One of my all time favorite stage bands.




https://youtu.be/5-tFyBLo71U

If Ernie Kovacs were still alive, he'd be 100.

http://www.erniekovacs.com/bio.php

"ERNIE KOVACS
HIS LIFE & HIS WORK --
"NOTHING IN MODERATION"

Ernie Kovacs (www.erniekovas.com) has been gone for more than 55+ years. Killed in a late-night-car crash on his way home from a party in Beverly Hills on January 13, 1962, he would have been 100 years old this year. He was at the peak of a spectacular career, having vaulted from relative obscurity to TV and movie stardom in little more than 10 years' time. "

I you weren't around at the time, you've no idea how much Ernie Kovacs changed tv. He rattled a bunch of cages, it was mind-altering.

In the last year, someone (I can't remember who) ran some old Kovacs shows and, no surprise, they didn't hold up very well. Still, I'm thankful I got to experience those when they were fresh.

I loved Ernie Kovacs and especially the trio, which cracked me up each time they were on the show. Fans may remember how innovative he was, typified by the one sketch he did with the guy eating his lunch in the library. He built a whole set on a 30 degree angle. Then mounted the camera on the same 30 degree angle. He sits down and opens his lunch pail. He takes out several malt balls and the minute he sets them down, they roll off the table at high speed. He then opens a milk carton and when he pours milk into his glass, instead of pouring straight down, the milk pours on a 30 degree angle and misses the glass by about six inches. Each time, he looks at the camera with this quizzical expression. Reportedly, he was a victim of the infamous Chevy Corvair. I read that he and his wife had driven separately to a party on a rainy night. Instead of driving his Rolls Royce, he decided to take his Corvair. On the way home, he lost control of the rear-engine Corvair on the rain-slick street and crashed the car. That was in the sixties and I still remember how upset I was at the news.