The Groovie Goolies

If you were an American kid in the '70s, it would've been hard to miss "The Groovie Goolies" (not the Groovy Ghoulies... or the Groovie Ghoulies, a now-defunct band that took its name from the show). A distant cousin of "The Archie Show," the Goolies made their first appearance paired with the original animated "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" (yes, the character was around before Melissa Joan Hart was even born).

The lovable animated characters were loosely based on classic horror staples: frightening Frankie (Frankenstein's bumbling monster, who feared people), dangerous Drac (a Legosi-like Dracula) and weird-o Wolfy (the wolfman, with a voice uncannily reminiscent of Wolfman Jack's) were the show's headliners, but the series was populated with a variety of ghosts and ghouls and carnivorous plants, all of whom were silly, not scary. Amongst the first shows geared toward kids with ADD, none of the episodes had an actual plot, they were merely a series of colorful skits ala "Laugh In," and songs ala "Archie" -- though the characters did cross over into plot filled episodes "Sabrina" once or twice.

I'm actually sort of surprised that the show basically vanished from the air in the late '70s -- the title aside (a word uttered continuously in neverending reruns of "Scooby-Doo"), very few of the jokes are dated though they're obviously aimed at a young audience. Unlike the stilted animation of, say "Johnny Quest" or "Return to the Planet of the Apes," the animation has held up extremely well (though like all Filmation projects, there's a lot of recycled shots) and kids who see it today adore it too. I snagged the series for my best friend's kids when it was released on DVD and they went Groovie Goolies crazy! Sadly, however, only 16 episodes of the show were made... as well as a TV movie that's noticeably absent from DVD.

DAFFY DUCK & PORKY PIG MEET THE GROOVIE GOOLIES aired as part of the ABC Saturday Superstar Movie. In the film, the Goolies hear that the movie which Daffy Duck and friends are shooting is being menaced by a phantom -- disguised as the Goolies' resident mischief maker, Hauntleroy -- so they leave Horrible Hall and head off to Hollywood to offer assistance. The final act features a memorable sequence where Drac, Frankie and Wolfy chase the would-be Hauntleroy through Magic Mirror Land... and the quartet emerge on the other side as live-action characters. There's a clip of the scene on You Tube. Although there's no songs in this film, I bring it up for a reason: rather strangely, these briefly-seen, uncredited, live-action actors are the ones who graced the cover of the LP.

_____________________________________

SOUNDTRACK

_____________________________________

With bubblegum pop music TV tie-ins being all the rage ("The Archies," "The Partridge Family," "The Brady Bunch," etc.), it only seemed natural for them to release an LP. The Groovie Goolies had the makings for what should have been a wonderful Halloween-ish novelty album, but they instead opted to exclude most of the great horror themed tracks in lieu of Archie-ish love songs (Save Your Good Lovin' for Me, We Go So Good Together, Spend Some Time Together)... God knows, they had enough material for three or four LPs. Unfortunately, it stands at just the one. Still, it's a fun album, I just would've preferred to have some of their other songs in dynamic stereo.

The Groovie Goolies

Track Listing:

01. Save Your Good Lovin' for Me

02. Bumble Goolie

03. We Go So Good Together

04. Frankie

05. Goolie Get Together

06. First Annual Semi-Formal, Combination Celebration

07. Spend Some Time Together

08. Cling Clang

09. Goolie Garden

10. One, Two, Three