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Andy Sullivan: Against the Grain

Oh, You Didn’t Know?

Remember the 1967 classic “What A Wonderful World”? I bet you didn’t remember this little factoid: the song was the opening theme song to the first season of Family Matters. The second season, a new theme was introduced that stuck through the remainder of the series’ run.  This Jesse Frederick-penned song was probably a lot less expensive than the Louis Armstrong classic. 

Another Family Matters tidbit was actually a topic on a episode of Mo Rocca’s podcast Mobituaries(which I love).  Remember Judy? She was the youngest daughter of the Winslow clan.  As the story goes, and I’m not making this up, in one particular scene, she went upstairs and never came back down.  I’m totally serious.  Her absence was never explained, the character never spoken of again.  It came down to budget cuts.  That’s it.  Jaleel White’s Urkel was being paid so much that, I guess it came down to who was the most expendable character.  The producers felt that they could do it and no one would notice. They'd done it with previous shows they had. They figured no one would really care. My fans took notice of it," Foxworth explained to The Root back in 2017. "They figured they could just throw me away, no explanation at all. Some of my cast members knew before I did."   Read More: https://www.looper.com/196343/the-real-reason-judy-disappeared-on-family-matters/?utm_campaign=clip

A few music notes (get it? Music notes): The beat to the Kinks’ 1967 song “Waterloo Sunset” was used in every verse of Neil Sedaka’s 1974 hit “Laughter in The Rain”.  Don Henley. J.D. Souther, Glenn Frey and Bob Segar co-wrote The Eagles’ smash “Heartache Tonight”.  That’s right-Bob Segar wrote an Eagles song.  Not just a song, a classic.  I had no idea until I heard it on the radio once.  I’m sure it was either Little Steven’s Underground Garage or 70’s on 7.  That’s usually where my tidbits from Sirius originate. 

I’ve covered television and music so far.  I’ll end with an OYDK that has nothing to do with either.  Everyone should clean their headphones every now and again.  That’s especially the case in this Covid world in which we now live. 

Those are some little factoids for the week.  I’ll be back with more somewhere down the line.  Stay safe, everybody!

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