Muscle Shoals Meets the 70s rewind

Live from Muscle Shoals, it's Saturday night!

Night two of Muscle Shoals Meets the 70s started with a heart-melting rendition of John Lennon's "Imagine" by Russell and Christopher Mefford then seamlessly morphed into, "Live from Muscle Shoals, it's Saturday night!"

At the hands of our beloved Polyester Horns — Brad Guin, Drew White, Ricky Burks — the timeless horn-driven theme song that has announced Saturday night for more than 50 years resonated throughout Florence’s historic Shoals and set the tone for what was to come.

Yes, the Saturday night edition of MSM the 70s started with a bang and we didn't let up until we did what they said couldn't be done, y'all. Well, I can’t imagine anyone actually said that it couldn’t be done but who doesn’t love a good "Smokey and the Bandit" reference? Truth is, everyone knew it could be done because the Fiddleworms and friends come through time and time again with their charitable endeavors. This time around, Muscle Shoals Meets the 70s raised enough money to build two new special needs playgrounds. We did the job, y’all.

MSM's version of SNL's cold opening sequence was the perfect nod to an iconic television show that took root in the 1970s and had a heavy hand in raising us all. It's always something, y'all. Hey, who invited Buford T. Justice to the party? Fletch Brown? Was it you? Inviting the Sheriff doesn’t really seem like something the Big River Broadcasting star would do but hey, who am I to judge? The more the merrier.

Speaking of “Smokey and the Bandit,” who remembers the Marbro? My first memory of “seeing a movie” is being on a family outing with my cousins at the McDonald’s on Woodward Ave. in Muscle Shoals and (unbeknownst to our parents) watching “Smokey and the Bandit” playing across the way at the drive-in. I was maybe six years old — I’ve been enamored by movies ever since. It was many years later before I actually saw the movie but that didn’t keep me and my cousins from playing these "Smokey and the Bandit" characters every chance we got over the summer of 1977.

I’m about halfway into these Muscle Shoals Meets the 70s reviews and it’s become crystal clear that MSM is the heart of our connection with each other. We connect as friends, neighbors, and we connect as fans. Music is more fun when it's shared, y’all. Music is magic and it’s our responsibility to celebrate great music.

Stay tuned … more to come.

Dig worms.

Photo credit: Devona Hawkins