No Facetime? Get the iBurka

Apple fans in the middle east won't get Facetime video service on their iPhones. As a capitalist, I know this just creates business opportunities. Behold my solution - the iBurka!

Bewitched Stove Figurine

Saw this this other day in my neighborhood. Does anyone know the history behind this cool figurine of Samantha and her stove? Click to enlarge pic.

Dating Tip #179

Don't wear these. Sometimes you don't want to be the fastest man alive.

Huntsville Space & Rocket Center 1982

Here's a photo journal of one of my first visits to the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama in the early 80s. You can see it's the 80s by my Ocean Pacific shirt from L.A.
Click any pic to enlarge.

Front of the building. Sorry, no pictures of the IMAX Theatre.

A Russian space capsule.

Inside the lunar module.

Miss Baker, the astronaut monkey, lived in the Rocket Center for years.

Star Wars influence.

My brother Tom in the moon buggy.

X-15. Awesome.

The Rocket Yard in the back of the museum. It's a history of American missiles.

No caption needed...

Goodbye from the nozzle of the Saturn 5!

Making of the Greyhound Jingle 1963

Here's a promo disc from 1963 with the making of the Greyhound Bus jingle. This was given out to employees and vendors of Greyhound. Listen to part 1 here, and part 2 here.  And special bonus, the orchestra is led by the great Raymond Scott!

Stoney's Beer Funky Radio Commercial

Stoney's Beer is based in Pittsburgh. I found this commercial on an Evatone Soundsheet demo from the late 70s. Was this a joke commercial, or a really politically incorrect real spot?

Listen to or download the spot here.

If you know anything about this commercial, leave it in the comments.

Funny Oil Stop Signs

I think I'm spotting a trend here.

Well, it's just an oil change, right?

Denny's Marketing Genius

Congratulations to Denny's for the catagory extension of the decade.
Behold the Breakfast Appetizer!

I can't count the number of times I've wished for something to eat while breakfast was being cooked.
And what an appetizer...blueberries and white chocolate chips in pancake batter, deep fried, frosted with powdered sugar, and dipped in pancake syrup!

No joke, this is serious marketing genius.

Tug McGraw's "Lumpy" Childrens Book

Phillies pitcher Tug McGraw took some time to write this kids' book back in 1983. It's the story of Lumpy the baseball, and his quest to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Will he make it?

 There's an Evatone Sound Sheet floppy record inside with a special welcome from Tug.
Click here to listen!

Cool Art Deco NBC Radio Studios Hollywood

Found this postcard recently, it's the NBC radio studios at the corner of Sunset and Vine in Hollywood. The building was new in 1938. The Art Deco painting is a perfect fit with the old style linen postcard. Click to view larger, and see more about the building at the Dear Old Hollywood blog here.

Here's another shot of the intersection, a photo this time.

PAMS Nashville My Hometown and more

I wondered if there was a Nashville version of the My Home Town song from PAMS. Turns out a friend of mine had the record! Click here to listen.

WKDA didn't sell the whole concept, but they did sell the B side of the record. Here's the story of Elm Hill Bill.


PAMS jingle company has a page with more examples. And here are a few more versions,

Portland Maine, Louisville Kentucky, and Austin Texas.

PAMS Winston-Salem My Hometown Record

Listen to or download "Winston-Salem My Hometown"

Here's a slice of retro for you. PAMS jingle company in Dallas made this generic song available to local radio stations around the country in the 60's. The station would find a local sponsor, write some lyrics, and presto!, a local hit.

There were over a hundred localized versions of this record, all recorded in Dallas. Radio Use Only blog has an amazingly complete story for you to read.

Bonus retroness: Thalhimer's Department Store was the local sponsor for this record through the local Top 40 station 1380 WTOB. Here's where you might have stumbled upon this record back then.

Shipley's Donuts in Nashville!

Somehow Shipley's Donuts snuck into Nashville when I wasn't paying attention. If there's one near you, what are you waiting for?

Charles Stern Commercial Voice Reel 1986

Here's the voice talent reel from the Charles Stern Agency in Los Angeles from 1986. This is a state of the art reel, as they represented many of the top commercial voiceover talents. Click on each of the roster names to listen to their individual demos: Paul Frees, Herschel Bernardi, Merlin Olsen, Telly Savalas, Granville Van Dusen, Hoyt Axton, Dennis Weaver, William Daniels, Don Messick, Chuck McCann, Joe Sirola, Robert Stack, Jack Lester, Ed Peck, Martin Doyle, Richard Bull, Daniel Dorse, and Mitzi McCall & Charlie Brill. Wow!

Postcard from Richard Nixon

I'm using the front of this postcard from the 60s as my Christmas card
this year. You should, too. Click to enlarge.

B.M.S. Home Broadcaster

Apparently the Mr. Microphone phenomenon started earlier than I thought. Here's the BMS Home Broadcaster, which allowed your voice to go over the radio from as far away as the wire would stretch.

It looks like a carbon microphone hooked to wires, which you then attached to these induction coils, which you placed between the tube and its socket:


Here's the instructions, click to enlarge.

The technology changes, but our sense of humor never gets anymore sophisticated.

Marine Corps PSAs from 1969

Today's the birthday of the founding of the Marine Corps, so here are some public service radio announcements from 1969 from former Marines. Jack Webb, Art Buchwald, and Jonathan Winters were among the celebrities who recorded these for the Corp. Click the names to listen to Jack Webb, Art Buchwald, and Jonathan Winters.

Wonder Woman Movie

With the success of the DC Universe animated direct to DVD movies, they're talking about filming a live action Wonder Woman movie this year.

Here's the theme song from the 1977 Wonder Woman TV series. Listen to it here.

So who will play Wonder Woman in the live action movie? Signs point to Australian model Megan Gale.

Works for me.

More Sci-Fi Paperback Art

I found these at a local bookstore, the covers are great, the authors are some of my favorites. Click the pics to enlarge, and I'll let you know how good the books turn out to be.

The Shady Bunch video from Jim Gossett

Acorn and their friends in a new TV show. As heard on the Lars Larson radio show.