Quicksand
Mcdonald’s Is My Kind Of Place
Here is a commercial from 1967 when McDonald’s was boasting that they had 600 restaurants. I probably haven’t heard this jingle since I was a kid and I was able to start singing along with it. A perfect jingle since the goal is for you to remember the place and hopefully, the song gets stuck in your head!
Video Heads Need Cleaning
Oh, the kids today don’t know the struggles. Everything in our day was physical media and subject to all sorts of problems. Photography, video, and even money are now digital/electronic. Sure, it is not without its problems but they are so much less today! But I remember wanting to record on my cassette player the first run of the Brady Bunch off the TV in the 70s. Recording TV was truly revolutionary!
Tokin’ With Lawrence Welk
It’s hard to believe this song was performed on the Lawrence Welk Show in 1971. At the end of the clip, Lawrence Welk calls it a modern spiritual song. It is not known if this was serious or if a writer pulled a prank on the show but this song One Toke Over The Line was originally performed by Brewer and Shipley and the lyrics are a direct reference to smoking the Mary Jane, weed, reefer or jive LOL.
If your dad made you watch Lawrence Welk like mine did, you can now show them the type of abuse you had to endure!
Forgotten Hit: Holdin’ On
I have over 5,000 songs on my mp3 player from the ’60s through the ’90s. I like putting it on a mix to hear a large variety. It also gives me ideas for this page.
Holdin’ On came on and it had that driving sound from the ’80s but I couldn’t remember who performed. Turns out to Be Tane Cain. At first, I thought that was the band name but that is the performer.
She is the daughter of actor Doug McClure and she first appeared in the TV series The Virginian when she was just 5 years old. In the 1970’s she met and married Journey’s keyboardist Johnathan Cain. Now known as Tané Cain she got a record deal with RCA. The first release Danger Zone failed to chart but his song Holdin’ On made it to number 37 on the Billboard Hot 100. Billboard described her as “an artist to watch” She hated when people compared her to Pat Benatar even though her music was produced to sound like Bentar’s. She prefers the comparison to her idol Grace Slik. RCA never renewed her contract and she never recorded again. She went on to play Elle Woods in the 2001 movie Legally Blonde.
Mini NFL Helmets
Oh, the money I spent on collecting these mini helmets, twenty-five cents at a time. Of course, you would get duplicates and never the team you wanted it seemed. Fortunately, I grew up with four other brothers that I could trade with but these weren’t like the baseball trading cards most of my friends collected. Today, you didn’t have to buy them a couple at a time but you can go to eBay and buy the whole collection for just twenty-five bucks!
Flipper Unusual Intro With Burt Reynolds Cameo
A different theme to Flipper and a cameo appearance by Burt Reynolds in a yellow submarine? Yes in season 2 on Flipper!
I’ve had this clip for over ten years and finally decided to post it. I found the intro to the show Flipper very unusual, one I never heard before. Turns out the theme of Flipper changed in the second season for the first 5 episodes. Frankie Randall sang the new lyrics but they switched back for the rest of the seasons. He even sang for the closing credits which to me was almost sacrilegious! Especially the ending which sounded like the end of a Disney production.
Prior to posting this, I noticed Burt Reynolds in the credit. This was season 2 episode 2 which would have been 1965. Burt was already an accomplished actor but I was six years old when this first aired so I never noticed Burt or the new theme.
Flipper was known as the aquatic version of Lassie and if you watch this episode you can see why. Flipper lasted for three seasons losing out to the Jackie Gleason Show in 1967. Burt Reynolds appeared in a yellow submarine four years before the Beatles’ famed song!
You can watch this episode here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oH74r1Lgbcs along with other Flipper Episodes, Addams Family, Green Acres, The Outer Limits, and other great shows on YouTube at TV Rerun Club by MGM
Gentlemen Prefer Hanes
In the 1970s and ’80s, Hane used the slogan “gentlemen prefer Hanes” in a catchy song. Yes, I know, you have it stuck in your head now even without watching this video! The commercial always changed with different actors and themes like at an art auction, magic show, or some other social setting. In the 1990’s they changed the slogan to “The lady prefers Hanes”
My question is do women still wear pantyhose? I don’t see it in public or even on tv anymore.
Max Headroom To Return
The co-creater of Halt and Catch Fire (great series!) Christopher Cantwell recently tweeted “I’m writing a new Max Headroom series for @AMC_TV” . Originally introduced in 1985 as the British TV movie Max Headroom: 20 Minutes Into the Future. In short, Max was a fictional reporter fleeing enemies in a parking garage on a motorcycle that crashed through the structure’s warning sign that reads “Max. Headroom 2.3 meters. For an interesting, detailed report on Max Headroom’s history see this Youtube video.G
Max Headroom was an artificially intelligent character created by George Stone, Annabel Jankel, and Rocky Morton for Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. Advertised as computer-generated, Max Headroom was played by actor Matt Frewer while wearing prosthetic make-up and wearing a plastic molded suit. Harsh lighting while sitting in front of a blue screen, gave viewers the illusion of artificial intelligence that was not possible at the time.
Max Headroom was featured by HBO and Cinemax and also replaced Bill Cosby as the spokesman for New Coke. Ironically when Marty McFly went to the 80’s Cafe in Back To The Future II it featured an artificial intelligent portrayal of Michael Jackson and President Ronald Reagan here in this YouTube clip. But Back To The Future II sponsor this time was Pepsi!
I’m certain technology has caught up with the idea and can replace the actor but AMC said Matt Frewer will return as the host.
Here is a clip from Youtube from the 1986 Mox Headroom show featuring an interview with Howie Mandel (while he still had hair!) >
Remember Morris The Cat?
Before there was Grumpy Cat or cat memes we only had Nine Live Morris The Cat commercials to look forward to. Morris the Cat was the mascot for Nine Lives from the ’70s through the ’80s. Known to be the “world’s most finicky cat” with snarky voice-over comments.
The first Morris The Cat was discovered by Bob Martwick in 1968 at the Hindsale Humane Society in the Chicago area. Martwick worked at the Leo Burnett advertising company where Morris was featured in 58 television commercials from 1968 to 1978. Morris was Martwick’s family pet.
John Erin was the voice for Morris and also He-Man in He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.
The original Morris died in 1978. Since then there have been 2 other Morris cats, all were rescue cats.
