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Music Marketing Memories


Hamerhack

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'Twas Spring of '79, and a college classmate and I went off to buy my first Van Halen Albums.

We got to the store, singing "Beautiful Girls", no doubt, and there, hanging from the ceiling, was a life-size cardboard cutout of some long-haired guy doing a leaping legsplit. It had a "VH" logo under it, so my friend said "there he is... Van Halen!" (We assumed his first name was Van, surname Halen, ala Van Morrison).

After buying those first two albums ($5.00 each at Spectrum Records in Syracuse, NY), of course I learned that the cutout was DLR. I figured it would be a cool thing to have that cutout, but I never went back to ask for it.

Anybody remember any cool music promo items like that for albums or instruments? (There's tons of movie stuff that I guess you can have once the movie's theater run is over.)

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ChuBops (from '80 or so):

Little cardboard replicas of LP covers (front and back) with slip out liner notes and a 2" or so pink bubblegum disc inside.

Another favorite was a near life-size cardboard cutout of Nigel Tufnel with a Marshall head from the early '90s.

I'm sure I can think of others...but I think KISS cornered that market.

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I did repair for a shop in Indy for a little while in the '96-'97 time frame, and we had life-size cardboards of Jimmie Vaughan (Fender Strat ad) and EVH (Peavey ad). We arranged them so that they were looking at each other, and placed speech bubbles on them:

EVH: Hey, man! Nice guitar!

JLV: Touch it and I'll kick your ass!

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KISS - Rock N' Roll Over - Cool stickers that when assembled looked like the cover art.

Alive-the big picture book

Destroyer-no stuff, but the glossy merch order form

Rock and Roll Over-the glossy order form and the sticker

Love Gun-the glossy merch form and the cardboard "Love Gun" popper

Alive II-the big picture book and the glossy merch sheet and the rub on transfer sheet

Double Platinum-the "platinum album" certificate and a glossy merch sheet

Dynasty-glossy merch sheet, Kiss Pinball Machine flyer, Ibanez PS-10 flyer (maybe an Axe bass/gtr thing too?)

Unmasked-nothing, unless it had a merch sheet

Music From the Elder-didn't buy it-Peter was out of the band and it pretty much sucked.

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ChuBops (from '80 or so):

Little cardboard replicas of LP covers (front and back) with slip out liner notes and a 2" or so pink bubblegum disc inside.

Another favorite was a near life-size cardboard cutout of Nigel Tufnel with a Marshall head from the early '90s.

I'm sure I can think of others...but I think KISS cornered that market.

Oh, man! That Nigel cutout would be the coolest!

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KISS - Rock N' Roll Over - Cool stickers that when assembled looked like the cover art.

Alive-the big picture book

Destroyer-no stuff, but the glossy merch order form

Rock and Roll Over-the glossy order form and the sticker

Love Gun-the glossy merch form and the cardboard "Love Gun" popper

Alive II-the big picture book and the glossy merch sheet and the rub on transfer sheet

Double Platinum-the "platinum album" certificate and a glossy merch sheet

Dynasty-glossy merch sheet, Kiss Pinball Machine flyer, Ibanez PS-10 flyer (maybe an Axe bass/gtr thing too?)

Unmasked-nothing, unless it had a merch sheet

Music From the Elder-didn't buy it-Peter was out of the band and it pretty much sucked.

you are the king of the nighttime world!

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KISS - Rock N' Roll Over - Cool stickers that when assembled looked like the cover art.

Alive-the big picture book

Destroyer-no stuff, but the glossy merch order form

Rock and Roll Over-the glossy order form and the sticker

Love Gun-the glossy merch form and the cardboard "Love Gun" popper

Alive II-the big picture book and the glossy merch sheet and the rub on transfer sheet

Double Platinum-the "platinum album" certificate and a glossy merch sheet

Dynasty-glossy merch sheet, Kiss Pinball Machine flyer, Ibanez PS-10 flyer (maybe an Axe bass/gtr thing too?)

Unmasked-nothing, unless it had a merch sheet

Music From the Elder-didn't buy it-Peter was out of the band and it pretty much sucked.

I was buying most of those on 8-track, so I missed out on a lot of the inserts until I picked up the vinyl later. Missed out on the solo albums bags because I got the tapes for Christmas, not when they were released.

Did have the sheet music books (not the newer tab books) for:

- The Originals

- Alive!

