Comments
Responses ‘Round and ‘Round
Now that you’ve had a chance to look around, how about sharing your thoughts? Well, this is the place to do it.
And if you’d like to see The Dean Martin Show and The Golddiggers series released as complete season sets on DVD or shown again on television, this is an especially good spot to make your voice heard.
If the chorus for this movement grows loud enough, perhaps our call will not only be heard, but answered, as well.
Note that all comments are screened before posting, so if you’d like your message to remain private, simply tell us that, and your remarks will not be publicly displayed.
And remember, when you leave a message — whether public or private — your email address always stays hidden.
To submit a comment, please click the button below:
July 27, 2007 at 4:54 pm
Hi. I remember so many of the women that you’re showing here, but I never knew any of their names before or much about them. You’ve done a fantastic job. Keep up the good work.
July 27, 2007 at 5:29 pm
Are any of the old Golddiggers shows coming out on DVD again?
July 27, 2007 at 6:08 pm
I just found this site. It’s amazingly!
July 27, 2007 at 8:08 pm
WOW, I love it!!! Great work. I am overjoyed, now that is the way we all should be remembered… Excellent work… I cried!!! It is better than I could imagine… I think all the ladies will be extremely satisfied, and I love that Tanya was there, I know she appreciates everything in Heaven… Thank you for all the kind words and thank you for my CD space… God Bless All who created this site, and God Bless all the Talented dedicated girls from the show, peace and much love, Michelle DellaFave!!! It is so nice to be remembered… Thanks for the Memory…
July 28, 2007 at 1:00 am
By the way Ruth Buzzi is the greatest, I love her… so funny and so warm and friendly… I would love the opportunity to work with her again… Love Michelle Dinagaling
July 28, 2007 at 11:41 am
Thank you, Michelle, for your kind words. Coming from someone such as you, who contributed so richly and substantially to both The Dean Martin Show and The Golddiggers’ 1969 and 1970 summer series, your enthusiastic response is high praise indeed.
As word of this new site begins to circulate, we hope that many of those who worked alongside you, as well as others who performed during different periods on Dean’s show and on The Golddiggers series, will also stop by and say hello.
And we know that as some of the millions of Golddiggers and Dean Martin fans all over the world begin to learn of this site, they’ll no doubt also begin to drop in and express their reaction.
We also want to offer our congratulations to you, Michelle, on the rave reviews generated by your recent concert performance before the annual Vietnam Veterans of America, where you were reunited on stage with two of the other original Dingaling Sisters — Susie Lund and Wanda Bailey — for the first time since the last episode of the 1970-71 season of The Dean Martin Show.
Visitors to this site who’d like to know more about that event can refer to a very stirring account of it by the man who organized it, Wes Guidry, in a message he posted on his GoldsAndDings Website (see http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GoldsandDings/message/354).
As you’ll note in Wes’ message, footage from that performance will soon be available for viewing on YouTube, and when it is, we will post news of it in the Updates section of this site.
That concert may be a tough act to follow, Michelle, but we’re sure that you’ll be able to do it in the months and years ahead, and maybe that chance to work again with Ruth Buzzi will even come to fruition.
July 28, 2007 at 11:45 am
I love the site, it was very informative and I love the pictures. It was nice to read “Michelle DellaFave” loved the site as well, considering she was a huge part of the “Golddiggers” and “Ding-a-Ling Sisters”.
I hope you continue to add more pictures and inforation to your site, well done, and thank you for creating this Web site.
July 28, 2007 at 12:36 pm
My heartfelt thanks and sincere appreciation for such a wonderful tribute to all the “Girls” (Goldiggers, Ding-A-Ling Sisters, and Dean’s Girls)! from The Dean Martin TV Show. Wow….it made smile, it made me cry, it made me laugh, and most of all it made me glad that I was priviledged enough to be a part of it all (as the last Ding’A'Ling Sister hired). I also learned a lot too! Great memories of a ’special time’ in all of our lives…..
God Bless Dean, Lee, and Greg.
And here’s to seeing all the shows released in their entirety for everyone’s enjoyment! Let’s keep it rolling.
God Bless You All, Love, Lindsay
July 28, 2007 at 2:26 pm
Thank you so very much, Lindsay, for your warm and moving sentiments.
As with those expressed earlier by your former DIngaling Sister-in-arms Michelle, they are extremely gratifying and really help to make this whole project worthwhile.
(If we keep going at this rate, we may have to open up a Kleenex section, just for all of us to daub away our tears of joy.)
But in all seriousness, Lindsay, we love and appreciate the support of the wonderful ladies like you who enlivened The Dean Martin Show and brightened our lives with the sort of exhilarating Broadway-style entertainment that’s largely absent from present-day television.
And so, too, are we grateful for the input of your fans, such as McpheePickler above, whose voice, we trust, will be joined by many others as this brand new endeavor gains attention.
With performers and fans both participating actively in the cause, it’s our hope that we will indeed be able to open up the possibility of eventually seeing the great works that we celebrate here find a home once again, either on DVD or on television.
July 28, 2007 at 6:59 pm
This is an amazing site. A friend of mine told me about it. I’ve just started exploring it. It’s like I’ve died and gone to paradise. There is so much great information about Dino’s Golddiggers. I love all the pictures. We know that the King of Cool always was surrounded by beautiful ladies. You’ve done a great job here. Keep up the good work.
July 29, 2007 at 8:56 pm
I just found this by accident, but boy what a happy accident!!!! It must be new because I’ve seen a few things on the net about The Golddiggers, etc., but not like this! The level of detail is simply amazing! I watched Dean Martin AND the weekly Goldiggers show growing up, and I cam’t remember them ever once announcing the names of any of the girls, so whoever did this must have really done their homework. Fantastic. I hope you’ll add even more to it. And yes, I’d like to see the whole shows and all of them again put out on DVD. I’d buy em, that’s for sure!
July 30, 2007 at 5:17 am
I was so overwhelmed when I visited this site, I am 17 and grew up hearing Dean because my dad was and is a huge fan and he used to tell me about the Dean Martin shows, he would describe them and I would laugh even though I couldn’t see them, thanks to a few friends I started to see the Dean Martin shows when I was about 12 or 13 and since then I have gone onto see more and more and these shows have given me and my family more enjoyment than I have ever known.
There were 245 shows, ok I am greedy, because I want to see and own every one of them, this is my biggest dream, I love Dean and I love the couch songs, the Welcome to My World medleys with Dean and the Golddiggers (how I would love to have a collection of these beautiful medleys where we saw and heard a serious Dean looking great with the beautiful Golddiggers surrounding him), Dean jumping on the piano singing those great songs, only changing the words (”In your easter bonnet with all the frills upon it, you`ll look a bit peculiar in the men`s room, my dear!”
The jokes about Dean`s beautiful wife Jeannie, Musical Questions, the opening songs where Dean would get us all laughing, the great guest stars, the great duets…
Please to the powers that be…give us Dean and the Golddiggers and the memories.
Like that song “What the World needs now is Love”, well Dean is Love and What the World needs now is Dean !
Please do everything humanly possible to grant our wish.
Thank you
Great Big Hugs and Kisses
from Kylie (Deansgirl)
July 30, 2007 at 9:36 am
First I have to say what an amazing site this is !
The pictures, all the information and I want to say what a great letter to Lee Hale.
And at last we can put names to the delightful Golddiggers.
My family are all Dean Martin fans, I just adore the man and oh, do I remember The Golddiggers and those beautiful medleys they sang with Dean who sat there looking all relaxed in his casual clothes.
If only these shows were available on dvd, these shows would not only satisfy the vast array of Dean Martin fans out there but I think they would bring so much pleasure to a new generation who have been brought up on gore, sex and Big Brother and have never before seen real entertainment.
Thank you.
