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25 June 2012

Ray Charles Ft. In The Super Dave Osborne Show (1987, 1990, 1995)

Still from the TV show.
Vegas Spectacular, aired Jan. 7, 1995.
I knew that Ray Charles had a (not overly funny) cameo as a bus driver in the 2000 comedy The Extreme Adventures Of Super Dave, but I wasn't aware that this was preceded by at least three guest appearances on Bob Einstein's Super Dave TV-shows. The 2 first ones were in the Canadian/American production The Super Dave Osborne Show, a comedy series that ran from 1987 to 1991 on Showtime in the U.S. and on Global Television Network in Canada. During its first year the program was taped at the fictional "Super Dave Compound" or  "Super Dave Complex", actually the Glen Warren Studios at CFTO-TV in Toronto. Ray first appeared in the 3d episode of the (first) 1987 season, on November 29.
He participated in the car stunt that opened the program, and came back on the studio stage (backed by his Orchestra's rhythm section) to play They Can't Take That Away From Me, and a little Super Dave Blues ditty. You can watch it all here [sorry, video has been removed by user; here's a clip with just the stunt, and here's a stunt compilation with a sliver of one of Ray's blues ditties].

TV.com also lists an appearance in episode 51 of the 4th (1990) season. Einstein's own website has the photo at the right, with the following caption: "Ray Charles (whom Bob called his 'good luck charm') guest stars on the premiere episode of  Super Dave's Vegas Spectacular, which originally aired January 7, 1995 (USA  Network)."

 A considerate reader sent me a copy of another Super Dave show, probably from the 1990 show described above. This time Ray first performs a good and long version of What'd I Say. The rhythm section described above appears to be part of a bigger Super Dave house band (here extended with 5 horn players). Four girls take care of the call & response parts, but I can't swear they are The Raelettes.
Ray again plays a (very) little blues ditty - solo on electric piano this time. In the closing sequence Ray acts out another driving stunt, this time convincingly destructing a bed (!) with Einstein in it.
Here Einstein reflects on this show:
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1 comment:

  1. AndyBalts14 January, 2019 08:35

    I just watched a semi-serious interview (from, I think, Canadian TV; see: https://youtu.be/pa-Otn02mtY) with Super Dave (Bob Einstein) Osborne in which he spoke about his experiences with Mr. Charles on, I assume, the "Super Dave" series that was on Showtime. Einstein spoke of.being struck dumb as he watched Ray rehearse "What's I Say" for two hours with a group of Canadian musicians who had been hired for the appearance. Super Dave described how Mr. Charles exhibited exquisite attention to musical detail during that rehearsal. So....where's a tape of that?

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