Lloyd Thaxton
Rest In Peace
By Victoria Joyce
(SugarBuzz Hollywood)
SugarBuzz Magazine
Lloyd Thaxton is dead. So what?
No, that is not a cruel answer. That was Lloyd’s own joke on himself. If you grew up in California in the 1960’s, you watched his teen dance party, The Lloyd Thaxton Show every day. It was so much hipper than American Bandstand. This beloved icon went to Rock and Roll Heaven last week.
The line was his signature tag. Lloyd facing the camera for the sign off “..and my name is Lloyd Thaxton.” And the kids would shout “So What!” It was at the dawn of the irreverence and fun that made the 60’s famous.
Starting out on local LA TV, he soon landed his own show and dominated after school time slot. In California, Lloyd Thaxton was your Dick Clark. It was a pre-rap East Coast-West Coast thing. Premiering in 1960, Thaxton’s teen dance party show was soon syndicated throughout the country. He had a hipness that was so LA.
Before the British Invasion mid-60’s, it was all about the dance crazes. The Thaxton show presented the kids doing the Twist and the Watusi and all the popular artists of the day and he had fun with them..
His comedy bits were classic. Thaxton has been compared to Ernie Kovacs, another early TV comedy genius. One show opened with Lloyd on a stool with a guitar lip syncing “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” Dylan’s top ten hit with its false start as Bob breaks up laughing. Lloyd’s version was a kick.
Musical guests would appear to lip sync their hit songs. Just like the low budget Bandstand, the cost of live musical performance meant union pay. Lip syncing was free. The show’s cheapness was another running gag. Thaxton’s set was four cardboard panels with musical notes. It was precious.
California’s music scene was sunny, fast and wet with Surf and Drag in the South and Flower Power and Psychedelic in the North. Soul would visit from Detroit and the Brill Building in NYC would send it’s best. All of them showed up to giggle with Thaxton. Sonny & Cher, Jan & Dean, The Shangri Las, Paul Revere & The Raiders, The Seeds, Cannibal & the Headhunters, Martha & the Vandellas, Smokey Robinson & the Miracles. There were a lot of ampersands in music in those days.
After gaining teen cred, LT founded Tiger Beat Magazine. Tiger Beat! Before the Rolling Stone, before Mojo, before Sugarbuzz, there was Tiger Beat. Before Valley Girls and Punks, there were Teeny Boppers and Bubble Gummers.
The Lloyd Thaxton Show ran for 9 years and became too successful. The small corny set was replaced with a bigger one. The high schoolers were replaced with college kids and the show lost its edge. The 60’s were over and Thaxton cancelled and moved on in 1969.
What ever happened to him? After teen dance shows faded in popularity Lloyd had a very nice career in the 70’s and 80’s with Emmy nods and wins. Hosting quiz shows; writing and producing “Fight Bank With David Horowitz” and segments on the “The Today Show.” Thaxton even had a blog
“Here’s an exercise for you: Go to a cemetery (in the daytime please and skip the dead cat). Note that on the gravestones they have a name and a couple of dates. For example “Charles Swindoll, 1840-1932” and between those two dates there’s that tiny little dash. That dash (-) is supposed to represent Charles Swindle’s entire life. 92 years. What a put-down. That infinitesimal dash says nothing about the people he helped and nurtured. It says nothing about the children Mr. Swindoll might have raised or sired. It tells nothing about how he lived his life; the kind of person he was. Here’s the big question: WHAT WILL YOUR DASH STAND FOR?”
Lloyd Thaxton was a cool guy.