Cathy (Australia)
July 30, 2007 at 10:13 am
What a FANTASTIC site this is!!!! I especially enjoyed reading the exceptionally well-written open letter to Lee Hale which I feel expresses the views of EVERY Dean Martin fan so PERFECTLY. I cannot begin to express how many WONDERFUL memories came flooding back to me after viewing this site. I have been a DEVOTED fan of Dean Martin for the past 39+ years and it all began for me when I was a child walking on my way to the refrigerator to get a glass of milk. I passed by the TV and saw the MOST HANDSOME man I had ever seen singing the words “Everybody Loves Somebody” and sliding down this firepole. I was TOTALLY mesmerized…. Of course, this was way past my bedtime and my parents asked me to pass by the TV a little bit quicker since I wasn’t made of glass….LOL Ever since that one Thursday evening, I had done everything I could to sneak into the room where our spare B&W TV was to watch Dean’s Show (which by the way was no easy feat….LOL). I am very proud to say I NEVER missed a show
Dean was well worth any consequences I would suffer for being disobedient and now, years later, when I’ve confessed about defying my “bedtime curfew”, we all have a good laugh…..LOL Seeing Dean on TV each week along with the GOLDDIGGERS was such a special treat for my family and myself. I am the happy owner of ALL of the volumes of the BEST of the Dean Martin Variety Show DVD’s and they are WONDERFUL, but incomplete. There was so much GREAT material left out of these DVD’s. I know that I am not alone when I say that having the COMPLETE Dean Martin Shows would truly be a DREAM-COME-TRUE for ALL of us fans 
I am so happy to have had the pleasure to witness the INFINITE CHARM and AMAZING TALENTS of Dean Martin and THE Golddiggers. One of my FAVORITE segments of the show was when Dean would sing his couch songs and the medleys he sang with the Golddiggers at the end of his later shows. Please know that the Dean Martin Show has brought numerous hours of pure enjoyment and entertainment into millions of homes. Sadly, shows of this caliber are non-existent today. It would be so nice knowing that future generations could be introduced to and enjoy such a GREAT talent by watching the Dean Martin Show. I know that watching these shows has DEFINITELY enriched my life and I am FOREVER grateful to the producers responsible for realizing Dean’s MANY talents and for giving him his own weekly show where he could just be himself and really let us get to know what a TRULY WONDERFUL person/entertainer he was. If the COMPLETE shows were to be released on DVD, I PROMISE that I will be one of the VERY FIRST in line to purchase them 
Thank you kindly in advance for your VERY BEST efforts at making so many Dean Martin fans DREAM-COME-TRUE 
With Sincere Thanks,
Susan D. Fong
July 30, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Hi! Hey… I’ve heard a rumor! Could it be? Is it possible?? Are the old Dean Martin Shows coming to DVD? I certainly hope so! Please make this happen. I don’t understand why this wonderful show has not been released yet. All the other 60’s-70’s shows seem to be releasing every week, so why not Dean’s wonderful variety show? If this show became available, it would be a best seller!! Thanks for your help!
Randi
July 30, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Hi Randi.
Thanks for stopping by.
Just to be clear: There are currently NO announced plans for DVD release of either Dean’s show or The Golddiggers series, and while we hate to have to quash any such rumors, we also want to be perfectly open and honest with everyone.
However, DO NOT GIVE UP HOPE! One of the main reasons that this site was created was to drum up support for the reissue of both The Dean Martin Show and The Golddiggers summer & syndicated series, and it’s the very support of fans like you, Randi, that may help to achieve that aim.
The primary obstacle in releasing Variety programs such as the ones surveyed on this site is the high cost and tremendous complexity involved in negotiating and paying for the various rights that must be obtained prior to the shows being made available to the marketplace. Performers, songwriters, publishers, etc. must all consent and then be compensated, and the numbers have to add up so that at the end of the day, the owners and distributors of the material can still turn a profit.
It IS possible, and if you read the open letter that we have written to Lee Hale, we have cited a few precedents where it has been done previously. But the will to pursue it must be there on the part of the individuals who own the rights to the material, and a key source of motivation to them would surely be to know that there is substantial grassroots interest in seeing these classics given a second life.
That’s why we’re enlisting support in this forum, Randi, and that’s why votes such as yours could indeed make the difference.
July 30, 2007 at 5:30 pm
Hey This is a great site. I would feel honored to get Dean’s shows. Janice
July 30, 2007 at 7:44 pm
HI THERE,
THERES NOTHING LIKE A TERRIFIC WEBSITE, & THIS SITE IS JUST GREAT!!!…. I LOVE THE DEAN MARTIN SHOW & DEFINITELY THOSE BEAUTIFUL GOLDDIGGERS. I THINK IF EVER THE DEAN MARTIN SHOW EVER WAS RELEASED IN ITS ENTIRETY, ALL US FANS HERE WOULD BE IN HEAVEN!!!……IF ANYONE WHO HAS PULL AND CAN MAKE THIS HAPPEN, US FAN’S WOULD BE SO GREATFUL!I THINK I CAN SPEAK FOR SOME OF US THAT WE REALLY MISS THE DEAN MARTIN SHOW & HOPE THIS MIRACLE CAN HAPPEN SOME DAY!
MY SINCERE BEST TO YOU,
DOM
July 30, 2007 at 7:46 pm
Great site.
I’ve got the whole run of the “Best of” tapes but would kill for the complete Dean Martin show on dvd. Here’s hoping it happens within our lifetimes.
July 30, 2007 at 11:35 pm
Oh, yes, I agree with everything in the letter to Lee Hale. To have all of the Dean Martin Variety Shows released on DVD would be a dream come true! I speak not only for myself but many for many friends as well.
Too, another factor to consider is the success of several reunion shows — like the Carol Burnett reunion in 2001 which drew close to 30 million viewers. There’s no time like the present.
July 31, 2007 at 1:45 am
Hi. I grew up watching The Golddiggers shows, and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them! Seeing their pics on this site, they are every inch as beautiful as I remember them. And yes, your right, they were SPECIAL – each and every one of them. I even knew and remembered that girl Jackie’s name (I don’t know how I knew it, but I guess she must have made a strong impression on me!) Oh I know I’d sure go out and buy their shows if they put them on DVD or watch them if they showed them again on TV. Maybe Nick at Nite or TV Land, or even The Hallmark Channel would run them. To anybody who has anything to do with The Golddiggers shows: PLEASE put them out again. There’s just nothing else like them around today.
July 31, 2007 at 5:05 am
Greetings there,
Great site indeed as I’m still going through it all in these last few days since you got it up and running. Still reading though everyone’s comments too. Of course like everyone else here, I’m also hoping for the final release of the full season sets for both “The Dean Martin Show” and “The Golddiggers series”. In particular of course for the “Welcome To My World” medleys, as these in my opinion are the most historic and will continue to be as such for the world in the far future.
Hey I was just thinking, aside from our “Golds&Dings” yahoo group, perhaps we can even have this comments section eventually be made into like a discussion forum when many more people visit here, either just visiting or also asking for the full season DVD sets.
Peace in wisdom,
James Truthseeker
July 31, 2007 at 10:51 am
I, too, would like to see all of The Dean Martin Variety Shows released on DVD. Dean had so many more guests on his show that are not on the Guthy-Renker DVD’s. You have my support to get ALL of them released. I hope that happens.
July 31, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Enjoyed the site and loved the show, New shows can never match Dino’s show. JOHN
July 31, 2007 at 11:29 pm
Thank you, James Truthseeker, for your support. As you can tell, we here at the site are also huge fans of the “Welcome To My World” medleys, and judging by the responses that we’ve received, a lot of other folks love them, too. That’s undoubtedly why so many people were disappointed that the 29-volume Best of Dean Martin Variety DVDs didn’t contain even a single one of those sequences. But having full season sets of Dean’s series would obviously remedy the situation, and if it would take a while to bring that about, we’d hope that the owners of the shows would at least, in the interim, throw us all a bone by giving us a package of “Welcome To My World” medleys to tide us over until the larger set can be assembled.
As for discussions, there’s no reason why they can’t be had here, there and everywhere in between. So feel free to talk away!
August 1, 2007 at 11:12 am
HI,I HAVE BEEN A DEAN FAN FOR MANY YEARS NOW AND HAVE FOUND THIS WEBSITE VERY INFORMATIVE.IT WAS ESPECIALLY INTERESTING TO READ ABOUT MELISSA STAFFORD WHO I THINK STOOD OUT AMONG DEANS GIRLS.I LIVE IN THE UK SO WE WERE’NT AS FORTUNATE AS SOME IN GETTING TO SEE DEANS SHOW’S BUT I HAVE COLLECTED THE BEST OF SERIES ON DVD.I THINK DEAN’S VOICE IS WONDERFUL AND TO ACTUALLY SEE HIM SING IS THE ULTIMATE PLEASURE.I REALLY LOVE IT WHEN IN HIS SHOW’S HE MESSED UP BUT STILL KEPT GOING AND DID’NT LET IT BOTHER HIM ONE BIT A TRUE PROFESSIONAL! I ACUALLY LIKE IT WHEN HE MAKES MISTAKES BECAUSE HE’S SO ENTERTAINING WITH A WORD OR AN EXPRESSION OR A JOKE.I’M AFRAID ENTERTAINERS OF DEAN’S AND FRANK SINATRA’S CLASS AND STYLE ARE NO MORE THE MOLD WAS BROKEN WHEN THEY PASSED.I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THE DEAN MARTIN SHOW’S RELEASED TO HIS FANS IN THERE COMPLETE STATE UNCUT WHAT A WONDERFUL THING THAT WOULD BE,AND WHAT PLESSURE IT WOULD GIVE!!
August 1, 2007 at 4:11 pm
Lisa, your observations, as well as those made by John Lehotsky a few paragraphs above yours — about there being nothing around today that’s comparable to the kind of entertainment that Dean Martin once brought us — really hit the nail on the head.
Performers such as Dean and the ladies who worked with him on his series — as well as those on the opposite side of the camera such as Greg Garrison and Lee Hale, who were responsible for the tiny details that made every aspect of the production click — were in a class by themselves, even in their day — although obviously, back then, there were at least others, such as Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, etc., born and bred of the same genre who delivered this form of musical fare in their own distinctive styles.
