I was out at Mattachine last week when the DJ blew my mind. Ange DiCarlo played a long lost 70's hit from an old K-Tel Hit Machine's vinyl disc (owned by co-DJ Amber Martin) called MAKIN' IT. This was a song by David Naughton that went all the way to number 5 on the Billboard charts in the summer 1979 and is one of those songs that was everywhere for 6 months then just disappeared.
Before it became a pop sensation, the song also served as the catchy theme to David Naughton's own sitcom also called MAKIN' IT, which was about a couple guys in Passaic, NJ who were goofballs by day and disco kings by night. Sound familiar? It was basically ABC's copycat version of SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER. The show was not nearly as successful as the show (even casting Ellen Travolta didn't help!) and lasted just 8 mid-season episodes. But I believe I watched every single one of them for two reasons; disco dancing and David Naughton. I had a serious crush on the Dr. Pepper dude...and he could dance!
You can watch the crazy opening for the show in this compilation of 1979 TV theme songs....MAKIN' IT starts at 7:00 and plays almost like a spoof of a sitcom opener. But that song is still so damn catchy. Turns out it was written by the same team who brought us the classic I WILL SURVIVE.