- Destroyer

- Rock And Roll Over

- Love Gun

- Alive II

- Double Platinum (I think - I'll have to look)

- All four solo albums

- Dynasty

- Unmasked

The Kiss model van, the Ace & Gene puzzles, the comic book, the Phantom magazine. Somewhere I have my Kiss Army membership package w/the cards and such. The book and inserts from The Originals (I still have the vinyl). Various tour books, not just Kiss. I was such a geek.

Edited to add: I had the Partridge Family record cabinet for years and years. Also a big Johnny Cash San Quentin poster. And a big David Cassidy poster. But the best was the Shelley Hack poster - she may not be a musician, but she rings my bells!

I really haven't changed that much...

Alan

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I scored a KISS pinball DIRT CHEAP with a spare, still-sealed-in-the-box playfield 15 years ago. It went for well below the HFC-approved standard price. That thing was the best time absorber ever. It is currently in need of a tuneup, but that was one of my lucky finds back in the days of newspaper classifieds.

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KISS had a three record set of the first three albums sold as "The Originals" that had a cool picture and text insert about 20 pages long that became the genesis for the Official Kiss Book, many years later. There were pics of the Coventry gig and other early rare shots that I STARED at for hours.

They were so cool in 1979.

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I had a bunch of movie promo swag from Excalibur... When I first visited my (future) wifes house she had a full size poster from the movie framed in her Living Room! IT was an omen.

Have a 7' tall poster of French release of A Clockwork Orange

As for music related gear.. Bunch of promo packs from Rossington Collins Band...

Radio Station Samplers for concert promos... "Listeners Guide to Jeff Beck" is one of my faves.

Probably lot more if I could only remember

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KISS - Rock N' Roll Over - Cool stickers that when assembled looked like the cover art.

Alive-the big picture book

Destroyer-no stuff, but the glossy merch order form

Rock and Roll Over-the glossy order form and the sticker

Love Gun-the glossy merch form and the cardboard "Love Gun" popper

Alive II-the big picture book and the glossy merch sheet and the rub on transfer sheet

Double Platinum-the "platinum album" certificate and a glossy merch sheet

Dynasty-glossy merch sheet, Kiss Pinball Machine flyer, Ibanez PS-10 flyer (maybe an Axe bass/gtr thing too?)

Unmasked-nothing, unless it had a merch sheet

Music From the Elder-didn't buy it-Peter was out of the band and it pretty much sucked.

The Dynasty album had a cool poster in it!

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That is what I miss from records compared to CD's. They were so much bigger and there was usually some nice art work or band info and pictures. MY favorite marketing memory was the School's Out Album by Alice. The cover looked like an old school desk and the record jacket was a pair of paper panties. Very impressive when you are 16.

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KISS - Rock N' Roll Over - Cool stickers that when assembled looked like the cover art.

Alive-the big picture book

Destroyer-no stuff, but the glossy merch order form

Rock and Roll Over-the glossy order form and the sticker

Love Gun-the glossy merch form and the cardboard "Love Gun" popper

Alive II-the big picture book and the glossy merch sheet and the rub on transfer sheet

Double Platinum-the "platinum album" certificate and a glossy merch sheet

Dynasty-glossy merch sheet, Kiss Pinball Machine flyer, Ibanez PS-10 flyer (maybe an Axe bass/gtr thing too?)

Unmasked-nothing, unless it had a merch sheet

Music From the Elder-didn't buy it-Peter was out of the band and it pretty much sucked.

The Dynasty album had a cool poster in it!

So did Unmasked.

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:P-->

QUOTE(David B @ Dec 5 2007, 08:52 AM)

KISS - Rock N' Roll Over - Cool stickers that when assembled looked like the cover art.

Alive-the big picture book

Destroyer-no stuff, but the glossy merch order form

Rock and Roll Over-the glossy order form and the sticker

Love Gun-the glossy merch form and the cardboard "Love Gun" popper

Alive II-the big picture book and the glossy merch sheet and the rub on transfer sheet

Double Platinum-the "platinum album" certificate and a glossy merch sheet

Dynasty-glossy merch sheet, Kiss Pinball Machine flyer, Ibanez PS-10 flyer (maybe an Axe bass/gtr thing too?)

Unmasked-nothing, unless it had a merch sheet

Music From the Elder-didn't buy it-Peter was out of the band and it pretty much sucked.

The Dynasty album had a cool poster in it!

So did Unmasked.

Ahh-forgot about those! Shows how long it's been since I played vinyl!

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