-end of the 11pm news with a story on the Tri-C Jazz Fest (with Leon Bibb and Kevin Cokely NBC5)
-WGAR-AM John Lanigan/Walt DisneyWorld contest (with shout out to Stop ‘n Shop)... actually makes EPCOT seem futuristic, right?
-“This Is Your Life” bumper (announcer: Jay Miltner)
-WMMS Music Marathon commercial – EPIC. With Kid Leo, Matt the Cat, Denny Sanders, Jeff Kinzbach, Ed Flash Ferenc, Dia Stein. Background music includes David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance" and Duran Duran. BTW I cannot make out the album cover Jeff is holding.
-Latchkey Kids series from Tappy Phillips on “Action 3 News”... sad, but this family must have been loaded to have a Trinitron IN THE KITCHEN.
-promo for the WKYC show “5:30” with Asa Aarons and Ann Mulligan
-end of a promo for the Michael Caine/Richard Gere film “Beyond the Limit” with announce by Jay Miltner... “Check your newspaper for feature times” – so quaint.
-end of a Columbia Records commercial for two LPs: Billy Joel’s “An Innocent Man” and Journey’s “Frontiers.” SO much to say about this… I like the “Uncle Bill’s” tag (with the CG that comes in too early). I don’t understand why the Journey album is being promoted – it had been released eight months earlier, and its final single was already slipping back down the charts at this point. Conversely, Billy Joel’s “Tell Her About It” was ending its one and only week at #1 on the day this aired (October 1, 1983). It’s also interesting they say “available on records and cassettes” since these were among the last hit albums that were ALSO available on 8-track and reel-to-reel tape. (See my blog post about pre-recorded reel tapes). Ironically, the VERY last reel tape ever made (the Fall, 1984 compilation “Gold & Platinum”) included both “Tell Her About It” as well as the big hit from "Frontiers" ("Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)” -- which is gross).
-AM Cleveland Linda Hirsch bumper
-WMJI promo (I apparently LOVED this commercial when I was little… and now I have thousands of records to get rid of. Oops.) One gotcha: when “Billie Jean” floats down, the record is clearly sporting a “Motown Yesteryear” label, which was their branding for reissues of songs that were several years old. Except Michael and his brothers had famously left Motown for Columbia/Epic Records, seven years before. Boy, I really hope there were some FCC fines for that one.
-Charlie’s Angels (syndicated rerun) promo. Interesting that I only see exactly one, very brief shot of Tanya Roberts. Well edited to Curtis Lee’s “Pretty Little Angel Eyes”
-Next, a non-local snippet from the end of a Ground Round commercial. But look at the actress on the far right – is that Charlayne Woodard, aka Sister Peg on SVU (and also Janice on the Fresh Prince, or Vonda on Roseanne)? Also, second from right, is an actress that looks like Ann Jillian, but it’s not Ann Jillian. Who is it? I also included this because it seemed like The Ground Round was EVERYWHERE in the 1980s.
-Gray Drug commercial, starring the love child of Howard Hesseman and John Moschitta, Jr. – both of whom presented segments during the “Motown 25” special... which Stevie Wonder was promoting during this episode of SNL! OMG! COINCIDENCE?!?!?!?!?! Cute gag with the telephone at the end of this spot (which would make no sense today)
-Al Roker for the Black Media Workers of Cleveland. Classic.
-Man on the street promo for Jim Mueller and WKYC sports… I’m guessing he left soon after and was replaced by Jim Donovan? The shot near the beginning where he says “The Browns have made a major decision…” seems staged. Also, the lady at the end, and the guy before her (like Donald Sutherland eating a lemon) look very familiar. Anyone know who they are?
-AM Cleveland promo with Scott Newell and several people whose names I am likely misspelling… Linda Hirsch, Alan Hurt, Judy Earnest, Jeff Peacock, Stephanie Newman, Sandra Lee Serio
-Action 3 News promo: Leon Bibb, Kevin Cokely, Paul Edmunds, John Hink
-Jack Lemmon PSA for American Liver Foundation. Not sure if this was national or not, but it’s localized at the end. It also looks as if someone ran into his living room with a camera and begged him to read a cue card, just as he was sitting down to dinner
-SUPER CREEPY promo for the Cleveland White Elephant Sale at the Convention Center… this still scares me when I see it
There may be a few others I left out that were regional (such as ones for Speedy Muffler and Servistar Hardware), but I thought the spots listed above would be of particular interest. These were recorded by my Father on our first VCR (a Panasonic PV-1320), which he bought at Steve’s Video in downtown Hudson on July 16, 1983. The space is now Dave's Cosmic Subs. They threw in a box of Mark II brand VHS tapes, which sounds like a scam but they actually turned out to be excellent. They also loaned us a pair of rabbit ears until Adelphia Cable came to install our Scientific Atlanta cable box. Hence the picture quality you see (good tape + cable signal + new VCR).
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