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.
Showing posts with label 1980s. advertising. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1980s. advertising. Show all posts
Corporate culture can be interesting. Like a entire government within our society in some aspects. You kind of wonder if employees have to stand at attention when corporate anthems like this are suddenly played in the workplace, break room, etc, on company property anyway.
This particular anthem just makes me think of a large group of people standing at attention with pride and passion and drive as they work. This corporate anthem is proud, bold and grand in it's message.
Did we mention though it's about where you buy your gas for your car? I mean, with gas being largely regulated where I live and everyone pay the same price, it's hard to get into the pride, passion and drive mentality when the tank creeps close to the E mark. It's more for me about where can I go close that I don't have to wait too long to pump my own gas.
Still, you have to admire both the main and country versions of the anthem, as it might have been a last ditched effort to promote the grand old Texaco brand as it stands as the loyal companion always near as you travel across this great land, assisting your fuel and automotive needs. According to what I have found online, within a year of this radio spot airing, in 1989, the Texaco brand in Canada was sold to imperial oil, and dissolved, with the stations rebranded or shut down. Kind of sad in a way, but at least it went out in style.
Well, today hasn't been good, no water in the house and waiting for a plumber battling with dog poop where it shouldn't be (carpet cleaner is handy fortunately) and I broke the toilet tank lid.....You can see how my day is going. Still, I shall take a few minutes to look forward to this holiday season with some both local and "off the rack" material that I know you international people like. I'm probably scraping the bottom of the proverbial barrel for Christmas stuff this blog is known for, I've posted pretty much everything I have, but I might see what bits and pieces I can dig up for next year...no guarantees.
First....a bit of a footnote from last post....
SOBEYS has released the "Star Of Christmas" remade jingle this year as a free download on their website as of this writing. I mentioned and linked the original TV spot last time. The bonus is that they will donate $1/per download to charity, so even if you have no idea who or what Sobeys is in your area on the planet, it's a fun "warm and fuzzy" jingle you can incorporate for your holiday listening and help a good cause too. The link to their website is HERE! and if the link is dead by the time you read this, I've kept the jingle myself if you want it.
Continuing with local........
I don't endorse Irving Oil per say, but if you live here in Atlantic Canada and drive a car, you've probably stopped at one of their gas stations. I have. That's about as far an an endorsement I will give. They have made some neat Christmas jingles over the years though. I've kept a couple of them, and this being a "just in time for the holidays" moment (wow, how do I do that?) here's what we have.....
From 1983 and a dub from a master tape from CHSJ in Saint John NB. we have 2 versions with announcer
Finally, Bolands, a company who ran the local IGA franchise for a number of years (they were bought out by Loblaws and eventually discontinued the IGA brand) commissioned a locally produced jingle and song in the early 1990s that got quite a bit of play in December 1993, and was sort of forgotten about. We try not to forget things at the jetsam, in fact we always understand that today's jingles are tomorrows nostalgia. That's always been the reason we keep these tapes (and they're catchy too!!) below is the :60 version. The full 2 minute version was posted just over 3 years ago here on This Page on the Jetsam with full credits either way, enjoy both.
I bought this production music LP some 6 years ago at a record sale in Portland Maine....always wish I had the whole library, as this stuff too often gets tossed when the CD libraries too over. Yeah, it's a bit dated, it's 1977 after all, but no disco feel for this stuff....more like warm and fuzzy. For you christmas compilation folks....I'm sure this will fit in nicely. As you know, I'm too lazy to cut it up for you, but hey, I did clean it up with noise reduction software, so it's nice and clean overall.
i've scanned the contents as best as I can....listed below
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!)
Who would have thought when the soft drink was first sold at a pharmacy in Atlanta, Georgia in 1886 for 5 cents a glass that it would literally go on to take over the world for a century and a quarter so far? Makes you wonder what John Pemberton thought about the mixture back then.
