Television personality Lloyd Thaxton passed away last Sunday. He was 81.
Thaxton was a regular fixture on television in Los Angeles in the 1960's as host to a musical 'dance party' show along the lines of 'American Bandstand'.
'Lloyd Thaxton’s Record Shop' began airing on L.A.'s KCOP in 1959, evolving eventually into 'The Lloyd Thaxton Show'.
The hour-long program hit national syndication in 1964 and ran until 1968, featuring guest appearances by top rock & pop acts of the day.
(Below, ▼ with Solomon Burke, James Brown and The Shangri-Las)
What set Thaxton's show apart from others was his wacky and irreverent onstage antics, typified by his customary sign-off; "The name of the show is 'The Lloyd Thaxton Show,' and my name is Lloyd Thaxton."
- - Which would receive an immediate and loud response from his teen-age studio audience - - "SO WHAT!"
"...A favorite quote of his was from a fan who wrote one time and said, 'When I first saw your show, I thought you were making fun of rock 'n' roll. And the more I watched, I realized you were making rock 'n' roll fun.' "
Following the end of 'The Lloyd Thaxton Show', Thaxton went on to host game shows, and eventually moved into producing and directing for television, winning five emmy awards for his work on 'Fight Back! With David Horowitz'.
In recent years, Lloyd Thaxton's blog included news about his current doings as well as reminiscences about his show, his career, and his life.
A blog post he wrote this past May, 'The Do-It-Yourself Obit', is surprisingly upbeat, despite its current layer of poignancy...
Television personality Lloyd Thaxton passed away last Sunday. He was 81.
'Lloyd Thaxton’s Record Shop' began airing on L.A.'s KCOP in 1959, evolving eventually into 'The Lloyd Thaxton Show'.
What set Thaxton's show apart from others was his wacky and irreverent onstage antics, typified by his customary sign-off; 
