Skip to main content

Before They Were Famous Part 1

Before they were stars, many actors and musicians were just average Joe's trying to make a buck while waiting to make it big. I'm sure they hoped that many of their early efforts would fade away on crappy VCR tapes never to be seen again and eventually forgotten.

Of course, that was before the internet. Thanks to modern technology, these examples of fine acting and suave career decisions will haunt them forever. Here's two good examples for you:

John Travolta for SafeGuard Soap



Jason Alexander from Seinfeld for the McDLT

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Retro Video of the Day - Snap!

Oh Snap! Back before ruling the 90s dance floor with Rhythm is a Dancer, German Eurodance group, Snap! had a bunch of club hits in many countries with some solid efforts combining early House and Hip Hop music to come up with very dance floor friendly music that still had a bit of an edge for the times. Although nothing they ever did could match the chart dominating Rhythm is a Dancer, their hit Mary Had A Little Boy reached number 4 in Germany and only number 8 in the UK and broke the top 5 in both the U.S. and Canada. Their other big hit also from 1990 was The Power that hit number one or two on the charts in the U.S., the UK, Canada, Germany and Sweden. Here's a double shot for you which is just the thing to make it through the rest of the week.

Retro Video of the Day - Max Headroom's Christmas Classic

Need a break from all the sappy Christmas music that is no doubt following you around everywhere you go these days as you prepare for the magic of Christmas while draining your savings account? Search no further - Max Headroom is back to bring you some retro joy. Remember him? If your a retro fan then you are aware of the odd phenomenon from the mid 80s that spawned a bit of a craze. With technology becoming a bigger part of our lives and video technology pushing new boundaries, the timing was perfect for the emergence of a fictional artificial intelligence doing his thing on a video screen. Max Headroom got his start as British TV series but became better known thanks to a video by Art of Noise that featured him performing for "Paranoimia". That led to a gig as a spokesman (spokesgraphic ? spokesimage ? spokesthingy ?) or talking head for New Coke that helped propel Max into the public conscienceness. Due to his popularity, Chrysalis released a Christmas song featuring Max...

Retro Christmas Video of the Day - Do They Know It's Christmas

In 1984, a very selfless thing happened in London that profoundly changed how music is used for good. Bob Geldof recruited a bunch of his industry friends and along with Midge Ure wrote a song to be used to raise money for starving people of Africa. The song was recorded under the name Band-Aid and was made up of a collection of the biggest pop talent of that time. Along with Bob and Midge, some other artists who lent their talents included, Paul Young, Duran Duran, U2, Phil Collins, Paul Weller, Heaven 17, Banarama, Culture Club, Kool and the Gang, Sting, Spandou Ballet, George Michael, Jodie Watley, some dudes from Big Country and a freak called Marilyn ripping off Boy George's shtick. Even David Bowie left a personal message on the extended remix of the song. The video, as expected, got massive air play and did raise a lot of money for the cause that led to a multi-country Live-Aid concert and American artists to do their own song under the name U.S.A. for Africa and Canadia art...

New Site

Just a heads up, the blog has now moved to a more modern WordPress site over at https://retroguyswonderland.com   Site is up and under slight construction. New posts coming soon!   - Retroguy's Son (The SysOp)

I Want My MTV - To Start Playing Music Videos Again

There was a time when having your song played on the radio in a regular rotation was the most critical aspect of music promotion. Getting on the air in major markets was paramount to success. It was all about the quality of the music and vocals, there was substance, there was talent, you didn't have to be pretty or ruggedly handsome to have a hit record. Then it all went hell. Well, not at first. In 1981, Music Television went on the air in the U.S. and single handedly changed the way music was marketed and promoted virtually overnight. MTV was the brainchild of Warner Communications and American Express, who funded Warners' cable business but wanted a commercial outlet to reach the teen and young adult markets who traditionally have high disposable income. When Warner and Amex gave the go ahead for the channel, the timing couldn't have been worse. In the late 70s, record companies were hurting and looking to cut costs and one of the first things on the chopping block were ...