Sha Na Na (1977–1981) User Reviews

ROCK & ROLL IS HERE TO STAY (along with a little comedy thrown in)

[Little-Mikey · 8/10 · 22 June 2008]

How odd it is that some people still think that Sha Na Na emerged and made their mark on the movie GREASE which later led to this short lived variety show.

Before GREASE (1978), HAPPY DAYS (1974) and American Graffiti (1973), there was Sha Na Na, who formed in 1968 and played in Woodstock in 1969. They also had a slew of singles and 3 albums to their credit before their label (Kama Sutra) released THE GOLDEN AGE OF ROCK 'N' ROLL on a 2-album set in 1973.

Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids may had appeared on American Graffiti and in 1975 as Fish & the Fins on HAPPY DAYS. But they got there by pretty much copying the style of Sha Na Na! While I was not too wild about variety shows nor was I too wild about acts that would lipsinque, Sha Na Na were the exception to the rule. Their blend of comedy and music made their variety show a hit with their fan base, which also included us critics out there on the fringe, drawn to their brand of entertainment, like a moth to a light. Even my mother, whose teenage years were spent during the "big band era" (and not a fan of rock & roll) enjoyed this show.

One classic performance was a version of "A Lover's Question" (by Clyde McPhatter-1958/Atlantic Records). The setting looked like something out of THE WEST SIDE STORY. And each of the members was sitting on a window sill or on a fire escape! Classic rock 'n' roll as we like to remember it! Grease for peace!!!

One of the fondest memories of my childhood

[grantss · 8/10 · 11 January 2021]

I remember watching this show as a kid and, for me, it worked wonderfully well. The humour, the music, all woven together in one seamless journey.

The music was fantastic, a throw-back to 50s rock 'n roll. So non-threatening that even my parents didn't mind the show (and the closest they got to aggressive rock was early Beatles stuff: even the Stones were too much for them).

While the band themselves were great, they were aided by some amazing guest artists.

Great show. Wonderfully nostalgic then, even more so now.

Late Night Stick Of "Bubble Gum" And Pure Pleasure

[redryan64 · 6/10 · 29 November 2014]

LIKE MOST ROCK Music groups, the gravitation toward comedy was a force that couldn't be resisted. The emotional expressing of what the moods and lyrics of a particular piece of music require a great deal of acting. No singer wishes to just sing the words alone.

ADDED TO THIS, we have the costuming and stage personality which gets superimposed over the real person. The result is entertainers whose on stage presentation lampoons the real world in a sort of cartoony style.

HENCE, WE HAVE the phenomenon of the Comedian-Rocker; of which we can't think of a better example than our honored group of the day, SHA NA NA.

OUR RECOLLECTIONS OF this series are ones of the great and the nostalgic. Being a syndicated series, it was no doubt seen at different times in the various markets that featured it. In our case, it was on the NBC wholly owned subsidiary, WMAQ, Channel 5. We remember that it played late on Saturday following NBC's Saturday NIGHT LIVE.

EVERY PROGRAM FEATURED power names from show biz in the special guest spotlight. Singers, Comedians and Legendary performers galore headed up the weekly proceedings. Being that they were limited to a 30 minute length and format, things went surprisingly well. We had wished that SHA NA NA would have had a full hour with which to work; but alas, It wasn't to be.

THE GROUP'S CHOSEN image, being that of a bunch of street toughs, led by Jon "Bowser" Baumann, proved to be a really misleading facade. In actuality, this conglomeration of dyed in the wool "Greasers" were a truly a talented musical team. And, they were really much more than the series revealed. We saw them in concert at the Holiday Star Theatre, Merrillville, Indiana, circa 1982. THeir show was excellent, believe us.

AS FOR THEIR leader, "Bowser"; it turns out that Jon Baumann was voice-trained on the Classics. You know what that means, don't you Schultz? Yeah,it's like Opera!

The original 50's throwback variety show!

[flickhead · 23 March 2005]

Sha Na Na were a group of Columbia University students who formed in 1968 and rose to popularity after performing at Woodstock, but it was their appearance in the blockbuster success GREASE that led to the creation of this variety show built around the band. The comedy sketches performed by the band were all based in a 50's "West Side Story" reality (on a sound stage) and in front of an "almost live" audience. Likely formulated to cash in on the 50's revival movement begun with American GRAFITI and HAPPY DAYS, it's perhaps surprising that it lasted as long as it did -a brief three and a half seasons. It may not have been as professional as Donnie & Marie or even the Mandrell Sisters, but what it lacked in budget it more than made up for in chutzpah. The "greaser" styled ensemble did a fair job on the comedy, which clicked mostly with youngsters, but the real highlight of this regional weekly program was the music., which appealed to older audiences nostalgic for the uncomplicated rock 'n roll music of the 50s.The band always performed at least one song in a straight-forward live manner, and usually several other songs throughout the program during the comedy vignettes (ala the Monkees). The writing was simple (perhaps even juvenile) but entertaining, as the program's target audience was probably also watching the (superior) Muppet Show, and the (inferior) Hudson Brothers, and Sha Na Na fit neatly between the two in terms of quality, and provided an alternative to the nursing home muzak of Lawrence Welk. The breakout star of the group was Jon "Bowzer" Bauman, whose basso profondo vocal register was so low as to be a novelty in and of itself. He went on to numerous acting roles and game show gigs. The television show helped the band sell a handful of records, and bushels of live concert tickets throughout its late 70's / early 80's run. For better or worse, Sha Na Na served as a cultural bridge for the generation between the New York Dolls (with whom they shared the Filmore East stage on more than one occasion) and new wave; it's hard to imagine the success of rockabilly revivalists The Stray Cats, without giving a little credit to the relentlessly touring Sha Na Na. All in all, it was good clean fun for the whole family -a sort of doo-wop version of HEE HAW.

