To make sense of that storyto understand where the dancing raisins came from, and how they disappearedeveryone told me I needed to talk to this guy. Raised in the California sunshine WERNER: He volunteered and said 'I won't be paid, I just want to be a raisin, I have one thing I need to ask though, I will not talk to anybody from the advertising agency, and I will not talk to any clients. They were tired of paying into a shared piggybank for the greater good. His crime: growing raisins and then deciding to sell . Price: 16.01. But the Raisinss influence went beyond just TV and music and began to invade all levels of pop culture. First of all, you've got that family dynamic. And the answer is usually 'we don't know.. but probably not.' That's what happened. California raisins from the California vineyards. Kalem Barserian will tell you the ad made the raisin industry money, and he will pull out a calculator to prove it. Or, as they saw it, for Sunmaid's good. But actually to me, one of the most interesting parts of that story was this little section on the California Dancing Raisins ads from the '80s. Oh I heard it through the grapevine. SPEAKER FOUR: My mother thought they were great, and she collected the figurines. And apparently, making a clay "King of Pop" was a whole 'nother can of worms. And so Will said 'well finally I took Janet's nose and put that on the raisin and he bought it [snaps fingers] like that.'. This was not a formula. In The Simpsons episode "'Tis the Fifteenth Season", The California Raisins were spoofed as The California Prunes, on a special entitled Christmas with the California Prunes. AD THREE: Raisins from California. PDF Remember, he reports on the raisin industry. [6] 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. We love hearing from you. California Raisins Heard it Through the Grapevine (Better Quality) Herozilla Video Editing and Livestream Gaming 82.3K subscribers Subscribe 10K Share 983K views 3 years ago I don't own the. Claymation was an unproven conceptthis was probably the first time it had been used in a commercial. SUNMAID AD: My girl talkin' bout my girl. A Saturday morning cartoon series, The California Raisin Show, debuted the following year, but lasted only 13 episodes. Hey, I heard it through the grapevine Not much longer would you be mine Said I heard it through the grapevine Hey, I'm just about to lose my mind Honey, honey, yeah (Heard it through the grapevine Not much longer would you Be my baby, yeah, yeah, yeah) Honey, honey, I know That you're letting me go Hey, I heard it through the grapevine SW: When the Dancing Raisins ad stopped airing, Sunmaid's share of direct raisin saleslike in boxes on grocery store shelvesactually increased. And then I remember hearing like the Marvin Gaye version of that, and I was like 'why is he doing a California Raisins song?' "The Raisins opened up a floodgate everything had to be personified," Vinton told Food & Winelast year. And a lot people, including many of our listeners, still remember it really well. In 1985, he was a copywriter at the ad agency Foote, Cone, and Belding. He just wanted to make an ad he thought was cool. MICHAEL BRUNSFELD: The first step in this was we need somebody to create some raisins that are going to dance around. Web. The California Raisins were a fictional R&B group created in the mid-1980s for a commercial produced by the California Raisin Advisory. THE THROWBACK MACHINE: Going for the gold, but coming up blonde. Watch the video for I Heard It Through the Grapevine from California Raisins's Sing The Hit Songs for free, and see the artwork, lyrics and similar artists. Almost like you can hear the band warming up "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" in the distance. (of Suite D2 Josephs Well, Hanover Walk, Leeds LS3 1AB) which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (with firm reference number 626349). And that takes unity. Possibly, but in their own sweet, silly way, these spots conveyed a sense of mindless fun and gave the humble raisin its moment in the sun. Like, who was allowed to borrow the actual dancing raisins costume CALRAB had? Lots of brands tested the limits of this rule, including Sunmaid: BK: I got permission from the manager to create a claymation ad where I had the Dancing Raisins singing to the Sunmaid girl. SPEAKER TWELVE: And it was all claymation, and they'd sing Christmas carols and stuff there were I think other characters and things in it as well. With lead vocals by former Jimi Hendrix and Electric Flag drummer Buddy Miles, the Raisins put out two platinum albums, and spun out a Michael Jackson soundalike ad as well as a spot voiced by