by Karen Plourde, Philadelphia, PA

“The Midnight Special” debuted on NBC as a weekly series on February 2, 1973. The 90-minute show, which had an original start time of 1 a.m., featured an array of pop and rock artists playing live, hosted by a fellow recording artist. Hosts usually changed from week to week, although Helen Reddy became a regular host for eight months in 1975-76. Wolfman Jack was also a frequent guest host.

The beauty of “The Midnight Special” was that it was all music. Now and then, you’d see a comedy routine, but that was the exception. You wouldn’t just hear one lipsynched song, like on “American Bandstand”; often the performers would be called on to play a couple times. Also, the setting was that of artists hanging around their contemporaries and their fans. You didn’t have those awkward moments of artists yukking it up with Mike, Merv or Johnny.

Performers on “The Midnight Special” ranged from Al Green to Tom Jones to the New York Dolls to Genesis. I remember watching a segment in 1980 in which a mousy African-American guy with an electric guitar jumped all over the stage while he played. His keyboard player wore surgical scrubs, and his lyrics were, um, expressive. “The Midnight Special” introduced me to Prince.