1971 Coca-Cola Commercial: “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing”

by G. Jack Urso

 

From the Aeolus 13 Umbra YouTube channel.

One of the most successful and iconic advertisements ever produced is the 1971 Coca-Cola commercial, “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing.” On a hillside in Italy, Coca-Cola’s advertising company McCann Erickson (now McCann) gathered hundreds of young people from across the globe in their native dress to sing a song of togetherness and Coke. Admittedly this was simple grasp for a larger market share of the carbonated beverage market by what was then and still remains one of the largest international companies. Nevertheless, there are times when the commercial airspace can embody the zeitgeist of the era, capture a moment in time, and elevate the audience spiritually and emotionally. This commercial achieves that. 

The commercial is probably dismissed by its cynical detractors as treacly tripe, and there is a certain saccharine sweetness about it. Between the love beads, Nehru jackets, and dashikis, as well as representatives of each possible race, creed, and color, it looks like every 60s/early 70’s stereotype exploded on screen. Yet, for those of us alive today who remember when the commercial first aired, in the midst of an unpopular war, civil strife, racism, and a president of dubious ethics (sound familiar?), it uncomplicated a complicated world — at least for 60 seconds.

On Jan. 8, 1971, Bill Backer, the McCann Erickson’s creative director for the Coca-Cola account, was stuck in an Irish airport due to a fog delay in London. He was headed there to meet with Billy Davis, the music director on the account, to discuss a new ad campaign for Coke which would use music by songwriters Roger Cook and Roger Greenaway and have the final product recorded by the then-popular group The New Seekers. The problem was that while they had the music, they didn't yet have the message, but this layover would provide the inspiration.

While waiting in the airport café, Backer noticed that his fellow passengers, who at first were angry at the delay, began to loosen up and chat and laugh while enjoying something to eat and something to drink — Coke, in fact. According to a Jan. 1, 2012, article on the Coca-Cola corporate website, Backer later recounted:

In that moment [I] saw a bottle of Coke in a whole new light . . .  [I] began to see a bottle of Coca-Cola as more than a drink that refreshed a hundred million people a day in almost every corner of the globe. So [I] began to see the familiar words, 'Let's have a Coke,' as more than an invitation to pause for refreshment. They were actually a subtle way of saying, 'Let's keep each other company for a little while.' And [I] knew they were being said all over the world as [I] sat there in Ireland. So that was the basic idea: to see Coke not as it was originally designed to be — a liquid refresher — but as a tiny bit of commonality between all peoples, a universally liked formula that would help to keep them company for a few minutes.

There seems to be some confusion over who came up with the key lyric of buying the world a home. Backer, in a May 18, 2015, Slate article, noted he dashed down the key phrases, “I’ve got to teach the world to sing. I’d like to buy the world a home and furnish it with love.” Davis, however, also lays claim to those particular words. As reported by Coca-Cola, Davis, while liking Backer's idea of buying the world a Coke, thought it the concept could be expanded more and told him, “Well, if I could do something for everybody in the world, it would not be to buy them a Coke. . . . I'd buy everyone a home first and share with them in peace and love.” 

Whatever the origin, the lyrics came together quickly. Cook and Greenaway partially completed the music in 1970 for another campaign under the title "Mom, True Love, and Apple Pie.” Adapted for Coca-Cola, it highlights the connection between the product and a sense of nostalgia embodied in the song's wistful longing for simpler times and “peace and love,” neatly combining the old with the new spirit of the times.

Well, Backer loved the sentiment and with the creative team they began to write the lyrics and adapt it to Cook’s and Greenaway’s music. Over the course of the next few days, they finished the song and not long afterwards the New Seekers recorded it and it was released on Feb. 12, 1971.

Coke admits that their bottlers were not particularly excited about the song, which is not surprising because they were largely stodgy old businessmen, but Davis’ contacts in the radio industry reported great excitement among their listeners and they suggested that the jingle be released as a single.

In the meantime, work on the iconic commercial began. At first, the commercial was to be filmed on a Dover Cliffside with a few hundred British schoolchildren and 65 “principles” slated for the lip synching duties. British weather, however, as Backer learned during his layover in Ireland due to the London fog, proved problematic with several days of rain. Consequently, the whole production was moved to Italy. Rather than school children from one country, 500 young people from all over the world were cast. The rain, however, proved as troublesome in Italy as it did in England and the delay in shooting caused cost overruns from the $100,000 originally budgeted to $250,000 ($633,508.64 to $1,583,771.60 respectively in 2019 dollars). The commercial was first aired in the United States in July 1971 and the impact was immediate. The commercial and the song captured the spirit of the times and connected with consumers on an almost spiritual level.