But it’s precisely because Dean — and, as you rightly point out, regulars on his show like Melissa Stafford — did it all with a unique blend of grace, ease and intriguing mirthfulness that we believe reissuing these programs would not only be greeted with renewed interest by those who watched them originally, but also embraced by younger audiences that have not only never seen them before, but indeed, have never seen anything like them at all.
It’s our contention that if The Dean Martin Show and The Golddiggers series were suddenly dropped into the primetime schedules of one of the broadcast or cable networks, and promoted with a clever marketing campaign, today’s jaded audiences would not only be stunned, they’d also be mesmerized by what they saw.
So it begs the question: Is there one of these young, hot shot programming executives out there with the moxie to give it a whirl?
August 4, 2007 at 5:56 am
It would be a dream come true to be able to watch all the shows, complete. I have so many wonderful memories of watching Dean’s show on the ABC here in Brisbane at 7.30 pm on Sunday night. Straight after the 7 pm News the NBC Peacock would come on and initially (only for a second) there was a black screen while Dean started to sing “Everybody….” and then he was on the TV and everyone watching him had this great big smile on their faces — because that’s what he made us all do. Smile and be happy. I’m smiling right now thinking about him. Please, please give us access to all the shows - not only in USA, but overseas as well. We all need our Dean fix.
August 7, 2007 at 1:37 am
I would love to be able to watch the shows! The work, time and effort in creating such a time capsule masterpiece is just a taste of what may be in the making of future Dean Martin episodes. Keep up the good work and keep the community informed of nostalgic television programs!
August 7, 2007 at 1:53 am
This is an amazing site. I especially appreciate the pictures of each of the girls and little write-ups. Can anyone help me with this: I seem to recall that the Ding-a-Ling Sisters were featured in a color spread in a magazine, but can’t find it anywhere on eBay. I seem to recall that it was an issue of “Saga” around 1973 and featured pics of Helen Funai, Michelle Dellafave, and maybe Jayne Kennedy. Anyone know the exact magazine and date?
August 7, 2007 at 4:04 pm
Offhand, we here at the Super Site aren’t familiar with the Dingalings photo spread to which you’re referring, but it certainly sounds like something that would be of interest to us and all of the group’s fans, as well, so let’s hope that someone else, or maybe even one of the ladies themselves, will see your message, recall the issue and date, and write in to give us more details.
And if anyone manages to track down that pictorial, we’d be more than happy to post the photos from it here on the site, so thanks for bringing it to everyone’s attention.
August 7, 2007 at 4:08 pm
What a great crusade to get Deans shows put out in their entirety.
Dean was the greatest and coolest man on the planet (and still is).
I am sure if the shows were released on dvd they would fly off the
shelves.
Bill Stapleton. England
August 16, 2007 at 1:55 pm
Hello everyone! I hope I can get the Dingalings back performing again. We had such a fabulous time at the Vietnam Veterans Convention this year. We are ready to do it again, and I know Taffy and Lindsay are both ready to sing and dance again as well. Now I do know that myself Tara, Taffy, and Lynn, did a magazine layout for someone and it was shot in Las Vegas and then we did another magazine shot in Beverly Hills We were in bathing suits, then for TV guide we did a fabulous shoot for them. We all had beautiful bathing suits and cover ups as well. It included Helen Funai, Jayne Kennedy, Lindsay Bloom, and myself. I loved the pictures. I guess if we get in touch with TV guide the original pictures can be found.
We did a picture in Playboy, AH now watch that… we were all in our Golddigger costumes and we all had umbrellas we were advertising… It is a cute picture of us all. I can not think of any thing else at the moment but I do know that we were to do a spread in Vogue, but I am not sure why Greg did not want us to do that… well I will keep you posted, Much Love, As always, Peace, Michelle DellaFave
August 16, 2007 at 9:24 pm
Wow! Does this ever bring back some good memories!
I’m so happy that someone sent me the link to this website. I’ll have to come back again to look at every picture and read all the biographies. Seeing the pictures here is sort of like meeting old friends or looking at a high scool yearbook - I recognize the face of everyone here. I guess I was a big fan if I can recognize all of the girls after so many years. I never missed an episode of Dean’s show or the Golddigger’s show.
I remember my best friends in high school and I would sit in the gymnasium and talk over lunch about how good the Golddiggers or the Ding-A-Ling Sisters looked the night before. You girls could have sung off-key and it wouldn’t have mattered to us. LOL!!! I especially remember the Ding-a-Lings singing “Tennessee Stud” one night and we talked about that until graduation!
On Saturday nights we watched the Golddigger’s show with Marty Feldman. I still remember the opening to that show and maybe someone can put up a video clip of that. It was sponsored by Chevrolet as I recall. Marty Feldman was hilarious with his comedy and The Golddiggers were just sweet and lovely like angels.
The Ding-a-Ling Sisters were to me a highly concentrated, high octane form of the Golddiggers! Michelle, your were and always will be my favorite Ding-a-Ling! I’m glad to know how much you enjoyed that part of our career. My best wishes go out to you and to all the women who were part of a series of terrific and fun television shows.
I hope that all of these shows will be available to us on DVD. The comedy was great. The singing was great. The girls were beautiful. And Dean was our hero. Every guy wanted to trade places with Dean!
August 23, 2007 at 4:36 am
Mike, you and the and rest of Michelle’s substantial (and still growing) fan base will doubtless be cheered to learn that we have just posted some new pictures of your favorite Dingaling Sister in the Updates section of our site — so by all means, have a look.
We also wanted to let you know that your rhapsodic reminiscences about The Golddiggers and Dingalings really struck a chord around these parts — especially, your description of the next-day lunchtime review of the previous evening’s Dingalings appearances in which you and your buddies used to engage. We can attest to the fact that similar post-Thursday night discussions were taking place in at least one other high school — only in this instance, the participants couldn’t even wait until midday — their roundtable convened at 8:45 AM sharp in first-period science class!
And surely, these were not isolated cases — making one wonder in just how many academic institutions across America the same scenario was playing out every Friday during the run of Dean’s series.
Not long ago, we mentioned this phenomenon in passing to 1972-73 Dingaling Sister Lindsay Bloom, and she expressed surprise that so many teenagers were watching The Dean Martin Show, since it was really pitched to an older age group. Well, somehow we suspect that even if she and the other lovely ladies celebrated herein had been regulars on The Farm Report, a whole lot more than just farmers would have been tuning in to that show, too.
Happily, home for this cast of beautiful and talented gals was a program that featured superbly arranged and performed musical selections and a winsome host who knew how to have a good time and made sure that everyone else in his company did, too.
In retrospect, given all of the influences that can corrupt adolescents, having been treated to the sight and sound of the women on Dean’s show each week certainly must rank as one of the most edifying (not to mention, exhilarating) pleasures that a youth could pursue — in a kinder, gentler era now long ago and far away in time, but still ever so close and real in our hearts.
August 25, 2007 at 9:26 pm
Wow…..I just caught up with all the new posts today. I am delighted to hear that so many of our fans out there want the shows released ASAP!!!! It’s great to get all this feed back, especially from the younger fans as well.
I am still surprised by the comments of the men who were teenagers at the time our shows aired! I’m flattered by your detailed descriptions and love the fact that you’d probably not only buy all the shows, but call up your high school buddies just to reminisce again!!! Ha!Ha!
Yes, there was a swimsuit pictorial of us in TV Guide (Michelle, Jayne, Helen, and me) and I have an 11×14 color photo hanging on my wall of my solo shot. We were also on the cover of Jet Magazine with Red Fox. (72-73) Too bad we didn’t get to do more of those group shots for other magazines, but they always had to have Greg’s approval.
My thanks again for such a lovely and caring tribute to our work!
I am eagerly awaiting the day when the shows will be released in their entirety!
I spoke to Michelle recently and told her she has my support (100%) and that I’d love to sing and dance again with her and the other girls again (when the details can be worked out). So….let the dreams begin.
God Bless you all,
Lindsay
August 27, 2007 at 12:52 am
Lindsay, we’re delighted to see you stop by again.
As soon as Michelle mentioned that 1973 beachwear spread in TV Guide, we went right to work, tracked it down, and will put it up for all to see here on the Super Site in the near future.
The Jet magazine cover, while certainly intriguing, would most likely take a lot more digging to find, and we might need to put Mike Hammer on the case to locate it (with Velda in tow to save the day, of course). First, though, our own resident sleuths will give it a shot, and we’ll see what they can uncover.
We also want to thank you, Lindsay, as well as Michelle and everyone else rooting for re-release of The Dean Martin Show and Golddiggers series, for all of your unwavering support, which we know can really make a difference in achieving our collective goal.
And we’re very excited to hear that you’re amenable to performing once again with The Dingalings. It would be terrific to see you back in the lineup.
If there’s at least one favorable aspect to today’s cultural scene, it’s that the Internet and other modern advances are helping to give us the opportunity to ESCAPE contemporary culture by using communications and technology to rekindle the far more enjoyable entertainment of yore.
August 28, 2007 at 7:57 am
Fantastic site! What are the chances of someone (or another company) buying the rights to the master tapes of both series from Greg Garrison’s estate? With the recent boom in Dean Martin’s popularity, I would think there would be companies wishing to capitalize on this. Until this happens, I’m guessing there isn’t much that Lee Hale could really do, since Greg Garrison has passed away.
