Back in the 60′s and 70′s I used to read all the advertisements from the guitar, drum, keyboard, hell, even the microphone companies. I’d even order their catalogues, brochures and other propaganda. (Loved it when they stuck in a free poster!). Below are a few random samples of various advertisements from the glory days of rock ‘n roll huckstering musicial gear, often using rock ‘n roll celebrities. More coming soon.
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During the 1960′s & 1970′s about the only venue for advertising an artist’s new release nationally was in the music publications. Many stores, chain stores in particular, would do co-op advertising with certain labels and buy local advertising in local/regional nespapers hyping the label’s new releases, but that was limited to specific geographical regions.
Granted, some record companies sprung for television advertising on occassion, you might see one for the new Rolling Stones album on Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert, but they were few in number. Below is a look back at various print ads that appeared in such publications as Creem, Circus, Rolling Stone, Crawdaddy, Hit Parader, Rock Scene and all the rest. Here is a random sampling, with more to come at a later date.
When the Beatles hit it big in the early 1960′s they were mega-stars who appeared in nearly every form of media that existed. Since comic books were still a big seller during that decade it was only natural that someone license their rights for comic books. In addition to ‘official’ comic books the Beatles also appeared in numerous other comic books, sometimes just appearing on the cover. Below is a gallery of a few random samples of comic books and ocmic book panels from back in the day.
“White drummers don’t swing, except for Charlie Watts.” -Keith Richards
“It’s Charlie Watts’s band — without him we wouldn’t have a group.” -Keith Richards
“Rock and roll has probably given more than it’s taken.” -Charlie Watts
“You don’t think I take this seriously do you – it’s just a fuckin’ rock n roll band.” -Charlie Watts
When the Beatles came over to America in 1964 for a tour and two appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show, the band, in Miami for their second Sullivan appearance, spent some time with Cassisu Clay, soon to be known as Muhammad Ali, where the champ was training. The meeting was significant in that both The Beatles and Clay (Ali) were on the verge of conquering their respective ‘worlds’ of music and boxing. These photos were taken at the historic meeting on February 18, 1964.
In 1977 Granada TV began producing and airing the MARC TV show starring Marc Bolan of T.Rex fame. The shows aired on British television and also featured such up & coming punk & new wave bands like Boomtown Rats, The Jam, Generation X as well as Hawkwind and Bolan’s good friend, David Bowie. Unfortunately the show only ran six weeks as Bolan was killed in a car wreck on September 16, 1977.