Production on the single was moving forward, but The New Seekers were reportedly too busy to record, so McCann Erickson turned it over to a session group who dubbed themselves The Hillside Singers to identify more closely with the TV commercial. Once their version of the song was released, it hit the charts fast. Two weeks later, Billy Davis persuaded The New Seekers’ to record their version of the song. Billboard reports The New Seekers version of the song peaked at number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 on Jan. 15, 1972. The same week, The Hillside Singers’ version hit its highest chart position at number 13. Coca-Cola, in agreement with the songwriters and publishers, donated the initial $80,000 in royalties to UNICEF ($506,806.91 in 2019 dollars).

In 2015, the finale of the AMC TV series Mad Men brought the commercial back into the public conscious, and deservedly so. Commercials are often overlooked as the most ephemeral of film media, but as we can see in the 1971 Keep America Beautiful PSA, the 1971 Radio Free Europe PSA, and the 1966 CBS Seasons Greetings: Animation by R.O. Blechman, all previously reviewed on Aeolus 13 Umbra, they can also raise the format from a crass attempt for consumer dollars to communicate larger ideas of community responsibility, democracy, kindness to animals, and, in this case, kindness to our fellow human beings.

It’s a lesson we should always be reminded of.

Sources: Billboard (May, 18, 2015), Coca-Colacompany.com (Jan 1, 2012), and Slate (May, 18, 2015).

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Two versions of the lyrics were recorded:

Commercial Version I'd like to buy the world a home And furnish it with love Grow apple trees and honey bees And snow white turtle doves   (Chorus) I'd like to teach the world to sing In perfect harmony I'd like to buy the world a Coke And keep it company That's the real thing (Repeat Chorus)   (Chorus 2) What the world wants today Is the real thing (Repeat Chorus 2)

Pop Song Version     I'd like to build the world a home And furnish it with love Grow apple trees and honey bees And snow white turtle doves   I'd like to teach the world to sing In perfect harmony I'd like to hold it in my arms And keep it company   I'd like to see the world for once All standing hand in hand And hear them echo through the hills For peace throughout the land   (4th Verse included in Hillside Singers Version) Put your hand in my hand Let's begin today Put your hand in my hand Help me find the way   (Repeat 2nd verse) And furnish it with love Grow apple trees and honey bees And snow white turtle doves   I'd like to teach the world to sing In perfect harmony I'd like to buy the world a Coke And keep it company That's the real thing   What the world wants today Is the real thing

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1971 Keep America Beautiful PSA: The “Crying Indian”

by G. Jack Urso

 From the Aeolus 13 Umbra YouTube channel.

“People start pollution. People can stop it.”

The 1971 Keep America Beautiful Public Service Announcement (PSA), also known as the “Crying Indian” commercial, had a powerful effect on the American public, both young and old. First airing on Earth Day in 1971, the two-time Clio Award-winning campaign created by the Marstellar Inc. ad agency represents a sea change in America on how we treated the environment. Actor William Conrad’s deep, resonant voice and the sorrowful face of a Native American create an indelible impression, adding to the gravitas of the message. Today, we have little appreciation for how dirty our environment was back in the 1960s. Lax laws and regulations resulted in pollution, smog, litter, poisoned water sources, toxic waste dumps, the use of PCPs in neighborhood electrical transformers, and other similar blights on our environments.

First, it should be acknowledged that the actor portraying the Native American "Crying Indian" in the PSA is Iron Eyes Cody, an Italian American. Born Espera de Corti, Cody had a long career in Hollywood portraying Native Americans and so fully absorbed himself in his role that eventually he wore traditional native garb every day as well as adopting two Native-American children with his wife. Indeed, Cody denied his Italian heritage later in life. This type of cultural appropriation is questionable at best, and in Cody’s case perhaps a sign of senility as he grew older. It also came at a time of an increasing push for Native Rights as with the American Indian Movement (AIM) founded just a few years earlier in 1968. I do not doubt that if Cody’s true ethnic heritage was more widely known at the time AIM would have been less than pleased. From a modern perspective, I have to admit it makes me feel uncomfortable while at the same time still being moved by the PSA and Cody’s understated performance.