Also, please keep looking for Tara Leigh. She still mesmerizes me!
Thanks.
August 28, 2007 at 8:58 pm
We’re glad that you enjoy the site, Craig. And you raise an intriguing point about the potential for both The Dean Martin Show and The Golddiggers series to be acquired, or at least marketed, by a third party.
Dean Martin is indeed today enjoying a resurgence in popularity not seen since the halcyon days of his career in the 1950s, ’60s and early ’70s — and that fact could hardly have escaped the notice of large media conglomerates always on the lookout to purchase and exploit properties with proven track records.
The one factor, however, that would likely give them pause is the same one that has for years stymied the reissue of not only Dean’s show and The Golddiggers series, but almost all variety skeins — namely, the high cost and laborious task of obtaining clearances for all of the music contained in those programs.
Were it not for that factor, it’s very likely that we would have already witnessed the release of complete season sets of Dean’s show, The Golddiggers’ shows and innumerable other vintage variety shows. Instead, what we’ve seen is just a handful of offerings in this vein, with most of the old 2-inch tape reels onto which this material was originally recorded simply gathering dust in vaults (and, by the way, deteriorating in the process).
If a large-scale purveyor of home video product were to acquire rights to The Dean Martin Show and The Golddiggers series, that entity would no doubt be able to marshal all of its financial resources in the cause of securing the necessary music clearances and drawing up a budget sufficient to launch a robust marketing effort behind the releases.
But remember that big doesn’t always equal better. If that large media conglomerate lacked a feel for The Dean Martin Show and The Golddiggers programs, it could bring all of its financial muscle to bear on the project and still fail to draw sufficient sales to justify the costs involved.
Moreover, the present owners of all of these wonderful programs — the estate of Greg Garrison — might be very reluctant to let an outside party handle this material. In his lifetime, Greg was very possessive of it, and hence, always chose to keep it within his domain.
And that’s why the involvement of someone like Lee Hale — at least in terms of overseeing any resuscitation of these shows — is so vital. He is the senior-most living executive to have worked on these series; he was a — and perhaps THE — major creative force behind them; and he knows them forward and backward.
Greg Garrison not only relied on Lee Hale for his crucial input during the life of The Dean Martin Show and The Golddiggers series — he also left it to Lee to screen and select all of the clips that were included in the Best of Dean Martin Variety DVDs released by Guthy-Renker.
Given his historical importance to these series, it’s virtually inconceivable that the executors of Greg Garrison’s estate wouldn’t turn to, and trust, Lee Hale for his sage advice on any future disposition of these shows. And if Lee could be persuaded that there was a viable path to reissuing the shows, he could wield tremendous influence in likewise convincing relevant others.
As we said in our Open Letter to him, we know that Lee Hale doesn’t own or control these properties; but it’s hard to imagine that his long association with them, and intimate knowledge of them, wouldn’t play a key role in any possible future public exhibition that they might enjoy.
August 29, 2007 at 9:12 am
Thanks for the detailed response. In that case, come on Lee, step up to the plate!
September 2, 2007 at 12:12 am
TARA LEIGH !!!!!
Where are you?
As a young girl, I was fascinated with you; your angelic face with twinkling eyes and fantastic hair!
Your voice was beautiful!
Did you briefly join the cast of general hospital under another name?
If so, why?
Karen
September 2, 2007 at 6:36 am
Karen, your thoughts and questions regarding Tara are shared by many others, who have also wondered about her current whereabouts and activities.
However, since she has in recent years chosen to maintain a nearly invisible public profile, we must assume that either she prefers to remain out of the limelight for the nonce, or else is deliberately staying out of sight in order to build suspense for an eventual surprise comeback.
Somehow, we suspect the former rather than the latter, and as a result, while we take joy in honoring her for her years with The Golddiggers and Dingaling Sisters, we also very much respect her apparent present-day desire for privacy.
What we CAN tell you is that you will find the answer to at least one of your questions in the piece on Tara located in the Dean’s List section of this Website.
Other recent details about Tara, though, will likely remain shrouded in mystery until and unless she chooses to make them known.
But regardless of whether or not she ever decides to come forward again, one can’t imagine that she would be anything but flattered by the continuing interest of those such as yourself, Karen. And if there would indeed be anything that might prompt her to reemerge publicly, perhaps it would be that very reservoir of appreciation that still exists for her — so please be assured that no compliment paid to her by you or anyone else is ever made in vain.
September 3, 2007 at 2:29 pm
It is a shame that since the comeback of Dean Martin that his shows are not on dvd in their entirity. The show was wonderful and the Golddigers and Ding-a-Ling sister were fabulous. It is a shame we can’t see such great shows like that on tv today.
September 4, 2007 at 7:39 pm
Hello.
I found a link to this site and then clicked on it, and I can’t believe my eyes!!! Wow, am I amazed!
I’ve been to other sites that have a little bit of info and a few measly pictures of The Golddiggers and the other groups here and there, but NOTHING at all like what’s here…not just pictures, but so many details and it’s all incredibly well written, interesting and very nicely presented. It comes off like a really well made documentary.
I bought some of those Dean Martin DVDs that they advertised on TV JUST SO I COULD SEE THE GIRLS AGAIN (lol), and I was pretty disappointed because as it says on another page, they just didn’t show that much of them.
But there sure are plenty of them here, and I find I still remember quite a few of them even after all these years!!!
They are as gorgeous as I remember them…in fact, maybe even better than I remembered them because I can appreciate them more now.
There’s one specific girl that I never forgot because I was always crazy about her and it’s that blonde girl who I see is named MICHELLE. I never knew her name…the shows never gave any of them credits…but I sure was in love with that blonde,,,and now seeing those new photos of her…if those are really new photos then she is STILL unbelievably fabulous!!!
I mean she looks about 25 in those pictures!!!!!! The rich get richer…the poor get poorer…and Michelle stays gorgeous!!!!
I see that she left a few comments up above on this page, so Michelle, if you ever stop by again, I just want you to know that I think you are STILL the greatest!!!!
Since her album comes highly recommended, when I’m done looking around here, I’m going to download it from itunes.
Thanks for doing this site. Its really out of sight!!! And if they release DVDs that really feature the girls as much as the shows used to, then you can count on me to buy them,,,especially the ones with Michelle!!!!!
September 12, 2007 at 11:39 am
Hi –
This is a GREAT site!
I love all the great pics and the thoughtfulness of your site. You really pulled out all the stops to do this!
I love the thoughts especially in your Open Letter to Lee Hale - you are so right! You said all the things i have been thinking for years!!
There is a huge market out there for Dino stuff - more now than ever it seems, with the new release of a CD of people who wanted to sing with him STILL!
I hope he and anyone who has a share of the show will consider putting it out (uncut and with commentary would be awesome - I bet Lee Hale could give some great commentary himself and has a wealth of memories to share, as he did in his terrific book!)
This is what i myself have wanted for so long. When, a few years ago, the Dean Martin variety DVDs came out, it merely whetted my appetite for more shows - they are such fun, so musical, the guests are great…but the songs by Dean and Dean and the girls were fantastic - and obviously Lee Hale was the genius behind a lot of that.
Getting those shows released would be too terrific to even think about - it’s a little scary, for fear of the letdown of not seeing any new material come out.
Thanks for this terrific site and for your suggestion - i hope Mr Hale will see it and respond!!
Kimmy and Dover, the Wonder Dog
September 18, 2007 at 3:25 pm
Variety shows on dvd are so rare and any release of this material would be a cause for rejoicing! Dean Martin’s show exemplifies the genre. What passes for “variety” on television nowadays is channel surfing. If shows like this could see the light of day as dvd releases, maybe the format could rise again for a new generation. I mean, just the other night, Tony Bennett’s wonderful television special won several emmys–there’s a hunger for some song & dance, some comedy banter and the Golddiggers!
September 21, 2007 at 10:50 pm
Hello, I am overjoyed that so many remember me. Thank you Mike and Sean for the lovely compliments. I too wonder about Tara, she and I were roomates on the road and in England when we taped the summer show there. We had so much fun. I do hope she is healthy and safe and loved by many. We all loved her!
This site is so wonderful, it seens like this should have been available to the public a long time ago. At least this is happening now!! My best to all peace and blessings, Michelle DellaFave
September 22, 2007 at 12:57 pm
Hello Again, Wow the information about NBC is incredible!! I hope dear NBC can get a hold of the shows and we can all have copies. I loved the Garrison family and I hope they can work this out. By the way, we have to get to the record producers that did Dean’s new CD and let them know that there are ladies from Dean’s shows who could have done songs with Dean. I know that there are many who are still singing… hint,hint, hint, yes Golddiggers who would love to work again, and yes dear Dingalings who are still in good form, ask all the Vietnam Vets!!! But alas, maybe if we are thought about by our fans, that will get the powers that be, interested. My goodness we had our own summer shows and the Golddiggers had their own show, and we were featured every week on Dean’s show. Does that mean we are not a part of Dean’s past as well?? Some of the girls worked with Dean for many years, and I am sure if he were alive today, he would want the GoldsandDings to be a part of his new CD’s, I wonder how much the stars on his new Cd wanted? My goodness I would have sung for nothing, just to be included as part of his legacy. Were we not?? Well, I am off my soap box for today. Fans let Video Vision know your thoughts, Much love and Peace to all, Michelle
September 22, 2007 at 4:04 pm
As always, Michelle, we’re honored to have had you stop by. And before the fans chime in with their thoughts, we’ll take the liberty of expressing one of our own by giving a full, ringing endorsement to your inspired idea of having some of the talented ladies who sang on Dean’s series paired with him again on a second album of duet recordings.
