Ok, I gave you a taste of the music. Now, check out the opening to Filmation's interpretation of the Hardy Boys, once again uploaded by Skeebwilcox to YouTube:
I cannot identify the studio musicians appearing as the band in the clip. However, we do know the voices behind the characters. The bulk of the male voices were done by Dallas McKennon (Daniel Boone, Archie's Funhouse). Jane Webb, of course, voiced the Hardys' made-for-TV female sidekick, Wanda Kay. Wanda and drummer Pete Jones, the first African American character to appear in a cartoon, didn't appear in the original books. Chet "Chubby" Morton did, however, and, aside from the Hardys' father, Det. Fenton Hardy, was the only supporting character from the novels to make the transition to the cartoon. Byron Kane, who was previously a producer on shows like Peter Gunn, was the only other actor credited.
RCA released 2 albums spun off from the series. I recall seeing one of them at a record convention several years ago, but by then I no longer owned a turntable, so I passed. Neither record has been reissued on CD as yet. Hardy Boys lasted for 2 seasons, but hasn't seen the light of day since a brief syndicated run in the 70's, presumably to cash in on the live-action series (which lasted 3 years).
Rating: B-.
6 comments:
Now only if we can get WWE to get sued by the Hardy Boys crestors, since Vince has wrestlers called the Hardy Boys
Not anymore, he doesn't. Jeff Hardy is in TNA as their champ, and Matt was released by WWE a few weeks ago.
As a kid I liked the show, but after having seen a few clips online recently, I can honestly say the show didn't age well!
The music is still great to listen to! In fact, their first album is available on iTunes.
The band that played during the live action segments were in fact a real band TPTB put together to promote the show and music. Their names were Reed Kailing, Devon English, Bob Crowder, Norbert Solystiak and Jeff Taylor.
Kailing ("Frank Hardy") joined the Grass Roots after the Hardy Boys disbanded, Devon English ("Wanda") was a Playboy bunny who was a classically trained pianist and jazz vocalist, Crowder ("Pete Jones") was a session musician who played drums for a number of major R&B/Soul artists, and Solystiak ("Chubby Morton") was also a career musician. Jeff Taylor ("Joe Hardy") was a career musician as well.
Magicdog: Thank you so much for filling in the blanks!
OK people: enough fooling around. Can someone, ANYONE tell me? WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO MY FIRST LOVE, MS DEVON ENGLISH??? Can someone, ANYONE, PLEASE me? Thank you!-David
David:
I wish I could answer that one for you. A Google search might give you some hope.
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