It is notable, however, as reported by the Internet Movie Database, in 1995 Cody was recognized by “Hollywood’s Native American Community . . . as a “non-Native” for his contribution to film.” He was also honored with a star on Hollywood Boulevard in 1983.

The Keep America Beautiful organization was comprised not of environmental groups, but rather of corporations such as the American Can Co., Owens-Illinois Glass Co., Coca-Cola, and the Dixie Cup Co. Founded in 1953, they espoused a general anti-littering message. Historian Finis Dunaway, professor of history at Trent University, in a Nov. 21, 2017, Chicago Tribune article notes that in the 1970s these companies pushed against proposed “bottle bills” that required beverage producers to use reusable containers, a more costly alternative to using non-recyclable materials, which in turn contributes to the levels of litter shown in the PSA. This would lead to the members of the Keep America Beautiful advisory board, the National Audubon Society and the Sierra Club, leaving the group.

Dunaway further compares the “silent” and “powerless” Native American portrayed by Cody to the more politically active American Indian Movement. The inference here being that the Native American character in his silence is somehow complicit in the perpetuating the white narrative that the native lacks any real power to effect change. I have to completely disagree. From a literary perspective, Cody is more of a silent Greek chorus — wordlessly commenting on the morality of those who pollute the Earth.

Nevertheless, despite the cynicism of Professor Dunaway, according to the Ad Council the "Crying Indian" campaign led to a nearly 88 percent reduction of litter in 300 communities in 38 states as well as in several nations. This PSA had a powerful effect on American Baby Boomers and early Gen Xers. After seeing the commercial, I remember how my friends and I became much more conscious about the effect we, and others, had the environment. When someone driving down our quiet little residential street threw a big bag of garbage out their car window, my childhood friends and I called the police, who came and took a report. We wrote down the license plate number and gave it to the officer who went and had a "chat" with the offender — and returned his bag of garbage. Small incidents like these and others in the 1970s, multiplied by the millions, owe their inspiration to this PSA.

The message of the “Crying Indian” PSA also melded with environmental warnings on other TV shows, such as the 1974 All in the Family episode, "Gloria's Shock," when Mike warns Gloria of the hole in the ozone caused by chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), found in everything from hairspray to deodorant to refrigerators. According to an Apr. 10, 2019, Sierra Club report, this episode so terrified the public (and a 10-year-old me) that sales of these products began dropping immediately until CFCs were finally banned in the United States in 1978. Environmental messages were also embedded into early/mid-70s Saturday morning children’s shows such as Super Friends, Sealab 2020, Ark II, and many more. The overall effect resulted in a generation of environmental advocates who grew up to be a persistent thorn in the side of corporations who sought to maximize their profits at the expense of the land and our future.

As for Dunaway’s assertion that the agenda of the Keep America Beautiful campaign was really a Trojan Horse effort to forestall bottle bills from being passed, the plan didn’t quite succeed. Because of the “Crying Indian” PSA, and other similar efforts in popular culture, as noted above, environmental awareness was dramatically raised. While partially successful in limiting the number of states who passed bottle bills to just eleven, plus one territory (California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Guam), recycling campaigns spread. Today, schools and offices deploy the ubiquitous blue or green recycling containers and even waste disposal companies provide their customers with a trash can just for single-stream recycling. So, even in those states without bottle bills, aluminum, glass, and plastic containers form a significant part of recyclable materials. Nevertheless, the lack of a nationwide bottle recycling law hampers environmental efforts. While we’ve come far, we still have a long way to go.

The trade publication, Ad Age magazine, named the commercial one of the top one hundred ad campaigns of the twentieth century and it is well-deserved. Nearly fifty years later, the image of the “Crying Indian” has become an iconic American symbol and a persistent, if often ignored, warning of the consequences for mistreating Mother Earth. In its positive effects on the environment, this PSA remains one of the most powerful and successful efforts of its kind.

Sources: Chicago Tribune (Nov. 21, 2017), Internet Movie Database (n.d.), Sierra (Apr. 10, 2019), The Ad Council (n.d.). 

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1971 Radio Free Europe PSA: “The IN Sound from Outside”

by G. Jack Urso

 

From the Aeolus 13 Umbra YouTube channel.

