Quote
dmay
The Ozzie and Harriet show was a fixture regarding television viewing in its day.
It was. Huge.
Amazing how that is mostly forgotten. A few years ago, SNL ran an episode from 1979 that was hosted by Rick (during an attempt at a comeback, pushing a new new retro-rock album).
Prior to the beginning of the rerun they inserted a graphic that
explained to the modern audiences who Rick Nelson was...that he had been on this "Ozzie & Harriet" TV show back in the 50's. Otherwise many of the references and jokes would fall flat.
As big as the Ozzie & Harriet show was, how could they now be so obscure??
I was fortunate to see Nelson live in August of '85 at a special show taped at the Universal Amphitheatre, where he opened for Fats Domino. Fats tore the roof off the place...one of best nights ever. Rick joined him for "I'm Walkin'"
My favorite bit of Rick Nelson trivia is that one of the big fans of his early hits whom he inspired was Bob Marley.