Through the first few decades of television, the last piece of music late-night viewers heard was “The Star-Spangled Banner” before a station signed off.
That changed thanks in large part to Burt Sugarman, an independent producer of game shows, music specials and eventually movies, who believed people would stay up after Johnny Carson’s “Tonight” show if there were something to actually watch. He proved it 50 years ago when he launched NBC’s Friday night music series “The Midnight Special” that featured dozens of major rock, pop, country and soul acts of the 1970s.
Sugarman — now 84 and often seen seated behind the plate at Dodger Stadium next to his wife Mary Hart of “Entertainment Tonight” fame — knew his weekly program was worth preserving (along with the contracts that gave him control of the rights). After making the performances available on cable network VH1 and on DVDs over the decades, he’s finally brought them online, to a dedicated YouTube channel he introduced last month.
