Yesterday's radio commercials and related jingles are disposable flotsam and jetsam. Often rescued from the dumpster and tape eraser, here's where they live to celebrate another day, and give us a peek into the pop culture of the past. All material has been sourced from tapes or vinyl discs (records) used on the air at radio stations or dubs of said tapes, transferred for pristine quality when possible.
With the series finale of Mad Men recently (I've never seen a single episode!) and how it ended with one of the most iconic ad campaigns of the last 50 years, I thought i'd tie in the jetsam with a nice little record I picked up many years ago. This was no doubt issued during the campaign in 1971-72 era, but I don't have an exact date, in fact I don't even know why this was made to start with. Was it a giveaway? It could have been. A co worker suggested I should actually watch the series. I might give it a try, and I don't necessarily have to avoid spoilers, as all I know it ended with the Coke "I'd like to teach the world to sing" campaign. The rest, is a mystery to me.
This includes the original 60 second jingle, and 2 count em, 2 versions by canadian artists, The Laurie Bower Singers and Dr. Music. I doubt this was ever heard outside the country, and likely long forgotten. Not anymore, thanks to the jetsam
As promised, more of my MARS production library stuff......deal with old school news intros and beds that are related. All cleaned up of those clicks and pops....the weather stuff is delightfully dated. Enjoy!
Should I start how it seemed to be the winter from hell?
In my area in Atlantic Canada, it was easily the worst winter in a decade, back to back storms dumping feet filled piles on snow down on the roads. I got stuck multiple times in my own driveay, besides the fact of the 5 feet of snow I had to shovel more then once out of the end. You work all week and then have to shovel snow in the driveway, oh wait, even one day I couldn't get to work because the snow drift was too high for the car, I call in sick, and still spend 4 hours shovelling a way out of the driveway. That and being sick on and off because I never had time to really recover....made for a really exhausting last few months. Hope yours was much better.
I guess I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel now, as I'm back posting on the jetsam.
One of the things we like to post here is stuff that's likely long forgotten. We can get the more famous TV spots and radio ads on you tube, and other places on line, but over here, if we find something like this, we love posting it because it's likely not been heard since originally aired.
Here's two that haven't been heard in a long time.
Two Carlsberg Light Beer jingles with a real jazz flavor to them. I guess they were trying to market to a more high brow discriminating clientele? makes me wonder.
From 1984, Carling O'Keefe Breweries Ltd. Carlsberg Light
Produced by Ogilvy and Mather (Canada) Ltd.
Duet and Cut Time -English
Each :30 sec full Sing
As a bit of a bonus, I found a reel doing some sorting around of a PSA that Johnny Cash did for the Seventh Day Adventists on quitting smoking. Apparently their program helped him and now it can help you. The date on this is probably 1970s, but I have nothing to go on. Lots of Johnny Cash fans out there still, so thought i'd put this up as a rare piece of audio.
Johnny Cash Seventh Day Adventists-Quit Smoking PSA's. 3x60
I'm had some inquiries about the MARS Production Library album I posted sometime ago, asking if there were anymore and/or if I had the whole set. The truth is yes and no. Yes I have more (and just actually found them looking for something else a couple weeks ago) and no, I don't have the whole set...maybe 8. It's likely I'll be posting one next month since it's been awhile, and hey, I found the ones I have....watch next month to find out for sure.
No,the jetsam isn't dead.....just hibernating for a bit, and with a bit of warm snap (well, around where I live) this winter, it's time to wake up and smell the cheese on this reel of tape.
Another reason is my beloved Studer Reel to Reel Machine was sick for a few weeks. After some time troubleshooting the problem, parts were ordered and a couple weeks of waiting, parts were installed and up and running again. Can't complain, the last time it broke down to this degree was 7 years previous, so while i'm fixing other gear in my vintage gear radio studio here in the basement of my humble house, I feel like a maytag repair for this beast. Willi Studer seems to have lives up to his reputation. And to think, this machine was tossed, and avoided the dumpster thanks to a friend of mind in the right place at the right time! Gotta love that.
And what's the first thing I dubbed on the machine after the fix? Why the reel posted here today:
I forget exactly where this came from, I think it might have come in as part of a music service at a station I worked for. It was never played until I transferred it for the jetsam and fortunately, in great shape because of it.
Now about the content. Over time, some things hold up better then others when we look back. This can be largely because of our biased memories of fondly remembering things with our happy filters. This stuff doesn't hold up well. I suppose that's what makes it interesting today.
In the era of "We Are The World" and "Hands Across America" just a few short years before, I can sort of see why an important message about AIDS would get the happy feel good spin in song. Today, looking back it's more of a WTF going through your head when you listen to this in all it's glory. When hormones rage, I doubt anyone would really care about anything written like this. REALLY!, yet here it is. If anything it's a good laugh at how a serious matter was dealt with in the 80s.
For the rest of the reel, It's a mix of campy PSA's and reflects the time. Of special note is Tom Bodett of Motel 6 ad fame doing a PSA for voting away from home, Voting for Black American's featuring one PSA voiced by Canadian actor Percy Rodriguez, who was all over TV and movies from the 1950s-80s including movie trailers (Wiki Info: HERE) just a great set of pipes, and even in 1988, some people didn't have a telephone in their home (in 2015, I'm guessing it's all cell phones now) can't you image that? Apparently so.
Enjoy!
I've spaced all the material off this 40 min reel in sections as per the original listing. Refer to the tape box pic for specifics.
Media General" Take the Time" Aids Project Song (FULL SONG ONLY!)
