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Here is a little background information on "Happening '68" and a preview of a project I've been working on...basically a huge compilation of archival materials I found and have been collecting that need to be broken down and organized into topics and dates, etc. It's time to open the vaults and share this stuff. Stay tuned. Not sure yet if it will be done here or on a separate platform, but a trial run is coming soon.

Anyway...The Beach Boys appearance as shown on YouTube aired the weekend of August 17-18 1968 on ABC. Happening '68 was indeed a Dick Clark production, hosted by Mark Lindsay and "Paul Revere", geared toward kids and younger teens, that was shown early weekend afternoons or late mornings, depending on which TV market was airing it. There were fashion segments, music, comedy, and even a band contest where amateur acts could perform and possibly win a bunch of gear, studio time, and all that stuff. I have seen one report of the Lindsay/Revere hosting duo's comedy being corny, amateurish, etc. But the show premiered at the beginning of '68 as an offshoot of Dick Clark's "It's Happening" weekend show which was also an offshoot of his Bandstand, all shown on ABC stations across the US and again mostly weekend slots around the cartoon and rerun times when kids were watching. So that might explain the "humor" done for "Wake The World". The show was geared mostly toward kids.

Here are a few hits from the archives related to the show. First, the original announcement of the show, a report about "Happening '68" announcing the amateur band contest which *also* mentions the Beach Boys and Maharishi tour later in the same report, and an original TV listing for the clip we're watching on YouTube.

Also added a teaser for yet another "Happening" appearance in 1969 which I think will be of interest to fans here. Has anyone seen *that* tape?  ;D

I'll add more stuff on TV appearances from '68 here if there is an interest, and will soon have more material coming out. It's fun to see just how many TV appearances the band made in 1968, and sad how many of these are still lost or rarely if ever seen. What gets downplayed sometimes is how the band literally made all the usual TV rounds in 1968 into '69, and hit every major show including Carson, Bishop, Griffin, Sullivan, Douglas, Cavett, Hy Lit, Les Crane...and the impression is too often that their popularity was at a low during this time. If the actual bookings are any indication, they were still in demand as shown by the sheer number of TV spots they actually did which you'll see evidence of soon.

Enjoy.

(https://i.imgur.com/xm9T4Fe.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/f6TgCSb.jpg)

TV listing from August 17, 1968:
(https://i.imgur.com/AHbV9UZ.jpg)

A teaser or two for a later "Happening" appearance they labeled "Beach Boys Day" on the show, weekend of September 20-21 1969:

(https://i.imgur.com/Alp1FAW.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/nJiu7qm.jpg)

Yeah I have an audiotape of the 1969 appearance and though I’ve never come across video evidence of it-I have a feeling it exists though possibly in poor quality-taped off the tv

More background can be found here: http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,26557.0.html (http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,26557.0.html)