One of Boston's most memorable moments of the 1980s was when the Boston Celtics won the NBA championship in the Boston Gardens. They won in 1981, 1983 and in 1986. The 1986 season was their sweet sixteen-team championship and some say it was the sweetest one.
This would be the last championship for the big 3: Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish.
If you weren't in the Boston Garden that afternoon, you likely listen to the play by play done by legendary Johnny Most.
Series Recap
In my audiotape collection, I found a tape where I recorded the start of the 1987 season on WRKO radio. In that broadcast, they did a recap of the challenges of the 1986 Playoffs. This clip features some amazing calls by Johnny Most.
The quality of the clip isn't all that great. I was living in Concord, Massachusetts at the time and the WRKO signal wasn't that strong. You can hear some static. It isn't that bad. I think it gives it a classic radio sound.
Listen to the final four minutes of the broadcast. Close your eyes and for a moment pretend you are back in 1986.
Listen to Glenn Ordway and Johnny Most recall the final moments of the 1986 season.
Full Recap
The full recap is nearly 14-minutes long and 18 MB.
If you're a diehard Celtics fan and have any interest in it, let me know via the feedback form.
This week's video features a couple of classic commercials that I found in my VHS collection. These are from the early 1980s. Some of the shows that were recorded were in 1982.
This Week's Commercials
Lite Beer - Mr. Butkis and Mr. Smith in this classic Lite Beer commercial
Miller High Life - A 1980s commercial with World Trade Center.
Atari - The game that everyone wanted to play in the 1980s.
Howard Johnsons - A classic Howard Johnsons commercial. Remember, "If it's not your mother, it must be Howard Johnson."
Here are a couple of classic commercials featuring NBA Legend Micheal Jordan. These came out in the 2000s. These aired when Michel Jordan was in his second retirement from the NBA (1999 - 2001).
Commercials
Bill Bradley for President Commercial - This aired in California during the primaries.
MCI 5 Cent Everyday - Classic commercial featuring some characters from Space Jam.
This week Media Monday features another celebrity telephone answering machine message. This collection has many of the same voices as the Radio Shack collection.
This tape is from 1982. I can't recall exactly where I got this one. Maybe Caldor or Radio Shack.
There is another "best-of collection" with a similar name. That collection is the best of all the Celebrity AnswerAlls from the series.
This collection was made by the Project Market Group from Boca Raton, Florida. I wasn't able to find any information on the company. I suspect they must have closed sometime in the 1980s.
Celebrity Impressions
WC Fields
Jimmy Carter
Barbra Streisand
Charles Dickens
Cheech & Chong
Lou Costello
Frank Sinatra
James Cagney
Question
After hearing this tape, would you actually use any of the voices that you heard?
In the 1980s, you could go to Radio Shack and get some cool things. One thing that I found was a cassette tape that featured celebrities' impersonations to spice up your answering machine. The impersonations weren't all that good.
These tapes were to be funny and encourage people to leave messages. I have a couple of different cassette tapes in my collection. I don't know why I felt the need to buy a series. As I recall the tapes cost about $5. They were placed near the phones and answering machines.
In the late 1990's one of the late-night infomercials was Video Professor. They produce training CDs on how to use the computer. In the half-hour-long Infomercial, they were promoting the ability to try out their videos in any subject that people want. All you had to do is pay for shipping and handling.
What Video Professor didn't talk much about is the "fine print." Customers would be signed up for a subscription service where future videos would be charged to the credit card on file. They wouldn't get charged if they canceled their subscription. Some of the videos would cost between $50 to $399.
Due to various lawsuits and lagging sales, the company folded in 2002.
Here is a clip of the commercial that I recorded on April 24, 1999 - nearly 22 years ago.
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