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Regis Philbin retires, Don Kirshner dies
Joining talk show icons Larry King and Oprah Winfrey, Regis Philbin says this year on his show “Live With Regis and Kelly” will be his last.
“It’s been a long time,” Philbin, 79, said. “It’s been 28 years.”
Even before his nearly 30 years on his syndicated show, Philbin had been a popular face on local television since the 1950s, with stints in Los Angeles and New York. Especially after he teamed up with Kathie Lee Gifford, he was often seen as an “everyman,” the guy you could discuss current happenings with on the street corner while Gifford did her best to come across as a celebrity superstar.
Philbin also hosted “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” for several years, and I can still hear his iconic, often hyper voice saying, “Is that your final answer?”
ABC says Philbin plans to retire this summer, and the show will continue with a new co-host. (Lord, just don’t bring Kathie Lee Gifford back).
On Monday, music executive and host of his own rock concert show, Don Kirshner, died of heart failure at the age of 77.
While many of us growing up in the 1970s are most familiar with “Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert,” his career actually reached back to the late 1950s, where his publishing company eventually included songwriters who got their start with Kirshner, including Neil Diamond and Neil Sedaka.
Kirshner also served as music director on “The Monkees” until 1966, when the struggle for writing and performing control between he and the members of the group came to a head. He went on to form “The Archies” (but I am still honoring him, anyway).
His musical variety show of the 1970s featured most current and future superstars of that era, including ABBA, Cheap Trick, Ted Nugent, Sylvester, Rush, Fleetwood Mac, Prince, and the Doobie Brothers.
Kirshner, who had been married to his wife for 50 years, died in Florida.
Both Philbin and Kirshner have been parodied on Saturday Night Live over the years, to hilarious results. While I find Paul Shaffer to be annoying most of the time, his deadpan impressions of Kirshner on SNL in the late 1970s were classic.
Does anyone have memories of their favorite performers on Kirshner’s show they would like to share?
