.png)
Andy & Pat's Groovy Cosmic Love Hour
Andy & Pat's Groovy Cosmic Love Hour was an extremely popular live call-in program which was cablecast throughout the greater Dayton, Ohio region for many years. First airing in September of 1989, the program featured discussions on topics and issues ranging from the silly to the sublime, and served as a kind of pre-internet age social media platform, representing a kind of interactive media democracy at work, where the viewers could become part of the content and entertainment of the show itself.
The Original Series
First airing in September of 1989, The Groovy Cosmic Love Hour was cablecast live from the facilities of The Miami Valley Cable Council (now Miami Valley Communications Council), and originally aired weekly on Wednesday nights for over three years. The program featured Andy & Pat and often a various assortment of friends and different guests, including The Hot Phone Chick, who would serve as the initial phone
call receptionist before routing them
for live on-air.
Along with the regular Wednesday night cablecasts, The Love Hour produced numerous special features and events along the way, including multiple anniversary shows featuring live music, special film previews, special guests, and much more. One of the anniversary specials even featured a "Win A Date With Pat" contest, in which the winner was treated to a live in-studio on-air dinner date with one of the program's co-hosts.
One popular repeat guest was self-proclaimed UFO Expert Klark Kent of SuperScience, Inc., who discussed his informative theories on Ufology and extra-terrestrial incursions into Earth affairs with a lively and sometimes agitated call-in audience. (This was long before the X-Files had made its appearance into popular cultural consciousness.) The Love Hour also presented a live televised talent show featuring contestants of all stripes from the community, including everything from goth punk bands to teenage girls doing drill team dance routines, as well as a 15-hour live on-air sleep deprivation marathon program. Segments of the program were even featured on the BBC’s World of Wonder television program
The Return of The Love Hour
After a lengthy production hiatus, and some years of late night recasts, the show returned to its live on-air origins, having returned to producing brand new episodes beginning in November of 1998. Part of what inspired its return was the enthusiastic encouragement from many friends and fans who wanted to be a part of it. Andy’s deep involvement in the music world and the ongoing activities of Big Beef Records also provided various connections and inspirations for utilizing such a creative community platform again.
The renewed series was new in the sense that the live programs were almost invariably now produced on weekends, and were always multi-hour affairs, featuring a wide range of people and works to feature. One example of this was the Love Hour Mulchfest rock extravaganza in March of '99, in which the featured entertainment by the house band was provided by Ohio's premier instro rockers The Mulchmen. There was also a special performance by the extremely talented singer/songwriter (and Mulchmen drummer) Gregg Spence, which unfortunately also proved to be his last due to the illness to claim him soon after. There was also the world premiere of the new video "Chief" from Real Lulu (created by original Big Beef Films producer filmmaker Steve Bognar).
Programs featured discussions on a host of different topics, everything from your favorite record and the good things about the city of Chicago, to the wonderful attributes of the unique American sport of Demolition Derby and the outstanding qualities of thespian extraordinaire William Shatner. Somewhat more serious discussions involved such topics as the conflict in the Balkans and NATO involvement in Kosovo. And almost all the programs featured The Mystery Chick, a mysteriously popular addition to the program, rating as one of The Love Hour's two official "chicks" (the other being The Hot Phone Chick, who was an instrumental figure in the first years of the program).
Other notable programming events included Andy & Pat and many friends ringing in Y2K with an extra-special live 7-hour extravaganza which featured special guest Dayton's own legendary Dr. Creep (see The Lawn Jockeys’ CD project they later produced with the good Doctor). There were also live in studio performances by various Big Beef bands, including popular Dayton rockers Real Lulu, along with the public stage debut of Dayton recording producing legend John Shough with his band Ultra Vega. And of course there was the lowering of Mr. T to mark the advent of midnight and the dawning of a new century.
Another of their more popular summer special events was "The Groovy Cosmic Dance Party Marathon Barbecue.” Featuring special guest deejay MC Ferret from Los Angeles, producer of Ace Detective Records (and of the Groovy Cosmic Love Hour CDs), the program was televised dance party and cookout, complete with "Grillcam" where the partygoers would also participate in the on-going music, phone calls and general happy mayhem. MC Ferret was also a guest host/co-producer of Big Beef's Photonic Supersonic Rock Video Phreakout shows, which was a pre-video internet program featuring offbeat 60’s rock classics from outfits from around the world.