When singer, songwriter Randy Sparks spent a forgettable night in Toledo, he decided to write a song about the Glass City. In the early 1970s, “Saturday Night in Toledo, Ohio” was performed by John Denver, and it began with the lyrics “Saturday night in Toledo, Ohio, is like being nowhere at all.”

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Many Toledoans took offense to the tune, in a good-natured way, of course, and jokes about the song and the city made it all the way to the Tonight Show.

This photo was taken by Blade photographer Lee Merkle on April 19, 1974, at the third annual Ohio Bell employee variety show at the Commodore Perry Motor Inn.

As a rebuttal to the infamous song, more than 40 bosses and employees took to the stage to sing, dance, and ad lib the praises of Toledo. During one of the skits, William Kasdorf and Patrick Joyce, from left, portrayed out-of-towners who get their first impression of Toledo from cabdriver Dan Droll.

Mr. Joyce and Mr. Kasdorf were unexpectedly stuck at Toledo Express Airport on a trip from New York to Chicago. A cabby brings them downtown, where they find adventure at the Commodore Perry, the downtown Holiday Inn, and, of course, at the telephone company on Jefferson Avenue. From there, they hit the University of Toledo, Masonic Auditorium, and a number of local night spots. The “locations” provided backdrops for skits, dances, and pantomimes.

The variety show was attended by telephone company employees and their families as a fund-raiser for the Sunshine Children’s Home.

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First Published May 4, 2015, 4:00 a.m.