the real Ray Charles. Some had small brands that competed with Sunmaid. Your email address will not be published. Ended: 27 Feb, 2023 23:10:08 GMT. The mockumentary-style show created a full backstory about the bands rise to stardom and delved into the histories of each of the individual Raisins, who had names by this pointA.C., Beebop, Stretch, and Red. Oh! The raisin packers didn't reach this decision because anyone had anything against the ad, or because licensing fees had stopped rolling in, or even because raisin sales were down. Several photos were taken providing a close look at the Raisins' internal armatures and detailing their extremely poor condition, including the absence of the A.C. puppet's head.[18]. Werner's big idea was going to be a risk, especially without the celebrity spokesperson the client had requested. Paul McCartney requested his own copy on VHS. WERNER: My job, I called it jack of all trade. Musicians such as Ray Charles and Michael Jackson even got in on the raisin action, singing their own versions of "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" for later commercials. But first, he had to get approval from the raisin growers and packers who were paying for it. California RaisinsSing The Hit Songs 1987 Priority Records, LLCReleased on: 1987-01-01Associated Performer, Background Vocalist: Howard SmithAssociated Performer, Background Vocalist: Leslie SmithAssociated Performer, Background Vocalist: Howard MccraryAssociated Performer, Keyboards, Synthesizer, Co- Arranger: Ed GrengaAssociated Performer, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar: Pat KellyAssociated Performer, Bass Guitar: Dave MarottaAssociated Performer, Drums, Percussion: David StefanelliAssociated Performer, Saxophones: David WoodfordProducer, Associated Performer, Co- Arranger: Ross VannelliAssociated Performer, Vocalist: Buddy MilesComposer Lyricist: Barrett StrongComposer Lyricist: Norman WhitfieldAuto-generated by YouTube. While the songs popularized the phrase, they inspired the hit kids cartoon series "The California Raisins" in the 1990s. And it became more entertainment than strategy. KALEM BARSERIAN: I've been born, raised here. And if you don't have a consensus, it doesn't matter. He was so into it that he personally got in touch with Will Vinton, the claymation animator, and asked to be included in his own commercial. If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. Director. SPEAKER ELEVEN: We watched it in art class when I was in elementary school. African American History Curatorial Collective. You got 100,000 tons. (laughs) That's just the way it is. They go on for pages and pages, carefully typed out on letterhead and hand-written in beautiful cursive. WERNER: Our whole objective was to make them cool. See more ideas about california raisins, raisin, grape vines. I voted to kill it too. He's now on his second round of leading the Raisin Bargaining Association. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider Will Vinton told Seth the hardest part was getting his nose right. And call them nature's candy. You do the math on how many tons of raisins you're buying from them, and bam, you can see exactly how much of the total cost is going towards California raisin ads. The plot of the game involved Tiny Goodbite having to rescue his friends who have been kidnapped and held in a cereal factory. The California Raisins are a fictional rhythm and blues musical group comprised of anthropomorphized raisins. California Raisins poster vintage 1987 Heard it Through The Grapevine. Because the smaller packers still thought Sunmaid had an unfair advantage. She would always show them to me and talk to me about them and how cute and clever they were, and I just thought, why in the world is a grown woman so excited about something so ridiculous? The 1980's TV commercials for California raisins have been called some of the best ads ever made. And now they are all I can think about!! But back in 1986, going viral was not yet a thing. As of the 2010s, packages of Sun-Maid Natural California Raisins still feature an updated California Raisin character. That could mean that while the ad was running, more customers were buying store-brand raisins instead of Sunmaid raisins and store brand raisins were supplied by those other California raisin packers. Note: Comment submission is temporarily unavailable while we make improvements to the site. SW: He just turned 82, and for the last few decades, he's been privy to almost every dispute in raisin land, and lots of them have landed on his desk. Required fields are marked *. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. SW: Those people started calling CALRAB and the ad agency, asking when and where the ad would play again. They recorded an album that went gold within weeks of its release. ROSS VANNELLI: Well how about doing an album? KB: How can anybody sit on a board who spends their whole day on a tractor that knows everything about what needs to be done for his vines, and he's gonna come in and know what an advertising executive knows? Deathly silence filled the Board room for what was probably only another thirty seconds, but seemed much longer. Yeah. The California Raisi - I Heard It Through The Grapevine - Used Vinyl - E8100A. The face took up most of the raisin's body MB: And then there was little wrinkles here and there, but the more you emphasize that, the more it looked, you know, kind of like a weird prune. CH: The dancing raisins were so popular, they took on a life of their own outside of the ad. Condition: Used. I says, 'in Canada? Whod have ever thought that a beloved Motown classic would be brought back to life by a bunch of animated dried fruit? But were they a success for the raisin industry? They sold most of their raisins in bulk, to ingredient customers, like cereal brands or bakeries. BK: It actually got to the point where the Dancing Raisins had their own television show. The industry is in talks about a new campaign to promote California raisins. Eligibility determined at checkout. SW: But by 1994, the packers had reached a consensus. And it paid for all that buzz with an assessmentor a taxon the raisin industry. - The California Raisins II. WERNER: They'd make these little clay models of the raisins, and I remember sitting there with one of the animators, and he'd make an expression in a mirror, and then he'd make that expression on the face of the raisin. This special saw the Raisins hiring a new manager with the goal of making a comeback. Almost all the growers in the room were against it. I Heard It Through The Grapevine - California Raisins. Listen to music by California Raisins on Apple Music. And as that rift widened, the raisins fell right through it. [8] While cel animated by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, it maintained Will Vinton's creative direction. Even if you weren't alive to see the advertisements, TV. You asked someone to name a raisin brand, and they would say "Sunmaid.". (981) $9.95. Was the Dancing Raisins ad a success? MATTHEW MALCOLM: I mean you can't just leave any field barren here, because something's gonna grow. Our collection database is a work in progress. And they should pretty much be still once they do their heard it! Now, somebody just had to turn Seth Werner's concept into a real commercial. It turns out the raisin industry is actually a very contentious industry there's this long history of lawsuits going back and forth between different members. Got 100,000 tons, more sales than you would have if you didn't do this. Blastfrompasttoys. Casey Holford and John DeLore composed our theme. Sheet Music Barrett Strong was the singer. The Hardee's restaurant chain offered these as part of a promotion for its Cinnamon 'N' Raisin biscuits. CH: So where did this journey for you begin? I don't like raisins. HARRY OVERLY: I know for a fact that there is animosity that still exists within the industry of what happened back then. It just knows that it needs water, it needs to be pruned, needs to be fertilized, it needs to be babied. KB: Vine doesn't know who it belongs to. They were all over the country, on mugs and lunchboxes and tee shirts. And their arms were like small, and they had like little legs. Lead vocals in the group were sung by musician Bu, The California Raisins were a fictional R&B group created in the mid-1980s for a commercial produced by the California Raisin Advisory. KB: Couldn't find it! Would everyone contribute to the cost of an ad campaign? [22], Last edited on 21 February 2023, at 23:33, "TV Review; 'Claymation Christmas,' On CBS", "On View: A Feat of Clay: The Creator of California Raisins Molds an Animated Easter Special", "Stardom Is Feat Of Clay For California Raisins", "Bad 25: Spike Lee Brings Michael Jackson Back to Thrilling Life", "The California Raisins for Commodore 64 (1988)", "California Raisin Raisin Puppets: Late 80s - Early 90s", "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: A Very Sunny Christmas", "Celebrating Every '80s Reference in That RadioShack Super Bowl Commercial", "California Raisins Set for Comeback in Live-Action Feature", Official Will Vinton (LAIKA) Studios Site, The Clay and Stop-Motion Animation How-To Page: "California Raisin Raisin Puppets: Late 80s - Early 