For more details there is their WIKIPEDIA PAGE and for some info on their 125th celebratiions go HERE
Few products have stood the test of time in some many countries as Coca Cola.
Here at the jetsam, we cannot let this milestone be ignored. In the collection are various Coca Cola Jingles and commericals, from the mid 80s through to the 90s.In an exhibit in the early days of the blog we had some examples of the "New Coke" advertising in 1985 and the backlash that resulted in creating "coke classic". That page is HERE for your reference. The "New Coke" was eventually considered a failure, and disappeared at least here in canada, and "Coke Classic" eventually, once again, became "Coke".
But here, are some lesser known jingles and advertisting from the late 1980s, primarily from Canada, as...well, I am in Canada. I have also included though a US based 60 sec jingle that Whitney Houston (when she still cared about her career) sang for Coke in 1988 sourced off a network radio show program LP's. I'll let the titles and audio speak for themselves from this point.
Happy Birthday Coca Cola.
From March 1985,
Produced by Mccann Erickson Ltd.
:30 sec Full Sing "MOR-Piano" # 84-82-30
While I strive for 2 postings per month, from time to time, there may be some additional postings based on relevant topics in the news. This is my first one in that context, and there will no doubt be more in the future.
It was announced this week, that Zellers, a major retailer in Canada for 80 years and the last of the Canadian retail brands with such a history, had its store leases sold to Target in the US for $1.8 billion. Within the next 2 to 3 years, plans are to convert most of the Zellers stores to Target stores and the remainder will be closed and properties sold off.
It's a sad day for Canadian retail. Now all the brands that people my age (in my early 40s) grew up with in Canada are largely gone. Eaton's, Woolco, and now Zellers leaves just The Bay, or the Hudson Bay Company as the one Canadian brand left. It's the oldest company in North America, dating back to the Hudson Bay Trading Co of the 1600's. I'm hoping they'll be around for a little more time.
Likewise, the Hudson Bay Company has a Wiki history also HERE
Here at the Jetsam, with me being the Curator Of Nostalgia Commericals I thought I'd dig into the vault (well, it's cardboard boxes, but vault sounds so much better!) and see what I can find. What I did find was material, mostly from the late 1980s and early 1990s, when they were pushing two main promotions - Club Z (pronounced the canadian way of "ZED" not "ZEE") and "The Lowest Price is the Law" positioning statement.
Club Z was a points system now very common today with retail, but was fairly unheard of in the late 80s to reward loyal customers to your brand. It started out ok, but as people tended to hoard their points for something they wanted, the company started pushing up the points you needed. It likely PO'd more then a few people.
"The Lowest Price Is The Law" was also an effective way to retain people to your brand. It really takes a commitment to retain that statement however, so eventually that statement disappeared, likely due to the arrival in canada of the rather aggressive pricing retailer Walmart when it bought the bankrupt Woolco chain in the mid 1990s.
I have also included a no doubt rare "disco" jingle package for Zellers from 1979 that is as dated sounding as you think and were likely hoping for :)
For the purpose of this exhibit as there is quite a bit of audio when we factor in all the versions from 7 tapes, I have compiled a 5 minute montage of the Zellers creative to stream and download here.
For those who want everything, a 45 meg zip file with all the tape reel dubs and scans of the tape boxes is also available. It also includes the montage.
We start off 2011 with a 45 that's a bit of a mystery.
This record was likely produced during the early days of lotteries in Canada, at least national lotteries, likely mid-late 1970s or into the early 80s. We actually had nationally televised draws at one point.
Most of the lotteries today in Canada are regionally run, though some tickets like Lotto 6-49 can be bought across Canada. Times have changed, but the drive to buy more tickets with the bigger jackpots because the average joe sees dollar signs in their eyes certainly hasn't
The puzzle lies in the actual use of the 45. Not for sale or broadcast the label says...so what was it used for? handing out to lottery players so they can take it home and play it over and over and psyche themselves up to buy lots of lottery tickets? At Loto Canada promotional events to play in the background?
