadership personified.

St. Louis Blues memories: Mike Liut, best in net

Mike Liut played with the St. Louis Blus from 1979 to 1985,
then Hartford and Washington. He was one of the best goalies of the 1980s.
Source: http://www.goaliesarchive.com/blues/liut.html
(May be subject to copyright)

There was a time in the 1980s when he was arguably the best goalie in the world. He had made such an impact, he finished runner up to Wayne Gretzky for the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player.

Two years ago, when the St. Louis Blues won their first and only Stanley Cup, I was reminded of some of those great players they had back in the 1980s.

The first one that came to mind for me was that goalie who never painted his mask, but left it plain and white.

That goalie was Mike Liut.

Experienced rookie
Mike Liut joined the St. Louis Blues for the 1979-1980 season, but he brought a extensive resumé with him. He had already played four years of U.S. college hockey with Bowling Green University then turned professional in the World Hockey Association, playing two seasons with the Cincinnati Stingers. So, when he entered the NHL he was 23 years old with a load of experience.

His first season he appeared in 64 games where he won 32, lost 23 and tied nine games. He posted a 3.18 goals against average and had two shut outs. The Blues finished 10th in the league but were swept in three straight games in the first round of the playoffs by Chicago.

He was well on his way as the decade got under way.

The best in the net
It was the next season, 1980-1981, when Mike Liut staked his claim as the best goaltender in the NHL. He appeared in 61 games, winning 33, losing 14 and tying 14 games. He recorded a 3.34 goals against average and posted one shut out. He was runner-up to Wayne Gretzky for the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player and was named a first team all-star. He also won the Lester B. Pearson Trophy, now the Ted Lindsay Award, for the league’s most valuable player as voted on by the players.

The Blues won the Smythe Division and were the second seed in the playoffs. They defeated Pittsburgh in the first round but fell in the second round to the seventh-seeded New York Rangers.

The fall of 1981, Liut was named starting goaltender for Team Canada at the second Canada Cup. According to Wikipedia, after Canada lost the final to the Soviet Union by an 8-1 score, his reputation as a top goaltender would never fully recover, although he was not solely to blame.

Playing (for) the Blues
Mike Liut was back in the St. Louis net for the 1981-1982 season, playing in 64 games and winning 28, losing 28 and tying seven games. His goals against average was 4.06 and he had two shut outs. He also led the league in games played and minutes. The Blues finished third in the Norris Division and beat Winnipeg in the first round of the playoffs before losing to Chicago for the second time in three years.

In 1982-1983, he again led the league in games played and minutes, appearing in an incredible 68 games but finishing below .500 for the first time in his career. He would not finish over .500 again with the Blues. He won 21games, lost 27 and tied 13 with a goals against average of 3.72 and one shut out. The Blues finished fourth in the Norris Division and lost to Chicago once again in the first round of the playoffs.

The 1983-1984 season was the last full season Liut played with the Blues. He won 25 games, lost 29 and tied four in 58 appearances. His goals against average was 3.45 and he had three shut outs. The Blues finished second in the Norris Division, defeating Detroit 3-1 in the first round of the playoffs before losing to Minnesota in seven games in the second round.

Liut started the 1984-1985 season in St. Louis, appearing in 32 games, winning 12, losing 12, and tying six with a goals against average of 3.82 and one shut out. He was then traded to the Hartford Whalers for goaltender Greg Millen and forward Mark Johnson. He closed the season appearing in 12 games, winning four, losing seven and tying one with a goals against average of 2.95 and one shut out.

To Hartford and beyond
Mike Liut would play the rest of the decade with the Whalers. In his first full season with the Whalers, he helped Hartford to the Adams Division final before losing in seven games to the Montreal Canadiens who went on to win the Stanley Cup. The next season, 1986-1987, Liut led the league in shut outs with five and helped them to their only Adams Division regular season title before losing to Quebec in the first round. After the season he was also named a second team all-star.

He was traded part way through the 1989-1990 season to the Washington Capitals. He was in net when the Capitals beat the New York Rangers to advance to their first ever Patrick Division Championship and a trip to the Wales Conference final where they were swept by my beloved Boston Bruins. He led the NHL in shut outs that year with four and in goals against average with 2.64. According to Wikipedia, when he left Hartford he held 14 franchise goaltending records and shared six others. Liut played two more years with the Capitals, retiring at the end of the 1991-192 season.

Strange goal
Liut holds another odd distinction. He was in net for one of Wayne Gretzky’s most unique goals. Gretzky settled into the face-off circle to take the draw. As the referee dropped the puck, Gretzky timed it perfectly so he shot the puck as it was falling to the ice. The puck caught Liut completely by surprise and went in.

It seems Liut had the strangest luck.

Parting thoughts
From the moment he arrived on the scene and won the NHL Players’ Association most valuable player award and was runner for the Hart Memorial Trophy, Mike Liut made his mark. He may have had his ups and downs, but in a 10-year period he was a model of consistency.

By the close of the decade, he had the most wins for a goaltender in the 1980s with 239, the most shut outs in the 1980s with 22, the most games played in the 1980s with 544, and the most minutes played by a goaltender in the 1980s with 31,597.

For that reason, Mike Liut was one of the best in net in the 1980s.