There used to be big-name talent

I graduated from Michigan State University in 1970. Seems like eons ago. A few years later, I visited the campus for some reason and stopped to look at a bulletin board near the Administration Building. There were numerous interesting things tacked up, most by students, some by the university.

One poster particularly attracted my attention about an upcoming concert performance at MSU. There were several students nearby also looking at the bulletin board. I casually said, “When I was here, they used to bring in big-name talent. People like Simon and Garfunkel and The Fifth Dimension.”

One of the young men said to me, “You don’t know Jethro Tull?” “No, never heard of him,” I replied. The group chuckled. “It’s not he, it’s a band. We also had the Eagles and Bachman Turner Overdrive on campus.”

I admit I didn’t always pay much attention to pop music. Apparently, Tull, Overdrive and The Eagles were some of the hottest groups in show business at the time. Truly contemporary “big-name” talent.

Later in life, I did pay some attention, watching TV variety shows and attending concerts in numerous venues. This list is only a few of the entertainers I saw or met in person: Simon and Garfunkel, the Fifth Dimension, John Denver, the Judds, Bill Cosby, Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, Kenny Rogers, Garth Brooks, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Waylon Jennings, Liza Minelli, Neil Sedaka, the Beach Boys, Bob Hope, Red Skelton, Roy Clark.

Others included the Everly Brothers, Neil Diamond, Bob Seger, Chuck Mangione, Alabama, the Temptations, Debby Boone, Alan Jackson, Kathy Mattea and Suzy Bogguss, Michael Crawford, Wayne Newton, Vikki Carr, Ray Stevens, Siegfried and Roy and many others.

So there. How’s that for name dropping? A real who’s who of the entertainment world circa 1970s to 1990s. Whenever a new variety show, concert special or awards show came on TV, Sue and I enjoyed them, knowing nearly every performer.

We also attended movies so when Oscar time arrived, we knew most of the nominees and winners.

But, as we all know, time marches on. Things change. Father Time sneaks up on us. It became more difficult for me to attend live events. There were fewer variety shows on television, and I stopped listening to anything but news radio. Covid, of course, interrupted everything. We stopped going to movies.

So now, when we hear about a show with an “all-star lineup,” we usually ask, “What star?” For example, we never miss the Memorial Day Concert from the U.S. Capitol. We’ve attended in person several times. In 2025, the talent line up included Robert Patrick, Yolanda Adams, Gretchen Mol, Blair Underwood, Mary McCormack, Loren Allred, Scotty Hasting and Angel Blue.

Didn’t know any of them.

Last year the Oscar went to: Best Picture: Anora, Best Director: Sean Baker (Anora), Best Actor: Adrien Brody (The Brutalist), Best Actress: Mikey Madison (Anora), Best Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain), Best Supporting Actress: Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez).

Blank again. Didn’t see any of them. But I’ll bet many of you know who they are.

As I aged, much too quickly, I think, the entertainers I liked were aging also. Many of them retired or are entertaining somewhere up yonder.

The fact of the matter is, obviously, every generation produces “big-name” talent and always has. And we, the beneficiaries, are grateful. Enjoy!

Contact Rick at tct@pageone-inc.com