The first release has been such an out-of-the-box smash hit that it has already spawned talk of a sequel. For all those who remember with deep fondness the lush, sonorous “Welcome To My World” and Dingaling medleys that featured Dean and The Golddiggers and Dingaling Sisters respectively, the prospect of some of those same gals harmonizing with the King of Cool — in stereo for the first time — on a selection of his vintage tracks has to be tremendously appealing.
Of course, there is no one who provides better proof that these gals are up to the task than Michelle herself, who was not only a standout member of both The Golds and The Dings, but remains in top form vocally, physically, spiritually — in fact, in just about every way one could think of. Her concert this past July at the Vietnam Veterans convention with fellow Dings Susie Lund and Wanda Bailey was, by all accounts, a huge success. And attentive visitors to this site know that Michelle also has a recently released album of her own entitled “Cool Burn” that showcases her continued mastery of her craft.
As if all that weren’t enough, the air is rife with speculation that Wes Guidry, the rainmaker behind that VVA concert, is cooking up something really big as a follow-up, and as soon as details are finalized, we’ll let our visitors know all about it.
So, with not only Dean, but also many of the women who sang and danced with him on his show, back in the spotlight, bringing them all together again on a second edition of “Forever Cool” sounds like something that would be just about as cool as it gets.
September 22, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Thanks Video Vision, Yes, tell Melissa and Diana, Great singers from Dean’s girls, and Susie, Suzy Cadham, Jackie, Rosetta, Liz, Nancy, Sheila,Nancy Bonnetti, Golddiggers; and Taffy, Lindsay, Wanda, Dings; and hopefully, Paula and Micki from the Golddiggers… we want to get this going, Love sister, Michelle
Now there is a great group of singers if I ever heard them!!! Ok, we have Susie McIver Ewing, Suzy Cadham, Sheila Mann, Jackie Chidsey, Nancy Reichert, Rosetta Cox, Liz Kelley, Nancy Bonetti, Micki McGlone, hopefully Paula Cinko, maybe Tara, and the Dingalings, Taffy Jones, Lindsay Bloom, Wanda Bailey and little ol’ me… Ah any one else aboard? Now that sounds like a good group of 4-part harmony… Are you ready Lee Hale to tackle a group of older more experienced Golddiggers?? Peace, Michelle
PS. please excuse the spelling of names, but you know who I am addressing, right ladies???
September 23, 2007 at 12:29 am
Not to worry, Michelle. Our resident Golddiggers spell checker has straightened out all of the names — and what a terrific lineup of ladies you’ve suggested for pairing up with Dean on a second “Forever Cool” album.
As you rightly point out, the talent would span three different sets of performers from The Dean Martin Show — Dean’s Girls, The Golddiggers and The Dingalings — and all one has to do is to look at some of the comments both on this page and on other websites to see how popular Dean’s medleys with the women on his program always were.
Bring in Lee Hale, the musical maestro who arranged all of those medleys, and you have virtually all of the elements in place to recreate the magic that was a staple of Thursday nights in American homes for close to a decade.
So we urge all whom Michelle named to heed her call. This could turn out to be a Gold Record in more ways than one.
September 23, 2007 at 1:00 am
Thank You for the submission on the legal rights to the Dean Martin Show. As an attorney as soon as I read that Lee Hale’s Company might have an ownership interest in some of the materials, it occurred to me that the NBC lawyers thought they had to include his company in the law suit as a “necessary party” under the Rules of Civil Procedure and good litigation tactics. Sue everybody in sight is about the third thing they teach you in law school. It is not so much an insult or malice to Lee Hale as just trying to do the right thing legalwise.
September 23, 2007 at 1:15 am
Thank you, David, for your insights. One only has to spend a short time around these parts to see that we’re quite partial to Lee Hale, but we are very appreciative of the perspective that you, as an attorney, bring to this matter.
We can only hope that a system that casts so wide a net can also be smart and judicious enough to eventually recognize that an amicable settlement with certain parties in the case would in the long run be far more sensible than pursuing a fight to the finish.
September 23, 2007 at 11:20 pm
Great detail on the merits and positioning of the lawsuit and potential winners/losers in the update section. Unless the entire series, along with the various Golddigger series are sold as a complete set, we the public all lose. I’m glad that Dean Martin is suddenly “hot” again from the public perspective, as this is the main point that all of us fans can leverage. I just finished reading Deana Martin’s book about her Dad, and in it she says that Dean told her a year or two before he died that none of his children would have to work again because of the rights to the Dean Martin Show. So from that statement, I’m sure the folks behind the Dean Martin Family Trust believe they have some level of rights to the material as well. Deana also pointed out how livid his children were that Dean changed the production company from “Claude” to “Sasha”. I’m surprised he didn’t change it to something else after he divorced Cathy in 1976, but as you point out, in Dean’s 1983 special from London, it is still “Sasha” productions. I guess either Dean really did care for Sasha or at that point in his life didn’t care about the minutia around names of companies, rights to shows, etc.
Keep up the fantastic work!!
September 23, 2007 at 11:28 pm
Speaking of finding Tara Leigh, I bought the movie “Protection” (2001) for $2 on Amazon. Although she doesn’t have a speaking role, and she is in the background, you can see Tara in two spots in the movie. Weird to see her with graying hair, but then again, when I look in the mirror, I too wonder how in the hell did my hair turn gray also!
From what I have read about her in the comments from other Golddiggers, by all accounts she was a sweetheart even off camera. Hopefully she’ll come forward, as it seems like there are a lot of fans that want to tell her how much enjoyment she gave people.
September 24, 2007 at 1:42 am
Thank you, Craig, for information that is both very enlightening and also laced with wit that at one point made us laugh out loud.
It will be interesting to see if what Deana wrote in her book indeed foreshadows any intervention by the Dean Martin Family Trust in the current case.
And thanks for passing along your sighting of Tara in a 2001 movie. As we noted in our profile of her in the DEAN’S LIST section, we’ve seen some movie roles of recent vintage ascribed to her in her Internet Movie Database listing, but one can never be too sure of how accurate that data is. For instance, one only need to try looking up The Golddiggers on the IMDB to see how much misinformation is there to be had. Perhaps recognizing their own deficiencies, the good folks who run the IMDB very generously permitted us to include in their Golddiggers listing a mention of our site as a more credible source for those seeking accurate information about the group and its members.
There’s one aspect of Tara’s appearance in the movie that you referenced about which we’re especially curious: How was she billed in the credits — as Tara Leigh, or as Renee Anderson (the name that she used on General Hospital, and perhaps her real name)? Or did she go by yet a third name? If you’re able to see how she was identified, we’d certainly be interested to know what name she used.
September 24, 2007 at 2:52 pm
Hi everyone,
Here are links (see below) to 3 video clips with Tara’s role on General Hospital. The first is the best clip. The second only shows her near the end. The third shows her dancing in a disco, but sadly only from the back and not enough time of her. Even from that brief few seconds you can see what a great dancer she was (is)!
Mostly these clips are about Luke and Laura, so go ahead and fast forward through all their chit-chat (ha!).
I also put the link to the webpage at the end where these General Hospital links are kept just to be fair to the website owner. There may be more clips of her there.
I hope these links work. Everyone keep posting! Let’s keep the ball rolling! Great hearing from everyone!
http://www.buckwildeweb.com/Ice%20Princess/robert,%20laura,%20and%20luke%20have%20dinner%20-%201.wmv
http://www.buckwildeweb.com/Ice%20Princess/robert,%20laura,%20and%20luke%20have%20dinner%20-%202.wmv
http://www.buckwildeweb.com/Ice%20Princess/robert,%20laura,%20and%20luke%20at%20disco.wmv
http://www.buckwildeweb.com/ice_princess.htm
September 25, 2007 at 9:25 am
The links DO work, Mike, and we’re indebted to you for discovering some truly hard-to-come-by footage of Tara (or, as she was billed in this context, Renee Anderson) in her post-Dingaling days on General Hospital.
Now, if only there were a way to squelch that overbearing faux-disco music droning on and on in that first clip!
September 26, 2007 at 10:02 am
In the movie “Protection” she is billed at Tara Leigh. I also have a clip of her on Charlies Angels in 1978 that I will go ahead and try to upload.
September 26, 2007 at 10:21 pm
Thank you, Craig.
If things continue at this rate, we may have to start a separate section just for Tara memorabilia.
