2021, NOV. 1: BATTLE OF THE BANDS - James Dean Series, #3 Of 3 (Or, DAVID ESSEX VS. JOHN 'MELON' COUGARCAMP)

.

.

This blog bit series is dedicated to three persons: 

.

1: My Ma ('East Of Eden'), who first made me aware of James Dean.

2: My great friend and publicity photographer, Kelly "Andy" Anderson ('Rebel Without A Cause'), who committed suicide in 1986.

3: My great friend and professional acting buddy, Marty "Party" Brumer ('Giant'), who was killed by a car thief in Los Angeles in 1989.

.

Yes, it's time once again for Battle Of The Bands (BOTB).

.

[But first, a shout-out and special message for The Countess. Countess, click HERE!]

.

Alright, let's get on it. Let's get ON this thing!...

.

.

This has been a James Dean themed BOTB tournament, in which I've used my 4 favorite songs that mention Dean, who was my acting hero during my youthful venture into the world of Hollyweird. 

.

In Part 1 (HERE) David Essex's song 'ROCK ON' beat 'American Pie' by Don McLean, as explained HERE.

In Part 2 (HERE) John 'Cougar' Mellencamp's song 'Jack & Diane' beat 'James Dean' by The Eagles, as explained HERE.

.

In this final installment, the two winners face off against each other for the 'James Dean BOTB Championship'.

.

But before we do that, I promised to share some photos from my 'Dog Tag Years', also known as 'My Years Working On M*A*S*H'.

.

Although I'm not certain, I believe the first episode of M*A*S*H that I worked on was 'LIL', the third episode of the 7th season, which first aired on October 2, 1978. I was 19 years old at that time. The story involves Colonel Lillian Rayburn, who visits the 4077th. Radar O'Reilly becomes concerned that perhaps Colonel Potter is falling for Lil and is about to cheat on his wife. Major M*A*S*H fans might remember the episode more for the subplot, in which Hawkeye Pierce is being driven batty by the fact that he can't find out what the "B.J." in B.J. Hunnicutt stands for. 

.

There's a scene early on in the episode where Lil Rayburn and Colonel Potter visit the Post-Op. Colonel Rayburn says, "Look at that boy. He belongs in a playground, not a hospital." Then there's a close-up of my sweet, angelic face as I sleep on a Post-Op cot:

.

.

Colonel Potter says, "You know, as much as I hate O.R., this room is worse."

Colonel Rayburn: "Why?"

Colonel Potter: "In there you only look at the wounds. In here you see the faces."

.

And as far as I can recall, that was where I first appeared on M*A*S*H. Apparently, the powers that be liked something about me, because from then on, I was a regular on the show, always in the 4077th camp somewhere and occasionally having a couple lines of dialogue to say. I can find myself somewhere in nearly every episode from 'LIL' through and including the 2.5 hour 1983 series finale in Season 11 [link> 'Goodbye, Farewell and Amen'.

.

Although today I have great appreciation for my 'Dog Tag' experiences, sadly I didn't appreciate my time on MASH as much as I should have while it was occurring. I thought I was on my way to bigger and better things, so MASH just seemed to me, at the time, like a stepping stone on my way to becoming the new James Dean. Live and learn, eh?

.

In the 2005 CNN.com Entertainment article [link> 'Alda's Favorite 'M*A*S*H' Episodes', star Alan Alda named four of his very favorite MASH episodes, and as fate would have it, I appeared prominently in one of them: "Life Time", a 1979 episode done in real time, in which a soldier will suffer permanent injury -- or death -- if he isn't treated within 20 minutes. This episode is known for the clock in the corner of the screen, keeping real time (even through the TV commercials) as one soldier needs to die in time for the doctors to take a piece of his aorta and graft it into another dying patient. This episode is so famous amongst MASH fans that it even has its own Wikipedia page [link> HERE.

.

Although I had no dialogue in this episode (just some death rattle gasping sounds in my dying moment), I was Harold Sherwood, the patient who died in time and provided the aorta that saved another soldier's life:

.

.

[Stephen T. McCarthy, a bloody mess who is also known as Harold Sherwood]

.

So, here are some more MASH pictures from my Dog Tag Years:

.

In one episode, Colonel Potter took Sgt. Rizzo's drivers' education class, and sat in with the rest of us lowly soldiers. (I still can't get over how young I looked in this photo! That's me on the left.)

.

.

Speaking of Rizzo, there was an episode where he kept getting caught playing craps in various places around the 4077th with his "craps-shooting monkeys!" as Father Mulcahy called us. I was one of Rizzo's "craps-shooting monkeys". That's me second from the right wearing my cap backwards:

.

.

In another episode, an emotionally distraught soldier went AWOL and sought sanctuary in Father Mulcahy's Mess Tent chapel. In quite a stretch for this Maverick Christian, I portrayed a Catholic who was trying to hang around after Mulcahy's sermon in order to find out what the commotion was all about. In this picture, Mulcahy is trying to hustle me out of his Mess Tent chapel:

.

.

This next shot was taken at the MASH compound set up in the Malibu hills, where most of the exterior filming took place. (The interior scenes were shot on Stage 9 at 20th Century Fox Studio in Los Angeles.) I have no idea which episode we were shooting at this time, but someone took a picture of me walking through camp in the background:

.

.

A Malibu canyon fire in October of 1982 burned down the MASH set, so the writers incorporated the fire into the storyline of the show's final episode. Here's a picture of me - wearing my red leather James Dean-inspired jacket - at the charred remains of the exterior MASH set in Malibu.

.

.

And lastly, below is an official photo of the MASH cast and crew taken during the 11th and final season. You can find me in the second row from the bottom, toward the left, and wearing that same red leather James Dean jacket:

.

.

Alright, enough of this. Let's get on with the music Battle...

Please leave a comment telling me which of these two songs you like better, and why. I will return here on November 8th or 9th to cast my own vote and to announce the winner of the James Dean BOTB series. And perhaps I'll share a few more pictures and close with a story about my leather jacket and and an extremely special one-of-a-kind James Dean pin that I used to wear on it.

.

ROCK ON -- David Essex

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDnRY0QkVio

.

JACK & DIANE -- John 'Cougar' Mellencamp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjMwrXGk4xU

.

Thanks in advance for your participation. And please visit 'n' vote at the Battles presented by the other BOTB participants.

.

Bless And Be Blessed,

~ Stephen T. McCarthy