Steven L. Smith, Bellingham, WA Home Inspector (King of the House)

Especially if you saw Ed Sullivan, you have to wonder why he became a leading icon and performer on TV. He seemed like an odd fit. As an MC, he was about as stiff on camera as Richard Nixon and a penguin combined. He had odd posture: He held his shoulders high, his neck low, and he was famous for mispronouncing the names of his guests over and over again. They say he had a toddy or two before the show. Even when Ed was hitting on all cylinders, the standing joke among viewers was that Sullivan had a really big "shoe" that night. The silver-tongued Ed could make "show" come out as "shoe" any day of the week.

So how did this awkward former pugilist become the leading force in variety show entertainment from the 1940's until the 1970's? First, you have to realize that this was the beginning of the television era. The new medium was not so glamorous in the beginning and it was relying on people from other related fields to fill the airtime. They chose many radio stars but also newspaper columnists. That is where Ed came in.

Sullivan began his media work as a newspaper sportswriter. As circumstances played out, and his full potential was discovered, he became a theater columnist in New York City -- the big apple. From there, he had a radio show, critiquing Broadway shows and dispensing entertainment gossip. Then in 1948 CBS TV hired him to do his Sunday night variety show "The Ed Sullivan Show" that was the big gorilla of television for many years. It was not so much his personality the network was buying, as much as his important connections that allowed him to acquire the top entertainers. He could make or break an act overnight. Stories about Sullivan the man, his quirky behavior and his quick temper, could fill a book.

Instead, I selected three videos. The first one is for those people who do not know Ed Sullivan from Kermit the frog. This was a commercial Sullivan did in his prime, and you can see just how stiff he was in front of the camera. It gets across his basic style and personality, or lack thereof.

One of the highlights in the history of his show was when, in 1956, he booked Elvis. The cavorting about, shimmy-shaking, had the girls worked into a dither across the country, Canada too. but especially so in Searcy, Arkansas. It was the first time that many parents out there had seen this young man Presley. They were displeased with the raw sexuality that was exuded by the future king of rock n' roll. Oh yes, those were simpler times. Check out that historic performance that many labeled as obscene.

For more "Stories Behind the Music" click on the guitar

Steven L. Smith

 Steven L. Smith

What most people do not know is that there was a pre-cursor to this festival. It took place two years before, June 1967. That event was the Monterey Pop Festival.

Some historians claim Montery Pop was a better show than Woodstock and it was, for sure,  the beginning of the summer of love. Monterey Pop was the brainchild of John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas, a big folk-rock group of the era. San Francisco was home-base for the hippies, so Monterey was a nearby venue that drew in the flower children.

Another fact that most people do not know is that the two most sensational acts at Woodstock had performed, and been equally startling and popular, a couple years before at Monterey. A young woman named Janis Joplin became a star at Monterey Pop. It was one of her earliest public appearances. She spent much of her time on stage swigging on bourbon as she sang. The audience loved her sexy, raw blues.

The other act, that brought the house down, was already huge in Europe but had not yet been discovered in the U.S. We are talking Jimi Hendrix. This kid, originally from Seattle, became a superstar at Monterey Pop, his first American venue. 

Joplin and Hendrix became legends but both would be dead, within one year of the Woodstock performances, from drug overdoses. They died only two months apart from one another in 1970. Their historical and phenomenal Woodstock performances were captured on film.

Steven L. Smith

This time, not far from the access hatch, I found something I have not seen before. There was an open hole. I peaked down that hole and, estimate here, I would say it went down about fifteen feet. Probably, at one point, a chimney was going to go through there, but that was a plan maybe, but it was never installed. Can you say H-O-L-E?

This hole creates three obvious problems: (1) missing insulation, (2) missing fire-stopping so a fire below could more easily draw into the attic, (3) a danger to a person working in the attic. Falling down that hole would be serious. There is no question about it that the repair has to be done right. Merely stapling cardboard over the hole, putting insulation in place, makes it almost for sure that someone will end up going down the hole. This needs to be repaired in a manner that is safe. People have to work in attics and that location, so near the hatch, is a logical place for someone to pause while traversing to another location. That person does not want to be going, going, gone.

Steven L. Smith

I remember it well, it was hot in Bellingham that year. I was mowing lawns for a living -- being a kid and all. I could not wait to get home from junior high school every weekday to play the hits for the neighborhood from my pirate AM radio station that I ran from my bedroom upstairs. We had "Sunny Afternoon" by the Kinks, "Good Day Sunshine" by the Beatles, "Sloop John B" by the Beachboys all heating up the charts. But those are not the tunes that made it to number one that summer. This one did. It was a jug band, masquerading as a rock group, that turned "Summer in the City" into an anthem of summer. Here is the Lovin' Spoonful.

I would argue that this comparison below might shoot that theory in the big toe. First, you probably all know the song -- "Hooked on a Feeling." The original artist was BJ Thomas. He was a low-profile, consumate artist whose biggest song, "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" is a standard. "Hooked on a Feeling" was huge and stood on its own too.

In the first video below BJ is performing this song the way he did it back in 1968. I was MC for his act twice, years ago, and, other than showing some age today, he did it just like this live or on TV. Watch at least part of this video, so you will see my point and be able to compare to what is down below.

No special effects here, just an original artist who can sing, singing his hit song. Now let us move forward an even forty years, give or take a couple. We have a video of the same song and, believe it or not, this was a smash in Europe. The artist, David Hasselhoff, the non-babe in Baywatch. This has got to be the most amazing and weird music video I have ever seen.

So who do you vote for? Hasselhoff or Thomas? I have been told that Hasselhoff has an amazing sinking career in Europe.

Steven L. Smith

Reducing high water pressure is usually not much of a problem, in that it can be resolved with a water pressure reducer. But when water pressure reads, and is functionally too low, then the fix gets more complicated. If it is a well system then that is taken into account but it can also indicate that the service or supply pipes are old, galvanized and clogged? Fact is, it might not be easy to get the water up into the normal range at an older home if there is low pressure. It could take some digging and replacing of pipes. The system below was 35 PSI and functional pressure was low too -- you noticed it was low when running fixtures.

Now, sometimes low pressure is no big deal. That was true at the home above. Why? Because there is a water pressure reducer in the system. When there is a water pressure reducer, the water pressure can be adjusted up to the normal range. There is plenty of pressure, it is just being reduced. When I explain this, clients often ask me what a water pressure reducer looks like. To answer that question, I have posted the photo below. Note: When there is a water pressure reducer in the system, called a closed system, the hot water heater needs to have a means of relieving pressure build up from thermal expansion as the water heats, that is usually accomplished with a small "expansion" tank attached at the water heater.

Steven L. Smith

The wise sages knew that, in that location, the water heater should have a pan under it. Fact is, it was in such a spot that draining the pan through the exterior wall would be a piece of cake compared to some places where it would take effort. The problem -- nobody bothered to make the hole in the wall and install a drain line. As is, when that tank leaks, there is going to be interior damage. The floor itself is concrete but this cubby-hole has sheet rock all around it. Sheet rock does not respond well to flooding.

Steven L. Smith