It’s interesting to hear that she made a guest appearance on Charlie’s Angels, because over at the GoldsAndDings group, there’s a still in the Photos section from the closing credits of a 6th season episode of The Dean Martin Show that features a 3-shot of Tara, Michelle and Jackie Chidsey looking so stunning that it moved the person who uploaded the pic to caption it with the words: “Charlie’s Angels Would Be Jealous!”
September 27, 2007 at 9:49 am
Who knows..Maybe that is Tara’s strategy. By being elusive, it keeps her in our thoughts. We always want more of what we can’t have. I think what makes everyone scratch their heads is when you look at her, she had that “girl next door, open book, could be anybody’s kid sister” appearance. The utilization of different names and dropping off the face of the earth and the secrecy, just reminds you that you can’t always judge a book by its cover!
Interesting tidbit with the Charlie’s Angels episode, is that Tara is on the same Season 3 DVD, that includes the three part episode where Dean Martin plays the Las Vegas Casino owner and falls in love with Kate Jackson.
All for now. Must go out and prove that I do “have a life” beyond tracking down people associated with the Dean Martin show!
September 27, 2007 at 2:56 pm
Any chances of the Golddigger’s albums coming out on CD?
September 27, 2007 at 7:28 pm
Ah, Mike W, so you want to open up a whole new can of ownership worms, do you?!
No, but seriously, the answer to your question would depend at least in part on what entity currently owns the rights to those recordings.
The first two albums were released on the Metromedia label, which, as you can probably guess, no longer exists. The third album was put out by RCA Records, whose catalog has been absorbed by Sony BMG. However, ownership rights to record masters sometimes, after a certain set period of time, revert to the production companies or artists involved in the making of the recordings, and so, there are a number of possibilities as to who owns The Golddiggers albums at the present time.
It might be Sony BMG and whatever successor party inherited the Metromedia label releases; or it might be Barrump-Bump Music, in which Lee Hale was partnered; or it might be yet some other entity or entities. Another possibility is that the ownership might be in dispute (uh-oh, sound familiar?!)
It’s certainly within the realm of possibility that The Golddiggers albums could be reissued on CD, and by making known your desire to see that happen in forums such this, you and others who share that desire can publicly send a message to the record companies — which, these days, are more anxious than ever to find product that will help shore up their sagging sales.
Moreover, if Capitol-EMI were to release a second album of “Forever Cool” duets that featured one or two latter-day pairings of Dean with The Golddiggers and Dingalings, as Michelle described above, that in itself might help spur demand for a re-release of the original Golddiggers albums.
In the meantime, there is at least one option available for those seeking Golddiggers albums that sadly doesn’t exist with respect to any of The Golddiggers television shows: You can fortunately find second-hand copies — and in some cases, even ones that are still factory-sealed — of the original Golddiggers LPs for sale on ebay and from many used record dealers around the country.
If only The Golddiggers TV series were available in the same way.
September 28, 2007 at 7:02 pm
Just came across this site, I’m a Viet Nam Vet, and after serving I became a Martial Arts teacher in WLA, it is thier that I met Wanda Bailey. She became a student of mine for about three years, her dancing made learning Kenpo Karate easy for her. She used to relate stories about being on the Dean Martin Show.
If she reads this…Just a note to say hi,
Larry
September 29, 2007 at 5:03 am
Thanks, Larry, for sharing that item about Wanda.
We were wondering if, as a Vietnam Vet, you had a chance to catch Wanda, along with her Dingaling Sister colleagues Michelle DellaFave and Susan Lund, at their reunion concert at the VVA convention this past July.
By all accounts, the event was a crowd-pleaser from start to finish, so we hope you were in attendance, but even if you didn’t have the chance then, The Dings remain on the comeback trail, and we’re fairly certain they’ll be harmonizing again in the not-too-distant future. If and when plans are announced, we’ll report them here at the Super Site.
September 29, 2007 at 12:44 pm
No I missed the concert at the VVA….I was out of country teaching Karate Seminars. I found that so many people around the world are still concerned and remembering the Vets of Nam.
I remember coming out of the field for a day to see the Bob Hope Christmas Tour. It gave us all the feeling of being home, at least for awhile.
I remember Wanda telling me about a Christmas Album they did for the Dean Martin Show. Are they planning on releasing it in the future?
Also a side note…if you hear from Wanda would you tell her I’m in the new releace of the movie “Protecting the King” a film about Elvis’s life with his half brother. It opens Oct. 9th in the states. I think she will remember some of the fighting techniques I taught her that I do on the screen.
Larry
September 29, 2007 at 8:31 pm
Actually, Larry, there WAS a Golddiggers Christmas album, and the cover of that LP, as well as those of the other two which featured The Golddiggers as the star attraction, are on display in the Striking Gold section of this website.
However, the Christmas album — The Golddiggers’ second — was released the year before Wanda joined the group, and the third and final Golddiggers disc came out several months after she left, so unfortunately, her voice is not among those on any of The Golddiggers records.
But she did take part in both the Christmas and New Year’s episodes of The Dean Martin Show during the season in which she was a regular on the program (1970-71), and perhaps one day, those shows, along with all of the others that Dean and the ladies did, will turn up again on the tube or become available as nice stocking stuffers for yuletide gift-giving.
We will certainly do our best to pass along your greetings to Wanda and forward your message to her about your role in “Protecting The King”. And we’d add to that that there are currently some developments in the works that may even give you another opportunity to see her again for yourself in the near future. So watch this space…We’ll keep you and everyone else posted.
October 21, 2007 at 11:42 am
Appreciation after all these years!!!
A big huge “Thank You” to Video Vision for all of your painstaking efforts in not only creating a resurfacing of The Golddiggers after literally decades, but bringing us back together as girlfriends.
I called Liz Kelly last week and left a message with her. She returned my call the following morning and we had a great talk. I remember her distinctly as thee most wonderful dancer I had ever seen, when she first joined our road tour in 1970, later to take my place on the show after I left.
Michelle, (still as beautiful as ever,maybe even more actually!!!) and I have been calling and e-mailing back and forth. A great singer and human being, I’m happy and honored to be her friend.
Just sent a letter off to Paula Cinko and hope to hear from her soon.
Thank you to The Golddiggers Super Site, GoldsAndDings and Wes for all you have done for us. We should all be worshiping the ground you walk on.
God bless you.
Mickie McGlone
1970 Golddiggers
October 21, 2007 at 11:49 am
Mickie,
We’re thrilled to have you stop by and deeply touched by your comments.
We know that you were one of the standout performers on The Golddiggers In London when it aired in the summer of 1970, and were particularly renowned for your superb vocal stylings, which were showcased often and to great effect on the London skein.
Your presence here on our site just serves as one more reminder of why we continue to press our case for (here comes the broken record again) complete season sets of ALL of The Golddiggers series…oh, and yes, a little hit called The Dean Martin Show, as well.
Having with us those such as yourself who were vital participants in those shows can only lend further credibility to the cause, so thank you again, Mickie, for acknowledging our efforts and those of our fellow advocates at GoldsAndDings.
October 23, 2007 at 5:42 pm
All the ladies look smashing in their swim fashions and Michelle Dellafave looks for all the world like Aphrodite walking on air. Then I look at the current photos of her and I can’t get over how remarkably beautiful she still looks. I well recall her and many of the other ladies you show here even though it has been many many years since I have seen any of them on television. I live in England and have especially fond memories of the London Golddiggers shows. Since I’m so far away it would be difficult for me to attend the Veterans Day concert that you write about, but if there is any way that I can schedule a trip to the states during that time I shall make it my business to be there.
October 30, 2007 at 2:22 pm
Does a heart good!!!
Hi everyone,
Just stopping by to thank all of our fans for writing such nice things about us.
I loved reading all of the comments from you all, and am so happy and surprised that you are still thinking of us.
Thank you Video Vision for your generous compliments in regard to my vocal ability, you are very kind and thoughtful.
Today is a great day for me, since I am still alive (Thank you God!) and I will be in the recording studio laying down three vocals for my new CD project today.
My sister Teddi who has MS, has been improving lately, (all prayers welcome)
When I was a Golddigger, I remember signing autographs on Teddi’s back, she was my biggest fan and still is.
Another thing that makes me REALLY happy is seeing how all of Michelle’s efforts have brought her back in to the hearts of our fans all over the world.
Thank you Michelle for mentioning my name in your comments, it makes me feel warm and fuzzy all over, I love you.
Thank you again, to the fans who are generous with their time and spirit, for taking part in this fantastic effort to pay tribute to all of us who worked so hard. You and Video Vision are responsible for the evolution and resurfacing of us.
There are no words for the appreciation I have and feel for you.
God bless you all.
Micki McGlone “Golddigger 1970″
November 4, 2007 at 1:08 am
Thank you for paying us another visit, Micki. We are always honored whenever you or any of the gals that we celebrate on this site drop by to say hello.
We also take pleasure in hearing about the various projects with which many of you are currently involved, and are thus excited to learn from you, Micki, that you are in the midst of recording a new album. Please keep us informed about that venture as it moves forward, and by all means, let us know when it’s completed so that we can alert visitors to our site about its release and where they can purchase it.
