Music History

This New DVD Collection Must Have Been a Licensing Nightmare

Whenever anyone talks about reissuing music-based TV shows from the 70s, I think back to the disaster that was WKRP in Cincinnati.  If you remember the original show, this was one of the first (if not the first) network show to use real music from real bands as a soundtrack.

When WKRP was finally issued on DVD, all that original, name-brand music was stripped out and replaced with generic stock stuff.  It was…offensive.  But because of issues involving licensing, there was no choice.

So when I saw that Time-Warner was working on an 11-disc set of highlights from Burt Sugarman’s The Midnight Special (a Friday night show that ran after The Tonight Show starting on August 19, 1972 and running through May 1, 1981) I thought “Good luck. How are they ever going to get permission to reproduce all that stuff that came from an era before VCRs and ancillary licensing?”

Well, they did it.  VVN provides this tracklisting

Track List:

Disc 1

  • Take Me Home, Country Roads – John Denver
  • Long, Long Time – Linda Ronstadt
  • Hold Your Head Up – Argent
  • Leaving on a Jet Plane – John Denver and Cass Elliott
  • Taxi – Harry Chapin
  • Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue – Crystal Gayle
  • American Girl – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
  • Feels So Good – Chuck Mangione
  • Listen to Her Heart – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
  • Baby Don’t Get Hooked on Me – Mac Davis
  • Jesus Is Just Alright – The Doobie Brothers
  • Listen to the Music – The Doobie Brothers
  • Me and Mrs. Jones – Billy Paul
  • Show Me the Way – Peter Frampton
  • The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down – Joan Baez
  • Medley: She’s Gone/Sara Smile/Rich Girl – Hall & Oates
  • Interview: Peter Frampton
  • Featurette: Wolfman at Midnight
  • Featurette: Star-Studded Stage Fashion
  • Featurette: The History of The Midnight Special

Disc 2

  • Everybody Is a Star – Sly & the Family Stone
  • I Got a Name – Jim Croce
  • Bad, Bad Leroy Brown – Jim Croce
  • Lonely Days – The Bee Gees
  • Love Machine – The Miracles
  • Evil Woman – Electric Light Orchestra
  • Strange Magic – Electric Light Orchestra
  • Love Is Alive – Gary Wright
  • Dream Weaver – Gary Wright
  • Over My Head – Fleetwood Mac
  • Medley: Eighteen/Only Women/Billion Dollar Babies – Alice Cooper
  • My Best Friend’s Girl – The Cars
  • Inmates (We’re All Crazy) – Alice Cooper
  • Hello It’s Me – Todd Rundgren
  • Escape (The Piña Colada Song) – Rupert Holmes
  • Sister Golden Hair – America
  • Interview: Alice Cooper
  • Featurette: No Safety Net: Live on TV

Disc 3

  • Lady Marmalade – LaBelle
  • Can’t Get It Out of My Head – Electric Light Orchestra
  • At Seventeen – Janis Ian
  • Lovin’ You – Minnie Ripperton
  • Radar Love – Golden Earring
  • Train Kept A-Rollin’ – Aerosmith
  • Keep on Truckin’ – Eddie Kendricks
  • Dream On – Aerosmith
  • Tell Me Something Good – Rufus featuring Chaka Khan
  • You Make Me Feel Brand New – The Stylistics
  • Come and Get Your Love – Redbone
  • Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe – Barry White
  • Never Gonna Give You Up – Barry White
  • If You Love Me (Let Me Know) – Olivia Newton-John
  • Y.M.C.A. – Village People
  • Good Times – Chic

Disc 4

  • Heart of Glass – Blondie
  • Shake Your Groove Thing – Peaches & Herb
  • One Way or Another – Blondie
  • Reunited – Peaches & Herb
  • If You Could Read My Mind – Gordon Lightfoot
  • Midnight at the Oasis – Maria Muldaur
  • Sundown – Gordon Lightfoot
  • Your Mama Don’t Dance – Loggins & Messina
  • Will It Go Round in Circles – Billy Preston
  • Brother Louie – Stories
  • Frankenstein – Edgar Winter Group
  • Superfly – Curtis Mayfield
  • Behind Closed Doors – Charlie Rich
  • Drift Away – Dobie Gray
  • Cisco Kid – War
  • Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor) – Robert Palmer
  • It’s a Heartache – Bonnie Tyler
  • Interview: Loggins & Messina

