During the show, Bernstein carefully and methodically deconstructs a “strange and compelling scene called pop music” as though he’s trying to assuage a fearful post-25 year old generation, who were perhaps sitting at home at the time, with their teenage kids, and who probably weren’t quite sure what to make of all this new-fangled music that didn’t sound anything like their comforting Mantovani LPs. It’s a treat to see Bernstein, sitting at a piano, talking about then-contemporary songs like the Beatles’ “Good Day Sunshine” or the Left Banke’s “Pretty Ballerina,” explaining some of the lyrical themes favored by youthful songwriters whose words, he admits, were probably good enough that they could be in “any good poetry book.”

Speaking of youthful, it also features 15-year old Janis Ian performing her recently released single “Society’s Child,” which concerns an interracial romance. The song had been banned by a few radio stations at the time, but after this TV performance, Ian’s single climbed upward in the pop charts making the young singer-songwriter something of an overnight sensation.

Enjoy!