S.O.D. "Welcome Back" by John Sebastian

4/26/2015     This song was pretty much an instant success along with the TV show Welcome Back Kotter.  It stayed at #1 for a week on the charts after it's release just five weeks earlier in 1976.  The TV show's producer Alan Sachs, wanted a theme song along the lines of the music by The Lovin' Spoonful who Sebastian formally fronted.  It just so happened that Sebastian and Sachs had the same agent, Dave Bendet, and he scheduled a meeting for the two.  The producers were so taken by the song that they changed the name of the show from Kotter to Welcome Back Kotter.  Originally the song had only one verse and Sebastian added a 2nd to suit the show.  

     It also peaked at #1 on the Canadian charts and ranked at #19 on the U.S. Cashbox Top 100 for the year of 1976.  Sebastian is mainly known for being the founder of the band, The Lovin Spoonful, which was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.  He is also the godson of Vivian Vance who played Ethel Mertz on "I love Lucy".  Sebastian was popular among rock festivals and had a memorable performance at Woodstock.  He is able to play guitar, piano, autoharp and harmonica and came back to Woodstock to play harmonica for Crosby,  Stills and Nash in 1994.  He also played harmonica for the song "Roadhouse Blues" by the Doors on the Morrison hotel album.