I LOVED it!

[Katzi428 · 10/10 · 28 July 2003]

I started watching this show as a kid . Bowzer was my all-time favorite with his wacky attitude, and Johnny was cute:-) The 10 guys were really wonderful with all their songs & that lady that heckled the guys from her window was pretty funny.Soupy Sales starred on the show starting in Season 3 as both Officer Fussy & "Armond Fussy Director of Greaser Hall" (Sadly in 1988 Dave "Chico" Ryan passed away."Dirty"Dan McBride joined Chico in 2009. Denny passed away in 2015 R.I.P Chico Danny & Denny. )

Their guests ranged from singers that sang in the 50s (like the Crystals) to comedians (like Henny Youngman & Billy Crystal) & even a few country singers (like Barbara Mandrell.Bowzer guest starred on her show some time later.) Grease for peace!

Rock 'n' Roll will never die.

[haildevilman · 9/10 · 11 February 2007]

I was never a huge fan of 50's rock, but I still couldn't help liking this show.

This was like every other comedy ensemble. Putting the greaser rock songs in and having guest stars from the same era helped a lot. You always wondered which lost classic they'd cover next. And putting comedy into the performances was great too.

Of course Bowzer pretty much owned this show. It would not have worked without him. Some of his humor sounded ad-libbed too. The guy was a trip.

Other favorite were Big Lenny (Why do the big guys always have the high tenors?) and Santini. (Great deadpan from him.) Great show.

Depressing

[Zorro-3 · 3/10 · 10 February 2001]

A bunch of never-weres from the fifties dug back up to make a boring, poorly-written show in the seventies. The leader had a dog's name. They were obviously on a sound stage. They were nowhere near as funny as they thought they were. Its dumbness was only comparable to the "Brady Bunch Hour." It was very adolescent. I tried to avoid it, but my little brothers had to have it on sometimes.

This was a GREAT show! A warm and fun tribute to the 50's!

[wmattifo · 10/10 · 9 April 2007]

This was a great show. We loved watching the 50's come alive each week as the band brought back some of the greatest music ever made. Sha Na Na was the GREATEST tribute band ever assembled because they didn't just salute a single band- they saluted an entire decade of music! Boy, just think of the great music of the 50's, with so many great songs! That's what Sha Na Na meant to so many of us- they were our connection to the music of the 50's. There was such personality to the band- and Bowzer was the "leader of the pack." He had a great way of making each show so much fun. Sha Na Na is still touring and I'd recommend seeing them as a fun way to see what music used to be like- FUN!

A fun show!

[cfc_can · 16 January 2001]

Sha-Na-Na was a syndicated musical variety show which of course centered on the music group Sha Na Na who were well known for recreations of 50s and 60s classics. The jokes and skits were often pathetic but the music was pretty good and the band members (all ten of them) always seemed to be having a good time. They never took themselves too seriously and weren't above making fun of themselves. Bowzer was the leader and always closed the show by going "Do-Do-Do-Do" over and over while making muscles, which was a joke as he was pretty skinny and barely had any muscle. The guests were often from the 50s/60s era but once in awhile, they had more current guests like the Ramones and Kim Carnes. A show like this would never be made today, even with contemporary music stars but looking back, Sha Na Na was pretty fun to watch.

So good...

[gobzine · 10/10 · 29 August 2006]

I loved this show and I always will.

I refuse to die before I get the episodes on DVD, especially the one where the Ramones guest star. Oh man, how frickin' cool is that. One thing that is rarely mentioned in rock trivia is the fact that SHa Na Na, of all bands, influenced punk rock, even today you can hear the style of what they did in pop-punk. Essentially, the took a standard song and sped it up and that's what the Ramones did (and they all dressed like Bowzer haha!!!) OK, so they really influenced me.

They had some really fine original songs too, in addition to the re-vamped oldies, and since they were 'hippies' and spoke ill of president Nixon *gasp* they will always be cool, as long as war and hatred rage across this planet. This fact makes my Sha Na Na cover band, Baa Na Na (started way back when I was too young to see the irony) something I will be forever proud of.

Grease for Peace!! (more than ever)

Amazing.

[avboyd · 4 July 2003]

With ever episode of Sha Na Na, we laughed a little, learned a little, and sang a little. Admittedly, I was like five years old when I saw this show on TV, but I thought it was, as they say "wicked awesome." They should release this on DVD for sure.

A Nostalgic Romp Back to the 50s and 60s

[hfan77 · 21 August 2011]

I remember watching Sha Na Na in the late 70s and early 80s and to me it was a nostalgic romp back to the 50s and 60s as the group led by Jon (Bowzer) Bauman performed classic hits from rock and roll's early days. Even though they portrayed greasers, in real life, they were very bright fellows who graduated from Columbia University and they had a great time doing what they did.

But they also proved that they can do comedy and they pulled it off well as they were backed by regulars Pamela Myers and Jane Dulo, who also portrayed the crabby neighbor. Later in the show's run, Soupy Sales joined the cast as a policeman.

Celebrity guests also appeared on the show and they added to the fun and nostalgia of the show, which was set in an area my dad grew up in, The Bronx.

It's a shame Sha Na Na hasn't been rerun in years or released on DVD. It probably has to do with music licensing issues. But it brings back memories of early rock and roll and Bowzer's deep bass voice. Let's not forget the big, bearded saxophone player Lennie Baker. Grease for peace.