Disc 5

  • Angie Baby – Helen Reddy
  • Takes Two to Tango – Aretha Franklin & Ray Charles
  • The Thrill Is Gone – Gladys Knight & B.B. King
  • Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress) – The Hollies
  • Can’t Take My Eyes Off You – Frankie Valli
  • Dance with Me – Orleans
  • Delta Dawn – Helen Reddy
  • Bad Blood – Neil Sedaka
  • Breaking Up Is Hard to Do – Neil Sedaka
  • Love Will Keep Us Together – Captain and Tennille with Neil Sedaka
  • That’s the Way (I Like It) – KC & the Sunshine Band
  • How Can You Mend a Broken Heart – The Bee Gees
  • Baby Hold On – Eddie Money
  • When Will I Be Loved – Linda Ronstadt
  • Midnight Train to Georgia – Gladys Knight & The Pips
  • Devotion – Earth, Wind and Fire

Disc 6

  • Make It with You – Bread
  • Lonely Boy – Andrew Gold
  • Rocky Mountain Music – Eddie Rabbitt
  • For the Love of Money – The O’Jays
  • Nothing from Nothing – Billy Preston
  • You Make Me Crazy – Sammy Hagar
  • Jive Talkin’ – Bee Gees
  • To Love Somebody – Bee Gees with Helen Reddy
  • Nights on Broadway – Bee Gees
  • I Am Woman – Helen Reddy
  • Let’s Get It On – Marvin Gaye
  • What’s Going On – Marvin Gaye
  • Cat Scratch Fever – Ted Nugent
  • Sin City – AC/DC
  • You Really Got Me – The Kinks
  • Featurette: I Am Woman: Helen Reddy as Host

Disc 7

  • Mandy – Barry Manilow
  • Operator (That’s Not the Way It Feels) – Jim Croce
  • It’s a Miracle – Barry Manilow
  • Play That Funky Music – Wild Cherry
  • Fooled Around and Fell in Love – Elvin Bishop
  • Disco Duck – Rick Dees
  • Saturday Night – Bay City Rollers
  • Moondance – George Benson, Van Morrison, Carlos Santana, Etta James, Dr. John
  • I’d Rather Go Blind – Etta James and Dr. John
  • Breezin’ – Carlos Santana and George Benson
  • You’re No Good – Linda Ronstadt
  • Shining Star – Earth, Wind and Fire
  • Something He Can Feel – Aretha Franklin
  • Wildfire – Michael Martin Murphey
  • Get Closer – Seals & Crofts
  • Keep on Loving You – REO Speedwagon
  • The Devil Went Down to Georgia – The Charlie Daniels Band

Disc 8

  • Do It Again – Steely Dan
  • Could It Be I’m Falling in Love – The Spinners
  • It Never Rains in Southern California – Albert Hammond
  • I’ll Be Around – The Spinners
  • Reeling in the Years – Steely Dan
  • Southern Nights – Glen Campbell
  • I’ve Got Love on My Mind – Natalie Cole
  • Torn Between Two Lovers – Mary MacGregor
  • On and On – Stephen Bishop
  • Crazy on You – Heart
  • Jolene – Dolly Parton
  • Grease – Frankie Valli
  • If I Can’t Have You – Yvonne Elliman
  • I Will Always Love You – Dolly Parton
  • Love to Love You Baby – Donna Summer
  • I Will Survive – Gloria Gaynor
  • Sailing – Christopher Cross

Disc 9

  • Billy Crystal
  • Steve Martin
  • Richard Pryor
  • George Carlin
  • Freddie Prinze
  • David Steinberg
  • Interview: David Steinberg

Disc 10

  • Featurette: The Musical Diversity of The Midnight Special
  • Featurette: Benson and Frampton Talk Shop
  • Interview: The O’Jays
  • Interview: Eddie Money
  • Interview: Melissa Manchester
  • Interview: Charlie Daniels
  • Interview: Todd Rundgren
  • Interview: Frankie Valli
  • Interview: Neil Sedaka

Disc 11

  • Featurette: George Benson: Early Influences
  • Featurette: What Makes a Song a Hit
  • Featurette: Behind The Scenes
  • Featurette: Battle of the Bands
  • Featurette: The Legacy of The Midnight Special
  • Interview: Thelma Houston
  • Interview: Robert Bell
  • Interview: Kevin Cronin
  • Interview: Harry Wayne Casey
  • Interview: Christopher Cross

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

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2 thoughts on “This New DVD Collection Must Have Been a Licensing Nightmare

  • Shout Factory is releasing WKRP in October on DVD. Creator Hugh Wilson says that Shout has cleared around 85% of the music rights for the release so far.

    Reply

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