The Doobie Brothers Guest & Perform On ‘What’s Happening!!’ In 1978

Earlier this week, The revealed their summer plans. The legendary act announced they will embark on a co-headlining tour with Steely Dan. In honor of the upcoming run, this week’s Throwback Thursday features the two 1978 episodes of ABC sitcom What’s Happening!! that star The Doobie Brothers.

The premise of the two-parter is that The Doobie Brothers return to their alma mater for a charity concert, which just happens to be the high school where characters Roger “Raj” Thomas, Freddy “Rerun” Stubbs and Dwayne Nelson attend. Raj, Rerun and Dwayne want to attend the concert, but can’t score tickets through conventional methods. A shady fellow named Al Dunbar offers Rerun a chance to be the hero by providing Stubbs with tickets for the show. The catch? Rerun must tape the concert using a portable tape recorder. Unlike the Grateful Dead, The Doobie Brothers were anti-taping and were upset when the tape recorder fell out of Rerun’s jacket at the end of the concert. The Doobie Brothers chat with Rerun and the fellas about Stubbs’ bootlegging efforts and forgive him after they realize Dunbar, who had taped other concerts, was behind the scheme. A sting is setup to catch Dunbar in the act.

The Doobie Brothers performed a number of songs over the course of the two episodes. Raj, his sister Dee, Rerun and Dwayne attend a soundcheck in which viewers see The Doobies play “Echoes Of Love” and a cover of Marvin Gaye’s “Little Darling (I Need You)” from 1977’s Livin’ On The Fault Line. Then, the “concert” itself features renditions of hits “Black Water” and “Takin’ It To The Streets” as well as another Motown gem, “Take Me In Your Arms (Rock Me A Little While)” and the wild instrumental outro of “I Cheat The Hangman.”

In 1977/1978, the lineup for The Doobie Brothers featured current and founding member Pat Simmons as well as famed keyboardist Michael McDonald, drummers/percussionists John Hartman and Keith Knudsen, iconic guitarist Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, bassist Tiran Porter and vocalist Bobby LaKind. Simmons currently tours under The Doobie Brothers moniker with a band that includes longtime members Tom Johnston and John McFee.

Watch video of both episodes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PDzRI0Txcc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKEgqF4Sq1c

Some audio is cut in the videos above, but here’s the episodes uncut (yet only a portion of the screen is used):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQbbuuWuQZ0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNkuVBSK12A