90s", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_California_Raisins&oldid=1140822520, "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)" b/w "I Got You (I Feel Good)" - 1988, Purple Vinyl 7", "I Heard it Through the Grapevine" - 1988 (single, extended peaked at #84 on the, This page was last edited on 21 February 2023, at 23:33. Merchandise sales included toys and Raisins images on nearly every conceivable medium: lunch boxes, notebooks, clothing, posters, bedsheets, and even a Halloween costume, just to name a few. CEO of the wine bargaining association for five years. The game was completed and several video game critics reviewed it, but it was never released on the open market. During the peak of their popularity in the late '80s, the California Raisins also had a fan club, merchandise that spanned from plush toys to lunch boxes to air fresheners, and a series of comic books. I heard it through the grapevine. And the industry was coming out of a big slump at the time. The band broke up. Your email address will not be published. Free shipping for many products! Oh! You know how families can be about money. The problem, FCB's account supervisor said at the time, was that though customers understood the health benefits of raisins, they had emotional connections with various vice products, like cigarettes because of the long-running "Marlboro Man" ads, or beer based on the popular "Miller Time" ads. Not much longer would you be mine. "[15], The vast amount of California Raisins merchandise has made for a substantial collectors' market. While the vines may feel special to their growerslike children!to you and me? And he says, even though the Dancing Raisins are long gone, he and the rest of the industry are still dealing with the fallout. Then in 1989, a 13-episode Saturday Morning Cartoon show calledThe California Raisin Show aired. We're not prunes or dates SW: And the raisins weren't close to being done yet. The figures were kept in a box for several years and headed for the trash before being obtained by Webster Colcord, a former employee of Vinton. It wasn't at The Fillmore in San Francisco or the Troubadour in LA. In fact, the industry was on an upswing. SW: That's Alvin and the Chipmunks, for those of you aren't fans. And by the end of the night, all anyone could agree on was that one of the siblings was getting a bigger cut than everyone else. He said: WERNER: He would not approve the nose that I put on the raisin, no matter what I did, he wouldn't approve of it! And, I didn't know this, but nearly 100 percent of the raisins the U.S. produces come from within a 60 mile radius of the city. Phrases Similar to Heard it Through the Grapevine The ad was fun, but, to quote The Fruits of Their Labors again, it "made no effort to sell raisins. Which meant packers couldn't slap a Dancing Raisin on their packaging or use the characters in ads unless they got their idea approved by the board. Needless to say, their band history borrowed heavily from the types of origin stories real bands tended to have. CH: I remember those really well. WERNER: We want sunglasses on them, I want to put them in Converse sneakers, but untie the laces, and they gotta look hip, basically. Vocals were sung by musician Buddy Miles. Some user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. Lead vocals were sung by musician Buddy Miles. Born in 1987, Birthplace: Television, Best Known As: Fruity TV advertising stars of the 1980s. And so, with a $7.5 million campaign on the line, Werner hit play and began dancing across the room to the old Motown hit "I Heard it Through the Grapevine.". SW: Let me explain. WERNER: 'Dear NBC, After weeks of trying to find out who to congratulate on a recent national ad, I came up with nothing. We apologize for the interruption. It's hurting from some bad weather trends. Artist. 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Page is available under the creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ; additional Terms may apply all Rights Reserved, to... Animated by Murakami-Wolf-Swenson, it needs to be a risk, especially without the celebrity the. Association for five years to you and me know.. but probably not. I been... The packers had reached a consensus, it does n't matter deciding to sell jack of,. The room were against it and the raisins fell right Through it dates sw: people. Pop culture, because something 's gon na grow they sold most of own... Hear the band warming up `` I Heard it 's good part a... Any field barren here, because something 's gon na grow Grapevine in... An ad he thought was cool unfair advantage for Sunmaid 's good another thirty seconds, but up!
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