So They Were Stars: The Razzle Dazzle Rockin’ Reign of the Hudson Brothers

Bearde’s influence netted the Hudsons a strong supporting cast, including Laugh-In‘s Gary Owens, Canadian comedy icons Ted Ziegler (known to a generation of Canadian kids as “Johnny Jellybean”), Billy Van (“Hilarious House of Frightenstein”), Murray Langston (who became a ’70s icon himself, as The Unknown Comic, on Bearde’s Gong Show), and announcer/performer Peter Cullen (who has since gained fame as a voice artist in every cartoon you’ve ever seen, most famously as Eeyore and Optimus Prime. Yes, I just said Eeyore and Optimus Prime are the same person. I shall pause while your mind is blown.) Bearde’s eye for oddball talent brought forth an especially fun performer to the Hudsons’ show, British/Australian comic Rod Hull and his Amazing Emu—a notoriously violent puppet that would body-slam its owner, the Hudsons, and any other celebrity it could get its beak on.

During rehearsals for the summer series, executives from Casablanca Records quickly signed the group to a recording contract. Buoyed by a hefty promotions push from both CBS and Casablanca, the first episode of The Hudson Brothers Show scored a staggering 41 share in the New York Nielsens and an impressive 29 share in Los Angeles, easily winning its time slot. Over five weeks in the summer of 1974, the Hudsons became teen idols, plastered on the covers of Tiger Beat, though they were well into their twenties. Mark in particular had a look that was decidedly more “adult” than the usual Tiger Beat pinup. Young Brett Hudson was the real heartthrob of the teen set, but audiences of all ages responded to the boys’ irresistible (and legitimately “Beatlesque”) pop tunes, fast-paced comic sensibilities, and general cuteness. At the conclusion of the summer run, CBS execs noticed the show’s special popularity with younger viewers and developed a Saturday morning version, The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show, which kept the laughs coming for the teen set.

And the music, too. On their third summer episode, the Hudson Brothers performed a new original song, “So You Are A Star.” Its Anglophile-power-pop harmonies came at just the right moment, and despite some cynical resistance at radio (where any pop star slapped with the “manufactured” label faced an uphill battle), “So You Are A Star” spent the rest of 1974 and part of 1975 on the charts, peaking at #21 in November. The Hudsons followed it up with several more singles, including “Rendezvous” (#26, June ’75), “Lonely School Year,” and “Help Wanted.” While the term “synergy” had yet to be corporatized, the Hudsons’ breathtaking, almost instant stardom made the industry take note. The success of the records fueled the success of The Razzle Dazzle Show, and vice versa. Billboard described the brothers’ five-week rise to the top as “a case history of the new routes to stardom.”

Alas, the band’s music was quickly overshadowed by their comic television image. “The TV guys didn’t take us as serious comedians, because they thought we were a rock band,” Mark Hudson later told Mix. “And the rock people didn’t take us as serious rockers because we were on TV.” Nonetheless, Hudson albums like Hollywood Situation, Ba-Fa, and Totally Out Of Control contain some of the finest power pop the ’70s produced, comparing favorably with near-contemporaries like The Move, Badfinger, Raspberries, and McCartney’s omnipresent Wings.

The Hudson Brothers’ humor went from sharp to silly at a moment’s notice. It was a “kids’ show,” but CBS soon learned that 45% of the Hudsons’ audience was between 21-45. “The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle was part The Monkees, part Laugh-In, a little Sonny and Cher, and musically, a lot of Beatles,” Bearde said.

The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show lasted but one season, but the Hudson Brothers’ were in demand for several years after the show left the air. Individually and collectively, the Hudsons were everywhere in the ’70s, from the Brady Bunch Variety Hour to Hollywood Squares to hobnobbing with Harry Nilsson and John Lennon during Lennon’s “lost weekend” period. (Lennon famously dubbed them “the kings of Saturday morning.”) Eagle-eyed fans can even spot Bill in the ticket booth in Kiss Meets The Phantom Of The Park.

Pages: 1 2 3