 

“The IN Sound from Outside”

The 1971 Radio Free Europe (RFE) Public Service Announcement (PSA), “The IN Sound from Outside,” features Peter, a young Hungarian expatriate who fled his native country’s Communist government following the 1956 Revolution and subsequent Soviet military occupation that crushed the spontaneous desire for democratic reforms of the oppressive regime. He runs up the steps to his radio studio and, with his coat coolly draped on his shoulders, introduces The Drifters’ “On Broadway.”

RFE’s mission was to promote democratic values and spread news and music otherwise suppressed in Warsaw Pact nations. Its sister group, Radio Liberty (RL) focused just on the Soviet Union. Both were funded by the CIA as a public relations outreach, however, despite that, RFE was a largely independent group that, while dedicated to promoting democratic values, was reportedly allowed to operate with minimal interference from the CIA.

According to the Cold War Radio Museum, 1971 was a pivotal year for the RFE/RL when Republican U.S. Senator Clifford Case who proposed to kill funding for the broadcasting groups, so this PSA comes at a time when RFE/RL needed to raise its profile at home and maintain its funding. Despite the wide airplay of this particular PSA, the CIA funding ceased in 1972 and in 1974 RFE/RL came under the auspices of the newly created Board for International Broadcasting (BIB), through which Congress provided funding which then would be distributed to RFE/RL and other similar such groups. The result probably provided for tightened control over the organizations.

Producing History

As noted in ciphers released by Radio Free Europe (see below), the filming of the PSA took place in 1968. The café scene, implied to be behind the Iron Curtain, was, for "reasons, including time and money,” shot in Vienna, Austria. The script called for finding 15 ex-patriate Hungarian students, between 19 and 24. The shoot itself took place on Wed., July 17, 1968.



Original RFE ciphers detailing the planning of the filming of the PSA.

A second shoot was scheduled in New York City on Monday, Aug. 5. Sharp-eyed commentators who speculated that the street scenes took place in New York City are indeed correct. The RFE ciphers indicate that the building the announcer is shown entering is 2 Park Avenue, where the RFE studio was located on the 25th floor. It was there that our earnest young DJ introduced The Drifter’s “On Broadvey” in his native Hungarian to his audience behind the Iron Curtin. The narration was recorded Wed., Aug. 14. Journalist Mike Wallace agreed to do the narration, although it sounds like someone else was tapped for the final version seen on TV. Although filmed in 1968, and probably aired shortly thereafter, the above version dates to 1971 as identified by the post office box number given at the end, 1971, which is how RFE tracked the broadcasts.

The images of a handsome young man and a smoke-filled coffee house have a certain romance to it and the power of this short film is evident in the number of Baby Boomers and early Gen Xers who recall the PSA quite fondly. For me personally, it inspired an early interest in politics and radio.  Later in life when I did work in broadcasting, every time I got behind the mike the fleeting image of this PSA was always in the back of my mind.

Some may decry the efforts of RFE as just Western propaganda, and admittedly that is certainly true; however, such claims also ignore the great desire by those people locked behind the Iron Curtain for self-determination and freedom from Soviet oppression. As one RFE slogan noted, “Radio crossed borders where people couldn’t.” This long-suppressed desire exploded following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 when revolution swept through the Eastern Europe. While Hungary moved from communism to democracy and capitalism relatively peacefully, if not without economic problems, in neighboring Romania the changeover was more violent and ended with the execution of its leader Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife Elena.

Who is That Guy?

Identifying the good-looking young announcer in the PSA was a real challenge. With a background in corporate intelligence and defense analysis, I like to think I'm pretty good at finding an answer if it is out there; nevertheless, I came up empty-handed when trying to identify who “Peter” was. His last name, mentioned at the start of the PSA, is obscured by the ambient street noise. I reached out to native Hungarian speakers in hope they could recognize the name, but to no avail. 

After months of researching, I finally contacted Radio Free Europe and emailed Martin Zvaners, Deputy Director, Media and Public Affairs, who informed me that the young man’s name is Peter Záboji. During the Hungarian Revolution in 1956, Záboji and his family left Budapest. He later became a freelance producer, serving as the disc jockey for the “Teenager Party” rock music show on RFE (3-6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays), and hosted a one-hour jazz program on Friday afternoons under the name Erdei Péter. “On Broadway,” was Záboji's theme song used on his shows, though it's unclear whether it was used for the rock or the jazz program, or both.

Original RFE ciphers discussing Peter Zaboji’s selection for the PSA.