We will certainly keep your sister Teddi in our thoughts and prayers, and feel confident that all of the good people who read your message will do the same.
Our best to you and your family, Micki, and we look forward to hearing from you again soon.
November 4, 2007 at 1:16 am
Release the Shows!
To help get the message home to the owners of the rights, even in dispute; contact every Leader of every state VFW organization, and the individual state directors of AARP.
Both are very influential in getting things done, that benefit the GI’s.
I recently attended a 60th surprise birthday for a Vietnam Vet, now retired police officer. How moving it would have been for him to receive as a gift from someone in attendance, the video of the Bob Hope Christmas Tour, or the TV Special, of his times in war. The surprise guest at this event, was his best friend from the Air Force. For some in war, these were the only good times.
There is a market for the Golddiggers shows, clearly defined by the many that remember Dean, the Bob Hope Era, and the many that fought the War, particularly in the times of the current War with Iraq.
Get the Message out to the VFW folks, you know their age group is the fastest growing Internet user group!
Get the Message out to the AARP Leaders, on behalf of all those that want to have a piece of their history, to pass down to their next generation. Get an AARP cover person (Kevin Costner, Morgan Freeman, etc) to champion your cause.
Invite those AARP folks in the Washington AARP Office, to the Reception where the Golddiggers are on the 10th…they can surely sell them, as they’ve sold me! A little push from Washington, goes a long way on the Left Coast.
Best!
New Jersey Bill
p.s. Get the Governator in CA in your camp too!
November 4, 2007 at 1:51 am
Bill, you’ve certainly fired up all of us here at the Super Site, and we hope that your rallying cry will motivate both the very talented ladies to whom our site is dedicated and their fans — as well as fans of the great Dean Martin all around the world — to heed your call to action.
You’ve made some very constructive suggestions, and if enough people followed them, it could well help to raise the consciousness of some pretty influential folks about a cause that all visitors to this site hold near and dear to their hearts — witnessing the fresh availability of every episode of The Dean Martin Show and The Golddiggers series, complete and uncut, as they originally aired.
We’re here on this earth for a very short time, people — do we really want to go through the rest of our lives without once again experiencing the sheer joy of watching these precious programs?
If your answer to that question is what we think it is, then how about following Bill’s lead: Get involved! And there’s no better time to start than now.
November 13, 2007 at 6:53 am
WOW I just had an experience of a life time with The Golddiggers and as a Dingaling and then as “Blue Eyed Soul”, I plan to write all about my experiences. They were Awesome. Nothing can compare to performing on a stage in front of the Washington Monument and to serve my country in a way that I would never imagine. Thanks to National Meetings and Special events director Wes Guidry I have been so blessed. Lindsay was great and I loved performing again with her. It was as if we had been doing this for years and never stopped after we went our separate ways. God Bless her. We had fun and exciting. More on the entire trip later. I want to thank all the Veterans of Vietnam who did come out to see us in the cold and I hope I can someday meet them all and give them a big hug!!! Thank you Reg Davis for that wonderful compliment, my goodness, yes God has been good to me. I also want to say hello to Mickie McGlone and I am sure your CD will be great, now there is a woman who sings with soul. I also want to say how wonderful it was to do the “Funky Chicken” with my fellow Dingaling Sisters Susie and Wanda, always such fun!!! I am grateful to have shared the stage with Susan Cadham, Sheila Allan, Rosetta Cox, Jackie Chidsey and Nancy Reichert. They are all as beautiful as ever. I even got to meet Neil Daniel’s the head of The Dean Martin Fan Club. His video of the Golddiggers is excellent, a great tribute to The Golddiggers. I wish I could have seen it but I was back stage waiting to go on. It sounded awesome. Finally, thank you Bill Kopp for your interest and helpful information.Bill and I are from the same town Bergenfield, New Jersey. I am flattered that he is visiting the site. Hi Bill! Well I am going to begin my chapter on my experiences of this trip. Much love to all, Michelle DellaFave. God Bless America!
November 13, 2007 at 6:57 am
Michelle, we can’t wait to read all about your weekend at the Wall Anniversary Commemoration and can guarantee you that we and all of the fans of The Golddiggers, Dingaling Sisters, and now Blue Eyed Soul, too, will be following along with rapt attention.
December 2, 2007 at 2:41 pm
Hello. I just read the story about the lawsuit involving the Dean Martin Trust and Greg Garrison and I must say that I find it absolutely fascinating. As an attorney specializing in the practice of entertainment law, I am very impressed with the professional way that this site has covered this story from the beginning. Whether or not any of your writers have a legal background, they show a good grasp of the law. I’m also amazed at how the site has been able to come up with one scoop after another on the story. Whoever does the research is obviously really on the ball.
My own take on the pending litigation is that it will probably drag on for years, but let’s all hope I’m wrong. Your story made a sensible plea to the feuding parties to resolve their differences amicably, but I’m afraid that big egos and me-too demands for money often stand in the way of the most sensible solutions.
But I applaud the effort. If anyone gives out awards to web sites, this one deserves one for enterprise reporting. It’s first-rate journalism, the writing is excellent, even the headlines are really clever. TRUST THRUST COMBUSTS, etc., has to rank right up there with one of the most famous Variety headlines off all time: “Hicks Nix Sticks Pix.”
Bravo. Stay hungry. Stick with it.
December 5, 2007 at 6:56 pm
I agree with what the lady said in the previous comment. Bravo! Excellent! You lay out all the facts and then end with an emotional appeal. No attorney could have made a better case! In fact, that’s the one disagreement I have with the previous commenter. I don’t think this has to drag on for years and maybe if the people behind all of these lawsuits read the story and takes its message to heart, it won’t.
Ed
December 7, 2007 at 8:50 pm
Memories of the Ding-A-Ling Sisters
This site is terrific and brings back many memories. As a shy 13 old Thursday night offered me a chance to watch four lovely, talented ladies without worrying about rejection. I too would discuss the show the next day with friends. What I find interesting today is that the Dings were treated with great respect and affection, we weren’t discussing playmates. The Dings were almost icons to us young boys: talented, beautiful & sweet.
I learned their names on one show when Dean introduced them, and I repeated their names in that order as not to forget: Taffy, Tara, Lynn & Michelle…Taffy,Tara, Lynn & Michelle. That’s how I remember them today. I remember these four ladies as the “classic” Dings and was brokenhearted when two new ones came on board in the last year (no disrespect to Helen & Jayne).
As time went on I grew up (sort of) and moved on but never forgot my first crushes. I am thrilled they have done so well. The advent of the internet gives me the opportunity to say something to Taffy, Tara, Lynn & Michelle I have wanted to say for over thirty years: Thank you!
Paul C.
One last thing, shortly after the Dings were dropped from the show I was buying a newspaper and who was staring at me from the magazine rack but Michelle on the cover of Photography Today and she was posing with a tiger! Anyone remember this cover? P
December 9, 2007 at 10:34 am
Thank you, Paul, for sharing with us your own personal recollections of The Dingaling Sisters.
It seems that only now, resulting from the expressions of appreciation coming from fans such as yourself and those who have attended their reunion shows, are the women who made up both The Dingaling Sisters and The Golddiggers fully realizing just how much they have meant over the years — and still mean all these years later — to their multitude of fans the world over.
And yes, we’re familiar with that Photographic magazine cover picture of Michelle DellaFave, which put a wry spin on Frank Stockton’s classic short story of The Lady, or the Tiger by bringing the two together for one ferociously captivating shot.
December 22, 2007 at 11:14 am
Hi. Great site. Could you identify all of The Golddiggers in that first picture on the updates page, the one with them holding presents.
December 22, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Yes. That photo is from the cover of The Golddiggers’ glowing album of holiday songs, We Need A Little Christmas, originally issued in the fall of 1969. In our haste to wrap up our latest post in time for Christmas, we neglected to put I.D. tags on several of the accompanying photos, so thank you for calling that oversight to our attention. We have now added captions to all of the previously unidentified pics.
December 22, 2007 at 4:38 pm
I have two questions:
Do they still make Red Rose tea? Michelle has inspired me to try it
Did she make any more commercials besides this one?
Thanks, Jeff
December 22, 2007 at 7:26 pm
Red Rose Tea IS still being made, and as you might expect in this day and age, the company even has a website:
http://www.redrosetea.com
With all the free publicity that they’re getting out of this — very likely the most attention they’ve received in years — they might want to give serious consideration to reenlisting Michelle as their commercial spokeswoman.
As for lending her magic touch to other products, we know that over the years, Michelle has done a number of print advertisements — some with The Golddiggers, some on her own — and you’ll probably be seeing a number of those surface here in the months ahead. Whether there are other TV or radio spots that she’s done, we’re not certain, but you can rest assured that if there are and they’re accessible, we’ll make every effort to bring them to you.
December 22, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Hello.
I have been looking for the Dean Martin Christmas Special from 12/1967 with Frank Sinatra. You have a picture from it in your Christmas post.
