backpages index April 2003 Tooned in, Turned On The Groovie Goolies (1971-72)- Drac, Wolfie, and Frankie were the undead cousins to Sabrina the Teenage Witch who got their own series when they proved somewhat popular. They were wacky and funny and, most importantly, played instruments as a rock ‘n' roll trio. The Hardy Boys (1969-61)- Based loosely on the popular book series, Frank and Joe still solved perplexing mysteries, but this time around, they also were members of a pop group called The Hardy Boys Plus Three, which included equally switched-on pals Pete, Chubby and Wanda. The Impossibles (1966-68)- As the second half to the program "Frankenstein Jr. and the Impossibles", the latter were crime-fighting secret agents Coil Man, Fluid Man, and Multi Man, who hid under the guise of (what else?) a rock band. Jabberjaw (1976-77)- A group of teenagers formed a band in 2076 and called themselves The Neptunes way before the current record producing duo adopted the same name. With the great white shark Jabberjaw as their drummer (and comic relief) the group toured the underwater world while also involving themselves with way too many shady characters. Jem (1986-87)- Independent woman Jem and her band The Holgrams rocked onto television screens as a group who were something of a cross between Bananarama and Josie and the Pussycats. Jessica Benton (as Jem was called when she wasn't performing) was the head of Starlight Music and got advice about life and love from her computer/ mentor, Synergy. Unfortunately, Jem's good nature was always being tested by vindictive rival all-girl band, The Misfits. MTV style music videos with original songs accompanied each episode. Josie and the Pussycats (1970-72)- Like The Archies, Josie and her sexy feline bandmates Melody and Valerie jumped off the pages of a comic book right into their own weekly series. Along with Josie's roadie boyfriend Alan, their manager Alexander Cabot III, and his bitchy no- talent sister Alexandra, the posse traveled the planet performing and generally getting mixed up with all the wrong people. The show proved popular enough to spawn a sequel series "Josie in Outer Space" as well as a pointless live-action flop of a movie three decades later. Mission: Magic! (1973-74)- As a last ditch effort to make a young Rick Springfield into an American teen pop idol, ABC came up with this forgotten cartoon series, inspired by his album "Comic Book Heros". Rick played a more superpowerful version of himself who, along with the help of magical school teacher Miss Tickle and her students, alternated solving the problems of the world with being a foxy guitar-playing rock god. The Partridge Family: 2200 A.D (1974-75)- With the live-action sitcom "The Partridge Family" an enormous hit, it wasn't long before they too became as two-dimensional as "The Brady Kids". This time, they were thrust a couple centuries into the future, trading velvet hip-huggers for Jetsons-style threads. But a family that plays together stays together so of course, they were still a rock band. However the famous psychedelic bus was traded in for a psychedelic spaceship. The Pebbles and Bamm Bamm Show (1971-76)- In this "Flintstones" spin-off, Pebbles and Bamm Bamm are now hip teens who hang out with their Bedrock pals at Bedrock High School and have formed a band called The Bedrock Rollers. They just probably needed to prove that they were more than one-hit wonder child stars with "Open Up Your Heart (and Let the Sun Shine In)". Schoolhouse Rock! (1973-85)- Not a 30-minute weekly show, the now legendary "School House Rock!" was a series of 3-minute vignettes (not unlike music videos) that were shown throughout regular children's programming during ABC's Saturday morning line-up. Songs were turned into lessons for everything from math, to science, to history. And like the "Saturday Morning" album, "School House Rock! Rocks" was recorded in the mid-90's when alterna-rockers decided it would be fun to cover some of the tunes from the show, including "My Hero, Zero", "Conjunction Junction" and "I'm Just a Bill". Super Bwoing (1966-69)- As a separate segment of the "The Super Six" weekly series, Super Bwoing was a superhero who got around by surfing through air on a giant guitar, and quite enjoyed playing one as well.