This is a real scoop for Aeolus 13 Umbra readers as there is no information in the open press associating Záboji with this famous PSA and the text in the scans of the cipher documents are not indexed by search engines. So, this information was buried quite deep in the Internet. My thanks go out to Martin Zvaners for taking the time to respond to my inquiry and share with me the ciphers from the The Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives (OSA) at Central European University (CEU).

Zaboji in 2014.

Záboji was highly educated with a B.A. in Physics and Mathematics and a M.Sc. in Business (Diplom-Kaufmann) from Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich, where he was attending at the time of the filming. In 1970, he began working for IBM and later moved on to Siemens in 1973. Following the resumption of democracy in Hungary in 1990, he went on to make significant contributions to his homeland. According to Zvaners, Zaboji became an angel investor and was influential in establishing Budapest’s success as a high-tech hub and helping create startups through his “European Entrepreneurship Foundation.” He later taugh at the Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires (INSEAD) in France, and St. Ignatius College and CEU Business School in Budapest. In April 2014, Záboji was awarded the Knight of Cross by the President of Hungary János Áder, “In recognition for bringing entrepreneurial spirit and culture to Hungary,” as noted in Záboji’s LinkedIn profile.

Záboji carried on the very best traditions of the mission of Radio Free Europe to bring democracy and economic opportunity to Central Europe. Born, according to open sources, December 25, 1943, he was 24 at the time of the filming of the PSA in 1968, and passed away July 3, 2015, at the age of 71. A true, if underrated, hero of Western democracy, Zaboji’s contributions made both Hungry and the world a better place to live in.

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Sources: Cold War Radio Museum (Dec. 13, 2018), LinkedIn, Martin Zvaners (Deputy Director, Media and Public Affairs, Radio Free Europe), and The Vera and Donald Blinken Open Society Archives (OSA) at Central European University (CEU).

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Playboy After Dark: Capturing a Moment in Time

by G. Jack Urso

Playboy After Dark Introduction, from the Ae13U Playboy After Dark YouTube Channel. See the end of this article below for links to full episodes and individual musical performances.

Playboy After Dark is a syndicated TV series hosted by Hugh Hefner that originally aired from 1969 to 1970 for a total of 52 one-hour episodes over two seasons. Recorded at CBS Television City in Los Angeles and at KTLA on Sunset for the second season, it featured some of the most popular artists in TV, film, music, and even comedy. This was Hefner’s second weekly series. His earlier effort, Playboy’s Penthouse, which aired from 1959 to 1960, was produced in Chicago, then the headquarters of the magazine’s offices, which limited the celebrities available for taping. The move to LA not only expanded the number and variety of guest stars but also took advantage of LA’s prominence as the nexus of the entertainment industry in America. Following the end of the series, Hefner moved his base of operations from Chicago to LA in 1971.

As soon as one hears the smooth jazz opening theme music and sees the flashing lights of the building located at Sunset and Alta Loma which sported a Playboy Club (though the series itself was filmed at CBS Studios), it’s hard not to feel a lot cooler and suave than one actually is in real life.

Jerry Lewis (far left), Sammy Davis Jr. (center) and Hugh Hefner (far right). 

Playboy After Dark attracted some of the era’s top talent.

Both the 1959 and 1969 series centered on the now iconic cocktail party, with well-dressed men and women schmoozing, drinking, smoking, and flirting with each other while discussing the latest social and political topics. More notably satirized as a sketch in Laugh-In, the Playboy cocktail party was the fantasy that populated the minds of many young people of the era as the Holy Grail of single adulthood. Sharp-eyed Laugh-In fans will recognize tall, lanky, mustachioed African American dancer Bryon Gilliam, a Laugh-In cocktail party dancer and regular performer who also appears in Playboy After Dark, providing some continuity between the two programs.  

Few people and publications have so embodied the zeitgeist of its times like Hugh Hefner and Playboy. To be sure, Playboy didn’t invent pornography. In fact, during its reign as the leading publication of nude female photography, it was generally regarded as the tamest of such periodicals. Instead, Playboy’s influence is rather as a men’s lifestyle magazine. Building upon the traditional American rugged individualist, Hefner and Playboy promoted a literate, worldly man, informed on contemporary art, fashion, film, literature, music, politics, sports, and, of course, sex. The old joke about Playboy, “I only read it for the articles,” has a grain of truth in that the articles actually were worth reading. As a teen, I often found myself unaccountably detracted by the articles, interviews, and jokes — honestly!

