[Dixielandjazz] Soupy Sales dies

[Stephen G Barbone]

Perhaps not quite Dixieland or OKOM news, however Soupy Sales did have  
some jazz greats performing on his zany show. Dizzy, Miles, Ellington,  
Monk, Clifford Brown et al and he attracted a teen age audience.

But he almost blew it on New Year's Day in 1965 when he had to  
improvise for a minute while producing a show for a New York  
affiliate. Sales told the kids watching to find their parents' wallets  
and "get some of those funny green pieces of paper with all those nice  
pictures of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Alexander Hamilton"  
and mail them to him. He promised a postcard from Puerto Rico in  
return. When he repeated the gag in Los Angeles and Detroit, it led to  
a complaint from a viewer to the FCC that got Sales' show suspended.  
(He did get some money from it which he donated to charity)

After a flood of complaints about the cancellation, though, many of  
them from TEENAGE fans of the program, the show was back on the air  
within a week.

Too bad we don't have any teenage fans watching shows today that  
feature jazz. RIP Soupy.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband