Robert Thom wrote the notoriously outrageous Wild In The Streets, so I was interested to see what turned out to be his only directorial credit - and I did not come away disappointed! Essentially, the plot is old Hollywood crossing paths with a long-haired, skydivin', psychedelic-rockin' death-cult led by a VERY amateur Jim Morrison-type via spoiled bratty rich overweight teenage girl. Has to be seen to be believed.

Grand Funk's 3rd studio record is a polarizing effort, crossing the power-trio sludge rock that so characterized the previous album with drilled-down populist statements tailor-made for burgeoning arena-rock audiences. Sure, there might be tons of hidden messages within the epic odyssey of "I'm Your Captain", but in reality, Farner and crew just wanted to rock out loud, heavy, and get people dancing. All in all, it's dumb, and packed with so much groove it can't help but approach classic status.

1975's Once Upon A Rhyme brought the Rhinestone Cowboy era of DAC to a spectacular close, so he returned less than a year later behind an even wilder persona, typified by the boisterous title track. Probably his best album in that it seamlessly melds traditional country with Southern Rock and all of the outlaw threads which previously weren't expressed all that clearly. Plus, "Dakota The Dancing Bear" is a great novelty song. Definitely one of the most essential albums from the Country genre.

From the album's Wikipedia page: "The Mysterious Rhinestone Cowboy sets the template for many of Coe’s albums throughout the seventies: an eclectic mix of original compositions and occasional cover songs steeped in Coe’s self-aggrandizing personae with lyrics that ranged from braggadocios to deeply sensitive." COULD NOT HAVE SAID IT BETTER MYSELF...Incredibly, despite the beauty and raw emotion displayed here, DAC would one-up this many times over through the subsequent years.

Richard Kiley's death scene goes on for what seems like the last half of the episode, and it may not be near the weirdest characteristic. It's indescribable viewing on another level, and beyond me how people hired to make TV programming decisions would think this would appeal to anyone but two kinds of people: miscreants and hermits. Then again, Aaron Spelling did spawn 90210 to the world....