Movies 'Til Dawn Blog

STEREOS-R-US

If you set out to make a parody of a 1970s TV commercial for a Stereo store you might wind up with something like the above–if you were very very talented, of course. (By the way, whatever happened to Sansui? It’s mentioned in yesterday’s clip as well). Thoughts of stereo

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THE HOME STEREO–WHAT A CONCEPT

Stereos were once an incredibly important bookshelf-filling music-delivery system. Much time was lavished on discussions of which were the best components, whether it was better to have an all-in-one receiver or a power amp, pre-amp and tuner, which massive speakers to buy (and how many). A true stereo-head preferred to

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MY BIG FAT FIFTY POUND COMPUTER; A LOVE STORY

Enjoy a two-minute ad for the then brand-new 1977 IBM 5100, a fifty-pound computer that appears to have been invented to help people figure out what to do with their cows (you have to watch it). By the way: is she holding an I-Pad in that opening scene? Or, more

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K-TEL PRESENTS…CRAP!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/qjxb1bpceok%20width=560/iframebr%20/ Did you know that K-Tel didn’t just put out junky record compilations but also created a series of crappy utilitarian household items? Dig the Omlette maker ad above–the thing can be separated to be two half-pans though to do so would be at your own risk since they clearly

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K-TEL PRESENTS: BLOOPER HELL

https://www.youtube.com/embed/vtQwEog6cuE%20width=560/iframebr%20/%20br%20/https://www.youtube.com/embed/VVLMQ8Ay0ic%20width=560/iframebr%20/%20br%20/https://www.youtube.com/embed/POHjl_Xhxe4%20width=560/iframebr%20/%20br%20/ The above three blooper albums from K-TEL records were another early purchase of mine via the phone, using my parents credit card with no permission. For some reason I didn’t fear the arrival of the records and whatever questions might arise as a result of their presence (to say

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NYC IN THE 70’s: WHEN ‘CRAZIES’ WERE ‘KOOKS’

 Subscribe in a reader What on earth was the above video made for? It’s a short film in the style of a tourist-lure travelogue promoting New York. Only its point is how lousy New York is. The Youtube poster is at least ten years off in his estimation of when

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THE RETREAT OF ‘PLATO’S RETREAT’

Yesterday’s posting of a TV commercial advertising the 70s swingers club ‘Plato’s Retreat’ has provoked a good deal of controversy in the…oh, I can’t lie. It provoked no controversy whatsoever. And so I will double down with more on the infamous sex club. Above is a 1985 local New York

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MANHATTAN CABLE TV–BROUGHT TO YOU BY…

1970s New York was messy, smelly, worn-out and stale. Plenty has been written (and much of it romanticized) about 70s New York, so what else is there to say? Well, watch the above commercial for ‘Plato’s Retreat’, a sex club that was located in the Ansonia Hotel on Broadway and

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CELEBRITY SHILLS: A RETROSPECTIVE

It’s been over a month since I’ve posted anything on this blog and I can place the blame for my laziness squarely on the shoulder of Twitter. After being on Twitter for something like eight years and barely ever glancing at it, I finally found out what is so addictive

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TWO COMMERCIALS WITH BURT BACHARACH

Welcome to 2019. What better way to start the year off than with an embarrassing old commercial for Martini & Rossi (booze, if you’re not familiar with it) starring Angie Dickinson–then the smoking hot spokesdame for the brand–and a clearly uncomfortable Burt Bacharach at the piano. Burt can’t seem to

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