As noted in the expansive retro entertainment website, TV Party, the set for Playboy After Dark was constructed at a cost of $35,000 (approximately, $244,278 in 2019) and Hefner had no problem attracting top stars and models to populate his parties. While the exposure succeeded in showing Hefner had more to him than just a purveyor of pornography, the show was still a difficult sell in the more conservative Midwest and Deep South, where the Playboy name made widespread national syndication of the series somewhat challenging. In fact, it was so problematic that at least in one city, Charlotte, NC, the show was listed under the title “Hugh Hefner.”

The Playboy male ideal.

At its height, the Playboy Empire included not just the magazine but also books, merchandise, and a nationwide chain of high-end clubs. The clubs went out of business in 1991, but the brand was resurrected in 2006, and a handful still exists as of this writing. In 1986, I almost made my way into the Buffalo club on a double date, ironically at the insistence of the girls we were with from the Conservative Christian college we attended. While I was wearing a tie, the other guy wasn’t, so we didn’t get past the lobby. Yes, they had a dress code.

In a way, the magazines, the clubs, and the shows promoted a common male culture one step forward of the two-fisted drinkers of their father’s generation. The ideal “Playboy” man would be able to converse at parties on a wide range of topics, tell jokes, and mix the latest drinks. Still though, with a few exceptions for the exceptionally talented female celebrity, women were typically treated as little more than accessories rather than as equal participants in the sexual revolution. This is on display briefly in the beginning of the Buddy Rich & Hal Frasier performance of “A Lot of Livin’ to Do” where models Barbi Benton and Claudia Jennings (1970 Playmate of the Year) are cooking eggs for the guests. It betrays an inherently chauvinist attitude towards women not far removed from the previous generation.

I am disinclined to attribute the entirety of responsibility for the sexual revolution of the 1960s solely to Playboy; however, the magazine rode the forefront of the social movement and was influential in spreading the idea that sex and the female body was not a dirty secret to be hidden, but rather celebrated. While Playboy was a relatively more modest publication than its competitors, the magazine could still push the limits of what was acceptable in terms of female nudity until hardcore pornography became more widely distributed. I am reminded of a scene in Billy Hayes’s autobiography Midnight Express where after escaping a Turkish prison in 1975, following five years behind bars, he picks up a copy of Playboy and is immediately shocked at how much more nudity was displayed compared to 1970.

That Playboy’s Penthouse and Playboy After Dark both lasted two seasons each is not really indicative of a failure. The point of both programs was to raise the profile of the publication, and, to that end, it succeeded. Additionally, both programs capture a moment in time and Hefner had an instinct for knowing when the moment had passed, and, like every good host, he knew when the party was over.

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 Media Content

All media content is hosted on the Ae13U AfterDark YouTube channel.

The Most (1962): A period-look at the life, work, and philosophy of Playboy Founder, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief Hugh Hefner. Actor Dudley Moore composed the music. Note, the soundtrack doesn't begin until 30 seconds into the film.

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Full Episodes: The links below are to a selection of full episodes from Playboy After Dark, hosted on the Ae13U AfterDark YouTube Channel.  Some episodes missing from Playboy After Dark Season 1 and Season 2 is due to copyrighted material in musical performances and consequently, those episodes are blocked. 

Don Adams, center, and Hugh Hefner, right, in Playboy After Dark.

Playboy After Dark Season 1:

• Season 1, Episode 1. Airdate — Jan. 18, 1969. Rowan & Martin, Stu Gilliam, Cathy Carlson, Paul Hampton, The Clara Ward Singers.
• Season 1, Episode 4. Airdate — Feb. 7, 1969. Guests: Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate, Della Reese, Don Adams. 
  
• Season 1, Episode 6. Airdate — Feb. 21, 1969. Guests: Tommy Smothers, Buffy St. Marie, Louis Nye, John Stewart, Dr. William Schultz, The Buddy Miles Express.
  
• Season 1, Episode 7. Airdate — Mar. 1, 1969. Guests: Don Adams, Larry Hankin, David Hemmings, Gayle Hunnicutt, Tommy Smothers, Joan Baez, The Avant-Garde featuring Chuck Woolery.
  
• Season 1, Episode 8. Airdate — Mar. 7, 1969. Guests: The Checkmates, Bill Cosby, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, Jerry Lewis, Leroy Neiman, Anthony Newley.
  
• Season 1, Episode 10. Airdate — Mar. 21, 1969. Guests: Melvin Belli, The Checkmates, The Collage, Bill Cosby, Bob Fuller, Kelly Garrett, Shecky Greene, Doug McClure, Don Rickles.
  
• Season 1, Episode 11. Airdate — Mar. 22, 1969. Guests: Sid Caesar, Elias & Shaw, The Grateful Dead, Brendan Hanlon, Noel Harrison, Sydney Omarr.
  
• Season 1, Episode 12. Airdate — Mar. 28, 1969. Guests: Pat Collins, Gore Vidal, John Hartford, Three Dog Night, Morgana King.
  
• Season 1, Episode 13. Airdate — Mar. 29, 1969. Guests: Bob Newhart, O.C. Smith, Bill Cosby, Gary LeMel, The Pickle Brothers, Rod Piazza Group, George Chakos.
  
• Season 1, Episode 14. Airdate — Apr. 11, 1969. Guests: Bill Cosby, Jackie DeShannon, Jim Brown, Louis Belson, Marty Ingels, Taj Mahal, Jeremy Vernon, Deep Purple.
  
• Season 1, Episode 15. Airdate — Apr. 12, 1969. Guests: Buddy Rich, James Cotton Blues Band, Joe Williams, Sue Raney, Pat McCormick, Ray Hastings.
  
• Season 1, Episode 17. Airdate — May 2, 1969. Guests: Bill Cosby, Jack Carter, Soupy Sales, Clay Tyson, James Brown, Three Dog Night, Marva Whitney.
  
• Season 1, Episode 18. Airdate — May 9, 1969. Guests: Pete Seeger, Bill Cosby, Jack E. Leonard, Carmen McRae, Teddy Neely.
  
• Season 1, Episode 19. Airdate — May 16, 1969. Guests: Canned Heat, Colvin & Wilder, Buddy Greco, Johnny Janis, Shari Lewis, Max Lerner.
  
• Season 1, Episode 21. Airdate — May 31, 1969. Guests: Sammy Bow, Bobby Doyle, Billy Eckstine, The Grass Roots, Rich Little, Paul Mazursky, Larry Tucker.
  
• Season 1, Episode 22. Airdate — Jun. 28, 1969. Guests: Shelley Berman, Pat Morita, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Frankie Randall, Lou Rawls, Second City.
  
• Season 1, Episode 24. Airdate — Oct. 10, 1969. Guests: Johnny Mathis, Mort Sahl, The Chambers Brothers, Bill Russell, Corbett Monica, Nadia Christen.
  
• Season 1, Episode 25. Airdate — Nov. 7, 1969. Guests: Joey Bishop, Skiles & Henderson, Steppenwolf, Joe Williams, Joanne Vent.

Playboy After Dark Season 2:

• Season 2, Episode 1. Airdate — Jan. 27, 1970. Guests: Vic Damone, Canned Heat, Dick Shawn, Sonny & Cher, Larry Storch.
• Season 2, Episode 2. Airdate — Feb. 3, 1970. Guests: Ike & Tina Turner Revue, Patty Duke, Doug Kershaw, Louis Nye, Rex Reed.
• Season 2, Episode 3. Airdate — Feb. 10, 1970. Guests: Tony Bennett, George Kirby, Moe Koffman, Mitch Miller, Joe Williams.
• Season 2, Episode 4. Airdate — Feb. 17, 1970. Guests: Don Adams, Fleetwood Mac, Arte Johnson, Tommy Leonetti, Lesley Gore.
• Season 2, Episode 6. Airdate — Mar 3, 1970. Guests: Steve Allen, O.C. Smith, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Blossoms.
• Season 2, Episode 7. Airdate — Mar 10, 1970. Guests: Don Adams, The Amazing Kreskin, The Checkmates, Bill Dana, Biff Rose, Carla Thomas.
• Season 2, Episode 9. Airdate — Mar 24, 1970. Guests: Vicki Anderson, James Brown, The Chambers Brothers, Norm Crosby, Jack Jones.
• Season 2, Episode 10. Airdate — Mar 31, 1970. Guests: Angeline Butler, Bill Cosby, Bill Medley, Scoey Mitchell, Hugh O'Brian, Sweetwater.
• Season 2, Episode 11. Airdate — Apr 7, 1970. Guests: Sid Caesar, Billy Eckstine, Linda Ronstadt, Joe Cocker & the Grease Band, Mort Sahl.
• Season 2, Episode 12. Airdate — Apr 14, 1970. Guests: Milton Berle, Barrie Chase, Muscatel, Tony Joe White, Jo Anne Worley.
• Season 2, Episode 14. Airdate — Apr. 28, 1970. Guests: George Carlin, Kenny Kingston, Johnny Mathis, Modern Jazz Quartet, Tommy Smothers, John Stewart.
• Season 2, Episode 15. Airdate — May 5, 1970. Guests: Robert Goulet, Rich Little, Shari Lewis, Frankie Randall.
• Season 2, Episode 16. Airdate — May 12, 1970. Guests: Milton Berle, Barrie Chase, Muscatel, Tony Joe White, Jo Anne Worley.
• Season 2, Episode 18. Airdate — May 26, 1970. Guests: The Dillards, John Gary, Carmen McRae.
• Season 2, Episode 19. Airdate — Jun. 2, 1970. Guests: Sonny Charles, Sandy Baron, Lola Falana, Don Ho, Pat Paulson.
• Season 2, Episode 24. Airdate — Jul. 21, 1970. Guests: Sammy Davis Jr., Moms Mabley, Bill Medley, Billy Preston.
• Season 2, Episode 25. Airdate — Aug. 11, 1970. Guests: The Cowsills, Nanci Roberts, Marty Allen, Frankie Laine, Sue Raney.
• Season 2, Episode 26. Airdate — Aug. 25, 1970. Guests: George Carlin, Lou Rawls, Spanky Wilson, Bossa Rio.

Early 1970s marketing advertisement showing the ideal Playboy party includes alcohol, appetizers, art, and an attention to fashion.  

Playboy’s Penthouse:

• Season 1, Episode 17. Airdate — Feb. 13, 1960. This episode of the first series, Playboy's Penthouse, is a good example of the show and some of the guests would later appear on Playboy After Dark. Guests: Count Basie, Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross, Tony Bennett, Phyllis Diller, Marty Ingels.

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Playboy After Dark Musical Performances:

In addition to conversations with some of the most popular entertainers and public figures at the time, Playboy After Dark featured some of the most iconic and influential acts in Rock and Roll. Click on the links below for performances from Playboy After Dark available on the Ae13U Blue Planet YouTube channel.

• B. B. King, “So Excited.”

• Brenton Wood, “It’s Just a Game, Love” and “Just Gimmie Some Kind of Sign.”

• Buddy Rich & Hal Frasier, “A Lot of Livin’ to Do.”

• Deep Purple, “And the Address” (instrumental) and “Hush.”

• Canned Heat, “Future Blues,” “On the Road Again” and “Turpentine Moan.”

• Cher, “For Once in My Life” and “Take Me for a Little While.”

• Country Joe & The Fish, “I Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag” and “Sing, Sing, Sing.”

• Fleetwood Mac, “Rattlesnake Shake.”

• Grand Funk Railroad, “Mr. Limousine Driver.”

• Grateful Dead, “Mountains of the Moon.”

• Ike & Tina Turner, “Come Together,” and “Take You Higher.”

• Jackie DeShannon, “I Got My Reason,” and “Hollywood.”

• James Brown, “Georgia.”

• Joe Cocker, “Hitchcock Railway.”

• Linda Ronstadt, “Walkin’ Down the Line,” “Living Like a Fool,” and “Lovesick Blues.” 

• Leslie Gore, “Hello Young Lovers” and “This Time.”

• Marvin Gaye, “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” and “All by Myself.” 

• Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, “Alligator Man” and “Washington at Valley Forge.” 

• Noel Harrison, “The Great Electric Experiment is Over” and “The Last You’ll See of Me.”

• Roger McGuinn & The Byrds, “You Ain’t Going Nowhere” and “This Wheel’s on Fire” (medley).

• Sir Douglas Quintet, “Mendocino.”

• Sonny & Cher, “Too Good to be True.”

• Steppenwolf, “Chicken Wolf,” “Don't Cry,” “From Here to Eventually,” and “Monster.”

• Taj Mahal, “Everybody's Got to ChangeSometime.”

• The Cowsills, “Where is Love?” (from Oliver) and “II X II.”

• The Grass Roots, “Walkin Through the Country” and “Dancin’ in the Streets.”

 

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