I would love to get a copy of this show. Do you know where I might be able to find it? Is this show included in the Guthy-Renker series?
Thank you for your help.
December 23, 2007 at 3:16 am
Well, Len, we’re afraid that the answer to your question is one that only an unregenerate Scrooge could love.
Unfortunately, no part of the 12/21/67 episode of The Dean Martin Show, subtitled “Christmas with The Martins and The Sinatras”, was included on any of the volumes of the Guthy-Renker series, nor is the program available commercially in whole or in part in any form.
However, we can tell you that there is great demand for it, and that that demand isn’t limited just to fans. Two famous offspring of the stars of that program, who themselves appeared on it, have publicly expressed a desire to see the show made available again — Nancy Sinatra on The Sinatra Family Forum (http://sinatrafamily.com/forum/index.php) and Deana Martin on her website (http://www.deanamartin.com).
So if the legal issues can eventually be resolved, that gem from Christmas past — along with over 200 other Dean Martin Show episodes — may one day be a part of Christmas future.
December 29, 2007 at 4:16 pm
I love the way Michelle DellaFave looks with dark hair in that red dress, so glamorous, like EVITA! I would love to see the Red Rose commercial. Is that something you will be able to put on the site?
December 30, 2007 at 5:28 am
From a technical standpoint, Donna, we certainly have the capability to display not just still pictures and audio, but video, as well. Please understand, though, that Señora DellaFave has many commitments; but if her schedule permits and she is able to supply us with a copy of the spot, we’ll be happy to process the transfer and bring you and everyone else the full touch of star quality on view in her Red Rose commercial.
January 8, 2008 at 7:09 pm
Court Case Settled
This could be great news, the main thing is the court case has been dismissed.
Now I only hope and pray The Dean Martin shows will be released to dvd complete.
The Best of shows would be better than nothing but I dearly hope the complete series of Dean`s shows will be released.
It`s still confusing, but at least the court case is out of the way.
I live in hope
Hugs from Kylie xxxoooxxx
January 10, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Kylie, we know that you are of a generation born many years after The Dean Martin Show had its last first-run telecast; but we also know that, your youth notwithstanding, you are a very knowledgeable and devoted aficionado of Dean, The Golddiggers and The Dingaling Sisters.
Frankly, if enough people in and around your age group had a musical and aesthetic palette as sophisticated as yours, then you can be sure that complete season sets of Dean’s series would have hit the market years ago, in spite of the high costs of the rights clearances involved.
To be profitably released on DVD, a musical-variety skein such as The Dean Martin Show must either: A) be able to command mass market sales numbers on the order of a series like Friends or The Simpsons; or else B) have a smaller but still sizable fan base so dedicated that it is willing to pay premium prices for a product laden with entertaining but budget-draining musical selections.
Now addressing the first of those two conditions, we can fairly well assume that DVDs of Dean’s programs are unlikely to top the sales charts so many years after their last televised airings. On the other hand, we also believe with wholehearted conviction (and there are reams of data to back this up) that there are millions of Dean Martin fans worldwide amenable to pungling up substantial sums in order to get their hands on unedited episodes of his series.
So what it may in the end boil down to is whether — assuming, with the recent settlement of the NBC U lawsuit, that it’s contractually allowable — we long-neglected Dinophiles will finally be permitted the opportunity to vote with our wallets and pocketbooks.
Like you, Kylie, we, too, would rather live in hope than in fear.
January 10, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Hi,
Thanks for providing a great informative site on all the cast/members/performers of The Golddiggers.
As a frequent member in several science fiction fan communities, former Golddigger, Janice Whitby is popular for the role she played in the multi part Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman episode “Kill Oscar”. In it she played Dr. Franklin’s (John Houseman) fembot,assistant and operative. Her on screen presence was superb on capturing the suspense creepiness those evil fembots gave to viewers.
I would have never have guessed that after seeing Janice Whitby’s evil role that she got her first break in the business as one of the sweet, talented and lovable Golddigers.
I was a bit surprised that Ms. Whitby didn’t get a mention for her role as Katy on this website (considering that Lezlie Dalton got a mention for role as Drea on Star Trek) nor did she get a mention for her role on Mel Brooke’s “Blazing Saddles” . Never the less I was more than happy to see the information provided on this Website for Janice Whitby and I thank you.
A few of us fans were considering starting a fansite honoring all of Janice’s work. It’s unfortunate that Ms. Whitby seemed to have disappeared sometime after the late 70s. I just hope that she’s alive and happy and doing well wherever she may be. If any of her former cast mates and/or this website owner are still in touch with her, please let her know that I wish her well and I respect her privacy and to let her know that she still has fans out there.
For anyone that is interested, here are some links to Janice Whitby’s other work:
Fembot Fan Video starring Janice Whitby as Katy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0V1JgodtIls#XNC69ypZOF0
A scene from Mel Brooke’s “Blazing Saddles” featuring Janice Whitby as the tour guide:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AOeSrLCD-U
Katy’s (Janice Whitby) Character Profile:
http://bionic.wikia.com/wiki/Katy
January 10, 2008 at 6:47 pm
Thank you, Mark, for your very warm and considerate thoughts regarding Janice Whitby, who served with The Golddiggers from 1970-72. We also appreciate your providing us with additional details about some of her career highlights.
We actually learned of Janice’s guest starring role on The Bionic Woman several weeks after the Super Site was inaugurated, and we had planned to incorporate that information in our first major update to the Dean’s List section, which will probably be done in late Winter or early Spring.
However, we confess to having been completely unaware of her participation in Blazing Saddles, and are grateful to you not only for that revelation, but also for supplying us with links to clips showing her both in that landmark Mel Brooks farce AND as a “fembot” (as it were) in The Bionic Woman, under the control of John Houseman, essaying a role that was obviously a far cry from Professor Kingsfield in The Paper Chase.
But then again, as with Lezlie Dalton on Star Trek, Janice’s own science fiction sojourn represented quite a departure from her stint with The Golddiggers.
Upon her initiation into that group on The Dean Martin Show in the fall of 1970, Janice always appeared to us rather shy and reserved in contrast to some of her more seasoned peers. But that diffidence seemed to vanish the following season, when Chevrolet Presents The Golddiggers debuted in syndication, and Janice returned sporting redder hair, sassy bangs, and a manifestly more confident attitude that shone through both her on-screen presence and energetic dancing. We can still picture her bouncing to the rhythm of “Gimme Dat Ding”, and of course, we all hope to one day again be able to see that image not just in our memories, but on our TV screens.
In the interim, if you wind up proceeding with the establishment of a fansite honoring Janice Whitby, please let us know about it and we’ll be sure to pass along the information to all of our visitors.
We here at the Super Site don’t have any direct contact with Janice, but if any of her former colleagues are in touch with her and should read your message, Mark, we sincerely hope that they will let her know about it.
January 15, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Hi from Joy Hawkins (Golddigger/Tiger Girl)
Hi…..what fun to see old and new photos and updates. I was a Golddigger in 1968-1969, with several featured spots.
Greg Garrison asked me back in the 1973-74 season to create a character called The Tiger Girl. Dean would walk me in the park each week along with a guest star who had a real animal on a leash….then Dean and I would sing a song together.
We also had a spot each week where Dean would sing on top of the piano with me playing with my paws while Ken Lane really played off camera. I became resident comedienne that season and played everything from Jane to William Conrad’s Tarzan to a crazy guest on a “Price is Right” skit with Bob Barker.
Today I live in Key West, Florida. I am the Artistic Director of The Red Barn Theatre, now in it’s 28th season. I am still professionally directing, acting and singing. I have played the role of Louise in Always…Patsy Cline in many theatres around the country as well as a tour of Scotland and England. I send regards and best wishes to all.
Joy Hawkins
January 15, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Joy, thank you so much for writing to us and providing us with not only additional background about yourself, but also an update on your current activities.
Undoubtedly the biggest surprise in your message had to be the revelation that enabled us to finally put together all the pieces of a puzzle that’s been gnawing at us for years: Who WAS that beautiful lady in the tiger outfit on the 8th season of Dean’s series?
Indeed, that was one cat that had, if not nine, at least two lives, because we already knew that Michelle DellaFave, your colleague from the 1969 Golddiggers, played the part of pretty “Kitty” on several episodes. But that still left us wondering who did it on all of the other shows.
Although you as Kitty always looked very familiar to us (and, by the way, reminded us a good deal of Ann-Margret), we could never quite figure out from where we recognized you. Obviously, in the back of our minds, we remembered your lovely visage from your stint with The Golddiggers, and thanks to your enlightening us today, the mystery is now solved.
But whether it was you or Michelle suiting up as “Kitty”, we think that Greg Garrison chose purr-fectly — each of you made for a fabulous feline in your own right. We have stills of both of you in the part and will try to post them as soon as possible.
And now that you’ve also made us aware that that was you playing a very fetching Jane alongside William Conrad’s Tarzan, we’ll put up a still from that sketch, too.
We know that when you played Kitty, you and Dean performed charming renditions of “You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To” “Let’s Fall In Love”, “”Cu