Pyramid playlist

[Jay Temple]

This is playlist I created of musical performances by people who were celebs on Pyramid. (I excluded Donny Osmond's version because they had entire theme weeks with singers.) I arranged them in order of their first appearance on Pyramid. An italicized artist did not appear on the show.

"What Would I Do If I Could Feel", Nipsey Russell, from The Wiz
"Been a Long Day", Robert Morse/Michele Lee, from How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
"Unbutton Your Heart", Rita Moreno, from The Electric Company (I didn't use West Side Story because her singing was dubbed.)
"Human Again", Angela Lansbury, David Ogden Stiers, Jerry Orbach, Jo Anne Worley, from Beauty and the Beast. I was surprised that I couldn't find a musical number on YouTube.
"Wilkommen", Joel Grey, from Cabaret
"Whatever Lola Wants", Gwen Verdon, from Damn Yankees
"Try to Remember", Sandy Duncan, on The Muppet Show
"They're Playing Our Song", Lucie Arnaz & Robert Klein, from the like-titled musical
"Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend", Carol Channing, from (I think) How to Marry a Millionaire
"Tonight", Larry Kert and Carol Lawrence, from West Side Story
"There Are Worse Things I Could Do", Adrienne Barbeau (That one surprised me, all the more so because it's a country album!)
"45 Years Medley", Gladys Knight & Clifton Davis, from a Motown special
"The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia", Vicki Lawrence
"Stupid Cupid", Connie Francis
"Big Bottom", Spinal Tap (featuring Michael McKean)
"Nuttin' for Christmas", Barry Gordon
"Where Did the Magic Go", Didi Conn, forget the show it came from
"Blue Bayou", Audrey Landers
"My Favorite Things", Florence Henderson
"Some Enchanted Evening", Brian Stokes Mitchell, might be from the concert version of South Pacific
"Loneliness of Evening", Stuart Damon, from a TV production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella
"Lullaby of Broadway", Ilene Graff
"You Made Me Love You", Millicent Martin
"Mean", Mark Salling & Dot Marie Jones, from a Season 3 ep of Glee

Some celebs that I couldn't find, even though I know they've done some professional singing: Fred Grandy, Martha Smith, David Garrison. Patty Duke even had a hit record. (And now I'm kicking myself for not remembering Mel Tormé.)

[Matt Ottinger]

Some celebs that I couldn't find, even though I know they've done some professional singing: Fred Grandy, Martha Smith, David Garrison. Patty Duke even had a hit record. (And now I'm kicking myself for not remembering Mel Tormé.)

First, what a wonderfully weird collection to put together.  As a Broadway fan, I particularly appreciate how much of that music is represented.

Still, I'm not sure what your criteria were exactly.  I mean, it's not hard to find clips of Patty Duke singing on YouTube.  And without looking at a list, I can offhand think of several people you could have included.  I take it this wasn't necessarily intended as an exhaustive sample?  

BTW, I have a cast recording from an early 90s Los Angeles production of an old Cole Porter show that featured David Garrison singling alongside a young Kristin Chenoweth.

[Marc412]

"Diamonds" is from "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes".  That's all.

[Fedya]

Smokey Robinson did $100KP opposite Gladys Knight, I believe.
David Naughton had a Top 10 hit with his version of the theme from his 70s TV show Makin' It

As for Carol Channing, I'd pick the finale from Skidoo just because the whole movie is one that deserves to be seen.

[jimlangefan]

Yes, Smokey Robinson did play against $100K Pyramid against Gladys Knight.  Has Gladys played before?? IIRC, Dick was talking as if Gladys had played before, while Smokey was the rookie.

[BrandonFG]

Yes, Smokey Robinson did play against $100K Pyramid against Gladys Knight.  Has Gladys played before?? IIRC, Dick was talking as if Gladys had played before, while Smokey was the rookie.

According to Kris Lane's site, she made at least six appearances in the 70s (four Clark weeks, two Cullen episodes). Surprised me!

Can we count William Shatner's campy singing efforts? ;-)

[JMFabiano]

Bernadette Peters, too many things to name.  So I'll settle with "Broadway Baby"

/Still wish her episodes would surface someday...
//Also wondering...did Michele Lee do any of the singing when she played Dottie West?

[Jay Temple]

It wasn't meant to be exhaustive; I stopped looking when I had enough to fill a CD. I had Smokey in there, but I had a problem with the first disc I tried. Long story short, I deleted a bunch of songs and forgot that one when I was rebuilding. Afterward I remembered that I had David Naughton and Bernadette Peters. When I actually listened to the disc, I decided that I wasn't satisfied with the quality of the Morse/Lee duet. (It was copied from an LP.) So I'm redoing it, minus that track and the Glee duet, with Smokey's "Just to See Her" and Naughton's song. "Just to See Her" was in the top 40 the week that Smokey made his first appearance.

ETA: I looked in vain for a clip from M*A*S*H where a bunch of the cast members perform "My Blue Heaven". If memory serves, everyone in that number did the show at some point.

[TimK2003]

Soupy Sales -- "The Mouse".

[BillCullen1]

Soupy Sales -- "The Mouse".  

Ah, yes. The classics.

Della Reese, a singer of note, did Pyramid back in the 70s as well - both Clark and Cullen versions. This was during her "Chico and the Man" days.

[Jay Temple]

I'm working on volume 2, and I've picked up Loretta Swit, Patty Duke, Della Reese and Hal Linden. (Maybe others, I'm not at the same computer right now.)

[TimK2003]

"Where Did the Magic Go", Didi Conn, forget the show it came from

I'll see your "Where Did the Magic Go" by Didi Conn and raise you her uncredited cameo phrase, "Was it love at first sight?" that she uttered in the John Travolta/Olivia Newton-John #1 Hit, "Summer Nights", from the movie, "Grease".

[Matt Ottinger]

"Where Did the Magic Go", Didi Conn, forget the show it came from

I'll see your "Where Did the Magic Go" by Didi Conn and raise you her uncredited cameo phrase, "Was it love at first sight?" that she uttered in the John Travolta/Olivia Newton-John #1 Hit, "Summer Nights", from the movie, "Grease".

Even better Didi Conn music trivia is one she didn't sing.  You Light Up My Life was one of the biggest and most unavoidable hits of the seventies.  It was the title song to a forgettable film that starred Conn as a would-be singer, but when it came time to actually sing the song, her voice was dubbed by another performer.  Not Debbie Boone, though, her monster hit came later.

[Kevin Prather]

It was the title song to a forgettable film that starred Conn as a would-be singer, but when it came time to actually sing the song, her voice was dubbed by another performer.  Not Debbie Boone, though, her monster hit came later.

Even though Debbie Boone's voice is remarkably similar to Kasey Cisyk's.

[Jay Temple]

Volume 2
[list=1]

• "Been a Long Day" mentioned above, better copy
• "Applause! Applause!", Jack Klugman & Tony Randall)
• "Poor, Unfortunate Souls", Ariel, Pat Carroll, Ursula from The Little Mermaid
  
• "Madeira, M'Dear", Tony Randall
• "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", William Shatner
• "The Secret Service", Anita Gillette
• "Looking at You", Alan Alda
• "The Company Way", Charles Nelson Reilly, Elliott Lawrence
  
• "I Feel the Earth Move", Loretta Swit
• "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins", Leonard Nimoy
• "The Mouse", Soupy Sales
• "Gee Whiz", Bernadette Peters
• "You Always Hurt the One You Love", George Maharis
• "Kids", Paul Lynde, Marijane Maricle
  
• "Triplets", Nanette Fabray, Fred Astaire, Jack Buchanan
  
• "Mack the Knife", Hal Linden
• "More like a River", Mackenzie Phillips
• "Ya Got Trouble", Bobby Van, Elaine Joyce
  
• "Someday", Della Reese
• "Don't Just Stand There", Patty Duke
• "Put One Foot in Front of the Other", Mickey Rooney, Keenan Wynn
  
• "Rock Around the Clock" (Medley), Donna Fargo, Jamie Farr
  
• "Don't Touch Me There", Crystal Bernard
• "The Critic Song", Jason Alexander
• "Mean", mentioned above