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Monday, February 22, 2021

Monday, February 08, 2021

 I’m not a football fan but Sky is so I have to watch it.  I did tune in for the halftime show by The Weekend, however.  I thought he did a great job, the set was amazing.  But, it’s like a mini concert.  I got to wondering and looked up the history of Super Bowl half times.  As you can see, it wasn’t until about the late ‘90’s that the halftime show took a somewhat permanent turn to well-known artists.  What is the halftime show about?  I was under the impression that it’s purpose is to energize the fans while the teams rest and recharge, allowing fans to also make pit stops and load up on snacks and beverages.  In the beginning it was more or less a show - a real show.  Sometimes ordinary people working hard to put entertainment together.  There were always themes.  And they were creative.  Now, we may have themes, just not well-advertised because the theme no longer seems important given the type of entertainment, concerts.  They may be creative but only from the artists point of view.  There’s no real point except to make the artist look good and get a good response from his/her/their performance.  I’ll post a list I found off another site and the 1988 Super Bowl Halftime show.


Super Bowl halftime shows list all time

Super BowlYearPerformer(s)
I1967Universities of Arizona and Grambling University Bands
II1968"Old Man Winter Takes a Vacation in Miami" featuring seven local Miami-area high school bands
III1969"America Thanks" with Florida A&M University
IV1970Carol Channing
V1971Florida A&M Band
VI1972"Salute to Louis Armstrong" with Ella Fitzgerald, Carol Channing, Al Hirt and U.S. Marine Corps Drill Team
VII1973"Happiness Is..." with University of Michigan Band and Woody Herman
VIII1974"A Musical America" with University of Texas Band
IX1975"Tribute to Duke Ellington" with Mercer Ellington and Grambling University Bands
X1976"200 Years and Just a Baby" Tribute to America's Bicentennial
XI1977"It's a Small World" including crowd participation for first time with spectators waving colored placard on cue
XII1978"From Paris to the Paris of America" with Tyler Apache Belles, Pete Fountain and Al Hirt
XIII1979"Super Bowl XIII Carnival" Salute to the Caribbean with Ken Hamilton and various Caribbean bands
XIV1980"A Salute to the Big Band Era" with Up with People
XV1981"A Mardi Gras Festival"
XVI1982"A Salute to the 60's and Motown"
XVII1983"KaleidoSUPERscope" (a kaleidoscope of color and sound)
XVIII1984"Super Bowl XVIII's Salute to the Superstars of the Silver Screen"
XIX1985"A World of Children's Dreams"
XX1986"Beat of the Future"
XXI1987"Salute to Hollywood's 100th Anniversary"
XXII1988"Something Grand" featuring 88 grand pianos, the Rockettes and Chubby Checker
XXIII1989"Be Bop Bamboozled" featuring 3-D effects
XXIV1990"Salute to New Orleans" and 40th Anniversary of Peanuts' characters, featuring trumpeter Pete Fountain, Doug Kershaw and Irma Thomas
XXV1991"A Small World Salute to 25 Years of the Super Bowl" featuring New Kids on the Block
XXVI1992"Winter Magic" including a salute to the winter season and the winter Olympics featuring Gloria Estefan, Brian Boitano and Dorothy Hamill
XXVII1993"Heal the World" featuring Michael Jackson
XXVIII1994"Rockin Country Sunday" featuring Clint Black, Tanya Tucker, Travis Tritt, Wynonna and Naomi Judd
XXIX1995"Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye" featuring Tony Bennett, Patti LaBelle, Arturo Sandoval and Miami Sound Machine
XXX1996Diana Ross
XXXI1997"Blues Brothers Bash" featuring Dan Aykroyd, John Goodman, James Belushi, James Brown and ZZ Top
XXXII1998"A Tribute to Motown's 40th Anniversary" including Boyz II Men, Smokey Robinson, Queen Latifah, Martha Reeves and The Temptations
XXXIII1999"Celebration of Soul, Salsa and Swing" featuring Stevie Wonder, Gloria Estefan, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Savion Glover
XXXIV2000"A Tapestry of Nations" featuring Phil Collins, Christina Aguilera, Enrique Iglesias, and Toni Braxton
XXXV2001"The Kings of Rock and Pop" featuring Aerosmith, *N'SYNC, Britney Spears, Mary J. Blige and Nelly
XXXVI2002U2
XXXVII2003Shania Twain, No Doubt and Sting
XXXVIII2004Janet Jackson, Kid Rock, P. Diddy, Nelly and Justin Timberlake
XXXIX2005Paul McCartney
XL2006The Rolling Stones
XLI2007Prince
XLII2008Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
XLIII2009Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
XLIV2010The Who
XLV2011The Black Eyed Peas, Usher and Slash
XLVI2012Madonna with guests Cee Lo Green, LMFAO, M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj
XLVII2013Beyonce with guests Destiny's Child
XLVIII2014Bruno Mars with guests Red Hot Chili Peppers
XLIX2015Katy Perry with guests Missy Elliott and Lenny Kravitz
502016Coldplay with guests Beyonce and Bruno Mars
LI2017Lady Gaga
LII2018Justin Timberlake
LIII2019Maroon 5 with guests Travis Scott and Big Boi
LIV2020Jennifer Lopez and Shakira
LV2021The Weeknd

From https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/super-bowl-halftime-shows-list-performers/1b8rmuk9aby2i1p773o2v75eqr


Here is ‘Something Grand’ from the 1988 Super Bowl Halftime show.

https://youtu.be/HoGAshRemXM