One thing is for sure, it's a fun upbeat 2 1/2 minute jingle that can be a bad earworm very easily and get stuck in your brain. The label is also wrong in that the audio is actually stereo, not mono.
As Canada is the home of two official languages, you'll find the french version here also as it was the opposite side of the 45.
Your probably saying WTF on the title? Actually I thought that was a rather creative tease to make your read the rest, but don't worry I will now reveal.
Patrick Macnee has had an extraordinary career in stage film and television for over 60 years. One of the first times I saw him (at didn't know it at the time) was a bit part playing a young Jacob Marley in my favorite version of "The Christmas Carol" starring Alastair Sim in 1951. He would be more well known as "Steed" in "The Avengers" and "New Avengers" in the 1960s and 70s and many other guest star roles in film and TV.
Seems though, like many well known actors, he's taken to be spokesman or pitchman for a few bucks in between acting assignments. Unlike Orson Welles and the famous outtake where Orson walks out of the voiceover session because he's frustrated with the direction, Patrick does well, and it actually makes it to air.
Here is a 1988 radio spot, part of a TV campaign also (though you tube could not confirm my memories from the 80s) which Patrick plays a restauranteur who cannot compete with "Swiss Chalet" and their prices for 1/4 chicken dinners. It's very "unfair"(let's suspend reality for this spot, and no competing "restauranteur" would be foolish enough to whine about the competitions prices on THEIR commericals) a interesting direction to make the price point stand out.
Enjoy this no doubt rare spot that i'm sure isn't on Patrick Magnee's resume.
In Canada....People's is a well known chain of Jewelers, you could call them the Zales of Canada....literally, Zales bought them out years ago.
Before they did however, they produced some unique 80's Canadian sounding jingles (which makes sense, as hell, it was 1987!)
What do I mean by "80's Canadian"? some of the music in the late 80s in Canada seemed to have some kind of saxophone solo pop up somewhere in the song...not every song mind you, and not necessarily just songs, as we can attest here, but after awhile, as everything mushes together in my mind after listening to what seems to be a lot of songs and jingles in the 80s and what's left over that you remember from growing up as a teenager in that time? The saxophone stays with you.
This is one of the better produced jingles i've heard in the late 80s.
Peoples Jewellers "Diamonds" Full Sing :60 (1987)
(details on tape box pic above)
...and it wasn't at the Kalamazoo Burger King... a UFO... or anything else the Weekly World News came up with in the 1980's.
He was hangin' out at a Canadian post office.
Can you think of any other reason why a Canadian Crown Corporation (aka serious government agency) would use the American icons' hit song to promote their efforts to get Canadians to put the right postage on their love letters?
Ok, let's see - the 1960's were the "oldies" of the 1980's, that helps (I guess they weren't targeting teens for this jingle even then they didn't use snail mail!) Elvis still had momentum in the early and late 1960's and his death in the late 70's was still fresh in people's minds.
"Return to Sender" is from the 1962 movie "Girls Girls Girls" and hits of the 60's were used a lot in 80's advertising. It's catchy, it talks about exactly what Canada Post want to focus on... return to sender for incorrect postage. Sure, makes perfect sense.
Still, something just doesn't seem right. Case in point, my home province of Nova Scotia's tourism department got dragged through the mud by the public a few years ago for using the Jesus Jones song "Right Here, Right Now" in their campaigns for one year - people were saying we should have used a home grown artist and song to promote the province. Maybe that's why this jingle doesn't sit well with me.
Maybe I'm putting too much thought into this, and I should take it for what's worth, a fun, slightly foolish and catchy take on getting those Canucks to slap on the right postage so those posties won't have to do more work then they have to. It's been 25 years this September, I wonder if their efforts ever paid off?
Enjoy!
From 1985, Canada Post Post Office "Return To Sender" # CAN-R60-2229
Produced by McKim Advertising Limited
Reel From Panfor Dubbing Ltd Toronto
