I was in my teens when Solid Gold made its debut on Saturday night television (in November 1980, I believe). A bit before the domination of videoclips in musical culture, this show was a way to be entertained by current pop stars lip-synching their way on a colorfuly decorated set. Of course, one of the reasons to keep watching was the Solid Gold Dancers, a troupe of around eight individuals whose main job was to perform during a weekly Top 10 countdown. Interestingly, the choregraphy was sometimes pretty hot for early evening viewing, probably because the female dancers were exquisitively sexy. My two favorites were Darcel Wynne and Deborah Jenssen, both of whom are pictured below.

With her amazing long tresses and cat’s eyes, Darcel Wynne was considered the lead dancer of the group, and one of the most popular key figure in the show. Her movie work consists of Jesus Christ Superstar, Mame, Xanadu and Night Shift.

The sultriness of Deborah Jenssen was also on display in a Rod Stewart’s video, Tonight I’m Yours, which was a near obsession of mine at the time. Couldn’t get enough of her gyrating besides that swimming pool! Deborah was seen in a couple of movies, Xanadu and Staying Alive, and numerous TV specials and stage performances.

Interestingly, these two performers, with their personalities and body types, paved the way to my own preferences towards women’s sexiness. What can I say? I was merely a teen voyeur…

Both ladies, now in the mid-fifites, have since retired for family purposes.

Now this is what I call a motion picture. You’ve got trampoline kung fu action in ancient times, multicultural heroes (a strong guy, a jumping-high guy, a martial arts guy), a tribe of fierce Amazons, romance, intrigue, comedy… perfect package! This encounter of the peplum genre mixed with Hong Kong battles is in fact a co-production coming from Italy, Hong Kong and Mexico.

So yes, I saw this on a big screen as a child, around 1975 or so, this incredible action picture that must be seen to be believed and is considered universally a real turkey, but it nevertheless made quite a mark on me for the Amazon society bit, an impression that follows me to this day, as I suspect that my love for strong female characters (in all terms of the word) took this key plot point as its seed. I even wrote some fiction about a bunch of Amazons battling it out in a Roman arena who are suddenly transferred through time to land on the busy streets of a modern city during rush hour! Imagine the confusion and mayhem! Bah, I still love my concept! Forget about 300 and Beowulf!

Despite its lousy script, Super Stooges Vs the Wonder Women’s first scenes depicts a deadly contest to elect a new Amazon Queen, the survivor being the lucky winner. The tone here is quite grim, a bit more violent than the following light-hearted silliness. In my then (then?) dumb innocent state, these first minutes became hauntingly mesmerizing because of their crude appeal. Sexy Magda Konopka (visually memorable in Satanik) plays here the determined Queen. I can also remember that this was a big deal at the time of its release, as local television ads screamed at us kids to rush to theatres and marvel at untold wonders of entertainment.

So here’s a poster which I admit isn’t the most memorable of all time (I think it’s the cover art of a VHS version), but I’ve still decided to share that little memory for the sentimental value. When you see things with a kid’s eyes, not matter how crappy it looks for others, it can still remains impressive when you put it into perspective. Oddly, I never had the opportunity to revisit this film, more than 30 years later, which remains strangely elusive on DVD.