- ONLY ROCK ‘N’ ROLL WILL NEVER DIE (conclusion)
Original Air Date: October 26, 1979
Synopsis. Pop music superstar Tim Ritchie, already facing a palimony lawsuit by his former live-in girlfriend Diane Bjornstrom, hires Rockford to locate his record producer and longtime friend Bryan Charles, who disappeared after they had a major dispute seven days earlier. Jim learns that Charles supplied Evergreen Management, a rival record label run by mobster Bernie Seldon, with bootlegged copies of Ritchie’s latest LP Renegade Lotion—a move that has cost Ritchie’s company $1.4 million in profits. The matter turns to murder when Rockford finds Charles buried in the back yard of his own home.“Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Will Never Die” marked the final appearance of “Jimmy Joe Meeker,” the smooth-talking alias that Rockford assumed on several occasions during the fourth, fifth, and sixth seasons.
LEARN MORE about this episode in the revised third edition of 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES, featuring more than sixty new pages of never before published information about both the original Rockford Files and the CBS reunion movies, including twenty new interviews and six new appendices. 25 percent of the net proceeds from the sales of 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES will be donated to The James Garner Animal Rescue Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds to help rescue organizations, shelters, individuals, fosters, and veterans with emergencies, evacuations, medical care, adoptions, training, pet supplies, shelter, rehabilitation, boarding, transportation, food, and other pressing needs. JGARF is one way for Garner fans to honor Jim’s memory and extend his legacy. Plus… if you order 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES directly from Black Pawn Press, you will receive an exclusive bonus gift. Go to Rockford45.com for more details
Ed Robertson
Author ● Journalist ● Radio Host ● Collaborative Writer
Anthony Boy Tony Soprano
This Date in ROCKFORD FILES History: Marcia Strassman, Kristoffer Tabori and George Loros star in Part 1 of the two-part episode “Only Rock ‘n’ Roll Will Never Die,” airing on Oct. 19, 1979. LEARN MORE about this episode in 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES, available in softcover paperback and now as an eBook through Black Pawn Press
- ONLY ROCK ‘N’ ROLL WILL NEVER DIE (Part 1)
Original Air Date: October 19, 1979
Synopsis. Pop music superstar Tim Ritchie (played by Kristoffer Tabori), already facing a palimony lawsuit by his former live-in girlfriend Diane Bjornstrom, hires Rockford to locate his record producer and longtime friend Bryan Charles, who disappeared after they had a major dispute seven days earlier. Jim learns that Charles supplied Evergreen Management, a rival record label run by mobster Bernie Seldon, with bootlegged copies of Ritchie’s latest LP Renegade Lotion—a move that has cost Ritchie’s company $1.4 million in profits. The matter turns to murder when Rockford finds Charles buried in the back yard of his own home.Marcia Strassman (Welcome Back, Kotter, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids) later played Dr. Trish George in Friends and Foul Play, the fifth of the eight Rockford telefilms that James Garner produced for CBS in the late 1990s. George Loros previously appeared as tightly-wound mobster “Anthony Boy” Gagglio in “To Protect and Serve” and “The Man Who Saw the Alligators” and as equally paranoid hitman Tommy Lorentz in “The Dog and Pony Show.”
LEARN MORE about this episode in the revised third edition of 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES, featuring more than sixty new pages of never before published information about both the original Rockford Files and the CBS reunion movies, including twenty new interviews and six new appendices. 25 percent of the net proceeds from the sales of 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES will be donated to The James Garner Animal Rescue Fund, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising funds to help rescue organizations, shelters, individuals, fosters, and veterans with emergencies, evacuations, medical care, adoptions, training, pet supplies, shelter, rehabilitation, boarding, transportation, food, and other pressing needs. JGARF is one way for Garner fans to honor Jim’s memory and extend his legacy. Plus… if you order 45 YEARS OF THE ROCKFORD FILES directly from Black Pawn Press, you will receive an exclusive bonus gift. Go to Rockford45.com for more details